ANGELIC WARRIORS FLY TO THE REPUBLIC'S RESCUE !
Early this morning, the citizens of our fair city still out and about were graced with the most wondrous sight : a flock of angelic figures flying through the skies of Parisee (see photograph above). Upon questioning those awe-struck witnesses, we learned that these holy warriors took flight from the Cathedral of Our Beloved Lady, emerging from its gates in ordered rows before taking to the skies.
Reached for comment, the Archbishop of Our Beloved Lady was unavailable. A source close to the Ministry of Defense, however, told us that these angelic beings are known as 'Holy Knights', and are the Republic's answer to the long-standing rumors of Imperial monsters being deployed on the Rhine Front.
At the same time, reinforcements assembled by Vice-Minister De Lugo on the outskirts of our capital has also set off for the Rhine Front. With such blessed warriors on the side of the Republic, surely victory against the evil hordes of the Empire is finally at hand. Already the brave citizens of Arene have crippled its supply lines, forcing it to stop in its track : now the hammer of righteous justice will fall and break them once and for all !
Excerpt from the front-page of La Flamme de Parisee, special morning edition, May 26th, 1925.
SPECTACULAR IMPERIAL VICTORY MARRED BY ALBISH PERFIDY !
Yesterday, a great victory was won by the Imperial Army on the Rhine Front, where the forces of our Reich have clashed with those of the Republic for months, at a terrible cost in lives for both sides. Through a combination of genius tactics and the deployment of a new Wunderwaffe to destroy the Francois headquarters, the Imperial Army succeeded in breaking the deadlock that consumed the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men – only for the Republic to respond by unleashing its own superweapons, the very same ones which nearly laid waste to Arene, as we've now learned from our contacts in the city as travel to and from it opens up once more.
According to our sources in the Imperial Army, early estimates indicate that these weapons, currently named 'Eikons' due to their grotesque attempt at imitating angels, killed nearly as many Republican soldiers as they did Imperial ones once they reached the battlefield. Even so, they were no match for the Empire's own superior magically-enhanced supersoldiers, who brought them down and ended their murderous rampage – though not without taking casualties of their own for the first time in the War.
Exhausted, surrounded, cut off from the chain of command and having witnessed their comrades slain by the hundred by the very warriors they were told would deliver them, the Francois soldiers did the only thing they could, and surrendered. An exact count of the dead and captured has yet to be announced, but it is certain that tens of thousands of Republican soldiers will require accommodations in the Empire's prison camps in the immediate future, even as the Imperial Army now prepares to march onto Parisee and demand the Francois government's surrender.
And yet, despite all of this, and the many sacrifices made by our brave soldiers, peace is still a distant dream. For at the last hour of what should have been the final battle of the Great War, the Allied Kingdom decided to strike, unprovoked and unannounced. Without even sending a formal declaration of war, two entire battalions of Albish aerial mages crossed the border and flew over the Rhine, striking down several Imperial mages on their way to attack our Army's headquarters.
Given the state of the battle at the time, all such a strike would've achieved would be delaying the inevitable, resulting in still more losses of life on both sides. But thankfully, they were stopped in their tracks by a single Imperial supersoldier held in reserve precisely for such an occurrence, and their attempt to push through regardless was thwarted by the valor of our soldiers, led by the battlefield commander Colonel Eric von Lergen, who is rumored to have faced the leader of the Albish mages himself, denouncing the Kingdom's actions before forcing him to flight.
Such a cowardly course of action shouldn't come at a surprise for anyone who has studied the Allied Kingdom's history. For such has always been Albion's policy : to pit the powers of Europa against one another, using borrowed blades to bleed us all dry so that none can challenge Albion's oversea empire, built on ruthless conquest and exploitation of the locals …
Excerpt from the front-page of the Berun Post, May 27th, 1925.
NEW PRIME MINISTER CHURBULL ISSUES WAR DECLARATION IN IMPASSIONED SPEECH TO PARLIAMENT !
For a long time, we of the Allied Kingdom have watched with growing concern as the Empire's expansionist ambitions devoured country after country. Now, through cruel and underhanded means, the Empire has defeated the Francois Republic's army, forcing its leaders to choose between ignoble surrender or annihilation by their terrible Wunderwaffen. All analysts we've reached are in agreement : the final defeat of the Republic is near.
Knowing that this would leave the Empire as unquestioned master of Europa, our Kingdom's government has called for unity in the name of preventing this grim future from coming to pass. As the newly nominated Prime Minister Churbull said in his speech to Parliament : 'If the Empire is not stopped, then a new and terrible age shall dawn upon Europa, illuminated by the fell light of evil magicks bent to serve the Kaiser's all-consuming ambition'.
In related news, the Under-Secretary of the War Office stepped down, taking full responsibility for the intervention of the Aerial Mage Forces to the Rhine ahead of the declaration of war. In his resignation speech, he claimed to have acted on his own 'in the interests of the Kingdom', hoping that the mages would be able to 'prevent the complete encirclement and destruction of the Republican Army', willingly bearing the dishonor of attacking before the declaration of war for the good of the Kingdom. He'll be consigned to his residence in Londinium until his fate can be decided by a military tribunal …
Excerpt from the front-page of the Londinium Times, May 28th, 1925.
IMPERIAL ARMY ROLLS INTO PARISEE, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT SURRENDERS !
Yesterday, after a final confrontation with the pitifully small reserve forces the Republic had hurled at them in a vain attempt at delaying the inevitable, the Imperial Army reached and entered the capital o f the Francois Republic. The situation there was in a state of some confusion, as news of their army's defeat had been suppressed by the state and all kind of wild rumors circulated, most of them related to the Eikons dispatched to the front four days prior.
