Chapter II

Year 11 of the reign of pharaoh Ramesses XI, 24th day of the third month of Peret

After having defeated the last separatist holdouts in Hatti, Muwatalli did not wait long to start another campaign, and early in the following year began another campaign, this one targeted against the Cimmerians and other barbarians living on the northern coast of the Euxine Sea. Rule of mainland Hatti was left to his chief advisor Minimu Arma and the Pankus, composed of loyalists who supported Muwatalli during the civil war and so he trusted them to take care of the country while he was away. Muwatalli never cared much for economics or other more delicate matters of rulership and left that to the experts in the Pankus, while himself preferring to spend time away from the palace and the capital, whether that was touring his realm and making appearances to reassure the population or campaigning against foreign foes.

Muwatalli took about thirty thousand soldiers with him to Cimmeria, which was still only about a fourth of the entire Hittite army, but it was still much more than enough, as the barbarians had the disadvantage in both numbers and technology. The campaign began as hundreds of ships crossed the sea and the soldiers disembarked in the Cimmerian peninsula, the southwestern tip of it. There, the Hittites routed the confused Cimmerians and drove them north with little trouble. To mark the start of this momentous campaign and this first victory, Muwatalli founded the port city of Inarutne, after the Hittite goddess Inara, associated with the wild animals of the steppe. Muwatalli did not stop for long, however, as he proceeded north to continue fighting the Cimmerians. He also split off a detachment to go east so that it would secure the sub-peninsula there, which it did and rejoined the main force shortly. The Hittites fought the Cimmerians a few more times, but in less than a month the whole peninsula was secured, as the Hittites completely overwhelmed the hopelessly unprepared defenders.

Thousands of Cimmerians died in this phase of the campaign, but many evacuated north and hoped to defeat Muwatalli as he was crossing the narrow land bridge to the continent. Yet, this attempt was just as unsuccessful as the others. The Hittites received some casualties and were stopped temporarily, but then thousands of them boarded the warships which had transported them to the peninsula and landed just north of the land bridge, bypassing the defenders and now surrounding them from all sides. The Cimmerians were slaughtered, and their leadership was decimated. The defenses had now completely collapsed and Muwatalli was free to march through these parts of Europe mostly unobstructed.

Meanwhile, the KIA agents sailed to Cimmeria as well and followed the king on the campaign trail to observe him as instructed. This task force was led by the commander Neitheret Amtensat, a young Egyptian woman who had participated in Operation Kingmaker to help Tirynthius become the wanax. Harsiamon Serachsa, another agent of that operation, was present as well. Other agents in this mission included Mehi Sebeksat, an Egyptian woman who served as the group’s alchemist and medic, Arqam Shoshan, a Kushite weapons master, and Ithobaal Arwadal, a Phoenician scout and navigator. While the group was supposed to always be under the protection of the Hittites, it was still composed in such a way so that it could be self-sufficient and take care of itself in an event it got lost or attacked.

A couple months in, the KIA agents had set up a few tents in the newest Hittite war camp, this one now situated on the eastern side of the Dnieper river, which had become the western border of the occupied territories and Muwatalli turned his forces to conquer regions east of it.

“What an exciting mission this is,” Ithobaal remarked sarcastically as he was overlooking the lands beyond the river. “I didn’t know I was signing up for this when I joined the agency.”

“What did you expect, that every mission will be just another assassination of some monarch?” Mehi replied, as she was making a potion. “Most missions are like this, and you have to start somewhere anyways.”

“That’s true. Still, at least it could have been in some warmer place, I’m freezing my balls off here.”

“No shit, man. Before this mission, I hadn’t even seen snow once,” Arqam remarked, as he was sharpening his sword. “Don’t think anyone in my village had either.”

“Well, now you’ll have a cool story to tell them. Guess I shouldn’t complain, we’re exploring new frontiers after all. I just expected something more interesting. This Europe isn’t impressing me very much, just a big fucking plain as far as the eye can see.”

“Not that different from Egypt, which is just a single river surrounded by a massive desert.”

“Point taken. Not every place can be like Khonsmia, with its exotic animals and hidden civilizations.”

“This place has good soil though,” Mehi said. “So much so that it could give the Commonwealth and Mesopotamia a run for their money.”

“That so?”

“Looks like it.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. How could it be good soil if it’s covered in snow for at least a season?”

