Emperor Frederick III "The Wise" – The Real Top Dog
The Imperial Court of Berun, the largest, most luxurious and majestic aristocratic building in the entire Empire, the very symbol of the Empire's grandeur and power, the most well-defended and fortified building on the continent, in both peacetime and wartime.
It was here that the Emperor, the highest executive, legislative and judicial office of the Empire, ruled and governed. It was here that the Emperor and his extended family lived. And it was here that, today, the Emperor was experiencing a mood he was not used to.
That is, hyena-cackling at the news he was being told.
"The capital, the capital!" said Emperor Frederick III called "The Wise", trying to control his laughter. "You annihilate the entire Republican army, occupy or destroy all their industrial potential, and even occupy their own capital?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." replied General Hans von Zettour promptly, kneeling before his own sovereign, a smile of delighted glee on his face. "Once our forces had completed the destruction of what remained of the Republican army, we marched to their capital. We didn't even have to fight to get it: as soon as the Republicans realized they had nothing to stop our forces, they declared their own capital an open city and hastily retreated south. According to the reports we are receiving just now, our forces have occupied some of the most symbolic and important monuments in the enemy capital, as well as the main government buildings and various ministries."
"Great, wonderful!" thundered the Emperor with eyes full of excitement. "When the Republicans surrender, I will be the one to personally accept their admission of total defeat... and we will hold their act of surrender in the most beautiful palace in their own capital!"
Such an act of humiliation would have been unforgivable to the people of the Republic. But they were already de facto defeated, and therefore, there was nothing they could do to prevent their will.
"I have heard your will, my Emperor: your soldiers will carry it out!"
"My dear husband and Emperor," intervened Empress Consort Victoria of the Empire, "do you really want to go all the way to their capital, to dictate the terms of peace? In my opinion, it almost seems like a gamble."
"We will take the necessary security measures and precautions, your majesty," Zettour promptly replied, "Besides, I agree with your husband: to participate in the final surrender of the enemy, especially in their own territory, will be an event of great prestige in the eyes of the entire civilized world."
"A prestige that I want to be undeniably associated with my family," said the Emperor, looking at his own wife with soft eyes. Although their marriage years ago had been a formal political one, for many years the two had been in love for real.
"By the way." said the Empress as if remembering something. "Our boys, they too..."
"Absolutely, Mother." said Prince Christian Adolphus, entering the room, accompanied by his older sister, Imperial Princess Elizabeth, his own younger brother William and his (William's) twin sister Maria Theresina. "We are ready to follow you wherever you go. Father has already informed us of the matter, and we have already confirmed our willingness to follow him."
"Has he already asked you?" asked the Empress, looking at both her husband and children.
"It was purely by chance mother." answered Elizabeth, the eldest daughter, promptly. "My brother and I were comparing the results of our visits to the various fronts, and we met Father, who asked our opinion."
"And you want to come too?"
"If we are allowed to, certainly." said the princess, making a bow. "We have already sent messengers to inquire from our currently absent brothers and sisters; as soon as we have their replies, we can determine how many members of our household may be present."
"What about, instead, the possibility of requesting the presence of certain people?"
At the prince's sentence, all eyes in the room focused on him. It was not uncommon for the royal family to invite someone to attend diplomatic events of such a magnitude, but to be invited, you had to enjoy a favor that was not unimportant.
"Your Royal Highness." said Zettour. "Who are you talking about?"
"Of two mages of the Empire, whom I met during my visit to Arene, who greatly impressed me with their determination and efficiency, and of whom one of them is the author of that document I submitted to your attention and that of my family when I returned. Do you remember, General?"
Zettour did not need much time to remember what the prince was referring to.
Some time ago, a packet had arrived at Strategic Headquarters, clearly written by a mid-level officer on the Rhine front, but somehow declared by the Imperial court itself to be "of great importance for the national defense of the Empire". The same document described in great detail numerous massacres that, in the author's words, "would make it possible to bleed the enemy while minimizing the cost in men and resources on part of the Empire" as well as manage delicate international relations, exploiting ancient hatreds and rivalries between nations to prevent more nations from ganging up against the Empire.
The document, although it had sparked powerful discussions at Strategic Headquarters, had not had a definite author, but it had not taken Zettour long to figure out who it was.
"Your Highness, you are perhaps referring to Imperial Mage Corps Majors Tanya Degurechaff and Frederick König, I assume."
"Tanya? Frederick?" said the Empress thoughtfully. "I have heard these names before."
"Indeed, your majesty." Zettour smiled. "They are the two mage officers of our most trusted, inventive, and effective, currently in command of our two new emergency response mage battalions. Our best elements, if I may say so."
Zettour's words were not moved by simple sympathy; Zettour had repeatedly shared the credit for the duo's victorious operations, claiming that they were his protégés. If the Imperial Court took an interest in them, the resulting prestige that would invest them would benefit him as well.
