The Minecraft Story: The Beginning: Chapter 22

3 Days Later; In the Citadel War Room…

The commander of every legion in the Holy Notch Army was gathered in the War Room. It was a large room with a long table in the center full of letters from messengers describing what was happening across the Holy Notch Empire. General Ausmin waited for three days, not only to wait for the other legion commanders to meet at the Citadel, but to get a grasp on what was happening everywhere else in the empire. It wasn't looking good. Many villages had been lost to the monsters who were now being dubbed as mobs. Refugees from undefended villages were moving to the larger, more fortified towns and cities. However, the most troubling news came that morning. The Pope was dead, and he had to address the legion commanders.

General Ausmin stood up to address the commanders who were finishing their lunch, "Attention soldiers," he commanded and the commanders looked toward the old General, "I have more disconcerting news." The commanders really paid attention now. "Pope Zekiel was killed last night in a mob attack whilst attempting to reach the capital city, Notchaven." Murmurs and gasps began to fill the War Room.

This was something the major leaders of the empire had become worried about in the recent mob attacks. The Holy Notch Empire was massive that boasted a population of around one million. Typically, travel between larger cities and towns would be sprinkled with nighttime stops in smaller villages like Morzen. However, with these smaller villages destroyed and their populations either dead or fleeing, it was much easier to be caught out at night, which was now a death sentence.

General Ausmin put a hand up to quiet the commanders., "I know it is hard to bare the passing of our beloved leader, but we have bigger issues to focus on at the moment."

Commander Vesch, leader of the Holy Golden Knights spoke up, "Are we finally discussing this new army of pigmen?"
"Yes we are," General Ausmin answered, "But not just the pigmen, we need to be worried about the southern heretics."

One commander objected, "The heretics? Shouldn't we be more concerned about these pigmen? Didn't they kill seventy-four of the Miter Knights? They seem like a much bigger threat."

General Ausmin didn't like this objection. "That's what you think," He said, his voice a pitch higher than before. "Remember, we know who these heretics are, we know they want nothing more to destroy us. And what would be a better opportunity to do it, than when our army is distracted by a new threat?"

Commander Vesch chimed in, "I'm not too sure they will attack. Doesn't the arrival of these mobs confirm the existence of Notch, even to the heretics?"

"Perhaps it does," General Ausmin acknowledged, "But most of you haven't been on the battlefield like I have, you don't know the heretics like I do." He set his hands on the table and stared down the rows of commanders. "Is it any coincidence that the pigmen attacked us after we attacked Zamafar?" This took some of the commanders off guard and they began to realize what the General was implying. "I think these heretics have or are in the process of joining Herobrine to whip us all out."

Murmurs filled the War Room once again. The idea of the heretics and the pigmen joining forces would be cataclysmic. General Ausmin commanded their attention again, "I've called all the legions of the Holy Notch Army here to propose my idea. We've been too lenient on these heretics for too long. And by joining Herobrine, they've become more than just enemies of Notch, they're part of the anti-christ now."

Another commander asked, "What do you propose we do?"

General Ausmin looked at the commander and answered, "We kill them all."

The commanders were surprised. While they'd been at war with the southern heretics for a while now, they'd never thought of killing them all.

Commander Vesch chimed in again, "Should we go after the pigmen? They still are a bigger threat if they can take on the Miter Knights" General Ausmin looked at the young man. "If we could take out the pigmen and maybe even Herobrine, we could break their morale and win both of these wars."

General Ausmin disagreed, "You're forgetting how much larger the heretics are compared to the pigmen. Only about one hundred were estimated to be at Zamafar. If they were to ride out with all their forces and the pigmen, they could crush us." Some commanders nodded in agreement. "With all the legions here, we could move out and destroy the southern heretics before they can invade us. But we have to kill all of them, every single man, woman, and child heretic must die. Otherwise, they'll regroup and attack us with mighty vengeance." Many more of the commanders began to chatter in agreement with the General.

Commander Vesch spoke up again, "Even so, we still need to consider the homefront." General Ausmin was getting tired of Vesch. "With many of the smaller villages being unprotected from mobs, almost fifty thousand people have already been killed." The commanders who'd just arrived still were not informed on the state of the empire. "The refugees from these villages are fleeing into the larger towns and cities. These cities might be more fortified and protected from mobs, but the destroyed villages were mostly farming villages. The cities were reliant on these villages for food, now that they're gone and the cities being flooded with refugees, the people will begin to starve soon" The other commanders began to ponder this information. "Once the people starve, they turn to violence in search of food and our meager garrison knights will stand no chance. In other words General, we're short of time to be going on a genocidal campaign against the heretics."

General Ausmin raised his voice, "All the more reason to take action as soon as possible!" This outburst startled the commanders and Vesch. "If we do nothing about the heretics, we'll all die anyway. If we hurry and use our combined legions, the job will be done in no time. After we've destroyed the heretics, we'll destroy the pigmen, and if we're lucky, Herobrine himself"

The other commanders were beginning to see this as a good plan. One commander had a grievance, "Excuse me General." General Ausmin gave the commander permission to speak. He enjoyed being asked for permission instead of talked over by Vesch. "I've been hearing rumors among the knights. They think that because Herobrine is back, then Notch might be returning as well. I'm concerned if Notch would agree with us slaughtering thousands of people, even if they are heretics."

This angered the General, "Did you not hear a word of what I just said?" The commander became nervous. "These people," He said with hand quotes, "have joined Herobrine to destroy his people, his followers, his believers. Notch would want nothing more than to see them burn, he might even throw them into the Nether if we make contact." This put some of the commanders at ease. "Notch, our god, has always been on our side, and if we're lucky, he may even fight for us. Hell, he might just snap his finger and make all of our problems go away." Some of the commanders chuckled at this notion, they stopped when they realized the General was serious. "But until then, we must fight. We must fight for the holy lands, for the believers, for Notch." The commanders were now on board with the General's plan. "Have faith in me, have faith in Notch." The commanders stood up and cheered for the General, except for Vesch.

The young commander stood up to address the General, "Sir, if we're going to do this, then I propose that we at least find out where the pigmen are based." The General was a little confused by this proposal. "If we could send out some scouts to find out where the pigmen are, we can at least prepare if they attack before we're done with the heretics."

The General admitted to himself this was a good point. "You're right Commander Vesch," He said, "We should set up some small teams consisting of the Miter Knights and the Holy Golden Knights. We'll send them on horseback to Zamafar where we last encountered the pigmen. They'll try to find out where they're based." Commander Vesch was happy to at least get something out of the debate. However, he was still concerned with the pigmen. "While the scouts are out, we'll gather all the legions into the valley in the second gate to go over the plan. The scouts are not to engage the pigmen, make sure that gets through to your men Commander Vesch."

The meeting continued to address some of the finer details, but General Ausmin was satisfied with how everything turned out. Soon, the heretics would finally all be dead.