“It’s fertile enough during the other seasons. And since this is a massive plain as you said, and not a desert, it’s fertile everywhere, not only right next to this main river.”

“Would make for quite a large area suitable for farming.”

“Precisely.”

“Explains why Muwatalli is so keen on conquering it then,” Arqam said. “Can’t grow much in his mountainous country, so he turns north to get some better farmlands.”

“And become more self-sufficient, as they wouldn’t need to import most of the food from us anymore.”

“And this would make for a massive colony, allowing for exponential population growth,” Ithobaal said. “Huh, looks like the Hittites know more than they’re letting on. I can respect the hustle though.”

“Starting a massive war and a near genocide is a hustle?” Mehi asked.

“Uh, well… You gotta do what you gotta do, right? Who am I to judge them?”

“Or maybe they don’t know about the soil, maybe they are just doing this for fun, and we were the first to discover this,” Arqam chuckled.

“That’s a possibility too. In any case, might as well inform the court of this, I’m sure the government will be interested in these farmlands. Not like we have anything else to write home about, except how another band of barbarians got slaughtered or another village was burned to the ground.”

The campaign continued as Muwatalli advanced east. He split up his forces, with the main portion following him along the Dnieper, while smaller detachments were securing the remaining area and crushing any remaining resistance. And as the spring progressed and it began to thaw, Hittite scientists did indeed discover how fertile that soil actually was, which further fueled Muwatalli’s wish to conquer the region.

However, there was yet another goal that he had in mind for this campaign. Muwatalli was intent on reaching the Donbas – the Donets river basin – in the east, as it had been surveyed in the previous decades by various Hittite expeditions, who found extensive deposits of coal in that region. Coal was not very important back then and so this remained merely a footnote and no further actions were done, but now, as Egyptian and Mesopotamian scientists began experimenting on ways to generate power using steam – a process requiring coal – Muwatalli decided to capitalize on this and secure a massive coal deposit before other countries began searching for one themselves, thus giving the Hittites a potential monopoly on yet another crucial resource, similarly to how the Hittites had a near monopoly on copper once they controlled Alashiya before the Great Powers’ War. Thus, the march continued, and the resistance did not grow any stronger, with all resisting Cimmerians being killed and their settlements destroyed to scare the others into submission.

The KIA agents continued following Muwatalli, sending occasional reports back to the court, but over the months they began growing more annoyed with this mission and its apparent lack of a clear goal. Yet, despite their concerns, they never received any additional information, neither from the headquarters in Khemenu, nor from commander Neitheret.

“Interesting battle today. Or more like one-sided slaughter,” Harsiamon said as he was crunching on some nuts from a bag. “I see they are trying some of the guns we gave them. Of the long variety, to be exact.”

“Yes, I noticed that,” Neitheret replied as she turned from looking at Muwatalli’s tent to him. “Don’t you want to go eat at the food court in the camp?”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“No. They don’t like me. Or any of us. And I don’t like any of them either. Instead, I get all my supplies through a network of local traders to whom I sell the swords and amulets of the fallen Cimmerians from the villages the Hittites conquered in exchange.”

“Knowing you, I can’t tell whether you’re serious or not here.”

“Good. That’s how it should be.”

“But you’re right, they don’t really like us here, and I’m not the biggest fan of them and their… tactics, either. Also the fact that me and Mehi are the only two women here from our side, which makes it rather dangerous to wander into their main camp sometimes.”

“They still don’t allow women to join the military or any related field in any capacity. Not very efficient. And may end up hurting them and the OFK by extension.”

“You are right on that. Maybe that’s why their army acts in such an uncivilized manner. If not for their guns, one would be hard pressed to figure out which side is the barbarian one.”

“About the guns. I was wondering about them.”

“What about, exactly?”

“Is that the mission?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are we here to observe how well these guns work in a military campaign? I know that we already did that in Mycenae. But maybe they wanted a second test, a much longer one, and one using the improved designs. That’s why they sent us here. At least that’s my latest theory.”

“That’s… an interesting theory. Huh. Well-”

“So, no. Okay, got it.”

“Wait, how did you-”

“I just know. By looking at your reaction.”

“Right. Well, you are right, no point in me lying now. That’s not the mission here. Some guys arrive here every once in a while to observe how their guns are doing in battles and note down their findings, but that’s their business, not ours. We have more important matters to tend to.”

“Yes. Keeping an eye on Muwatalli. Twenty-four hours a day and thirty days a month. Very important business. I am still trying to figure out why.”

