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"Betrayal is common for men with no conscience."
— Toba Beta
The Dawn of a Solemn Hell
The Royal Estate of the Azumethronnian Imperiate
The Capital City of Avsalon, West Azumethronnia
Sunday, the 24th Day of June, 2012 — 12:30 AM AT
There was a quiet, introspective hush descending across the jittery faces of the General Staff—benign leaders, Men of Faith one and all were staring intently towards the front of the war room deep inside the bowels of the royal palace in Avsalon. Heavy arguing and bickering had ruled the evening, long into the night when most of the lights in the capital city had been extinguished. Arguments abounded as to the merit of what they were plotting to do. And yet, when the Achæon stepped onto the scene, people paid respect. It was the mark of a group of warriors, conceding their right to speak to the man who would shortly hold the fate of their careers—and their lives—in the palm of his hand.
Caius stood intently by the front of the long, cold metal table that ran the length of the control room down the center. More than two dozen staffers were seated to either size, with dozens more standing behind them in the pale, dimmed lighting. Muted colors abounded, sans the vibrant video screens which gave descriptive readouts on the various troop deployments that were showing. One large, firm hand stroked at the Achæon's chin, as his glancing to and fro instilled cautious optimism in the men. What they were prepared to do had never readily been attempted before; not like this. Their plans for war had always involved a straight-laced plan of attack. This, though...
It's absolutely unfathomable...
Verily, it was the general sentiment most had been wrestling with. Half of the council had been against the Modus Operandi being established in the contingency plans for the operation. With four military facilities going online in Stedicules within the month, it was already a trying time for the military. There was no way to know for certain if the plan would work, or if the audacity of the plan would draw in a concerted effort to bring down the Anaximander regime from power, or to wipe out the Az'ra Vor entirely. Yet the Achæon was bound and determined to make good on his promise to the elders to repay them for their fidelity after his marriage to Avox Sauzarum.
Though the country at large never knew much about the turmoil inside Caius's reign as Achæon, his grip on power had nearly been undone by his marriage to Avox Sauzarum. Few people inside the Church understood why he would take a Tsellian for a bride; for the longest time, simply looking after a woman of another faith was tantamount to treason, let alone fucking one. Yet Caius was bound and determined to take the Methronnian Queen for his bride, and had succeeded in doing so. And many men, both loyal to him and loyal to the dissenters had died in a secret war, which ended with a lot of the country's great men scent to meet their God unexpectedly. It was a trying time, to say the least.
And one would be remiss in not noting how difficult of a time it must have been for the Achæon. To wage a secret, unholy war against some of the more devout Rithosian elders was not an easy task to perform. It had strained his ties with Silthranuul from the outset, but somehow against considerable odds, Anaximander had made it work. Yet he had suffered a tremendous personal loss from the ordeal, experiencing a crisis of faith and a loss of trust in the nation he had come to admire so deeply. His secret vendetta against those who had sought death to his wife had drained him mentally, and he very nearly suffered their wrath to pass. In the end, it was a sordid victory from which he collected the spoils. Now, it was time to repay those that had switched allegiances for his day in gathering the harvest.
A Harvest of Blood, paid for with the lives of the Children of Men...
Caius turned to the men seated to his right—the War Consuls—and extended his hand. "Gentlemen, Men of God one and all. You know my heart, that it bleeds for my people and their plight. We have been remiss, Children of Azura in our duties before Almighty God, the King of all Kings. Many of you, even you in this room today question my devotion to the ways of my people. You believe that my marriage to a Tsellian has clouded my ability to rationalize the plain truth of our people and our way of life. I say unto you this night, that if you will place your faith in this calling... I shall reward your faith with the promise of a new horizon for our people."
There was a gentle murmur coming up from the room, with the relative tone appearing conciliatory to the young Achæon. It was then that his leading voice, General Rugar Nas'gal spoke up in defense of the Imperator: "Herr Achæon, live forever! We shall follow you to the ends of the Earth, even the ends of our time this glorious night!"
The words instilled a new-found faith in the cause. A raucous round of applause erupted in the narrow room; gruff, insensitive souls who were bred to relish the taste of a fallen soul's blood were clapping for the inevitable destruction of an entire people, and their way of life. Caius rose his hand to quiet them, speaking even before they got settled. "I know that you all are anxious to get this operation rolling. I think, if memory serves, that we are indeed coming up on our window to begin the plan. Before we begin, I just want to let each and every one of you know how thankful I am for your many months of preparation. It would appear that our aim of secrecy in plotting tonight's maneuver have paid off in spades. Our intelligence indicates no increased military preparedness north of the border."
