GREAT NAVAL VICTORY AGAINST THE ALLIED KINGDOM !
Since the crushing defeat of their forces at Al-Alamein, the Allied Kingdom has kept its troops far from the reach of the Imperial Army, content to instead rely upon the might of its Navy to wage its unprovoked war against our glorious Reich. For too long, the Empire has been forced to concede to the Allied Kingdom's supremacy on the waves, but that time is over.
Two days ago, to the West of the Jabaltariq Strait which marks the entrance to the Inner Sea, the might of the Empire's Wunderwaffen was demonstrated once more. An entire squadron of the Royal Navy, which sought to attack a convoy carrying troops back home from our expedition on the Southern Continent, soon learned that convoy was far from as defenseless as it first appeared. Through the deployment of yet another new Wunderwaffe designed by our Fatherland's greatest minds, the entire squadron was sunk, including the Mighty Hood, renowned across the seven seas as the greatest warship of her age.
This is the single greatest naval victory ever won by the Reich, and heralds the end of ever-arrogant Albion's self-proclaimed dominion over the seas. Combined with our earlier triumphs against the Allied Kingdom's armies at Al-Alamein, and the seizure of the Suan Canal by the Imperial Southern Expedition, the final victory of the Empire is clearly inevitable …
Excerpt from the front page of the Berun Post, December 11th, 1925.
"Friends,
Do not believe the lies that you've been told. The Home Fleet's Second Squadron did not fall in heroic battle against vastly superior numbers of the Imperial Navy, taking down scores of enemy ships in a brave last stand.
No, Mighty Hood and her sisters were sunk by yet another of the Empire's terrible arcane weapons, while attempting to sink a convoy carrying back Imperial soldiers who'd fought in the defense of Kheriaha, against monsters unleashed by our own country's short-sighted rulers, desperate for any advantage in their endless pursuit of supremacy.
The Imperials called forth a great beast from the depths, and all the might of Albion was as nothing against it. Thousands of Albion's sons died in vain, unable to fight back, unable to do anything at all to alter their fate. And for what ? Because the Lords of Parliament do not want for the Empire to grow stronger ? Because any Europan country daring to go against their plans for the continent to remain disunited and set against itself must be crushed, so that they might maintain their power, prestige and wealth ?
How many more must die under the incompetent leadership of the House and Parliament, before it is enough ?"
Excerpt from an anti-war pamphlet circulating across Londinium, confiscated by law enforcement on December 12th, 1925.
From : Brigadier General Hans von Zettour
To : The Allied Kingdom's Cryptography Department
Subject : Peace talks
Date : December 11th, 1925
Greetings, gentlemen.
As you have probably guessed from this message's recipient, we are aware that you have broken our codes. My congratulations to your cryptography department : I have personally spoken with our own experts, and they told me that the only way you could have done it would be through considerable effort, even taking into account the weaknesses in our procedures that, I assure you, will be corrected forthwith. This will be the last of our wireless transmissions you are able to decipher, and hopefully the last one you need to.
By now, you will have learned of the fate of your attempt to attack Division Y at sea as it returned from the Southern Continent. Yes, this was a trap we laid using our knowledge that you had broken our codes. The survivors of your lost ships' crew are in our custody, and shall be granted all the protections afforded to captured enemy soldiers by the laws of war. At the same time, I want you to know that the Wunderwaffen that were used to annihilate these ships are still perfectly functioning and can be used again and again if necessary, until every single vessel of your Royal Navy lies at the bottom of the ocean, a tomb for the brave sailors crewing it. And without that Navy, there will be nothing to stop us from landing troops on your mainland; troops that will not be affected by the spells you plundered from Kemet in order to protect your capital from our Wunderwaffen.
Yet such is not my and the rest of the Imperial General Staff's intent, if we can at all avoid it. Despite the cowardly and unlawful manner in which the Allied Kingdom joined it, the continuation of this war is in neither of our nations' interest, and I believe we have conclusively proven that if it continues, it will be only end in the Empire's victory.
