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(So… now what? Also, President Pensuke and his Magica may be one of the many reasons why the Progressive Party in Rome wouldn’t run a candidate in the 2010s and the 2020s.)
Counterattack, Part 13
Mesopotamia
Samir heard gunfire for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, and the two Crusaders fell. Samir’s eyes widened, and his heart leapt as hope returned. “Huh?”
A woman appeared behind the two Crusaders who were supposed to kill him. She was young, a little bit older than Samir from her face, but she towered a whole head over Samir. She was moderately bulky, a little like Ruby in that regard, but her build suggested that of an officer rather than a front line soldier. Her dark hair had been cut short and tied in a bun. Her facial features clearly indicated she was a Mongol, like Samir and Gulichi. She lowered a smoking pistol, clearly the weapon that had saved Samir. Her green uniform was a Yavdian one, with rank insignia indicating she was a general. A general, huh? At your age? Wow, that makes me look like nothing. Despite the soldiers behind her giving off battle-hardened expressions, her own was softer. Samir found himself getting lost in her wide eyes, which weren’t narrowed and hawk-like as the other Yavdians were. There was something different about her…
“Uh…” he finally said. “Th-thanks.”
He heard Gulichi snickering behind him, but he didn’t care. The woman extended a hand. An empty and open hand, not a fist or one holding a gun. “General Saikhangiin Börte, Yavdian Army. And you are?”
Wait, THE General Börte herself is standing before me?! And she’s this girl? She personally came to save us? Me included? I can’t believe it!
Samir saluted. “Corporal Samir Tetchu. Yavdian Army, 20th Infantry Division, 53rd Battalion. On loan to the Kaiserliche Heer. I’m the commander of the Liberation Legion.”
Börte returned the salute. “Nice to make your acquaintance, Corporal. I’m glad you guys are still around.”
“No need, I should be glad you came out of your way to reinforce us,” Samir said, “We were on our last legs.”
“I was aware of that, thanks to a certain soldier named Leyla Mala,” Börte said.
Gulichi sat up. “Leyla?”
“And you are?”
“Gulichi Juha, Liberation Legion.” Gulichi pointed at Billy and Ruby. “Those are Billy Marks and Ruby Moreau, also under Corporal Tetchu’s command.”
Börte nodded. “Hello.”
Billy and Ruby weakly waved. “Bonjour.”
“Anyways, we were advancing through northern Mesopotamia at our current pace, expecting to arrive in this area later today. Then we received an urgent transmission from Mala, who informed us you were about to be overrun by the enemy, and it would lead to the collapse of Operation Huma. Is that true?”
“Yes, it was,” Samir said.
“So Leyla asked you to hurry up?” Gulichi said. “Instead of calling for more reinforcements, she went to you instead?”
“After we rescued her from a Crusader ambush, she informed me she had already requested reinforcements from Persia,” Börte said, “But nobody processed the request. As if the General Staff refused.”
Samir’s eyes widened. “They…refused to send reinforcements?”
“It had to do with Isfahan,” Börte said.
Samir clenched his fists. I knew it. I knew they would prioritize Isfahan and the elites there over us. They didn’t care whether we lived or died. We just had to be a convenient distraction for them. In the end, it’s just as expendable as those Crusaders sent to kill us.
Börte noticed Samir’s anger. “You’re disappointed, aren’t you?”
“Permission to speak freely, General?”
“Please, you don’t have to ask. Chain of command should never be stifling.”
Hey, that’s something I say too! “I am disappointed. If this were any other day, I’d be furious.” He gestured around them. The remaining Crusaders in the citadel and doorway, only armed with bayonets, were being cut down by Yavdians with fully stocked guns. Dozens of Persians and Crusaders still laid on the floor where they had died. Outside, the remnants of the Crusader army and their last tanks were being pummeled from the air by Yavdian fighter jets, whose engines shrieked and rattled the citadel’s ancient walls as they passed overhead. “Look at this battle. We lost hundreds of men today, and for what, a simple distraction? They prioritized Isfahan over us! They knew what we were getting into, and still they chose to ignore our plight just so they can protect a few royals and politicians! How can they treat us like this?! How can our lives mean so frakking little to them?!”
