Forever Future 1.7 PBEM game

[Max_Smirnov]

The Bang



The sun was high, mercilessly scorching the vast desert flat, stretching all the way to the horizon, warped by the circulation of the hot air. All the colors were bleached.
"Control to Red Saber. Status report," muttered the radio, barely audible over the whine of jet engines, working at high power.
"Engine check complete. Going steady at 85%. Permission to start."
"Permission granted, over."
"Roger. Releasing the brakes. Over"
Arturia felt sudden acceleration as the shiny Y-45 surged forward. Her flight suit, tight as it was, reacted by pumping even more air into its inflatable areas to fight the g-force, then loosened a bit again. She looked upon the computer displays one last time, and raised her thumb at the control tower, before shutting the black visor of her helmet. Comfortable shade covered the scorching sky and land. She could hardly fight her excitement, her eyes focused far ahead now.

---

It's been over 200 years ago when the Egyptian forces have seized the dusty wasteland of Vyzhennaya Strana. About the same time the vigorous progress of the early decades of aviation had all but petered out. Every country was making incremental upgrades to their fighters and bombers, but these changes were extremely slow to take place. The jet airplane, both military and commercial, became as ubiquitous as a car or a train, but no radical breakthroughs were coming and it seemed it became yet another technology that was destined to be forever stalled at its limit. The change came from an unlikely direction: aided by computers, the Egyptian scientist could now freely custom-design all kind of substances of desired qualities. Just like Kevlar made the notion of armoring the infantry a viable possibility once again, the new ceramics promised aircraft hulls of once thought impossible heat resistance. Futurologists were already envisioning airplanes travelling around the world in mere hours. The thing was, without heavy funding, they were nothing but pipe dreams. Even the sound barrier hadn't been broken yet by a manned aircraft, mostly for the lack of any interest in doing so. With fast progress in surface-to-air missiles, there was never a window of hope for an airplane to outrun them. But now, the game had changed. Inspired by these discoveries, the head of the Socialist Union declared a plan of an unparalelled boldness: putting a human on the moon. Both of them. Huge resources were funnelled into that idea, and suddenly it seemed the pure fantasy was within hand's reach. The inert masses suddenly received a bold idea to be excited with, and even the foreign regimes couldn't keep quiet about. The wastelands east of Chelabyinsk were to become the centre of the Egyptian Space Program. A schedule of milestones was set up. One leg of the program was to test bigger and bigger rockets to first reach the orbit, then, the moons; the other, making sure the humans are going to survive the experience.

---

The sleek jet was rising fast, soaring into the stratosphere, leaving a white trail in its wake. The bleached sky turned deep, beautiful shade of blue.
"Levelling the flight. Pushing the engine to 100% power."
There were no frontiers left to conquer on Earth. Attacking any of the three huge powers only invited a couterassault by the remaining two. To have any glimpse of hope of winning, Egypt would have to deploy atomic weapons. Even then, it would only push the planet into a nuclear armageddon; the other powers were very close to attaining the nuclear capability of their own. Any winners would end up with a devastated world to rule, in an universe, as it seemed, full of dangers.
When Arturia thought of it now, it seemed only natural. Widening the frontiers beyond the atmosphere, into the space. Maybe it wasn't the solution Cleopatra was seeking, not yet, but it was a step in a good direction. Proving the final war wasn't inevitable. That there were other things to conquer than other countries.
Of course, she didn't want Arturia to become the test subject. But she wasn't at her full power either, and her Knight managed to win her over. Who would be better suited to achieve the impossible than her? Who would survive where normal humans would die, and ensure the Socialist Union will get the prize before others? The Japanese were already building their own computers; the computational power needed to get to the moons was almost within their grasp. And their skill at building rockets was well known. They weren't far behind.
Arturia grinned. Cleopatra was unable to stop her. They won't stop her either. She won't be denied her prize, the greatest conquest of these times. Not this time.
The fuselage of the plane started to tremble, almost like it was going to fell apart. Arturia gripped her control stick harder and pushed the plane into a slight dive. The trembling intensified, blurring her sight. Her HUD was showing big green number: 0.97. It switched into 0.98.
"Coming close...!" She said over the radio, just before the jet broke through the barrier of the air it was pushing ahead of itself with a loud bang.



Suddenly, the plane became more steady than ever. The HUD was displaying numbers quickly approaching 1.1, but the jet was cutting the blue sky without as much as a slight tremble.

"Red Saber, this is the control. It is 0330 Theban Time, 23 June 1795. The radars are confirming you broke the sound barrier, over."
"The sky is perfect on this side, control..." she answered with her grin widening into a huge smile. Her century-old dream of going faster than anyone before her came true, and the knowledge of alien space empires and Stalin's flying saucer tarnished the joy only a little. Now all she wanted was an even faster vehicle.

[Eerion]

“Seriously, I have no idea what are you trying to do. “The heated conversation was ongoing in the command room. “Are you trying to blow your own country?” Haruhi was obviously angry.
“Calm down Haruhi.” Hinotebi tried to remain calm. “I know why are you thinking that, but until now everything Father organised worked out well. Why are you so distrusting now?”
“Until now. It was a good word. But now it’s not just a plan or a created servant. It’s a master. A fu.cking master who right now is traveling around the empire and befriend everyone he meets. Do you understand what it means? In few decades he may be able to create an official uprising against us and people will support him! That’s what you want Perun?!”
The Slavic man, sitting on the table, looked somewhat absent minded. After a moment he raised his head and looked at the girl.
“It’s not what I want. And... I know it may happen. Still we have to take the risk.” His tone was calm, but a little bit sad.
“You want to risk everything in order to gain what?! What can Iskandar give you that is worth sacrificing everything?” Haruhi was yelling. Afraid and angry to the limits.
“I cannot tell you much. Time will give you the answer on this question. It will also show if I was right or wrong.”
“Oh Fu.ck you!” Haruhi, angry at the received answer turned around and walked out of the room.
They just sat around and looked at the doors Suzumiya used, without saying anything, for a couple of minutes. Then, Chiyome has decided to break the silence.
“Maybe I should resume the report?” She asked gently. Seeing as Perun nodded, she spoke. “As I mentioned earlier, Alexander is visiting the garrisons, forts and officials around the empire. Due to his nature, people start to gather around him. He spokes about unity and helping the Japanese Empire, however, are this his honest thoughts or he uses them for other purposes is currently unknown.”
“He means that. At least for now.” The ruler spoke. “Iskandar is not a liar, he despise it. If he says he wants to help the empire it means it. The only question we should ask is does his idea of strengthening the Nippon includes taking over the throne or not.”
“Is this really worth it then? The situation doesn’t look too good for us if that’s the case.” Hinotebi asked worriedly.
“We are going to need a person like him. Not now maybe, but in the future. On top of that even if he will try to claim the Japan with force and succeed it does not mean end of us. He is not that kind of person.”
“Still I do not wish for it to happen...” Hinotebi made a disappointed face.
“Neither do I. We have to show him who is the real ruler using our country. He is the king of conquerors, but we have thousands of years of support. I am going to use that in order to make him serve me, not the other way around. But it’s enough of this topic. Chiyome?”
“Yes sir. Iskandar crossed the border once few months ago. He ended up next to the Egyptian garrison close to Akashi. Not only he was not expelled, but actually they treated him like a guest for several days until he went back. It looks like the he can live up to his title. From other news, the scientists are saying that the water levels are rising at a dangerous rate due to global warming. There are, however, few differences when it comes to the prognosis. Our scientists predict that we are going to cause a natural catastrophe within next five to six decades. Egyptian and French ones speak about ten to twenty years.”
“What do they say about the result of this... catastrophe?”
“Villages at the sea and many terrains at the seas or oceans are going to get permanently flooded. They are not sure about the exact amount or terrains, but in general our lands are considered safe.”
“If that’s the case we should ignore this topic.” Perun waved his hand. “What about nuclear project?”
“It is completed. We are capable of mass production of the nuclear weapon.”
“Good. I want to start the production of them as soon as possible.” Hinotebi looked at him grimly, as he was giving an order.
Mochizuki nodded.
“What about other countries?” The Slavic ruler asked.
“We have surpassed France and Britannia in this race, what is a great accomplishment. Egyptians already possess the bombs themselves and had a successful test explosion on the steppes of Russia.”
Perun nodded. “What about our defences?”
“Our shield project is advancing smoothly. We still have some more work to do, but everything is progressing at maximum capacity.”
“That’s very good. Since it’s only four of us left we have to ensure no one can launch a surprise attack on us.” Perun stood up. “I think this is all I needed to know. Now it’s time to grab a drink or two. I’m off.” He spoke while walking out.
Hinotebi and Chiyome remained inside the room. They looked at each other.
“What do you think about all of that?” Empress asked.
“He seemed to have much more on his head than he used to before. He always disliked chit-chat, but now it’s pretty often just a short exchange of sentences and that’s all. I’m not sure if I have to be worried or he is just that busy.” Chiyome answered while scratching her head.
“He has lost to Iskandar once. I believe he does not want to repeat the same mistake. If he keeps him alive, I believe there is a reason for it.” She answered, trying to smile gently. “Shall we grab a drink as well?”
Mochizuki nodded.

[Max_Smirnov]

Operation Midnight Sun

Uranium-235 is an unstable isotope, its nucleus far too heavy for the nuclear forces to keep it together indefinitely. In time, it spontaneously breaks apart, generating two nuclei of lighter radioactive isotopes, and an average of 2.4 neutrons. During this process, a fraction of the mass disappears, changing into a vast amount of energy. If an Uranium-235 nucleus is hit by a neutron, however, it immediately goes over the energy threshold and the fission happens instantaneously. Normally, most of the neutrons generated by this fission escape into space.
Not so when a set of powerful explosives, set to detonate simultaneously all over the surface of a sphere of U-235 crush it into a ball of a fraction of the original size. There is no place for the neutrons to escape, and more and more Uranium nuclei are undergoing fission, generating even more neutrons. This is called a chain reaction. And it takes mere nanoseconds for it to run its course.
The enormous energy, generated through the destruction of matter, is radiated in the form of hard gamma rays. These rays impart their energy upon anything they hit, atoms of metal, plastic and air, quickly raising their speed and consequently, temperature, into millions of degrees. These atoms in turn radiate away a gamma ray of lower energy and frequency, hitting further atoms. Within microseconds, and a few hundred metres of the ground zero, the length of these rays drops to the level of visible and heat radiation, creating a fireball glowing with the intensity of a thousand suns.
Only the cameras, set to hopefully withstand such luminosity, and a few unfortunate animals were looking at the source of light that instantly changed the night over the Russian steppe into a bright day.



The humans dared to look out of their heavily fortified bunker only several seconds later. Despite their thick, black goggles, the fading light was still blinding.

"The... colors," said an awed female voice, before being interrupted by a loud bang, followed by low, thundering growl that took almost a minute to fully subside. Despite the distance, the observation slits were choked by a wave of hot sand, brought by the shockwave.

Igor Kurchatov, the head of the project, stood up first, patting his lab coat, to look at the slowly ascending mushroom cloud.

"And the Man said, let there be light."

The radiance was already fading, lost in the sea of dust risen by the explosion.

"...The colors... were beautiful," murmured Colonel Arturia, slowly blinking, her eyes wide open.

"Impressive," said someone, while another person ran out towards the toilets, covering their mouth.

"Write it down, the first nuclear initiation had been a success," continued Kurchatov.

"Sure, we're still alive," winced Doctor Nielsov. "My calculations were wrong, the atmosphere didn't catch fire and you haven't destroyed the world. This time. Way to go, Igor."

"I can't wait to assess the damage," added General Markov, the military head of the project. His agonizing job of herding scientists, fighting bureaucrats, appeasing superiors and warding off spies had finally bore fruit.

"Do not dispatch the teams just yet," said Kurchatov. "Let's wait several hours for the radiation to subside a bit. We only have a vague idea how deadly could it be. Besides, the radio communications won't work until the ionized cloud disperses."

"Let me do it," said Arturia. "Just get me one of these hazmat suits and a tank. And a good Geiger counter. I should survive where a normal human can't."

"So eager!" said Nielsov with contempt. "Yeah, why not die for the thrill, go ahead, hero."

"I have nothing against it," said Markov coldly. "At ten o'clock. We shall dispatch the investigation teams depending on your success."

---

The historical events of the early morning of the 15th June, 1784 were already a few days in the past. Arturia's underground private study, built close to the ancient and long-abandoned Cleopatra's tomb under the Theban Palace, was filled with things she wouldn't allow herself to be associated with in the public, such as a collection of antique melee weapons, several trinkets from her time as an Empress, that somehow found their way to Thebes as well as three alien helmets displayed proudly over her desk. And plates full of chocolate candy, one of which she was assaulting while trying to get her magnetic tape player to work.

"Damn it, this thing is more complicated than my M-19-X3," she muttered. "Oh, there we go," she smiled, as the reel finally started to spin and the large TV screen flickered to life, showing overexposed, bright images of desert, heavy with static. "The quality is far from great, but only this kind of camera worked at all, at least during the first hours. All the reels of celluloid tape were wasted, completely blackened by the radioactivity... Ugh, my skin is still itching from that."

"I have a feeling this... videotape technology is going to quickly find its way the hands of the Boobiewood directors," Cleopatra tried to joke. However, her face was severe, and her fingers, clutching freshly-refilled glass of vodka, were white.

