Chapter 713 – Fallout
Ainai is lost.
They have deployed the Olephia bombs again, targeting the front. These weapons are scalable, they can be produced in mass and they can be used to launch co-ordinated strikes. They drop from the sky and explode out of range of counter-artillery magicians, reports from the rear-line survivors confirm that they do no actually strike the ground. All large armies currently on Arda can be hit, the Ashfront is the variable which provides cover. Additionally, the Rilia tower has been analysed and compared with the Ainai and the Kandai towers, the worst-case scenario is the one the one that is currently happening. These are not ancient unique artefacts of Arda, if they are harnessing Divine power, then the way it is being is scalable. The more realistic scenario, instead of running on the notion that they are chained Divines of cleanliness, is that they some magical structure which, like the Olephia bombs, can be built in mass.
At this point, it is only a matter of time before the two are combined and we start seeing a push against us. The ground army can be overwhelmed even when a Divine is present. We have to start considering the notion of a defensive war to hold Arda. The case of pre-emptively closing the portals and the Sassaran rift grows stronger by the day. Whereas it should be noted that none of us wish for that to happen, the case can now be made to prepare situations for emergency portal and forceful portal shutdown. The strike came within a matter of hours, a portal takes a matter of days to depower naturally. To have them remain open for such an extended period of time is to risk Olephia-Bombs being sent through to Tartarus.
Nevertheless, there are some lessons to take from Ainai. The use of the native Khmet population has confirmed that Arascus, Kassandora, Fortia, Tremali, or whatever commander is in charge of the Olephia bombs is unwilling to strike at Ardan populations. It does not read like a classical Kassandora-strike, the Empire could have taken no military casualties if instead of waiting for us to mass at their lines, they started firing these weapons as soon as we left Khmet. This is, of course, if we assume that the baiting scenario is false. Everything said in this document is worthless if the Empire is simply displaying a show of force with a limited weapon.
It needs to be put to the test. What is the true value of a civilian life? The Khmet’s current population needs to be dragged to the frontlines and used as shields against the troops.
Additionally, small-scale strike forces should be sent to strike at the Imperial heartland. The most successful strikes were done through Legion and Be’elzebub. If this can be replicated with elite teams of common demons, we should be able to overwhelm their internal lines.
- Prince Semirge’s report: Current State of the War.
Fortia stared at the sheer devastation left behind by the nuclear missile strike. Two dozen of them, twenty four in total, firing in a line. Kassandora had been waiting for the stockpile to build up, or that is what she said at least. The first defence line had been pushed to the point of collapse. Imperial estimates of Tartarian troops numbered in the tens of millions, anywhere from forty to a hundred depending on who was doing the counting. It was easily as many souls as had been deployed back during an entire wave in the Great War.
And then they were gone.
Just like that.
In the span of a few minutes, Kassandora had drawn a line of stars across the surface of Ainai. They burned out within seconds of course, but it was still a line of stars. The desert had been scorched to a black obsidian. At the very least, she had aimed away from the troops at the very least. The charred ground was visible everywhere, although from what the frontlines reported, they still had to run cleanup on the few creatures that remained. Maisara and Fer had scoured up and down the frontline picking off the harder targets, Elassa had already returned back to Arcadia to work on whatever project Arascus had thrown her into.
And by the time Fortia got to the frontlines, it was over. Well, the war at least wasn’t, but the way it was being fought was. Unless Tartarus was operating on a level of idiocy that Fortia could not comprehend, or unless the theories that they multiplied at the level of bacteria were true, they would not be pulling another offensive like that. But frankly, Fortia very well believed that they did in fact multiply like bacteria. “How long do you think until they launch another offensive like that?” Fortia asked. She stood in her battle-armour, the gold-bronze cuirass, the scalemail skirt, her hair loose like a cape, the colour the same but more vivid than that of her armour.
“I have honestly no clue.” Maisara said from her side. Another giant statue dressed in the same manner, but with silver instead of the gold-bronze. “I can say that either immediately makes sense, because they want to push and test us, or never again, because they’re terrified, so that leaves a gap of from right now to eternity.”
Fortia chuckled to herself at Maisara’s perfectly wrong, utterly factual and completely redundant statement. She couldn’t even find any strategic fault in it. That was the worst part. “I agree.” Fortia said, Fer shrieked with laughter behind them and both Goddesses ignored of Beasthood. That creature had gone off to celebrate the victory.
And Fortia stood, staring at the black ground. “The troops report radiation sickness.” Maisara said.
“Clerical healing will cover it, we have enough here. Kavaa is constantly making more too.”
“It’s annoying that she didn’t go this hard in the Great War.” Maisara said and Fortia sighed. Annoying was an understatement. Getting Kavaa to do anything back then was an exercise in futility and somehow, Kassandora and Arascus, whoever it was at this point, had managed to make her forget that ancient honour code of hers.
