Recently, the order of the appearance of the four great humanoid species, homo sapiens dwarvis, homo sapien elvas, homo sapien animales, and the homo sapien sapiens, has been called into question with the discovery of a 2 ma fossil mass burial of what is presumably the common ancestor of the four great humanoids. Fossil, dwarven, and elvish records have suggested that the homo sapien dwarvis have branched out first, followed by the homo sapien elvas, homo sapien animales, and the homo sapien sapiens. From the elvish records, we know that the dwarves existed before the appearance of the elves, and the elves were responsible for the homo sapien animales due to the freak mana wave that caused a massive mutation among the elves giving rise to the beastmen. After a couple of hundreds of thousands of years, the homo sapien sapiens appeared giving the belief that the humans branched from the beastmen (explaining the reason why many of the ancient elves have a tendency of looking down on the human race). However, with the discovery of the 2 ma fossils, the entire theory has been thrown into turmoil. The skeletons of the common ancestor are EXACTLY the same as the homo sapien sapiens. At first, scientists thought that this was a hoax or a mistake, but radioactive dating combined with mana decay dating continues to show that the fossil is indeed 2ma years old. Currently, the scientific community is unsure of what to make of this finding. At first, it was hypothesized that the elves and the dwarves purposely left out the human race in their records, but the fossil records agree with what is on the elvish and dwarven records. Until this discovery, there were no human fossils older than 100,000 years ago giving credibility to the elvish and dwarven records. So why is there such a major gap between the fossils? Is it simply that the natural selection favored the same skeletal traits of the common ancestor once more? Is it simply a matter of coincidence? Convergent evolution? To obtain a better picture of this discrepancy, mages will soon be performing a DNA extraction so the fossils can be genetically sequenced. In fact, a much clearer picture would be made if we waited for the results of the genetic comparisons between the four homo sapien species. Until further research is done, it is HIGHLY recommended that the implications of these findings stay classified for it could mean a massive political and social upheaval across the world should this information leak without sufficient preparation.
-Update on the classified finding of the mass graveyard Year: 1974 CW
The moon shone its light across a resting army. Ready for the battle that would occur tomorrow. Many soldiers were sleeping or eating a snack, but in one of the larger tents, a high tension could be felt.
"With all due respect, General Haig, this plan will end in failure. We do not have the numerical advantage nor do we have a fortress to utilize. If we try to hold all the flanks, we are going to lose. I say that we redistribute the numbers and put more emphasis on the central line right here. With the hills and forests on the left and right flanks, we should be able to hold them there for longer period of time allowing us to break through the middle section and dividing the army in half. If we try to distribute the forces equally, we..." (Descal)
"No. We are following through with the initial plan. It is too risky to try that maneuver. You just focus on guarding the queen which is your job. Let me do mine. Your majesty, if you would allow us." (Haig)
"Go ahead, Haig. We will go through with the plans you have drafted. When the battle occurs, I expect you to oversee the central line." (Cecilia)
"Understood. Thank you, your majesty." (Haig)
With those words, Haig left the command tent to explain his plan to the other commanding officers. Descal looked over at Princess, no Queen Cecilia and scrutinized her. Cecilia paid no attention as she went back toward her paperwork and began reading the reports and started signing off some documents.
"Do you want to lose?" (Descal)
"Of course not." (Cecilia)
"This is important! Look at me when I am speaking to you." (Descal)
"I can do listen and work. Just say what you wanna say." (Cecilia)
"Are you even reading the reports? Cause it looks like you are just skimming and just signing off on it." (Descal)
"No. I am actually reading. That has to do with the merchant supply line while that has to do with the armory budget. That is the results of the attempted peace negotiations..." (Cecilia)
"Okay. Whatever. If we go through with this plan, we are going to lose. We can't seriously expect to face these guys head on like this. Yeah, we have the topography advantage, but it won't matter much if we don't properly utilize it! If we don't place more troops on the central line, it is us that is going to get cut in two. Not only that, the stupid general is going to the central line as well. We are going to look so stupid if we lose the commanding general in our FIRST fucking battle. So why the hell did you order the general to the central line? Not only that our intelligence division is absolutely horrendous at the job. What is maybe 10,000 troops? What type of report is that? It's not even remotely correct. I did some scouting a couple days ago, and I got a rough estimate of 19,000. 19,000 fuckin thousand against our seven thousand. Just fuckin fantastic. The first thing that we need to change is the scouting troops. For one, PROPERLY pay them and equip them." (Descal)
"You have to remember Descal that you don't have any authority regarding this army. The only thing you have control over is the royal guard. No one is going to believe that lie of yours that you studied battlefield tactics." (Cecilia)
"Uhuh. Yeah, like I can tell people.