It was the Achæon's brother, General Scaeva Anaximander who stood next. His turn had been rehearsed in great detail for weeks; so pleasant was it to finally be hearing the fateful words on this, a most prestigious evening. "Our operational plans are in place and ready for deployment, Herr Achæon. Sixteen Air Wings are operating on standby alert, prepared for your orders to launch. Our cruise missile sites are on operational alert, and can be ordered to launch on command—sixty high priority military targets will be targeted in the first of five salvos, helping to further cripple their retaliatory efforts following the electromagnetic pulse discharge."
"What of our ground contingencies?" General Mika Vraan inquired.
Scaeva nodded. "We have fifteen airbases in the northern reaches that are primed for service. Crack Sentinel outfits will be flown in through the Vargan Passes into enemy airspace, specifically high profile targets in the southern third of the country. Their job will be to carry out insurgent operations, neutralizing communication grids, hospitals and power plants in the effected areas of our target zone before our landing. Their approach began a little over an hour ago, disguised as commercial airliners on outbound trajectories. So far, they have not been flagged by the colonial government."
General Nas'gal added: "We also have a team of operatives from the Nera Strega who are working their way inside the enemy's territory as we speak. They should be reaching the enemy capital within the next hour, where they will be causing great havoc to instill fear and panic in the enemy population. A special team has been dispatched to attempt to assassinate their main political leaders. Then we have our main military invasion force prepping at our mid-latitudinal facilities at Gadarah, Steniest and Xarana. Sixty divisions will pour across the border within the next eleven hours, after our bombing campaign has rendered their retaliatory efforts futile."
Caius nodded, holding out his hands to draw silence as he took his seat at the head of the table. He uncovered a small cloth that had hitherto been hiding a small inset on the table. In the middle of the inset was an almost-stereotypically large red button, which was glowing softly in the dim light of the control room. The Achæon motioned to it soberly: "This button will send a wireless signal instantaneously to the monitoring station at AFB Gra'can Vaer. It will trigger an impulse that will be received by our orbiting platform, which should be approaching its window of operational usage in the next fifteen seconds. Once I press this button, it will take approximately fifteen seconds for the nuclear warheads on board the platform to detonate. I cannot abort the firing sequence once it has begun. If anyone should have cause to delay our attack, now is the time to voice your concerns."
Not a word was spoken in the room. No one dared oppose their Achæon, even after being given the ability to do so. Resolved, Caius nodded firmly. He pushed the button quickly, drawing the tension out of the room with an anti-climatic rush to the lever. Breathing began much more shallow in the room, as the seconds slowly ticked away. Caius looked at his watch, counting off the seconds—after a pause, he stood up from the table. "General Nas'gal, order your battery sites to launch their cruise missiles when practical. General Anaximander, send a priority one alert through dispatch, and get our planes in the air. The colony's time has come."
His staffers nodded their understanding, relaying the orders. The Achæon merely sighed. "Gratislavia falls tonight..."
Caius stood intently by the front of the long, cold metal table that ran the length of the control room down the center. More than two dozen staffers were seated to either size, with dozens more standing behind them in the pale, dimmed lighting. Muted colors abounded, sans the vibrant video screens which gave descriptive readouts on the various troop deployments that were showing. One large, firm hand stroked at the Achæon's chin, as his glancing to and fro instilled cautious optimism in the men. What they were prepared to do had never readily been attempted before; not like this. Their plans for war had always involved a straight-laced plan of attack. This, though...
It's absolutely unfathomable...
Verily, it was the general sentiment most had been wrestling with. Half of the council had been against the Modus Operandi being established in the contingency plans for the operation. With four military facilities going online in Stedicules within the month, it was already a trying time for the military. There was no way to know for certain if the plan would work, or if the audacity of the plan would draw in a concerted effort to bring down the Anaximander regime from power, or to wipe out the Az'ra Vor entirely. Yet the Achæon was bound and determined to make good on his promise to the elders to repay them for their fidelity after his marriage to Avox Sauzarum.
Though the country at large never knew much about the turmoil inside Caius's reign as Achæon, his grip on power had nearly been undone by his marriage to Avox Sauzarum. Few people inside the Church understood why he would take a Tsellian for a bride; for the longest time, simply looking after a woman of another faith was tantamount to treason, let alone fucking one. Yet Caius was bound and determined to take the Methronnian Queen for his bride, and had succeeded in doing so. And many men, both loyal to him and loyal to the dissenters had died in a secret war, which ended with a lot of the country's great men scent to meet their God unexpectedly. It was a trying time, to say the least.
And one would be remiss in not noting how difficult of a time it must have been for the Achæon. To wage a secret, unholy war against some of the more devout Rithosian elders was not an easy task to perform. It had strained his ties with Silthranuul from the outset, but somehow against considerable odds, Anaximander had made it work. Yet he had suffered a tremendous personal loss from the ordeal, experiencing a crisis of faith and a loss of trust in the nation he had come to admire so deeply. His secret vendetta against those who had sought death to his wife had drained him mentally, and he very nearly suffered their wrath to pass. In the end, it was a sordid victory from which he collected the spoils. Now, it was time to repay those that had switched allegiances for his day in gathering the harvest.
