The Eacusian War (IC/Meillur)

[Nekata]

Fuck Ren thought to himself, this was not part of the plan, he was strictly reconnaissance, he had orders specifically to not engage the planet dwellers. Well it appears that that wasn't going to happen. "こんにちは" he said. He was not equiped with translation technology. His weapons were still holstered, he had no intention of fighting these barbarians but he was not entirely thrilled on the idea of capture either. He blinked three times, signalling his headset to send a silent distress call to the mothership, the Emperor himself would see a quick snapshot of what was happening.

[Dutch-Empire]

Corporal van Scheerven’s re-action was swift. Hearing the foreign language that was not immediately recognizable and not seeing him immediately surrender, she had to move quickly with what she thought best. The language certainly wasn’t Aogaian, which the army had been given lessons in. The closest it sounded was Seidanese, or perhaps one of the languages of the colonies. But this was not a member of the empire. If he were Seidanese, then he was an enemy, perhaps a spy for the hated Duke. Corporal van Scheerven centered herself and in one swift move struck him with the end of her rifle, hard enough to stun, but hopefully not kill.

[Nekata]

The planet-dwellers blow was hard, but luckily for Ren, his headset took most of it, unfortunately that meant the screen was now cracked. He could feel blood running from his nose. He sighed internally, this was not going to be fun. He spun away from his attacker, throwing a small knife, perfectly balanced and in his opinion aimed, at the other warrior. He then dove into the undergrowth, running in the opposite direction of his attacker. Hopefully he wouldn't have to come into direct conduct with her kind again, after all they were clearly hostile.


-------------------------------------------


The Emperor sighed, the scout Ren was a fine warrior. He had taken time to examine the young mans resume before sending him on this mission, born to a low-ranking noble family, his path in the military had been clear cut and set for him. The boy's father had sent him to a military academy as soon as he had reached the appropriate age. He had excelled in almost all his classes only really falling short in prisoner detention and language proficiancy. His strongest subjects being reconnaissance and hand to hand combat. He rewound and watched the short footage of the scouts encounter with the planet-dwellers, the young man had followed protocol perfectly, he greeted the strangers and did not immediately draw a weapon. Yet the barbarian still attacked him, that's when the footage cut out, he hoped that he was still alive, if not it would lead to a very awkward diplomatic situation.


Emperor Hiro's daughter saw his troubled look, "Father, whats going on?" she asked, she could see the footage now of what was happening, "Why are they attacking that scout, that is not the proper protocol for civilized warfare." she stated matter of factly. She had learned from her tutors the proper etiquette for war, even though she herself would never partake in it.

Her father sighed, "No it is not my flower, no it is not."

[Dutch-Empire]

Corporal van Scheerven was shocked as the spy, as that was what she She could identify him as now threw a knife past her and it make contact with Corporal Velnaar. She let out a small cry as it embedded itself into her armor, not deep enough to kill, but enough to make knock her off her feet. Corporal van Scheerven opened fire as the spy flee into the under grown in a calculated spray. She signaled back to the rest of their company of the spy and their injured officer.

At the spy’s ship, Major Gorttemaker ordered their heavy guns to fire on the ship to prevent escape. The half a dozen tanks fired on it at point blank range, leaving in moments little of it left but smoking wreckage. Their guns had been tested on the battlefields of Antissa, the bloody scar of the stars were millions had died in the war against the Amazons of Antissa. Their shells were known their shield shells, known for overpowering military grade shielding in small vessels.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Prince Alexandre, Duke of Alençon did not like to be summoned. He was not used to being summoned. Even his grandparents, two of the mightiest monarchs in the civilized world, didn't dare to summon their warrior grandson. Alexandre was used to being popular, and at home his popularity lended him great strength and influence, to the point he had in some people's eyes become a threat. Even his own grandfather, the King-Emperor, who was so used to having any and all at his command, including foreign monarchs, found that Alexandre was impossible to control, and the fact that the people loved the prince even more than the monarch meant that he could not force him to bend to his will. It was for this very reason Alexandre was able to be in Dattan at all. Alexandre, unlike most of his countrymen had watched Dattan carefully in their calls for independence.