In the coming days, our diplomats will reach out to yours in order to begin discussions for an armistice, to be followed by a proper peace conference and treaty. As a gesture of good will, should you accept the offer of an armistice, we will remove our expedition from Kemet and free the Suan Canal.
It is my most sincere hope that this war can be ended by Christmas.
For the Fatherland.
December 12th, 1925 – Londinium
"Well," said Kay feelingly, "we're fucked."
It was, perhaps, beneath a man of his station and breeding to swear so crassly. But if ever a situation had warranted profanity, it was this one.
"It could be worse," said Mordred with a bitter smile. "The Navy could have been completely destroyed, the Imperial Army could have landed, and we could be running for our lives while Londinium burns around us."
"Yes, thank you, Mordred, for reminding us that things can always get worse," snarled Kay with an unamused glare at his colleague.
"What the situation in the armed forces ?" asked Agravain before things could devolve further.
"The Admiralty is in an uproar," replied Kay, visibly forcing himself to calm down. "The loss of the Mighty Hood hit us bad, and the fact it was so one-sided only made it worse. The fact that we told Cook the countermeasures would protect his ships from the Wunderwaffen has spread, and it hasn't exactly painted us in a good light. I only barely avoided losing my position altogether, and that was probably because nobody wanted to give more fodder to the rabble-rousers making a spectacle of themselves in the streets."
Several hundred people had taken to the streets of the capital, publicly mourning the loss of Albish lives, but really making their anger clear.
"They aren't protesting against the war itself. At least not openly," Agravain swiftly added. "There are plenty who are opposed to it in private, make no mistake. But these protests are against the way this war has been conducted so far." Left unsaid was the fact that they could hardly be blamed for that. "So far, we have managed to keep the details of the defeat at Al-Alamein from spreading. The fact that army was made up mostly of colonials has helped, but the crews of the Second Squadron were Albion-born. They have families and friends here, and they aren't happy. The Yliastral's last message wasn't encrypted : dozens of amateurs picked it up across the country."
And no amount of propaganda claiming the last stand of Mighty Hood and her squadron had been a heroic struggle against impossible odds would be able to silence the rumors. If the battleship had been sunk by conventional means, then the blow to morale could've been managed by avenging her, no matter the cost – but unfortunately, that option was closed to them. They had no idea where the Irene had gone after its crushing victory, and even if they somehow learned its exact location and heading at this moment, what they were supposed to do ? Send another squadron after it ?
"How long ago do you think the Imperials figured out we'd cracked their codes ?" asked Mordred.
"Probably when they targeted Londinium with their Wunderwaffen," replied Agravain. "Not that we'd much of a choice : if Merlin hadn't blocked their attack, we'd have lost there and then."
"In hindsight, the trap seems all too obvious," muttered Kay. "I mean, 'Operation Ragnarök' ? A little on the nose, don't you think ? And right after Division Y and the Southern Expedition moved on Kemet without us being forewarned, to boot. We were too arrogant. We thought there was no way they would catch on that we'd broken their codes."
"It's not like we had a choice," argued back Agravain. "If it hadn't been a trap, then not doing anything would have been a gross dereliction of our duties to the Kingdom. And we know the Wunderwaffen are capable of impossible things, so we had to take that message seriously."
"Speaking of what the Wunderwaffen can do, could the Imperials do what they did to the squadron here ?" asked Mordred nervously. "Use their mages to disable the wards and then unleash their Wunderwaffen on the city again ?"
"Not here," replied Kay firmly. "We have built up Londinium's defenses against such a scenario since the reveal of the first computation orb. There are anti-air defenses and magical detectors all around the city, and Londinium is entirely covered by the detection arrays. If the Imps can manage to break into Merlin's tower and disable the wards, then they have already won, Wunderwaffen or not. The other sites we marked for protection, now that's another story. They're all protected against raids, of course, but not to the same extant."
"There is another issue," pointed out Agravain. "Last time, we had warning that the Imperials were about to target the capital, which gave Merlin time to activate the wards. That will no longer be the case."
