Sometime in Early October, 1935

Somewhere in the Northern Unified States

Headquarters of the Imperial Bund Militia

 

Vera walked down the busy hallways of the HQ. It was a crude building and mostly cramped, but it was meant to be well hidden and secretive. The creation of the militia wasn’t her idea, nor was it one she initially supported, but it was one that was becoming increasingly necessary. The last time armed groups of Imperial-Americans formed a unified force was when they had to deal with violence spurred from the anti-Imperial sentiment initially spread during the early years of the Great War. Then the fighting rarely escalated, and the need for it quickly faded. Here, it seems like they won’t have a choice.

 

This headquarters was one of many, however it was the central one, located right in the middle of the large Imperial-American regions of the northern and Great Lake states. It was here that they mapped out what was seeming to become an inevitable possibility, whether they liked it or not: Civil War.

 

There was no question in anyone’s minds anymore that civil war was the path the Unified States was going down. While some believe the election of one of the moderate candidates of the more democratically-leaning parties could at least give more time for the nation to stabilize, most agree that we may very well be beyond the point of no return.

 

Vera entered a room with numerous people leaning over various maps and documents. Some wore official Unified States uniforms, others more casual clothing, some clearly already dressed for a war in the deep forests of America. These people were soldiers, generals, partisans, strategists, politicians, all kinds of people. All of them unified in a single ambition: the protection of the Imperial-American people when the Unified States finally meets its now inevitable end.

 

As she entered, one by one their gazes turned on her. Ever since the Great War, she had been a leading figure among Imperial-Americans, and now she was their sole leader above all else. The responsibility fell upon her to lead the German-American people in this coming conflict. Whether or not she thought she was ready for it didn’t matter, it was too late to back down now.

 

She sat down in a chair at one end of the table, leaning against her arm as she looked down at the papers below, “What's the situation with the socialists?”

 

They looked around among each other nervously before one of the generals straightened himself and spoke, “We’ve received word that many left-leaning socialist factions have banded together under a temporary alliance of sorts. It seems from now on they’ll be working as a single united force, at least until their ‘victory’ is secured.”

 

Vera seemed a bit confused, “Hm? I thought they had already unified when they formed the Union Party?”

 

The general shook his head, “The Union party was the mainstream party composed of many other far-left parties with some variety among them. After it formed a few years ago, it became the primary party for those who wanted a socialist or far-left state. However the party did not include the moderate or radical left. The moderate left for the most part seemed to remain part of the more democratically-inclined parties until recently. The radicals meanwhile were simply too stubborn to work with them until now. While we doubt this will have much impact on their votes in the polls, as for the various partisan movements, militias, and unions, just about all of them are now directly affiliated with the party as opposed to only about half of them.”

 

“I see… that is a bit problematic… How will that shape the borders when the conflict starts, do you think?”

 

“From what I can tell, I fear our formerly ‘secure’ hold on the Great Lakes may be challenged in the first weeks of the war. While they formerly had some influence on that area, we were for the most part confident that their lack of unity with some of the socialist movements here due to the alignment of some of them to us would allow us full dominance over the lakes when the time came. Now it appears these socialist groups in the great lakes have chosen ideology over heritage.”

 

“Do you still think we can hold the Great Lakes?”

 

“From what I can tell… Maybe. It will be a close hold. I imagine we can perhaps secure most of the land, but the major urban centers may be harder to take.”

 

Vera stood up and walked over to the side of the table, moving some of the papers aside to look at a map of viable supply lines. “I see… That will be problematic if not dealt with swiftly. If we can't clear the major cities of socialists in the first weeks of the war, it's likely we won't be able to hold much of the Great Lakes, and we’ll be forced to pull back.”

 

One of the other generals grumbled to themselves, “It also throws out Operation Rushing Dragon.”

 

Vera looked up at the other general, “That was the plan to swiftly move eastwards to cut off and secure a coastal port correct?”

 

The general nodded as Vera sighed, “Well there goes most hopes of any help from the Empire…”

 

One of the officers, who was there mostly due to his connections in the Empire, thought for a moment before speaking up, the jewel around his neck glimmering under the light right above the table, “Not exactly… Perhaps there is another way for them to send us support.”

 

“Surely you don’t mean…” One of the politicians muttered.

 

“That’d be insane, no way they’d make it all the way here.” Someone else in the room muttered quietly.

 

“You’d need to have some of the best mages in the world to pull that off!” One general blurted out.

 

The officer simply smirked at the last comment, “In that case… we may be in luck.”

