IMPERIAL ARMY THREATENS KHERIAHA, BLOCKADES SUAN CANAL !
As the fog of war lifts and news from the Southern Continent begin to reach us, the true scope of Imperial ambitions and depravity is revealed. Following the retreat of the colonial troops at Al-Alamein, the Imperial Army dared not confront the might of Arigzandria and instead moved south, taking the commanders of Arigzandria by surprise and reaching Kheriaha, the capital of Kemet. There, at the very walls of the city, they performed a gruesome demonstration of the horrors their Wunderwaffen are capable of in order to frighten the Kemetians into submission. Terrifying, inhuman screams were heard all across the city as the Empire's monsters were let loose on hapless captives, whose corpses were later burned to ash to hide the evidence of these monstrous acts.
This vile tactic proved successful, and the civilian authorities opened Kheriaha to the Imperials without open resistance, though individual acts of heroic defiance still took place. Having overextended their supply lines, the Imperial troops pillaged the city to sustain themselves, the population too terrified to protest. With hundreds of thousands of civilians in reach of the Imperial Army and its monsters, the soldiers of Albion are now forced to hold their hand, lest the Imperials make their silent promise a reality and turn the Kemetian capital to cinders. Thanks to this cowardly act, the Imperial troops were able to move east and seize the Suan Canal, ruthlessly opening fire on all ships flying the flag of the Allied Kingdom, uncaring of the civilians onboard.
In a speech, Prime Minister Churbull swore that the Allied Kingdom would not let itself be bullied into submission by the Empire's brutish tactics, and promised swift retribution for the Imperial Army's barbarous actions …
Excerpt from the front-page of the Londinium Times, October 15th, 1925.
October 15th, 1925 – Londinium
Henry Carnahan cursed under his breath as he lowered his copy of the Londinium Times, unable to read any further, and looked across the table at his drinking companion.
"Can you believe this tripe ?" He scowled. "It's like they aren't even pretending to be accurate !"
Though he hadn't spent much time in Kheriaha after the battle, he was reasonably certain Captain Uger had taken them through a circuitous route to the Albish embassy there. Maybe it had been to avoid the monstrous traffic, maybe it had been to show them the people whose lives the Allied Kingdom's actions had endangered. Whatever the case, it had been enough for Henry to get an idea of the public opinion regarding what had happened thanks to his knowledge of the local language, and it was clear that the Kheriahans weren't afraid of the Empire – well, at least not anymore than any sane population would be at the presence of an armed force at its walls, whatever its provenance and intentions. As for the corpses that had been burned, well, it wasn't like the Empire could leave the bodies of the Fiends just laying around. Who knew what sicknesses might have festered in such inhuman flesh as it rotted !
No, the entire thing was a whole bunch of hogwash, deliberately cherry-picking a handful of facts and interpreting them in whatever way made the Empire look worse. By contrast, the Imperial newspaper Henry had managed to get his hands on (and which he kept in his home, not wanting to be taken for a foreign collaborator) had more or less reported the facts : that Albish activities in the desert had resulted in a horde of magically-altered monsters advancing on Kheriaha, resulting in the Imperial Southern Expedition acting quickly to protect the city. They had even praised the Albish Field Marshall for taking their warnings seriously and not interfering with their operations, despite having been kept in the dark by his own government.
"The article's writer probably didn't know the truth," answered the other man. "And even if he did, or doubted the official version of events he was given, he couldn't have published it without being accused of being working against the country. It's the way things are done these days," he continued with a somber expression.
"My friends in the Times told me that their bosses aren't even pretending they're reporting the truth anymore when they are in the building," Andrew went on. "There is a visit by blokes from the Ministry nearly every day, and not from the kind of people wearing uniforms, if you catch my drift. When it comes to the war, truth doesn't have much to do with the headlines, I'm afraid."
"And is it the same for every damn newspaper in this country ?" asked Henry.
"My old colleagues in World Today News tell me the same thing is happening there – the government doesn't seem to trust any newspaper to self-censure anymore. The Times are just more obvious about it because they tend to focus on the news in this country, while WTN covers more international stuff. But come on, Henry. You aren't stupid. You knew this was going on before."
"You're right," sighed Henry, deflating. "I suppose I already knew before, but somehow it feels different, having been involved in the whole mess and then seeing these lies printed about it. But then, you would know all about that, wouldn't you Andrew ?"
Yes, letting the Empire end the Great War as the undisputed victor would herald the country's rise as the hegemon of Europa, with the nations of Dacia, Legadonia and Francois humbled by defeat and grateful for the Empire's generous peace terms. But, as Andrew had vehemently argued in the piece whose submission to his editor at World Today News had led to his quiet firing from the newspaper, maintaining the Allied Kingdom's supremacy wasn't worth the hundreds of thousands of death that a modern war involved (and that, Henry reminded himself with a fresh shiver of dread, had been before the Wunderwaffen had even gotten involved).