In the end, however, the nightmare scenario of urban warfare within the streets of Parisee was adverted as the Francois President (whose role in the Republic is similar to that of our own Chancellor as chief of the executive branch of government) made a speech broadcast all across the city.
In his speech, the Francois President acknowledged the defeat of the Republican Army, and laid the blame for the disaster at the foot of General De Lugo, Vice-Minister of Defense and the Armed Forces. The President claimed it was De Lugo who gave the order to deploy Francois' own superweapons, developed in a program apparently so secret its existence was concealed from the President himself, despite being unable to control them.
A cynical mind might look at the Francois President's speech and note that it was carefully worded to imply the defeat was entirely due to the Eikons' lack of reliability without every stating it outright, thus preserving the pride of the Republic. But the most important part of that speech was a formal surrender of the Republic in its war against the Empire, and a request to all citizens to remain peaceful as peace negotiations began and Parisee itself was occupied by the Imperial Army.
The discussions concerning the terms of the Francois surrender are presently ongoing. At the same time, efforts to find the disgraced De Lugo and bring him to justice have yet to succeed …
Excerpt from the front-page of the Berun Post, June 1st, 1925.
"… Now is the time to break free of the lies that have kept us chained for so long, to reject the great illusion that war can in any way benefit our nation. As our brothers and sisters in Arene learned first-hand, war between countries is a foolish pursuit, serving no purpose except to stroke the pride of those in power …
… Is this defeat humiliating ? Yes, undeniably so. The sting of it burns, and will continue to do so for years and decades to come. But we must not give in to our primitive impulses. It was fear of the Empire that drove our government to join the war, and we all saw what came from it : hatred must not now take the place of fear …
… already so many sons of Francois have perished, but for the sake of those who yet live and those yet to be born, we must make peace. We need not forget, or even forgive, but we must end this bloody cycle of revenge …"
Excerpts from a pamphlet found across Parisee, titled La Véritée (also the name of a newspaper whose publication was stopped by the Francois government soon after the onset of the Great War due to 'unpatriotic and treasonous allegations'), May 30th, 1925.
"Francois will never surrender to the Imperial beast !"
"Fight back against the acolytes of Hell !"
"The Republic will never fall !"
"God is with us ! DEUS IO VULT !"
"Parisee stands !"
Various graffitis found on the walls of buildings in Parisee following the Republic's formal surrender.
From : Major Tanya Degurechaff
To : Brigadier General Hans von Zettour
Subject : Status Report
Date : June 1st, 1925
Brigadier General,
Three of the ten instances of Projekt U deployed on the Rhine Front were lost during the fight with the Eikons. I would appreciate your support for the decorations I have recommended them for in light of their ultimate sacrifice for the Reich. All remaining instances of Projekt U have been recalled to Castle Schwartzstein for debriefing and examination. I remind you that we do not yet know the long-term effects of using the Endlose Nacht serum, nor what effects on their biology exposure to the Eikon's blood might have. Therefore, I respectfully advise against deploying these instances again until we've finished this line of investigation. The instances who remained at Castle Schwartzstein and weren't deployed to the Rhine Front should be kept in reserve in case the Eikons are located.
The materials recovered from the Albish attack have been received, and preparations are ongoing to create new instances of Projekt U to replace the losses sustained by the Projekt from them. However, even if the process goes exactly as planned and there are no complications, it will still take several months for the new instances to be satisfyingly combat-ready.
While Projekt W took no losses, its instances have also been recalled in order to check the impact of prolonged battle as well as to provide treatment for injuries beyond their natural ability to recover from. Again, I would appreciate your support for the commendations I have submitted for them due to their exemplary performance on the Rhine Front.
Along with the support to the investigation into the source of the Eikons, a team has been dispatched to secure the former site of the Republican command center. I am aware of the strategic value of the documents to be found within, but I once again strongly advise against sending anyone not affiliated with Division Y within the fortress for the time being. Projekt V is one of the most dangerous Wunderwaffen designed by Division Y, and I do not believe the present state of the Republic justifies risking the mental and physical health of ill-prepared men.
Agent E and the Imperial soldiers who witnessed the engagement between Projekt U and the Eikons have both arrived to Castle Schwartzstein and are currently being debriefed before being sent through our training course. With the Kingdom openly joining the war and given the recent signs that our lines of communication have been penetrated (by which I mean the Eclipsed Liberation event at Arene and the attempted decapitating strike on the Rhine), I intend to use the former to review and enhance our counter-espionage measures. The latter will be added to our pool of guards and all-purpose infantry, which is ever more needed as the Division's activities increase in scale thank to our additional funding.
Finally, please pass on my compliments to Colonel Lergen. His leadership of the Division's assets was impeccable. You might, however, find it useful to discuss his confrontation with the Albish mages with him, as what his bodyguards have reported to me seems like it might have worrying implications in the future.
For the Fatherland.
June 2nd, 1925 – Imperial Capital Berun – Central Headquarters of the Imperial Army
Brigadier Generals Zettour and Rudersdorf, who after the triumphant success of Operation Shock & Awe could well be considered the most influential men in the Empire, were meeting within one of the many sound-proofed rooms of the Central Headquarters. A pile of documents was spread out on the table between them, around a nearly-overflowing ashtray.
"We were so close to ending the war," bemoaned Rudersdorf, holding his head in his hands. The two of them were alone : there was no need to keep up the facade he presented to the rest of the staff at Central Headquarters. "What the hell were the Albish thinking ?!"
"Their official position is that this was all their War Office's Under-Secretary's doing," replied Zettour with a straight face, pointing at one of the documents. "The rest of them had nothing to do with it."
Rudersdorf scoffed, and muttered something that would've had his old nanny box his ear is she had heard him say it.