"If they learn how to operate these damned things. Anyway," Arturia brightened up. "Seems Kurchatov had underestimated his own invention. We were generally expecting an explosive force ten to fifty times greater than what happened at Ahmedabad," she purposefully used an ancient name of the town, where an explosion of several munitions ships in 1410 led to destruction of a whole Japanese fleet, crowded in the harbor, and claimed lives of at least 20 thousands people. "It was well over two hundred. Or in other words, an equivalent of a hundred thousand aerial bombs detonated at once. By a device no larger than a single one."

Cleopatra nodded, raising her glass with a slightly trembling hand. The unsteady footage was showing blackened remains of what looked like a human settlement, with burn-out skeletons of cars littering the streets.

"...Thus, of the three mockup towns we have constructed, only this one, situated about two half kilometres away, survived in any shape. Still, the wooden buildings were swept away, and even brick and concrete ones suffered severe damage. The fires that started in the aftermath destroyed most combustible material..."

The camera moved to some human-shaped blackened remains.

"The mannequins. Turns out even at this range, the atomic light was so intense that their clothing immediately caught fire. If they were humans, they'd probably survive that... but not necessarily the shockwave or radiation that came with it," she pointed her finger at a mannequin skewered with a metal beam. She looked at Cleopatra, but the Queen of the Nile was silent, her eyes transfixed on the screen.

"The towns built one and a half kilometre from ground zero were almost completely levelled. Some people would've survived at those ranges, but not many. Closer than that... even I would be simply... evaporated."

The camera rolled along a circle of charred, thrown about T-34s, with machineguns and antennas melted or ripped away, to finally stop at an almost perfectly round circle of ground turned to glass.

"So... this is the final..."

"Hardly. General Markov's favourite scientist, Doctor Ulamov, claims to already have an idea how to build the next generation of this weapon. With explosive yields a hundred, if not a thousand times higher..."

"Enough," said Cleopatra, standing up. "Enough, I don't want to have anything to do with this anymore. Is this where we're heading? Total annihilation? Bombs that can vaporize cities in an instant?" Like water finally breaking a weakened dam, her long-supressed fears exploded outwards. Her Phantasm reacted too, the room turning dark, as dark as the images dancing in her head.



"Cleo, calm down," said Arturia, standing up, her face getting serious.

"Don't you dare to tell me to calm down! I built this country, and for what? To see it melt? I can't take it anymore! This new world is not for me! It's horrifying. I was afraid of it all the way, but now I can see it's even more horrible than I imagined... How am I supposed to run the country, if..."

The blonde woman moved in and slapped Cleopatra hard, making her to stumble and drawing blood.

"Shut the hell up and get a hold of yourself!"

The black haired woman could only look back at furious Arturia, blinking, her lip bleeding slowly.

"This is not Cleopatra I know! Running a country? Hah! You weren't doing much of it lately anyway! Surely, we're doing good, because that previous, smart Cleopatra set everything up in such a masterful manner that the country is running itself. What the hell is happening with you?"

The Queen of the Nile tensed, as to strike back, but she just slumped her shoulders instead.

"I don't know what to do anymore. We're beset by three powerful countries. I guess we could try annihilating them with these new weapons before they have a chance to develop them themselves, but..."

She reeled back at another slap.

"Is this how the leader of the most powerful country on the planet speaks? Order me to, and I will set this planet on fire. No problem. But this is not a solution. What happened to your unshakeable faith in yourself? What happened to the woman who could subdue, deceive, seduce and ultimately use that demon Azuria to her own ends? What happened to the woman who managed to turn her old and crumbling kingdom into a superpower?"

"I'm not fit for all this anymore."

"Yes you are. Because if not you, then who else?"

"Maybe I should give you my power..."

"No. I am a warrior, not a king. Only you have the skills and mind needed to compete with other powers. Napoleon, Perun, even Ifurita, they're tough customers. We need to stand up to them, and my blade and honor are nothing against them. We...I need you. I shall be your support if you can't stand up by yourself, Cleo. Well, such is the role of a..." she snorted "..a knight, right. But it is you who must be the Queen. You and only you. No one else can do it. But... you're not alone. You have myself, and all these people around. No, they're not slaves. And even if they are, they believe in you. So you must believe in yourself."

Cleopatra sighed, and put her hand on Arturia's cheek.

"I'm... sorry I brought... this up. You're right. I cannot just back out. I just need... A vision of the future. Different from this one."

"Then find it, Cleo. I'll be always there for you, for good and bad. But only if you promise to be like in the times of old. The frightening Queen of Egypt everyone was afraid of. Even the black-hearted Empress of the Celtic Empire who never feared anything. The only thing I won't suffer is if you give up."

[Eerion]

“Our reports state that Egypt has already begun the construction of the atomic bomb. However, they seem to struggle with several technical issues. We can safely assume they need one to two decades before the project will be finished.” Mochizuki Chiyome was explaining the situation.
“Basically, they are few decades ahead of us when it comes to the nuclear weaponry. It’s very bad.” Hinotebi drew a conclusion.
“They were always ahead of us in the technical stuff. I see no reason why you should be so surprised about that.” Haruhi answered coldly. “As if you’d expect that we would suddenly leap ahead. Seriously...”
Perun nodded. “It was obvious they are going to be first, yet we must minimize the gap as quickly as possible. There is no time to waste. What about the France and Brittania?”
“They are still working on the design and technical details, however, we were unable to verify on which stage of work they are right now. We may be a decade behind them or decade ahead. I would say that for now it’s safest to assume that we are on similar level, or they are slightly ahead.”
Everyone nodded.
“On the other hand our mission in Russia...” The ninja stopped, as the telephone rung in the command room. Only the highest priority issues were directed to this room, so everyone’s eyes focused on the small black box.
“Chiyome here. What’s happening.” The ninja answered. Her eyes moved quickly moved onto Perun. “Understood. We will be there shortly.”
“They succeeded. He has awakened.” Mochizuki spoke while putting away the device.
“Finally.” Perun stood up. “You’re all staying here. Wait for further orders.” He spoke to the girls.
“But!” Hinotebi tried to object.
“No buts. This is a personal matter. I will kill anyone who gets close.” His tone was serious.
As he walked out, Hinotebi asked.
“Do you think they will kill each other?”
“I would rather ask how” Haruhi answered with grim voice.


Mochizuki Chiyome

He was sitting on the capsule, looking at his surrounding carefully. A fiery bearded giant did not look like someone who slept for millennia’s. Fit, as during the prime of life, he seemed to be ready to enter the battlefield at any moment.
Perun looked through the Roman glass, one of their last inventions. An only one way see through it was a perfect choice for an observation. He tapped his hammer and opened the doors.
Iskandar looked surprised for a second, but then the big smile appeared on his face.
“I knew you were not dead. Others kept on saying you were assassinated, but I know it wasn’t true.”
He spoke cheerfully, but seeing the serious face of other ruler, he calmed down.
“To meet you again. Are you my curse or something?”
“Now now. I have been sleeping for a long time, then finally I meet someone I haven’t seen for hundreds of years and these are your first words Thundie?”
“Thundie... I have not heard this nickname in millennia. Only you dared to call me like that...” Japanese ruler inhaled loudly.
“My my. Are you still angry about that?” Macedonian asked.
“I vaguely remember it. Thousands of years have passed since that times if not more.”
“So it’s been that long.” Iskandar tapped his legs and stood up. He was more than a head higher and way wider compared to Perun.
“Tell me Alexander. Did you win?” Slavic’s voice sounded bitter.
“Ah. You always disliked the friendly chit-chat didn’t you? Yes, I won. After your empire crumbled many parts of it joined me to avoid the nuclear revenge from Carthage. With them I managed to subdue the rest of the world within next two hundred years. But it did not feel right anymore.”
“What happened after.” Perun asked coldly.
They looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. A smile vanished from Iskandar’s face.
“They have appeared. If you ask about it means you know... I found out that our legendary battles were just a child’s play in their game. They wanted to take me to the place where victors travelled, but I objected. I did not believe anything anymore and managed to kill them with the help of my friends.”
Perun was nodding, as he listened carefully. He knew that it was hard for the other one. Out of many dire situations he was in, Alexander always maintained his smile or lively expressions. Situation like this was... out of this world. Just figuring that out he slightly smiled, remembering the past.
“Then they arrived with space armada. Their ships were bigger than our metropolis. And they could be counted in hundreds if not more. They laid waste to the earth and within two days subdued or obliterated all Macedonia. We stood no chance... I could only see my people dying everywhere.” He stopped for a moment. “But I could not die in the battlefield. They captured me and decided I am not worthy of their prize anymore. Instead they decided that I may be useful in their future experiments and forcefully hibernated me. What happened later... I do not know.”
“They. How did they look like?”
Macedonian looked away. He tried to remember, scratching his head.
“I don’t know. They must have messed with my head. I am sure I saw a lot of them pretty clearly, but...”
“Never mind.”
“Now let me ask one question.” Iskandar spoke. Seeing a nod, he asked. “Where am I.”
“The special laboratory created to awaken you up. It’s under the Royal Palace in the city of Kyoto. A Japanese capitol.”
“So all these flasks were used to wake me up?” He pointed at the tables filled with medical instruments. Another nod. “And what’s with the Japanese?”
“I am their ruler now. It is my new country, the one I lead in this game.”
“So this is how your new battleground looks up? Interesting. Will you show it to me?” A smile slowly reappeared on Macedonian’s man face, as they ventured away from the dire topic.
“We have to talk first.”
“Yes! There are so many stories I am sure you will be able to entertain me with!” Iskandar laughed.
“Stories will have to wait. I must decide what to do with you first.” Perun answered coldly, avoiding being swayed by opponent’s charisma. Alexander looked at his hammer.
“So be it. But let’s change the place first, all right? It’s quite creepy here. And I would drink something. Do you have any wine?”
Slavic ruler sighed heavily.


Iskandar, the king of Macedonians.


“Is there something wrong?” Hinotebi, startled and somewhat annoyed with the persistent gaze, asked.
“No, no. You just remind me of someone... but who?” Iskandar answered, while waving his hand. He turned around. “I know you’ve always liked cooler territories, but the South Pole? I’m amazed you managed to build a civilisation on such terrains.” He spoke while covering himself in the huge red mantle.
“I did not choose anything. These people just lived here. I would move slightly to the north if I could.” The ruler answered.
“So you’ve claimed this nation as your own? Did they never figured out that you look...” he stopped for a moment. “different?”
“I did not reveal myself for a long time. I was keeping things in check from the shadows. The dynasty of Nekomimi’s ruled officially.” He pointed at Hinotebi.
Macedonian scratched his beard in a muse. “She doesn’t look too Japanese either.”
“They consider me a goddess. Divine being, which exist to guide Nippon to the unimaginable power.”
“Ha! This sounds much more like our times, doesn’t it friend? What about other important people around you Thundie? Generals? Admirals?”
“They all have passed away. I have not nominated the new ones yet.”
“So you keep the humans at such positions, huh? It’s good if general understand his soldiers.” Iskandar nodded with acknowledgment.
“They were not perfectly human. I always gave them a very small piece of my power. It resulted in their incredibly long lifespan, but nothing more than that.”
“So you’ve aided them somehow. Clever. Still I’m sad you do not lead your people personally anymore. Ah... I remember when we charged against each other at the Granicus River. This battle still gives me shivers when I think about it.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to remember the times you were fighting with each other.” Suzumiya pointed out.
“That was that, this is this little girl. We waged wars against each other, but with a true enemy you can share a drink afterward and cheer about the cool stuff that happened. Yes, this is what enemies are for.”
“I’m not little you fu.cking giant.” Haruhi mumbled quietly. “Unfortunately for you there are no enemies like that here. Everyone just wants to cut each other throats and conquer their lands.” She answered him loudly afterwards.
“That’s sad. Your times must be very grim indeed. I remember when Slavic bombarded the Carthage border with nukes it took me two days to convince Hannibal to have a drink with Thundie after signing the peace treaty. That was the only chance we could not celebrate together... and you say that you have never seen the leaders of other countries?”
“Never.” Hinotebi denied. “Rulers avoid each other whenever possible. During diplomatic meetings everyone send their subordinates. I’m not sure if even Egypt, France and Celt rulers have met each other during the golden age of their alliance.
Iskandar kept on nodding his head. “I understand. So now you want me to go and change the stuff as it should look like?”
Everyone looked at him dumbfounded.
“Hold your horses.” Perun answered calmly. “I know you are called King of Conquerors for your endless campaigns, but do you even understand the position you are in right now?”
“I’m not sure.” Macedonian scratched his head. “But I know two things. If you would like to kill me you would have done it while I was sleeping. If you just wanted some information, you could do it in the underground chamber. You even had your hammer with you. Still I am alive. You want my help.” He spoke cheerfully.
“I want you to become my servant.” Slavic man gave a short, rough answer.
“My. My. That’s quite a demand.” Alexander sighed. “My people may have died, but I am still their king and ruler. You know what that means.” He straightened out, taking full advantage of his superhuman posture.
“Do you really think I will let another player join this game? I am not stupid Iskandar. You know I want to have my revenge on these beings. I will do anything to reach it, even if that means killing you right now. This is actually a small price to pay.” Perun followed the Macedonian’s gesture. He might not be as huge, yet it did not mean he should cower.
They looked into each other’s eyes.
“So this is the battleground you have chosen? It is very vast.” Iskandar laughed. “I have a better option for you. I may not be your servant, but I will help you with your battles. In the end, I want to repay these space bastards as well.”
“But this...” Nekomimi tried to say something, but the tubal voice of King of Conquerors suppressed it.
“When we win against all of them and conquer the galaxy then we will divide our empire into two. Like allies. I can agree on this, but nothing less.”
Perun smiled. “You will never cease to amaze me. A Japanese-Macedonian alliance?”
“Japanese-Slavic-Macedonian.” Iskandar corrected him.
“Are you insane?” Haruhi yelled. “We do not even know if we have a slight chance against them! Egyptian army was slaughtered. Your countries before were wiped out in less than three days and you are talking about conquering the fu.cking universe? Did you go completely nuts?” She kept on breathing heavily.
“This is how he is.” Perun calmed her down. “When our countries were still young, there were hundreds of barbarian tribes around. Everyone strived to survive, but I remember when Iskandar sent an official message that he want to see the Okeanos with his own eyes. Being a small country in the middle of the land... everyone took him as insane. But in few centuries it turned into the vast empire and his ports at the Eastern Sea were the richest in the world.”
“This is madness!” Haruhi took a step back.
“Madness? Glory lies behind the horizon little girl. As a king you must be greedier than any other man. You must laugh louder and rage harder. You must exemplify the extreme of all things, good and evil. This is why the retainers adore you.” Iskandar gave a short speech. His loud tubal voice resonated from the walls.
“Or just be a superhuman being with wonderful body and big boobs. Like Hinotebi.” Suzumiya commented harshly, displeased about overly moralizing answer.
The punch in the back of her head made her lose conscious. Empress looked with satisfaction as the girl’s body hits the stone floor. “Anything else you have to say?” Her tone was almost poisonous.
Iskandar laughed. “You have quite a lively bunch of servants here.” He turned around to Perun. “So what do you think about my proposition my old friend and enemy?”
“After we conquer the universe I’m going to kick your ass.” He answered as they shook hands. They both smiled widely.
“For some reason I think my empire is about to go nuts.” Nine tailed girl clutched her head in astonishment.
“Do not worry cat lady. I will help you prepare for your future battles. What’s your plan for now? And where is my wine?”