Börte patiently listened to Samir’s rant, her only movement coming from occasional nods.
“I spoke out of line, didn’t I?” Samir said.
Börte shook her head. “Actually, no. You made perfect sense.”
“I…I did?” Samir’s heart leapt again.
“In my time commanding troops in this war, I’ve seen this happen over and over again no matter where I am,” Börte said, “The strong always using their power to oppress the weak for petty reasons. Money, women, words on paper, scraps of dirt. It’s the same whether it’s Jerusalem or the warlords of western Yavdi. And now it seems the Majlis and the Shahbanu are no different. They lounge in their palaces while we are sent off to die in their wars.”
Samir was at a loss for words. The words coming out of Börte’s mouth…were his own. “Did I hear you right?”
“I mean what I say.” Börte’s eyes were full of determination. “Although I’m a general of Yavdi, I prefer to think of myself as not fighting exclusively for any country or government. My allegiance is to the people. Not Yavdians or Persians or any single nationality. All people, as one.”
Samir almost swooned. Finally, I meet someone who thinks like me! Finally! And it’s here, of all places.
Gulichi snickered again, and Samir lightly nudged his foot to get him to stop.
“Zut alors, now there are two Samirs,” Billy muttered.
Ruby quietly rolled her eyes.
Samir didn’t pay attention to any of that. All he focused on was Börte for now. An accomplished general—especially one as young as her—believed in almost the same things as he did. Was it fate that brought them together? No, he didn’t believe in anything like fate. But it was a fortunate coincidence. So many new options were now open to him, options that he had never considered before. He had realized he wasn’t alone anymore. Although he had made many friends over the last five months, there was nobody else who had truly believed in what he did. Gulichi and Leyla might be receptive, but that would take much more time. Izinchi and Julian had potential, but ultimately they would prefer remaining with the establishment. Billy and Ruby would probably rather retire after what they had gone through at their age. He respected Wilhelmina and what she believed in, but she would never fundamentally believe in what he did, and there was no guarantee little Friedrich would follow after her. But here was Börte, right in front of him. Here was a likeminded soul who truly understood what he was getting at. Another dedicated to the pursuit and protection of freedom for all. And if someone like Börte could hold similar beliefs…then there could be others as well.
Börte waved a hand in front of Samir’s face. “Samir—is it okay to call you that?”
Samir blinked, returning to reality. “Ah, yes, I was lost in thought. Is it okay to call you Börte?”
“By all means, go ahead,” Börte said, “What were you thinking about?”
Samir hastily made something up. “The future. After we get the hell out of here.”
“How about you join my army?” Börte said. “I can get the paperwork filed later today. It won’t change much overall. We’ll still be operating in the general area with Artesh backup, but you’ll report to me instead of your…Roman general, I presume?”
Gebhard Remmele’s a decent commander, but he’s nothing like Börte.
“I take it you don’t have much of a problem with that?”
“Yeah, it doesn’t mean much,” Samir said, “How about you guys?”
“Sure,” Gulichi said, “We were Yavdian Army or militia before.”
Billy and Ruby hesitated.
“Eh…I’ll have to think about it,” Billy said.
“Same here,” Ruby said.
Börte nodded. “Understandable. I won’t force you into something you don’t want to do.” She looked at Samir and Gulichi. “So, you two are onboard?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Gulichi said.
“Of course,” Samir said.
Börte held out her hand. “Then let’s build a better future.”
Samir cautiously took her hand, seeing the contrast between her relatively clean but calloused hands and his slightly smaller but infinitely bloodier one. “Together.”
Börte shook his hand firmly, not caring for the blood or the dirt or the grime. “Together.”
The Pacific
Higa’s thoughts were interrupted by the churning of water around him, lightly tossing his driftwood around. Using what strength he still had, he gripped the sides of the wood, ignoring the splinters digging into his skin. Something metallic bumped up against the bottom of the driftwood. Something big. It pushed the driftwood up and out of the seawater. The waters parted as a submarine surfaced. Lifting his head, Higa saw the sail of the craft.