"Seeing things in person does change your perspective, there's no denying that," agreed the younger man with a wince.
Andrew had worked on the Rhine Front as a war reporter, documenting the horrors of trench warfare for the Allied Kingdom and posterity, and still been there during the last days of the battle. Having witnessed the Francois' supersoldiers in action – including their callous disregard for allied casualties and willingness to open fire on friendly troops trying to withdraw – any positive opinion he might have held about the Kingdom joining the Great War had long since faded away. But despite the government interrogating him at length once he'd made his way back to the homeland in order to extract every bit of intel they could, in the end he hadn't been allowed to share that knowledge with the public, and even his attempts to protest the formal declaration of war had ended with his firing.
To say that Henry and Andrew were close would be stretching the truth. They were, however, acquaintances with a certain degree of respect for one another. Early in his career as a journalist, Andrew had been sent to interview Henry as part of a piece on one of the digs he had led, and the two had hit it off reasonably well, going for drinks together after the interview, with the Professor regaling Andrew with stories of his time outside the country that weren't exactly fit for print.
There was something different about Andrew now, but then that was to be expected. The man may not have fought himself, but he had still walked among the trenches of the Francois Republic, meeting people and talking with them only for them to be dead the next day, victim of a stray bullet or an artillery shell.
It had been a surprise when Andrew had contacted him after his return from Kemet aboard an express courier chartered by the Allied Kingdom's embassy and asked to meet him to discuss what had happened on the Southern Continent. Henry had mulled on his decision for some time, before deciding he might as well accept. He needed the distraction, if nothing else, and maybe talking about it would help.
They were in one of the many, many pubs of Londinium, though Henry hadn't visited that particular one before. He could see why Andrew had suggested they meet there in his message, though : the pub was in a part of town just the right side of respectable, and was frequented by enough other patrons that so long as they kept their voices down, nobody would be able to listen in on their conversation.
Henry should probably have been more uneasy with all that skulduggery, but after what had happened in Kemet, it would take more to disturb him. He still woke up in the middle of night in cold sweat, awakened from nightmares of being chased through alien streets by impossible monsters, and expected it would be a long time before those stopped. His wife was being far more understanding about it than he deserved, especially since he hadn't told her what had happened to him – partly because he'd been ordered to keep quiet, but mostly because he'd rather not burden her with the knowledge of how close he'd come to death. He had already worried her enough by admitting he'd been captured by the Imperial Army as it was.
"So," said Andrew in a more serious tone. "Given that I doubt the Londinium Times' version of events has much to do with what actually happened, what can you tell me ?"
Over the course of the next hour and two more drinks, the archaeologist told the journalist everything that had happened, from his recruitment by the office of the Royal Wizard to his return to Albion. At several points of the retelling, he had to pause and take a sip of his drink to steady his nerves, which Andrew let him do without question, for which Henry was grateful. The memories were still fresh in his mind, and so was their terror. The black pyramid at the center of the Nameless City hadn't been the first time he'd seen someone die (field work took you to dangerous places, and accidents happened) but it had certainly been the most horrible.
Technically, Henry was committing treason by sharing this information with Andrew, especially since he couldn't deny being fully aware of what the other man intended to do with it. But the cavalier attitude with which his employers had dismissed the events in Kemet had rubbed him the wrong way. Fighting against Imperial domination of Europa was all well and good, but if it led to cities being eaten by hordes of monsters then Henry would much rather teach his children to speak Imperial and drink coffee rather than tea. And if the government felt it needed to keep its own citizens from knowing the truth, then he felt they should know it as a matter of principle.
Besides, Andrew had promised that he would only use his story as a basis for his own investigation, so that any one of his sources was as safe from trouble as possible. Henry had no idea how well this would work, but he was willing to take the risk if it meant even a slightly lower chance of a disaster like Kemet happening again – which meant putting pressure on the government not to try its hand at obtaining ancient magical knowledge without considering the dangers again, and apparently the only way to do that was through public opinion.
"Well," said Andrew once he was done, looking down at his notes. "That's … quite the tale."
"I'm still processing it myself," confessed Henry. "I know it all sounds like something out of the penny dreadfuls, but it still happened. To be frank, I'm thinking of retiring from field work and keeping to lecturing from now on, at least until this damn war is over."
"You don't think the folks in charge would try that kind of stuff again, do you ?" asked Andrew, aghast. "Between this and what I saw on the Rhine, it's really looking like the Empire are the only ones who can use these magical superweapons without it blowing up in their faces. This Lergen guy you talked about is better at his job than De Lugo was, that's for sure."