"Of all the self-serving bollocks … Do they really expect us to believe that ?!"
"I am certain they don't," answered Zettour with a wry smile. "But we aren't the intended audience : their own population is. If their not-so-little raid had succeeded, the public would praise them for such a keen tactical move, but failure is much less forgivable."
That much was an axiom of warfare and politics. Zettour didn't doubt the Under-Secretary had been involved in sending the unit of aerial mages to intervene in the Rhine, but the notion that he might have done so without the approval of his superior was laughable for anyone with even the slightest inkling of how militaries worked and how valuable such units were.
"They are accusing us of having always had expansionist ambitions, can you believe that ?" Rudersdorf scoffed while picking up a news clipping from the Kingdom before tossing it aside. "Utter nonsense. Our entire military doctrine of internal lines is predicated on us fighting defensive wars. The push toward Parisee alone showed us just how much extending our supply lines hurts our ability to fight."
Zettour nearly winced at the memory. As the one responsible for arranging the logistics of the advance, he was all too aware of how difficult the entire thing had been. If the Francois reinforcements they had intercepted on the way to the enemy capital hadn't been thrown into near-complete chaos by the news filtering from the front, dealing with them would've been much more difficult. Fortunately, knowing that their main army had been crushed and that the 'Holy Knights' which had flown ahead had been defeated after a disastrous deployment had broken their resolve.
"You cannot deny that such ambitions do exist within the Reich," Zettour pointed out. "You and I may be perfectly content with securing the Fatherland's current borders, but dreams of conquest are widespread across both the civilian and military population."
"More the former than the latter, I'd wager," grunted Rudersdorf.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, old friend. It's not like it has been so long since the Empire expanded to its current size." Both the Republic and the Empire still had many veterans of the last time they'd clashed within their ranks, after all.
"We are not going to annex the Entente and the Republic," said Rudersdorf forcefully. "That would be beyond foolish. We might be able to absorb Dacia, and we'll definitely settle the question of Norden in our favor once and for all. Maybe we'll get a few of the more valuable and less troublesome colonies from the Republic too while we're at it. But anything more would be foolish. Surely even the most rabid patriot can understand that !"
"I am not saying they don't," Zettour placated his choleric friend. "I am saying that presenting the Empire in that light abroad sounds all too plausible, and propaganda can work with far less than that. Keep in mind, the Albish have managed to convince their population that they are beacons of Enlightenment while at the same time maintaining the world's largest colonial empire, so they are old hands at convincing the masses to ignore blatant contradictions and lies in the state's speeches."
Zettour probably wasn't being fair to the Allied Kingdom. But then again, he didn't particularly feel like being fair to the Albish at the moment. Their little stunt had almost cost them Colonel Lergen, who had indirectly given them Major Degurechaff and all of Division Y, and had cost them the lives of far too many aerial mages. A few of the bodies had been recovered in a good enough state to be shipped off to Castle Schwartzstein, but that was poor consolation.
"The Albish cannot hope to win a land war against us alone, and that's without taking Division Y into account once they have recovered from their efforts on the Rhine." Privately, Zettour doubted the Division needed much time at all, but he understood why the Major might want to limit the Imperial Army's reliance on the Wunderwaffen, so he'd play along for now. "I doubt they will even try until they can get someone else to join in. Their Navy, however, is another matter entirely."
"A blockade then, you reckon ?" Rudersdorf said, frowning.
"It seems the most likely option," nodded Zettour. "They'll try to starve our economy and keep us from landing our own forces on their mainland while their diplomats search for allies and their spies search for information on the Wunderwaffen. We might also see a few aerial probes and naval raids."
"You know, between Arene and now this, I'm wondering what the hell our own counter-espionage folks are doing," grumbled Rudersdorf. "Do you think they could manage to get into Castle Schwartzstein itself, though ?"
Zettour smiled mirthlessly. "If they do, then I'm certain they'll get exactly what they deserve. But I'm confident Major Degurechaff is aware of the danger and taking all necessary precautions. Out of all of us, she's the one most worried about what she described as a 'Mythos proliferation scenario'."
"'Mythos' ?" queried Rudersdorf.
"Hmm ? Oh, right. Something the Major said once in one of our conversations while referring to Division Y's work. It stuck with me."
"Well, I suppose it does have a bit more gravitas than 'Elder sorcery'," Rudersdorf admitted. "Still, given what happened in Francois, isn't that scenario already inevitable ?"
"Not necessarily. It really seems like De Lugo was the one running the entire Eikon program without telling anyone. I can understand why : many of the Republican mages who were converted into Eikons were members of influential families, and they aren't exactly pleased with their sons being experimented upon and turned into lunatics. We're still investigating, but it seems the whole thing is quite recent – like it didn't start until after Arene, in fact, with the ones Degurechaff fought there being the prototypes, so to speak."
"Our enemies just happened to stumble on something like that, even though it took months for Division Y to get anywhere with their Projekte ?" asked Rudersdorf, his scepticism evident. "That seems a little too convenient to me."
"I understand and share your doubts," Zettour assured his colleague. "The Major has sent a team to assist the investigation in Parisee on that matter. We will have to wait and see what they find, and hope that no more Eikons pop up." He grimaced. "Well, apart from the one who escaped the Rhine."
Despite the … commendable enthusiasm of the Untoten, not all of Francois' mad creations had been slain. Near the end of the battle, half of the handful of survivors had abruptly departed while the other half sacrificed themselves to keep the Untoten busy. The sight of their departure had convinced the last Republican hold-outs to join the overwhelming majority of their fellows and surrender, although if Zettour had read between the lines of the field reports' correctly, a suspicious number of 'accidental fire incidents' had occurred within the ranks of these units beforehand.
