Neustria
Manse of the Esteemed Nobility
The Ingenious obvious refusal did not surprise the Frankian Court, it being long viewed that when it came to morality the Ingenious court was thoroughly bankrupt. Despite this, there was some pause in declaring war, though not a long one. The desire for war and the need for glory, as much as to right previous wrongs done unto the Frankian Realm by the Ingenious betrayal in the last conflict of any note, emboldened the Frankian Realm to declare a state of war between the Frankian and Ingenious Realms.
On this sad day, the Frankian Realm once more finds itself at war with a Great Power and former ally in the cause against Barlatism. For too long, the Ingenious Realm had pursued a policy of oppression against religious minorities that cannot be denied. For too long their katanas have been drawn while the back of a friend was turned, but no longer. As in the last war, when all did their duty for the Realm and Crown, I call upon you once more to fight for that which is a morally just cause. Our foe is devious, but that does not mean that he will not fight our forces to an end that might doom both Realms. It is the will of the gods, it is destiny, that war is once more unleashed upon the Void.
May the Mater show her mercy upon us, and give courage to all those that take up arms against the foe...
The transmission was heard with silence from one end of the Realm to the other, though the declaration of war came as no surprise to a folk long accustomed to the need to fight to preserve one's honor and hone one's skill. Volunteers had followed in the wake of Reservists, all leave had been canceled for active duty personnel. Something truly terrible was on the horizon, but most doubted that the slaughter in this latest round of Voidkampf could match the horrors of Yamsai and Septimania where men, ships, and entire units had disappeared.
Captain Frantz vra Lorell reviewed his company of Greenclad with some satisfaction, even in uncertain times their morale did not waver. Discipline and duty, the chief pillars of any organized military force, were here on display. Each of the Regulars of the Frankian Army was a rifleman, trained in the art of engaging the enemy at long-range or hand-to-hand combat. Lorell's company had been withdrawn from a peacekeeping operation in some pirate's lair to join the company's regiment, bound for whatever cesspool the Command might desire to send them. Wherever the 2nd Company of the 83rd might go, Lorell was sure to be there to endure the same hardships as his men.
Frantz had been born on Septimania before his country's loss in the Great War snatched both his home and his ancestral plot of land away from him. The Vra Lorell clan had disliked the guildiers who labored and did not breathe the fresh air, nor take part in what he regarded as the only work that truly rewarded. Now, with his clan dispersed and in need of income to maintain their status, Frantz had no other option but to enlist in a service where the bulk of recruits hailed from worlds he had been brought up to loathe. After multiple cycles of service, such naivety had been lost after the first shells rained down on his position.
The Austrasians in his unit had found the notion of a Sepi as a commanding officer in the Regular Army as absurd, at first. Lorell, despite his unusual background, had proved effective in all that a common soldier imagined a CO should be. Regular food, regular tobacco, regular wine, regular pay, and regular leave were guaranteed to them, as well as the guarantee of the promise of land to all that served for 10 cycles. Private Hendrickson noted the banner of his regiment flapping in the wind, the familiar song echoing across the Wylus mountains.
The Green banner unfurled,
The call to arms is sounded.
On the horizon is the foe,
We shall not fall back!
Woe to Texcoco
Dux Isocratt va Vrantrille had long advocated taking the war to the enemy, the problem that the High Command had opted to take the war to too many enemies during the same conflict. Vrantrille's record in the last war of any consequence had been to keep the Kressnians, a folk unsuited for Voidkampf, on their best behavior. Paperwork, patrols of Kressnian space, and other petty matters had been his domain until the order to withdraw was given. The Kressnians had been left to their own devices and their own peculiar style of government.
In the present cycle, with another war looming, Vrantrille had been selected to lead the initial forays into Ingenious space. Fire and sword would be brought to Ingenious colonies, until one by one they were reduced to nothing but cinder. To accomplish this task, the equivalent of two Fleet regiments was assigned without much adieu. Such craft were likely not enough for a commander that sought to take every citadel of the enemy by storm, but Vtrantrille was of a more wilier sort. If not through the sword, then the hiring of nomads and traditional enemies of the Ingenious with the war chest and plunder promised by net yet more ships and men.
As they entered the Ingenious space, no message was broadcast. A declaration of war would have been issued beforehand, sparing each Vrantrille that the Frankians sent out into the Void the burden of stating their intentions beyond the demand for immediate surrender. Texcoco was but the first of many to feel the hot breath of a familiar foe, a foe bent on acquiring booty, revenge, and recruits.