Most Deritains cared, in all honestly, very little for the world outside of the their peaceful empire's borders. This was an attitude crafted carefully for decades by the King-Emperor, for while the elderly monarch enjoyed quietly manipulating other nations and hosting peace conferences, loathed to see his own empire get involved in the messy and barbaric affairs of the rest of the world. The Celestial Empire did not get tangled in the affairs of other nations. They fixed them, swiftly, without being tainted by their issues. Thus, they living their quiet peace filled lives in Derita, which was by most people's accountants a paradise, one strictly guarded, had no care if a few billion subjects of yet another foreign mistress were mistreated. They probably didn't even know. But Alexandre, who had served in the expedenitary campaigns of the Celestial Empire took pity on misfortune of these people.

Alexandre had broken every one of his grandfather's policies and with a volunteer regiment, lead an expedition to free Dattan. It had gone incredibly well despite being so extremely outnumbered. Alexandre had some so because he was good at leading, and understood battle well. While his fans, of which there were countless called him a military genius, while his critics, of which there were less and less of, or in the case of the Dutch, more and more of, called him a lucky reckless fool, there was a bit of truth to both. Alexandre was not so arrogant to think himself a military genius, though he was happy to let others think so.

His most famous victory, the Seidanese War has been him acting in a way no seasoned General ever would have, of course he hadn’t been a General then, he he had only been 17, a mere child in Deritain standards. He had been fueled by a singleminded desire for glory, to be remembered in the history books like his great-grandfather, the Conqueror. Yet his bold and yes, at times recklessness had been fast and strong, shattering an entire nation, with himself striking down the President of Seidang in single combat. Of course no one save him and a few Polonge remembered how Coanda, the sneaky rat, had gotten an army past him, abusing his genteel nature.

Then there was the Arctic War, which Alexandre reviewed as one as luck. Yes, he had managed to fight off an entire coalition of a dozen nation with three times as many forces as him, but there would have been no way for him to defend indefinitely had Mother Nature not intervene with a volcanic eruption. The truth was, in all homesty Alexandre viewed himself as good with leading, commanding, but it was not where he flourished. He was a task force kind of man. His greatest successes were all secret ones, operations that would never see the light of day. He had only ever failed a mission once, when he attempted to assassinate the Dutch Empress.

It seemed strange to him how he and the Empress of the Dutch seemed to locked in a dance of rivalry. They always seemed to find themselves on opposite sides. He supposed it only natural considered their two natures and who he had married. Alexandre found it a pity though. He had no great hate for Anna Charlotte or her empire, aside from their mistreatments of the Dattan People. His grandfather found it even more alarming, as he and his prime minister continued to try and mend old wounds between the two nations. That was the real reason Alexandre had been called back home. The King-Emperor didn’t want Alexandre’s actions to reflect Derita. His presence and actions had lead half the world to think that this was all being orchestrated from Fontainebleau. How ironic. It was Fontainebleau who wanted him out of Dattan more than anyone else.

A small smile tugged on Alexandre’s lips at the thought. They fell away as he arrived at the Blue Room of the Pondicherri Palace. Alexandre thought it in poor taste that Padhya had made his home in the ancient building. Alexandre had grown up in palaces like this, for he reckoned it was one of the few palaces outside of Derita that could compare. It was large and stunning, without being gaudy and clearly trying to impress. This was a palace that had been constructed not with impressing subjects, though it certainly did that, but with the goal to impress its occupants. It’s beauty was charming, imposing without being alienating. He could easily imagine the old beloved Dowager Empress having taken tea here with her faithful superintendents. This was an imperial palace.

Thus the white clad President Padhya clashed horribly with everything. He had a whole commoner air about him. This was not a man raised to sit in these chairs or to leisure in this palace, Alexandre thought, taking a seat. This was not a man who should dare summon princes.