“I told you why, to make sure-”

“That he doesn’t infringe on Mycenaean territories, yes. A noble goal. Except for the fact that we are going in the opposite direction. The Mycenaeans are in the west, and we are heading very much to the east. And in any event, if he launched a surprise attack, we would notice that even if we weren’t observing him every second.”

“Are we having this discussion again?”

“Yes. And can’t be assassination prevention. He is probably in the most defensible position he has been his entire life. No one can get to him when he is surrounded by at least ten thousand soldiers at any given moment. No one who is even suspected of wanting to cause him harm.”

“That is true. He is well guarded.”

“And I was wondering about the team composition. But it makes sense now. The true mission is secret, and you don’t want anyone questioning it. Having a team full of Egyptian men would make that difficult. So, you picked ones who would be good at their job while also from a minority group, underrepresented in the KIA. Which would make them more likely to comply and not cause any trouble. A woman, a Kushite, and a Phoenician.”

“Hey, I picked them all based on merit, nothing more.”

“I’m not arguing about that. People from these groups participate in a variety of missions. Still doesn’t mean that this specific composition is not beneficial to you and the secrecy of the true mission.”

“So how do you fit into this theory then?”

“You have known me for a while now, so I’m a known variable. Besides, have to keep the Kemet in the Kemet Intelligence Agency dominant.”

“So what you’re saying is that this mission required an exact quota of men and of women, as well as Kushites and Phoenicians, but also Egyptians, for it to work?”

“Maybe. But let’s get back to its true purpose. Which is to watch Muwatalli. Why? Not to watch him specifically, because if he goes anywhere the whole camp would notice anyways. So that means watching something going to him. Or someone.”

“You said that it’s not assassination.”

“Yes. But someone could go to him for many other reasons than to kill him. Diplomatic reasons. But the Cimmerians don’t engage in diplomacy. Only civilized states do. Of which all belong to one of the two factions. And since we are, obviously, the OFK… That means we are looking for EC officials. Probably from the Secret Service. ECSS agents delivering some… documents to Muwatalli.”

“That… That is right. You win,” Neitheret sighed, giving up. “We are, indeed, looking for ECSS agents, and we must prevent them from delivering some damning documents to Muwatalli. I can’t believe you figured it out like that.”

“Like I said, I know things.”

“Yes, yes, mister Thoth, you do know things. I just thought-”

“I’m kidding. I didn’t figure it out myself. At least not all of it. I was given this information.”

“Who gave it to you then?”

“Mehi. She went into your tent and retrieved it while you were away.”

“Now you’re just making this up. I know that because the brief I have with me here is the same one you all got, so you wouldn’t have been able to get anything out of my tent.”

“Correct. She realized that and put it back.”

“Wait what-”

“I was joking about the part that I learned it from her. Their attempt had nothing to do with me.”

“Their? So all three of them-”

“Yes. But they still don’t know anything, don’t worry. I knew it before the mission even began.”

“How?”

“Simple. Amenemheb told me.”

“The royal envoy?”

“I thought you were on a first name basis with him. Unless you have been laying with more than one Amenemheb-”

“Do you take me for a slut?”

“No. Sorry. So anyways, it was the envoy Amenemheb who told me everything about this mission.”

“And when did that happen?”

“Right as we were departing, in Khemenu.”

A few months earlier…

“Hey, are you Harsiamon? One of the KIA agents assigned to this mission?” Amenemheb came up to Harsiamon at the port of Khemenu, as the cargo was being loaded onto the KIA ship for their journey to Cimmeria.

“I am,” Harsiamon calmly replied and showed him his agency badge. “How may I help you, sir Amenemheb?”

“Oh, you already know who I am, that saves me some trouble.”

“I know things.”

“That’s great. But there is something I bet you don’t know. Something about the mission. What do you think its true purpose is?”

“We are to observe Muwatalli during his campaigns. I have a few theories as to why. But that’s not what you’re asking, I presume. I do not have a sure answer why we are going there.”

“Right, so I thought. Well, now you’re about to learn. This information was supposed to be known only to your commander – Neitheret – but I, uh, managed to get ahold of it. I, let’s say accidentally, took a look at some of the documents she had as I was leaving her apartment, while she was still sleeping.”

“You were-”

“It’s not like- I mean-”

“I understand. Your secret is safe.”

