Sovereign

"Sisters! Liberty beckons before us! A world where women are free from men's boots, and where men are free from their misguided evil under our benevolence is close to fruition. The light at the end of the tunnel - a world where all of humanity, men and women, breathes at last!"

- 1723 Pro-Queen Newspaper after King Richmond's army was defeated near Halia.

+++

"ARCHER SAM systems? That's it? I thought…dammit this would be a pain."

William's disappointed face was painfully obvious to both ladies, Amelie and Keller. Nothing could have prepared him for such a revelation, as unlike the new REGAL SAM system, the ARCHER SAM system utilized outdated radar and electronics.

Which meant it wouldn't be as good as the new ones.

Indeed, for the past few minutes, Keller had toured the two around her little property, until they reached the closed depot where she held her currently highly sought after, and highly-priced wares.

The fabled SAM systems that could save the city.

But upon the moment that they went inside and William had a chance to lay his eyes upon the weapon systems that she had, he immediately turned sour, a result of the earlier explained disappointment of his over the ARCHER SAM systems.

Naturally, Keller crossed her arms in response.

"Hey! Jerkface, you haven't even seen these magnificent weapons closely yet. Look, I even have 72 launchers of these things, plus the other vehicles and equipment on the depot beside us. What more are you asking for?"

"Those things…are like 3 decades old already, Lady Keller. I thought they were the REGAL SAM systems that we employ today. Are these things even well maintained?"

"I'll have you know that before we closed down, they always meticulously repaired and maintained these things. I'm even planning to sell it later."

Somehow, he didn't trust her words, and even Amelie had a faint idea that these things seemed…unnervingly unfit and a tad bit rusty. But there were still 72 of them. Halia was currently defended by no more than 48 REGAL SAM launchers (as each Regal "line batteries" operated 8 launchers, which meant they only really had a full battalion made up of 6 line batteries), many of which were already destroyed by the relentless air strikes.

He would have to make do. Plus, if he could employ these 72 launchers on the fray, he would have another full SAM air defense battalion.

"Parts…do you have a lot of parts for these things?"

She raised one of her eyebrows.

"What?"

"Just answer it."

"Ugh, fine. Yes, we do. There's a warehouse nearby where they stockpiled the parts produced by this factory for these things. There's even missiles in another depot, but I'm not sure of its condition."

Amelie closed the distance between the two after she gave a few good looks at these so-called "ARCHER SAM systems" which were lined up in the depot close to each other.

"Hey, William, can these things really help?"

"They are most likely going to be a bit subpar at target acquisition and tracking, but these things could massively bolster the city's air defense if deployed."

"Then why the long face?"

"Besides the fact that it's outdated, it might take time to retrain whoever Colonel Kleist could gather to operate these units. These things are practically ancient."

Countess Keller seemed outraged at having her products insulted, but Amelie stayed calm and still. It seemed that these things, according to William, weren't the best.

But better have something than nothing, right?

"In any case, you all need to pay me for these things." Keller declared. "These things, including the parts here, aren't free."

Immediately, Amelie's mouth moved before William could say anything.

"How much?"

"12 Billion Orlish Blancs, and this factory and everything on its depots is yours."

"Deal."

"What?!" William seemed flabbergasted. She had agreed to that quickly? JTF-Ludendorf was basically Martial Law. He had the authority to immediately acquire everything here at no cost (except for some government promissory notes).

"William, we need this. I have billions of personal wealth. This is nothing."

"But we can have this at no cost!"

Amelie frowned as Keller made a voice of protest with a sudden "What!?"

The lady seethed so much, that it was almost as if she wanted to strangle William on the spot right at that exact moment.

Fortunately, the Queen's presence prevented that.

"William, that's just stealing. Robbery even."

"Well, we can give her some IOUs to pay her later instead."

"Still no. I hate debt. If I can pay for it, then there's no need for the government to go further in debt."

"Fine."

Amelie turned back to Keller, who still seemed unamused by William's suggestions. This was her…or well, her dead brother's property after all. No way that asshole could just say, "It's mine now!" on a whim! There were billions of her precious blancs on the line!

"Can you please hammer in the details further? I want this deal done within the day."

"That quick? Hmm, I suppose the city needs it quickly anyway."

"Yes, and William explained that it would take more time to prepare these 'SAM' systems for combat. That's why, please make haste. My money is ready."

"Well, fear not, Your Majesty. I'll be quick!"

…

Amelie watched the skies, which were somehow silent already, from the balcony of the office building in the factory.

It was already afternoon, and the sun was about to set, which left pinkish hues in the skies, subtly obscured at times by the faint smoke from the damaged districts of the city.

Do I really have a chance left? A chance left to save this city and Kingdom?

Even when kilometers away from the city, she could hear the faint sounds of artillery from the frontlines. She wondered how many soldiers were dying for her, and against her.

So distant she was from those who served till death for her, yet she was so close to the war. It was a chilling fact for her. Just months ago, war was such a distant reality for her, much less the idea of being the Queen at such a young age.