So, someone found me. Is it a Fusang class? Can’t tell with this visibility. Well, at least I can count on Zhang to give me an appropriate end.
The hatch opened, and a Ryukyuan sailor appeared. “Admiral Higa! This is the Agarizachi.”
More sailors appeared. They climbed out of the hatch and ran over to him. “You’re okay!”
“You guys…” Higa muttered. “Came back for me?”
“Hong’s orders. Refused to give up on you.”
He did? Higa laughed. “Of course he did.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you to sickbay right now.” The soldiers lifted Higa up and carried him to the hatch.
“Tell me something,” Higa said, “Did we…did we win?”
The sailors looked at each other. After a moment of silent deliberation, one of them broke the silence.
“Yes.”
It felt like the submarine that was his body was no longer being held down by ballast, but returning to the surface. His upper body heaved. His diaphragm vibrated, and he quietly laughed. “Of course we did.”
Why was he ever doubting it, when he had men and women as devoted and brave as these?
Livonia
Shots rang out, and the forest fell silent. Boris’ eyes remained closed, expecting the end any moment now. But it didn’t come. He cautiously opened them. As his vision adjusted to sunlight, he saw the Crusaders around him had been shot. But his rifle remained where it was, and he clearly hadn’t pulled the trigger.
“Dobroho ranku.” He heard a voice behind him that wasn’t in German or Lithuanian. Turning around, he saw a tall man in a tattered Russian Army uniform standing in front of a row of Russian soldiers, who had just lowered their smoking assault rifles. “Hope we weren’t too late.” He held out a hand.
Boris hadn’t met him in person before, but he knew exactly who this man was. “General Lev Konstantinov.” He clasped Lev’s hand, and the general pulled him onto his feet.
“At your service, Chancellor Bradziunas,” Lev said, “Sorry for the delay. We rushed here as fast as we could, but Haynau’s putting up quite the fight.”
“Yes, I could tell,” Boris said, “So you’ve secured this area?”
“Not quite,” Lev said, “We pushed him back a bit, but our primary goal is to get you guys out of here. I don’t have the resources to directly engage right now.”
Boris looked first at the bodies of the Livonian soldiers around him and then at Kowalski, whose breathing had steadied. “Yes, that would be great.”
Lev motioned to two medics, who lifted Kowalski onto a stretcher and carried him away. “He’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” Boris said, “Let’s get going.”
The Russians turned to leave. Boris took one last look at the trench—at all of the dead bodies, both Crusader and Livonian, that were still scattered across it—and then joined the Russians. At that point, he finally let himself feel relieved. It was finally over for him. Yet he felt a little sadness. He had survived…but so many did not.
“Don’t worry, brave soldiers…” he whispered. “I won’t forget you.”
Scandinavia
One moment, everyone crouched at the barricades was firing everything they had at the approaching Crusaders. Bullets, bombs, rockets, and shells filled the air. Sigurd Street ran red with blood from dozens of fallen Crusaders. The drones had all been shot down as well. That left the infantry, which threw themselves against the Scandinavian defenses like waves against the rocky Norwegian coast, and the tanks, which pounded the barricades with their cannons. Clara settled into a regular routine of shooting everything she had, ducking behind the barricade, ejecting her clip, picking up and loading in a new one, getting up, and resuming fire. She continued this for so long she lost all sense of time, now measuring progress in terms of how many clips she had gone through. Beside her, Sylvia loaded new rockets into her launcher and fired at wherever she thought had the highest density of Crusaders. They continued this for what seemed like forever. Nothing mattered to Clara but the annihilation of the enemy.
Then the last tank finally rolled onto the bridge. Clara’s heart skipped a beat. Her hands moved on their own, pressing the detonator with as much force as they had. A split second later, all of Sigurd Bridge erupted into flames and then ceased to exist. The shockwave and boom of the explosion rushed past her injured ears, which turned it out just like the other loud noises she had heard so far. She blinked, trying to wash out the dust being thrown in her eyes. Her ears heard men screaming, concrete cracking and buckling, and heavy metal splashing into the water. When she next opened her eyes, the bridge was gone, and there was nobody left to shoot.
