Arascus, I greatly appreciate. I have no other way to describe, I simply can appreciate him and his ideas. There are some of us, like Neneria, who have almost been lost to immortality. It is not that they have become lazy or apathetic, but some souls simply need the grip of finite time to get moving. Why do something today when it can be done tomorrow? And when tomorrow becomes today, tomorrow will still be tomorrow. At the end of the day, Divines are ageless. What is one day lost? A week? A month? Year? Century? A millennium of apathy?
Mortal thinking is slightly more pressing. Any crime must be punished, and it must be punished immediately. If it does not, then the criminal escapes. I appreciate human philosophy on this matter the most, the fact they consider death an escape from life, rather than us Divines or Elves, who scramble in madness in order to escape it. The criminal who lives to be felled by time has escaped, there is a certain victory in that. Yet this thinking blinds them, even though they have the drive, they are unable to make the grandest decision from fear or retribution.
I know this of myself, and I know it for Arascus. We have both been able to combine that motivated discipline found in mortals with the grandiosity only a Divine is able to bear. A man can be killed, because eventually the world would move on past his death. Likewise, a city can be destroyed for the same reason. We will still be here, and that city will not.
The simple fact of the matter is where does this logic stop? Is a region too much? An entire country? The whole world? I have found my answer, and it is the same as Arascus’. There is no end. What can will be forgiven, what can’t will eventually be forgotten.
- Excerpt from “Divine War Strategy”, written by Goddess Kassandora, of War, the text was lost after the Great War although it has frequently appeared in illicit black markets.
Kassandora looked over the city of Nanbasa as she saw helicopters arrive from the north, from the south, and from the west. It was only a small change of plans at the end of the day, she was simply requisitioning a thousand men from the Reclamation War and a few Goddesses from the coast. And several million in research grants, but Arascus was there to handle that. The requisitioning of civilians and scientists was not here demesne, she liked soldiers, who simply did things when told to.
Kassandora stood on the roof of one of the tall skyscrapers. The building was once part of Kirinyaa’s banking conglomerates. Most of them had turned out to be in a bad situation when the coup happened, although that had only been discovered once Arascus was in government. Many of the donations Kassandora had received were not donations in the first place, but rather loans. Betting on the success of a Divine had never been done before so no regulations against the practice existed, and everyone smelled the easy money on the horizon.
About half of the banks had almost ran out entirely of any liquid capital. Arascus had seized the opportunity, with the insider information that came from leading the country, bank runs were organised on the most vulnerable ones. In one week, half of Kirinyaa’s financial sector had been nationalized by the Imperial government to stop it from collapsing. Arascus was centralizing his grip further on the country and he was busy today. There was no need for him to attend.
Iliyal came first, Kassandora heard the elevator doors slide open behind her, she didn’t need to turn. The man had a distinct pattern to his steps, slower than a human’s but faster than a divine’s, and the heels of his boots clicked in that way ancient nobles had been trained to saunter about. “General Tremali, reporting for duty.”
“At ease.” Kassandora didn’t need to turn to know he would be saluting either. The world would be ending and the man would still hold his salute. “How is the defence of Nanbasa looking?” She asked. The elf responded immediately as Kassandora stared out of the ring-city. In the middle of that ring stood the massive animal reservation the city had been built around. The animals had been taken away to other locations now and Kassandora could catch the tracks that meant artillery had been driving through it. She found a few of the Lemurs and Lynxs hidden underneath trees that once housed lions.
The new SPAAG-M1s were there too, these, she managed to finally get a normal name for. Self-Propelled-Anti-Air-Gun-Mark-One, Arascus had been too busy to notice such a trivial piece of information and the two men who had been assigned on giving the stupid animal names to her new vehicles had been sent off to the fight the Jungle in the West. The SPAAGs stood there, hidden near rocks or behind buildings, four barrels tilted upwards as they waited. Kassandora had seen them fire, the hail of lead they put out would overwhelm most magical barriers. If enough of them concentrated on a target, they may even be able to overwhelm Allasaria. “Troop-wise, it is all about production.” Iliyal said. “What can be sent, I will be thankful for but it’s not urgent. With the sea-wall and the sheer size and layout of this city, it would take two months to clear it even if it wasn’t fortified.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Kassandora looked up to the huge sea-wall that Iniri had grown, and that the elf had reinforced with concrete and steel. Even now, there were still diggers and trucks working, filling out the hollow trees Iniri had grown with much harder material. It stood as tall as a warehouse, and the network of branches was labyrinthian. A huge helicopter was currently hovering over one of the huge wooden towers, a small cannon held up by ropes on its underside, and setting it down on the wall. “Then Nanbasa will move down on the list.” Kassandora replied.
