Either there is a Jerusalem ex Machina where Russia, Livonia, Persia, and the other countries in Africa capitulates to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem overextends itself, or Jerusalem actually gets pushed back.
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You forgot the other option where Jerusalem just decides to nuke everybody.
Imagine Pippa, thinking that she would rule all of Sub Saharan Africa when your local 8-Channer just decides to use console commands and press the delete button on countries.
So… Elias pulls a Pensuke and corrupts and destroys the world, proclaiming that it is his right to do so?
(I don’t know how to say this in a nicer way, but I already say those links don’t belong here.)
Counterattack, Part 14
Sedeh
Gebhard clenched his fists, pushing through the pain and discomfort coursing through his body. Edmund looked on, amused. “Try as you will to resist it, but you can’t fight basic science!”
“You know…” Gebhard said. “You’re absolutely right. Gentlemen?”
On cue, his men stood straight up, raised their guns, and shot the surprised Crusaders, taking their microwave weapons and turning them off. Gebhard immediately felt much better. He got back on his feet, while his men surrounded Edmund. Edmund was taken aback. “What?! Impossible!”
“Did you really think you were the only one with a plan here?” Gebhard said. “I knew you’d try to replicate Chernobyl in some way. I read about the tactics you used in Bremerhaven. You did use microwave devices there before Red Christmas. I know people who were hurt by it, and I know you were in charge of the front there. So I had all of my men wear lead aprons under their uniforms.”
Thanks for letting me know, Angelica and Julian.
Edmund pulled out his pistol. “Lies! Deceit! The kind of dirty tricks the party cartel plays!”
Gebhard picked up his own gun. “It’s called strategy, look it up. I put that letter to good use.”
“That should’ve been my letter!”
“Really?” Gebhard sighed. “We’re doing this again? That was fifty years ago. Come on, grow up. You’re always telling me to do that. And I did grow up. I’m not Crybaby Gebby anymore. I’m Gebhard Remmele, Megas Domestikos of the Kaiserliche Heer. Surrender, Edmund. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I will shoot!” Edmund jabbed his weapon in Gebhard’s direction. “I really will!”
Gebhard took one step forward. “You know, even after all you did, I still haven’t given up on you. I just want things to go back to how they used to be in Hallstatt.” He took another step. “Kayaking and fishing on the lake, grilling fish for dinner…I miss those days. Circumstances outside our control put an end to that.” Another step. “The war happened. We both wanted to be commissioned. General Princip only finished one letter before he was killed by a missile strike. Sometimes, I wonder what would’ve happened if that missile didn’t hit him.” Another step. “Would we have gone in together? Avoided Chernobyl? Avoided all this?”
“Not another step!” Edmund waved the gun several inches away from Gebhard’s head. “You’re my enemy!”
“How could you say that to your own brother?” Gebhard said. “You expect me to run? I won’t.”
“All enemies of Jerusalem must pay!” Edmund’s gun was now an inch away from Gebhard’s head.
“Do you really mean that, or is that something drilled into your head by High Command?” Gebhard pressed Edmund’s gun against his forehead. “If you really believe it, then go ahead. Shoot your own brother. I won’t hold it against you.”
“How could you, though, after all I’ve done?” Edmund’s finger curled around the trigger.
Gebhard shrugged. “You can’t undo what’s already done. You’ll have to answer for that. But you can stop doing what you’re doing right now. Stop the fighting. Stop the killing. Do you want more people to end up like we did? Two brothers forced to fight because a war scarred them half a century ago? Please, Edmund.”
“I’m your enemy,” Edmund said, “Do you understand that?”
“I do. But you’re also my brother. I can’t abandon my own brother like this. We have to look out for each other, right? You taught me that long ago. I’m not running away again. Please, Edmund…come home.”
“I…” Edmund looked him in the eye with a determined expression. “I am home. Jerusalem is my home. They were the only ones to truly respect me. When nobody else recognized me, they did.”
“We did, Edmund,” Gebhard said, “Just because I succeeded didn’t mean you have to fail. We could both have succeeded, if not together then on our own. And you clearly made it on your own. But you didn’t recognize that. You were so hung up on trying to get back at me…you forgot about yourself.”