The Brigadier General didn't blame them. An officer who didn't value the lives of the men under his command was no officer at all.
"We still don't know where they vanished to ?" asked Rudersdorf. Zettour shook his head.
"Once they left the range of our detection arrays, they were gone," he explained. "Given how they left, they must've had a destination in mind, but so far, nothing. Of course, it's only been a few days."
"And they aren't exactly stealthy," continued Rudersdorf. "Alright, let's table that particular problem for now. With how dishonourably the Kingdom has acted, there's going to be a lot of pressure on us to strike back. What do you suggest ?"
"Well, we'll need to talk with the Navy, that's for sure. Unless you're talking about Division Y ?"
Rudersdorf shook his head. "No. We can't fight a war depending solely on the Wunderwaffen. For now, let's limit ourselves to more conventional means, and keep Division Y as a back-up plan for emergencies … at least until we're sure to have plugged our security leaks. If we're lucky and the Eikons were a fluke, then the absolutely last thing the Empire, no, the world needs, is this 'Mythos proliferation scenario'. Really, anything that worries that girl is something to be very cautious of."
"On that," Zettour grimaced at the thought of what that kind of world might look like, "we are very much agreed."
"The quarantine around Arene ended when the Empire had to focus its efforts on reach Parisee and needed all its personnel to support the logistical efforts of such an advance into foreign territory. Thanks to this, we've been able to enter the city, and what we found was quite disturbing.
By and large, the people of Arene blame the Republic for the battle that took place in the city, which they call the 'Eclipsed Liberation'. We now know that the operation wasn't conducted solely by Republican aerial mages, but was in fact spearheaded by the first 'Eikon' supersoldiers, which started the uprising by attacking the train station, where the intelligence we'd provided the Republic told them a new Wunderwaffe would be delivered.
We believe that the Wunderwaffe brought to Arene was the one later responsible for the destruction of the Republican Army's headquarters, and that it wasn't expended in repelling the attack on Arene as was previously thought. Instead, the defeat of the uprising can be laid at the feet of a new, never-encountered type of supersoldier that the locals have taken to calling the Lady of Stars.
Included with this report are painted pictures of the Lady of Stars, which fought the twelve Eikons who participated in the attack and handily defeated them, killing their leader on the steps of the Kalerian Cathedral and forcing the survivors to flight. As they fought, the very skies above Arene looked like a star-filled night sky (despite the attack taking place in the middle of the day), with what the citizens of Arene refer to as an 'alien moon' shining directly above the city.
During their running battle across Arene against the Lady of Stars, the Eikons were as careless with their shots as they're reported to have been on the Rhine Front, which partly accounts for the citizens' new distrust of the Republic.
Only partly, however, and thus we get to the more disturbing aspect of what we found in Arene. It seems that a cult of some sort has taken root in the city. They call themselves the Path of Stars, and they were eager to speak about what happened during the failed Republican operation as well as their beliefs with us when they thought us to be mere civilians from out of town.
The Path of Stars are firmly opposed to the war, even to the very concept of nations, believing all humans to be born equal and deserving of the same respect. The conviction with which they speak of this is disturbing : they look like fanatics having experienced religious rapture more than people who were convinced by Imperial propaganda or even persuaded through logical arguments. They also seem to regard the Lady of Stars as a prophet of sorts, and assigned the end of hostilities between the Empire and the Republic due to the latter's capitulation to her influence.
While there is no concrete evidence of this, we believe that Tanya Degurechaff, whose presence at the train station we managed to confirm, might be the 'civilian identity', so to speak, of the Lady of Stars. Attached to this report are also the conclusions of our investigation into Tanya Degurechaff, who we now believe to be an early instance of human-shaped Wunderwaffe, similar to the 'Devils of the Rhine' and the Imperial stealth mages, albeit one much more powerful – as even the stealth mages struggled to fight the Eikons during the final battle of the Rhine, whereas the Lady of Stars overcame twelve on her own. The possibility that she possesses some kind of mind-altering ability also cannot be discounted, as we find it hard to believe a city as wrought by anti-Imperial sentiment as Arene was would change its tune so quickly and suddenly."
Excerpt from the report of Agent 404, Albion Secret Service, June 2nd, 1925.
June 4th, 1925 – Londinium
The mood in the room where the Round Table met was one of mixed dread and exhaustion. None of the men present had slept well in the last few days, and it showed. Keeping the Kingdom from falling apart in the wake of the Republic's collapse and their own disastrous attempt at turning the tide of battle on the Rhine Front had taken its toll. But they all endured it and didn't mention it to one another.
They had thrown Kay's second-in-command under the metaphorical bus in order to keep things stable on the home front, but that had mostly been for the public's benefit in order to maintain trust in the Kingdom's military prowess. Behind closed doors, it had taken a lot more work to form a coalition willing to formally declare war against the Empire – and, more importantly, work together for the duration of that conflict. The fear of the Empire establishing a Wunderwaffen-enforced hegemony over the entire continent hadn't been enough in itself : Mordred in particular looked half-dead from all the secret deals, cashed-in favors, threats and outright bribery that had been needed to keep the vast and complicated machine of the Allied Kingdom from breaking apart at such a critical juncture.
They had considered avoiding declaring war, even if it would have meant eating crow and discreetly making reparations to the Empire. The Imperial Army was doubtlessly already weary of conflict, so that should have been possible, and would have given the Kingdom more time to ply its spycraft in order to learn the secrets of the Wunderwaffen. But doing so would have been the equivalent of formally crowning the Empire as the continental hegemon the Kingdom had feared for centuries. The Republic and the Entente would end up firmly under the Empire's influence, Dacia would most likely be formally integrated to the Empire, and anyone who thought the Reich would stop advancing its Wunderwaffen program further in times of peace was an idiot. No, the only chance for the Allied Kingdom to achieve its goals was to strike now, while the Imperial Army was still off-balance from being spread out across the three countries it had defeated.