"They won't strike at Londinium while they're hoping for us to start negotiating, I don't think," weighed Kay with a thoughtful expression. "The Imperials have something of a blind spot where the reactions of other countries are concerned, but they must know such an attack would only cement our determination to fight to the bitter end, not cow us with fear. If it becomes clear we've no intention to negotiate, however … Merlin, how long could you and your apprentices protect Londinium constantly ?"
Sat in his chair, the Royal Wizard looked grief-stricken. Some of the mages trained in the Kemetian wards who had been sent to the squadron's assistance had been his apprentices for years, the others having been drafted from the Kingdom's aerial mages to be given an express course into using them. Given the Yliastral's last, desperate message, it was unlikely any of them had survived to be taken prisoner. Still, he pulled himself together to answer Kay's question :
"For Londinium itself, we could keep the wards up for months if necessary. However, repelling the Empire's last strike took a toll on me : if Division Y strikes repeatedly, I do not know whether their strength would run out first or ours."
"We may not be defenseless thank to the wards," said Agravain, "but I'm going to be brutally honest and say it : I don't think we can fight the Empire in the field. Not alone, at least."
"Churbull is still willing to fight, bless his stubborn heart," said Mordred. "But even he cannot stand against the rest of Parliament alone. It's one thing to be ready to fight to the bitter end when you think victory is certain, and the war will be waged on another country's soil. It's quite another to hold onto that dedication when your side faces defeat after defeat. Once word of Zettour's offer spreads – and make no mistake, it will spread, inevitably, once we share it with the Prime Minister – then there will be many who'll call for us to accept, if only to bring this war to an end while we still have a sliver of pride left."
"This isn't our only option, though. The mobilization of our forces is complete on the mainland, and we have a lot more troops ready in the colonies," said Kay. "If the Imperials try to land on Albion, we'll give them a hell of a fight. To help in that, we should move as many of the colonial divisions here as we can, even if it means taking the longer road around the Southern Continent. We'll need all the warm bodies we can get if the Imperial Army manages to secure a beachhead."
How swiftly the tide turned, they all silently thought. Not so long ago, the very thought of a foreign army making it through the defensive screen of the Royal Navy to reach Albion had been laughable. Now, the pride of the Allied Kingdom's fleets had been annihilated without sinking a single enemy ship in her final engagement.
"Kay," asked Mordred, "what do we know about this 'Kraken' the Imperials unleashed ?"
"The scouts' reports before it all went to hell were clear that the Imperials didn't have anything besides the convoy in the area," replied Kay. "They must have detected the squadron's approach somehow – if they knew it was coming, it wouldn't be that difficult."
"So it might be that they needed the unique circumstances of a trap for it to work," deduced Agravain. "Or this was a first deployment of something recently developed by Division Y since we joined the war, and they wanted to test it under semi-controlled conditions."
"Maybe," said Merlin, his doubt obvious. When the others turned to look at him quizzically, he elaborated : "while it is certainly possible Division Y brought the means to unleash this Kraken with them, it is also possible that Lergen himself was the one to summon it."
"No, that doesn't fit," refuted Mordred. "If we assume, as seems clear, that the Imperials wanted us to know about the Irene departing the Southern Continent, then Zettour had to be in on the whole scheme from the start. And since Lergen would still want his true identity kept secret, he couldn't just summon an abyssal monster by himself. This has to be one of Division Y's superweapons. This whole fiasco doesn't provide us any evidence one way or another regarding our theory that Lergen is the Not-Man's latest reincarnation."
"About that, there is one other thing," said Agravain hesitantly. "In the latest report from our agents in the Empire, it was mentioned that Division Y has started making moves to publicize its activities to the population at large. Specifically, they are running a propaganda campaign showing the medical benefits of their research, using crippled soldiers from the frontlines who were miraculously returned to full health."
"… That's unusual and worth knowing, but how is it related to the situation ?" asked Kay.
