The Start of the War

Victoria Staughler grabbed onto Remus hugging him tightly, "When will you be able to return?"

He shrugged and said, "I am going to war, Victoria, it could take months or even years. War isn't like running the camp. I am in it until I die or until we reach the end."

She held him tighter, "Promise me you'll return, I just found you after all these years, I can't lose you again."

He held her tightly and said, "I promise you, I plan to return. No other army in the history of the Hanston has been more prepared and equipped to win than my company. I will do everything in my power to make sure that all of us come back alive. I promise you."

She smiled through her tears, "As long as I have you back, that's all that matters to me. I know you want to win though, so I will pray to our Lady of Connaissance that you come back to me a hero with a well-deserved victory."

He picked her up and swung her around with a grin on his face, "I swear to you, your man will deliver!"

She giggled happily at his show of strength, "When do you have to leave?"

He smiled, "Right now. We need the trucks on the road before dawn so that we can reach the rendezvous point on time. I'm sorry to spring this on you in the middle of the night, Victoria. We weren't informed about the mission until the last minute. We had guessed that something was up with all the drills we have been doing the last three weeks, but this is fast. My guys didn't even have time to be anxious."

*****

"Norville please tell me you have those ships ready, my ground forces are already halfway to the target point." Roger looked nervous as he saw the two massive ships still hovering over the factory floor.

Norville grinned and then shouted out, "Open the doors, have both ships start up their engines, let the Zealous lead the way!"

A man holding bright colorful flags signaled the two ships. As the huge factory doors opened the large propellers on the back of the Zealous came to life slowly pushing the great ship forward. Roger stared at the two ships in awe, "Is the Zealous smaller?"

Norville laughed, "No, the Dreadnaught William Smith is just that much bigger." After the huge Zealous started lifting into the air free of the factory walls the Smith's massive propellers started to turn slowly pushing it out into the sunlight.

Roger gasped, "It's incredible. I couldn't tell just how many weapons were loaded on it while it was sitting in here. Winston created ammunition that large?"

Norville nodded, "That ship is going to win your war for you, Roger. It's going to rain hell on their capital. If they had their own airships, it would pick them out of the sky like they were mosquitos."

Roger found himself nearly breathless, "How many did we plan to build?"

Norville smiled, "For now, just the one. We're going to build a few more Zealous class destroyers before we add another Dreadnaught. The Smith drained our supply of Harbenite."

"Incredible. Just flying that ship over another country will cause them to surrender. It's a work of art." Roger had to close his jaw as he realized it had been open the entire time.

Norville shrugged and said, "It might still need a lot of work Roger, we've been pushing it too fast. I need the extra seven months to make sure all the systems work with each other."

"How long will it take to get them to the rendezvous point?" Roger turned to Norville with hopeful eyes.

Norville thought for a moment, "Just a few hours at full sail."

Roger clenched his fist and muttered, "By our Lady of Connaissance, please make it in time."

*****

Emily and Teslaimia stood in her office as the two massive warships started to rise up from the factory nearby the Airship port. Teslaimia gasped and pointed, "What is that big all-black ship?"

Emily smiled, "That's our new Dreadnaught. I named it after my father. It's the CEAS William Smith. The Grey ship is the CEAS Zealous."

Teslaimia watched them gain altitude as they headed straight to war. "When did you do the naming ceremony?"

Emily smiled and said, "I did it in secret so I would be able to avoid tipping off any spies here in the city. It's launching seven months ahead of schedule."

Teslaimia frowned and said grumpily, "You even kept it from me?"

Emily gently hugged Teslaimia, "Only the crew of the ship and the men at the factory were there. They have been sequestered at the factory for the last month. I didn't want to bring anyone since they weren't allowed to tell their own families."

Teslaimia nodded and sighed, "No, you're right. That would have been unfair to them." She reached out her hand and held onto Emily's hand, "Why do you think we never heard from Emperor Asoka?"

Emily smiled and said, "He wants to see if we will be able to move on him. My guess is that our army will have resistance crossing over the Nabee because Asoka will have his soldiers make a push into Fursia hoping to cause us to abandon our attack."

Teslaimia, "Did you plan that with my father?"

Emily shook her head, "Roger sent the Zealous to defend your father. The Smith is going to lead the attack forces. Asoka wouldn't have planned for such a force as he is going to see."

*****

Emperor Asoka sat on a bed of furs with several beautiful women surrounding him when a general rushed into the room, "Enemy forces have crossed the border and are traveling in strange-looking horseless carriages. They are moving much faster than wagons can travel. It's more like galloping horses."

The Emperor sat up quickly, "How many of these carriages are coming?"

The general exhaled and said, "Twenty of them."

The Emperor thought for a minute, "How many men would fit in such a thing?"

"Possibly twenty in each carriage, so four hundred is our estimate of the size of this force based on the carriage size."

The Emperor laughed, "Send five thousand of my Death Sworn. We will test their ability with that. Have the rest stay in the defensive positions for now. Start the invasion now. Let's see what she does when Fursia burns." He then made shooing motions with his hand, "Go back to the battlefield and bring me good news after you turn them away.

The general frowned and then asked, "What about their Airships?"

