Chapter 4: The Most Dangerous Weapons and Wars of Words

Camp Augustus: Yokosuka, Japan

When I get leave, William Taylor idly thought,the first thing I am going to do is go get authentic Brooklyn style pizza. No. First a breakfast of pancakes with a huge slab of ham or bacon, lots of bacon and hash browns! Screw the consequences! Not that the Saderans, Lady Octavia said their Capital city was called Sadera, although she didn't refer to the Empire as anything other than 'The Empire', didn't set a good table to those they considered 'friend'. Once their livestock and other foodstuffs had passed inspection and arrangements had been made so they could cook without accidentally burning anything down, they seemed much more at ease than with the stuff that was being catered in. But then again, who would want to face the rest of their life on a diet of MREs, known commonly as Meals Rejected by Everyone. Last night's chicken had been especially nice, with a flavor that was definitely NOT just like chicken…or at least not like the mass produced birds that dominated the American market. Still, there's nothing like the taste of home. A taste of home. I may not be home but at least I know I'll get back there someday.

Sharing a meal was a good way to get to know someone and if he really wanted these people to trust him, he had to be among them, breaking bread, taking quarters on premise and making his door available whenever needed.

Of course, the Saderans didn't do breakfast per se, only the noon meal and the evening meal with small meals throughout the day. So after a shower, shave, and donning his uniform, Taylor headed for Senior Chief Richardson's office to check the overnight duty log and grab an apple danish before going to see Lady Octavia.

"Ah! Good Morning Lieutenant," Octavia greeted pleasantly as her Majordomo escorted Lieutenant Taylor into the space she was using as her sitting room, her daughter sat by the window, reading to her brothers.

Taylor was starting to acclimate to the oddities of Janian English. The oddest part was that there was Janian English. Latin, Greek, some sort of mutation of one or both? That was not a complete surprise considering an army looking and behaving like ancient Romans, but a recognizable form of English? It had been so completely unexpected. The two branches of the language seemed to have diverged sometime in the past six hundred years but still drifting in the same general direction. It was one of many little curiosities that his superiors wanted him to find an explanation for. Fortunately, it seemed simpler to go from American English to Janian than the reverse but Octavia and her daughter had both demonstrated that they had no fear of a language that routinely dragged other tongues into dark alleys and mugged them for vocabulary as they both eagerly devoured any books he brought them. Interestingly, while Shakespeare was completely new to them, Chaucer was not only familiar to them but Octavia's daughter, Lucilla actually brought out a family copy of his works to compare it with one Taylor had provided.

"Good morning, ma'am, I trust you slept well?"

"Quite comfortably, all things considered. Lieutenant," Octavia answered, rising to greet him and burying behind the calm facade of her visage, the dread, and nightmares that had been weighing on her ever since the surrender and gestured to a chair across from her. "Please sit? Before we discuss today's business, there is something I must ask you."

Taylor took the indicated seat across from Octavia, who then properly reseated herself.

"Lieutenant, what will become of my children?" Octavia asked quietly.

Taylor looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

Octavia sighed. "I have been a soldier's wife for many years and I have seen many a campaign. Perhaps the Empire… Perhaps we have earned this humbling. But I will do anything to save my children from a life in chains. Lucilla is of age to marry…"

Taken aback, Taylor raised a hand in protest. "Please. ma'am, I want you to listen to me: I swear to you that no one is going to put your children into slavery. We don't do things like that. All that will happen is your family will stay here until such time as our governments reach an agreement and then you'll go home. I swear on my honor." He faced her squarely. "Besides, in my country, your daughter is legally still too young to marry. And a good thing because if she is as formidable as her mother, then the world will need at least another couple of years to be ready for her!" He added with a wry smile.

Octavia blinked. This world was; indeed, strange. "She might not be willing to wait that long. At least not for just any man. She might consider waiting for a certain man." She teased, feeling a flood of relief upon her.

He glanced nervously over at Lucilla, who merely turned a glance of her own and nodded politely with a smile and returned to the story she was reading to her brothers. "At any rate, I have some news on the lists you gave me. "

"Yes?" Octavia felt herself tense.

"As I said, identifying the dead will take time and in some cases if at all may take more exotic means that we have at our disposal." Bodies mutilated by machine gun fire and high explosives were usually hard to identify. DNA testing would be necessary in many cases, provided of course that the soldier in question had any blood kin that could be tested. "That aside, I can tell you that your husband is alive. I don't have the details but he was wounded while leading an attack on our embassy. He's alive and recovering aboard the hospital ship Mercy."

"May my children and I go see him?"

"I will see what I can do. He is still a prisoner of war." Taylor reminded.

"Of course, I could not ask more of you Lieutenant. Still, this is wonderful news for myself and my family."

"I'm glad I could deliver it."

Yokota, Headquarters: Janus Theater Command.

Scouting the area beyond the gate proved more involved than originally expected. The first remote scout looked akin to one of the Martian remote rovers, albeit built on the cheap. It had simple programming to return back through the Gate either when its battery power reached fifty percent or whenever the drone registered damage. The drone had low-light, infrared, and normal video cameras and redundant radio antennae to allow for manual operator control and telemetry along with a home weather station kit bolted on.