He quickly pulled Edmund’s gun out of his hand. The Persians grabbed him by his shoulders and forced him onto his knees. Gebhard put down Edmund’s gun on a nearby table and holstered his own gun. “There’s no need for vengeance. Surrender.”
Edmund sighed. “You’ve really changed, haven’t you?” He put his hands up. “Alright, fine. A soldier of God surrenders with honor and dignity.”
“Thank you, Edmund,” Gebhard said.
“Don’t misunderstand me, Gebby,” Edmund said, “This isn’t over. When Jerusalem takes this city and frees me, I’ll get justice for Chernobyl.”
Gebhard bowed his head. “I don’t believe it will come to that. Take him away.”
The Persians lifted Edmund onto his feet. The general quietly followed his captors out of the room, only looking back once to give Gebhard a look filled with hatred.
Even if it didn’t change anything, it was still worth a shot.
With his own battle over, Gebhard slumped into a nearby chair and sighed with relief. It felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest. Fifty years of estrangement…well, they hadn’t exactly reconciled, but Gebhard still felt some closure. After a couple minutes of rest, he straightened his uniform and left.
The mall
Any second now, Alex expected the man to open fire and end them. He closed his eyes and cursed himself. Maybe you shouldn’t have spent so long stalling with that monologue. We probably should’ve just shot him and be done with it. But no, you just had to pull a donghua protagonist move!
A second passed. Then another. Gustav still didn’t shoot.
“Uncle Gustav!” Josh shouted. “What are you waiting for? Exterminate these barbarians and free me now!”
Gustav’s eyes wandered around the room, focusing on everyone’s faces. He eventually turned to Alexandra and lightly gasped.
“You look just like your mother…” he said.
“You knew my mom?” Alexandra said.
“Fraternizing with the enemy?!” Josh said. “I thought we got rid of this problem five months ago! I will not tolerate such blatant treason, you deadbeat of an uncle!”
Gustav suddenly aimed at Josh. Alex saw shock and rage twist Josh’s face to an almost monstrous degree. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!”
Gustav tapped his temple. “My Panopticon’s gone down. I don’t think it’s coming back. And if it’s gone…” He flipped the safety of his gun off. “That means I’m free.”
“Zut alors, what the hell is going on here?” Angelica said.
“Shh!” Alexandra replied.
“I remember everything now,” Gustav said, “Everything you and Theodor and Jerusalem did to me. And I hate it.”
“You’re getting P maintenance when we get back!” Josh said.
“I’m not going back,” Gustav said, “And neither will you.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?!” Josh said. “Have you gone senile?!”
“See, this is exactly what I mean,” Gustav said, “You berate me all the time, treat me like I’m dirt. I’m your frakking uncle! And now you want me and the rest of your men to die fulfilling a personal grudge from twenty years ago?! That’s not professional at all!”
“This operation serves a tactical—”
“SHUT UP!” Gustav raised his voice. “Stop lying to yourself! You just wanted to kill these kids!” He jabbed at Alex, Alexandra, and Angelica. “What did they ever do to you?! What tactical advantage does killing them provide? They’re civilians, Josh! For crying out loud, they’re not even soldiers!”
“You never complained about killing civilians before,” Josh said.
“That was the P’s doing,” Gustav said, “Now that I’m free, I know better. But I suppose a psychopath like you wouldn’t know the difference, P or not.”
“Why you frakking—” Josh tried getting up, but Angelica kept him pinned in her armlock.
Alex nervously approached Gustav. “So, uh, Gustav, was it…what’s your deal?”
“I want to surrender,” Gustav said, “I’ll turn myself in to face justice for my crimes and testify as to everything I’ve seen Jerusalem do. And I’m bringing my monster of a nephew with me.”
“You’re Josh’s uncle?” Alex said.
“You must be Alex Humboldt,” Gustav said, “You bullied Josh in middle school?”
Why am I not surprised Josh spun it that way? “Actually, Gustav…he bullied me.”
Gustav bowed his head. “That…makes a lot more sense.”
“You’re really going to surrender to us?” Angelica said.
Gustav immediately handed his gun to Angelica and knelt, putting his hands behind his head. “Is this enough?”
Alexandra nodded. “I suppose so.”
Josh struggled against his restraints even more. “NO! YOU TRAITOR! I SWEAR, WHEN I BREAK FREE I’LL DESTROY YOU ALL! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!”
