Before
Berlin - October 31
Late at night, Heinrich waited on the Tiergarten bench for his contact. He checked his watch and nervously looked at the streetlights. One could never be sure they weren’t being watched. After a few minutes, Gertrude sat on the bench behind him. From the sound of her breathing, it seemed like she was wearing a heavy jacket and a mask to diguise herself with.
“That outfit’s not going to be enough, with what Watchtower can monitor,” Heinrich said.
“I’ve put pebbles in my shoes to throw off my gait,” Gertrude said.
Okay, she was much more prepared than he thought.
“How did you get out of the house anyways?” Heinrich said. “With Elias being Elias…”
“Said my aunt was visiting, so I had to take her around the city,” Gertrude said.
“At this time?” Heinrich said.
“She’s a very eccentric aunt,” Gertrude said, “Elias knows. Anyways, to business.”
“Do you have any orders for me to…handle?” Heinrich said.
“Unfortunately not,” Gertrude said, “Elias has delegated more powers to the individual generals and away from you.”
“That man claims to support the troops, but he knows nothing about the chain of command,” Heinrich said, “If everybody starts acting on their own, we’ll have no cohesion. Everybody will run into each other like a bunch of headless chickens.”
“I know,” Gertrude said, “But I can’t do anything myself.”
“What about our main concern?” Heinrich said. “You know, bringing Elias down?”
“I’m sorry, but he’s been very paranoid lately,” Gertrude said, “I couldn’t get anything.”
“Say, I’ve heard Tiger’s Defense has been probing our networks,” Heinrich said.
“What about it?” Gertrude said.
“What if, instead of us leaking the leverage ourselves, we open a path for Tiger’s Defense to do it for us?” Heinrich said.
“That could work,” Gertrude said.
“I’d have to talk with the Keyboard Crusaders,” Heinrich said, “Maybe tomorrow.”
Gertrude looked at her watch. “I should probably get going. My alibi will only work so long.”
“Yeah, you should,” Heinrich said, “Contact me if there’s anything you need to share.
“Got it.” Gertrude got up and left.
Heinrich sighed. “This world has gone completely mad…”
“Not
completely yet, I fear,” Gertrude said.
November 1
“Our operations in the Caribbean have been dealt a massive setback,” Heinrich explained, “Admiral von Württemburg lost half his capital ships, six subs, and a transport in Tejas Bay. Our other fleets throughout the area have also come under attack. Rumor has it Atoc Sopa Atoc is leading the operation.”
“Then tell them to counterattack!” Theodor said.
“It’s not that simple, Theodor!” Heinrich said. “How do you think we’re attacking? With ammunition and fuel! Ammunition and fuel we are running short on, and we can barely resupply with our ridiculously overstretched supply lines, even before this Eimerican offensive began!”
“So you’re saying our Caribbean positions are unsustainable,” Moria said.
“In a nutshell, yes,” Heinrich said.
“I tried to warn you,” Josiah said, “We can maintain our current positions in Kleinvenedig and the Carribean corridor, but we may have to withdraw our forces from North Eimerica.”
“And just abandon our brave Crusaders like that?” Elias said. “Whatever happened to supporting the troops?”
“I’m supporting the troops by not giving them unnecessary deaths,” Heinrich said, “Let them live to fight another day.”
“I agree,” Josiah said.
“I can see that,” Moria said.
“There’s also the matter of the ceasefire proposal suggested by Tyonajanegen and Thordarsson,” Josiah said.
“A ceasefire?” Elias said.
“Covering all of North Eimerica,” Josiah said, “They are aware of our overextension. They’re willing to let us withdraw our troops over the next three days.”
“They are only suggesting this because they know they can’t match us,” Theodor said, “Our troops are the best in the world, and we’ve already inflicted massive casualties on them. I say we finish the job.”
“And may I ask how we’ll finish the job?” Josiah said. “Take their capitals? There are over a dozen capitals scattered across two continents. It’s suicide.”
“That’s the attitude of a coward and a quitter,” Theodor said, “Christians aren’t cowards. They’re men.”
“He’s being reasonable,” Heinrich said, “As a general myself, I know our troops’ limits. And this would allow us to move our troops in North Eimerica to Kleinvenedig without incident.”
Elias was already on the phone to High Command, though, and not listening to anything Heinrich said. He nodded and put the phone down.
“My generals in the Kleinvenedig theater concur,” he said, “Let’s do it.”
“Elias, you’re not seriously going along with this!” Theodor said.
“It’s not a surrender,” Elias said, “And besides, this can avoid high-profile encirclements and decisive defeats. Our positions in Kleinvenedig will also benefit. We only gain from this ceasefire. Anyone else have concerns?”
