***
--- Italica, Palace Chamber ---
May 10th, 2025
Pina is walking back and forth in the palace’s main chamber. As she paces, she hears another one of those flying beasts go by. The sound is loud, louder than a dragon or Wyvern. Her mind has been trying to figure out how that metal dragon works, and what else they might have at Alnus Hill.
She is still coming to terms on what she just saw, these 'Americans' are just too powerful to fight. How could the gods allow this, letting such a powerful enemy exist? How can the Empire even dare to challenge such a force?
"What am I supposed to do? There is nothing I can do; I am completely at their mercy." She rambles, speaking out loud as she paces. "They have to be beasts, but I saw people in them. They didn’t even need to go through the city gate, they just flew over it."
“At least the city is safe,” Myui points out.
“And now we will be their slaves,” she responds sharply. “I know you are just a little girl but please understand the gravity of this situation.”
Before she retreated into the palace, she saw those soldiers gathering up what remains of the bandits. The townsfolk all cheered for the Americans for saving them. Today was a great victory, but the victory does not belong to the Empire.
"Are we so little to the gods, are we so small to them? How could we even compete against that?" she asked herself, trying to understand this new reality.
Hamilton is sitting down on a step that leads to a small throne. She also is trying to come to terms with what she just saw. "Maybe it won't be so bad Princess? You are royalty after all. They might go soft on you or trade you for something besides enslaving you or raping you."
She stops and looks at Hamilton after hearing that. "Are you kidding? Didn't you see that power? We are nothing to them. We are nothing to the gods. They are going to come in here and take us as trophies."
She begins to pace again. "I wonder what they will ask of me? Will they send me their leader or just toss me with the other whores since we’re so far below them!?" She said, rambling again.
“I don’t think it will be that bad,” Myui states again. “They never acted threatening.”
“You realize that because of how young you are, you will probably be worth the most,” she states. “Did you see Major Sharpe with that young girl in his wagon? I think he has a thing for girls your age so you should be worried.”
“I cannot believe it is over,” Hamilton said. “Our first battle, our first mission. Such a humiliation.”
She stands there and takes a deep breath. “That is the rules of war. We should embrace our fate.”
That is the rule of war, the victor gets to claim what they want. The strong dominating the weak. Over the past six hundred years the Empire has grown and taken over many kingdoms. That is the nature of things.
She thinks back to all the times the Empire had conquered lands, enslaved the local population. The men would be taken to work in the mines or for personal sport. The women taken to become servants or trophies to the legionnaires. In all nineteen years of her life, she never once considered that one day she might end up as someone’s trophy. Her stature was supposed to protect her.
As she ponders on every scenario that might happen to her, one of the palace maids comes through the door. This one is a humanoid bunny with long ears named Mamina.
"Your highness, the leaders of the Other Worlders has come to visit you," Mamina said.
“Let them in,” she orders. To her confusion Mamina seems relaxed, like she does not fear these Other Worlders.
Hamilton stands up and walks over to her Princess side. "No matter what, I will be by your side."
Pina looks at her and nods, smiling at her. "Thank you. Hamilton, you have been a great servant and an even better friend. It has been an honor." She then looks to the maid. "Let them in, it is time to face fate."
Mamina walks up to Myui and stands by her as Myui sits on her throne.
She allowed Myui to sit on her throne, wanting to stand up to face these Americans. She wanted to stand there with what little pride she had left.
As the highest-ranking Imperial officer, she must deal with the terms of surrender. The other reason is that she does not fully trust Myui right now. Myui has shown some sympathy towards the Americans and she is scared that she will try to create a separate agreement.
She sees a few American soldiers walk in. Four of them wait outside the room, they must be their escort. Two men walk in after the maid escorts them to the door, one of them being that Major Sharpe. These two must be the leaders of their army. To her surprise, that blue hair magician will walk in with them.
Major Sharpe speaks first. "Colonel, this is Princess Piña Co Lada."
She notices that 'Colonel' looks older than Sharpe. She assumes that this man is Sharpe’s superior. She rules out that Sharpe must be a noble.
The Colonel then looks towards her. "Hello Princess Piña Co Lada, my name is Colonel Thomas Anderson of the 101st Air Assault Division. Under the command of the NATO Expeditionary Force. Do you mind if we have a seat?"