[Nekata]

Ren swore internally as the rounds whizzed passed him, his damaged headset had just notified him of the destruction of his ship, he was now stranded on this planet with no way off. On top of it all, he had been attacked, of course it could be a misunderstanding, at least he hoped it was a misunderstanding. He wondered if the situation could be repaired, perhaps but perhaps not. As he ran he looked for anything that might conceal him more adeptly from his pursurers.

____________________

Emperor Hiro was quite upset he pursed his lips as he tended to do when he disapproved of something, it seemed the planet dwełlers had just destroyed the scout vessel he had sent, that was quite unfortunate, however it could be amended, he did not want to reveal his people just yet, as he did not know how the planet dwełlers would react for now it seemed Ren was on his own.

[Dattan]

President Padhya stopped quickly as the Duke of Alençon took a seat in one of the sky royal blue and gold chairs. For a moment he felt as if their roles were reversed and that he was being summoned before this king. A part of him compelled him to bow to the Duke. He only barely restrained himself from doing so. He remembered. He was the President of the Confederacy, not subject to this royal. Padhya was not exactly the greatest supporter of monarchy, he though it old fashion and unnecessary at the best of times and tyrannical at the worst. But he had lived under one monarch or another for all his life up until recently. None had ever captivated him like the Duke. He served a perfect example of why monarchy could work.

Which was precisely why Padhya had to show everyone, including himself and the Duke that he was in command. Give him orders. Make him serve Dattan as he had promised to do.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre looked up at President Padhya expectedly, propping his foot up casually on his knee. He pondered if the Empress of the Dutch has ever sat in this very chair. He doubted that she had ever set foot in this palace. For that he could not blame her. Many made light fun of the Dutch, forgetting that they had one of the wealthiest and largest empires, not as wealthy or as large as the Gênoise or Alexandre’s grandparent’s, but definitely a strong third place. Anna Charlotte couldn’t have been expected to live everywhere in her empire. Alexandre waited. When the President only looked at him without saying anything, Alexandre rolled his eyes.

“Mr. President, if you are going to undress me with your eyes, could you please do it after we have won the war you started?”

Alexandre’s words were honey coated, even a bit cheeky, but their was steel in them. He still did not agree with Padhya’s choice to join the Anti-Dutch League and he lay the blame for their current situation squarely at Padhya’s feet.

[Dattan]

President Padhya felt as if he had been slapped across the face. He had forgotten the tongue on the General. No wonder so many loved him. He was inspiring when he was posed elegantly on a poster. Even just looking at him invoked awe. But the moment he opened his mouth ruined it all. He put his hands behind his back, his face turning into a sneer.

“War I started? If I do recall it was you and your men who decided to invade Raigoranka while I was forced to run for my life from the Empress’s “peace” neogations.” President Padhya snapped.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, ignoring Padhya’s attempt to justify himself, or perhaps draw sympathy from him. The Empress of the Dutch certainly did have a way with dealing with ‘peace’.

“Mr. President, I invaded, I shot at, blew up, and even killed the Dutch at Raigoranka, at Tettemada, at a dozen other places on this continent alone. But I was not the one to declare war. I came here to help the Dattan people, not join in a war against the Dutch out of misguided hatred. A hatred apparent on both parts.”

[Dattan]

President Padhya scowled. In truth, or at least in Padhya’s eyes War had come to Dattan long before even then. It had always been apparent from the moment that the Dowager Empress died that Dattan would have to fight to be free. To be independent they could not ever, and would never be able to simply discuss it over tea and biscuits. That was an impossible order.

“You define the Dutch? Who act so cruelly, who seek such fury and vengeance? You and your countrymen have fought them. You know their nature. The Anti-Dutch League fights against their imperialists ways. They hold no one’s interests but their own would have us salute their hated flag. Yet you resist us coming together with our allies? Why?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre raised an eyebrow.

