“Rajabad has been decimated! A surprise brutal firebombing operation has been conducted by the Coalition of Free Nations against the capital of the Kusari Empire. Dubbed by the Confederacy media as ‘Operation Zero Phoenix’, approximately four hundred Larissan, Pozneki, Lombardian, and North Hebeian aircraft participated in bombing Rajabad, alongside Pavitra and Vaibhav. Nearly eight hundred land-based ballistic missiles also struck the three cities, alongside the region’s military installations and logistical lines. The impoverished districts of Rajabad, Pavitra, and Vaibhav were directly targeted, with shanty homes, many made with wood, igniting into open infernos for the duration of the night. The Kusari Empress broke down on national television, as the first estimates of civilian casualties arrived—at least two hundred thousand souls dead in a single night.”
- Geopol News
“Operation Zero Phoenix has proven to be a success for liberation forces active in the Kusari Empire. Medals are now being awarded to our valiant airmen and long-range strategic missile operators who have participated in this righteous endeavor. Recently, the Coalition gave the inept Kusari Imperial Government generous terms of surrender to the Coalition of Free Nations, yet they have stalwartly refused it. Operation Zero Phoenix served well as a strategic softening operation and a reminder to those who still stubbornly cling to the rule of women: they shall reap the fury of the oppressed.”
- Aktsiya Larrisa
+++
Empire of Kusari
Raffna City
August 18, 2025
If Bit-Stav was a hot and dry hellhole for Amelie, she certainly had even less love for the tropical, humid heat that Raffna offered. Raffna was a major coastal city in the southeastern region of the Kusari subcontinent. It was also the financial and economic capital of the Kusari Empire. In essence—their wealthiest city.
…And to Amelie’s horror, it was nowhere close to even the poorest Orlish city. It was a massive city, yes, but it was impoverished. Apparently, it was estimated that Raffna boasted twenty million people. It was certainly obvious to Amelie as they moved throughout the city.
Their well-protected motorcade was watched by packs of crowds on the hot streets. So many people, men and women, all watching the convoy of the Orlish Queen as if her presence was an eye candy. It certainly seemed like an extremely dense city to Amelie, population-wise.
The infrastructure, while nominally modern, was not well-kept. Trash was everywhere, and even William was a bit frustrated at the confusing routes they had to take to get to their destination.
It was certainly not a well-planned city when it was constructed. Nor did the city have the level of discipline and organization present in the average Orlish city. Amelie imagined that the squalor of this city was only topped by the industrial hellholes of Wuringen. But even that was for other reasons.
When she exited her vehicle, legions of reporters and people tried to get toward her. Both the Kusari police and the Palace Security Unit had to defend her path to discourage them from getting to her. But Amelie decided to at least smile warmly to the people she had visited. Moving close to one of the reporters trying to get through the line of security, Amelie gave her the most welcoming smile she could muster.
“Hi, Miss,” Amelie said. “What’s your name?”
“S-satya Dalavi, Your Majesty,” the young Kusari woman said, her Orlish surprisingly good. She then tried to extend her microphone in Amelie’s direction. “We’re from Rajabad Today. We just wanted to ask what your thoughts are about the firebombing of Rajabad and other Kusari cities in the last few days and the thousands and thousands of dead civilians.”
Amelie steeled her stance as her smile dried out.
“I am here to discuss just that with the Empress and Prime Minister of Kusari,” Amelie said with conviction. “These attacks taken by the CFN are clear violations of the rules of war. They have targeted civilian populations in an attempt to break the spirit of the Kusari people. Just like all their previous bombing campaigns directed against population centers, these aren’t attacks against military targets. This is terrorism, plain and simple.”
“And what will Orland do about it?”
“Orland will do what it’s always trying to do. We will stop it, by military force. As best as we can. Nothing is perfect, yes, and we are having shortfalls with how intense this war is. But the protection of innocent lives is the priority first and foremost by Orland, the Mandate of Nations, and all militaries of the allied forces.”
Amelie stepped back a bit.