"Oh, he definitely knows his job," replied Henry, suppressing a shiver at the memory of those cold, cold eyes looking at him while he calmly tore them apart with words. "As for whether the Kingdom would try something like that again … I don't know. I wasn't told how we knew about the city's existence in the first place, just that it was in the Bardad Desert, we'd a compass pointing to it, and it was my job to get the miss there and assist her in uncovering its secrets."
As cowardly as the thought was, Henry was glad he hadn't been in charge of the expedition, and had been told so little up front. That way, he could honestly tell himself that he wasn't responsible for what had happened and what had almost happened. He hoped Miss Niniane was dealing with it all well, though the two of you hadn't met since their return to Albion.
"Once you've finished your investigation, how do you intend to get the word out ?" he asked, trying to get his mind off that particular subject. "None of the official papers will publish it."
"Me and a few others are running an underground printing press," replied Andrew. "We have found, let's say, sponsors who are interested in letting the public know the truth. They provided us with the funds to buy what we needed and sustain ourselves in the meantime, although I've had to cut down my expenses, especially with all the inflation."
"Isn't that …"
"Illegal ?" Andrew shrugged. "Sure is. By the latest round of laws, I think we'd get something between five or ten years in jail if we're caught. But someone has to ensure that the truth still gets out, even if almost nobody hears it or even wants to. Nobody in the trenches wanted to fight after their first week on the front, but they didn't have a choice : it was made for them by people who knew they wouldn't have to fight themselves."
"Those sponsors of yours," Henry began hesitantly. "They're just concerned citizens worried about our government's conduct of the war, right ?"
Andrew smirked, clearly seeing what Henry was hinting at. "Are you worried I'm getting involved with unsavory sorts ? Don't worry. Me and my associates checked things out, and they don't seem to be agents of a foreign power. Just members of the honorable opposition who're chaffing at the whole 'national unity' thing the government pulled out to avoid having to justify its actions. They might have more than the average number of acquaintances at Berun, but that's hardly unique in this city."
"True," Henry admitted, before finishing his drink, tossing a handful of bills on the table (he couldn't exactly ask Andrew to cover the tab after what he'd just told him, after all) and standing up. "Well, I should get back home. I promised the missus I would spend some of my unexpected vacation time with her and the kids."
Truth be told, it hadn't been a hard promise to make. There was nothing quite like staring certain death in the face to make you value what truly mattered more.
"Enjoy it, friend," said Andrew, rising his own drink in salute. "I have a feeling the peace at home won't last forever."
Remembering the cold gaze of Colonel Lergen as he promised retribution if the Kingdom continued on its current course, Henry couldn't find it in himself to deny Andrew's words, much as he wanted to.
"The Imperial campaign on the Southern Continent has once again proven the terrible potency of their Wunderwaffen. Despite having a two to one numerical advantage and holding strong defensive position, our forces at Al-Alamein were completely routed, with only minimal Imperial casualties.
During that battle, and later at Kheriaha, new kinds of Imperial monstrous warriors were witnessed in action. From what I have been able to observe, one of those breeds appear able to use illusion spells to mask its true location, making it difficult to hit with ranged weapons. Another is able to move through matter like ghosts, which the Imperials used to devastating effect to cripple the defenses of Al-Alamein.
These creatures fought alongside the Devils of the Rhine, leading me to think they are related in some manner, although we still do not know how Division Y created them. Of particular interest, however, is the fact that when I approached the Imperial encampments outside of Kheriaha (prior to Division Y's departure into the desert to locate the Nameless City), I saw no signs of those chimeric horror whatsoever.
The fact that the Empire's stealth mages were able to deliver Colonel Lergen's message directly to the chambers of Field Marshal Giah also reinforces the need for the Kingdom to streamline the use of the wards that protected Londinium. I have no doubt that the threat of wiping out all high officers in Kemet is one the Imperial Southern Expedition is capable of executing should it feel the need : indeed, I believe it is only the desire to prevent chaos and lower-ranking officers taking action on their own initiative that held Lergen's hand in the first place.
Information about the Battle of Kheriaha is more difficult to obtain due to the storm that obscured visibility for much of the engagement. However, small talk between Imperial soldiers indicate that the Imperials were able to destroy the Heresiarch encountered by our agents within the Nameless City by using a previously unseen method of empowering one of their aerial mages to the point he could go toe-to-toe with the Heresiarch and destroy him, ending the sandstorm and paving the way for the Imperial victory. The magical detectors of Kheriaha recorded a mana spike unlike anything previously encountered (a copy of the mana signature and its potency is attached to this report)."
Excerpt from the report of the Albish agent, codename 'Mister John', October 12th, 1925.