“Why? Perhaps because it is foolish? Perhaps because it creates more enemies than you think. Perhaps because you have now tied your country’s independence to the success or failure of other’s war campaigns. When Dattan stood alone for independence the world was being swayed to your side. Now, you have splintered that. Though would would have helped, associate you with the Anti-Dutch League, the aggressors of this war, and side with the Dutch. You think you have simplified the war front, but you have only made it more complicated.”

Alexandre sighed, resting his chin on his fist looking away from the president. He should have to lecture and explain himself or why Padhya’s action was foolish. He lowered his voice.

“There is also the fact that I did imprison the President of Rogoda in a volcano.”

[Dutch-Empire]

Corporal van Scheerven gave chase after the spy, followed by Corporal Velnaar, who had pulled the knife from its spot in her armor and clipping it to a free sheath in her uniform. The two of them pursued through the jungle carefully. The spy was clearly armed and aggressive and refused to surrender as had been ordered of him. van Scheerven sent word to Major Gorttemaker, who ordered their tanks to go to the area around the two soldiers and the suspected spy’s coordinates. The tanks made quick work of this, cutting through the jungle so similar to the ones in the colonies to cut off any potion escape routes.

[Dattan]

President Padhya felt the color drain from his face. He took a reflective step back from him at the last statement. He had forgotten about the Duke’s less than perfect relationship with other democratic leaders.

“Is there anyone else I should of whom you’ve greatly offended next time I make an alliance?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre held back a laugh in his throat. He doubted that President Padhya would ever get such a chance.

“The list would be too long. It would be easier to tell you I have not offended. Though I’m sure the good Madam President has forgotten all about that. There was only a little bit of magma in the volcano.”

The Duke Of Alençon waved the topic off.

“But my point still stands Mr. President. You have, in those whom you have decided to let into your bed, make a mistake.”

[Dattan]

“I do not remember making you an ambassador. Not appointing you to be my Secretary of State. You are not hear to lecture me, Your Grace.”

The President of the Confederacy spit out the honorific as if it were an insult, pushed to his limit with this insufferable prince. The Duke was half his age and yet tried to lecture him on alliances. He would not have his judgement or decisions questions by the Duke. Not now. Not ever.

“I am the President of the Dattan people. I lead us. You are a visitor, a guest here in this country, and it is time that you start acting like it. We are allied to the Anti-Dutch League and that is final. Our enemy is not one another, but the Dutch Empress. Or have the flight of the weak willed Prince of Orange left you fat and arrogant with victory?”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre gave Padhya a mock look of aghast horror.

“I am not fat.”

He said so as a joke, though it was true. Alexandre was far from fat. Deritains were notorious for carefully crafting their imagine. Alexandre here was not an exception, though he cared less about it cosmetically and preferred to make sure that his body was in peak physical condition. He leaned back in the comfortable ornate chair.

“Mr. President do you know I have never lost a battle? I have won three wars. How many wars have you won? None, isn’t it? I am not satisfied with victories over a petty tyrant.”

The Duke of Alençon’s eyes narrowed.

“That is why I win. I am never satisfied. The Dutch will return, that is true. But I will be able to send them away once again. But Mr. President, you have made things so much worse and now, only now is the type where you can change the course of events that are set to unfold. Dattan has many people. But I can not have you waste lives for vengeance. Then you are no better than those you seek freedom from.”

Alexandre waved his hand around. The message was clear. Padhya was already living in their palace. How might he further copy them?

[Dattan]

President Padhya looked at the Duke in horror, for now he found it himself the one with a look of aghast. How dare he compare Padhya to Empress Anna Charlotte. He spat on the thick and luxurious carpet. He pointed at the spot where his saliva pooled, turning the thick carpet a darker shade of the blue that engulfed the entire room.