---

October 10th, 1935, 10:00AM

Berlun, The Empire

Imperial Headquarters

 

“For the Empire!”

 

The entirety of the Imperial General staff cheered, each raising up a glass in celebration for the grand victory they had achieved not too long ago. Five years ago on this day and on this hour the Francois and Legadonian governments in exile officially began an armistice with the Empire, with the final peace arrangement being signed just a few weeks later.

 

In the distance, artillery could be heard firing as a squadron of aircraft flew just overhead as celebrations throughout the city officially started. A bit further down Berlun, a parade was starting consisting of various military units from infantry, to tank corps, to even mages.

 

Among these units was the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion, General Tanya Von Degruechaff’s military child of sorts, and a vital instrument to the Empire’s victory over Dacia, Legadonia, the Francois, and one could even argue over the Russy Federation and Albion. The unit effectively disbanded after the war, with many of its elite members retiring or becoming reserves, and with Degurechaff herself now among the General Staff, she had little time to train a full unit of elite mages, especially when the war was now over. For today however, many of its members had once more taken on their uniform to join in the parade, leading it as they sang the same imperial anthem they had sung over the Russy capital in the video that made their unit famous throughout the Empire. That video to many symbolizes a turning point in the war, when the ‘Legadonian-Imperial War’ truly turned into the ‘Great War’ imagined by Degurechaff, one of course, the Empire was bound to win.

 

Degurechaff herself was one of a few people who had seen much popularity gained among the people of the Empire from the war. While formerly hardly even known among the general population, she was already well-known and respected among army officials. That changed after the video released of the 203rd bombing of the Russy capital just hours after their declaration of war. It was there she became a public icon, a symbol of the young empire crushing its foes, a symbol only further popularized after she was promoted to General. Her victories on the Josefgrad front and her encircling of units on the Volga river earned her even more fame, putting her up there with the likes of Romel and Rudersdorf as some of the most popular heroes of the war.

 

Due to Degurechaff’s younger age, the general population has taken to her much more openly as compared to the older Romel and the aging Rudersdorf. From the political side of things, however, Rudersdorf has had much more success and welcome as his older age has earned him the respect of his political peers and the eventual appointment as Chancellor by the Kaiser. Romel meanwhile went off to Africa where he now leads the Empire’s Zentralafrika colony. Tanya, meanwhile, hasn't shown much interest in politics, and while she would undoubtedly have some supporters if she tried, she has remained satisfied with her current position in the general staff and has no desire to change it.

 

As the General Staff celebrates, the only one missing is Degurechaff herself, who opted to join the parade and her 203rd after some pressure and persuasion by the propaganda department and the Imperial media. Eventually as the parade began to move onto the street in front of the Imperial HQ she could be seen holding the flag of the Empire while flying with her 203rd. No longer was she the obvious physical runt of the group in terms of size, though she was still the shortest out of them all. The whole unit seemed proud of their victories, with almost all of them having been awarded some medal after the war. Many earned the Silver Wings Assault Badge like their battalion leader, however aside from the many medals she earned, she also earned the new Mithril Wings Assault Badge, a badge made specifically for her due to her excessive kill count and magical feats.

 

As she and her unit passed, many officers among the General Staff raised their glasses towards the General, many having developed a respect for her since her victory in Josefgrad. While many of the same people doubted if not outright disputed her appointment in the first place due to her not even being 18 at the time, her victories spoke for themselves. Among those who had grown a sort of appreciation for Degurechaff’s skills was general Erich von Rerugen, who while originally saw her as a monstrous killing machine, had grown to respect her as one of the only people with reason among some of the general staff. The two have since become keen allies as part of the general ‘younger’ portion of the General Staff, and while he still questions her personality, in terms of strategic beliefs, he considers her a close ally.

 

Eventually Degurechaff and her unit would turn off into another street to continue the parade. The parade was long, lasting several hours into the afternoon, though the celebrations would continue long into the night for both the General Staff and for the people of the Empire, celebrating across the capital and even across the Empire. The parade consisted of numerous units from the Empire and even from its new allies in the east, who in showing their appreciation towards the Empire, agreed to join in the festivities, though their celebrations were primarily earlier that year when they celebrated the end of the Eastern Front.

 

The celebrations that day showed clearly the view of the people of the Empire, joyful. It had been five years since they won, but they still celebrated their victory. From the youngest children soon to take up the mantle of the Empire, to the oldest retirees which have passed down the torch, they were all filled with a sense of patriotic pride for the Empire, and for what it had accomplished.

