Stalemate

For the next two weeks, the two sides fought from the relative safety of the long trenches. The four airships from Connaissance fell back into a routine of shuttling men and supplies to the battlefield while the airships from Kreussia seemed to have disappeared from the battle entirely. The Kreussian tanks that were left undamaged had also seemed to have disappeared. On one fateful morning, a Kreussian soldier carrying a white flag crossed through the no man's land between the trenches and came within shouting distance of the Connaissance army calling out in heavily accented Langlish, "I have letter for Connaissance Keptain!"

A soldier from the Connaissance army slowly walked out with empty hands showing that he was not armed and was not attempted to kill the man he replied, "I'll take it." He reached out his hand when he got a few feet away. The Kreussian soldier handed the letter over and then gave a head nod before slowly turning and walking back to the Kreussian line.

Sir Leonard McCoy took the letter and read it before handing the letter to a messenger and said, "Get this to the next airship that comes in, this is urgent correspondence for Her Majesty."

The soldier gave a salute and then dashed down through the antitank line back to Diamondtown.

One of the men who was standing next to Sir McCoy asked, "They going to surrender?"

Sir McCoy shook his head, "They are calling for a cease-fire. The way things are right now, I think we can all use the rest. This will buy us needed time to get our defenses hardened and possibly our own invasion plan set."

*****

The entire team of designers held their collective breath as Amelia started up the motor. 'Var-Var-Var-Varrrrooom!' The massive engine came to life in a smokey roar. As she pulled the throttle it roared louder until the smoke started to clear up finally becoming a constant roar. All of the men cheered wildly some jumping others shaking hands with the men around them.

Winston slit his finger along his throat indicating for Amelia to shut down the new motor. "Amazing work, Amelia. We'll be able to use this design on numerous vehicles. We can easily scale it up or down depending on the intended use."

Amelia reached out and shook his hand blushing, "I really only helped you recreate and existing idea, I can't take credit for anything. We are also using the turbine designed by your team."

Winston shook his head and said, "This didn't exist on Hanston until we all came together. That's what invention is all about. Making something new that replaces something old for improved better efficiency."

Emily walked in and casually commented, "I hope you can find a way to clean it up, I don't want to fill the city with this smoke."

Winston nodded and said confidently, "Now that we have this much, we'll be able to clean it up and even come up with better replacement technologies."

Emily smiled and extended a hand to Amelia and softly spoke, "I am glad you came back."

Amelia took her hand and shook it with a smile, "Thank you for giving me this chance. I am sorry that I acted like a spoiled child when I was here before."

Emily shook her head answering with slight smile, "In the end, you made the right choice, and hopefully we have both benefitted." She looked around then asked, "I understand that you have met my old friend Katarina?"

Amelia blushed and nodded, "Mhm, she allowed me to stay in the room you once offered me."

Emily chuckled, "Oh? Is that where you are staying then?"

Amelia blinked and then coughed awkwardly, "Uh... At first."

Emily shook her head and then turned to Winston, "I'd like to see the new armored attack vehicle designs."

*****

Nicolas paced around inside the bunker, "Damnit Gorki all I have been getting from you is excuses! First, we needed Diamondtown, then it was a war of attrition, and now the stalling for time. Where are my results?!"

Gorki hung his head and said, "If we just give them smiths more time...."

Nicolas shouted over the top of him, "Gorki! I have no money! There won't be these miraculous things coming, I am going to have to withdraw from this war soon or I could lose Kreussia! Those old things are already plotting, even my mother is helping them! I need a victory, I need something from this war other than deaths and wasted money, do you understand?" Nicolas walked around the table and put a hand on Gorki's shoulder, "I sent a request for a cease-fire this morning. I am going to negotiate with this Empress. If possible, I need to get something, anything, or I may not be welcome in my own country. Do you understand? It's over."

Gorki looked at Nicolas, "If I just get a little more time, I can win this war, I swear it!"

Nicolas sighed and spoke softly, "Than find the gold to pay for it. I have already burned down the fields in my country and bled the population dry. There is no more money."

*****

Emperor Asoka stared at Andrew and smirked, "So you finally found an enemy you couldn't overpower?"