Especially when the Great War had just ended.

Yet here she stood now. A Queen at war. At war with her disloyal subjects and that blasted Empress.

When will it all end?

The air raid sirens sounded suddenly once more. Instinctively, she turned around to William's direction, who was inside the office where they awaited Countess Keller.

He seemed to be conversing with someone over the radio.

"William?"

He turned to her. He was sitting on a chair, the table in front of him holding his various electronics which he used to contact their HQ in the Queen's Bunker.

"Another missile strike. They're hitting our northern districts this time. Trying to cut us off from the routes to Rebenslof perhaps?"

"What do you mean?"

"They seem to be attacking the roads and rail lines up north. That's our connection to Rebenslof. That would probably hamper civilian evacuations out of Halia."

Her face fell grim, as outside, the streaks of surface-to-air missiles appeared in the skies. The distant thuds and booms were apparent to both, as she fell silent, merely the buzz of William's radio being the only thing that sounded in the room.

"...William, will these ARCHER systems really help us?"

"Hopefully, yes. Perhaps it would buy us enough time until Army formations up north can redeploy more of their AA units over here."

"I see…we really have no choice then. We'll have to make do." He nodded in response as the strikes finally manifested themselves to their ears as distant booms. "How long can we get these things into the fight?"

"As far as I can tell, 4 or 5 days, maybe a few dozen from the most rushed trainees. They would have minimal training and would probably operate awfully but…maybe the Chief Air Marshal is ready by then. We are already seeing two or three Air Force squadrons helping us at times for example."

"It has not really helped us yet."

"Well, they're sending thousands of air sorties and hundreds of missiles at us. A few squadrons can hardly help. But, maybe by next week things will improve."

She merely nodded in hopeful agreement. Optimism was at an all-time low, but she hoped. Hoped that he was right, and that support and reinforcements would reach the capital soon.

With a sigh, she sat near the table beside William, as she buried her face in her hands. The mere sight of her so down seemed to elicit a concerned remark from William.

"Are you holding up well, Amelie?"

"I'm trying. But, this is just how it is for everyone, right? I have no right to complain."

He chuckled for a bit.

"Trust me. Even the most hardened soldier on the ground is cursing at everything and complaining, even when they don't say it. It's a natural human response."

"...That's comforting to hear."

She raised her head and looked at him.

"Hey, William. What about you? Are you holding up well?"

"I certainly never held this much responsibility, to defend an entire city. But I suppose I'm just in my natural habitat, you could say."

"...That doesn't sound good, William. No human should consider war as their home."

"You'd find many men disagree with you. Is it in our blood? Maybe not. But what I do know is that many young men like me grew up in the boot camps and the battlefields."

"But still. I think you're all just…unjustly lost. No one should grow up in war."

"If only every 'no one should' was true, we'd all be in paradise by now." He stood from his chair. "Anyways, I'm going to check up on the inspectors. They already arrived. If you need help, just use this radio."

He handed her a radio and gave her a few instructions on how to use it. Naturally, Amelie absorbed his instructions quite quickly. It seemed that the war had done such things to her. Perhaps it was fear, or a sense of desperate necessity…but, what she did know, was that she was now learning faster.

"Alright, I see. Please go on. I can handle myself here for now."

…

"Well…I think these things could work, sir. Though, it would probably require some serious work."

"That so?"

"Yep. But I think our mechanics could get these bad boys up and running within a few hours, assuming none of us gets nabbed by those air strikes."

The inspector cracked a smile at William, who gladly returned the same.

"Well, that's good then. Do work on it, ASAP. I want these things sent to Colonel Kleist quickly."

The inspector nodded. Immediately, William turned around to face the Countess, who stood behind him and watched as he and the inspectors checked the conditions of the vehicles.

"So?"

"Well, Lady Keller, it appears that these things would be quite useful. Though, I must say, quite the audacity to charge Her Majesty at almost the same value of these things when fresh out of the factory, eh?"

She smirked with much greed. Indeed, it seemed that the Countess was quite the opportunistic woman.

"Well, we have to take opportunities whenever it appears."

William smiled further.

"Sure, Lady Keller. But do please know, this might bite you back once this conflict is over. Those who haven't been quite cooperative with Her Majesty…after all, might be in a serious pickle once we start dispensing justice to traitors, wouldn't you say?"

"I'm no traitor, Major Porter. This is mere business. I would never dare join those deranged men up in arms against Her Majesty."

William chuckled as he passed beside her, and spoke in a scathingly silent way to her ears.

"That might be true…but you see, I consider anyone who even stands as a minor obstacle as a potential traitor. Do be careful, Pauline."

An amused mirth appeared on her face. However, it should be noted that her reddening face clearly showed that she was absolutely not amused by the man that she had rejected 4 years ago.

"Ah…so just because you found yourself close to Her Majesty, now you act as if you're a big man. Don't ever refer to me that way, Willy."