The Emperor grinned, "My spies learned they won't have them for another five months, you only need to concentrate on the war with Fursia. This little band of troops she sent into our borders might be dangerous, but they aren't enough to conquer or hold land here."

The general gave a salute and quickly left to resume his duties.

*****

Nate Butler walked up to Captain Gibbs and asked, "I know we used to fly around under a bag of explosives, but something about this new lift bottle scares the crap out of me. If it gets a hole are we going to be sucked into it?"

The Captain laughed and said, "I think it will just implode and then we'll all fall to our deaths, don't sweat it."

"That's not really..." Nate looked squeamish.

The Captain smiled and asked, "Helm, how is she to fly?"

The Helmsman smiled back at him and said, "She flies like a dream sir, still getting used to how responsive she is to climbs and descents."

The Captain looked over at the Observation officer and said, "Make sure you have them check the new Beehive sights. We don't want to get over the targets and have to guess if we can hit them."

Nate asked, "What are our orders this time?"

The Captain pointed out in front of the ship, "We're going to defend the Fursian border with Injia. The General ordered us to inflict mass fatalities. We are officially at war with Injia so we aren't even giving fair warning."

Nate looked shocked, "Is this related to the invasion of Injia done by King Andrew?"

The Captain shrugged, "No idea, I just found out when I opened our operational orders before liftoff. The Smith is headed right for their capital."

Nate whistled, "I envy those guys on the Smith, that ship is one fine looking lady. If she packs the punch it looks like she does, they won't be able to surrender fast enough. With us killing their army and the Smith destroying their capital city..."

The Captain nodded, "If the Smith does what she is designed to do, there may not be anyone with the authority to actually surrender. That ship is designed to end wars."

Nate grinned, "How about our ship?"

The Captain smiled, "We are built to end battles."

*****

Andrew was looking over his maps when Daniel Conners came through the door on crutches and bellowed out, "Drew, If I had a second leg I would kick you right in the ass. You abandoned me you jackass!"

Andrew's face bloomed into a smile and tears showed at the corners of his eyes as grabbed Daniel in a bear hug, "I thought you were dead! I am so sorry."

Daniel frowned and bellowed out, "Let go of me, you bastard! You left me to die and now you want to treat me like I am your friend?"

Andrew held him rocking back and forth, "Yes, I want you to treat me like we are friends" He laughed and cried at the same time as he held his friend.

Daniel found it harder to be angry with Andrew and finally let out a breath of air and said, "Damn it, man, this is embarrassing. Let go of me. You know I don't swing that way."

Andrew wiped his eyes and said, "I tried to find out what happened to you after we were forced to retreat, but that bastard Asoka wouldn't give me any information."

Daniel nodded and said, "They took good care of our wounded and sent us to the hospitals here in Connaissance. I would ask how you are, but I really don't care."

He shrugged and said, "That Emperor Asoka from Injia cut off my balls and made me eat them. Then he treated me like a friend playing chess with me until I was brought here to watch as Emmy was crowned in my place."

Daniel looked ill and said, "Lord Léon Jean Reno... I hadn't heard that."

He nodded and said, "We just went to war against him. He must have touched her bottom line bringing me here and trying to marry Teslaimia."

Daniel looked confused, "Why would marrying Teslaimia bother Emmy? Are they friends now?"

Andrew laughed and said, "I think we'll have a lot to talk about. Why are you here?"

Daniel pulled out a sheet of paper, "This is my new assigned duty station. Sir Roger Colton, the general in charge of our army said I was still useful even though I can't fight anymore. He said I was to assist the colonel in charge of war planning. Have you met the guy? Is he someone I can work with?"

Andrew laughed and said, "You're in luck, he is me!"

Daniel frowned and said, "I quit."

Andrew slapped him on the back and said, "You can't quit just yet, you haven't officially started!"

Daniel shook his head, "You never listen to my advice, how am I supposed to help you? I am a one-legged man. I can't even fetch you coffee. I am here just to listen to you complain about the things Emmy is doing wrong running the country?"

Andrew smiled and shook his head, "I know that I am not even a tenth of the leader she is, Danny. Do you know they are even starting to revere her as a goddess? A living goddess. How could I have the face to say I could do better?" He pulled out a chair for Danny and then sat down on the opposite side of the table and said, "Let me bring you up to speed on what this office is for and what I need from you."

Daniel hopped over and sat down in the chair and looked a little strange, "You're different."

Andrew nodded, "I had a lot of time to think as I suffered in captivity. I was more immature than I ever could have imagined."

Daniel sighed and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. If they hadn't given me this chance to work as a man again, I would have hopped up to the highest peak I could find and ended it all."

Andrew nodded and then said, "What we do here in this office is the basic pre-plans for war. We estimate how many resources we need, troop size needed, where the enemy will be, and what tactics will best work in the terrain we are sending our troops into. We receive raw intelligence from field operatives about what the enemy is doing and then build off that information. When the orders come in we will be given the intelligence and the target. Then we put a plan of action together. The commanders in the field will make adjustments in real-time as they look at the situation on the ground. Our job is just to give them a starting point."

Daniel nodded and said, "This is the perfect job for you. But why me?"

Andrew smiled and said, "I do my best thinking when I am with you and someone above us knows that."

"Emmy?" Daniel asked with a strange face.

"Or Jon." Andrew nodded.