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  • Crusader Kings II
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A Training Exercise, Held in the Desert South of Algiers. June, 1935.

The new, Hotchkiss Tanks of Colonel De Gaulle's brigade had crested the rocky dune and for a moment Charles raised his binoculars to regard the trenches that had been dug by Major General Le Gentilhomme's Foreign Legionaries on the near-martian plain below. In supporting trenches he could see the First and Second Reservist Divisions under the command of Field Marshall Petain, and importantly the Anti Tank Gun brigades that were attached to them, pointing outward from the layered trenches, away from his tanks.

A glint of metal on the sun caught De Gaulle's eye as he lowered the binoculars, and then raised them again. On the other dune were the majority of the First Infantry Division's Armoured Car brigade. He took out his mirror and flashed the command tent below, and then glinted a quick morse to the other dune.

"Attack! Follow the plan!" De Gaulle cried and then he was back in the heat of the tank as the engine roared and the battle was engaged with a swift pincer movement. Dust clouds were kicked up as the armoured vehicles on both sides began their descent down the rocky dunes, whilst beneath them the main body of the First Infantry began their assault.

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The Reservist lines were thrown into chaos as Field Marshall Petain was made aware of the attack had finally arrived. The exercise designed so that his troops were defending the objective - a model town built two miles west of his lines. De Gaulle was supposed to attack from the east but it seemed the young colonel had other ideas and had moved to outmaneover the entrenched defender. Petain strode out of his command post, walking quickly in along the and ordered the Anti-Tank Brigades to aim at the light tanks descending on the right flank, whilst the Foreign Legionaries began to fire at the First Infantry Division, the few armoured cars scattered into the melange of infantry, supported the assault by targetting the machinegun nests to great effect.

The tanks moved faster than expected, and as Petain turned and strode back toward his command post, a Hotchkiss roared over the trench, the freshfaced runner infront of him diving to the floor just in time. As the second rolled closer, Petain turned and his eyes widened as the tank blotted out his vision and the tread of the vehicle ran over his head, knocking the venerable field marshall to the ground...​

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This is the Carthage Reborn contents page. Read on, if you dare!

Contents
The Prologue.

Chapter 1.
 
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Interesting. I wonder what is going to happen now.

The name of the AAR is also most interesting.
 
A kaiserreich AAR I presume ;).
 
I will follow! Nice introduction! :cool:
 
The Garden of Kadesh.
Marshall Petain awoke and rubbed his eyes slowly, then did a double take. His head was unharmed and as he looked around him, he found that he was not in the desert south of Algiers...

This place was positively verdant. The sun was not so harsh somehow. In the distance he could hear birdsong and the sound of running water. He blinked and then regarded his shoes. No sand on them at all, infact they were so polished, he couldn't believe it. Was he dead?

Suddenly he heard a roaring sound, and turning he saw a positively stunning, and utterly nude woman flanked by two. He paused as he attempted to cogitate what he saw. Were those Sphinxes?

Perhaps he was dreaming. She seemed to remind him of Francois, but he had not spoken to her in years. It was certainly all very odd.

One of the Sphinxes glanced to it's counterpart and gave it a knowing smirk as the trio slowly emerged from the woods that surrounded the clearing in a slow, stately fashion.

Her lips moved and he heard within his mind. "Do not be afraid, Henri-Philippe. You are not dead, despite Mot's wishes."

"Is this a dream?" He asked of the woman, and her lips twisted softly into a smile that seemed to burn itself into his memory for a moment.

"No. Now please, be quiet, this is important and I do not have much time. I am Astarte and by my skill at the art of healing, you will survive this accident."

The surroundings seemed to dull and fade for a moment, and the birdsong quietened as looking up, Petain saw stormclouds begin to gather. Astarte spoke but didn't speak for the final time. "El gathers his forces for their war and my time is shorter than I thought. Baal Hammon will stand by me in this, Henri-Philippe. When a Lion and a Dove come to you, look to the Morning Star. Carthage -MUST- be reborn, Henri-Philippe."
South of Algiers, 1935
Henri-Philippe Petain's lips moved softly as he lay upon the stretcher as he awoke, alone for the moment in a temporary sick-bay. "Carthage must be reborn" he found himself saying, before his head seemed to throb faintly. He reached up and felt a bandage before sagging back on the bed.

It was all a dream? He remembered it so... vividly.​
 
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National France as new Carthage? Great idea!
 
Your clever way of advertising on Realpolitik enticed me to read the AAR. Good idea and a very good style of writing, you can count on my views man.
 
The Road to Algiers. Late June, 1935


The training exercise had continued, with the young Colonel's troops performing well. Last Marshall Petain had been informed, De Gaulle had captured the model town in record time. He had nodded his response to the orderly, whilst he struggled to write with this headache that was pestering him.

Eventually though, he had written the letter to De La Rocque. Despite a rather rocky relationship with the man, Petain knew that he would make the Chief of Army he needed for this ambitious scheme that was growing slowly in his still faintly tenderised skull.

Due to his medical condition, Petain had taken the opportunity to leave early when it presented itself. In the car back to Algiers, Petain had been sat in the back seat, patiently waiting for the twenty six or so kilometres from the training ground to the city outskirts to pass. As he looked out of the window, he noted an ethereal castle in the distance. Leaning forward he was about to speak to the driver, when the man slammed the breaks on. The sky suddenly darkened.

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The man with the burning eyes rode toward them, and in the core of his soul, Henri-Philippe Petain was frightened. The driver shrank back in his seat, wailing softly and beginning to gnash his teeth as the apparition slowed it's horse to a canter, and leant over. When he spoke, it was like a sawblade being dragged across metal, and Petain heard it directly in his mind.

"Too long have I been but a voice on the sand. Too long. Doing Astarte's bidding will bring many deaths. Simply devote them to me, and you shall have an heir. You know who I am. You were snatched from my grasp by her, but perhaps it was best for the both of us."

The sky began to brighten again, and the driver yelling in Berber fled from the car, running off into the desert. As Henri-Philippe got into the drivers seat and put the car into gear and began the drive back to Algiers he groaned softly. It wasn't all in his head at all... still. He needed to deliver that letter.

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Somehow Phoenician Gods in Kaiserreich seems to work very well indeed. You must be either a genius or insane :D.