None of them thought it would be easy. For the first time in years, the Kingdom found itself fighting a war where it was definitely the underdog. Nevertheless, they would push on. Full-scale mobilization had begun on the mainland, and the colonial governors were being pressured for resources and manpower. Nor were their efforts limited to their borders : in the Southern Continent, agents were at work stirring trouble within the Republican colonies, whispering into the ears of the generals who had been exiled there that now was the time for them to claim glory by refusing to bend the knee to the Imperial invaders of the mainland. And all across the world, their diplomats were trying to gather support against the Empire, using a combination of propaganda and backroom deals.
"Well, this is a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into," said Mordred, breaking the gloomy silence. "I don't suppose there is any chance that the Francois will keep on fighting to the bitter end to keep their nation free of foreign tyrants despite their President's speech ?"
"If you're talking about the population as a whole, then absolutely not," replied Agravain. "De Lugo was the face of the war for most Francois. Now that he is gone, and with a scandal like this atop such a crushing military defeat, the fighting spirit has been punched out of the Republic's leadership."
"Surely there'll be some resistance, though ?"
"Oh, undoubtedly. But the Empire's diplomats aren't idiots. The terms they offered to the Republic are, frankly speaking, almost insultingly reasonable. Formal recognition of the Republic's responsibility in escalating the war with their surprise attack on the Rhine, disarmament of most of its troops, occupation of military bases until the end of hostilities – which would've been much sooner if not for us – along with the seizure of their stockpiles of war materials … Oh, and the discussion of a demilitarized zone being established on the border on the Francois side, with the details to be decided in the future. It isn't nothing by any means, but they are in a position to ask for a lot more, and it's not like the Republic would have any choice but to comply."
"So the civilians won't rise up in hordes to throw out the Imperials, and the Imperials won't be stupid enough to cause a massacre and give them a reason to in the first place," said Mordred. "And the Republican Army is out for the count. What about their Navy ? They got the ships of the Entente after Legadonia fell, didn't they ? What are they doing ?"
"The combined Francois fleet was massing at the port of Brest, probably in the hope of being ready to join us to face the Imperial Navy when we joined the war openly," answered Agravain. "The majority of the ships left anchor before the surrender was signed and are now operating on their own : some of them are on their way to us, others are moving to the Francois colonies. Those that remained will be seized by the Empire as part of the terms of surrender soon."
"We can't allow that," said Kay immediately. "The Imperial Navy is far from being ours' match, but we have too many commitments across the globe. If they seize the Republic's ships, they might have enough of a fleet to threaten our homeland."
"We could attack and sink the ships in the harbor, but that's not a decision to make lightly," warned Agravain. "For one thing, it would turn a vast part of the Republic against us. And in any case, it's out of our hands now. Prime Minister Churbull will have to make that call."
"Ah, right. Mordred, did you manage to meet him ?"
"Yes. Prime Minister Churbull has been briefed about what little we know of the Empire's Wunderwaffen and Division Y, and I made sure he knew he could rely on our support as he guides the country through this crisis."
"What was his reaction ?"
"Well, he didn't tell us to start ratifying our unconditional surrender to the Empire, so all in all, pretty good I'd say." Mordred sighed. "Joking aside, he takes the threat of Imperial hegemony as seriously as any of us. And now that we know the Francois managed to develop their own supersoldiers, even if they fucked it up, he wants us to get into the game as well. So we'll have his support in our efforts to learn more about Division Y's activities at least. Speaking of that, how is Isaac doing ?"
"He will live," grunted Kay. "But he won't ever get back to the battlefield. He is planning to retire as the head of the Drake family and have his nephew William take over. Still, he told me everything he could, including the things that didn't make it into the official report."
"Indeed. And combined with what we've learned of the events in Arene, this is all quite … confusing," said Agravain, showing quite the mastery of understatement.
The strike by Drake's mage unit had been aimed at keeping the Republic in the fight, but also at gaining any possible intelligence on Division Y and its Wunderwaffen. While that side of the mission certainly couldn't be called a complete success, it wasn't a complete failure either. They had learned a lot about the capabilities of the Empire's stealth mages, for instance : prior to this, nobody had any idea that they could forego stealth in exchange for a massive boost in their combat potential – so massive, it let just one of them take on an entire wing of elite aerial mages and win. There had to be some sort of cost for that, otherwise the Imperial flag would have flown over Parisee months ago, but what it was, they'd no idea.
Then, of course, there was what had happened within the command bunker. The knowledge that the Imperials apparently had guns that could pierce right through a mage's protective shield had been yet another unwelcome revelation. Combined with the report they'd received about Arene and the discussion between Drake and the enemy commander, they'd been forced to review all that they'd assumed about Division Y's chain of command.
"You can say that again," scowled Kay. "Just what the hell is Degurechaff ?! De Lugo insisted that she was the one responsible for all of Division Y, but Lergen was the one in charge on the Rhine. Do we know anything about him ?"
"We do, as a matter of fact. Take a look." Agravain put a photograph on the table, showing a man with black hair and a pair of glasses wearing an Imperial uniform and staring straight into the camera in the stern, emotionless way people did for official photographs in all civilized nations. "This is Eric von Lergen, a Colonel attached to the Central Headquarters of the Imperial Army, specifically the Operations section."
"That was fast," remarked Kay.
"That would be because the good Colonel was already a subject of interest related to our investigation into Tanya Degurechaff."
"How so ?" asked Merlin, speaking up for the first time since the start of the discussion.