Andrew nodded and said, "Mm, it appears so, for now."

Asoka moved a piece and then said, "Your leader is weak, if she was strong, you would have simply destroyed their capital already."

Andrew frowned and said, "It's not like that. They are just far enough away from us that the range makes it too difficult to send ground forces. We weren't ready for this kind of war."

"A war against a nation with your advanced weaponry?" Asoka laughed, "If my nation were equipped with advanced weapons of war, I would have crushed you."

Andrew moved a piece and then said, "Check."

Asoka's eyes looked around and then he moved a piece. He smiled at Andrew and said, "That's another stalemate."

Andrew sighed and said, "You are wrong about Emily, she's not weak. She's much more ruthless than even I am. I lost to her because I couldn't see that."

Asoka waved his hand dismissively. "She might be ruthless but she is still a woman. A woman who would still be held captive by her emotions. You don't need to go to war with the army of Connaissance in order to have anything you want here in Connaissance, all you have to do is capture Empress Teslaimia. If it were you or I in her place, we could order our men to kill that woman if she was captured this Empress Connaissance would crumble and give away her nation in exchange for that woman."

The two men reset their pieces and started the game over. Andrew made the second move after Asoka started the next name and said with a chuckle, "Emily once told me I am easy to beat because I don't truly understand the role of the Queen."

Asoka and Andrew each made a couple of quick moves before Andrew moved his queen. Asoka laughed and said, "You don't understand the role of the Queen? The Queen's role is to look pretty and stay out of the way." He moved his Bishop out.

Andrew chuckled, "Yes, that's exactly what I assumed the Queen was for and then..." He moved his Queen down and said, "Checkmate." He shrugged and said, "Teslaimia is no hothouse flower put on this planet in order to look pretty. If you think Emily is weak I guarantee that you have already severely underestimated Teslaimia. Of the two of them, I would say that she is the most ruthless of the pair of them."

A soldier came running over and saluted, "Colonel, General Colton has requested you come to him in his office. Something big has happened."

Andrew sighed and said, "A soldier's work is never done. See our guest back to his quarters."

The soldier nodded. He looked at Asoka and said, "Sir, come this way." Once Andrew was out of sight, the soldier handed Asoka a letter and whispered, "Mr. Milton said to tell you, that everything you have asked for is being prepared. The company will have you released from here soon. Either by escape or by negotiation. As for the Empresses, at this time, snatching them publicly is not possible because of the war with Kreussia."

Asoka nodded and then asked softly, "Have you presented my request to the Kreussian Tzar?"

The soldier pretended to roughly push Asoka into his quarters, "Mr. Milton said that the Tzar is trapped in a corner, without the company's help there will be a change in leaders in Kreussia. He needs us more than we need him so your new weapons and technology are assured." The soldier started to close the door and said softly, "I will bring his word in five days."

*****

Emily, Teslaimia, Roger, Jon, Andrew, Danny, and several other top military advisors sat in a conference room at the Palace as Emily read from the letter sent to the Connaissance army, "The Tzardom of Kreussia would like to seek a formal armistice with the Connaissance Defense Force for the period of one month in order to discuss a formal end to the war between our two nations. We request to hold these peace talks in the Fursian capital. Each side will only bring a small personal guard complement of a dozen men. Our leadership will be traveling by airship and so we would like to make sure that this cease-fire extends to our airships as well. To acknowledge this armistice we only ask that you send a messenger to our lines by tonight." Emily stopped reading and said, "That message was sent this afternoon. Let me hear opinions from around the table."

Roger spoke first, "One month will barely give us the time we need to prepare for an invasion or the Tzardom of Kreussia. I'd prefer to have a year."

Andrew nodded and added, "I think we need to be patient. In a year's time, we'll have made another jump in capabilities according to the men at Future War."

Jon nodded and said, "Time is on our side, the longer we stretch things out the more beneficial it is for us."

Teslaimia cleared her throat and said, "Our most recent intelligence has found that the Tzar Nicolas the fourth, is out of money and the Kreussian economy is near to collapse. As we speak members of the Kreussian nobility backed by the Tzar's own mother have already started to move to take the throne away from him. He took a gamble on being able to win this war quickly and that gamble has failed."

