"They all screeched and screamed when I approached. Wailed and ran as they scattered under me. But I haven't heard their cries. They were thousands of meters below me, and that was that."

- Journal of an unknown Putschist pilot.

+++

The terrors from above Halia had never wavered. Almost in intervals of ten minutes, Amelie's desk would receive unending, dreadful, and truly heart-wrenching reports of air strike after air strike.

First, it was the power grid. They bombed it one after another, as it seemed that they knew where the city's main power lines were placed.

Now, her subjects in the city would have no heating or electricity.

Then they struck upon the communication lines. Cellular towers and radio towers fell one after another, in devastating strikes that disconnected the people of Halia off the world.

And it was next after next.

The roads.

The railway system.

The factories.

The supply depots.

Even civilian structures - hospitals, malls, warehouses, and almost anything of major value, were bombed, or they would drop leaflets that warned of a bombing in these areas.

A savage tactic to disable these critical civilian functions without dropping bombs.

Not even schools were spared, as one magical school, already evacuated, was bombed with cluster munitions mere hours after they had dropped leaflets to leave or die.

Almost as if they wanted to set an example for those who would not submit to their twisted terror from the skies.

"Mr. Zimmermann, that is why, I cannot wait any longer."

For many minutes, Amelie had conversed with the Chief Air Marshal, already given command of all of the Air Force still loyal to the crown, to make haste.

"Yes, as I have said, we are scrambling all available air wings to Halia. We assure you that."

"Chief Air Marshal, that may be so, but I am still receiving reports of bombings here. My people are dying."

While she tried her best to stay professional in her call, to deny that her words weren't dripped with dread and fury was out of the question. Her voice cracked by even a smidgen when she uttered the fact that her people were dying.

"I understand. We are trying, but we are still challenging their air superiority."

"Can you give me a timeframe then? Tell me, when can the Air Force wrestle back control of our airspace?"

"I can not answer that with the current situation in mind."

"Can you do it, Chief Air Marshal? Can your planes and pilots defend Halia?"

The silence from the other line was almost deafening to Amelie. Yet she refused to utter another word and placed more questions on him. Not when he struggled to answer those two.

And as her eyes began to moisten once more, as the dread of the situation caught up on her, the man spoke.

"The Air Force will do its best. We will defend Halia to the best of our abilities. Yes, Your Majesty. I can. And we will."

"I'll expect that from you then."

"And I won't break your expectations, Your Majesty."

"Thank you, Chief Air Marshal. The Kingdom needs your service more than ever."

"May you be safe over there, Your Majesty. The Kingdom needs you more."

She placed down the phone as she buried her face in her hands. How utterly devastating.

I cannot rely on him.

…

"Quite frankly, that's to be expected. Many of our airfields were bombed earlier. Zimmerman is doing what he can, but it would never be enough." William concluded after Amelie recounted the conversation between her and the Chief Air Marshal.

Already, the dimly lit situation room was once more filled by Amelie's circle.

The Prime Minister, Jacquline.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Walter.

Major William.

And Colonel Kleist.

Officially, she had already assigned the role of 'Head of the Joint Task Force Ludendorf' to Major William. Already, William had been elevated from a man who merely commanded a battalion-sized force to full command of the OAF (Orlish Armed Forces) units, RGO (Royal Guard of Orland) formations, and Civilian agencies that were operating in the city.

JTF-Ludendorf was approved by both Amelie, the Prime Minister, and the new OAF Chief of the Defense Staff or the CDS (as the last one joined Heindhöff), who now held command of all of the OHC (and thus all OAF forces loyal to the crown, from the Army, Air Force, Navy, and all other minor branches), General Victor Albrecht himself.

Its goal was to streamline both the operations of Orland's civilian government in the Ludendorf Duchy and the activities of the RGO and OAF units present in the Grand Duchy.

More importantly, it meant that William now held complete powers in the Grand Duchy, and he could overrule any aristocratic noble with his authority. It was, in other words, Martial Law.

Even Amelie (who also held the title of Grand Duchess, and owned the Grand Duchy) was technically under him, were it not for the fact that she was the Queen.

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Of course, being completely inexperienced in these matters, she had decided to simply follow William's plans. She, after all, chose him over Colonel Kleist, or the other army officers present in the defense of the city, for the fact that she trusted him greatly.

"Then what can we do?" She asked once more, already losing hope and options.

"Evacuate much of the government?" Suggested Jacqueline, although her voice showed much reluctance. The idea was too bitter and conflicted with her government's promise to stand their ground.

"Perhaps Jacqueline and the Queen can evacuate, alongside the civilians fleeing." Suggested Walter. "I'll stay and direct JTF-Ludendorf in your stead."

Which led to an immediate glare from both the Prime Minister and the Queen.

"Absolutely not, Walter." Jacqueline snapped back. She was a proud woman, and still a noble at heart. It went against her duty to flee. Even if she were to permit the evacuation of the Cabinet and the Parliament, she would stand her ground as the head of the Orlish government.

"I'm in complete agreement with her." Added Amelie.

"I'm just saying. We can't let the Heads of Government and State be removed in one lucky air strike."

He did have a point. But Amelie wasn't that easy. When she swore she would stand her ground, she meant every word of it.

"No. We will find a way to fix this. Until then, I'm not leaving. Maybe Jacqueline can, but not me."