[Max_Smirnov]

MAA'ED

---

The Organ of the Central Committee of the CPSU
7 August 1778

---

The Green Flag Waves No More

At the afternoon hours of 5th August, the French forces have seized the last bastion of Stalinist forces, Roman city of Antium, uniting the entirety of Roman isles under the French banner. The operation was supervised by Bonaparte's right hand woman, Jeanne D'Arc. Her iconic airship appeared over the conquered city yesterday, as the French have conducted the victory parade through Antium's main streets. Thus the final act of the 300-years long war with Stalinist regime had came to an end, and the whole world is finally at peace, for the first time since antiquity. We can only hope any of the imperialist regimes won't decide to disturb it.



The Bonapartist Stormtoopers parading through Antium


Our Rockets Stand Ready

In accordance with our new 5-year defence plan, the first batteries of our OSA-2 Surface-To-Air Missiles are being deployed around Thebes. While sporting less massive warhead than its only contestant, the Japanese Kagu-Tsuchi, the OSA-2 underwent more thorough development process and is equipped with advanced electronic guidance system and able to intercept and destroy any model of fighter or bomber plane in existence. Units of OSA-2 are currently being mass-produced all over the Union to form an impenetrable defensive umbrella over our major cities.



OSA-2 test launch at the Abydos Firing Range


MIT at the Forefront of the Revolution

The MIT (Memphis Institute of Technology) became the first research centre in the Union equipped with new, revolutionary supercomputer, the Unity. Unlike the old designs, iconic for their vacuum tubes and perforated cards, the Unity employs the completely new inventions of transistor and magnetic tapes to provide the Memphician academicians with unparalleled computation power and previously-unheard of reliability. At the same time, this new supercomputer is so compact that it entirely fits into a single room!



The Unity Supercomputer

[Max_Smirnov]

MAA'ED

---

The Organ of the Central Committee of the CPSU
17 March 1767

---

The Future of Science is Discussed in Thebes

Last week, the Theban University housed an international nuclear physics conference, under the honorary presidency of Proffessor Adnokamyencov. Leading nuclear physicists from all over the world attended the conference, including British Enrique Ferminho, French Werner Heisenberg and Japanese Nishina Yoshio. The direct cause of holding the conference was the recent breakthrough made by Comrade Igor Kurchatov, who managed to experimentally prove the possibility of chain reaction of uranium nuclei by building a working atomic pile.
"The Quantum Theory," said Comrade Kurchatov in the opening words, "which had been holding sway over scientific imagination and matured throughout the last century, gradually built by scientists from all over the world, had been finally proven here at Thebes, putting the University at the cutting edge of human achievement, to the great honour of the socialist science."
The conference lasted for five days, with the greatest scientific minds of our times discussing various implications and possibilities opened up by Kurchatov's achievement, such as energy generation, cosmology and even the validity of the so-called atomic bomb, all too well known from sci-fi books since the possibility of releasing the enormous energy held by atomic nuclei had been first seriously proposed in the 1680's.
The conference passed not without some heated arguments, of which it bears to mention Saturday's afternoon, when Comrade Adnokamyencov publicly challenged one of the cornerstones of quantum mechanics, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Theory, saying that the "God doesn't play dice" and there must be some higher order to these phenomena, which he is intending to discover. Most of the scientists present were, however, not amused by that declaration, with the prevalent opinion that the greatest scientific celebrity of our times might, for the first time, be wrong.
One of the more exotic topics discussed on the conference were the possibilities of exploiting the Quantum Theory in the continuous developement of the electronic calculating and computing devices, of which the first one in the world, the ENIAC, had been constructed in the 1765 at the Luxiorian Institute of Technology. The mind behind this machine, Doctor Amun Turringis envisioned its future, stating (to the general disbelief of the audience) that someday such machines would inevitably approach a threshold of computational power putting them on par, and eventually surpassing, the human mind. "The Artificial Intelligence," he stated, "may appear a wild fantasy now, but its eventual coming is inevitable, and I'm predicting that to happen within the next two centuries."

The Japanese Proletariat Bleeds

The military forces of the Empire of Nippon have finally put an end to a greatest uprising against their brutal and uncaring capitalism that happened so far. The huge underground organization which had been operating in the area of Kimobetsu had been tracked down and destroyed this February. What had been traditionally portrayed as a fringe criminal organisation, composed of various shady elements and assorted no-goodders, turned out to be a strong and dedicated socialist militia force, numbering into six thousand of guerrilas, yet again proving both the deceitful nature of the Japanese propaganda, as well as the true depth of despair their supposedly-just Libertarian ideology had inflicted upon the common Japanese working man. The Japanese officials denied any comments regarding this situation.

In the Wake of the Delhi Summit

The tensions between the Socialist Union and the British Federation that have arisen over the ownership of the Sachalin island, situated on the Arctic Ocean on the crossing of the British, French and ours spheres of influence, have been finally eased after the summit in Delhi. The British agreed to drop any claims regarding the island, and several mutually beneficial trade agreements had been signed. Our traditional alliance with the people of the British Federation had been, thankfully, saved.

Is Your TV Set Watching You?

Pierre Bourget, one of the prominent figures in the French Bonapartist party, made a bizarre claim that the Egyptian National Television is nothing but a tool of our security apparatus to hold sway over the minds of the people of the Union. "The Big Brother is watching your every step," he addressed our citizens. While the notion of the television being some devillish mind-control contraption is known to circulate all over the world, which had been so far unable to replicate this marvel of our science, such words coming from a highly educated man cannot be seen as anything but a deliberate provocation. The French also fail to understand that being watched over is nothing a moral Socialist man is afraid of.

The Woozles Tour The Japan

The phenomena of Jazz Music, that had appeared in the Jamaican community of the Black Bay area in the last two decades, and is certainly known to the reader from radio or television transmissions, had recently caused a huge turmoil in Japan, as a certain entrepreneur of Persian origin hired one of the most popular bands to make a tour across the Empire. More than thirty thousand people have attended their performance in the grand hall of Kyoto's opera, and all the radio stations which choose to transmit Jazz noticed huge boosts in their audience ratings, making this new musical genre that had arisen in a remote area of the Union a huge hit amongst the Japanese. The musicians themselves refused to return to the Union, undoubtedly seduced by the enormous amounts of money they were able to make, which, in the imperialist ideology, is the ultimate measure of any success.

[Eerion]

The Persians were no more. The city of Bahrein fell swiftly under the might of Japanese military forces. Tens of thousands of local militia, armed with archaic weapons tried to hold their last bastion, but the difference in power was overwhelming. City was captured within one day, and from that point it was prepared for a demolition. Every day, the Japanese ships were transporting people toward Hyrcania and Cunaxa, which were about to become their new homes. Or in some cases it was a return to their homeland.
The victorious forces, however, did not establish the garrison in town. Fighter planes were soaring in the sky, scanning the surrounding areas for any unusual landscapes, which were checked by land forces afterwards. Such bizarre orders were given the highest priority, what made the soldiers even more confused and question the authorities. Still, they were bound do fulfill their orders. The search continued for more than three years.

“It certainly looks similar. It should be this one.” Hinotebi spoke, while looking at the hole. Unlike the one in Hyrcania, this one was made of granite.
“Should be? You’re speaking as if we’d find plenty of them.” Astonished Perun commented. He pointed at the entrance. “Do your job ninja girl.”
Mochizuki nodded and entered the tunnel without saying anything. For few minutes, they stood there in complete silence, listening only to the wind blowing from the sea. Eventually Chiyome signaled them with a flashlight that the path is safe. They were descending slowly. The entrance might have been covered, but it did not stop some sand from getting in, making some steps somewhat slippery.
The deeper part looked exactly like the last room they visited. The silvery steel surface with red lights. Only the huge gates blocking the entrance to the chamber distinguished these two. Few marks on the doors, together with some broken tools showed that some people tried to get inside in the past.
“Some peasants found this place. As they could not breach the doors, they locked the tunnel again, so others will not even have a chance to get in. Them or no one... how typical.” Perun criticised the past visitors. “Actually I should be thankful to them. Otherwise other masters might have found this place before us.” He smiled. “Give me the bag Haruhi.”
Suzumiya passed him the big sack. Perun put it next to the wall and pulled out the golden apple.
“Move back. I may not know much about this technology, but everything should give up... with enough brute force.” He smiled and raised his hammer. Standing next to the doors, he threw the apple up, and smashed it at the gates with his weapon.
The room exploded with light. Girls were swept away by the shockwave it created in such small room. After few seconds, Hinotebi raised her head to see the effects, but seeing as her father was picking up another apple she lied flat on the floor and covered her ears.

“Finally” Perun spoke cheerfully. The doors finally fell apart. “You forced me to use five apples you bastard. You better be worth it.” He kicked the molten remains inside the room, waiting for the reaction. The capsule in the middle was still closed, hibernating the master.
“Chiyome. Check out the room for any traps.” He commanded before stepping inside. As she passed him by and was about to enter the room, he stopped her with his hand. “Or go back. I’m tired of waiting.” A faint smile appeared on her face. She walked back with a loud sigh of relief.
Slavic raised his hand and unleashed the lightning.

Perun simply stood there. With his hands clenched, breathing heavily, he was emitting small lightnings from his body. He simply looked at the very top of the capsule. Just like the other ones it was made of some kind of glass revealing the person sleeping inside. Girls, standing far behind in the corridor looked at each other. After few moments of hesitation, Hinotebi walked towards her father. She tried to tap him on the back, but the electricity burned her hand. She jumped back hissing and licked her burned hand. To her surprise, her father did not even move a single muscle, completely oblivious of his surroundings. She sighed, encircled him and approached the capsule from the other side.
“Is this someone you know?” She asked looking at the person inside.
He did not answer, making her even more angry. Empress hit the capsule with both fists.
“Fathe... ouch!” She pulled back her burned hand.
He finally looked at her. His face was grim, as if countless emotions were fighting inside. She took half a step back.
“Who... is he?” She asked, more gently now.
“Someone... I know.” He answered slowly. “He’s from my original times.”
“Was he... your enemy?” Hinotebi asked. He had to be, since he was a master.
He nodded.
“Did you hate him?”
“It was... hard to do so. He was an enemy, but not the one can really hate.”
Empress tilted her head unsure of the answer. Enemy you do not hate? Is that even possible? She looked at the master, but he kept on sleeping peacefully inside.
“If you do not hate him, then why did you get so angry?” Empress broke the silence
“This person... is dangerous.”
“Like every master. Yet we have killed three of them already. How is he different?”
“No. This man is beyond these lesser beings or Gandhi. He is not a mad dog. His very existence pushes him towards victory.”
She wrinkled her brews. “Then why we won’t use them to claim the victory? With such person as a servant it should be easy, right?”
Perun looked at her. “Only if he will want to help us. Otherwise he will serve us, claim the hearts of his subordinates and turn them against us. He is capable of that. In the past... back then... he was a honourable man. Still I have no idea what he went through. Waking him up may be the beginning of our end.” He raised his hammer and pointed at the hibernated person. “It’s a huge risk.”
Hinotebi’s tails were set on fire, as she burst out with anger. “So you want to kill him now? You are afraid of one enemy, as if we were living in a peaceful area surrounded by friends?! I do not know what happened in the past. I have really no idea Father, but we both know what lies ahead. Annihilation of us and our people! Because some galactic scum plays a ****ing game with our lives and make us slaughter each other. You know that well. Better than anyone. And now you have a chance to learn more about these ********* and you want to destroy it because of a risk? Seriously? Our whole life is a ****ing risk! One stupid mistake and Egyptians, French and Celts will tear us apart. We are working on a weapon that can annihilate a master without giving him a time to react, and you are afraid of one person!? Really!?” She was yelling at his surprised face. Perun opened his mouth, but he did not answer.
He sheathed his weapon. “We’re taking him with us. I won’t try waking him up so close to the border.” He spoke suddenly and raised the lid. Hinotebi run around the capsule. “You can open it so easily?” She calmed down greatly after her wigging.
“I am not entirely sure how these capsules work, but when we wake up, we have to open them ourselves, so it must be easy.” He answered, while lifting the body. “Getting him out of the tunnel will be pretty hard.”
“We can call a military track and tell them to bring ropes with them. Soldier will pull him out.”
“Mochizuki. Call that truck.” He commanded. The ninja girl run to the exit.
They sat down near the exit. Suzumiya climbed outside as well, complaining about being useless and wasting her time. Perun, usually cutting off such behaviour ignored it completely. He just looked at the small ray of light reaching the bottom.
“Oh. You did not tell me his name. Who is he?” Hinotebi asked.
Perun looked at his face again.
“Iskandar. The ruler of Macedonia.”