“To all reporters, don’t worry, I’ll be giving a press conference at the designated site later,” Amelie announced. “You’ll all get a chance to have a word with me. For now, please, let me do business. Both I and your leaders have a lot of work to do to save lives.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” the reporter shouted as Amelie walked away. Almost as if she turned into another fangirl. Behind Amelie, William chuckled as they exited the crowd’s attention.
“You’re getting way too popular.”
“Makes sense,” Amelie said, as she smiled smugly at William. “The prettier I am, the more attention I get.”
“You’re sweaty and all red from the heat and sunlight. And the actual attention you're getting is armed dudes in power armor who want to put bullets in your head. You’re certainly getting there,” William said, as he smirked.
“Gah! How dare you point that out.”
“I’m just saying. Your body is way too soft for this.”
He doesn’t need to point it out this way. Amelie grumbled as she sped up her pace. This jerk is just making me feel self-conscious.
+++
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“These people have absolutely no empathy or human decency,” Empress Arushi Mehru said as she watched birds fly outside of the windows. Amelie remained silent in her seat, and so did William and Adelaide. The Empress turned to face the trio, just as the Kusari Prime Minister arrived in the room. “Isn’t that right, Mrs. Padhi?”
The elder stateswoman bowed in respect to her Empress. Prime Minister Sukanya Padhi wasn’t an elected leader of Kusari. Instead, she had been appointed by the Empress a month ago to lead a new wartime cabinet. The fifty-eight women only had one goal. To make sure Kusari would live on. She raised her head and nodded.
“Yes, Your Majesty. I apologize, the cabinet meeting tied me up way too long.”
“Don’t worry, I did say you should prioritize it,” Empress Mehru said, as she frowned, turning to Amelie. “Apologies. As you well know, we have only recently fled to this city. I’m afraid my government is still deep in the chaos of reorganization.”
“No, no,” Amelie said, shaking her head as she smiled. “I understand the challenges the Empire is facing. Especially after the recent…” she paused, as her expression turned disgusting. “Barbaric attacks against the Empire’s population.”
“It’s beyond disgusting indeed,” Adelaide reaffirmed. “They just violate international laws and the rules of war as if it’s nothing. It seems like the CFN never really distinguishes between civilians and military personnel. To them, it’s the same target. Their actions everywhere show that.”
“They should absolutely be all tried and hanged once the war is over,” the Kusari Prime Minister said, her tone laced with hatred. “The Kusari people need to find justice for their crimes. So many innocent families now live with their loved ones burned or worse. All because the leaders of the coalition were incensed by our continued resistance.”
“Scarily enough, the calls for the execution of their leaders is probably what’s driving these actions,” William said beside Amelie, crossing his arms as he leaned back on the sofa. “Not that it matters. Every revolutionary entered this war thinking that he signed his death sentence. Especially for their leaders.”
“That’s…indeed concerning,” Adelaide said. “We’ve already looked into it, but one of the most damning behavior of coalition forces is their stubbornness at even just surrendering. They think they’ll be executed on sight anyway, so they just refuse to surrender. And in exchange, they also usually murder civilians or POWs. They believe in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Enthusiastically.”
“None of that excuses their callous bombing of the Kusari people,” Empress Mehru said. “We never even gave any indication that we’ll touch their revolutionary nonsense. They just want to burn my people because we refused to surrender. Terror tactics.”
“Indeed, and now that we established their already well-documented behavior,” Amelie said, breaking the discussion. “We should react at once. Prime Minister Padhi, Empress Mehru, what do you think is your country’s most critical need from Orland?”
“We need more weapons,” the Prime Minister answered. “Our two thousand strong air force has now been sliced into half of its pre-war numbers. The Armed Forces have no means to replace that. Not at any meaningful rate.”
“Does Kusari have no…I don’t know, industrial capacity to surge their production numbers?” Amelie innocently asked. “From what I know, some of the designs by the Order Pact are…produceable by this country, right?”