She takes a deep breath, she did not understand the meaning behind those words, but she understood the message, that this man is clearly important and high up their military. She could guess that he is even higher than Major Sharpe.
"Yes, we can Colonel Thomas Anderson." She responds, trying to maintain her cool.
Both her and Hamilton takes a seat, both nervous. The other three take their seats too, settling in.
She looks up at Anderson and Sharpe. Both are wearing the same style of strange uniform. There are many kinds of green colors all over it with all these other devices all over their uniforms. What looks like a small flag is on their shoulder.
"Just call me Colonel Anderson, thank you," Anderson said in a calming tone.
"Ok... Colonel Anderson,” she said. “I want to start off and say thank you and your comrade for helping in saving the city." She is planning to appease them. Hoping that they might be more lenient on her and the people of Italica.
Sharpe speaks first. "Wait a moment, I want to set the record straight. We never would have held it if it were not for the people of this city. They deserve a lot if not all of the credit themselves.”
“That is true,” Anderson said. “When we flew overhead, I was surprised by the size of the enemy. They were very well prepared.” He then looks to Myui. “You should be very proud of your people Countess.”
“Thank you very much,” Myui replied, trying to look tough.
She looks to Sharpe, confused by that statement. Why would he give the peasants credit? It was their strange flying dragons or wagons which saved the day. His team stayed and defended the wall.
She wonders if they are trying to form a wedge between her and Myui. This was exactly what she was trying to prevent.
She wonders if this was related to what he said in his rally speech. About common people able to raise up and topple empires. She cannot imagine the people of Falmart wanting to or being capable of overthrowing the Empire, but maybe something like that happened where he is from.
“But the peasants would have fallen if your people weren’t here,” She replied.
Sharpe shakes his head. “Nope. There were thousands of them. We would have been slaughtered, but the people held the line and-.” He stops seeing Anderson look to stop talking.
Then Anderson then nods, agreeing with Sharpe. "Credit isn't that important. The battle is over, our people and the city is safe." He said and then he reached into a briefcase and pulled out a piece of paper. "Princess, we do have a list of terms." He then hands the piece of paper to her.
This is it, the fate of her and is on this paper and there is nothing she could do to change their demands. She wonders how much treasure they want or how many slaves they want from the city. Or if they are going to demand that she surrenders to become Sharpe’s or Anderson’s sex slave. Or maybe as a gift to their superiors or to be ransomed to get money from her father. The more she thinks about it, the more she wonders if her father would even pay for her release?
She nods to them and then looks at the list. "You write in our ways?"
"No, Miss Lelei La Lalena helped us in the translation." Sharpe said, giving Lelei complete credit.
She sees the blue-haired woman with a staff, Lelei. This confirms her theory from yesterday(1), the Americans have recruited locals to help them against the Empire.
"Ok..." She continues in reading the terms. By the time she is done reading it, she is very confused by what she read.
There are only a few terms:
1) Allowing trade between Italica and Alnus Hill, duty free.
2) That NATO be allowed to establish a diplomatic outpost in this city and protection for the personnel there.
3) Protection to any trader from Alnus Hill and protection to any of the prisoners that they are not taking themselves. On top of all that, the Empire recognizes that Alnus Hill and the radius of thirty leagues is now a territory of the United States of America.
There are some other small details but nothing in here even gets close to her best-case scenario. Actually, these terms seem like them surrendering to her. Where is the offering of slaves, or tribute or anything? The only part that makes sense is claiming the land they already occupy, and she knows there is no way they could ever take that hill back.
“Is this a joke?” she asked. “Do you think you can pull a fast one on me because I am a woman?”
“What are you talking about?” Sharpe asked, confused.
She looks at them and she sees the two men looking confused. It is probably her face that also looks confused. "What is the meaning of this? I don't understand your terms. Is this a trick?"
Both men look at each other and then back at her. "I don't understand Princes Pina, what is wrong?" Colonel Anderson asked.
“It has nothing to do with you being a woman,” Sharpe said. He then points to Lelei. “If it did then why would Lelei be here helping us understand your world?”