October 16th, 1925 – Londinium
"What happened in Kemet was a shitshow, there is no point in denying it," began Kay as he and the other members of the Round Table sat down in another of their meeting rooms. All of them looked exhausted, except Merlin, who no longer looked as if he were on death's door, having recovered from his efforts in defending Londinium from Division Y's attack. "Field Marshal Giah in Arigzandria sent me a rather colorful message. After receiving the Imperial message demanding he not intervene, he sent a pair of aerial mages to observe the situation in Kheriaha, and they came back basically confirming everything Miss Niniane and Mister Carnahan told us."
"We've also received very pointed letters from the King of Kemet," added Mordred. "He hasn't formally accused us of being responsible for the catastrophe that almost befell his capital, but he's made it clear that we can expect a prolonged cooling of our relations with his government."
"That arrogant bastard needs to be reminded of his place," grunted Kay. "He only rules because we put his family on the throne to begin with."
"Maybe, but we aren't very popular in Kemet at the moment," said Agravain, with considerable understatement. "Our control of the media over there is much less tight than it is in the homeland, and the Imperial version of what happened is firmly established in the public mindset by now. They aren't saying anything about ancient cities full of monsters, of course, but the stories of secret magical laboratories in the middle of the desert suffering disastrous containment breaches aren't much better for our reputation. Arguably, they are even worse than the truth would be. If we try to be too heavy-handed, the King of Kemet might just throw caution to the wind and appeal to the Empire for help in securing his country's independence from our Commonwealth. And I don't need to tell you that we can hardly afford a rebellion at the moment."
"The problem is the Suan Canal," said Mordred. "Churbull's rhetoric might keep the plebs calm, but our ships needing to go around the Southern Continent is doing a number on our supply situation, to say nothing of the economy. Fortunately, we aren't the only ones unhappy with the Imperial Army's presence next to the Canal. Even with the Imperials only blocking our ships from using it, global trade has still taken a hit as captains are unwilling to risk the journey."
"Any news from the Unified States on that ?" asked Kay.
"The States are still divided on the question of the war," replied Mordred, "but their President is still supporting us on the down-low. We have been allowed to buy military equipment from them with a generous 'discount', which will greatly help arming our colonial divisions."
"Mmm. If we can gather enough strength in the East, we might be able to overwhelm the Imperial Southern Expedition through sheer numbers," mused Kay. "The Wunderwaffen are powerful, but they are not invincible, and they need the support of conventional troops to be of maximal effectiveness. And their supply lines are stretched out thin : they might have overextended there. A combined strike from the south and the north – assuming we can convince Giah to get off his arse and move – might be enough to defeat them."
"It might not come to this," pointed out Agravain. "I don't think the Empire will be able to stay in Kemet forever. They are aware of the difficulties of keeping their forces supplied, after all, and of the political aspect of the situation. But every week they spend there is another blow to both our economy and our military."
"Which is exactly what Lergen told the young miss," sighed Kay. "Alright, let's address the elephant in the room then. To start with, Merlin : how is your apprentice doing ? Is she still going hysterical about the dangers of trying to match the Imperials' capabilities ?"
"She came close to death for the very first time in her life," replied Merlin with a slight frown at the language used by his colleague. "Some degree of shock is to be expected; I would be more worried if she appeared completely fine. She'll calm down once she has been given some time to recover."
"And what about the artefact she sent us ? Any progress with it ?"
"Oh, yes," Merlin said, eyes suddenly alight with enthusiasm. "With the regalia here in Londinium, casting and maintaining the ward over the city has become much less straining. With the new mages being trained in its operation, I believe extending the ward to other key locations will also be possible soon."
"Good," said Kay. "I will have a list of the most vital areas on the mainland drafted. Now, about what happened at Kheriaha, I had the mana signature of the individual who fought the Heresiarch checked against our records : whoever it is, we have never encountered them before. And as far as we know, Degurechaff is still in the Empire. Which means Division Y has another super-mage of some sort in their ranks."
"I want to make it clear that those readings are absurd," added Merlin. "Whoever it is, they have as much power as an entire company of powerful mages. The fact the Empire didn't deploy them before and the suddenness with which the readings plummeted at the end suggest that they cannot maintain that level of power for long, and that using it comes with its own risks and costs, but even a handful of minutes would be enough for them to wipe out entire military formations and crush any aerial mages we send after them."
"Well, at least we can detect them, unlike their other mage-hunters," said Mordred with a wry smile. "Merlin, any other good news ?"
"We have started working on what can best be described as 'castigation' spells," replied the old wizard. "Based on what we've been able to translate and our own analysis of the spells themselves, they should be able to do considerable damage on Division Y's Wunderwaffen. Without anything to test them against, however, we cannot be certain of their reliability. But based on Niniane's experience, they should be of some effect. Speaking of which, I checked the relic she brought back meticulously : there is no sign of any tempering. It works just as well as it did before, and there doesn't seem to be any trap added to it."