I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not complaining. “We should get going,” Alex said, “No reason to stick around.”
“Yeah, I’ll bring the Impala around,” Alexandra said, “You two watch our new prisoners.”
“Happy to oblige,” Angelica deadpanned.
“Don’t worry,” Gustav said, “I’ll help watch him.”
“YOU FRAKKING TRAITOR! JACKAL! HYENA!” Josh spat.
The palace
Magnus, Thea, and Tania burst out from their cover and dashed across the rooftop. Theodor heard their footsteps and slowly turned around. His eyes made contact with Magnus’. “You have guts, boy.” While the turret remained focused on shooting the Persians, blades emerged from his wrist gauntlets, and the mad CEO slowly approached him. “Let’s see if you can back them up!”
Magnus gripped the pistol with two hands and pointed it at Theodor. “Stop right where you are!” He put on his best angry policeman impression. “Freeze!”
Theodor laughed. “I can see the terror on your face, boy. You’re not fooling anyone.”
“I’ll shoot!” Magnus said.
Theodor arrogantly stretched out his arms. “Then go ahead and take a shot, kid! I doubt you have the gall to pull the trigger. Don’t you know who I am? I’m a frakking regent, chosen by god to lead Holy Jerusalem to victory, and you are nothing more than a bug fit to be squashed under my—”
Magnus pulled the trigger. A shot rang out, and smoke rose from the barrel of the pistol. Theodor looked down and saw a slight dent on his chest armor where the bullet had pinged off.
“I’m not a bug!” Magnus said. “I used to think that way, you know! That Alex, Alexandra, and Thea always hogged the spotlight while I just ran errands! I realized I was helping in my own way! Building the reactor, writing the code, adjusting all of the systems, reporting to Gunduz, I did that! I’m not some errand boy, and I’m certainly not a bug! It took me this long to realize I’m just as important as the rest of us! And now I’m going to help bring you down!”
“Ah, so you worked on the reactor, did you?” Theodor laughed again. “Looks like I’m going to have to take you in alive. Though there’s nothing saying you still need your arms and legs!”
He tried moving his arms, but he couldn’t. Sparks flew from the joints, and it was with great difficulty that he finally managed to move his blades in front of him. “What…what is this?!”
Magnus blew the smoke away from the barrel of his gun, trying—and failing—to look cool. “Guess it worked.”
Theodor’s turret sparked and whined, smoke rising from the loading mechanism and motors. It stopped firing at the Persians. Magnus looked behind Theodor and saw the Crusaders had also stopped firing, instead clutching their heads and groaning. A second later, the drones fell out of the sky and shattered against the rooftop.
“You—you what?!” Theodor said. “What infernal technology is this?!”
“Something I hope you never get your hands on,” Magnus said.
“Men!” Theodor shouted. The Crusaders snapped to attention, but in a sloppy manner. Some of them fell over, while others braced themselves against vents and chimneys, and a couple were picked off by the Persians. But the majority of them shook off their disorientation and picked up their guns again. “Your new targets! Shoot this boy!”
The Crusaders pointed their guns at Magnus, but before they could fire, the helicopter’s machine guns opened fire, cutting them all down. Surprised, Theodor looked at the helicopter and saw Tania in the cockpit. The rotors started spinning. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Sorry, but I need your ride!” Tania said.
Theodor gritted his teeth. “Get out of there right now!”
“Or what, you’ll shoot me?” Tania laughed. “You and what army?” She aimed the machine guns at Theodor.
“Tania, we need him alive!” Magnus said.
“Come on, at least let me sell it!” Tania said.
“Just go!” Magnus said.
“Even if you leave now, you’re not going to catch up to the drones in time!” Theodor said.
“Just watch me!” Tania flew off. The downdraft ruffled Magnus’ clothes and hair, and he used one arm to cover his face. When the wind died down, Theodor was now right in front of him.
“One benefit of this exosuit?” Theodor readied a wrist blade. “I don’t have to worry about a light breeze!”
“HEY, THEODOR!” Theodor’s attention was drawn to the fake reactor, where Thea had a hand hovering above a keyboard. “YOU’RE A TERRIBLE BROTHER!” She pressed a key, and the reactor let out a moderate hum.
Theodor narrowed his eyes and let out a low grunt. He tried reaching out, but he couldn’t move his arm at all now. “Gaahh! What? Again?!”