She came to that realization at the same time as everyone else, and within seconds, the street fell silent. The pavement in front of them was littered with the dozens of corpses of Crusaders who had made it onto the island. The river waters where the bridge once stood churned a mix of foamy white, blood red, and oily black with the wreckage of destroyed tanks, APCs, and concrete rubble. Any Crusaders fortunate enough to have remained on the opposite bank now fled back to the highway, no doubt fleeing back the way they came. All they heard was the sound of flames flickering. Everybody looked at each other, their faces still tense and laser-focused, but Clara could tell nobody knew what to do. They looked back at the street and aimed their guns again, as if expecting the enemy to come back. They didn’t. They couldn’t. There was no way.
A minute passed. Two minutes passed. Three minutes passed. Nothing happened.
“So…” Sylvia broke the silence. “What now?”
Clara was the first to lower her weapon. “I think…we won.”
“Oh, good.” Then the realization hit Sylvia all at once. “YEAH! WE WON!”
Everybody shot daggers at her. Sylvia was baffled. “What? We won, didn’t we?”
Nobody answered her question. Clara could sense tension still hung oppressively over the whole barricade. The battle had already ended, but nobody believed it did. She decided to help out. She stood up and raised a fist. “YEAH, WE WON! WOOHOO!”
“SEE? CLARA GETS IT!” Sylvia said.
“Come on everyone, relax!” Clara said. “We made it!”
You know, I think I get it. They’re scared of acting like Snorrison. Denying a threat that’s very real. But we can’t keep living in fear, can we?
At first, nobody answered her. Then she heard a clap. Her eyes scanned the barricade and saw it came from a younger man. He clapped again. Sylvia joined in, clapping slightly out of tune. Then another woman chimed in, and gradually the clapping spread throughout the whole group. Instead of gunshots, claps echoed up and down the street, soon accompanied by enthusiastic cheering. Soon, the fear and tension gave way to exuberance and elation. People pumped their fists and hugged each other. Some shouted Norse victory cries and gave thanks to the gods of Scandinavia. Others simply sat down and leaned against walls, happy it was all over. They would of course set up shifts to watch for any returning Crusaders, just in case the enemy hadn’t given up yet, but that would happen later on. Right now, they could just celebrate. Any victory, however small, was still a victory.
Joey staggered over to them, panting heavily. “Wow…that was…way more exhausting…than I expected.”
“Merciful Eir,” Sylvia said, “You’re alive.”
“What, you’re surprised?”
“Yeah, I am. I mean, your choice of weapon seems to have been…a cow?”
Joey laughed. “A magician doesn’t reveal his secrets, you know.”
“Clara, please tell me you’re surprised too!”
Clara shook her head. “Eh, no.”
Sylvia put her hands on her hips. “What, you expected him to do…whatever he did?”
“I don’t really know what he did, but I can’t deny it works.”
“See, Clara has faith!” Joey said. “Guess you really did take Irina’s words to heart.”
“I suppose I did,” Clara said, “As a result, we made it.”
Sylvia looked back at the barricades, her eyes focusing on the defenders’ dead and wounded. “Not all of us, though.”
“But some of us, at least.”
“They’ll be back, won’t they?”
“Yes, they will,” Joey said.
“The same tactics we used today probably won’t work again, assuming they still try to take this city the normal way,” Clara said, “But it’s more than likely they’ll glass Tingvalla with napalm and nerve gas. We need to begin evacuating everyone.”
“What was the point of fighting in the first place, then?”
“To send a message to Jerusalem,” Clara said, “That even if they destroy our cities and poison our land, we Scandinavians won’t break. Scandinavia is more than the land. It’s the people of this land. As long as we’re alive, Scandinavia will live on. No amount of weapons of mass destruction can change that. We did what we could here. We’ve made Jerusalem bleed. Hopefully the rest of the world sees what we’ve done.”