[Max_Smirnov]

1763 Socialist Union's Weapons of War Report

1. Bombers



Despite its unusual design and rather small size, the French Condor is currently considered the most advanced bomber in the world, the 'flying wing' configuration giving it unparalleled range. The Japanese P6W, better known as the Watanabe Bomber (after its designer, who more recently proceeded to establish the most successful commercial jet industry on the planet), is of directly opposite design, a huge, jet propelled aircraft capable of flying at high altitudes and carry a heavy payload. The Socialist Union decided to go with yet another approach, our B-33 powered by turboprop engines, with capabilities similar to the P6W. The British Federation keeps a close veil of secrecy over their advanced weaponry, but it is safe to assume they have some strategical bomber capability too.


2. Fighter Planes



The Socialist Union's airforce is being in process of upgrading to the latest fighter plane design, the .9 Mach capable M-19, heavily armed with 4 autocannons. We have reasons to believe that unlike the M-17, it should be capable to engaging the contemporary Japanese, British and French fighters on roughly equal terms. Considering our fighter force matches that of those three powers combined, such levels of performance are more than satisfactory.


3. Tanks



The continuous development of tanks in the Empire of Nippon had lately turned our time-tested T-34 into an undergunned and underarmored contestant. To combat that threat, our tank divisions are being currently rearmed into the T-45 Heavy Tanks. While possessing decreased mobility, they're sporting currently-heaviest tank cannon in the world, a 122mm callibre gun, as well as are protected with thicker armor.


4. Missiles



Despite the fact that pioneering work in the area of guided surface-to-air missiles was done in the Socialist Union, it is the Japanese Kagu-Tsuchi which became the first mass-produced and mass-deployed system. Sporting a huge, almost half a ton warhead, and capable of supersonic speeds and great altitudes, it is a formidable weapon which renders the old concepts of carpet-bombing obsolete, as a single missile could wreck a sizeable, close-knit bomber formation. Unlike in the three previous areas of warfare, building this kind of weapon is beyond the technical capabilities of any other power except ourselves.


5. Navy



Both the Japanese and French Navy have long since introduced jet aircraft-capable aircraft carriers, of which the Shinano Class is a prime example. Socialist Union' naval forces remain defensive in nature, so any investments into heaviest classes of ships like these is considered unnecessary, with destroyers and submarines fully capable of fulfilling their roles.

[Max_Smirnov]

Forest of Isis, 1760 AD

Despite late, or rather early, hour, the windows of the Socialist Union leader's private villa were lit. Arturia barged through the door, barely avoiding breaking it. She stumbled, a bottle of vodka in her hand, before noticing her ragged coat was still smoking. She patted it with her free hand, grinning despite her face being dirty and bloodied.

"Hey Cleo, I'm home," she said, making her way to the bathroom to wash her face. Spotting her mistress in the living room, she smiled again. "Eh I guess I crashed my car again. Shouldn't have driven it on LSD... Especially with roads full of your soldiers, you know? Like that time I've accidentally ran my jet fighter in Jeanne D'Arc's airship, back in 51... The French never even mentioned it..." She took a swig from her bottle, entering the room. "Oh? I was expecting you to say I did it on purpose," she grinned, then stopped in her tracks.

Cleopatra's face was expressionless, and she was looking at the wall, not moving a muscle.

Arturia sobered up in an instant.



"What happened?" she asked.

"On the table." Cleopatra's voice was hollow.

The blonde looked around and spotted a letter. She picked it up and read aloud:

"We have waited and watched. Yet even after our Messiah came back after time beyond time, we haven't betrayed you. Our loyalty lies with our own, but also to our rulers, like you, and the humanity as a whole, as our fates are intertwined. Accept this as the proof of our unwavering support." Arturia frowned. "What does it even mean?"

Cleopatra waved another document. This one looked like an ancient scroll. She didn't speak up. Arturia approached and took it from her hands.

"Huh. What kind of alphabet it is?"

"Sinovarangian. And obviously copied with understanding."

"Huh? Never heard of such language... Um, and what does it read?"

The black haired woman cleared her throat and read:

Year 51xx

That drowsiness, when the light that wakes you up is the red glow of a dying day.
Especially after sleeping for several centuries straight.
But why to wake up. Nothing ever changes in Thebes. Old, stagnant, decadent, a paradise of sweet decay surrounded by vigorous, growing nations. The day when the barbarians appear at the crumbling gates will eventually come. Yes, they're growing, constructing their cities, broadening their horizons, young and vigorous. And past them, like a black tidal wave, unseen and unknown, Russians are racing towards the total supremacy, scarce tales of their power unlikely to be exaggerated. Quite the opposite, I think. Even the Arbites' rankings agree. Egypt is ranked at 7th place out fo 8.
The hottest days of late summer. Slight breeze moves the fine, peach curtains of my chamber, high up in the pyramid. I can see Thebes sprawling below, over fifty thousand people, old, stone buildings. So old that even my memory is hazy, trying to stretch to the days of their youth. Oh, I remember well the first months, years, centuries of my existence here. But as time went, my consciousness faded. The Thebes as they stand now were built during the last two millenia. Two hazy, lost millenia. So much time, a lake, a sea of time.
I can still hear the pounding of the hammers. There, past the city; a huge feminine shadow, undoubtedly, it was quite difficult to construct such a shape. Especially since I didn't want Leonardo's sense of beauty to interfere with mine. My shape isn't quite subtle enough for his tastes. Not very boyish, so to speak.
But, right. I have pushed Thebans to build a huge statue of myself. Because, what the hell. What there is left but sweet decadence? They might've accomplished great many things instead of spending seven centuries building this thing, but it wouldn't have mattered. A loss, none the less. If I am to lose this great race, I'll be losing it grand style.


Year 58xx

My ocean-faring primitive rafts, hopping from island to island, have reached the equatorial latitude of the planet. It is still too cold for any real rainforests to develop, but the land there is considerably warmer and more humid than here. Well, even if the latter part doesn't seem especially compelling, with the endless rain and mist plaguing Egypt for the last two millenia, the former is much more interesting. Maybe I'll move my capitol there. Sometime. After I conquer the world.
Wouldn't be much sense in doing anything after conquering the world, would it.

And so. We've met Gandhi. Just past the equator, where the endless island chains finally give way to a jagged mass of land, on the very tip of it, upon dry, rolling plains, a city of an unknown civilization was spotted. My explorers learned its name: Madurai.


Year 59xx

Everything ebbs and wanes, nothing is ever eternal in this world. And so, after 400 years of glory, the Theban court is showing signs of decay. Everything is fine, more or less, but there are rats in the palace, and the glamour no longer seems fresh. The intellectual vigour lessened, and the income sheets no longer look that great. The half-millenium long effort to lift all seven Egyptian provincial towns from the poverty had all but emptied the Theban treasury.
Something needs to be done, but what poor Mia can do? There is no other way than to plow forward, abandoning the quest for the Great Library is not an option.

Especially since my plans to prod my people towards developing feudal framework had been stalled. My mastery over their wants and dreams is far from absolute. The chance had been missed, and until the wheels of progress turn yet again, feudalism is inconceivable. I can only take three general directions: developing sea fishing (which knowledge I'm planning to acquire from the Celts), developing a true oceanic vessel for warfare, or capitalize on the current scientific progress and lay foundations for geometry, the next step of mathematics. Of course, no one "wants" to discover trigonometry; those poor people have no slightest idea that such thing exists yet. But, prodding them in the right way should eventually produce their own Pythagoras, and ensure that his work isn't overlooked and forgotten.
And that is what I'm intending to do.

PS. It turns out Pythagoras had already been born, a 100 years ago, and he's French. Now all my people can do is to repeat the same thing. It's not fun. It's not fun at all. Those French bastards.


A Celt envoy had arrived at tyrant's palace in Thebes. It's surprised how civilized they've become in just a few thousand years, those people who once were unwilling to talk to anyone. The envoy negotiated an exchange of technologies, fishing for road building (as I have suggested, I may add).
Building roads should keep them occupied for a few centuries (giving me time to build up the long overdue defenses), plus, each technology means further technologies - ones that could help them escape from the scientific limbo created by their Cultist governance - are harder to research. At their level, road making is a dead-end, and, although they're bound to make some gold on it, it will take them even longer to reach Imperium or Monarchy.
Their only option of expanding would be through war, and in a five, eight centuries I'll be more than ready to thwart such an attempt. With the goal of turning Pergamon into a vigorous town established, now it's time to start developing it into an impregnable fortress.

PS. The envoy was unknowingly saying interesting things and I'm starting to suspect that Celts have already met Gandhi. I might authorize an exchange of maps then, no point in keeping Gandhi's existence in secret, and it'll be already too late for the Celts to stop me from garrisoning the two isles off their southern coast. With that achieved, the likeness of seaborne invasion coming from the south will decrease even further.

PPS. Writing this several centuries later. They haven't met Gandhi, and they were even oblivious to the existence of those islands until I've told them. What a bunch of idiots.

"Fiftieth something century after... what?" Arturia frowned yet again.

"After the beginning," said Cleopatra simply.



"More than thousand years before the Kingdom was even established," she added.

"It seems it is about... you, isn't it? But why are you calling yourself Mia?"

"I vaguely... remember that time. But I had no idea I had such a... deep insight back then. I had no idea I kept a diary. And I have no slightest idea who that Mia is."

"Azuria haven't awakened before the Kingdom, had she... Damn it, but it seems you had Leonardo with you back then! If he only..."

"Was still alive, yes."

"Napoleon?"

"No. I'm pretty sure he never perceived me as anyone else than... well... Cleopatra."

"Are you not her?"

"I am!" she stood up, suddenly frustrated. "But also... I'm pretty sure I have written that... In that alphabet which never existed in this world... And somehow, the Jews know about all of that more than I do..."

The two women looked at each other.

"The mystery never ends, eh?" said the Red Saber, sitting down on the coach. "Maybe you should just let it go. Whoever that person was, I know you're not her. Not anymore. So just drop it. No good could possibly come out of this."

"You, of all people, suggesting that? Oh anyway. Happy Birthday, my servant. 3200 years and still feeling young."

"Oh, so you remembered, after all? I'm a demon, right. I cannot grow old. Unlike you, old lady, who destroyed who I once was and remade me in your image."

Cleopatra looked at the strange writings again. "To let it go... or to get to the bottom of it..." she pondered.

[Eerion]

Four people marched through the destroyed city. The battle was still ongoing, however, this sector was already completely pacified by facists and fighter jet planes. There were still people hiding around, either unlucky enough not to evacuate in time or remaining in the city for whichever reason. Fortunately for them, the slaughter of civilians was forbidden. Still, less than ten years ago, during the revolution, it was not the case. The Hebrew rebellion drove out or slaughtered the Persians in order to “Create some space for Jewish country.” As a result tens of thousands people were homeless, majority of which left toward their last existing city – Bahrein. Due to lack of means of transport to get them there, many ships were greatly overcrowded, or even recycled from the scrap yard. The result was more than obvious – Only few of them reached the destination point. Because of such brutal and unacceptable behaviour, many respected Jewish families, living mostly in Egipt and Japan refused to move there. The city regained the original size from before the slaughter, yet as the citizens consisted mostly of poor people or ones having issues with the law, this place quickly turned into a rundown city, having nothing but the city walls, as only they could not be taken apart for profit. Several years later, the Japan launched an assault.