"Because that campaign was approved by none other than Lergen himself," replied Agravain.
"See ?" said Merlin, eyes wide. "Even if Lergen isn't the Not-Man's latest incarnation, it's clear now that he is the true leader of Division Y."
"I agree," replied Kay. "Zettour must be Division Y's patron, while Lergen is the one in charge, and Degurechaff is one of their early, most powerful supersoldier-type Wunderwaffen. Hopefully she's the only one of their kind ?"
Agravain nodded, to everyone else's unspoken relief. "I had the enrolment records of the Empire discreetly checked some time ago, precisely for that reason. The Empire conscripts mages as soon as possible, but she is the only one to have joined the army at seven years old."
"If the war ends, we can still continue our efforts in more subtle ways," the spymaster continued. "Even with our ability to decrypt Imperial communications crippled for now, I still have agents in the Empire. Intrigue and diplomacy may succeed where force of arms cannot in sabotaging Division Y's research. We might be able to learn enough about the Wunderwaffen to mount a more effective defense, even create our own. We would also have time to search for more relics like the one we found in Kemet. Our flag is flown all across the globe : it would make sense for more vestiges of ancient magic to remain in our colonies."
"But what if," whispered Merlin, "we are correct, and Lergen is all that we fear him to be ?"
And that was the crux of the situation. If their theory about Lergen's true nature was as bonkers as it sounded, then it seemed that peace talks were the best course of action for the Allied Kingdom. But if it was correct, if there was indeed an immortal, reincarnating wizard pulling the strings of the Empire's Wunderwaffen programme for sinister ends, then giving him more time to grow his influence over the Empire might be a fatal mistake.
"In the end," spoke Mordred over the silence that had descended in the wake of Merlin's words, "it will be for the Prime Minister to decide. Our influence in the halls of power has waned with this latest fiasco. At this point, all we can do is provide him with all the information at our disposal, give him our best advice if he asks it, and trust in his judgment."
The head diplomat of the Round Table smiled bitterly. "After all, it's not as if he can make more of a mess of this war than we have, can he ?"
December 12th, 1925 – Imperial Capital Berun – Central Headquarters of the Imperial Army
"So," said Brigadier General Rudersdorf, looking up at his old friend over the table between them. "Your little gamble paid off, and you had your fun sending that message to the Albish. What now ?"
"Now," replied Zettour with a wry smile, "we get to the more boring part of Operation Enigma. We need to remove the weaknesses the Kingdom took advantage of for far too long. The cryptography department has designed new codes and protocols that should make it all but impossible for the Albish to decrypt them. Of course, they aren't as confident as they were last time they promised us the same thing, but I think being more aware of our enemies' capabilities will do us all good in the long run."
"Good, good," nodded Rudersdorf. "Isn't there a chance their spies will intercept the codes, though ? Surely they can't have gained all of the intelligence advantage they've had on us throughout the War purely from intercepting our wireless communications, and updating everyone's codebooks is going to be quite the undertaking."
"Which is why I'm having the copies transported by aerial mages," explained Zettour. "I would've had the Untoten do it, but there aren't enough of them and those we have are still needed on standby in case the Eikons show up again."
"That's all well and good," frowned Rudersdorf, "but what if the John Bulls decide to keep being idiots about this ? Their conduct so far doesn't exactly fill me with confidence that they'll suddenly start being reasonable."
"By now, support for the war is certain to be waning. Even those who do buy into the propaganda that we're an evil expansionist Empire are less than pleased with how things have gone so far."
The two of them fervently hoped that the Allied Kingdom's government would come to its senses and sue for peace. However, it was quite literally their job to plan for what to do if that didn't happen. And so, Zettour continued :
"Without the advantage of knowing roughly where the enemy ships are, repeating what we did with Projekt J will be more difficult, but not impossible. We'll need to discuss it with the Major, of course, but I think we should be able to send the U-152 back out to attack Albion warships until their naval advantage is eroded to nothing."