"Lergen is taunting us," growled Kay. "The bastard is telling us we can keep our toys, because they don't matter at all in the grand scheme of things. The Empire makes its own weapons, while we are left scrambling in the dust of history to find the means to even begin defending ourselves."
"Actually," started Merlin with a dark look, "I suspect there is more to it than that."
"What do you mean ?" asked Agravain.
"One thousand years ago," Merlin began, "the Not-Man was defeated in Europa. Thousands of years before that, the Black Pharaoh was defeated in Kemet. In each case, these individuals led armies of monsters and were only defeated by people wielding 'miracles' before their vanquishers sought to erase all traces that they'd ever existed. The text we have on the Not-Man tells us that he claimed he would return in a thousand years, while the Heresiarch seemed to believe his master was still somewhere and wanted to join up with him."
"What are you getting to, Merlin ?" asked Agravain.
"Immortality has been a goal mages have strived for since the very dawn of magic," explained the Royal Wizard. He looked at each of the other three members of the Round Table present in turn, making sure they understood the seriousness of his next words : "I believe what we face here is someone who actually figured it out thousands of years ago, using reincarnation and preserving his memories from one rebirth to the next, with a delay of centuries between each death and reincarnation."
There was a moment of silence as Merlin's words sunk in.
"But, that's …" Mordred trailed off.
"Absurd ? Crazy ?" Merlin chuckled mirthlessly. "Oh yes, certainly. But impossible ? So is the very notion of an undead priest slumbering for ages in a city built under a black sun, surrounded by petrified, man-eating abominations. So are most of the Wunderwaffen, for that matter. Our definition of impossible clearly needs to be reworked if we are to adapt to this new reality we find ourselves in, as our duty to the Kingdom demands. We know Lergen was involved in the founding of Division Y, and is clearly trusted enough to be given command of its assets not just on the Rhine Front but also on the Southern Continent, despite the two situations being dramatically different. You've read the reports on the Devils, and the mage-hunters. Do you really believe a mere man could command them like this ?"
"Then why would he destroy the Heresiarch and his army ?" asked Kay. "Several hundred of supersoldiers are nothing to scoff at, even if Mister John's report made it clear that these 'Fiends' were inferior to the Imperial Devils."
"Because the Empire doesn't know," said Mordred, eyes wide in realization. "He has already tried setting himself up as king and ruling with his horde of monsters in past incarnations, and it didn't work. In the modern era, that has even less of a chance of working. But by becoming part of the Imperial warmachine and arranging the creation of Division Y while masking the truth of the Wunderwaffen as 'rediscovering ancient spells' – although I guess that isn't technically a lie – he can build up his strength while staying hidden."
"So he destroyed the Heresiarch to keep his cover," said Kay, seeing where his associated was going, "because he knew the Heresiarch might recognize him somehow and blow his cover. If true, then that was a hell of a cold thing to do. The undead priest waited for his master for millennia, only for Lergen to dispose of him because he was no longer useful."
"By definition, an immortal being would not think as we do," said Merlin. "I imagine by now, he sees all other beings as mere pawns or obstacles rather than living people. When the attempt to strike at Londinium was thwarted, he must have realized we'd found the remnants of his old enemies – didn't we find it strange that the Empire struck straight for Kemet in the first place ? Lergen must have told the Empire that Division Y had identified the counter as originating from there, so that he could use the Imperial Southern Expedition as cover to clean up loose ends."
"Wait, wait," said Agravain, raising his hands. "Is such a thing even possible ? I'm not just talking about the whole immortality thing. I'm asking, how could he go undetected ?"
"The Empire tests all its citizens for magical potential," said Merlin, "but I can think of half a dozen ways he could have avoided notice off the top of my head, and that's without taking into account any ability to fake the tests outright he might possess. Niniane didn't detect any mana from him when she faced him, despite being within arm's reach."
"It would also explain why he was completely unfazed when he faced Drake back on the Rhine," added Kay. "Even without his bodyguards, he was never in any danger. If worse came to worse, he probably would have killed everyone in the bunker and claimed to be the sole survivor of the crossfire."
"But then why would he return the relic to Niniane, if it's one of the things that can hurt his creations ?" asked Agravain.
"To throw us off his scent," said Mordred. "Just like his entire speech about us not knowing what we are doing was meant to prevent us from becoming an actual threat to his plans ! It's genius. If not for that old text Merlin found completely by accident, we would have no idea what is going on and might actually consider negotiating peace by now, which would give Division Y, and thus Lergen, incredible prestige and influence within the Empire – and all the time they might need to grow stronger."
