Arascus wished Malam was here. She was a damn natural at this, the best of the best. How Kassandora handled warfare, Malam handled politics. He sighed, a better method would have been to wait for the next elections and turn them into chaos, to make mortals miss the stability of divinity, but he wanted to secure Kirinyaa as early as possible. It was true that patience was a virtue, but patience was only given to those who had plenty of time. Reports were already saying the Epans were preparing for Pantheon Separation this year and very day spent with mortals in charge was a day not used for preparing for the Epan conflict.

Kassandora looked over the letter that had gotten to her tent again. This little piece of paper had been on a long journey, from a delay in Kirinyaa’s postal service, to being driven here. Not the whole way, the delivery car was supposed to be hand given to her, the car got stuck in the ash some hundred-fifty kilometres east of her current camp. That added another day to the delay. The car got stuck again, the post gave up on land transport and sent a helicopter instead.

Kassandora smiled. Helenna was responsible for that disaster of a delivery. She did it because she knew it would get Mwai emotional with anger. Angry men rarely operated on rationality. But it would also be suspense, from Helenna’s reports, the man had spent the past three nights sleepless, waiting to see her reaction. Helenna said Mwai thought she was going to call for a rebellion immediately upon receiving it. Then he would use his authority to remove her from Kirinyaa, and the whole affair would be over.

Kassandora, of course, would do nothing of the sort. She stood and read the letter again: Under the authority bestowed upon me by the people of Kirinyaa, I ask Goddess Kassandora, of War, to appear in court. If you do not, I will be forced to remove you from the position due to crimes against humanity. It was a short piece, maybe Mwai had been struggling for words. She read it again. The world seemed brighter today, the thundering of artillery outside somehow became pleasant. Kassandora looked up again at the scarlet linen of her tent.

There had been no point in setting anything permanent up here, the frontline against the Jungle was moving every day. She was good at strategy, but she knew when something was good. Ekkerson on the southern flank against the Jungle had started employing a tactic called a Rolling Barrage. It would slowly batter the Jungle, firing in tight salvos. Instead of the concentrated shelling of areas that they had been doing, the guns would start to fire in lines, moving up, then calling down another salvo. The tactic did left little to clean up. The Jungle was now constantly aflame.

Kassandora gave herself one final glance in the mirror. Black suit, long coat, boots caked with ash. Her belt had the skull and sword emblem, the cap the same. From it, her crimson hair spilled out like a banner of blood over her back. She smiled to herself and went outside. It was time for one final inspection of Reclamation Army Centre.

Instead of grouping the Binturongs and Lemurs, the fastest method to clear the Jungle was to stretch them out. They worked in small squads, only four each. Half of a full battery. Although looking at the firepower they put out, it would remain like this even for future conflicts. Great War tactics of massed artillery had been used because cannons could output two, maybe three or four shells an hour. But these? These single modern gun outpaced two entire batteries of the past. Lines and lines of trucks numbering into the hundreds stretched out into the distance, supported by bulldozers and diggers that pushed the knee-deep ash away. Hulking beasts of iron and steel that became the icon for this land’s salvation.

And in the distance, towards the west, tarnishing the cloudless blue sky, was the Jungle. Once green, once so feared the natives would feed it sacrifices in some attempt to satisfy its hunger. Once, it had been an existential threat to this nation. And now it stood there, howling with ferocious winds caused by the vivid firestorms. The flames, all reds and oranges and yellows, danced as they devoured, they laughed and giggled and mocked the greenery being fed to them, they pranced with the winds, they cascaded up and down over hill and through dried out riverbed. They left their dark marks on the world. Nothing but ash on the ground and nothing but tar-black smoke in the air.

The great Jungle, a deity that covered a third of a continent. Beaten not through might and magic but through mortal firestorm, slain not by Divinity but by fire and steel, annihilated through the combined arms of humanity’s sheer force of will. If this did not prove the utter failure that was Divinity’s disregard for mortals, she did not know what did. Sokolowski and Zalewski were waiting outside her tent, they had come the moment Helenna had sent word that the court case was going to happen. Both in their uniforms, exact same style, apart from the fact they didn’t have her crimson hair. They saluted to her. Kassandora saluted back.

“General Sokolowski, ready to report.” Sokolowski said as he lowered his arm.

“Go on.” Kassandora said. “And let’s walk.” She turned her back on the Jungle, there was nothing to gain but satisfaction from watching the flames, and the world did not turn on satisfaction.

“First and Second Armoured have been notified.” Sokolowski said. “They’re heading from CR to the Kassandora Route.” That was the name bestowed upon the endless east-west highway that was currently being expanded. It had only been changed a few weeks ago, once the Reclamation War started picking up steam. The men weren’t aware of the plan, but Kassandora had never shared her plans. Some men, like Iliyal, had to develop Leona’s paranoia. That righteous fear of things going wrong to plan, as if fate itself had turned against them, it was a good skill. The less men knew, the less they could share. Like a vehicle, the more moving parts and points of failure, the more it would break down. Kassandora carried Leona’s paranoia as far back as she could remember. There was always someone smarter, someone who would see things she could not, someone who pulled the unexpected. Out of fortuitous stupidity if nothing else.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“And KAF?” Kassandora asked.

“Transport planes all report as ready, but they’re all in CR still.”