"Our agents have been able to find out that Degurechaff was raised in an Imperial orphanage until her high magic potential was detected as part of the Empire's nationwide testing for magic aptitude. She then immediately joined the Army, despite being absurdly young, so someone had to have pulled some strings there."
That went without saying. The Empire's mage conscription laws might technically lack a lower age limit, but surely someone would have raised a protest over having a child of barely seven years join the Imperial Army. That it hadn't happened was a tell-tale sign there was something sinister afoot.
"We haven't been able to get the records of her time at the Academy," continued Agravain, "but we did get a note that apparently Eric von Lergen intervened during a disciplinary matter concerning her. More importantly, it was him who suggested she be transferred to Division Y upon graduation."
There was a moment of silence as the group of some of the most powerful men in Albion digested the news.
"So," Kay said at last, "she isn't the leader of the Division after all. Merely one of their early living weapons, whom this Lergen kept watch over ? But then why send her to an orphanage in the first place ?"
"Practicality ?" suggested Mordred. "Regardless of how they created her, she would have started as a baby. I know I wouldn't trust our scientists with caring for a real, flesh-and-blood infant : most of them can barely keep themselves from starving to death. Or maybe they wanted to see if she could mix with normal people without raising suspicion. Do we know anything else to Lergen ?"
"Well, before being assigned to Operations, Lergen worked in Personnel. Meaning he would be in the perfect place to locate people of interests as well as covertly smooth things out for their living weapon as she made her way through the system until she was ready to return to the fold."
"In the end," Agravain cut the discussion short, "this is a matter that will require further investigation. Right now, what matters the most is how we can fight back against the Wunderwaffen in the short-term, or else this is going to be a very short war. Merlin ?"
"I actually may have something," said the Royal Wizard hesitantly. "After what I found out by accident in the records, I expanded the parameters of my search and it turns out that the record of the battle against the Not-Man and his creations from a thousand years ago might not have been the first time such a threat came to pass. If my theory is correct, then thousands of years ago, in the Southern Continent, a similar evil rose. The priests of the time wielded primitive but very real magic, and they led the forces of their god-king into battle against this enemy."
Kay blinked. "Where did you find anything like that ?"
"In the last century, our country had something of a … fascination, let's say, for the Land of the Pyramids." Merlin sighed. "Frankly, it bordered on the obsession, and it definitely didn't help our reputation in the Southern Continent. A lot of priceless relics were destroyed or lost during that time, but my predecessors managed to salvage some of the more interesting pieces and stored copies into the archives of my office. I was very lucky to find what I was looking for only after a week or so of research."
"That was very lucky," said Mordred, surprised. He had caught a glimpse of the Royal Wizard's archives once. Politely phrased, you could said they were exhaustive; less politely, that they were the results of generations of compulsive hoarders gathering everything even remotely linked to magic they could find.
"Indeed. Just like in the Dark Ages text, the priests of the era apparently purged all trace of their enemy after its defeat, but they kept the records of the spells they used against it, with just enough description of the intended targets for me to recognize them. And I have found the scrolls on which these spells were recorded. I haven't tested them yet, but the spell formulas appear to be sound."
"It sounds like something out of the penny dreadful," muttered Kay, shaking his head. "An ancient evil, rising every thousand years or so to unleash its monstrous creations upon the world, only to be defeated by holy warriors each time ? How are we supposed to present this to Parliament and not get laughed out ?"
"Simple : we don't," said Mordred curtly. "Everything about this should be treated as a state secret, and Agravain's people will continue their efforts to learn more about Division Y, and we will see whether Lergen or Degurechaff are related to this … this 'Not-Man'. Now, Merlin, those spells you found. What do they do ?"
"If I've translated the first one correctly, then it is meant to bar the passage of the evil one's creations. There are more, but I haven't been able to work on them yet."
"… If this works, then it would be a huge advantage," admitted Kay.
"Even if it works, there will be limitations," warned Merlin. "I doubt I can do much more than ward Londinium itself, and just that will require a lot of effort and resources."
"Do we really think the Imperials would attack Londinium ?" asked Mordred. "They have been very careful to follow the laws of war thus far."
"I don't think they would bomb us, no," said Kay pensively. "But they don't need to : their stealth mages could just fly in at night and perform targeted assassinations : I don't think there is anything in the laws of war about, say, leaving Churbull's head atop the statue of Trafalgar Square. If these spells can prevent that, they are worth trying out. Alright. What do you need to get it done, Merlin ?"
The Royal Wizard began to list the requirements of the warding spell, some of which were frankly bizarre, but none of which should be impossible to find. For the first time since the news of the Rhine disaster had reached them, the members of the Round Table began to feel a cautious sense of optimism. They were still far from unravelling the mystery of Division Y, but even the prospect of a way to fight back against its Wunderwaffen was enough to lift their spirits.
June 6th, 1925 – Francois Republic, somewhere on the Southern coast
As the smuggling boat approached them, Pierre-Michel De Lugo reflected that their group must make for a strange sight indeed. Two Holy Knights, back in their mortal guise, their eyes glowing golden within their stone-like faces and their skin pale and smooth as marble; the Archbishop of Parisee, deprived of his robes of office; and him, out of uniform for the first time in years.
They had made their way across the country all the way down from Parisee, though De Lugo didn't remember much of the trip. Since hearing the news of the Holy Knights' defeat and the failure of his final gamble to save the Republic, the former Vice-Minister had been in a state of shock, barely aware of his surroundings, his mind endlessly replaying the last few months, wondering what he should have done to avoid this disaster. If not for the Archbishop coming to extract him from the capital, De Lugo would probably be in the hands of the Imperial Army by now – if not hung or shot by a furious mob for his failures that had led to the deaths of so many of their sons, brothers and husbands.