"It's a cycle that has gone for God knows how long," murmured Merlin. "Every time he returns, he starts again, unstoppable until his enemies figure out his creations' weakness – the power of the 'Adversary' the Heresiarch talked about – either by learning from a past iteration or by re-discovering them under the pressure of his hordes of monsters. So far, he has always been defeated, so he is adapting his strategy. Make Division Y indispensable to the Empire's warmachine, and its influence will grow and grown, until the day he can take over and declare himself openly, with the mightiest army in the world to fight alongside all the Wunderwaffen his servants will have created for him."
Silence descended on the room as each member of the Round Table considered that awful possibility. Kay was the first to recover :
"This has to stay between us," he said firmly. "For one thing, it's only a theory. We lack definite proof, and I pray to God that we are mistaken and are just seeing apocalyptic threats where none exist due to how close to disaster we just got in Kemet. For another, let's be honest : we would be laughed at, even worse than the Francois were when they claimed the Imperials were using demons from Hell in the trenches. Nobody would believe us, and it would badly hurt our international standing at a time when we really need all the friends we can get."
"Agreed," said Agravain. "However, I believe we should still reach out to our contacts in the Imperial aristocracy. They might no longer be the dominant power in the Empire, but they still wield considerable influence, and they most definitely wouldn't agree with a jumped-up Colonel using the Wunderwaffen to stage a coup. I suspect there are already many among them who worry about such a possibility in any case."
"I certainly wouldn't rest easy knowing so much power was concentrated under the control of so few," nodded Mordred. "What about the home front ? Nobody is speaking out for now, but we're going to be pressured to negotiate an end to the war sooner or later. I'm not sure we can hold on long enough for the Imperials to be forced out of Kemet and the Suan Canal to be opened again."
"He's His Majesty's chosen representative," said Kay. "Tell him our theory, though make sure he understands it's only that and that we are investigating further. If I know him, that'll be enough to convince him we need to stay in this war to the bitter end. The prospect of Imperial domination over Europa using the Wunderwaffen is already a bad enough prospect, but they being controlled by an immortal wizard is far worse. Merlin, we'll need these 'castigation spells' as soon as possible. If you are right, then they might be the only way to end this nightmare."
The Royal Wizard nodded solemnly. "I will not fail you, friends. Together, we'll protect the Allied Kingdom – no, the entire world – from this ancient evil."
"As has been the Allied Kingdom's policy for centuries, their primary goal in joining the Great War is to prevent the rise of a continental hegemon, that is to say, the birth of a power in Europa of such overwhelming might, wealth and influence that the very idea of fighting them would be ridiculous. In the past, this policy has taken the form of supporting whoever was opposing the rising power of the time by lending money and equipment (allowing the Kingdom to make tidy profits in the aftermath by collecting on these debts), with the occasional direct military involvement.
This policy was in play during the early stages of the war, when Albion supported the Entente and Republic while publicly remaining neutral, as, due to the continued efforts of the Imperial Army and the diplomatic corps, it didn't have a casus belli that its population would accept (although we also believe most of the Albish leadership of the time was also reluctant to enter the war directly as well, and happy to play along with our endeavours to keep them out of it). However, with the fall of the Entente and the imminent defeat of the Republic, the Allied Kingdom changed its course on May 26th, 1925 by dispatching a task force of aerial mages to strike at Imperial field command in the Rhine.
We still do not know who sent Colonel Drake out to capture or kill Colonel Lergen. The Kingdom's official sources put the blame on the Under-Secretary of the War Office, but it is clear from even a cursory examination of the fact that the man was used as a scapegoat. The lack of an official declaration of war prior to their dispatch, asides from a frankly staggering level of Albish arrogance, showcases how deeply the Kingdom's intelligence services had penetrated the Republic. Not even all of its leadership were aware of how untenable the situation on the frontline had become as a result of Operation Shock & Awe, but the Kingdom realized the situation in time to send their mages to join the fray.
That Colonel Drake attempted to capture Colonel Lergen betrays the true objective of this raid. It wasn't just about throwing the Imperial Army into confusion to allow the Republican forces to recover : their goal was to learn more about the Wunderwaffen and Division Y.
Thus, the existence of the Wunderwaffen, and the knowledge to build them, are at the core of what we believe to be the current goals of the Allied Kingdom in the war. As was demonstrated against the Duchy, Entente and Republic, the Wunderwaffen render the already might Imperial warmachine unstoppable when facing an enemy lacking in equivalent superweapons (and as was seen in the last Battle of the Rhine, not all such weapons are created equal either).
Without superweapons of their own, the Allied Kingdom now finds itself under threat, not just of losing its influence over Europan affairs, but of genuinely being invaded and occupied by an enemy nation. Indeed, with proper planning, Projekt U alone could allow the Imperial Army to make a landing on Albion. Therefore, in order to guarantee the security of their nation, the Allied Kingdom's leadership seek to either develop their own superweapon program or dismantle the Empire's own – preferably both. By comparison, weakening the Empire by imposing monetary reparations, economic sanctions or partitioning its territory has likely become a secondary concern, especially as Division Y requires comparatively few resources to function (though the Allied Kingdom may not yet be aware of that fact).