A Harvest of Blood, paid for with the lives of the Children of Men...
Caius turned to the men seated to his right—the War Consuls—and extended his hand. "Gentlemen, Men of God one and all. You know my heart, that it bleeds for my people and their plight. We have been remiss, Children of Azura in our duties before Almighty God, the King of all Kings. Many of you, even you in this room today question my devotion to the ways of my people. You believe that my marriage to a Tsellian has clouded my ability to rationalize the plain truth of our people and our way of life. I say unto you this night, that if you will place your faith in this calling... I shall reward your faith with the promise of a new horizon for our people."
There was a gentle murmur coming up from the room, with the relative tone appearing conciliatory to the young Achæon. It was then that his leading voice, General Rugar Nas'gal spoke up in defense of the Imperator: "Herr Achæon, live forever! We shall follow you to the ends of the Earth, even the ends of our time this glorious night!"
The words instilled a new-found faith in the cause. A raucous round of applause erupted in the narrow room; gruff, insensitive souls who were bred to relish the taste of a fallen soul's blood were clapping for the inevitable destruction of an entire people, and their way of life. Caius rose his hand to quiet them, speaking even before they got settled. "I know that you all are anxious to get this operation rolling. I think, if memory serves, that we are indeed coming up on our window to begin the plan. Before we begin, I just want to let each and every one of you know how thankful I am for your many months of preparation. It would appear that our aim of secrecy in plotting tonight's maneuver have paid off in spades. Our intelligence indicates no increased military preparedness north of the border."
It was the Achæon's brother, General Scaeva Anaximander who stood next. His turn had been rehearsed in great detail for weeks; so pleasant was it to finally be hearing the fateful words on this, a most prestigious evening. "Our operational plans are in place and ready for deployment, Herr Achæon. Sixteen Air Wings are operating on standby alert, prepared for your orders to launch. Our cruise missile sites are on operational alert, and can be ordered to launch on command—sixty high priority military targets will be targeted in the first of five salvos, helping to further cripple their retaliatory efforts following the electromagnetic pulse discharge."
"What of our ground contingencies?" General Mika Vraan inquired.
Scaeva nodded. "We have fifteen airbases in the northern reaches that are primed for service. Crack Sentinel outfits will be flown in through the Vargan Passes into enemy airspace, specifically high profile targets in the southern third of the country. Their job will be to carry out insurgent operations, neutralizing communication grids, hospitals and power plants in the effected areas of our target zone before our landing. Their approach began a little over an hour ago, disguised as commercial airliners on outbound trajectories. So far, they have not been flagged by the colonial government."
General Nas'gal added: "We also have a team of operatives from the Nera Strega who are working their way inside the enemy's territory as we speak. They should be reaching the enemy capital within the next hour, where they will be causing great havoc to instill fear and panic in the enemy population. A special team has been dispatched to attempt to assassinate their main political leaders. Then we have our main military invasion force prepping at our mid-latitudinal facilities at Gadarah, Steniest and Xarana. Sixty divisions will pour across the border within the next eleven hours, after our bombing campaign has rendered their retaliatory efforts futile."
Caius nodded, holding out his hands to draw silence as he took his seat at the head of the table. He uncovered a small cloth that had hitherto been hiding a small inset on the table. In the middle of the inset was an almost-stereotypically large red button, which was glowing softly in the dim light of the control room. The Achæon motioned to it soberly: "This button will send a wireless signal instantaneously to the monitoring station at AFB Gra'can Vaer. It will trigger an impulse that will be received by our orbiting platform, which should be approaching its window of operational usage in the next fifteen seconds. Once I press this button, it will take approximately fifteen seconds for the nuclear warheads on board the platform to detonate. I cannot abort the firing sequence once it has begun. If anyone should have cause to delay our attack, now is the time to voice your concerns."
Not a word was spoken in the room. No one dared oppose their Achæon, even after being given the ability to do so. Resolved, Caius nodded firmly. He pushed the button quickly, drawing the tension out of the room with an anti-climatic rush to the lever. Breathing began much more shallow in the room, as the seconds slowly ticked away. Caius looked at his watch, counting off the seconds—after a pause, he stood up from the table. "General Nas'gal, order your battery sites to launch their cruise missiles when practical. General Anaximander, send a priority one alert through dispatch, and get our planes in the air. The colony's time has come."
His staffers nodded their understanding, relaying the orders. The Achæon merely sighed. "Gratislavia falls tonight..."