On September 12, the scout, nicknamed 'Peepers', rolled through the Gate. At first, the mission seemed to go well. Radio signals between the rover and its handlers remained steady. As operators ran a systems check. all seemed well until two hours into the mission, when contact was suddenly lost. Three hours later, 'Peepers' weakly limped back through the Gate. Analysis later showed that an orc apparently took offense at the odd creature wandering around and decided to bash it with a heavy club. Despite the brutal treatment at the hands of the enemy. "Peepers' survived its encounter beyond the Gate.

Still, the intelligence was vital if the Allies wished to prevent the same thing from happening to the first wave of troops they intended to deploy through the Gate. UAVs had greater success. Their overhead camera images providing both topographical data as well as identifying enemy defenses and troop concentrations, though at least one came back bearing the scars of an encounter with a dragon of some sort. As for 'Peepers's role on the ground, smaller versions each carrying but one or two sensors had better luck in not attracting unwanted attention. With their data in hand, General Hazama's staff began drawing up plans for the initial assault. While on the other side, the Empire made plans of its own.

In the month since the abortive invasion through the Gate, two separate battles were waged around Alnus Hill and in Sadera itself. The first battle was a struggle by two legions under Germanicus's command that he had prudently left behind almost as an afterthought in case of total disaster. Now that event had apparently come to pass and the commander of these troops, Legate Titian quickly asserted his authority as Second in command to Germanicus himself, to stop the headlong flight of Imperial Troops from the battle beyond the Gate. In a show of his determination, Titian ordered his two legions to block the route of the fleeing 14th Legion and threatened to attack if the 14th did not stand down. The panicked exodus stopped. In a demonstration of his resolve, he relieved the commander of the 14th of his post and then proceeded to subject the legion to Decimation. The execution of 500 legionnaires apparently having the desired effect as discipline was restored in the fleeing troops and Titian, now possessing over 40,000 men, began to interview the survivors for his report and to construct defenses against an anticipated counter- assault.

The other battle was a political battle in which the veteran soldier Titian was completely outmatched. Senator and Mage Godasen had been responsible for the project to stabilize the Gate and based upon a very few abduction raids conducted in the months prior had advised Emperor Molto that a campaign should be assembled. He had also lobbied for overall command of the campaign but was passed over in favor of the vastly more experienced Germanicus. Godasen made no secret of his dislike for Germanicus or for Titian and proceeded to undermine Titian's command by denying them necessary supplies and by reporting that the apparent failure of the invasion was a result of a failure of nerve by its commander and downplaying as inherently ludicrous, the reports of massed armies of mages who had wiped out two-thirds of the army. This manipulation was also based partly onGodasen's conviction that it would be better to allow any enemy to proceed unimpeded through the Gate to where he could surround and destroy them in the open. Due to this political assault, Titian found he could only support 15,000 troops on Alnus, reducing his fighting force by sixty percent. But even this force should have been quite formidable to any opponent trying to clear an army through the Gate. Had Titian still been in command of 40,000 troops at the time General Hazama's force attacked, the contest could have ended far differently butGodasen's machinations had forced him to dismiss all but three legions for lack of provender only days before General Hazama's tanks came thundering out of the Gate. Though not before having contributed weeks of backbreaking labor fortifying Titian's defenses

"We will need to strike with unparalleled speed and violence," Hazama noted. "We have tracked the Janian Day-Night cycle. About two hours before dawn will be our optimum time to attack. All our tanks will be carrying a 90% load out of M908 Obstacle Defeating and cannister rounds for the initial assault. We do not expect many targets requiring armor piercing rounds."

"We must quickly disrupt the first line defenses and scatter them. We will open a perimeter with tanks and light assault vehicles large enough to start deploying our field guns. Please note that the use of phosphorous munitions has been forbidden at this time." Hazama looked to a short squat grim faced American Colonel in the back of the room. "Colonel Potter, we'll need your 407th Combat Support Hospital ready to set up as quickly as possible. We'll try to give you enough room to work but the enemy might not cooperate. We know that once identified, the enemy treated St. Luke's Hospital as neutral ground but don't expect the same consideration here."

"Understood General," The old veteran answered. He'd seen four previous conflicts and fervently hoped this one would be his last. He had a few concerns he needed to discuss with the General but they would have to hold until later. Specifically, a Combat Support Hospital had about 250 beds. This was fewer than previous configurations as it was assumed there would always be sufficient airlift capacity to evacuate recovering patients elsewhere. That would not be the case here, so available bed space would need to be increased accordingly.

In the meantime, Hazama continued his briefing.

"On the issue of prisoners: Again, we have no clear picture on how our enemies will react if backed into a hopeless situation, assuming they even recognize it as such. In our experiences during the Battle in Tokyo, some enemy acted in a rational manner and surrendered willingly. Others were completely fanatical and attempted to kill soldiers offering them quarter. I will tell all of you and for you to tell your men, that you are to protect themselves and fellow Allied troops first! If there is even a shred of doubt whether an enemy will surrender and comply with instructions, then you must act as if they are still belligerents."

Near the front of the room, a Lt. Colonel wearing the patch of the 101st Airborne raised his hand.

"General, complying with instructions assumes the ability to communicate with the enemy. None of us speak Hobbit."

A few light laughs went up, mainly among the Americans. General Hazama smiled.

"We have identified a number of languages in use. A few speak clearly recognizable Greek. Many of those identified as from their nobility speak a form of English, but the most common language is a strain of the Latin family. It seems somewhere mixed between Latin, Italian, and French. We have linguists compiling phrase-books and those should be distributed by the end of the week…."

To Be Continued.