“I’ve hacked into your Panopticon,” Thea said, “Your admin Panopticon, I should add. Yes, I know about what privileges and defenses your implant has. But even an admin Panopticon runs on the same hardware and software as any other Panopticon. So I used that to my advantage. And now, through your Panopticon…”
She pushed another button, and suddenly all of the gunfire in the entire city ceased. Magnus looked down from the roof and saw that all of the Crusaders on the nearby streets had completely paused.
“I now control every Crusader in this city.” Thea’s smug smirk was almost identical to Theodor’s, but Magnus found a gentle and playful warmth in her expression, unlike Theodor’s obnoxiousness and arrogance.
“You’re making this up!” Theodor said. “You don’t know anything about how my men and their Panopticons work!”
“On the contrary, I know more about them than you probably do,” Thea said, “How else could I have stopped your entire army in its tracks with the push of a single button? And not only can I stop it…”
She hit another button. On the streets, Magnus saw all of the Crusaders abandoning their positions and heading west—back the way they came from. “I’m pulling everybody out of the city.”
“Once they get out of range, they’ll come back, and they won’t spare any of you this time!” Theodor said.
“Yeah, true,” Thea said, “But the Artesh will destroy them on the way out.”
Magnus walked up to Theodor and casually pushed his outstretched arm away. Then he pressed the gun to Theodor’s head. “Give it up, Theodor. You’ve lost.” He beckoned to the Persian soldiers. Without any Crusaders to stop them, they easily forced Theodor to his knees and slapped handcuffs on him.
Thea walked over and looked down at him. Her smirk had disappeared and was replaced with a disappointed frown. Theodor looked up at her with a pleading look. “I’m sorry it had to end like this, sister.”
“No, you’re not,” Thea said, “And don’t call me sister anymore, Theodor. Take him away.”
The soldiers dragged Theodor into the stairwell. Theodor struggled, but his body remained paralyzed by Argeiphontes. All he could do was scream and curse. “UNHAND ME, YOU SAVAGE FIRE WORSHIPPERS! MARK MY WORDS, WHEN JERUSALEM RESCUES ME, I WILL RAZE THIS BLASTED CITY TO THE GROUND, AND NONE OF YOU WILL BE SPARED, YOU HEAR ME?! DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!”
Nobody responded. When Theodor finally disappeared down the stairs and his curses faded away, Thea let out a sigh of relief. “Good…frakking…riddance.”
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So remember how I was teasing Thea and Theodor would have a mecha fight like Asami and Hiroshi did? Well, I couldn't make that work. It was already a stretch giving Theodor a third exosuit. Instead, I decided to have Thea take him down in a thematically appropriate way.
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Jerusalem seems doomed. Unless the worm cult commits a Diabolous Ex Machina against the Meritocrats, there is no way Jerusalem can regroup from this.
Jerusalem seems doomed. Unless the worm cult commits a Diabolous Ex Machina against the Meritocrats, there is no way Jerusalem can regroup from this.
So Persia has effectively won the battle, and a major one at that with Theodor, Edmund, and Josh capture. Hopefully Elias will be brought to justice too one way or another.
That said, even with Jerusalem suffering a catastrophic defeat akin to Stalingrad, Manizkert, and Carrhae style defeat, I still think Jerusalem won’t fall easily due to its sheer size, geography, and zealous population. Conquering Jerusalem itself will be a bloody multi year total war unless Henrich is able to overcome the decentralized command structure of Jerusalem and launch a pro Reich coup.
I know I talked about this before and you said that you might cap off the 11th century rework with a study session talking about the Roman political system and the Investiture Controversy, but I still think talking about how Jerusalem built it self off of previous Roman authoritarian regimes and nationalist movements would be a good idea to include in that lecture. Considering how this arc and the Handmaid's Tale was inspired by real events, In the lecture, you could take OTL cues from how the autocracy of the Duchy of Moscow/Tsarist Russia drew from Byzantine political systems, which in turn influenced the authoritarianism of the Soviet Union and Vladimir Putin.
That said, even with Jerusalem suffering a catastrophic defeat akin to Stalingrad, Manizkert, and Carrhae style defeat, I still think Jerusalem won’t fall easily due to its sheer size, geography, and zealous population. Conquering Jerusalem itself will be a bloody multi year total war unless Henrich is able to overcome the decentralized command structure of Jerusalem and launch a pro Reich coup.