They had received a brief message informing them of the success of Operation Enigma's first phase, but the full report would have to wait. Degurechaff was still making her way back to the Fatherland on a submarine, and she'd taken the mages capable of handling the long-range communication spell with her. Zettour was certain that she'd have a full report ready by the time the U-152 docked, though : the girl was nothing if not impeccable when it came to paperwork. Combined with the skills she'd shown in managing Division Y, and if the Wunderwaffen program hadn't worked out, he'd no doubt she'd have done well in the Logistics Department.
"And once their Navy is out of the way," continued Rudersdorf with a glint of savage joy in his eyes, "we'll be able to land our Army straight on their doorstep, and teach Albion that it can't hide behind the waters forever."
"Yes," agreed Zettour, frowning. "Needless to say, the logistics of landing and supporting an army on the island, however, are complicated to say the least. Unless we've completely annihilated the Royal Navy by this point, raids on our supply lines are all but guaranteed."
"After we sink a few more squadrons with Projekt J, they might be too afraid to try their luck," suggested Rudersdorf.
"Maybe," allowed Zettour. "But if the defense of their homeland is at stake, I doubt their will to fight will break so easily. We'd need to escort every convoy with a strike force from Division Y ready to deploy Projekt J."
"Perhaps we can refit the submarine who helped them this time for that ?" suggested Rudersdorf. "Have it transferred from the Imperial Navy to Division Y ?"
"Hmm. Perhaps. I will need to ask the Major about this."
The two Brigadier Generals spent several moments in silence after this, each thinking of the various difficulties of the campaign that may await them in the future. While Zettour was in charge of logistics, leading the troops that did make it onto Albion would fall to Rudersdorf's department as head of Operations, after all.
"I have to ask, Zettour. This 'Operation Ragnarök' business … It was all fake, yes ? A trick to force the Kingdom's hand ?"
"Of course it was, old friend. Oh, I'm sure there are enough Wunderwaffen sealed away in Division Y's vaults to reduce the entire island of Albion to slag and leave only their capital standing behind their Kemetian wards, but it's not as if I want to use them. Major Degurechaff wouldn't stand for it anyway."
"That's probably for the best," grunted Rudersdorf. "If the Albish keep being stubborn, I expect we'll start being pressured to use these weapons regardless in order to force them to surrender."
"By slaughtering their civilian population ? Madness," Zettour shook his head. "Such a course would only strengthen their resolve to fight no matter the cost, and turn the other powers openly against us."
"I know. These people have no mind for strategy – they just think in terms of killing as many of the enemy as possible, I swear. Onto another matter : now that Colonel Lergen's role as bait was fulfilled, what do you intend to do with him ?"
"With her condition, Major Degurechaff is hardly suited for public appearances as Division Y's Director," replied Zettour. "I intend to have the good Colonel continue to serve as their public face, as well as their leader on the field when the Major cannot be deployed in person."
"I see," mused Rudersdorf. "Despite spending most of his career in the rear, he certainly has proven himself a capable commander, alongside General Romel. Did you have time to read that paper they sent us ?"
"'On the Strategic and Tactical Uses of Elder Magic in Warfare' ? Yes, I did. A worthy complement to the Major's old dissertation, I'd say."
The classified report that the commanders of the Southern Expedition had sent back to the Fatherland detailed the tactics they had used against the Albish at Al-Alamein, and against the Heresiarch at Kheriaha. Specifically, it explained how they had combined their Wunderwaffen with the more mundane troops at their disposal in order to maximize their efficiency.
General Romel's own contribution was mostly centered on the importance of mobility : a single truck full of Werwölfe in human form could transport a fighting force capable of punching well above its weight. The lightning guns of the troopers from Division Y were also devastatingly effective for their weight.
There were several more chapters, one of them about the optimal use of aerial mages in mobile warfare, and Zettour was fairly certain the whole paper would end up serving as the foundation of several courses at the Military Academy at some point. He'd circulated the paper among a handful of his most trusted subordinates, and they'd all agreed on that. One of them, the youngest of the bunch, had even nicknamed the whole approach to warfare 'Sturmkrieg' due to how fast and devastating the Wunderwaffen had proven to be on all fronts where they had been deployed.