“Tell me about it.” Fortia said. She finally let herself sigh of the sheer scale of Kassandora’s destruction. There had been a plan, there had been so much work put into everything and this is what it amounted to. A stop-gap. Something for Kassandora to use to just nuke the Tartarian horde and vapourize them on the spot. Why was Fortia even here? Any human general could have done as much and then they would have even felt good about themselves. “I honestly can’t believe it.”
“I can.” Maisara said. Of course she could.
“She annihilated them.”
“Well why shouldn’t she?” Maisara asked. “The Empire can build this weapons now. I’ve asked around, apparently we have enough material for hundreds of thousands of them. Missile production is the actual bottleneck and that’s what? It’s only because Arascus overruled her and wanted non-nuclear missiles for close range strikes that a dozen a day aren’t being built.” Ever so logical, ever so correct. Fortia just stared at the fields and fields of black glass.
“I know.” Fortia said. “I know and I’m not happy about it.”
“No.” Maisara said. “That I understand. It’s not a good feeling.” Fortia looked over when she heard a bout of laughter. Fer was in the middle of her back, celebrating and howling and getting drunk as they roasted something that looked vaguely humanoid, although the tail sticking out just above the backside confirmed it to be a demon. “It’s just very sudden.”
“That’s a good way to put it.” Fortia confirmed, she turned back to look at the glass. “I don’t like it.”
“No.” Maisara said. “If anything, war is tit-for-tat, we strike them like this, it’s only a matter of time before they start lobbing similar things at us.”
“Can they though?” Fortia asked.
“I have no clue if they can or can’t.” Maisara replied. “But one thing I am certain of now is that they know it can be done.”
It can be done. That was Elassa’s mantra, to prove something just to show that it can be done. And the Empire did it, it showed it to the whole world. Every… Fortia’s eyes went wider. Tartarus suddenly developing a magic was one thing but… “Do you know how they build these weapons?” Fortia asked.
“I have no clue.” Maisara said. “I’ve tried to ask about but I don’t have clearance for it.” That had to sting for Maisara, it almost calmed Fortia down though. But… But Maisara was new though. Of course she wouldn’t get access to this information. In fact, it wasn’t even the Divines that Fortia was worried about.
“Where was this weapon first made?”
“Allian islands is where the test site is.” Maisara said. “The missiles are from Iboud at first but now, they’re just Imperial made. These are not the Star-Missiles that Iboud first developed. Close, but not quite.”
“Not the payload difference.”
“Then I don’t know. I think they’re still different. Stars had manual entering of coordinates, these just use some electronic system.” Maisara said and Fortia closed her eyes. Maisara definitely could see it, Maisara had to see it, Maisara was just too dim-witted and slow to actually voice the connection that Fortia’s mind had made instantly.
She had to say it, because it was real and it was something that Kassandora definitely had not considered. “How long until an Ardan nation can recreate this?”
Maisara took a moment to respond. “Oh.” Oh indeed.
“Do you know?”
“I have no clue.”
“Could the UNN do it?” Fortia asked.
“I…” Maisara trailed off. “Theoretically, there is nothing stopping them from developing their own nuclear missiles.” She blinked. “If that happens, it’s the end, isn’t it?” She cast her hand forward. “You can’t fight against this, not for another hundred years at least.”
“Not until we develop a shield against it.” Fortia said. “I… Arascus has to be told, in person, not, we have to discuss it.”
Maisara finally sighed. “Then we should take Fer as well.”
“What?”
“If we’re going back to the mainland, then we should stay as a three.” Fortia blinked. Did Maisara actually like Fer? When had this began? She… Fortia liked Fer too, the woman was a marvel. The two of them turned around to look at Of Beasthood. A leg had been pulled off that rotating corpse, the minotaurs around Fer were howling with joy. Fer herself chewing on meat that was obviously not that of an animal’s. “Not her finest moment.” Fortia said.
“Indeed.” Maisara affirmed. “Not her finest moment.”
Fer spotted them almost immediately, she leaned over and whispered something to her beastmen. The entire pack of beady red-eyed half-animal men all turned to look at the two Goddesses, then cast their heads back and guffawed with shrieking, blood curdling laughter that came from throats which obviously were not made for such a noise. Fer stood up and walked over to the two Goddesses, she was still covered in blood, some of it fresh from her meal, most of it dried out. “What are my two little spybirds spybirding on?” She asked. “I can smell fear, so it can’t be anything good.”
“We have to go to Arascus.” Maisara said. “There’s… It’s a danger to the Empire at large.”
“Oh is it now?” Fer asked. “And it needs help from dad?” She leaned in, chuckling. “I will give a good word in for you then, since you’re suddenly such a good patriot.” She burst out in a shriek of laughter and slapped Maisara on the back. “Don’t worry Mai, I’m just teasing.”
“It was Fortia who worked it out, not me.”
“Forti?! Eh!?”
Sometimes, Fer really did get on her nerves. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Fer clapped Fortia on the back. “It means that I knew you were a smart one.”
“How?” Fortia had stopped counting how many times Fer had insinuated she was stupid at this point, it simply did not matter.
“Oh it’s a terrible rancid smell Fortia, you should be glad you can’t smell it.”