The city might not have been bombarded, yet the twenty thousand machine guns carried by Facists and heavy versions attached to the planes managed to deal colossal damage, to the already declining buildings.
“Where do you think he is hiding? In the palace?” Hinotebi asked, while looking around. She carried a machine gun herself, along with two guns and a sword.
“Report says he fled from there just before the attack. I suppose that his objective was to reach his... chamber. But I do not know where it may be.” Mochizuki Chiyome, the head spy marched slightly behind them. Unlike the empress, she kept on using only the traditional weapons. Few swords, sai weapons and throwing stars and daggers were everything she needed.
“I have a vague idea where he might be hiding. Eternal beings can more or less sense each other.” Perun spoke calmly. Unlike the others he seemed ignorant of the vast damage the surrounding sustained. He looked at Haruhi.
“Do you sense anything?”
Girl nodded. “He hardly even tried to cover his energy tracks. If we follow this lead we should find his hideout very soon.” She answered.
Hinotebi looked at Suzumiya. Since her return three years ago, she seemed different. The undergone training might have made her stronger, but it also ripped her of all the warmth she had before. She was still pretty aggressive, but now, with the more distant and cold feeling and responces it felt more... offensive than before. Not only that, she refused to visit the family of Uesugi, which she promised few centuries back, out of great friendship and respect to Uesugi Kenshin. This proved the empress that the girl she is dealing with now is someone very different from her old friend.
“I hope he’s worth paying the visit. This place so pathetic we should never set our foot here.” Haruhi commented.
“Do not complain before anything happens.”
She did not answer, just nodded slightly and kept on leading the group following the invisible trail mentioned earlier. After few minutes she stopped and pointed at a building. The tenement house looked just like any other, from the inside and the outside. Surprisingly, the smell of a rotten fish inside was even stronger than the one of blood and gunpowder on the outside. Decaying furniture, tables and chairs reflected the state of the city pretty well.
“It’s somewhere in this room.” Haruhi spoke indistinctly, while covering her mouth. The foul smell was too much for her.
Perun looked at the floor. The floorboards were damaged enough that any of them could be the one covering the entrance. Unlike the girls he did not fight with the stink, still searching this room... it would be too much.
“Get out.” He commanded shortly. Girls happily followed.
When they walked out, the repetitive voice of thunders erupted in the building. When they reentered the building few moments after everything stopped, the floor was completely wrecked. The stink of burned wood, however, could not win with an overwhelming stench of rotten fish.
“Come here. Be careful not to hurt yourself on the splinters.” He called them.
“Since where are you so caring?” Haruhi asked.
“I take care of my servants if they prove themselves useful.” Perun answered coldly and turned away. They noticed that he was looking at the hole in the floor. Made of concrete, with metallic rods attached to the walls to be used as a stairs it reminded of an entrance to the submarine.
“Mochizuki, you’re checking out for any traps and dangers.” He commanded. Girl nodded and swiftly entered the tunnel, vanishing momentarily in the darkness.

Mochizuki Chiyome

After several meters of walking in the dark tunnel it began to change. First, the concrete changed into some kind of metal, and every now and then they found a small bulbs giving out a delicate red light. At first they considered it a weird version of a light bulb, however, from what could be saw it was completely different inside. Girls tried to extract it from the wall, until Perun mentioned similar creations in his own chamber. Angry at not mentioning it earlier, they resumed the march. Tension from unusual environment was gone yet everyone was on his guard. Moses was bound to be close.
He was in his chamber, sitting on the bed. Or at least thing that could be described as one. It looked like a huge pharmaceutical pill cut perfectly in half. Still it somehow suited the rest of the room, as it was completely covered with some kind of metal. The walls were engraved with strange patterns carved deeply on the surface, but that was it. No furniture or anything, but it made the area pretty spacious.
While Perun looked only at the Hebrew man, the girls were checking out the surrounding area as well.
“I wanted to talk to you old man.” The Japanese leader broke the silence. “There are so many questions you may know answers to. Yet you returned to this place. What was your plan?”
Jew looked at him for a second, then at the ceiling.
“I’ve been wondering if I will be able to go back to slumber.” He answered calmly. “If you managed to track me out so swiftly, then there is no hope left for me I suppose.” His voice was almost depressed.
“Everything depends on your next few minutes. Or hours.”
“I don’t think so.” Jew denied openly. “Even if you let me go, others won’t. Do you think that Cleopatra will allow me to rest here peacefully if she can enslave the leader of Jews, so important in her country? I am not foolish enough to believe you would wage a war with them for my reason, especially after I will share all my knowledge with you. If I refuse then you will enslave me yourself. In both ways I will lose my freedom... again” He spoke with some annoyance in his voice.
“Again?” Perun asked slightly surprised.
“Again.” Moses confirmed. “I was conquered in the past. Stripped of my rights as a ruler and forced to serve another country. I saw my nation working as slaves for the emperor. Every day I was forced to act against my will and fight anyone my master wished. Be it my past friend or foe. Otherwise I was tortured. Sometimes physically, sometimes he just kept on slaughtering my countrymen in front of my eyes. Tens of thousands for every failure I made.” His voice was slowly raising as if he was about to break down. “Eventually I could not withstand it anymore to the point I refused to serve him. As a penalty, he has forcefully hibernated me here. Then I woke up to see that the world has changed. I am here, my people are scattered around the globe and the oppressor is no more. So I claimed this city to build a country for us. To build a country for those who had to serve others for centuries if not millenia... For them.”
“I understand.” Perun interrupted him, seeing as the master is slowly losing control. “This is why you killed or expelled all Persians from Hyrcania, is that correct?”
“Yes! Yes!” He answered cheerfully. “You understand, do you? That I had to do it in order to create a place for my people! Every land was taken, so I could not establish a new city. I had to overtake an already existent one! This one was directly under my chamber so it was natural. You understand, right?”
“I do.” Perun answered with a chilling voice. “But there is one thing I am interested in. How come a ninth nation can exist, where everyone knows there can be only eight? And how come your people never had a nation? They were like a wandering tribes, settling in any country where they could find a decent profit.”
Jew looked at him with a face that expressed something between surprise and sorrow. “I do not know. When I was hibernated, there were only a few thousands of Jews left in the world. He was intentionally exploiting them at work or killing as a penalty. I see no reason why he would let them go free after my imprisoning. How did they survive? I want to know, but it is impossible.”
“You mention one person several times. Who is he?” Hinotebi asked from behind. Girls were unsure of what they should do, and just grouped up at the exit, covering each other backs.
“The one you killed. Gandhi.” Hebrew man answered quickly, while blinking.
Perun squinted his eyes and bit his lip.
“Or was it another one?” Moses added seeing no vocal responce.
“Wait.” Perun interrupted him. “You knew about the multiple Gandhis?” He looked really surprised.
“Did he tell you about that before he died?” Hebrew man asked, and without waiting for the response continued. “He told me about the multiple worlds and how Gandhi’s were conquering all of them. I did not believe all his words, as I thought he tried to subdue me this way. But most of his words actually made sense. It was a reason why he could not create a servant – he was actually one himself. Powerful, but still bound by many rules. This is why he wanted to overcome this limitation and make me work for him. At least I think so.”
Speaking about that made him a little bit calmer. Still Perun knew, that it could be just an Illusion.
“Gandhi told us about many worlds just before he died. Yet he never mentioned if they were victorious or not, so I think he might have been bluffing in order to make you join the winning side. But the rest... what else did he tell you?”
“That his master is very powerful. From a race that could control a shape and vision of their enemies. They were bound to win. Also that this is just a game and it’s already over, as Gandhi had everything planned until his ultimate victory. I did not believed it, as he was powerful, yet other nations could fight on par with him and win. No, I think it was just a bluff. What else? Hmm...” He stopped for a moment. “This is all I suppose. He never liked sharing much information with me. But why are you interested in all of this?”
Perun looked at him and bit his lip again. He hesitated for a moment and shortly described his own story. About Slavic nation, wars, betrayal and slumber. Moses was very surprised and interested in the fact that this man was leading not his people to greatness. He told about the completely vanquishing nations between “rounds” and how he wanted to prevent it. But in order to achieve it he needed data on what to expected when the game ends.
“This is why I wanted to meet with you. Your people are the only case of a nation that existed in the past and survived until now. But they have no myths that could give me any hint.”
“As I told you I know nothing. I did some research, but I could not find anything. The only thing I am sure of is that they came from one area, as they all maintain very similar traits. Was it a capsule like mine? Or they survived the cataclysm that changed the lands? I have no idea.”
Perun nodded gently. He did not receive the answers he wanted but it still was better than nothing.
“There are many malfunctions in this world.” Moses spoke. “Me, You, Jamaican master... or servant. This weird Russian accident that happened recently, when Stalin disappeared. But from what you said it looks like your first... game was without such issues, right?”
The man confirmed shortly.
“It was the same for me. Maybe this is the reason? This game may be for some reason... different. It can be intentional, it can be accident. Still it would explain a lot.”
“You may be correct. But I cannot base on such assumption. This way I will never learn anything.” Perun seemed dissatisfied.
“Maybe another master will know something.”
“Another master? Who?” The Japanese ruler asked surprised.
“He rests near the city of Bahrein. I tried to reach him, but I had no time for such thing.”
“Who is he?” Perun almost yelled from the excitement.
“I have no idea. He did not awaken. But one of the Jewish families, hunting on the plains found something weird once. They picked up a small piece of metal used for these chambers. They found it in front of a sealed gate in a “creepy, supernatural tunnel”, as they described it. They moved here and tried to sell it in order to get some money. With my powers, which allow me to control insects I tracked them swiftly, but they could not show me the exact place so I could reach it alone. They were lost themselves back at that time. Still it must be from another master, sealed and sleeping in his room.” He explained with an emotional voice as well.
“This is a very important information. Why are you telling me that?” Perun asked, praising his generousness.
“You have killed a person I wanted to see dead the most. I do not care if it was him or some kind of copy. Also... I believe you will not enslave me. You are not this kind of man. If I cannot create my own country I hope to end my life here. I do not wish to share the fate of Saber, who from ruler became a slave. She may not dislike it now, as she does not have to spill the blood of her people, but... no. Not again.”
“I understand.” Perun answered, while loosening his hammer. “Is there anything you wish to ask me before that happens?”
“No. It might have been a short and somewhat rough awakening, but seeing my enemy dead overcame everything else. If I can only ask you one thing...”
“Yes?”
“If these malfunctions are unexpected and you may be able to do something... please make them pay. For all we had to suffer in their twisted game.” Moses looked at the ruler with hope in his eyes.
“I will” Perun answered while swinging his hammer down.

Moses, the ruler of Hebrew

“We were completely expendable” Haruhi complained.
“Better than dead.” Perun answered shortly. “We must send our forces as soon as possible and claim Bahrein. After that, make all units begin searching for the tomb in the desert.”
“It will take time.” Mochizuki Chiyome spoke. “Few years will pass before we may be able to do so.”
“Then ensure that our enemy will not claim these terrains before us. Do not even sleeptalk about what you have heard today. Or I will slaughter all of you.”
Girls looked at him, unsure of that unusual demand. They still nodded.
“Do you think it was really a good choice to slaughter these Persians?” Hinotebi broke the silence.
“No.” He answered. “But I could not tell that to an unstable person. You also should not ask him about the oppressor so quickly... we were lucky that it was Gandhi, so he saw us like some kind of saviors. Otherwise... we could have learn nothing at all and fight to death with him.” He answered.
“You rule a country, not only a nation.” He added after a moment. “If you seek greatness you will eventually conquer. Many nations will live under your rule and if you choose one over another it will lead only to your fall. But I could not tell him that. He was just a wreck of a past ruler, driven to the wall by his fears and desires.”
“Would you make him your servant otherwise?” She asked again.
“I’m not a Gandhi I do not need to take such desperate measures. He was also too unstable to be of any reliable use.”
“I understand.” Hinotebi answered.
“Do not grief him too much. I suppose there are many more tragic stories happening everywhere because of these twisted games. Use these feelings to make sure we will pay these bastards back. Even if it will be just a little bit.” Perun spoke seeing the face of his daughter.
She nodded in response.
“They will pay.”

[Eerion]

The engines were working on full power. A fighter slowly drove until the designed zone on the carrier. Upon arriving, Katsuro picked up his radio communicator.
“Horo. This is A six M one two. Ready. Request catapult. Over”
“A six M one two. This is Horo. Request granted. Launch in three... two... one... launch!”
Catapult gave the plane necessary momentum to swiftly ascend from the flight deck. Designed to launch even planes with a missing engine, there was a plenty of room for any unusual situations. Seeing as everything proceeds as planned, a pilot took a deep breath. Slowly ascending, he was about to catch up with the other planes. Airplanes were launched swiftly, yet with two divisions of fighters plenty of time was required in order to deploy a formation, so the front line was advancing at lowest possible speed, so others can catch up swiftly.
“A six M one. This is A six M one two. Radio check. Over.”
“A six M one two. This is A six M one. I read you five by five. Over.”
“A six M one two. Roger. Out.”
With this final check preparations were complete. They were slowly approaching the Hebrew’s city of Hyrcania. Led by a charismatic leader, Moses, the city rebelled against Persians and created a new country. Besieged by Japanese forces, which he was about to support with rest of two fighter divisions, made purely of fighters A6M, one of, if not the best fighters in the world. Brilliant unit, given the codename “Zero” was extremely swift and maneuverable. Enemy land forces, armed with obsolete weapons clearly had no chance of victory.