I know I talked about this before and you said that you might cap off the 11th century rework with a study session talking about the Roman political system and the Investiture Controversy, but I still think talking about how Jerusalem built it self off of previous Roman authoritarian regimes and nationalist movements would be a good idea to include in that lecture. Considering how this arc and the Handmaid's Tale was inspired by real events, In the lecture, you could take OTL cues from how the autocracy of the Duchy of Moscow/Tsarist Russia drew from Byzantine political systems, which in turn influenced the authoritarianism of the Soviet Union and Vladimir Putin.
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Are you sure about that?
3 for 3 so far. Let’s go for 4!
Indeed. Unlike with the loyalists in WW2, Persia doesn’t have the manpower and allies to march all the way to Berlin.
Good idea. I like that comparison.
Yes I’m sure.
unleas more crusaders jump into the meat pile, which is always possible.
unleas more crusaders jump into the meat pile, which is always possible.
Indeed, especially since Jerusalem is heavily inspired by modern day Russia, China, and Iran, as well as other authoritarian states in their spheres of influence and western right-wing movements. In fact Putin’s nationalist imperialistic dictatorship is intellectually inspired by prominent Christofascists like Ivan Ilyin, so there’s plenty of overlap between the Committee’s ideology and the worldview of OTL Russia’s oligarchs.
Good point, even if Jerusalem’s professional army is destroyed due to Argeiphontes making Crusaders with Panotipicons useless, they could always take a page out of Iran's book and resort to human wave tactics, especially since they are already pulling a Ba'athist Iraq and Syria with its use of chemical weapons.
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It is literally possible too.
I also took a lot from American right-wing organizations and Christian fundamentalists, many of which have been heavily influenced by or at least seek to emulate Purim’s Russia.
They could always conscript as many civilians and prisoners as they can get their hands on for more human wave tactics.
I know it's a typo, but I think we should make "Purim" a new "Wikto is Tito" esque meme to mock Putin.
Also, I literally edited my comment to reference American and European reactionary movements and Ba'athist Iraq and Syria right before you posted this, my timing is a little funny.
Purim is a Jewish holiday celebrating the saving of the Jewish people by Esther, so I don’t think that would work as a meme.I know it's a typo, but I think we should make "Purim" a new "Wikto is Tito" esque meme to mock Putin.
Also, I literally edited my comment to reference American and European reactionary movements and Ba'athist Iraq and Syria right before you posted this, my timing is a little funny.
That tends to happen with me. After I lost so many chapter posts in the past, I don’t refresh my pages too much when I start writing in the text box. But yeah, definitely shades of American and European far right movements in Jerusalem, though the Baathist stuff was unintentional.
I can seriously see Theodor Tesla, Pippa, and Elon musk (or whoever the Roman equivalent is), calling TTL PUtIn as “Purim”.I know it's a typo, but I think we should make "Purim" a new "Wikto is Tito" esque meme to mock Putin.
Also, I literally edited my comment to reference American and European reactionary movements and Ba'athist Iraq and Syria right before you posted this, my timing is a little funny.
I could see Elias calling TTL PUtIn as “Purim” to imply unfortunate implications. Just saying.
Jerusalem’s manpower pool is at least in the multiple tens of millions. It could go up to hundreds of millions if they allow women in the workforce.
Oh, I didn't know that. Thank you for telling me.
To be fair, I think Jerusalem has more in common with Islamist dictatorships like Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and ISIS than it does Baathist regimes, I was stating how Jerusalem's willingness to use chemical WMDs on civilians reminds me a lot of Saddam Hussein and the Assad regime's genocidal use of chemical weapons.
I prefer Thea beating her brother like this. It's the ultimate counter to his insistence that he's better than her, smarter than her. Also, good for Magnus for giving the perfectly hilarious response to someone saying you wouldn't shoot.
Got to mention it too, everything from Gustav is wonderful. Immediately recognizing that his nephew being the bully checks out, not giving Josh an inch in their conversation, surrendering without condition.
Got to mention it too, everything from Gustav is wonderful. Immediately recognizing that his nephew being the bully checks out, not giving Josh an inch in their conversation, surrendering without condition.