She now feels silly bringing sex up. However, nothing makes sense. "But, you ask for nothing. I don't understand. These terms you ask for, this is something you ask for when you are surrendering.”
Lelei looks at Sharpe. "May I explain Major?"
Sharpe looks to Lelei and gives her permission to speak.
"Pina, these men do not believe in what you are thinking. In their world things are different. The idea of ownership of a person is considered barbaric. They also do not charge money for tribute or claim to take other people’s property." Lelei explains, speaking very frankly. She clearly doesn't care that she is speaking to a Princess of the Empire.
She cannot believe what she is hearing. Everything this girl is saying defies the laws of nature, everything she was told growing up. How can a civilization operate in such a different way?
She also noticed how Lelei did not use her title, showing no respect towards her position within the Empire.
"The Empire attacked their home and killed their people. They are here in self-defense, but they are interested in finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. If there is one." Lelei finishes saying. She looks over to the two soldiers and receives a nod of approval from Major Sharpe.
She smiles from the nod, enjoying the approval. She then sits down.
"What about these prisoners? You say they should get protection?" Hamilton asked, now that she is looking through the terms.
Lelei looks at her now. "Yes, in their world, a prisoner of battle is given fair treatment. Once the enemy soldier surrenders, they are no longer the enemy and no harm can be done upon them. They consider it civil, the laws of war."
"In short, you cannot sell them off as slaves or force them into slave labor." Sharpe added to what Lelei said. "Here is an example, we have about five thousand of your people as prisoners of war back on Earth. When the war is over, we would be glad to bring them back, no catch."
“And if you have any of our prisoners, we expect them to be treated with respect and returned back to us,” Sharpe adds.
Anderson leans forward. “Do you have prisoners of ours?”
Hearing that amazed her, they have that many of her people and they have done nothing to them. “No. The Empire doesn’t have what you call prisoners of war.”
"Can I have a list? I know people who crossed the Gate." She asked.
Anderson thinks for a second on that request. "That could be arranged, but for right now I can't promise that. I will have to bring that up with the State Department, one of our governing bodies. But I do not see an issue in releasing a couple. Before we leave, if you don't mind providing a name list so we can see if we have them."
"Thank you Lelei for your help." Anderson said, looking towards her.
Lelei nods her head, acknowledging his thanks.
Anderson then looked back at the Princess. "So, do we have a treaty?"
She looks at the paper again and thinks. This is very strange indeed, maybe they do not know what they are doing. That is when she remembers that flying beast slaughtering hundreds of those bandits in a short period of time. No, she cannot assume they don't know what they are doing.
It sounds like she can refuse this treaty however, what is the alternative? It is clear this war will destroy the Empire no matter what. We cannot come close to competing. Trading a thousand of our soldiers from every one of theirs, we all will be undone. The fact is they are offering a peaceful resolution of the current situation. She looked back at them.
"What about this diplomatic outpost here? What are you considering?" She asked.
Anderson answers the question. "It is to allow both yours and mine side to remain a diplomatic channel. So, we can talk and work out deals and agreements. There will be a few guards there for security, but it is not an occupation if that is what you are thinking. Our Ambassador will cooperate with Countess Myui Formal. She will act as your envoy to us.”
After thinking about the treaty proposal, she decided it would be the best to accept the treaty, they are actually being far better than she ever thought. "I accept the terms. We shall have this treaty."
---
Delilah is standing on the roof as she looks down. She was preparing to flee before she saw all those flying wagons.
The battle looked lost but then when those flying wagons came it whined in moments. The five thousand army was slaughtered in minutes.
She thinks back to her country three years ago. It was a peaceful and beautiful land where only Warrior Bunnies lived.
Warrior Bunnies, an almost all female tribal society, being ninety-nine percent female. Then three years ago the Empire invaded and conquered their lands.
Crown Prince Zorzal El Caesar tricked Queen Tyuule with a fake peace treaty which lowered the guard of her army. When all the Bunnies were celebrating the end of the war the Imperial Army went in and quickly defeated them.
The ones who were not slaughtered were raped, tortured, beaten, and worse.
She, Mamina and a few other Bunnies were able to escape slavery. While Mamina arrived here two years ago she only got her less than a year.