The fumes were already rising from the outskirts, as the land forces charged forward beforehand.
“Bloodthirsty fools” Katsuro cursed them in mind. He knew that in such case orders will be modified to adjust to the new situation. Maintaining the formation was impossible when the enemy was already fighting inside the city.
“Break-break.” Toyotomi Hideyoshi, commander of air forces began the broadcast. “Looks like Tokugawa was impatient. Taiga one, you will join forces with invading army and will serve as reconnaissance and fortification crushers. Taiga two, encircle the city and vanquish any enemy spotted. Over.”
“Taiga one. Wilco. Over.”
“Taiga two. Wilco. Over.” The division commanders answered.
“Maintaining the formation is impossible. Fall out starting from the right wing. Over and out.”
“Time to slaughter these fools.” A pilot muttered to himself.

Metallic noises could be heard when arrows were being deflected by the steel hull of the airplane. While these weapons could still be more or less dangerous to the land forces, they couldn’t even scratch the planes. Katsuro pushed the stick forward. Machine started losing the altitude swiftly, now that it was pointing at the earth. “Prepare to die.” He muttered, opening the fire to the knights trying to get out of range. They could not hide inside the buildings as well as pikemen or archers, what was making them an easy target. A long machine gun burst pierced the men, horses and stone walls indiscriminately. He pulled back, making a cutting turn and returning to his original position.
He raised his altitude a little bit, in preparation for another Low Yo-Yo and to spot the best target to attack. Everywhere around, single airborne units were picking up and sniping clustered enemies. Further to the south Japanese land forces were advancing, but in this area the chance for a friendly fire was non-existent. Pilot spotted a group of archers, he forced to a hideout once. Looks like they had to move out.
“I am Zero! I have returned!” He yelled when pushing the joystick. He opened fire.

“Break-Break!” Voice of Hideyoshi suddenly called on an open channel. “Taiga two. Our forces are closing to your position. Raise to 1000, fall in and return to the base. Over and out.”
“Taiga two. Wilco. Over and out.” The commander answered. After few seconds he added on another channel. “We’re out guys. Great job, they couldn’t do anything to us.”
Few cheers could be heard over the radio. Katsuro looked back at the burning city he was getting further away from. “This is what difference in technology creates.” He spoke loudly, as if someone was sitting next to him.

[Eerion]

“So this is where your country is heading toward?” Perun spoke, while looking at the documents.
“My country?” Hinotebi looked surprised.
“You are the Empress. I have never interfered with the way Nekomimi’s ruled as long as Japan kept on becoming stronger and stronger.”
Empress looked at her father for a moment. Her eyes wandered between his face and the letter he held in hands. “Ah. This...” She eventually remembered. “I’m not a big fan of slavery. Still I cannot forbid people to catch them if it strengthens the country. After all they weren’t part of Japan before. No laws are broken.”
Perun looked at the map. “As long as this slave trend will not reach mainland we should be ok. These fools make it easier for enemy to sabotage us.”
Hinotebi nodded. “I will order them to send slaves to the distant isles. They will support building the encampments there.” She stopped for the moment. “While we’re still discussing the isles issue. Did you figure out who is he?”
“No. But as the first Persian island already belongs to us, we put some pressure on him. We are forcing his hand, so eventually he will reveal himself. If not, then well... we have to prepare for everything and go meet him.”
“Do you think it will be safe?” The girl looked troubled.
“It never is. Yet we have to do it in order to achieve our objective.” Perun put the report aside. The Russian accident proved our action course correct. Not only we have to face other nations here, but we must prepare for what comes after this contest ends. Otherwise... it all will be in vain, and we shall vanish just like the past nations did.”
“How do you want to prepare? According to the Chiyome’s report enemy engaged Egyptians with technology surpassing us by hundreds of years! If only!” Hinotebi rose up letting her emotions go loose. “How are we supposed to survive that?!” She shouted.
“From what I have figured out, we are somewhat guided.” Perun answered calmly. “It means that we are developing faster than our... supervisors. If we lay low for long enough, establish the colonies in the sea and in the sky then maybe... we may stand a chance when the time comes. Or make them recognise us as a player, not a tool.”
“Colonies in the sea? Colonies in the sky? What are you blabbering about?” Hinotebi was angry, but seeing the serious face of her father, she remitted. “I mean...”
“You are young.” He interrupted her coldly. “I have seen much more than all the Nekomimi’s combined. For you it may look insane, but I saw that what proved impossible in the past now is an everyday thing. Colonies not created on land are just a matter of time. We must withstand until that time comes.” He stopped for a moment. “There is one more thing we have to accomplish if we wish for it to happen. How is the rocket project progressing?”
“It is done. We are already producing the anti air missiles you asked for. But... are planes really that much of a threat?”
“It’s not the airplane invasion I want to defend against. Or actually it is right now.”
“I do not understand” Hinotebi, calmer now, was confused by her father’s answer.
“You do not. Most people have no idea about it yet. Even some, if not the top tiers in foreign countries. Yet they are researching it, attracted by the idea of new source of power... and destruction.”
“Can you explain it in a way I can understand?” Nekomimi, asked with an annoyed tone.
Perun sighed. “Quantum physics. Quantum mechanics. Most, if not all other important countries are working on it right now. The concept of splitting the matter itself in order to unleash an unimaginable power. With this, they could create a bomb capable of destroying a huge city alone. This is what we have to defend against. This is why we must build many rocket launchers to shoot the enemy down when they only approach. And eventually we must build the bombs ourselves, so we can scare them off with it... or retaliate.”
“Can such weapon... really exist?” Empress asked with a shaking voice, imagining its power.
“It will very soon. It did in the past as well. I know about it, since my country had access to it when I was a ruler back then. We dropped several bombs on the border cities of Carthage. We planned to assault it afterwards, but the results... Instead of crushing the enemy armies and capturing the land swiftly we have evaporated everything. What was left was an endless line of scorched earth and ruins. The earth couldn’t support any life there and no one wanted to live there anymore. Instead of additional land we have created a zone no country was interested in.” Perun was recollecting the past with a grim face. “This is when everyone realised. It wasn’t a weapon of conquest like the conventional ones, but the one of destruction; and destruction only. Whoever use it doesn’t care about the lands or cities anymore, he simply want to see the enemy dead. Destroying the important cities, slaughtering the citizens... it’s all they care about. This is why we must produce a heavy defence against such weapon. This is why we must claim it ourselves very soon as well. They must be afraid of striking at us. Soon it shall become the only reliable argument. Fear.”
“Suddenly the future looks grim.” Hinotebi spoke with an incredibly sad voice.
“Every age has their threats. This may be greater than the previous ones, but... it may be avoided as well. It all depends on the reasoning of other rulers and if it fails we must provide them with enough arguments that striking on us will be a grave mistake, as their bombs will not reach us.”
Perun looked at the map. Nekomimi followed him shortly afterwards.
“We cannot defend everything. Still they would not waste such power on minor cities. As long as we protect the most important metropolis it should be enough. Should be.”
“Hopefully.” Empress agreed sadly.

[Eerion]

Four divisions of tanks were driving through the vast plains of southern Russia. Eight Hundred of Type 1 Chi-he were about to be tested in a real battle. For tens of years the Japanese tanks were slowly improved in order to operate even in most dire environments, from the glaciers in the far South to the dusty plains and deserts close to Equator. It took few decades of tests, but the objective was finally achieved. Now all that was left was to see their performance in actual combat.
“It’s been few weeks since the bombardment has begun!
Crushing the ground with each cannon strike!
Setting the shore on fire! Sending a message forth:
We're Japanese! We're heading north!”
A man was singing loudly, while looking at the road ahead was. His comrade in arms laughed cheerfully.
“We are Hinotebi's men! Follow the plan! One against ten!
Carry Her word! Pound into dirt! Bring world of hurt!”
An old song, slightly adjusted, was fitting the current situation pretty well.
“Break” They’ve heard a voice coming from the radio. “I don’t know which unit is singing, but it’s enough. Stop using radio. We’re close to the enemy, prepare for battle. Out.” A voice of Oda Nobunaga, the Japanese general interrupted the happy singing.
“I told you that they won’t let you finish, Daiki. Next drink’s on you.” A driver spoke.
“It’s not bad. He didn’t ask for the unit name.” The singer laughed. “But he’s correct. I can already see the city suburbs in the distance.”
“Do you think they’ll defend it heavily?” The gunner asked.
“After majority of their country was crushed? Desperately, but not heavily.” Daiki answered. “We have eight hundred tanks, battleship support and ten thousands of Facist Infantry. Do you think they have any chances against such force?”
The gunner laughed. “Right. These damn Infantry bastards. I quit on trying to get to that unit when I saw their requirements.”
“They’re not human. I’m telling you.” Daiki summarised. “They alone could wipe out a small army. And we’re here as well.”
“Still it’s us who are in front.” Driver commented.
“Until we reach the city. Afterwards they will take over and lead the charge. These fanatics will not let a chance to kill or capture some enemies pass by.”
“Long Message” Oda spoke again. “Enemy machine gunners spotted in the outskirts. Divisions blue one and blue two – close ranks and push through. The convoy will follow you and provide with necessary support after you engage an enemy. Blue three – Column half right. Red one – Column half left. Encircle the enemy. Fire at will. Over.”
“Wilco” The division commanders were answering in order.
“Let them taste our might. Out.” Nobunaga spoke after hearing all confirmations.
“Let’s get this done” Daiki spoke loudly. Other soldiers nodded.


“Target at 6-2-0. Light!” Daiki shouted.
A turret moved slightly “Identified.”
Another soldier loaded the cannon. “Up.”
“On the way.” Gunner confirmed. The loader moved away.
A strong recoil slowed down the tank for a moment. Daiki loosened the grip. He didn’t hold tight enough at first and almost lost few teeth because of that. He looked up through the sight.
“Too far! 5-2-0. Light!” He kept on shouting, as the noise of forced engine and cannon barrage made a normal speech impossible.
“Identified.” “Up.” “On the way.” The crew calmly repeated the procedure. Another shot, a second or two to sit or stand firmly again and everything repeated once again. Enemy tried to return the fire, but having only a few anti tank rifles against such masses they could do nothing.

“Blue one and Blue two. Do you copy?” Oda spoke through the radio.
“Loud and clear.” Two commanders answered.
“Enemy have no heavy support. Take their fortifications by assault and make a deploy zone.”
“Affirmative.”

“Guys! We have a new orders” A man responsible for radio shouted. “They’re weak! We’re charging directly at them!”
Daiki laughed. “Let’s crush them!”
Everyone nodded.


The outskirts were burning. Cannon barrage at full speed was inaccurate enough to demolish whole area, not only the enemy defences. Hundreds of Russian soldiers were kneeling tied down. The remains of enemy army tried to defend inside the city, but they were getting swiftly suppressed by advancing facists supported by few dozens of tanks. Majority of the army stationed outside. Daiki looked at the enemy soldiers. Now, that the last bastion of continental Russia was conquested, they seemed spiritless. Many of them were wounded and bleeding, but no one paid attention to it. Soon they shall become slaves of the Japanese empire. The weak would die anyway so why bother?
“I wonder if they would prefer to serve us or Egyptians?” Daiki spoke sitting at the cannon turret.
“Who cares?” Gunner looked at him surprised.
“True. They are not human beings anymore.” He spat on the ground and turned away. “Who’s up for some drinking karaoke tonight?”

[Max_Smirnov]

Stalin Takes Leave

A long convoy of trucks and armored vehicles was making its way across the endless steppe. The winter had fallen over the northernmost part of Russia, a vast expanse of land inhabited by huge flocks of bisons rather than men. The snow had fallen, and the wind was stealing clouds of vapour from the mouths of the soldiers. Their faces were tense, eyes focused, scanning the empty horizon with caution.
Colonel Arturia, riding in a jeep in the front of the column readjusted her heavy winter coat.
"Any new reports from Stavropol?" she asked the radio-operator.
"No. Our forces continue to scour the city, but it looks like it wasn't a trap. There is no Russian military presence at all."
She nodded. It was in line with the intelligence reports. Not counting the Russian colonies in the far South, which were in the French and Japanese areas of interests, this was the last Russian city standing unconquered. Nobody expected any serious resistance. Yet, three full mechanized divisions were deployed here, supported by a self-propelled artillery brigade and no less than 800 combat aircraft. And there was a reason for that.
"Are the scouts reporting any activity from the... crater?"
"Nothing new. The compound is lightly guarded, just a few dozens of sentries without any heavy weapons. The commander of the reconaissance unit insist on an order to capture the object with his detachment."
"No. This is out of question. You know that... he... might be here. All the intelligence data indicates that his final hideout has to be somewhere in these steppes."
Arturia's chief of staff, General Mardak, lit a cigarette. "Sending a whole mechanized corps to capture one man..." he sighed, and raised the pack towards his superior. "Want one?"
Arturia nodded. "Picking up bad habits from Cleo..."
"What's the difference, you're immortal... So is he. I've never fought a god before."
"Neither did I."

An hour later, the column reached the crater. It was big hole in the ground, a kilometre across, with a cluster of buildings sitting at its bottom. The eerie silence was broken by Egyptian vehicles, as they spread across the steppe and surrounded the crater. The Russian guards were obviously not expecting anything like this, because they instantly hid inside the buildings. There was no one to greet Arturia's detachment, as it was making its way down the single road leading to the bottom.