---

October 10th, 1935, 7:23PM

Berlun, the Empire

Local Bar Near Central Berlun

 

The cheers of the 203rd could probably be heard from the other end of the street. Normally I would’ve gotten them to quiet down, but now was a time for celebration. It was a reunion of sorts too, after all. It had been effectively five years since the entirety of the Battalion got together. Heck, for me it has been almost five years since I’ve even seen most of these people. I got to see Weiss often enough considering he’s done quite well in the military, but I thought I’d see Visha a lot more than I do. I suppose leaving the military would make it rarer to see someone who’s often cooped up working on documents in the General Staff all day.

 

It's not that I have a problem with it either, in the end I don’t really need the 203rd anymore. There’s no Being X that’s going to throw me onto the front lines of a war that currently doesn’t exist, and while I can clearly see that another war may be likely, even then I likely won’t be on the front lines. The parade was exhausting, but it was essential to maintain my image as a war hero. I don’t care much for the fame from an egotistical standpoint, but it is valuable to ensure my position is stable. It also leaves me open for a potential political career if the need so comes up. For now, I’ll leave the politics to Rudersdorf. 

 

Meanwhile the entire unit seems to be enjoying a whole lot of drinks. My unit had always been heavy drinkers, but since it seems Weiss lost some sort of bet, he was paying for much of it. I’d feel bad for him, but he put that upon himself, I’ll pay him back for some of it later.

 

While I was busy gazing over at the traumatized Weiss, Visha approached me with a cup of coffee in her hands, placing it down on the table in front of me as I looked over, “Here’s your coffee General!”

 

I wasn’t expecting her to make the coffee. I had asked the waiter for one, but it appears Visha took over and made it on their behalf. “You don’t need to call me General here, it's hardly a formal environment. Though I will say, you didn’t need to take that poor waitress’ job. Though I do appreciate it.”

 

I took a sip of the coffee and it was as good as it was before. It makes me want to try and force her back into the military just so she could continue to make it. I’ve had plenty of access to fancy coffees in my time as a General, but people often struggled to make it just right. It's still surprising how effective Visha is at it.

 

“Thank you gene-err Ma’am!” Visha shouted, stopping herself from saluting on instinct. It was still a bit too formal for such a casual environment but it’ll do. “If I may ask, what's Weiss look so sad about?”

 

“I think the battalion just bankrupted him.”

 

Visha stared blankly in the direction of Weiss, “He lost a bet?”

 

“Yep.”

 

Visha sighed, “Everyone in the battalion are such gamblers.”

 

“You’re quite the gambler yourself, aren’t you?”

 

“At least I win!”

 

I looked at Weiss once again to see him chugging even more beer, as if to make sure that at the very least he was getting the most out of his own money. From how much they were all drinking, there was no way in hell Weiss could afford it all. I’ll have to cover some of the costs.

 

“What have you been doing since the war, Visha?”

 

“Huh? Oh I’ve been doing fine. Nothing special really. The economy’s been doing well so there’s a lot of jobs… I was thinking of getting a new one here in the capital but I’m not sure where.”

 

Why do I have a feeling that I’m the reason she wants to be in the capital? Whatever, its not important.

 

“With your skills at making coffee, there’s a cafe near HQ that I’m quite fond of. If I give you my recommendation, I’m sure they’ll listen to it.”

 

“That would be nice. A lot easier than working as an assistant.”

 

“So that's what you’ve been doing huh?”

 

Visha nodded, “I thought that because of my work as your assistant, being an assistant at some office would be good, but frankly it's boring. A cafe might be a nice change of pace.”

 

Suddenly the door opened as a man wearing an imperial uniform walked in with a folder in his hands, “Is General Degurechaff here?”

 

I raised my hand, “Over here, what is it?”

 

The man saluted before handing me the folder, “Sorry about disrupting you during your celebrations, they would’ve waited until you returned to HQ, but they said this was urgent.”

 

“Thank you. I’ll look it over now.”

 

The man saluted once again before turning and leaving.

 

“What is it? Oh-Sorry I suppose you can’t tell me.” Visa gave a slight awkward laugh remembering that she wasn’t in a position to know.”

 

“Unfortunately, that’s how these things work. Though I doubt there’s much vital information in here if they’re giving it to me like this. It's most likely a notice that I need to be somewhere tomorrow and not to stay up too late because of it. Though there might be some details in here.”

 

I open the document and begin reading, as I expected the document is fairly vague and encoded. Even if I showed it to Visha, she wouldn’t know what it meant. Though after closing it I spoke to her, “You know, I may have another employment option for you… How would you like to see the Unified States?”