"I fight for my people above all else. Never forget that. I am not your kings and queens, tyrants who gain their power on the death of parents because I was born of the right pairing with the right blood. I am fighting for my country, for my people. I did not ask you here in order for you to try and convince me otherwise of how to govern, how to make allies. I do what I must for the best of my country. This is not your home, that I understand. If our cause is no longer fit to your royal appetite, our freedom and our lives no longer the easy entertainment at the foot of your throne,"

Padhya gestured to the way the Duke lounged on the seat.

"Then you are free to leave. I shall fight for my people without you, for them I will die."

[Kingdom of Derita]

Indeed you will, Alexandre thought as he held back the urge to roll his eyes. He found Padhya's flare of the dramatics a bit entertaining, he certainly did know how to put on a show. He considered that was how he had so quickly and effectively swept over the national congress to the presidency when his far superior predecessor had been struck down.

"Mr. President, I'm aware of my freedoms. Are you aware of yours? I came here because I sympathize with the independence movement. I do not intend to leave, not with the current state of affairs. If you are to win this foolish war that you've entangled yourself into. Of course, for that I will need an army, a real army. And supplies."

[Nekata]

Ren hid in the brush, not moving a muscle. He was nervous, as a solo operator it would be much easier for the Astral Empire to just leave him here, he failed in his mission, he had been caught, which was a great dishonor the Emperor might leave him as a sacrifice to honor. Perhaps he should surrender, but would it be dishonorable to do so? He did not know, these were not enemies per say but they weren't allies either. It was just then that a single message flashed across the screen, surrender. Ren sighed stepped out of the brush and put his hands behind his head.

[Dattan]

President Padhya waved his hand dismissively. The Confederacy was in desperate need of a professional army. They could not rely on the armed masses willing to shoot at the Dutch forever. He crossed his arms thoughtfully before finally responding to the Duke.,

“You will need to train them. But I can provide the men and the facilities.”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre nodded his head. He knew that Deritain war training was the most supreme in the galaxy. Fierce, elegant and brutally effective. It would turn the Dattan militia into a force that could be reckoned with. They already had the sheer volume of numbers, half of the Dutch Empress’s empire of 4 billion had been of Dattans alone and only Polonge cane close to matching in population. Alexandre would have Léandre turning them into a nice fighting machine.

“What of supplies?”

It wouldn’t matter how well or how many Dattans fought if they continued to be outclassed by the Dutch armory. The Dutch hand superior tech when it came to warfare in Dattan, and in fact very nice weapons, a military industrial system that Alexandre blamed his aunt for, with her Amazons who kept the Dutch constantly fighting in Antissa. But they had been underprepared and under terrible leadership. He doubted that would be the case for the former. He was yet to see if that would be true for the latter.

[Dattan]

President Padhya held back a superior smirk. That was one thing that the Duke had failed to do, provide them with supplies. It seemed that the oh-so-beloved Duke didn’t have as much sway over the isolationist Celestial Empire as people liked to think. When it had been sought after, for the Deritains, or even the Russens for supplies, most necessities and weapons and ammunition, they had, quietly and politely, been refused.

“I have secured shipments of supplies. They were expensive. And I had to open up some secret channels, but they will be arriving in Tettemada within a week.”

[Kingdom of Derita]

Alexandre shot a glare at the President. He could not command the treasures of the Celestial Empire to open for Dattan. If Padhya was looking for a Deritain gift, he need only looks at the Duke of Alençon. He was the gift. Alexandre stood up, towering over the Dattan President. He could have stayed in Tettemada and not had to have suffered this trip here.

“I suppose then I should head back. I will need to make more thousands don’t die.”

He didn’t wait for a response from President Padhya. He turned with a soldier’s precision and marched out of the room.

[Dattan]

President Padhya sneered as he watched the Duke walk out of the room. He refused to let himself be intimidated by the prince. His tone was sharp as he stayed put with his armes behind his back, calling out after the Duke of Alençon.

“Be careful not to forget your place Your Grace. This is Dattan’s freedom that we are fighting for. And it is fight I intend to win. You are here because you are a warmonger. I suggest you warmong.”