Suddenly, someone yelled: "We have found him!"

"Aim! We can kill him in just... one..."

Arturia's jeep swerved hard and came to a stop inside the compound. On the surface of things, he looked rather unassuming, an old man in a heavy wither coat, smoking a pipe. But the moment the Red Saber looked at the Russian leader, her stomach turned. It was like an aura of terror hovering above that man, or like he was just a mere three-dimensional shadow of something vast and sinister, more felt than seen, lurking somewhere in different dimensions. Veteran Egyptian soldiers were stricken speechless, their hands trembling, cigarettes hanging from their mouths, some of the weaker-willed simply threw their guns and ran away, others coiled in foetal positions in the snow, sobbing quietly.

"To think this man is far from the peak of his power..." Muttered Arturia. "Everyone! Fall back and form a perimeter! I shall deal with him personally."

Arturia made a secret gesture with her hand, a summoning ritual she hasn't performed in over a century. She wasn't supposed to do it unless faced with most dire circumstances, but as a warrior, she acted on instinct, and that instinct told her it wasn't a time for deliberating about consequences. The air warped and shimmered, as a great, twisted blade, fashioned from what Cleopatra was calling 'the stuff of primordial Chaos itself', popped into her hand from the thin air. The chaotic energies immediately started to influence the reality, the snowflakes around her turned their color to red, some of them turning into small roses, some catching fire. No longer feeling any fear, she approached the Russian.

"This is game over for you, Stalin," she said.

Only then the moustached man even bothered to look at her. He took a drag from his pipe and said,

"This game you're playing with my tanks and airplanes, the game of global domination you fight under my banner? Yes, I suppose so. I think I won."



Arturia stopped in place. "What? YOUR tanks? YOUR banner? Have you gone mad? Your country is conquered, and your life is about to end. You have lost."

"You're wrongly assuming you and me are playing the same game... shadow."

"A what?"

"You don't understand much, do you. But this doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things. You're inconsequential to the universe."

"As is any being."

"To an extent, this might be true. But this remains to be seen. Not in your case, of course."

"Whatever you say. I have only one question for you before I'll end this. How you managed to get your hands on all this technology? You have accelerated the growth of science by at least three centuries, maybe even more."

"Oh, a good question. And the answer to this question is intrinsically linked to all the other questions you are asking yourself now. Like your nature, or the incomprehensible fact of my victory. But why I should bother answering them?"

Arturia hesitated for a second. This man was playing with her mind, this much was obvious. But it was stupid. Mind tricks couldn't help him against the cold steel of her blade, or the absolute military superiority of her forces.

She smiled and put a hand on her hip, the chaotic power of her sword having already transformed her winter coat into the frilly and indecent Red Saber outfit.

"To revel in your so-called 'victory', maybe? Show this silly female who is calling herself a knight how stupid she really is."

"My victory is a fact," he smirked. "My new accomplices have taught me a new word. Memetics. Your master might be interested in this word, she seems to be obsessed with the idea. The idea of ideas. Of identity. She is seeking the identity of the country she had created. In vain. Simply because it is my country and my identity. I have pushed you onto the path you're treading now. The new ideas I have carefully cultivated in this country, the revolutionary communist ideas, which blossomed under the capitalist oppression of my government, have infected the ancient and crumbling Kingdom of Egypt. Like a virus, they have turned it into a great communist empire. And I kept pushing with the technology. All those fine weapons of war", he pointed his pipe at the rim of the crater, where the armored forces were waiting for an order, "are based on the designs found first in my country. They have evolved since, indeed, but starting from the same seed, they haven't gone too far astray. The tanks, the airplanes, almost every modern technology originated in this country."

"We have won those by conquering you! We couldn't simply sit back and let you..."

"Of course you couldn't. You couldn't allow other powers to overtake you, that poor Tesla was the only edge you had, you had to grow, you were scared that you will be left far behind if the insanely fast Russian progress continues, you feared a chaotic world. I have practically forced you to conquer Russia."

"That's charming, but I fail to see any advantage in getting conquered."

"Such strange words, coming from a girl. Shouldn't be surprising, considering where you came from..."



"I came from endless battlefields," she frowned, her voice taking on a dangerous tone. "Once I fancied myself a king, but long since I learned to be proud of my true identity, the greatest conqueror and most ruthless killer this world had ever known. Any girlhood I had in me was shattered three thousands years ago, as I learned the way of the sword. Even before my superhuman powers fully matured, I was commanding armies and slaughtering Boadicea's naked fanatics by the hundred, tasting the sweet blood and the joy of besting a man, a warrior, for the first time. I survived ambushes and fought gladiators for sport, I vanquished rebels and destroyed bandits, forging the Celtic empire in the crucible of blood and steel. I have personally killed thousands of my kinsmen and ordered deaths of thousands more before I even set my foot on the shores of Kootanad to smash its gates with the Excalibur. I have commanded the siege of Delhi, watching thousands of my soldiers giving their lives for my cause in this greatest slaughter the ancient world had known. In the India alone, I crushed dozens of armies and seized hundreds of towns and castles, killing foes, and friends as well, if needed, never hesitating to send people to horrible deaths. Then, after my empire had fallen, I joined Egypt and continued my battles. I have led Red Army to the victory over the rebelling South, learning to use new weapons but seeing that the war hadn't changed so much, with its fire and plunder, and rape and endless suffering. Over your Russia, I took part in an even greater campaign, conquering vast cities and witnessing the horrible carnage and speed of the modern war machine. I have beheaded tyrants and kings, shot generals, destroyed tanks, ships and airplanes. Therefore, you won't fool me with your notions of having planned to be conquered and killed all along."

"I know well who you are. Only by pushing you to conquer Russia, I could make sure you will seize all the technology I wanted you to intact and unchanged. Only by forcing Russians to emigrate, knowing they could only find refuge in your country, I could be sure you will inherit the Russian thoughts. Others were forced to use spies, grabbing bits and pieces, having to painstakingly reconstruct what they found, filling the gaps with their own ideas. Not you. You are Communist Russia now. I made sure of that. My memetic victory is absolute."

"No. That is too weak. Means nothing in itself. There must be more to it. You speak of Russian heritage, but what does that even mean. There is no such thing as an undying, universal spirit of a country. Countries and people change and flux all the time. What of Egypt changing according to your plan? Such a plan is meaningless. Egypt would have changed one or the other way, as are all countries changing, unevitably and ultimately unpredictably, millions of possible futures dying each day, like that Alpine scientist, Heisenberg, had theorized. Are you really putting that much mind to the notion of some grander plan or planned evolution having any intrinsic meaning to it, only because you've lived for all these millenia? If so, you're a fool."

"Seems you're showing the real depth of your intellect, shadow. Very well. This is a sign of respect, so I will show respect to you as well. You're assuming this all happened by chance, that you've inherited just SOME Russian culture, SOME Russian technology, created by the people of this land according to their needs. This is not the case. The designs were very specific, and came from elsewhere. You've became Stalin's Soviet Union."

"Elsewhere? What do you mean, elsewhere? Is it... Like your identity was supposed to surpass this world?"

"I was asking myself this question since I have first assumed the mantle of Stalin. Am I really him? This is beyond point. What is crucial is that Stalin is not of this world. So I have put myself in the deepest meditation. A meditation that lasted for millenia. I have set my senses to the Outside, and waited. And listened to the void, far away from this world. And then, I finally heard them. When the Mystic X had fled this world, unable to pursue his researches any longer, as his Roman domain was destroyed by the French. Before you ask, I have no idea what the true nature of his researches was. But undoubtedly, his eyes were on something grander. Just like mine are now."

"Something... grander? And what others?"

"As I came to understand this, what Cleopatra and Napoleon, and Ifurita, and you, shadow, perceive as reality, is nothing but a game. The grandest game there is in the universe."

"A game? The reality is just a game?"

"Not the whole reality. But this planet is. It appears it was fished from a void and populated with eight Masters to fight a battle royale. A game of progress, ambition and conquest. A game that lasts for millenia. A game that feeds the vast egos of the megalomaniac Masters. What is the prize, I do not know. But when I realized it was just a game, I was devastated. Being a contestant in some game?" He smiled and shook his head. "This is not something worthy a man like myself. I desire real power. So I ensured the Communist Russia is going to be the winner, and decided to move elsewhere."

"It is Egypt who will be the winner."

"No, because it all happened before. Just as the persona of Stalin came from somewhere else, so did the Communist Russia. I ensured you're going to build a country closely resembling it, with its philosophy, methods, technology and weapons. Since it is so closely linked to Stalin, to myself, in the grand memetic sea of the galaxy, where thousands of such games are being played as we speak, any notion of Cleopatra, the Queen of the Nile, being beyond this, or a person who is a strange female recreation of King Arthur Pendragon, would be laughable. It will be remembered that the Communism won here, and the Communism is me. That's the power of the memetics."

"But WE will be alive, and you won't!"

"I am not so sure of that. The Others who allowed me to accelerate the technological growth to such a degree only said that the game lasts for ten thousands of years. Of which almost 8700 have already passed. I'm not intending to wait and see what happens then."

"The... Others? What are you talking about?"

"You see," he let out a cloud of smoke. "Games are entertaining. I am sure there are some greater divines who have set this all up. But they're not the only life in the universe. As the game churns on, its location becomes eventually known. As the things progress and the world is getting more advanced and more interesting, all manner of creatures slowly start gathering around it. Many of them have travelled thousands of light years to watch this game. And so, when the Mystic X left this planet, my mind followed him and contact was made. Now, cheating is an inherent part of any game. The Others were delighted in my idea to stir things up a bit. Accelerate the progress. There are rules to safeguard from external forces interfering, but we were subtle enough, it seems. They were delighted when my plan started working and prompted the great war between Egypt and Russia. They were delighted by humans, especially Celts, quickly leaving the boring age of Renaissance and learning new and exciting way of murdering each other. Oh, I have even made it easier for Celts to infiltrate my facilities, what they took for an incredible luck. The Others are especially delighted with the global tensions rising and the Celts having embarked on a path to create means of destroying it. I'd advise you to not be overtaken too much, as they might destroy you as well..." he smiled.

"Who are those Others?"

"There are many kinds of them, but I came to like one race in particular. You see, they're reptiles. Intelligent reptiles, smarter than the most of mortal folks down here. The beauty of their race is, they're unburdened by our mammal compassion or social instincts, or other pointless emotions. They're true predators, cold, calculating, fearless and ruthlessly effective. And with the same appreciation of reality as myself. They have a great potential. But sometimes, even a reptile might find uses for a cunning mammal who had lived for thousands of years. Especially since they're just a small, splinter faction of their race. With such allies, I can conquer the universe, no longer being constrained by this silly used facade of Stalin the Communist Leader. I will make myself a real person again."

"I don't think so," said Arturia, starting forward and raising her sword. Her speed and agility was far beyond that of any human, and she crossed the thirty feet between her and Stalin in a blink of an eye. But as her blade fell, the moustached man suddenly disappeared in a ball of electricity.

More of such balls appeared all over the compound. Arturia shielded her eyes. Stalin's presence was gone, or rather... no, not gone, but he was somewhere underground. But there was no time to contemplate that. Out of the closest ball of lightning, a three-metre tall armored figure stepped out, without hesitation raising its weapon at Arturia. She instinctively dodged a beam of intense heat that was shot by the weapon, igniting the very air. The beam hit her jeep instead, melting a half of it and causing the fuel to explode.



Blink of an eye later, all the hell broke loose, as more of the figures appeared and started firing. The strange weapons overwhelmed the Egyptian soldiers with sheer firepower, burning men to cinders, setting buildings on fire and destroying vehicles. Some machineguns and assault rifles barked in response, but the bullets were harmlessly bouncing off the armor of these strange beasts, even the AT rifles proven ineffective. That resistance was brief, too, as everyone in sight was annihilated in quick order. The whole compound quickly became obscured by smoke and mist from vaporised snow.

"What the fu*k is going on down there?" Demanded General Mardak in his command post at the edge of the crater. He couldn't quite put together what he'd just witness, but he was sure of one thing: more than three hundred of his men were now fighting and dying in the pandemonium that erupted down there. "Give me Colonel Thakisis of the 35th Luxorian Tank Brigade!" He yelled at the radio operator. "Colonel! Our men down there need fire support!"

"With all due respect, General, we can't see a sh*t, besides, the tanks can't lower their guns enough to fire into this damned hole!"

"Get your tanks moving down that road, then!"

"Yes Sir!"

With the battlefield still obscured by the smoke, first battalions of the Brigade began descending down the only traversible way into the crater, forty T-34's and twelve S-152 self-propelled howitzers crushing snow and rocks under their threads. The road was narrow and no more than six tanks could advance in a single row. Their commanders could make out shapes of burning vehicles and buildings ahead of them, but little more.



Meanwhile, General Mardak was busy spewing out further orders. "Contact the 1st Air Army commander! Tell him to scramble his planes, Case Blue Six! Contact the artillery brigade, too! I want them at full readiness to fire everything they have into this god damned pit if all else fails!"
The radio operator flinched at this last order. The full might of an artillery brigade could devastate a city, but their accuracy when firing from ten miles away would be horrible.

