Berlin
August 22, 2018
10:30 Local Time
Tanks, tank Witches, and vehicles by the hundreds shone in the midday sun as they filled the long path leading up to a podium in the grass besides the Gate. The line of vehicles was long, leading south down Heinrich-von-Gagern-Straße onto Charlottenburger Chaussee and continuing on for almost two kilometers. In the air, Karlslandic Witches flew in fingertip-tight formations, while behind the vehicles stood a handful of wide-load vehicles carrying the Japanese TSFs, disassembled for transport through the Gate too narrow to fit their sizable frames. From Karlsland, Imeriata, Austria, Japan, the lands of the Selkie, and elsewhere they came.
Their purpose here was singular, in a way - Vengeance.
Vengeance for lives lost on that day in May, when the Gate opened up and soldiers by the thousands spewed out to kill and plunder.
Vengeance for the damage done on that day in May, when the Gate opened up and titans of steel on legs, wheels, and treads spat fire and crushed buildings, cars, livelihoods, and memories underfoot.
Vengeance for the people stolen on that day in May, when the Gate opened up and ogres and beasts disguised as men came to claim any too weak to fight as their own property to be stolen back to wherever they came from and sold like spoils of war.
Yes, there was quite a bit of rage brewing on those streets in August, and one needed not be an empath to find it palpable. It could be seen on the soldiers' faces, it was written in the sky in the ever-so-slightly-too-forceful movements of the aircraft and Witches, even the faceless tanks seemed ready to cry out for the blood god in their fury.
Beside the gate, festooned with ribbons in the colors of the flags of the Trans-Barrier Alliance nations, was a raised metal platform covered in a white sheet. on its front was a large banner depicting the name and seal of the Alliance (a depiction of Saint George mounted on a horse slaying the Dragon, though on a white field instead of a red one and with a different design from the coat of arms of Moscow) as well as its name and, beneath the name, the member nations. Behind the podium, the flags of the nations of the alliance blew in a moderate southward breeze - with the flags of Karlsland and that of the Alliance (the same shield on Saint George's cross, with a raised red sword in the upper left and lower right corner, and a raised gold wand in the upper right and lower left corner) above the others. On either side of the platform were metal stairs, each leading to a group of black armored SUVs (plus an older-looking armored wagon for the Imeriatans).
Upon the platform was a wooden podium with a number of microphones for a variety of news stations around the world. There were a number of cameras, too, but the podium wasn't strong enough to support them so they were mounted in front of the podium on metal stands, or simply held aloft by the reporters. There was a man at the podium in a suit. He checked his watch for a moment, then nodded to one of the SUVs and stepped aside.
Two women stepped up, both redheads, both Karlslandic, and both in their woodland Multitarn KKU*, though from their the similarities ended. The first was Princess Hanna in the 'pantsless' (though it technically had bike shorts, which were technically pants) version used by aviation Witches, and bore on her shoulder the sigil of the 135th Night Witch Squadron, a skull with a snake crawling through the mouth and eye, fighting with a vulture perched on the top of the skull. Hence the squadron callsign of Geier. Like all night fighter (or Witch) squadrons, it was technically an interceptor squadron, and flew the Shrike as a result. The second, was Field Marshal Sigrun Model, and on her shoulder was the shield of the Alliance, as she was the officially-selected commanding officer, with dissenting votes coming most notably (and predictably) from Imeriata and Japan. Her uniform, though she was a Witch, featured pants - due to how tank Strikers worked, they didn't need to worry about direct skin contact nearly as much as aviation Strikers, so pants they could wear. Formerly commander of the Seventh Panzer Division, before moving up to the III Armored Corps to which it belonged, then the 3rd Army before being put in charge of the entire Karlslandic military forces to be deployed in the Special Region, and as per vote all military forces in the TBA. Apparently the 42-year-old's service in Desert Storm, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Tanzania, Afghakistan, Kamerun, and Syria had spoken for itself, as had her sixty five tank kills. Even as a tank Witch, she was getting old, but she still had a good few years of combat ability left in her.
"Presenting Her Royal Highness, Princess Hanna Maria Isabelle Albrecht von Bayern, and Field Marshal Sigrun Model, Commander of the TBA and Countess of Magdeburg." Applause, which died down quickly as the two women stepped up. Princess Hanna was the first to speak.
