(Background)
The Empire of Yeuzuishan was a small country, inhabited and ruled by a majorly human population but with large demihuman minorities such as the Nekos or the Lamias. Organised as a hereditary constitutional monarchy with a human Emperor to lead the nation, the politics were stable. The old Emperor Daisuke Aoteka had ruled the Empire for nearly 4 decades with a wise and just hand. All had been treated as equals and the demihumans had prided themselves as the protectors of the humans, making up much of the army of the Empire.
We speak in the past about this nation because it ceased to exist roughly 18 hours ago. Approximately 5 days and 9 hours ago the Reichsmilitarstaat of Nachfolgia declared war upon the the Empire of Yeuzuishan and started a large scale offensive that simply overrolled the Yeuzuishan defenses. Large amounts of refugees attempted to escape towards the east of the country only to be greeted by sudden terrorist attacks against strategically important locations and economical positions. A similar attack led by the Emperor's advisor Chen Li Faun took place at the Imperial Palace in the Imperial Capital located in the heart of the nation. The Emperor was executed but his twin daughters, Sheena and Leena, escaped the mysterious attackers and went into hiding. The mystery about the identity of the attackers was brutally solved merely an hour after the simultaneous start of the terrorist attacks, with motorized and mechanized Exilvanian forces crossing the eastern border in force and airborne troops assaulting positions further in the west.
18 hours ago the forces of the two nations met, their military might annihilating all resistance left between them. Despite their headstart, the Nachfolgians did not manage to acquire more than half of the nation as they had faced resistance from the Imperial Army while the Exilvanians had managed to catch up due to using a well prepared agent network to weaken the remaining Imperial Army forces blocking their way. Now these two giants loom over each other, each seeing the land the other holds as their rightful prize. No proper treaty has been signed yet to determine the fate of Yeuzuishan and tensions are high. The conflict could spiral out of control and into a full fledged war between these two military giants.
But there is a ray of hope for the world. A hope for a peace that would only affect the Yeuzuishan Empire rather than a war that would drag every nation into its destructive maelstrom. The Exilvanian dictator regent, ZZ Reichskommandant Dietrich Ekerhart Haegler, has invited the the Nachfolgian Obersterfuhrurin, Angelika von Sturmgeist, to negotiations about the future of the occupied territories onto semi-neutral ground. Into the former Imperial Palace. Previously held by Chen Li Faun and the Exilvanian terrorists, they had been driven out by the ferociously attacking Imperial Guard and by the time substantial amounts of Exilvanian forces arrived, the Nachfolgians were already at the gate of the Capital, leading to the city being cut into two occupied zones with the palace returning largely but not fully into Exilvanian hands.
ZZ Reichskommandant Dietrich Ekerhart Haegler let his gaze wander across the room which should become the negotiation hall. It was the former throne room, the very place where the Emperor had been murdered and it was not exactly in its best shape. The entirety of the ceiling was missing as well as most of the windows. Parts of the walls were badly damaged and his men were busy building support structures to prevent any sudden accidents from happening during the negotiations. Others were dragging the corpses of the Imperial Guards out of the room to get rid of them. Those pesky demihumans had not given up and held this place to the very last and the room showed that all too well. Bloodstains on the walls and pools of blood on the floor. Bulletholes riddling the walls and traces of fire and ash everywhere. He would probably not be able to clean everything up in time. Not that he really cared about the remains, for him they were adequate decoration, but he did not know what the Obersterfuhrurin thought about such things and since she was a woman he had decided to make sure that things wouldn't look too ghastly when she arrived.
Speaking about looks, Dietrich once again checked his uniform. It was in good shape, just as usual. Not torn, not overly dirty but maybe a bit wrinkly and rough. Good enough, he decided. This was a negotiation...well...technically it wasn't. The message he had sent the Nachfolgians had mentioned "a dinner under the watchful eyes of our entourage during which we may discuss the terms for Yeuzuishan's future". But he wasn't going to eat, atleast not in front of the Obersterfuhrurin's and his own entourages. It would require him to remove his mask and reveal his face, something he didn't want to before an unnecessarily great amount of people. Besides, the delicate gourmet food, for which he had hired some of the best cooks willing to blend out their conscience for money, wasn't quite to his liking due to his odd preferences as a member of the Exilvanian race.
Suddenly a Rifle Grunt ran up to him, coming to a halt just before him before saluting with the usual "Heil Kaiser Vlad!" and then quickly reporting:
"Herr Reichskommandant, the Nachfolgians are arriving!"
Perfect, thought Dietrich before signalling the Rifle Grunt to return to his post. He on the other hand made his way out of the throne room and onto the stair leading up to the Palce Gate, from which he could overlook the Palace Gardens. The gardens too, once probably of a beauty rarely seen, had been ravaged by the fighting in and around the palace though it also seemed as though large parts of it had been purposefully destroyed after the fighting had ended. It was a large open space by now, divided into two identical halves by the Road of Imperial Glory, the main road of the Capital which started a the stairs leading up to the Palace Gates, went through the Palace Gardens, then down the large ramp connecting the Palace Complex with the city and then through a good potion of the city before splitting up into two roads, one heading east, one heading west. The Road of Imperial Glory was a rather broad road, easily fitting 8 lanes on a modern highway onto it. It was also in very good shape, left largely intact during the fighting due to both sides recognising the strategic importance of the road.
The Palace Gardens and overall the entire Palace Complex were crawling with Exilvanians. The characteristic blue of their uniforms was seen all over the place and several tanks as well as self propelled anti air batteries had been positioned in the gardens. And in the shadows lurked even more dangerous troops. Veterans, supersoldiers among the ranks of the already incredible Exilvanian troops, as well as Ordo Crudelitatis Sisters, deadly heralds of the dark gods, were lying in wait and watching. Security was incredibly tight. From his place at the top of the stairs Dietrich watched as the Nachfolgians arrived.