“No,” the Prime Minister answered bluntly. “They destroyed our few advanced factories in the northeast. And since they captured those places, not only have we lost the equipment and infrastructure, we’ve also lost the people who know how to do it. Not that it matters. Before this war, Kusari would be lucky to produce more than fifty ZU-28s locally anyway.”
“Most of their equipment is sourced either from Larissa or Orland,” William said, shaking his head. “Producing fighter aircraft, believe it or not, requires heavy skilled labor. We can train people in Orland to do it because we already have millions of people working in the defense industry beforehand. People who can train people under them.”
Empress Mehru frowned.
“It was my life’s work to see my Empire be developed enough to produce its advanced weapons,” she laughed at herself. “All that hard work…now shot into pieces. It was expensive, you know? Building up all those startup industries. Creating the workforce. Then preventing them from leaving for Orland with higher than normal wages. We were so close. So close…”
“Your Majesty, we will do it again after the war,” the Prime Minister said.
“You don’t understand! Kusari is an Empire still stuck in the past. We were on a delicate road to modernizing, now, this war business destroyed it all. All of it!”
The Prime Minister fell silent, as Empress Mehru sat down and buried her face in her hands.
“I apologize,” the Empress said. “It’s just…I never went through having my subjects be murdered and toasted like animals.”
“...I understand,” Amelie replied reassuringly. “Alright then, that option is out. Truthfully, it’d take time before Operation Eastern Jade is ready. So we’d have to send weapons anyway as a stopgap…”
“Maybe we can station a few LF-20 squadrons here,” William suggested. “Forty LF-20s should be a force multiplier that can turn the tides somehow. At least…to prevent them from conducting further strategic bombing campaigns.”
“Then why hadn’t Orland done it yesterday?” the Empress asked. “We’ve been asking for a long time now. Give us proper air support. Instead, all we get is piecemeal support.”
“Most of our air assets have been tied up in Orland due to the Federalist offensives against Westlauren and Löt. We have around twenty squadrons on active duty right now. Fourteen is tied down in Orland. Four are tied down in West Vaeyox. Two are operating above Hebei…” William tried to count on his hands. “That’s…well, very stretched thin…”
“We’re producing a lot of LF-20s already, aren’t we?” Amelie asked.
“Not really. Attrition rates with the Federalists are eating us. We lost around two squadrons last week alone in air-to-air engagements with them. That’s not counting the single-digit attrition losses every day. Moving a few squadrons here in Kusari is a massive endeavor.”
“But it is what Orland must do,” Adelaide said. “We have an obligation with Kusari. Your Majesty, you need to decide here.”
“We cannot have our air defense networks in Orland be penetrated, by the way,” William said. “Each LF-20 squadron is an integral cog to a machine that can collapse at the wrong moment. A wrong stroke of luck. Temporary redeployments increase that risk.”
“You consulted the Chief Air Marshall about this, right?” Amelie asked.
“Yes. I’m telling you directly what he told me. Ultimately, we might also get lucky that nothing happens. Or something bad happens in Orland. It’s a coin cross.”
Amelie looked back toward Empress Mehru. The woman looked away.
“I understand if Orland doesn’t do it. But if I have to kneel and beg to have my people saved, then I will.”
Amelie made her decision.
“William, consult the Chief Air Marshall on the possibility of redeploying two squadrons of our fifth-generation fighters in Kusari airspace,” Amelie said. “We need it ASAP, and they must be able to stay here until Operation Eastern Jade is concluded.”
“I’ll see to it then,” William said.
Amelie then turned to the Kusari Empress. The Empress pulled her handkerchief to her eyes as she looked away.
“...Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Queen Amelie.”
Amelie however stood up, went toward her direction, and hugged the older woman. She finally started bawling as she blamed herself for the deaths of her citizens.
It reminded Amelie too much of herself.
“We’ll do our best,” Amelie promised. “I swear we’ll do our best.”
Even she felt a few streaks of tears go down her cheek as the number of fatalities finally dawned on her. Hundreds of thousands of people, all dead under her watch. She was once again horrified.
And I can’t stop it all. I can’t.