"Ladies, gentlemen. It has been almost three months since Berlin was ruthlessly and senselessly attacked by the Saderan Empire, the name of the entity beyond the Gate. Two thousand, three hundred, seventy four. That is how many Karlslanders, Austrians, Imeriatans, Wolfens, Fusoans, Japanese, Britannians, Allaneans, Thebans, Polisans, Hiluxians, and Minrozians were killed, among other nationalities. Four thousand, six hundred, forty nine more were wounded, and some remain in critical condition. Over one hundred thirty were captured and brought beyond the gate, my wife - Archduchess Clara Alexandra Sophie of Austria - among them. Their fate remains unknown, what is known is what sort of world they were taken to. Sadera is a cruel, dictatorial empire. Slavery. Feudalism, and yet an almost fascist degree of control over the citizen's life. Torture. Gladiator fights, often to the death. Wars of conquest for the pure purpose of obtaining more slaves, and stamping out cultures deemed 'lesser'. Intolerance of religions besides that of its own that borders on theocratic."
"Such a nation is responsible for those deaths, those injuries, those captured from our nations. This will not be tolerated."
"Our purpose, your purpose here, is simple. We will return their invasion in kind - we will invade their lands, capture their cities, rescue our citizens, and on their emperor's throne we shall force upon them our demands for their surrender, and make it so they have no choice but to accept. Their slaves shall be freed, their stockpiles of chemical weapons destroyed, freedom and dignity will be returned to the citizenry, and as their government bends the knee to our superior might, they will regret ever crossing that gate," Hanna finished, as she pointed to the gate in question.
A breath was taken, and she prepared to step aside. "Countess Model, your additions, if you would please."
"Ladies, gentlemen, the press," the older woman said, with more than a little disdain on the last part. "Operation Spartacus is a simple one, though there are some complications. At this time, the Imperial Military's research and development division has yet to conclude how the Gate works, so it is our only point of entry into and out of the Special Region, though they inform me they should have it figured out 'by November'. This will put a tight but not unmanageable restriction on logistics until the situation is corrected, but more importantly, it means it is absolutely imperative we gain control of the region surrounding the Gate on both sides as quickly as possible."
"Secondly, according to our interrogation of prisoners and observations from our special operations teams in the Special Region, we are grossly outnumbered - according to our analysis, the Saderan Army consists of between thirty to thirty-five million active duty personnel, with the ability to call in another twenty million via conscription. Sadera is massive - Thirty million square kilometers, with a good third of it contiguous and the rest spread out on colonies across six continents. We may have technology, but they have numbers, and reportedly have a large number of mages both in and out of the military."
"Don't get cocky - a bullet fired from an eighty year old gun, a shell fired from a ninety year old tank will leave you just as dead as one fired from a modern gun or a modern tank; and don't get bloodthirsty - our goal is not occupation. I believe the Austrian command referred to it as 'Civilizing' - hearts and minds, everyone. We are there as liberators, not conquerors. To show them that our way of life, our government, and most importantly our lack of slavery is superior to theirs, not that our culture is better -" she paused to glance at the Imerians "- nor to simply wipe them out." she paused to glance at the Japanese. "Give their military a bloody nose and a broken jaw, spread the word about how much better life is for our citizens than it is for theirs, and free every slave we come across, hopefully without bloodshed, and march slowly but ever onward towards the capital as more and more of their cities turn to our side." She paused.
"Though of course, if the slave owners or slave sellers refuse to hand the slaves over, feel free to kill them." A few laughs, which she allowed to finish before continuing.
"It will not be easy. As I said, we are outnumbered, and the capital city is almost two thousand kilometers from the Gate. We may have to fight all the way there, we might not. Our plan is not to, but I think we all know how well plans survive first contact with the enemy, even one as far behind us technologically as the Saderans."
"One last thing, in closing - Yes, the Saderans are slavers. Yes, the nobles, the generals, even some of the officers stand a good chance of owning slaves. But we are soldiers, not butchers, and to properly engage in hearts and minds, we must be better than the Saderans. There will be no disproportionate retribution, no war crimes, no looting, no war trophies, no torture, no burning of villages, no gas attacks on civilians. We will be as better morally as we are technologically in war, otherwise we will end up bogged down in just another war where the people hate us willingly as much as the soldiers must, and both are equally willing to kill."
She paused.
"That is all. We are oscar mike in one hour. I leave the floor open to the other commanders, and to media questions, until then."