Danny whistled and said, "No need to invade these guys until we need to, right now we can just sit back and let them implode while we just hold the defensive line."

Emily nodded and said, "That's right. I will go to these negotiations and see what Nicolas is playing at. If there is a way for us to benefit from this, I plan to exploit it." She looked around the room and then added, "This Tzar Nicolas has made one huge miscalculation. He forgot that so far in this war, he has only directed his army to attack the Holy Chadtom Empire and the Fursian coast. I will be inviting those leaders to join us as well. Should they press for reparations, we may find ourselves back in this current stalemate situation. I want solid plans on how to dig them out ready by the end of this month."

Jon asked, "Can we trust this intelligence source?"

Emily smiled and giggled, "You can trust it as if it came from your own girlfriend, Jon."

Teslaimia tapped her finger on the desk and said, "There's something I need to bring up. Someone is pulling strings from the shadows, possibly from old Eurment. We need to be vigilant with our personal and business relationships. Any casual conversation you have at any time with anyone can potentially be giving away top-secret level state secrets to foreign agents. Don't talk to the Church, to the guy at the bar, or to some woman you just picked up."

Jon frowned, "Why did you look at me when you said that? I am in a committed relationship!"

Teslaimia smiled and shook her head, "I'm sorry, Jon I just happened to be looking in your direction, it was a coincidence."

Andrew sucked a breath in and then said, "I think I might have been giving out secrets."

Teslaimia looked at him and then asked, "Could you explain?"

Andrew looked down, "I have been playing chess with Asoka. He always asks me about what's going on in the war and other things while asking me about my personal life."

Teslaimia thought for a moment, "Andrew, bring me a list of every single soldier that has contact with Asoka. Quietly, get the information yourself, don't ask anyone else to gather the data."

Andrew nodded. "I can do that. I'll have it to you by tonight."

Teslaimia looked around the table, "Anyone else?"

Jon raised his hand, "I talk to my girlfriend about work sometimes."

Teslaimia nodded and then asked, "Anyone else, anything you can think of will help?"

Roger cleared his throat, "I am worried about something one of my men brought up, it concerns Your Majesties."

"Hold that thought, Roger, if no one else can think of anything, go ahead and head back to work. Roger, stay here and we'll talk separately. Thank you, all, for your efforts." Emily dismissed the meeting. Once the room was clear she spoke softly, "You want to talk about the Green Door, I assume?"

Roger nodded and said, "One of your bodyguards is worried about your continued use of the club. He said he couldn't tell me directly about the club and instead suggested I investigate it on my own."

Emily looked at Teslaimia and sighed, "I'll let you explain it."

"Roger, sometimes when a man loves a woman very much..."

Roger frowned and nearly shouted, "You don't have to give me the birds and the bees speech, I am a grown man!"

Emily frowned as well, "Mi~a!"

Teslaimia giggled and said, "Roger, the truth is that your Empresses are terrible perverts."

Emily did shout this time, "Mi~a! You're the pervert!" She slammed her hands down on the table and sighed, before gathering her calm once again, "Roger, the grey club is probably worse in many ways than you imagine, and also quite different from what you imagine. The Reason Charles said you have to see it for yourself, is that it is a club that caters to men and women who are more open sexually on the surface. Under the surface, it is much more than I can possibly make you understand by telling you about it. It was originally started thousands of years ago to be an intelligence-gathering operation that is still in use to this day."

Roger nodded and then asked, "Then you both go there because of that?"

Teslaimia laughed and said, "Roger, you should just go there and see for yourself. I can arrange for one of my girls to take you if you'd like. Call it a date."

Roger turned red to his ears, "I wouldn't want to embarrass her being seen with me."

Teslaimia rolled her eyes, "You have a few scars and a missing arm, that doesn't make you a monster, Roger."

Emily nodded and said, "Don't bully him, Mia. Roger, if you want to go sometime, just work out the details with Mia. You need to be escorted by a member to go, I can't promise you will enjoy yourself or be ok with the things you see there. If you are curious, you should go at least once just to know. The best way I can describe it, it's theater for adults."