“But we’re still going to leave, after all that we did?” Sylvia said.
“We have no choice. You want to see Oliver again, don’t you?”
“It would be nice.”
“Well, the Navy’s still evacuating people to Iceland out of Trondheim. The civilians will be taking it.”
“And the military?”
“The military and anyone else who wants to fight will head south to join the major rebel groups in Denmark.”
“And what will you choose, Clara?” Joey asked.
Clara hesitated. She didn’t know how to respond. Sylvia tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for an answer. Thanks a lot, Joey, you really put me on the spot here.
“What do you want to do, Clara?” Sylvia said.
Clara finally figured out what she wanted to say. “You know, I think I’ve had enough fighting for a long time. This battle finally let me come to terms with what happened in Bremerhaven. I don’t think I’ll ever fully heal from it, but I feel like I can finally move on. Our family’s been separated for long enough. It’s time we meet up with Oliver.”
Sylvia smiled. “You know, I would’ve been okay with us going to Denmark.”
“And why the hell would I put you through that, after today? We dodged a lot of bullets over the last four years, and I’m not risking it. I can’t bear to lose you, and Oliver deserves to have both his parents back with him.”
Sylvia grinned and patted Clara’s shoulder. “Glad to hear that, Clara.”
“Let’s go home, Sylv. Wherever that is.” She took Sylvia’s hand.
Sylvia gave her a light kiss, while Joey looked away to give them privacy. “I sure married the right woman.”
Clara couldn’t help but blush and feel warm. She couldn’t help it whenever her wife said that kind of stuff. She focused on their clasped hands, fingers tightly intertwined to form an impenetrable shield. Her lips curled up into a smile. Then she kissed her back, letting the moment linger.
When we’re together, I feel like I can take on the world.
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Konstantinov speaks Ukrainian to reflect Russia being closer to Kievan Rus than OTL’s Muscovy. Northern Russians might speak OTL Russian, while southerners might speak Ukrainian, to show a minor cultural divide between north and south.
Sylvia invokes Eir, a Norse goddess or valkyrie associated with medicine and healing.
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I was expecting our heroes to be saved somehow, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see the Russians and Mongols basically pull off a Ride of the Rohirrim to save the day, especially Borte making it all the way to Mesopotamia from Taurica. The fact that Borte has simlar beliefs to Samir is pretty interesting. It seems like Republicanism may have a chance of going from a fringe ideology to a mainstream political system when Jerusalem falls, and Borte seems one of the potential leaders of the movement.
Ryukyu‘s victory at Hawaii is no doubt a major win for democracy and a significant setback to the Sinocentric fascism of Han, Zhao, and Fusang (I feel like their regimes qualify as fascist in all but name at this point). I’m looking forward to reading more details about it in the next gameplay chapter.
Since you have Southern Russians speaking Ukrainian and Northern Russians speaking the OTL Russian language, I wonder if Belorussian would be spoken here? Maybe you could have the Belarussian identity and language develop in parts of Russia occupied by Lithuania between the Commonwealth Wars and WW1, as OTL Belarus was a part of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Also, if democracy somehow returns to China, odds are good that the Guomindang will be disbanded or pushed to the fringes as a far right party. I mean, twice now they’ve upended democracy and established a totalitarian regime that committed human rights abuses against its own people and people abroad in the past 100 years, so I don’t think the post Han establishment would allow them to remain a mainstream party a third time. Of course, there’s a chance the other parties Han suppressed, like the Fuxingyundong, won’t come back either after Han demonized them so much. There’s also the chance that China’s democratic system will be discredited entirely and it will switch to either meritocracy or a republic, assuming Han’s regime falls. Unfortunately, I think Han’s dictatorship stands a good chance of lasting awhile after this war if he plays his cards right,
Ryukyu‘s victory at Hawaii is no doubt a major win for democracy and a significant setback to the Sinocentric fascism of Han, Zhao, and Fusang (I feel like their regimes qualify as fascist in all but name at this point). I’m looking forward to reading more details about it in the next gameplay chapter.