De Lugo didn't resent the President for denouncing him. After all, he had failed. Failed the Army, failed his country, failed God Himself. He had fully resigned himself to his doom, and even at least partially looked forward to an end to it all. Instead, here he was. All he knew was what the Archbishop had told him : that the Lord still had a use for him in the holy struggle against the Empire. Still, that he'd been given an unexpected second chance didn't diminish the magnitude of his failings in the slightest.
The boat dropped anchor, and a man descended into the shallow waters before walking up to them. Apart from the rosary hanging around his neck, there was nothing to mark the man's allegiance.
"Archbishop, General," he greeted them with a thick Ildoan accent. "I am Dominico. Please follow me."
"Wait," De Lugo found himself saying. "Where exactly are you taking us ?"
Dominico smiled. "To the Holy See, of course. His Holiness has been eager to meet all of you."
"His … His Holiness ?" asked De Lugo, shocked. It had been years since the leader of the Holy See had gotten involved into the base politics of the wider world. As a whole, the Church had become more and more detached from the affairs of state as the countries of Europa became unwilling to allow such interference from an outside power.
Was this when they had started losing their way, ultimately allowing the Empire to fall to heresy ?
"Yes," Dominico nodded, before turning to the Archbishop. "Months ago, His Holiness received a vision from the Lord, much like you did, your Excellency. And then again a few days ago, commanding him to reach out to you so that the blessed warriors of Francois could be rescued from the heretics' grasp and continue fighting the good fight. You are not the first ones to have been rescued like this : one of our most important recruits come from the Empire itself, having had his eyes opened by the Lord to his nation's evil."
"I … I am honored beyond words to have been judged worthy," De Lugo managed to say. "I will do all I can to assist His Holiness in riding the world of the Empire's evil."
"Then let me welcome you, General, Archbishop, and blessed scions of Francois," said Dominico with a benevolent smile, "to the Congregation of Michael."
From : Military Doctor Viktor Weber
To : Director Tanya Degurechaff
Subject : Legadonian captives
Date : June 10th, 1925
Director,
There has been an outbreak of sickness in the detention facility for Legadonian mages. From what we can tell, the contagion is perfectly ordinary. Nevertheless, following your request that we err on the side of caution where these prisoners are concerned, we request that an expert be sent from Castle Schwartzstein to ensure there is nothing wrong with our guests on the occult side of things as well as on the medicinal one.
From : Director Tanya Degurechaff
To : Military Doctor Viktor Weber
Subject : Request granted
Date : June 11th, 1925
Request granted. Additional medical personnel and magical testing apparatus will arrive on-site within two weeks. Be aware that, for personal health reasons, I will be accompanying the medical team.
June 18th, 1925 – The Unified States
In the capital of a nation that, to the venerable and arrogant Europan powers, was still very much in its infancy, a man sat in the office of his predecessors. By the reckoning of most, he was the most powerful man on the continent, but such power did not come without heavy responsibilities and duties, and could never be wielded freely – not that the man thought it should be, for such would go against all the values of his country that he'd sworn to uphold upon taking his current position two years prior after the death of the man who'd sat in this chair before him.
The majority of the States' citizens had no interest in joining a Europan war, and the President could hardly blame them. If this were a normal war, he would leave the folks of the Old Continent kill each other until they were exhausted. The stories coming out of Arene also weren't exactly putting the Empire's opposition in the best of lights.
The problem was, it wasn't a normal war, and hadn't been since the Imperials had wiped out the Dacian Army with their first revealed Wunderwaffe.
The President had seen the records of the so-called 'Devils of the Rhine' in action. At first, he hadn't believed them to be real, though whether they were mere propaganda or the Imperials deciding to use illusion magic for terror effects had been unclear. He knew better now, having received independent confirmation from the few brave American war reporters who'd been willing to risk the trenches for a shot at glory. At least their pictures weren't being taken seriously by most of the population, for the same reasons the President and his staff hadn't. Only the most religious fringes believed the images to be real, and they had taken to preaching vehemently for the US to join the war against what they saw as a clear alliance between the Empire and the darkness of Hell itself.
Of course, the President himself didn't believe the Empire had made some kind of pact with the Devil. He was a man of God, but still considered himself rational. Much more likely the Devils of the Rhine and the rest of the Imperial Wunderwaffen were the fruits of decades of secret magical research, driven by the Empire being surrounded on all sides by enemy powers and seeking a way to ensure its security.
The problem was, the Imperial researchers, whoever they were, had done their job too well.
Yes, there was an entire ocean between the States and the Empire, but with every advance in orbal and aviation technology, the significance of that distance diminished a little more. The latest simulations the General Staff had brought him showed that, with only slightly optimistic assumptions about the capabilities of current Imperial technology, one of their stealth mages could cross the ocean in a few days and there would be absolutely nothing they could do to stop or even notice them. And while a single mage didn't sound like much, the thought of an undetectable flying killer operating freely within their borders was enough to give nightmares to the people charged with the country's security.
And that was just one of the Empire's arsenal of superweapons, which it had kept so secret no one had even suspected it existed until the Dacian Army had been destroyed in less than a day. To this day, there was fierce debate within the intelligence community as to why the Empire had only deployed its Wunderwaffen against Dacia and not straight to the Rhine Front. Theories ranged from Imperial high command itself not being fully aware of what the Wunderwaffen were capable of, to Division Y, the Wunderwaffen's mysterious makers, having acted of their own initiative because their headquarters were located somewhere the Dacian Army threatened to stumble upon.
At present, there was no reason for the Unified States to join the war against the Empire, nor was there a reason for the Empire to attack the States. And, God willing, things would remain as such for the rest of the President's term, and that of his successor. But what about his successor's successor ? Or his successor ? Peace between nations could never be guaranteed to last forever, safe in empty rhetoric.