"Those two mages you talked about so much when you came back from Arene?" said Elizabeth, laughing. "Are they that good?"
"Believe me, sister," replied the prince, "the Empire is fortunate that we have such soldiers in our ranks, and not against us."
"If I am not mistaken, your majesty," intervened the Emperor's personal assistant, Hans Lutze, who up to that point had remained in his seat, motionless and silent, listening to the words of his sovereign and those present "after his royal highness spoke of them, I took the liberty of compiling a detailed report on them, in case you wanted to know information. General Zettour was particularly helpful in that regard."
"Show me!" ordered the Emperor, in a firm tone.
Lutze nodded, taking a folder and passing it quickly in the Emperor's hands.
"Let's see… graduated with the highest marks… approved for coordination of instruction of new recruits... sent to Norden... Silver Wings on their first mission?"
"Exactly, my Emperor. Both were on patrol for advanced officer training when the Entente attacked. Both of them supported our artillery suppression actions, and survived a fight to the death with an enemy unit of mages. Despite their wounds, their action drastically slowed enemy operations, allowing our reinforcements to arrive and counterattack. For this reason, both received the Silver Wings."
"Holy smokes, they were in the thick of the fight right from the start. What else did they do?"
"Later, they were sent as testers for a research project for advanced computation jewels: although the project did not reap its promised results, they both managed to control a computation gem far more powerful and effective than the one currently still used by most of our mages. After that, they were each sent to the Rhine front, and took command of two units of the Imperial Air Mage Corps: the record of their actions during this period is attached in the red file."
"Republican artillery trains destroyed... depots blown up... much larger enemy mage units annihilated or forced to retreat... if I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it!"
"And they are still children?" the Empress gasped, peeking at the folder. "I would not send a child their age beyond my sight, and young men half again their age to war, let alone ones so young!"
"This is something many have said before, your majesty." Zettour said again. "Nevertheless, both Major Degurechaff and Major König have continuously subverted our fears, and achieved success in dire straits, with all the odds against them."
"I see there is a time gap during their military service. Were they heavily wounded?"
"No, my Emperor. Simply, we decided that their talent was too big to let them keep fighting on the Rhine Front forever, and thus, we agreed to relocate both of them in Berum for a time, in order to give them high-level officer training. It was during that time that I met them in person."
"I see that; it was just after that big fuss over a supposed law suit, right?"
Zettour grimaced. "Indeed it was, sir. As much as the Army of the Empire is not used to fighting even in courtrooms, our full success was already written."
"What kind of media event could they have been involved in?" asked the Empress, a curious look on her face. Zettour knew, that whatever he said, it would probably become an element of gossip at the Empress' next tea party. His majesty's friends were mindless hens, capable only of gossiping and imposing judgments; yet, through them, Zettour had an additional avenue to promote his pupils, and himself.
"Your majesty, apparently, before Major Degurechaff discovered her magical abilities and decided, out of patriotism, to join the army... there was a family that tried to adopt her into their family. They..."
"Adopt him? Didn't she have her own family?"
"No, Your Majesty: both König and Degurechaff were orphans, raised in a nunnery on the outskirts of the capital."
"Orphans? Oh my goodness!" said the Empress, squeezing out a conspicuous (and clearly insincere) tear.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Some time ago, during their period of specialized training, we discovered that the couple was related to an industrialist in the city, who had decided to include their adopted grandson in the family will. However, one of the other heirs, a civilian, sued the Imperial Army, claiming that since the two were not of legal age, they should be transferred to her custody, and demanding monetary reimbursement. In fact, she only wanted what she had not received, and wanted to exploit this gray area for her own gain. The army I provided them with judicial support, and the victory effectively validated and certified both the army's right to use mages under the age of eighteen if they consented, and reaffirmed the possibility of civilian non-interference in the army and government of the Empire."
"And after this parenthesis," the Emperor intervened, "I see that the Strategic Headquarters has entrusted them with the ambitious project of establishing a mage battalion specializing in emergency response."
"They were the ones who suggested such a strategy, Your Majesty." smiled Zettour. "In my presence, they outlined the strategy of a unit of mages with high firepower and mobility, to be used in our hottest situations. Their training system may appear unorthodox, yet the mages in that unit have achieved a level of effectiveness that some officers did not even think possible before then."
"And wherever the Empire had enemies, the 203rd Battalion stepped in." smiled the Emperor. "As far as I can see, their baptism of fire took place in Dakia..."
"Yes, Your Majesty: the 203rd Battalion destroyed and dispersed much larger enemy invasion forces, occupied their own forward base, and executed a powerful raid on the capital itself, culminating in the annihilation of the Dakian royal family. Subsequently, their unit captured the last member of the enemy royal house, Princess Marilena Stolojan..."