Recent events have shown that the Allied Kingdom is making headway in securing the means to defend itself from the Wunderwaffen, although they lack the ability to fight back in kind, and appear restricted to defending their own territories. With this in mind, it is our belief that, should the military situation of the Allied Kingdom beyond its immediate borders become hopeless, negotiations to end the war would be possible as long as the Empire made certain assurances as to its safety and sovereignty …"
Excerpt from the confidential report titled 'The Albish war goals in the Great War' compiled by Imperial Intelligence analysts at the request of Brigadier General Zettour as part of the preparations for Operation Enigma, submitted on September 10th, 1925.
October 16th, 1925 – Londinium
The young woman who was known to Kingdom and Empire as Niniane sat alone in her study, within the tower that, according to traditions going back centuries, was the domain of the Royal Wizard. Her chair was turned with its back to her desk so that she was facing the window, but she didn't see the city stretching in all directions on the other side, nor did she hear the dimmed hubbub of hundreds of thousands of people going about their daily lives, which even distance and thick glass couldn't completely suppress.
Instead, she saw a black pyramid, a grinning skull, and heard the screams of men she had led to their doom and abandoned to die. For almost an hour, she simply sat there, lost in darkening thoughts, then she shook herself and pulled her focus back to the present. The past was the past, and no matter how much she might wish she had done things differently she couldn't go back and change it. Her concern had to be for the future, and there was plenty to be concerned about.
When she had returned to Albion with Professor Carnahan in tow, she hadn't known what to expect. She had thought she might be punished for the disaster her actions had caused, and wouldn't have fought it. Instead, the Royal Wizard had congratulated her. He had told her that she had done the best she could, that her actions had given the Kingdom the tools it needed for its protection against the Empire, and that he didn't blame her for what had happened.
She had stared at him in shock. Then, during her debriefing, she had done her best to pass on Colonel Lergen's warning, but it had been clear that her master hadn't really been listening to that part of her report. Then, once she was done, she had been given a couple of weeks of vacation to rest while the Allied Kingdom prepared for its next move in the Great War.
Her master thought she needed time to recover from what had happened in Kemet. He was right in that she definitely did need time, but he didn't understand. Perhaps that was only to be expected : for all his wisdom and knowledge, Merlin had never seen the fruits of Elder Magic with his own eyes as she had. They were still distant concepts to him : even wielding the Kemetian wards in defense of Londinium wasn't the same as seeing Fiends and Devils in action.
But Niniane had seen them, and knew that for all their terrifying natures they were still only servants to greater powers – powers such as the Heresiarch and the Imperial mage who had defeated him. At the time, she had been kept behind the walls of Kheriaha and deprived of any equipment, but she had still felt the absurdly powerful mana signatures clashing outside the city.
Merlin seemed to think what had happened in Kemet had given the Allied Kingdom the tools to fight back against the Empire. Niniane was afraid that the Empire hadn't yet begun to fight against Albion. Just like most Albish officials didn't realize the true madness of trench warfare that had consumed so many lives in the war so far, her master didn't understand the true scope of the Wunderwaffen – and, Niniane expected, trying to explain it to him would be just as difficult.
With a sigh, the young woman turned her chair back to her desk and looked at what laid on it. It was a sheet of paper that had been slipped into her affairs when the Imperials had given them back to her, before Carnahan and her had been brought to the Albish embassy in Kheriaha. She had no idea who had put it there : the bundle had passed through the hands of several Imperial soldiers out of her sight, any of them could have placed the pamphlet in it.
She knew how to read Imperial, of course : even before the Wunderwaffen, the country had been at the forefront of modern magical research, and any mage worth the name had to be able to read their papers on the subject. Atop it were four words, printed in big, blocky letters that, like the cheap paper on which they were printed, betrayed the amateurish nature of the pamphlet :
'Der Pfad der Sterne'. 'The Path of Stars'.
Niniane recognized those words. They had first appeared in Arene, following what the locals called the Eclipsed Liberation, when the Francois Republic had tried to incite a popular uprising to cripple Imperial logistics while their new supersoldiers went after the assets of Division Y in the city. Instead, Tanya Degurechaff, Division Y's most powerful supersoldier if the Kingdom's intelligence was believed, had slaughtered the Francois' Holy Knights and put down the uprising in mere moments. Niniane had read the reports sent by agents after the quarantine had been lifted : she knew that a strange mood had befallen the city in the aftermath of the Eclipsed Liberation.