"Descal. What do you want me to do?" (Cecilia)
"Appoint someone else! Anyone more competent than this guy. (Descal)
"He is the most competent. We have a severe lack of generals because most of the generals are nobles, and you already know about my relationship with most of them. Anyone else is simply a squad commander that everyone will question and comes from commoner backgrounds. They are going to need quite the achievements if I want to promote them to generals much less commander of this army. Otherwise, it sends the wrong message. If I demote Haig for some random commoner, the northern nobles will break the neutrality, and my diplomacy work would have gone down the drain. Also, you know how the northerners prefer meritocracy so it would not go well if I promoted the squad commanders." (Cecilia)
"Fuck my life. Well, Haig is definitely an example of a way of cheating the system with his merits. I can clearly tell from how he plans that he did not win from superior tactics, but from overrunning enemies with superior numbers. Fuck my life." (Descal)
"You have no life. You are the abyss. Even the world says you have no life." (Cecilia)
"Fuck you." (Descal)
"Maybe you would like to explain to me why you look suspiciously like me one more time? You even got purple hair, the symbol of royal blood, for your body. Hmmm?" (Cecilia)
"Are you still angry about that? Look I am sorry. When I was making my body, I accidentally thought of you during the process, and I ended up bonding with this body shape." (Descal)
"Uh. Huh. Do you know how much of a heart attack you gave me when I looked in the mirror, and I saw a male me looking back? Did it ever occur to you that it may have been proper conduct to at least send me some sort of message before hijacking my mirror as a communication device? Do you know how embarrassing it was for me to check for the existence of my "assets" while you were watching the entire thing through the mirror? Do you know how much that mirror cost?" (Cecilia)
"Uhh. But..." (Descal)
"No buts. You deserved that log to the face. Besides, I like the rearrangement of your face." (Cecilia)
"That is the issue I have. What type of person drags a fuckin log to their office just so that you can rig a trap? If it wasn't me, you could have killed someone. Not only that, you dyed my hair red with my fake blood. What type of psycho does that?" (Descal)
"I made sure it was you. I deliberately changed the schedules, and I made sure it was on a rest day so that it could have only been you." (Cecilia)
*Cecilia completely ignores the second half of Descal's complaint about using his fake blood to dye his hair red permanently*
"Uggh. Ever since you came back to civilization, you have been acting so differently. Why couldn't you show this behavior during the flight to Uwile?" (Descal)
"I was thrown into a situation that I had absolutely no control over and had no training, talents, nor skills for surviving that ordeal. I was not prepared. Of course, I panicked." (Cecilia)
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"And you have control over this situation?" (Descal)
"Yes." (Cecilia)
"Is there seriously no one else that can replace him?" (Descal)
"... I have a plan. Don't worry." (Cecilia)
"May I hear what the plan is?" (Descal)
"Not yet. After this battle. Descal. I have a request for you." (Cecilia)
"What?" (Descal)
"I want you and Royal Guard to be battle ready when the time comes." (Cecilia)
"What? You know very well that the freaking royal guards are just a show. This royal guard is just a hastily put together group of soldiers to save face. The coup already wiped out all the good royal guards anyway. The only thing they have is discipline. Everything else is just useless. All they can do is swing a sword and show off their decent equipment. They will lose against a swordmaster." (Descal)
"I know. Descal, please." (Cecilia)
Cecilia looked at Descal with intense eyes. She wasn't joking at all. At first, Descal wasn't going to say anything and walk out, but he saw her hand shaking. Immediately, understanding dawned on Descal.