“I don’t think it’s much of a secret anymore, but thanks. Anyways, so I saw the mission brief for this thing, and I saw the true objective. To put it shortly, someone fucked up big time and our enemies now have some pretty damn sensitive documents in their hands. Work of the ECSS, no doubt. And we are almost certain that they will try to deliver these documents to Muwatalli himself. That’s why you are going to be observing Muwatalli to make sure no one hands him these stolen docs. That’s why you will have to observe him all the time, day and night, make sure nothing gets to him without you knowing about it. I cannot stress how important this is. To the country, and to me, as I would have to clean up your mess if this doesn’t work out, as always.”

“I understand. But why are you telling me this?”

“Well, because I think more than one person should know of the mission’s true purpose and the stakes involved. Horus forbid something happens to Neitheret, how would the rest of you know what to do then? I want to know there is more than one person on the team who knows what’s up and takes the mission seriously enough.”

“But why me specifically?”

“I trust you the most. You did well in Operation Kingmaker, and you seem to be the kind of no bullshit person, who puts the mission first. Guess I kinda see myself in you to some degree.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“And, well, you’re a man. And I’m no sexist, but you know who are? The Hittites. I fear that Neitheret may not always be taken seriously by them, so I want a man on the team who could step in and deal with the situation if it comes to that. And you know what the Hittites also are? Racist. They’ve never seen a Kushite in their life, most of them at least, and they don’t trust the Phoenicians since they believe the Phoenicians aren’t loyal to anyone or anything except money. Which… isn’t completely false, but that’s beside the point. So you are my best bet.”

“That is logical. So you do not want the rest of the team to receive this information?”

“No, not yet at least. This is still a top-secret mission and even telling you alone could cause leaks, but I believe it won’t, since you don’t seem to be very… talkative.”

“That is correct.”

“Great. Keep this in mind and look out for these documents to make sure they don’t fall into any Hittite hands.”

“But what are they?”

“What do you mean?”

“How am I supposed to know what I am looking for, if I don’t know what the documents contain?”

“Well, uh… Fuck, I guess you are right. Okay, I’ll tell you this too, might as well go all the way at this point. They detail… invasion plans. Land invasions, naval invasions, internal revolt supplies, the whole nine cubits. Lots of drawings and graphs, some text that is not too nice.”

“Invasion of… Hatti?”

“Yeah…”

“By the…”

“Yup…”

“OFK. I see.”

“Yes. We are in quite a predicament.”

“Indeed we are, sir.”

“Granted, these were just theoretical exercises in the event that Hatti leaves the OFK and joins the EC or something of that nature, but Muwatalli seeing those documents would still not be good for our alliance. Which means you need to find the people carrying them, send them to the underworld, however you agents do that, and destroy the plans. Don’t worry, we have backups, which are now much more closely guarded, of course.”

“I understand. This will be done.”

“Good. And, well, look out for Neitheret, alright? The mission always comes first, but it would still of course be preferable if there were no casualties on our side.”

“I will, sir.”

“Thank you.”

Present…

“Oh… Makes sense. So I assume then that you know everything about the mission-” Neitheret said.

“Invasion plans. On the way to Muwatalli. We make sure they do not reach their target,” Harsiamon replied.

“You do know everything then… What do you think about it?”

“About what?”

“This whole situation. A bit fucked up, don’t you think? Though this time it looks like the military fucked up and now we have to clean their mess.”

“They should have been more careful. But the plans themselves seem to be a logical idea. I myself have plans to eliminate all of you if it comes to that.”

“Uh-”

“That was a joke.”

“I suspect it actually might not be. So what will you do now?”

“Nothing special. Same as always. Keep an eye on Muwatalli, his soldiers, and the locals here. Make sure nothing gets through without going through us first.”

“Good. Guess we can carry on as usual then. But… One last question. Why did you tell me this now?”

“I do a little trading with the locals, like I said before. And that includes information as well.”

“Why would the Cimmerians give you any information, knowing that they are at war with us?”

“Not Cimmerians. Traders from the north. They travel to the coast of the Euxine Sea every year to exchange their goods, mostly furs and amber, for Hittite items. They have some clashes with the Cimmerians at times, so this makes for an enemy of my enemy situation. Called the Balts, I think.”

“Fair enough then. What did they tell you?”

“This morning I received a tip that a party of suspicious looking Mesopotamians landed on the coast. To our southeast. And heading towards our position. The ECSS is here, it appears.”