It was his job to ensure the safety of his country in the long run, not just in the few short years he would be at its helm. Which meant he had to obtain some manner of counter to the Imperial Wunderwaffen, to guarantee that the Empire couldn't just roll over the States if the whim took it. The States had fought long and hard for their independence from Europan powers, and he wouldn't be damned by History for failing to recognize the threat in time.
Hence the various discreet efforts he'd authorized to support the Allied Kingdom in its now singular struggle against the Empire … as well as tonight's meeting.
The door to his office opened after a polite knock, and a guard introduced two men inside. One of them was an aide to the President, who had worked for him loyally through years of public office; the other looked to be in his mid-forties, with black hair and a short mustache, and a wild look in his eyes. He carried a briefcase, holding it close as if it were full of gold.
"This is Nicol Teslus, Mister President," the aide introduced him.
"Glad to meet you, Mister Teslus," said the President after exchanging a surprisingly firm handshake with the man. "I have heard a lot of things about you. They tell me you are one of this country's pre-eminent magical engineers."
"Indeed, Mister President. Though I'm only a middling mage myself, I've already designed a computation orb twice as efficient as those museum pieces your soldiers are using," Teslus boasted.
The President glanced at his aide, who nodded in confirmation. Well. That alone certainly made this meeting worthwhile, though the thought of how far behind the Empire their orbal tech must be was as painful as ever. Still, he couldn't help but give voice to his suspicions :
"If you're that good, then why weren't you working for us already ?"
"I believe there are three reasons for that, Mister President." Some of the man's boastfulness dissipated as he went on. "The first is that, for all my genius, I am a poor businessman, something I have been forced to recognize several times. Regardless of the greatness of my designs, it means little if I cannot convince others of their potential. The second is that I'm an immigrant, and one originating from the Empire to boot : your government being unwilling to trust me with development of magical weaponry is understandable if a regrettable sign of small-mindedness. The third is that … well, frankly speaking, until the Reich demonstrated the feasibility of superweapons by deploying their Wunderwaffen, the very notion seemed ridiculous to most people."
"That makes sense. But why would you be willing to work against your birth nation ?"
"The Unified States aren't at war with the Empire yet, Mister President. However," Teslus sighed, "I am not blind. As long as the Empire remains unrivalled thanks to its monopoly on magical superweapons, it has little incentive to stop fighting. Even if the Imperial soldiers themselves want to, they might be pressured to continue their conquests by public opinion, drunk on the wine of victory without being able to truly grasp its enormous cost."
"So you see," Teslus continued, "me helping the Unified States in building something capable of standing up to the Empire's Wunderwaffen isn't just good for this land which welcomed and adopted me, but also for the Empire itself – nay, for the world."
The President blinked. For a second there, he'd thought he saw a glimmer of gold in the other man's eyes, but it was gone. It must have been a trick of the light, or he was more stressed and tired than he'd thought.
"… I see. Very well. Show me what you've got then, Mister Teslus."
"With pleasure, Mister President," replied the scientist with a smile, opening his briefcase to reveal sheaves of neatly arranged paper. "To show you the potential of what I'm proposing, I believe we should start with this particular design of mine …"
AN : THERE ! An entire chapter, over 9k words, written in just four days. Is it enough, oh Muse ?! Are you satisfied ?!
Lots of fallout and lots of setting things up in this chapter. Not a lot of Mythos, but that's the way the story rolls. I spent entirely too long working out how the Kingdom would join the war after launching an attack before making a formal declaration. It turns out that in canon, Drake's attack was just never acknowledged as far as I can tell, and in the LN it wasn't even part of the plan - they were just there as observers, and then Operation Shock & Awe happened and they decided to try to help while concealing their nationality. In this story, however, things went ... differently.
The name of Nicol Teslus is credited to Pinklestia101, who suggested "Nicol Теслus", and there was no way that name would have made it through the immigration process of the times unbutchered From my (admittedly very cursory) research, the real Nikola Tesla was born in the village of Smiljan, in the Austrian Empire. Looking at Google Maps, that village would definitely be within the borders of the Empire. Hence Teslus being an Imperial immigrant in this story. And yes, his work is going to be closely monitored. Also, he's a magical engineer because, let's be honest, of course he would be in that universe. I didn't strictly need to make him a mage (Schugel isn't one as far as I can tell, and that didn't stop him from designing the Type-95 and Type-97), but I felt it would be more interesting. Finally, I changed his birthdate so that he's a bit younger here. If De Lugo (who is clearly based on De Gaulle) can be the chief of the Francois Armed Forces in 1924, then Teslus can be a couple of decades younger too.
Rudersdorf may sound out of character in his scene, but canonically, the Empire didn't have plans for invading foreign countries. And I don't mean just politically either : I mean, they literally didn't have a plan drafted for foreign campaigns, which is why the logistics of invading the Entente were so messed up. In the LN, in order to fight off the Russy Federation, they had to crib the notes of the Francois Army, which were written in case of an invasion of the Empire. So the focus on internal defense lines is entirely canonical. As for the Brigadier General's lack of interest in outright conquest, well, he did spend some time with Tanya during the Entente campaign. And while Tanya is still "just" a Major, her position as Director of Division Y does give her far more clout than she ever had in canon. Junior officer or not, when the girl who turned a gathering of crackpots into a fountain of miracles discusses the end of hostilities with you, you listen respectfully to her opinions.
Oh, and just to clarify, the Holy See is the Not!Vatican. If you have any suggestions for alternative names I could use, go ahead. And as always, please tell me what you thought of this chapter and what you are hoping to see in the future of this story, along with the usual Projekt suggestions.
Zahariel out.