"Cecilia. Are you planning on going into battle?" (Descal)
"..." (Cecilia)
"Look at me. You aren't a warrior. You can't fight. Yes, you are an excellent politician and a schemer, but you can't fight very well. These aren't going to be bandits we are fighting. They will be well-trained mercenaries, knights, soldiers, and mages. Don't do it." (Descal)
"I think I am a decent enough fighter to..." (Cecilia)
"SPARRING is not the same as warfare Cecilia. Cecilia, your strength lies somewhere else. Don't go to the battlefield." (Descal)
"Descal. I have ordered the deaths of thousands of people while I sat behind a desk. I don't want to win this war while others die for me. Not anymore. I should share the dangers of my men as well." (Cecilia)
"You will die." (Descal)
"Then, I will die trying to pursue my promise. *rises from her chair* If I stay behind, ordering others to kill or be killed, what type of ruler will I be? I have said that I want to build a country that every innocent person I have killed can look upon and be proud of. I can't do that if I just stay behind. I won't be a coward. I have to be a leader. I have to be someone that the citizens will be proud of to have as queen." (Cecilia)
"Your words will be more convincing if your legs aren't shaking." (Descal)
"Damn it Descal! I am trying! You're right. I am not suited for the battlefield. Anything can go wrong. Well-thought-out plans can burn up in a moment. Everybody killing each other. Just chaos everywhere. But, despite knowing all this, I want to be someone different from my past. Instead of staying in the shadows in safety watching everybody die, I should be at the front as well. Please." (Cecilia)
"...I'll speak with my men. We'll follow you to battle. But! Talk with the dumbass general. Make sure to leave a force of 150 cavalrymen in reserve. We're going to need them." (Descal)
"I can do that. And thanks." (Cecilia)
"Thank me if my strategy works, and we come out alive. *snort* My initial plan was twisting some stuff around to try to minimize casualties for a loss and organize a retreat, but with you coming to the battlefield, like hell the enemy forces is gonna allow us to retreat. Now, I have to find a way for us to win this god damn battle from an unfavorable position. I'll give you the preliminary strategy before the sun rises. Get some sleep." (Descal)
*Watches Descal leave* "As if I could sleep." (Cecilia)
She quickly finished up her paperwork and signed off on the last supply negotiations before she plopped down on her bed. Surprisingly, sleep came quite quickly.
------- 11 hours later ------
"Sir! The central formation has been pierced! General Haig has fallen in battle. Commander Finus has managed to rally the men, but he can't stop the assault!" (Messenger 1)
"GIve him the order to retreat to the hills right at the edge of the forest." (Descal)
"Yes, sir!" (Messenger 1)
Descal went out of the tent and climbed a tree and began surveying the battlefield. He could clearly see how Commander Finus was struggling against the enemy forces. They managed to pierce the shield wall and almost divided the forces in half. Since Commander Finus is a pretty charismatic guy, I can partly understand why the central line hasn't dissolved into a complete retreat yet considering everything that is happening.
"Descal! Why did you order the retreat that far? That will completely open up the left forest routes." (Cecilia)
"It's too late. I have to preserve what I have left. That means abandoning an entire flank. We can't win by force. Once the right flank falls, they are going to try to surround us. That means one of the flanks would be farther away from the general, giving us the chance to break through and attack the head of this army. Not only that, I made sure to tell the commander of the right flank to fake a retreat and come back to hammer the overextended right flank when the time comes." (Descal)
"You don't seem that surprised about the General dying." (Cecilia)
"I already planned for it. Thank god our Commanders know what they are doing. There is a reason why I sent you a letter to have Commander Finus take the central position. On the other hand, you don't seem very worried that our freaking general died." (Descal)
The lack of response from Cecilia made Descal suspicious that it was a part of Cecilia's scheme. Ever since Descal came back to Uwile, Cecilia never lied to Descal. If she did not want Descal to know something, she merely stayed silent or tried to change the topic. Whenever Descal tried to push Cecilia on the matter, it always ended with Descal shooting his own foot so he eventually learned to shut up.
Once Descal made sure that the retreat was going as smoothly as possible, he jumped down from the tree and began walking toward the Royal Guards with Cecilia close behind him. As soon as the Guards saw Descal, they rose up and saluted him.
"What type of salute is that?" (Cecilia)
"A salute from another world. At ease." (Descal)
Descal looked over the ragtag group of the 30 Royal Guards. Truth be told, the army would spare no elites for Cecilia's guard since it was believed that Cecilia would not even get close to the battlefield. As a result, Cecilia's Royal Guard consisted of soldiers from a wide background. Three of them were actual elite Royal Guards that escaped from the coup. Once they heard that Cecilia was alive, they immediately came to Uwile with news of her father's execution and the king's will that states that Cecilia is to be the next queen. Of course, how many nobles actually follows what the will state was a different matter... As expected, the rest came from commoner backgrounds or small noble houses and were handpicked by Descal. When picking his team, he chose discipline, drive, and loyalty above skill and talent. In addition, to make training easier, the Guards were mainly young men. If Descal had more time, he would have been able to train the Royal Guards as an elite group, but alas he only had two months before war broke out.