The Brigadier General didn't know if the term would catch on, but he expected it, or another like it, would end up being used for the combination of Wunderwaffen and traditional military assets at some point. He knew enough about the military mindset to know it was inevitable.
"Well," continued Rudersdorf after a while, "her paper was focused on the methodology Division Y uses to reconstruct spells, if I recall correctly. Colonel Lergen and General Romel have a different approach. Which is to be expected, since they actually went through officer training. Not that I'm dismissing Degurechaff's tactical acumen – I have never met anyone else with her innate ability for it – but, well, you know."
Zettour understood what his friend was trying to say. Degurechaff was a genius, there was no denying that. But even a genius needed education in order to gain knowledge, and she had been sent straight to Division Y after graduating from the Military Academy. Without proper officer training, her current rank as Major was probably as high as she could rise through the ranks, and even that had only been possible due to the unique circumstances of Division Y and her performance after being attached to it.
Of course, it wasn't as if she really needed a higher rank. All members of Division Y Zettour had ever met were fiercely devoted to her, and her achievements lent her words a weight far beyond that of a mere Major. If not for the secrecy surrounding Division Y, she'd probably have received a peerage of nobility by now.
"So let's assume that's Albion taken care of for now," said Rudersdorf with admirable optimism, before his expression turned more serious. "That still leaves us with that problem in Francois."
The regular reports delivered by Untoten from Castle Schwartzstein had included a full transcript of what Lieutenant König's investigation in the Republic had uncovered. And their contents were certainly worrying.
"Three Eikons missing, and an operation to smuggle potential magic users out of the country by sea," Zettour summed up with a scowl. "And still no sign of De Lugo or Beauvais."
"The question is where they went," said Rudersdorf. "Any country would be all too glad to shelter them in exchange for their knowledge of Eikon creation."
Despite the Eikons' glaring failings, they were still the only thing that anyone else had managed to create with a fighting chance against the Wunderwaffen. The Ancient Kemetian spells the Kingdom was using could only be used for defense, and nobody knew how to create more Fiends of the Nameless City (which was for the best, of that Zettour and Rudersdorf were certain).
"Let's go over the list one more time," decided Zettour. "We can be fairly certain the Allied Kingdom doesn't have them, else they'd have used them in their attack on the Irene. The Ispagna Collective is a mess, and if one of their political factions had gained access to supersoldiers I'd expect us to hear about their sudden rise to power. The Francois colonies on the Southern Continent are plausible : despite the Francois President's efforts, De Lugo might still have allies among the military there willing to hide him in order to 'save the Republic' from our occupation. Magna Rumeli is a bit too distant to be plausible, I think, and there'd be religious differences at play here as well."
"And then," finished Rudersdorf after taking a long puff of his cigar, "there is Ildoa."
Zettour grimaced. "Yes. Ildoa."
In the south of the Empire, the Kingdom of Ildoa had remained neutral in the Great War so far. In fact, trade with the Empire had increased across the border, as the Fatherland took advantage of Ildoa's willingness to serve as an intermediary to access the global market in exchange for a not-insignificant cut. The Republic and then the Allied Kingdom had put pressure on them to stop, but just like the Empire had to avoid pushing too far in its attempts to secure Ildoa as an ally in the Great War, so too did their enemies have to be cautious not to drive Ildoa into the Reich's embrace.
It was a strange balancing act, and Zettour didn't envy the Ildoan diplomats who had to maintain that equilibrium month after month as the Great War raged on, but it had certainly served their country well. After all, no Ildoan soldier had died and their land hadn't been invaded.
Now, however, there was a possibility that neutrality would end, and not in the Reich's favor.
"If the Archbishop was the one handling their escape," continued Zettour, "then Ildoa makes sense as a destination. There has always been plenty of smuggling between Francois and Ildoa."