Anti-Imperial sentiment had all but vanished, with the few people still speaking out against the Empire only doing so to discuss whether the country bore some responsibility for the Great War, due to its sabre-rattling intimidating its neighbours. Even that was done in calm discussions aimed at devising means of preventing the same from repeating in the future. There had also been the birth of an art movement, as hundreds of Arene citizens sought to express what they had witnessed during the Eclipsed Liberation, when a strange moon had shone amidst an alien sky over the city, as the Lady of Stars fought the Republican supersoldiers. She had seen photographs of the works of one artist in particular, a child whose parents had both died during the battle from a Republican spell gone off-course, and whose depictions of the Imperial Wunderwaffe were as unsettling as they were beautiful.
And threaded through all of this was the Path of Stars, a strange mix of philosophy and religion that claimed all people were equal, deserving of life, respect and happiness. Nobody knew who had first coined the term and written the pamphlets that had been found across the city in the days following the Eclipsed Liberation, but the movement – which some had already named a cult – had spread like wildfire through Arene. It hadn't spread beyond the city yet, as its people worked on rebuilding the damage from the attack and came to terms with it.
Until now, Niniane had never given the whole matter much interest, having been too busy studying the Kemetian spells her teacher had discovered. Now, however, it seemed she had nothing better to do, and she certainly could use something to take her mind off the memories that haunted both her sleep and her waking hours.
Slowly, Niniane began to read. At first, her eyes frequently glanced at the door, like a child afraid of being caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. But as she read on, these glances became less and less frequent, until she was entirely focused on the text's contents.
The pamphlet spoke of peace and unity, of the futility and ugliness of war, driven by naught but greed and ambition. To the young woman, the words made a lot more sense than they would have before her journey to Kemet. Having witnessed the utter inhumanity of the Heresiarch and his minions, the differences between humans paled to insignificance. Albish or Imperial, Europan or colonial, man or woman : in the eyes of the Fiends of the Nameless City, they had all been food, nothing more. And in the end, the Fiends had been stopped by Imperial soldiers fighting to protect Kemetian civilians, because they too saw the Kemetians as their kin, however distant.
Niniane loved her country, she really did. But she wasn't blind to its faults, or perhaps it was more apt to say that she wasn't anymore. Her blinkers had started coming off in the Nameless City, and had completely been ripped off by Colonel Lergen's scathing-yet-polite rebuke. The Allied Kingdom had let its success at spreading its influence across the globe go to its head, and started to believe its own propaganda. Now its leaders were driving it to a war they couldn't win, didn't have to fight in the first place, and which would be waged with weapons whose potency made a mockery of all that had come before in Humanity's long and bloody history of warfare.
She wasn't sure what she should or could do about it. Fortunately, she had a few days to think about it and figure something out.
AN : And with that, Lergen's inheriting Tanya's Misunderstanding Field is complete, although his version of it is arguably even stronger. I was wondering how to justify keeping the Allied Kingdom in the war after what happened in Kemet, and then I realized that I had already set up things perfectly to convince the Round Table that they absolutely NEED to keep fighting in order to save the world from the ancient, malevolent, immortal wizard turning the Empire into his tool of world domination, whose name is Eric von Lergen.
I wondered how the Allied Kingdom could spin what happened in Kemet, and then I remembered that propaganda doesn't have to be even slightly based on reality and governments can just make stuff up. Which is how we ended up with this chapter's Londinium Times headlines. I've to remember that in the era this story takes place in, controlling the flow of information is a lot easier than it is nowadays.
Also, good news, everyone ! We have reached the point where the story starts moving without me telling it to. That last scene was absolutely not planned, but it ended up being written nonetheless. What does it mean for the future of Albion that Niniane has discovered the Path of Stars ? Who among the soldiers of Division Y (or the rest of the ISE, come to that) slipped her the pamphlet and why ? I have absolutely no idea ! Isn't that exciting ?
Lastly, I'm thinking about having General Romel, Colonel Lergen and the rest of the Imperial Southern Expedition writing a "thesis" of sorts, about the best ways to use the Wunderwaffen alongside standard troops. Any suggestions as to the contents of this new doctrine are welcome, but what I'm really looking for is a name for it. Specifically, I am looking for something ending in 'Krieg' (you know, like 'Blitzkrieg') with the first half of the word being a German word that fits the use of the Wunderwaffen. Mythoskrieg ? Wunderkrieg ? I don't know, which is why I'm asking for suggestions. After all, I already asked SB for a German translation for 'The Path of Stars', and I'm quite happy with 'Der Pfad der Sterne' that ended up being proposed.
In the next chapter, we will see what Operation Enigma is really about, and a new Projekt will be revealed : Projekt J. As always, I look forward to your thoughts, comments, and ideas.
Zahariel out.