“Your fronts?”

Sokolowski responded first. “Second army is functioning entirely without my supervision. It took some time to grease the wheels, so to say, but things are rolling smoothly. As requested, I keep fifty thousand in reserve at all times.” He said proudly, then his tone became sheepish. “It’s closer to some sixty thousand though, we don’t have enough artillery to keep up with the pace the men work at.” Kassandora smiled as she walked backwards towards the east.

The Sun was bright above them, the sky blue, the Sun bright, and the ground endless grey. Grey vehicles, heavy trucks, making long steel snakes as they ferried ammunition from the supply depot to the front lines. Grey dozers and diggers worked around them, battering ash down to create roads. Filling dried river beds, excavating through hills that were once teeming with the Jungle’s cursed green to make the shortest routes. All of them had been painted once in pleasant colours once, most of these weren’t even engineering corps, instead just being civilians from companies. Whether they were working for Helenna’s favours, Helenna’s bribes or Helenna’s charm wasn’t important, the ash stained them all grey.

Zalewski noticed the pause and realised Kassandora would not pressure him to respond. She could take her time today frankly. There was war coming again, that alone made her mood. “Third Army is working well, pushing onwards. We’re about to hit the ruins of Ulu.” Some ancient city that had been lost only fifty years ago, supposedly a beautiful place long ago. So beautiful that the only defence Kirinyaa could muster up was an organized retreat.

“Will they need supervision for that?” Kassandora asked.

“They won’t, I’ve given the instructions to use the same procedure that’s used on the mountains.” Kassandora smiled, that’s what she would do too. Burn the sides, wedge around them, shell from the flanks. If the ruins proved so large that artillery could not reach the centre then KAF would be called in for carpet bombings. There was no need for Kirinyaa to retreat any longer. War could be waged on anything, the living, the dead, against plagues and against plants if the need called for it.

“Continue, the reserves?”

“Seventy three thousand.” Zalewski said. “I try to make everyone useful but there’s simply not enough Lemurs up there.” The man’s front was the furthest north, Ekkerson had the southernmost.

“That’s not an issue.” Kassandora said, no. It wasn’t an issue whatsoever, she had told them to have a minimum reserve of fifty thousand each, but it wasn’t a reserve for them. It was a reserve for her. The fact they went over wasn’t an issue whatsoever, as the saying went: The more, the merrier. “How is the morale situation?” She already knew the answer would be dismal. Morale was in a story state because of Arascus’ involvement with the news. It was needed for Mwai, but her men did not like it.

Sokolowski took the initiative, as always. Kassandora didn’t care too much, inter-general hierarchy was good at the end of the day, the worst thing to happen was if they started arguing between each other. That was the fastest way to lose an army. “It’s pessimistic is how I would describe it.” Kassandora smiled as they trudged through the heavy ash to a spot where it had been cleared. Vans were already waiting to transport them back. She could fly but frankly, there was no need to.

“What do you mean by that?” Kassandora asked.

“It’s not disloyalty per say.” Sokolowski explained. “But rather, the men aren’t happy at the news that’s coming out about them.”

“But they’re loyal to us?” She always made sure to refer to the army as a whole. It was hers at the end of the day, but men were more loyal if they felt as if they were in it together.

“Undoubtedly.” Sokolowski replied with full confidence. “I…” He stopped and Kassandora turned to raise an eyebrow.

“Continue, I won’t demote you for opinions.” Not unless they were outright treason at least.

“Well, on one hand, it’s a blessing I think.” Sokolowski began as Zalewski started to nod to support his comrade. “It has pushed the men together, it’s not that they’re more loyal, but they’re further from the civilians.” Kassandora turned back to the dirty vans as they got close. These two would be dropped off once they reached the red dirt that lay past the horizon, the ash in the air had downed two helicopters already.

“There’s a gap now, there wasn’t before.” Zalewski interjected. “There’s a clear gap between us and civilians now.” Kassandora smiled. Arascus had been even more effective than she thought he would be.

“That’s good.” Kassandora said. The two men gawked at her, she felt their vision on the back of her head, although she felt almost every set of eyes on her at all times. She had assumed it was paranoia when she was young, but now she simply grew to ignore it. People stared at a Divine simply because they were a Divine, there was no reason to try and wage war on human nature.

“I…” Zalewski began. “Apologies, but I don’t understand.”

Kassandora finally took a step onto ash that had been beaten down by bulldozers. It was good to finally not be taking heavy, large steps through the ash. “Gentlemen, I have a court case. This nation is turning against us.” She didn’t bother to look at their faces of disgust, the curses and groans from them where enough indication of what they thought of that.

“I assume there’s a contingency for this.” Sokolowski said.

“There is. I want you each to lead your reserves to the coast. Zalewski, you go north of Nanbasa, Sokolowski, south. Helenna will call you with the exact locations today, tomorrow maybe. The schedule is tight. If you start getting close, then you call her.” Kassandora stopped. “Do you have her number?” She looked back at the two men.

“I do.” Sokolowski said.

“I do too.” Zalewski said. Honestly, it was disappointing, Helenna’s claws were in everything and anything. She turned and kept walking, the two quickly caught up to her.

“And what then?” Zalewski asked then caught himself. “If I may ask.”

“And then we turn the guns on Nanbasa.”