The mechanized artillery brigade, deployed on the steppes a fair distance from Stavropol, wasn't expecting to see much action during this operation. The supplies were plentiful and the discipline was strict, but when the reconaissance confirmed no enemy presence, the soldiers started getting laidback. This sudden alert was a complete surprise. Yet, orders were orders. Hurried by their officers, the artillerymen ran out of their tents to raise the guns and missile racks to their firing positions, at pre-sighted coordinates.

Before the first tanks made it to the bottom of the pit, out of the mist came burning lances of light. Metal armor bubbled and smoked, liquified in second by the intense heat. Hulls designed to deflect Russian antitank shells proved too thin to protect the vehicles. Some of the tanks stopped to retaliate with their 85mm guns, but they were firing blindly into the mist at some barely-seen and quick moving shapes. In between the deafening discharges of tank cannons, the air was filled with thick staccato of machinegun fire. Armored battalions tried to spread out, but tanks which were already burning impeded their ability to maneuver, quickly multiplying the number of casaulties. S-152s added their heavy shells to the carnage, massive explosions clearing out the mist and smoke where they hit, for the first time allowing to see their strange enemies. The huge, alien shapes moving with such agility could be perhaps not enough to horrify the tankers, if not for the fact that close misses of high-explosive rounds and hail of shrapnel seemed to have no effect on them. Some of the remaining tanks switched to anti-tank shells, but scoring a direct hit on these targets was extremely difficult.

General Mardak saw maybe one of these strange enemies dropping after taking a tank round, and still he wasn't sure if the alien didn't simply go to the ground. This seemed a very bad casaulty ratio, considering his force had already lost two dozens vehicles, and the prospects for those who were trying to retreat uphill seemed rather grim, considering enemy's rate of fire and accuracy. What's worse, some of the vehicles on the rim of the hill started taking hits as well, trucks and jeeps simply exploding in contact with the beams of light. The weight of fire of hundreds of machineguns and anti-aircraft weapons seemed to do little to impede the enemy either.

"General retreat! Everyone, pull back three quarters of a mile and form a perimeter defence! Nothing is to come out of this god damned pit!" As his own vehicle jerked alive, he added. "God damned pit, and god damned smoke. Lieutnant! Pass new orders to the artillery and the airforce. Fire at will at this f*cked hole in the ground! With every f*cking weapon they have!"

"B-but there might still be people inside... and, and Comrade Arturia!"

"Nothing and no-one could have survived this hell. And we have to defend our f*cking planet! Don't you read sci-fi, Lieutnant? I bet those f*uckers down there are filthy xenos!"

The sky turned alight, when hundreds of rockets and artillery shells started coming down on the target with a low whistle. The accuracy was woeful, but the sheer firepower made the ground shake and tremble. Massive columns of earth and fire were erupting all around and inside the huge crater. After several volleys, the missile launchers depleted their ammunition, and there was a momentary lull, despite dozens of guns, as well as Mardak's own heavy mortars, continuing to fire. Then the airforce came, flying high, wave after wave of jet and propeller planes, dropping hundreds tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the target.

"Take that, you xeno motherf*ckers! Welcome to Earth!"



Arturia's mission to retrieve Stalin was turning more and more irritatingly difficult, even without those overgrown space lizards running around. Avoiding their fire took all of her agility, the Red Lighting worked to slow, and even the Blade of Chaos needed to score a good hit to tear through their armor and hard bodies. Understanding that staying outside served no purpose but to invite death from their torches, Arturia managed to bring just a couple of invaders down before following Stalin to his underground bunker. She had to entrust the task to exterminate the rest to her forces; a task she wasn't even sure to be able to undertake by herself. Now, after cutting through several armored doors, she faced a deep shaft coming into the bowels of the earth. The elevator, naturally, wasn't responding, so she had to rapel down the steel cables, leaving her hands bleeding and muscles aching.

The moment she landed on the bottom, she came under fire. But it were merely human guards, firing human weapons. The bullets which managed to hit her left only bruises and cuts behind. She didn't need her old armor anymore, her body was hardened beyond such weapons ability to harm her. She sommersaulted above the guards and electrocuted them with a short burst of red lighting from her hand, leaving the poor idiots burning and twitching.

Arturia ran the length of a badly-lit hallway, before coming under fire from a machine gun slit in the wall. She ignored the gun and ran towards another armored door. She put all her strength into a single strike, and the doors shook, bubbled, warped, and finally crumbled under the chaotic power of her blade, leaving a pile of wildly colored metal behind. She ran into a huge room just in time to see Stalin calmly boarding what looked like a flying saucer. With the sign of a red star, no less, which infuriated her.

"See you on the moon," he said before the door closed. She ran towards him, but suddenly one of the huge armored lizards appeared in her way. It fired a lance of light which scoured the concrete wall, leaving a deep wound in it. But it didn't hit the Red Saber, who ducked and delivered an upside strike with her sword, splitting enemy's helmet along with the head in two.

This delay was enough, though. The flying saucer jerked upwards and accelerated rapidly into another shaft, no doubt leading to the surface. Seconds later it passed the surprised airplane pilots, circling around the crater. It was too fast and too sudden for anyone even to fire at it.

"This is going to be a hell of a lot to cover up..." murmured Arturia, looking up the empty shaft.

[Max_Smirnov]

Turn 225 Report!

Thebes, 1660 AD



The wide promenade, running through the centre of Thebes up to the huge plaza in front of the government compound, was crowded with soldiers, the thumping of heavy boots marching in unison, and heavy drone of military vehicles. It looked like an invasion, and it was one - of sorts. Never before in history there was any heavy military presence in the Egyptian capitol, the army was kept mostly out of sight even during the heated days of the communist revolution in the early 1300's. But the government decided this peaceful tradition was going to change.
In the forefront of the army, rode the Egyptian cavalry, which had earned itself a great reputation during the war. Those soldiers, by many considered anachronic in the age of tanks and jet airplanes, were the at the forefront of most of the battles, their guts and skill making up for their antiquated methods of warfare. More often than not at a heavy price paid in soldiers lives. Serving in cavalry was considered to be several times as dangerous as in any other force. Barring the navy, of course. Stretched thin and operating far from their bases, Egyptian submarines and destroyers paid heavy price to keep their Russian counterparts at bay and the seas safe for supply convoys. The Cavalry was esteemed for their daring charges, but in reality, they couldn't have done much without their fire support, horse drawn light cannons, mortars, machineguns, and lately, rocket launchers. A collection of this equipment was paraded at the rear of the cavalry regiment.
Behind the cavalry, there were endless ranks of footsoldiers, marching with parade step. For all the advanced weaponry Egypt possessed, the rank-and-file infantry numbered into a million, with the Red Militia units making more than a half of the remaining 600 thousands. It was the most numerous military of the world, outnumbering even the Japanese by one quarter, but still the task of controlling three separate landmasses the size of small continents meant it was pretty much overstretched. The Red Army soldiers were armed mostly in rifles and submachineguns, but one elite unit had an entirely new type of weapon on display, a weapon based on intercepted Stalinist designs: the A-47 assault rifle, putting a machine gun in the hands of the every private, had a potential to bring the infantry combat to a wholly new level.
After the infantry passed, the reluctant Theban audiences could finally see the military vehicles up to this moment not witnessed by anyone outside the military. Orderly ranks of the newest model of the time-tested T-34 tank, crushing the pavement under their threads. This tank was outclassing the Stalinist vehicles as much as they used to outclass Egyptian infantry at the onset of the war. An extremely rugged vehicle due to innumerable improvements, it could operate in any environment encountered in the Union, from the muddy Egyptian roads, to the dense vegetation of Equatorian hills, to the dusty deserts and steppes of Russia. The tanks were followed by self-propelled and drawn guns of various callibre, and at the very end of the procession, truck-based unguided missiles, and finally experimental models of gyroscope-guided cruise missiles, the only kind of weapon truly beyond the techincal capabilities of any other contemporary power. To further awe the citizens, a few wings of I-10s and M-17s flew over their heads, jet-powered ground attack and fighter aircrafts.
The Socialist union was surrounded by three major powers which weren't sharing its values, powers envious of its emerging might. Although the relations were peaceful and the international trade was more vigorous than even before, a demonstration of strength was needed too. Plus, the people of Thebes needed to adjust to the new reality, where heavy militarization seemed to be the only way of keeping the peace.
A perfect occasion to organise a military parade arose with hundreds thousands of soldiers returning from Russia to their homes. Even though the hostilities haven't ceased yet, and Stalin was remaining at large, the last bastion of organised resistance of his loyalists had been broken at Kazan. What was left of his forces, wasn't posing any serious threat anymore. The major operations have ceased. Having acquired enormous resources of Russia, and having prevalent acceptance of the once-oppressed Russian population (many Russians were prominent figures of Theban science, politics and military even prior to the invasion), the Socialist Union was already looking towards the future, which looked much brighter and at the same time, more dangerous than the past. The Russian campaign had proven the level of sudden destruction the modern military was capable of. In a matter of a comparatively short historical time, the whole map of the world had changed...




"The old concepts," rasped Raul Heliconnen, before getting overtaken by a coughing fit. He inherited the famous Heliconnen longevity, and, despite being able to move only on a wheelchair now, he remained the minister of defence. Out of the original cabinet that was planning the invasion on Russia, only he and Nepthys Al-Karnak remained. Everyone else was long dead, except for Tesla, who, locked inside his lab and deserted by almost everyone, was trying to prove that Adnokamyencov's relativity was wrong, at least to some degree. Raul took some imported Japanese heart pills, drank some water and continued.

"The old concepts aren't working anymore. It takes tens thousands of men to create an impenetrable strongpoint, provided they have all the heavy guns and fortifications they need. Even tanks or airplanes would be unable to dislodge them without enormous losses. But what difference does it make, since such strogpoints can be easily circumvented, tanks are fast, airplanes are even more so, and we know very well what is possible if we combine that mobility with a clever use of troop ships and enveloping beach landings to surround the enemy or strike at their rear. To fortify all our major cities to a satisfactory level, we're going to increase our land forces at least threefold."

"Totally impossible," said Nephthys. "Both from the point of view of enormous investments and time. Yet..." she looked at the operations table, with various props representing the movement of spotted military units, ships and airplanes. "With our extensive radar network, we're able to see the enemy long before they strike."

"What of it, a sudden attack from France or Brittania at Thebes or Pergamon wouldn't give us enough time to mobilize. What's good of knowing the enemy is coming, when you don't have anything to counter that. Our airforce alone, large as it is, won't do. Especially since for the investment in a single full air army, we could have 40 or 50 infantry divisions."

"Obviously there are no simple solutions... We need to use a bit of everything, I think."

"And be really good at nothing! The only good defence nowadays is to attack first, it seems!"

"And have everyone turn against us." said Cleopatra, watching the parade from the window. "We might be strong, but not strong enough to take on the whole world. We have to tread more cautiously than ever."

"So that's why we opened borders with Japan? That's why we're making concessions and limiting the scope of our conquest?"

"Isn't this obvious. We're the most powerful nation in the world. The only way for us to keep that way is to make sure the world needs us. Japan would be much more powerful than us by now, if they had more humility and more ability at winning friends. The world is already wary of us. We normalized our relations with the Japanese, but the others... Especially Brittania and its unreasonable ruler... We need to respect their interests as well."

"We need to be the power broker," said Nephthys, "not the power monger."

"Well, if everyone sees that our preparations are purely defensive..." said Raul.

"Like anyone sane would believe that the most powerful country preforms 'purely defensive' preparations, and is not merely taking time to arm itself and overwhelm the opposition with sheer force of numbers and technology later on. No. We need something else. We need to capitalize on our power. What if we declared that if any country gets attacked by another one, we're going to attack the aggressor? That'd make us needed."

"And maybe drawn into a war we don't want."

"Maybe. But it is a price worth paying for living in peace."

"I'm more worried about the Japanese power over the hearts and minds of the people," said Cleopatra. "We were supposed to be the champions of emancipation and freedom, and what? We were beaten on both fields. This new invention, the television, will probably further increase the strength of our propaganda... But it is not enough, we need to seek other ways..."

"Comrade..." said Nephthys. "I think you're overestimating the whole issue. We don't have homeless people or high murder rates, do we. If they want to play with fire, go ahead. But the real power lies elsewhere. In economy, industry, military, diplomacy and popular support. And the latter isn't all that bad here. Who cares if the prols are bright or dim. We have the best elites in the world, the best industry, the best science. And we shouldn't be wasting that science on appeasing to the crowds. The modern technology in itself awes them enough."

Raul seemed surprised. It was extremely rare for someone in the ruling circles to challenge Cleopatra's wisdom. The leader herself just blinked and looked at Nephthys cryptically. The woman was however unruffled by this.

"Our intelligence states that the British have founded a whole new radioactivity research centre, based around the person of Doctor Ferminho, a brilliant Mexican scientist mightily interested in exploring the possibilities opened by our Adnokamyencov's theory. He's especially interested in the part of energy equalling mass squared, that the matter is solid form of energy. I am sure you understand much more of it than I do. But what I know is, if this guy is onto something real, and the British seem to think so, this could be an extremely momentous scientific achievement. Tesla was ridiculed at first as well, with his claims to harness the lightning. And now look, virtually all our power is based on his achievement. We have much more resources that the Brits. We can overtake them yet. And everyone else as well, as they're behind us. It might open new vistas of possibilities we're unaware of yet..."

"It... might," nodded Cleopatra.