The Fate of Kressnia was the first to cross the threshold between the Realms, piercing the very Void itself in tremendous display. With an FTL-I field being erected to cut off all outbound traffic and communications, the vessels that readied themselves in battle formation were a sight to behold. A mixture of Dromonds, Dreadnoughts, Destroyers, and lesser craft pressed on without delay divided by Regiments into Battalions to cover more area and to exploit any possible breach of the enemy line. Engineers and Voltigeur squadrons raced forward, to gain better intelligence and clear obstacles in the advance's path.
Legacy's Bitter Harvest
A much more serious effort was, meanwhile, underway as multiple Corps dropped out of the threshold of ftl and erected an ftl-i field to cut off communications and enemy transit. Unlike Vrantrille's raiders, this force was tasked with burning what was rumored to be a key resource hub for the Ingenious fleet. Dux and Magister of the VI Armada, as the host was regarded by the Neustrian War Office, was made up by tens of thousands of craft ranging in size from the great Artillerycraft to the much lighter Voltigeur craft.
Engineers were sent forward along with an escort as the 20th, 43rd, and 95th Corps made ready their advance. Scans of the system by the probes outside the field and by the ships sensors would give the Frankians a much better idea of what might lay ahead of them. Enemy stations and strongpoints would naturally be targeted, with merchant craft destroyed on sight if they refused to be boarded by Frankian warcraft. Batteries boasting guns of great caliber were made ready, eager to pour forth a torrent of shell and shot into the enemy ranks.
The Frankian host arranged itself in a series of wedges, each wedge consisting of a Fleet Regiment of one of the three Corps to the fore. The remaining 56th and 63rd formed their Regiments into clusters resembling columns that could quickly form line at the Magister's command. It was expected the foe would dispatch reinforcements soon, or sally forth to expel the Frankians from the system. Dux Zurst vra Durstann noted that, if the worst should come, the guns of the Durstann's scythe might be able to salvage the situation.
The Dromonds were designed and produced in the orbital shipyards for another conflict involving costly capital ships. Vastly greater than the dreadnoughts in size and armament, they were just being distributed when the current conflict broke out. Their capabilities were yet to be tested, though they were concentrated into Heavy Companies rather than distributed individually to each Fleet Company or Squadron. Durstann's staff noted that, in all likelihood, the Dromonds would have to be used far more than the High Command would have desired against the Jade squadrons in a shock role.
A note from his wife had been delivered, written in her own hand.
Zurst, I hope this letter finds you in good-health. The children ask a hundred questions that I cannot answer. When will vati return? Why are we at war with the Dragons? Each day, they read up on the latest news coming from the war... I wish for this war to come to an end before blood shall be shed, but I know that it will only end when the Dragons are ground into dust. May the Mater Most High guide you, wherever you may be, and know that I shall keep constant watch until the day you might return.
Durstann breathed a sigh, and stared into the distant void... The lair of the treacherous dragons lying in wait to breathe fire upon his command. He filed the letter in with his personal dispatches, and reviewed the latest holorelay. Bearcats and their escorts had been launched not too long ago, eager to conduct hit-and-run strikes on Ingenious formations and positions. The lumbering Bearcats would fly far from the range of the big guns and turbos of the foe, eager to pounce upon any damaged craft that might seek refuge.
VB-943 and the 94th Bomb Wing were targeting any merchantships that might attempt to escape the slower Frankian formations. Darting through enemy space, bold pilots would take their craft to the limits to get their Bombers into range. Skipping the Void, or so it was called, though most sailors of the Fleet would regard such antics as suicidal. Commander Roberts and his 94th Wing had conducted such operations before, though only against wayward kinsmen. Jade merchantmen were likely to be as dangerous, if not more so. Ranged munitions had been discharged at anything that might smack of an enemy craft, forcing the Wing to take evasive maneuvers and plot a new course to escape retaliatory fire.
The thrill for the kill gripped these trigger happy fools, who would gladly set course through the withering fire of even Tnem-Fragg much to Pordish chagrin. The Bomber Corps of the Fleet was determined to justify its right to exist in this age where most resources went to capital ships. Bomber Captains had been noted to furnish extra funds for their commands through their own pocket or make special petitions to members of the royal house for patronage. The 94th Wing was known as the Prince's Swift Sword, though which of the many princes that now roamed across the Realm was their patron not a soul aboard the craft knew.
Ingenious craft in range... Engage at will.
Torpedoes were loosed across the Void, trailing green ether as they made their way across tens of thousands of leagues towards the enemy craft. The Bombers drew off upon discharging their ordinance, climbing high into the Cosmic Void before making a sharp descent into the black.