A shudder ran through the various members of the Imperial family: all of them had gotten to know Marilena when a military convoy of the Empire had taken her as far as Berun. Despite the hopes of the Empress and many courtiers that the princess could be persuaded to renege on her alliance with the Republic and lead Dakia as a subordinate of the Empire (of course, after being married to a member of the Imperial family, who would be assumed as the new king of Dakia), Dakiana's stubbornness had prompted the Emperor to hand her over to the Empire's security services.
"By the way, what happened to our rebel princess?" asked the Emperor, as if only just remembering her. "Nora?"
Nora Neuner, a representative of the Empire's security services and counterintelligence agencies at the palace, stepped forward. "The princess' will to resist has been permanently broken, Your Majesty: the information we have been able to obtain from her is little and very vague, however, so we have decided to confine her to a small, remote estate in the mountains on the southern border, with an escort of agents to keep an eye on her and prevent contact with enemy agents."
"And of Dakia, what will happen now, Father?" asked Elizabeth, in a neutral tone.
"The Empire will annex a few small border areas," replied the Emperor, "where our experts have detected some possible mineral and oil deposits, but the bulk of the country will soon be liberated, and it will again become an independent kingdom, albeit subordinate to the Empire, with a new ruling dynasty."
"A new dynasty?" asked the prince successor. His father's words did not bode well.
The Emperor smiled again. "After some talks, I can now announce to you that your cousin Mikhail will become the next king of Dakia. Thus, our household will now grow stronger and more powerful."
The prince grimaced, as did many other of the Emperor's children. Mikhail was the firstborn son of the Duke of Vilnitz, the Emperor's brother, and thus the nephew of his majesty. While the succession lineage made de facto impossible for him to hope to become Emperor, he was a quite an innovative but ambitious noble, always trying to use social development and reforms to gain popularity among the folks. And while the Prince knew that his succession to the throne was in no danger, the fact that Mikhail tried to up-stage him every time they were together led him to become very opposed to let him come to the Imperial Palace.
And now, Mikhail was going to be King. Joy.
"That's impossible!" Elisabeth yelled. "His father could not ever agree-"
"He already did, and so did Mikhail." the Emperor dropped the bomb. "Mikhail will rule as associate King of Dakia, and promise to never rebel or disobey to the Empire. He is also quite trustful that he'll be able to conquer the minds and the hearts of the Dakians, and reform that obsolete wasteland in a powerful ally for our ambitions."
"But that means, that Antoinette…"
"Yes, she will be Queen."
Elisabeth almost bit her lips, as she remembered Mikhail's former lover, now wife, Antoinette de Mauban. She was very beautiful, but also quite invested in luxury and the good life or aristocrats, and she did not liked Elizabeth (and Elisabeth responded in Kind): the idea that such an individual could become Queen made her feel sick.
"I have the impression that Your Majesty already have some ideas about the former Entente as well…" Zettour said.
"Indeed." the Emperor said, slowly sinking in his own fantasies. "Norden will be expanded, as well as improved with those shiny ports the Entente will be forced to give to us. However, I know that this is not enough to force them to abandon their own ideas yet. In order to gain that, we'll repair their economy, but we will also give them a reason for worry."
"And what that would be?"
"Suoomi." the Emperor said. "While it may be controlled by the Federation so far, it still has strong ties with the Entente. Many people who live there would prefer the Entente rule in place of the Federation. Thus, while we will "generously" help the Entente repair their economy, we will also subtly work as to re-focus their own irredentism to take back Suoomi from the Federation."
"Your Majesty," Zettour was puzzled, "the Entente's military power is now barely above zero and even if they would be able to return to pre-war situation, the Federation is not taken lightly. They have a numerous army, and they already occupy Suoomi and all of its strategic points. Thus, if the Entente hopes to be able to survive such a conflict, let alone hope to regain a foothold on Suoomi, they'll need to rearm themselves."
"And this, is the key of the plan." the Emperor smugly said. "The Allied Kingdom cannot afford to rearm the Entente, as they are too scared of us to do so, the Republic is officially out of the game, Ildoa already confirmed the alliance and that they have to plan to get involved with our defeated enemies. Thus, if the Entente will want to fight the Federation, they can only get help from us. And we will give them everything they need… for a price…"
Zettour understood, and smiled in turn as he realized the Emperor's suggestion: by basically putting the Entente in dire need for Imperial-made military equipment and weapons, the Empire could be able to control their own military situation and be able to be prepared for everything the Entente could even try. Also the lend-lease pact would allow the Empire to gain a huge credit toward the Entente, putting the Empire in the perfect spot to control the Entente own government and to force them to "pay" their debt with resource concessions in their own territory and with economic privilege in their border area.
And best of all, should a war start between the Entente and the Federation, as long as the Empire was not openly involved, they could have one of them destroy the other, while leaving itself weakened and ripe for conquest.
"General Zettour?"
"Yes, your majesty?"
"I have an order for you, about your talented mages Degurechaff and König. In particular, there is something I want you to do about them…"