Since you have Southern Russians speaking Ukrainian and Northern Russians speaking the OTL Russian language, I wonder if Belorussian would be spoken here? Maybe you could have the Belarussian identity and language develop in parts of Russia occupied by Lithuania between the Commonwealth Wars and WW1, as OTL Belarus was a part of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Also, if democracy somehow returns to China, odds are good that the Guomindang will be disbanded or pushed to the fringes as a far right party. I mean, twice now they’ve upended democracy and established a totalitarian regime that committed human rights abuses against its own people and people abroad in the past 100 years, so I don’t think the post Han establishment would allow them to remain a mainstream party a third time. Of course, there’s a chance the other parties Han suppressed, like the Fuxingyundong, won’t come back either after Han demonized them so much. There’s also the chance that China’s democratic system will be discredited entirely and it will switch to either meritocracy or a republic, assuming Han’s regime falls. Unfortunately, I think Han’s dictatorship stands a good chance of lasting awhile after this war if he plays his cards right,
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Börte's beliefs are not exactly republicanism, but it does significantly overlap.
There is a significant debate in OTL over whether WW2-era Japan qualified as fascist or some other flavor of authoritarian nationalist, so I think Han's China falls into the same category. Still, I do think they qualify as a fascist at this point, like Jerusalem.
Probably, but I haven't focused on that part yet.
Han has played his cards very well so far. He knows the people are key to legitimacy, so he's made sure to get the people to overwhelmingly support his dictatorship.
Sorry, but that's not related at all to this, so no.
Han, that bastard! What will happen next? What will happen to Jerusalem and The Reich in the African fronts? Finally, what happened in The Eimerican front recently? Is Haynau dead?
Many surprises here, none more so than Higa's survival. Still, I'll note Samir's reaction to Borte is quite amusing.
As the old saying goes, Hope Springs Eternal. But it's not over just yet, things are looking up that's for sure at least.
Alright, I just finished binging the entirety of A Certain Magical Index, A Certain Scientific Railgun, and A Certain Scientific Accelerator. I'll tackle the light novels later for the full story while I wait for new anime seasons. You guys were right, there is a lot of stuff that could help with building the magic/psionic system. Also, on the subject of plot points that might inspire future stuff in my story, I should point out a future arc has something that will seem like it was blatantly inspired by this series, but it's actually not as it's based on something else from before I heard of Index/Railgun (not going to say what it is because that would spoil the source material). I did add one thing from Index/Railgun onto that idea, though. It should be quite obvious.
also best girl Misaka Mikoto, best boy Accelerator
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It is hard to think that in universe this is all happening over the course of one day. For most of our characters it will probably fell like the longest day of their lives.
A part of me wonders if Samir is experiencing a little bit of hero worship right now? I also feel like meeting Borte will be a good thing for Samir in that he will be able to see how influential he could become in the future while still holding onto his ideas.
I do worry what this means for the Taurica Front though without Borte there?
I am glad that most of our heroes are still around. I am worded about Gunduz since she did not reappear with Wilhelmina.
For me I feel that the Committee and the Guomindang could end up with a similar fate that many Sodalist parties of the Eastern Block went through after the Cold War in were parties like the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party became the Social Democracy Hungarian Socialist Party or the Socialist Unity Party of Germany became the Democratic socialists of The Left Party. With both of them being minority parties?
Lastly I was wondering if VTOL Aircraft will eventually become common in the future like the Europian VTOL Transport from Akito the Exiled or the Surveyor made by the company Zetatech in Cyberpunk 2077? I could not provide the link for some reason. Just put the Europian VTOL Transport in the Coade Geass WIKI and the Zetatech Surveyor in the Cyberpunk WIKI.
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I think it isn't even noon yet...
From Gulichi's reaction, it might be a bit more than hero worship...
Probably stalled. The Yavdians don't have Börte there, but Jerusalem is in no shape to actually fight back there. Especially after stuff happens in the next batch of story chapters.
That would only be possible in a peaceful transition away from authoritarianism, which is looking increasingly unlikely now.
That could be a thing as drone technology advances. Haven't thought too much about it.