"More to the point, that's where the Holy See is located," said Rudersdorf, bluntly pointing out what Zettour was reluctant to voice out loud. "The headquarters of the Church, to which Archbishop Beauvais belongs as one of its higher-ups. We know he had contacts there – he had to, to reach his position in Parisee."
Sure, the politics of the Holy See were much less bloody than they had been in centuries past, but neither of the two old generals were foolish enough to think there wasn't a degree of intrigue going on to decide who got which post.
"It has been generations since the Holy See involved itself in temporal affairs," Zettour tried to argue, more for the sake of argument than because he genuinely believed in his words. "Even in the last war between the Reich and the Republic, they stayed studiously neutral, apart from calling for peace and love between neighbours.
A position that, ironically, was very close to that held by the adherents of the Path of Stars in Arene, Zettour realized with a twitch at the corners of his mouth.
"We weren't using supersoldiers in the last war," replied Rudersdorf. "And you cannot deny that the Werwölfe look rather intimidating to say the least. The existence of the Wunderwaffen changes everything. You read the report on what they found in Kemet : who's to say the Inquisition didn't hide away other such relics when they purged Europa's magic users centuries ago ?"
"You're right. It still seems unlikely, but we need to prepare for the eventuality. Once our communications are secure … no, that will take too long. I will send a message by plane to the commanders of the Southern Army telling them to be on guard against a possible Eikon deployment."
"Are you sure ? Even if the Ildoans get their hands on Eikons, they have little reason to declare war on us. There is that whole dispute about what they call Irredeemed Ildoa, yes, but that doesn't seem worth facing our Wunderwaffen for."
"You forget two things, my friend. First, none of the other combatants in this war joined it for what we would consider rational reasons. Secondly, remember what Lieutenant König believes the Eikons to be capable of when in the presence of someone for a prolonged period."
"… Ah." Rudersdorf's face looked like he had just swallowed a lemon. "I see what you mean. If they are right, then things could get very ugly, Zettour."
"I know, old friend. I know."
"General Gassman,
It is His Holiness' wish to discuss with you important matters related to the ongoing war in Europa, and the safety of the Kingdom of Ildoa.
Please present yourself to the Holy See at the following time and location …"
Excerpt from a letter addressed to General Gassman of the Kingdom of Ildoa, December 14th, 1925.
AN : Whew. I had to push, but I managed to get this chapter done today as planned.
This chapter was mostly the fallout of the previous one, as might be expected. And, oh yes, the implication of DOOM at the end. I am sure General Gassman has nothing to worry about. Gassman is a canon character from the Light Novel, standing in as the commander of the Ildoan military. Going into more details about his actions in the LN would be a spoiler, so check it out yourselves if you are interested.
I ended up going with 'Sturmkrieg' as the pop-culture name for the Mythos-combined warfare. Of course, as mentioned in the chapter, if a better alternative is proposed, I might still change it. Also, if you're wondering why Zettour signs off a message to Albion with "For the Fatherland", well, it's the last time those words will appear at the end of a wireless message in this story. Because, as one reader pointed out, repeated formulas like this one are precisely how seemingly unbreakable codes end up broken. It's still here only because Zettour wanted to make sure the Albish would be able to decipher it promptly.
As GremlinJack pointed out on SB, the naval tactics used by the Royal Navy in the last chapter were somewhat questionable, since there was no mention of the planes of the Ark Royale being used at all. My explanation-after-the-fact is that Cook didn't want to risk sending planes near the convoy transporting an unknown number of Wunderwaffen and chose to simply bombard them into oblivion from a safe distance (which, to be frank, Mighty Hood alone could have done on her own under normal circumstances).
As always, I look forward to your thoughts and ideas for this story. My writing speed seems to have somewhat stabilized, so don't expect anymore instances of two or more chapters being written in a single week.
Finally, I'm planning to publish a special something tomorrow (which is why I forged ahead to finish this today, as it still needs quite a lot of work). I hope you all will enjoy it.
Zahariel out.