The Royal Guards were divided into 3 squads of 10. The elite Royal Guards, Felix, Dob, and Manos, were the squad leaders with their vice leaders, Donald, Pan, and Goob. There were no female Guards because there was only one female applicant, and she was really sexually attractive. Also, she loved making sexual jokes and had a tendency to go on large shopping sprees. She was an amazing fighter but having one sexy girl in a group full of men... Descal grew worried about squad cohesion and any foolish love triangles that may pop up. That and he was worried about the Guard's financial status should she join. Instead, Descal decided to place her under the command of Commander Cornelia, the current commander of the left flank. Last he heard of her, she was quickly rising through the ranks of the army and was set on being promoted to a Commander.
"Sir. Are we really going to battle?" (Donald)
"Yes. Chin up, soldier. You are a part of the Royal Guard. The only relationship you have with fear is the amount of fear you drive into the enemy when we make contact." (Descal)
"Yes, sir!" (Donald)
"I am surprised at the amount of respect they have for you." (Cecilia)
"Me, too. When I was training them, I was really winging it." (Descal)
"How humble. I saw you from the window. You knew exactly what you were doing." (Cecilia)
"Then, I did a good job winging it." (Descal)
"You think they will be fine on the battlefield?" (Cecilia)
"I don't know. RIght now, I would place them on the low end of silver rank. Except for the three actual Guards, they are at the high end of the silver rank." (Descal)
Cecilia only nodded as she went back to cleaning out her Chassepot. Since Descal had some time to toy around with Uwile's forges as well as better control of his magic, he was able to replicate a breechloading, bolt action rifle for Cecilia. Since it was rifled, Cecilia was able to hit targets at a much higher range, but the gun needed lots of cleaning due to fouling from the black powder so Cecilia has gotten into the habit of cleaning her gun even if it was unnecessary as a way of calming her nerves. Descal still has not made much progress regarding explosives, so he was still stuck with using mercury fulminate and black powder.
Descal thought that he would need to make another shorter barrel rifle for Cecilia when she was one the horse, but Cecilia somehow continued to be accurate with the longer barrel while on horseback and has significantly improved her bayonet techniques due to having access to numerous spear instructors. Cecilia was able to bullshit her way through about her peculiar weapon stating that she found it in a ruin. Anyhow, Cecilia was capable enough on the battlefield in theory. If Descal had to guess, Cecilia had the power levels of a gold rank due to her mastery of the rifle.
"How is your progress on your magic eyes training?" (Descal)
"It's going well. I've finally managed to "see" mana now. In addition, I've mastered long range sight with my eyes." (Cecilia)
"Anything else?" (Descal)
"Is there anything else I can do with my eyes?" (Cecilia)
"I don't know." (Descal)
"Then, no." (Cecilia)
"Sir! The right flank has collapsed! Commander Derecha has ordered a complete retreat from the battlefield. Commander Finus wanted me to tell you that he won't be able to hold his position for much longer so he wants you to, in his words, "hurry the fuck up with your plan"." (Messenger 2)
"Tell him to retreat farther back to the ponds near the hills. Give him this map. Tell him that it pinpoints all the ditches, pitfalls, spikes, and fortifications I had the conscripts do last night. If he places his troops properly, he should be able to pull the enemy forces into chokepoints and buy more time and reduce casualties." (Descal)
"Yes, sir!" (Messenger 2)
"Alright! Royal Guards! Stand at attention! We will be going to battle now! Saddle up and head toward the left flank. We are going to meet up with Commander Cornelia. Remember that you are the Royal Guards. Remember why you are fighting!" (Descal)
"Sir, Yes, Sir!" (Royal Guards)
With those words, with Descal at the head, the Royal Guards made a beeline for the left flank which mainly consisted of a bunch of hills. As a result, much of the left flank was fought with the cavalry units. Of course, Descal laid all sorts of traps on the left flank as well. Cornelia was informed beforehand of the placements, and she was able to utilize them to their potential. She baited the enemy cavalry into the pits and then had a different cavalry unit crash into the disrupted enemy units. In addition, she utilized the hills to pull off numerous flanking measures by hiding cavalry units between large hills so that enemy cavalry could end up getting pincered. As a result, the left flank was completely won by Cornelia.
Once the Royal Guards were a decent distance into the left flank, Descal's group was approached by a cavalry squad with a waving flag that marked a commander. The lead knight took off her helmet and as the brown hair came tumbling down,
"Alright. I heard that our general died. DId you come here to ask us to cover your retreat?" (Cornelia)
"On the contrary, it's time we flip the score. I plan on winning this engagement." (Descal)