The list was a mere colloquialism they used, it was simply the list of cities they were sending the new equipment to. Iliyal nodded as Kassandora kept looking out over the city. The sky was a marvellous cloudless blue today, the ocean a deeper shade of the same colour. Somewhere in that ocean, Uriamel was marshalling forces to siege them. “Understood.” Iliyal said. “Actually, I would recommend not sending anymore supplies to Nanbasa for the immediate time.” Kassandora smiled to herself, she had thought of the same. The city was simply too long and too large. Uriamel would come from the coast, the entire place did not need to be fortified.
“It will only be a minimal amount of stationary weaponry.” Kassandora replied. The guns that would be difficult to install during a battle. “But I agree.” She turned to face to the elf. He stood there, his blonde hair had grown somewhat, but his green eyes were as sharp as they were back during the Great War. Apart from the modern black uniform, the cap and the pistol on his belt in addition to the sword, he had not changed a single bit. “Personally Iliyal, how do you think the defence will go?”
“I see no reason for it to go terribly. The western manufactory district has been entirely evacuated and General Sokolowski has finished with the industrial relocation plan. Even if the seawall falls, they still have to cross that section. I’m rigging the buildings to blow, and then we will shell them over ruined ground.” The elf smiled in that way only Kassandora and her acolytes could. The glare that took outright joy in the flames of war. “The first push will be the worst, the wall will hold them, but it will fall, and then we lure them in.” Kassandora turned back to the city.
“That’s what I expect too.” Kassandora said. This city, whilst on the coast, was not coastal. It was not a port-town even though it had a port. A section of Nanbasa was coastal, and that was it. To call the entire city a port-town would be as wrong as calling an entire continent an island. They were close, but very different things entirely. “We blow give up the eastern part of the city, then we shell them when they reinforce lines. Turn the city from a ring to a horse-shoe.”
Iliyal nodded. “A child could do it.” He said.
“A child will do it.” Kassandora said, she turned to look at the elf’s reaction. He gave none. “Iliyal, you are wasted here.” He smiled at that, Kassandora rarely gave out praise to her own men, praise was a fickle thing, too much and a man got accustomed, too little and he lost motivation. “I am sending you off to Epa. To assist them because they are doing terribly.”
And the elf smiled at that. “I have been keeping track of their war. Maisara in Lubska and Fortia in Rilia.”
“It’s a good move for them.” Kassandora said. “I expect Fortia will go quickly up until she reaches Rilia’s north, whereas Maisara will expand her line to cover all Lubska from South to North, then west into Doschia. Rilia most likely has a month, Lubska has about two.”
“I would say the same.” Iliyal replied. Frankly, Kassandora did not know if that was true or not, the elf always agreed with her.
“You will have no Divine support from Arika, who is here, will remain here.” Kassandora said. “But the Weapon Divines and the Nationals should be enough. Unless you find a chance to remove Fortia and Maisara directly, then you can call for assistance.”
“Understood.” Iliyal said. “But it’s doubtful that I will.”
“Both are good at self-preservation.” Kassandora agreed. “But they’re not your objective, simply make sure Epa does not lose. If you can manage to cause enough casualties to the armies, that will be fine for us too.”
“The one issue is that the war is impossible to win in the first place.” Iliyal replied. “Even if they are pushed out of Epa, we have no way to strike at Olympiada. The Epan Coalition won’t go on the offensive, they’ll try to bargain.”
“That is the part of the war I’m in charge of.” Kassandora said. “Simply slow them down in Epa. Attrition warfare, but be aware it’s not our land. Too much salt in the wounds and the Epans will quickly point to you.”
“I’ll make sure that if it stings, they know it’s the Pantheon that did it.” Iliyal said and Kassandora smiled. Sokolowski and Zalewski and Ekkerson were all good generals, but a man like Iliyal only came about once in a hundred years. She knew he wouldn’t screw it up, frankly, she didn’t even expect him to hold, simply to slow the Pantheon down as much as possible instead. “If they crush Epa, then Fortia and Maisara are sweeping Kirinyaa from the north, we won’t be able to resist a second war like that.”
“If Epa does fall.” Iliyal said. “Then I’ll make sure it kicks and screams so much that Maisara and Fortia have nothing to return with here.” Kassandora smiled to herself as she turned back around to look at the city. A small dot in the distance, coming from the other side of the city, caught her attention. Kassandora narrowed her eyes.
Anassa was there, floating through the air, a giant red hand conjured out of sorcery was behind her, its fingers cupped upwards as if it was holding something. The edges of it were outlined, as if Anassa had managed to bring a drawing into existence. On it, Fer and Iniri and Kavaa were stood. That last one, Kassandora still debated on bringing, but she would be easily replaced by Clerics here. Iliyal squinted and asked in a polite tone. “If I may, what are you planning with them?” He asked.
Kassandora smiled to herself. Iliyal knew that plans were shared only on a need-to-know basis, he was simply indulging his curiosity. It was the good the man still had it. “Those four.” Kassandora pointed to Anassa and the Divines she was transporting to the skyscraper Kassandora stood on. “I’m taking them west. To secure a weapon which can strike at Olympiada, at Alanktyda and at Uriamel.”