"Absolutely not. I'm the Prime Minister. The people expect me to be here too."

Before the sudden pointing game grew intense, William intervened.

"No more need for arguments on who leaves. We should instead focus on finding ways to defend this damned city from these air strikes. Colonel Kleist?"

The Colonel crossed his arms as he was addressed.

"I apologize, Major, but I'm dry. The Halian Garrison cannot offer more. All of our SAM and AA systems have been engaged since day one."

"No, not that. Can you source any more men in quick order who can operate SAM systems?"

"How many SAM systems are we talking about? Do we even have any sources?"

"Yes, though we may need some quick maintenance, outfitting, and probably refurbishment. I received intel about a depot of about 50 SAM systems at least in a closed factory near the port."

"...You did? And 50? You sure whoever told you that isn't bullshitting?"

"I will check it out myself, Colonel."

"I'm going with you, William," Amelie said as she stood up from her seat. "I'm tired of doing nothing from here. If this will save the city, I'm seeing it personally."

"Look, there's really no need."

"I'm going, and that's final." She looked to the Colonel. "Colonel Kleist, take charge of JTF-Ludendorf while we're out. Jacqueline, make another press conference. We're going."

…

"You know, I can handle this myself."

"I wanted to help you regardless." She looked up at the sky as William prepared his SUV. "Anything to speed up everything. Anything to end this damned nightmare."

A sigh came from him.

"This nightmare won't end until Heindhöff and the Provisional Government are gone. Not even then."

"Still…even if just for this city…"

"I'm going to be honest with you." He turned to her. "This…all this. This is just the beginning of the battle. You have not seen the worst yet, and I hope that you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm saying you have to follow Walter's plan. For your safety." He smiled at her faintly. "You did enough. There's no need for you to see more of this war, any more than the average civilian already fleeing this city."

He paused.

"You and Jacqueline. You both did well already."

"No, we didn't! Look around you, William. We failed. We both failed. Me, and every woman who marked herself as a reformist, failed. We failed. This is our…no, my fault."

"You're blaming yourself? Is that why you are staying here?"

She stopped and looked down. How could he be so correct? How could he…tell that straight to her without regard? He was right. Amelie blamed herself. She blamed herself for all of that happened.

"William…I am the Queen."

"That does not mean anything. Not when you were barely in control."

"No! It means everything. I was crowned to lead. To be responsible. I am responsible. If I wasn't able to control it all, then I am responsible for the consequences of that."

William didn't respond and merely stared at her. So caught up in her little speech, Amelie's eyes almost glowed. It was a bit of an after-effect of the nature of magic. Strong emotions did cause the activation of passive mana in some cases.

"...That's why, from now on, I'm taking control. I'm staying here to the bitter end."

"I see. Then come on in. Time is ticking."

The drive through the city had still been the same nightmare for Amelie. Lines of abandoned vehicles filled the roads. Checkpoint after checkpoint filled it as well, where troops of all kinds seemed to be erecting sandbags, barbed wire, and other fortifications.

"So what really are SAM systems?"

"It means surface-to-air missile systems. Anything that fires a missile from the surface to the air. They act as our main anti-air defense, aside from RPDS guns."

"RPDS? I've been hearing that a lot as well."

"Rapid Point Defense Systems. Usually mounted in ships. They fire thousands of 20 mm shells within seconds with a powerful guidance system. Good for shooting down anything that flies."

"...Very impressive. Is that what we would get from the factory?"

"There's no RPDS there, but I do hope we find working SAM systems. Preferably mobile ones, like the REGAL SAM systems Colonel Kleist's AA units use."

She nodded, remembering the massive trucks that had those 'launchers' behind. Almost a dozen had been rotated in and out of the Palace earlier, and she would be in denial if she said that she hadn't found it entertaining (damn her childish fascination) whenever those things would light up and launch missile after missile.

"Well, that would be good then. I want those things near the hospitals and civilian centers this time."

They had been only defending government, corporate, and critical buildings after all. She wanted to extend the air cover to all of her people, if possible.

"Sure, if we can."

The air raid sirens once more sounded as they dashed forward, leaving trails of posters and leaflets from the war propaganda being dropped by Heindhöff's planes.

Soon, they stopped at the gates of a seemingly abandoned complex. Buildings of all kinds were visible from outside, as well as a gate that said 'Keller Holdings'.

Amelie and William both exited the SUV and approached the gate, before a woman's voice distracted them.

"Are you the Queen?"

As if he heard a voice that he recognized, William froze up, though Amelie hadn't caught that.

Naturally, Amelie turned to the direction of the voice. There, stood before them, was a young woman with violet hair.

"And you are?"

Her eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Indeed, it is you! Your Majesty, I am Baroness Pauline Keller! It is an honor to meet you, even in this…less than ideal circumstances."

Gingerly, her eyes fell back to the 'Keller Holdings' sign, before she turned back to the still beaming Baroness.

"You…you own this factory?"

"Yes! Well…fine. Originally, my brother owned it, but that dummy decided to die in the Great War, so, now, I own it."

William and Amelie looked at each other, just as the Baroness' smile grew.

"Oh, I see. I see now. You need the weapons stocked here, don't you?"

Oh no, she seems greedy, was Amelie's final thought as she dragged both inside.