Nobody else said anything.
“Good,” Elias said, “I’ll notify Tyonajanegen we accept the terms.”
Elias’ house - November 2
We, Zhu Yangshen, the Chongxian Emperor, Blessed by Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years, Emperor of China and All Under Heaven, Son of Heaven, etc. etc. etc., demand the rogue Jerusalem state to formally and publicly condemn the "dangerous propaganda" against all peace-loving nations of the world, the ultimate aim of which is to deprive all peoples of sovereignty. Berlin must condemn the dangerous jingoist rhetoric being propagated throughout the world at once.
In addition, the Daqin government should:
- Suppress all publications which incite hatred and contempt of all peoples and nations and are directed against their territorial integrities;
- Cease combat operations and withdraw all troops from both North and South Eimerica at once;
- Eliminate without delay from schoolbooks and public documents all propaganda against China and other peoples of the world;
- Apologize to the Imperial Chinese Government, represented by His Excellency the Grand Secretariat Han Xianyu, and send a representative of its choosing to Nanjing to deliver the apology in person;
- Restore a Government more respectful of international norms which the Empire of China is committed to upholding;
- Rehabilitate itself into the harmonious and cooperative community of mankind that the Empire of China is committed to guiding into the future;
- Notify the Imperial Chinese Government "without delay" of the execution of the measures comprised in this ultimatum.
We shall expect the reply of the Jerusalem Government within twenty-four hours. Should the warmongers in control of the government fail to heed this warning, the Chinese government will mobilize its reserves.
PS: 1v1 me, noob, if you’re a real man! -Han
Elias pounded his desk. He really was planning on honoring the ceasefire, but that goddamn Han had the nerve to insult him to his face. Not only that, but he had to literally copy the ultimatum Franz Joseph sent to Lithuania in 1914, as well as King-Emperor August’s insane response. Oh, he would soon learn what a real man could do. He looked up and saw Ellie’s reflection in the mirror, silently watching him.
“Ellie, watch over me,” he said, “Everything I do is for your sake. I will accomplish your dream, no matter what it takes! As for you, Han…I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT A REAL MAN CAN DO!”
Eimerican Federation executive residence, Markland
Jorvik Thordarsson woke up to air raid sirens blaring. His phone was buzzing, so he weakly picked it up.
“Hello?” he said.
“Sir, there’s a—” the connection suddenly cut off.
“Hello?” Jorvik said. “General?”
He tried calling the general back, but his call didn’t go through.
“What was that abo—” Jorvik never finished his sentence before a nuke obliterated downtown Markland.
Gunnolfsfell
A detachment of UN Police officers escorted a half-awake Kahenta to the helipad, where a helicopter was ready to take off. In the distance, air raid sirens echoed between the skyscrapers of downtown Gunnolfsfell.
“Mind telling me what’s going on?” she said.
“We don’t have time,” an officer said, “We’ve learned a missile is headed our way, so we’re flying you out of the blast area.”
“What about a bunker?” Kahenta said.
“There are no bunkers in the area,” the officer said.
They got into the helicopter, which lifted off and flew westward as fast as possible.
“Missiles?” Kahenta said. “In Gunnolfsfell? Did they really escalate that much?”
“Apparently so,” the officer said.
“Can you verify the threat?” Kahenta said.
“We barely got advance warning before the Federation’s detection systems went down,” the officer said, “I heard it had something to do with a massive cyberattack.”
“Secretary-General!” another officer said. “We just confirmed Markland has been hit!”
“Markland?” Kahenta said. “Is Thordarsson okay?”
“We don’t know, that’s all the report—”
At that moment, the nuke over Gunnolfsfell detonated, obliterating all of downtown and its skyscrapers in an explosion so bright for a second it was like the sun itself rose in the middle of the night. Although the helicopter had already flown out of the blast zone itself, the shockwave and EMP still hit, sending it into freefall. Before the pilot could regain control, it slammed into the ground and exploded. There were no survivors.
Berlin
Elias’ finger was still stuck on the red button, even though the computer indicated his several hundred launch orders had been received and executed without incident. He still pushed it forcefully, as if putting more force on the button would intensify or lengthen the explosions that no doubt were happening around the world. Finally, he let go. Elias leaned back and smiled. He took out his old pocketnife and flicked the blade open, stabbing and slashing the air randomly. There was no questioning he was the superior man now. But he wasn’t done yet. This was only the beginning.
“I’ll show you…” he muttered. “I’LL SHOW YOU ALL I’M A REAL MAN!”
---
Happy Halloween. Now suffer.