Italica has been the only sanctuary for Warrior Bunnies and other demi-humans like her. While Italica is not perfect, the Formal family has a lighter touch compared to most Imperial citizens.
“I see you stayed,” Mamina said as she lands next to her.
She looks at her. “I wanted to see what will happen.”
She then hears the Other Worlders soldiers moving around. She looks down and sees their healers running around. Since the Other Worlders reinforcements arrived they have been helping the townsfolk wounded. She is struggling to understand the sight.
“I see you are confused,” Mamina said.
“Yes, I am,” she replied. “Nothing is making sense. I have seen Humans so nasty things, but I have never seen an enemy force help another enemy force.”
“I understand,” Mamina comments. “You should have seen that bitch of a Princess. She is more confused than you are. I think she hates that Major Sharpe man.”
“Who is that one?” she asked.
“The one who made that speech,” Mamina responded.
“Interesting,” she mumbles. “The leader of that first group who came yesterday.”
She remembers seeing them arrive. Besides the strange metal wagons, they had taken little interest in them. She cares little of Human affairs and if Humans want to kill other Humans, she does not want to get in their way.
But listening to that Human male named Sharpe, she felt like something was different(2) with these people.
Sharpe talking about the common people toppling Empires. That is a phrase that she never heard before. She is telling herself that he was just saying that to get the people to fight however that does not make sense.
The Other Worlders did not have to stay and fight, they had no stake in it. And they fought bravely. Her eyes are showing her that they are helping. “I don’t know if I can trust them. Not after what Humans have done to us.”
“You know me,” Mamina said as she crosses her arms. “I trust no one outside the Formal family.”
“I do wonder what God bless means,” she asked as she thinks about the speech. “I wonder why he didn’t phrase it ‘let the gods be with us.”
“I have no idea however I doubt he misspoke,” Mamina answers. She takes a breath as she collects her thoughts. “But you should have been in the meeting. It was very interesting.”
“It is Human things,” she states as she watches a helicopter fly by.
“I mean it,” Mamina replied. “They talked about something called the Geneva Convention(3). Apparently, slaver is illegal on their world and they are required by law to treat defeated armies with honor.”
She looks at Mamina, not believing what she just said. Even if half of what she said is true then there is something to them. At least enough to have some faith again.
“Maybe they are what we need to save our people?” she said.
She looks at the Other Worlders soldiers on patrol. They seem to be handing out supplies, treating the wounded, gathering the bandits so they are no longer a threat.
She sees Sharpe and the Other Worlders leader walking through the city as they talk to the people. She can see that they have no noble standards. Noblemen and royalty maintain some form of separation from their people, to remind them who is in charge. She understands that is needed in a military chain of command however this is different.
“Maybe,” Mamina said. “But as I said, I trust no one. It is my job not to. As you said, they are Human after all.”
She thinks on that as she watches the Other Worlders walk through the streets. “We might not be able to get back home but if they are half of what they seem, we might be able to save our people. I do not want our people to end up like the Cat-People and the Succubus.”
Both of those races' cultures and domains were destroyed by the Empire. If nothing happened the Warrior Bunnies would just be this exotic group, you find at the slave markets or in the slums of a brothel.
“I think I will go to Alnus and see what these people are like,” she said. “Maybe one day we can save Tyuule.”
She then sees a group of Other Worlders. It is the same ground that first came.
She jumps to the roof in front of her and then on the street.
She lands in front of some Other Worlders. “Hello. My name is Delilah. Thank you for saving my city.”
The soldiers look at each other. Then one of them leans in. “Cool. You are a Bunny.”
“And an unchained one too,” the female soldier said. “I thought this place was just going to be an HBO show.”
She has no idea what HBO means but this confirms what Mamina said about them. It seems the standard Imperial oppression is not the norm for them.
“My name is Corporal Andrew Steele, US Army.”
“I am Private First-Class Alicia Moore, US Army also,” Alicia said. “It is nice to meet you Delilah.”
“What can we do for you?” Andrew asked.
“I was wondering if I could go to Alnus…”
Reference:
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(1)Chapter 14
(2)Chapter 16
(3)The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for humanitarian treatment in war.
