Sovereign

"We mere morally bankrupt rats can only look up at those morally virtuous angels with envy. How frighteningly luxurious - to always be a paragon of saintness."

- Excerpt from the "Tales of the Disgusting Conscript."

---

Ivory Palace

03:40 Hours

The discussion dragged on in anxious haste. Huddled inside the room were the highest-ranking officials of Orland still in the city - officials who were loyal to the crown. Naturally, it was Amelie’s gang, her inner circle, with the new necessary addition - the commanding officer of the Halian Garrison.

Prime Minister Jacqueline naturally seemed anxious.

Deputy Prime Minister Walter seemed to be laughing as he spoke. His head shook rapidly as he did, which naturally implied that he was really, really, furious.

Colonel Kleist was stone-faced.

And William finished his presentation with a resounding thud on the table.

"Thus, it is clear that we would need more fresh bodies if we are to hold this city. Colonel Kleist?"

The Colonel nodded.

"The weapons stockpiles in the city should be sufficient to field 30,000 conscripts in short order. More if we can mobilize and train within the next few weeks."

Walter also spoke. He had a natural knack for military strategy, being a former military officer. His main consideration was Halia’s available stockpiles of military equipment. The situation was so dire that he didn’t desire the possibility of being reliant on other cities and regions. If Halia were to be temporarily cut off, he banked on Halia being capable of standing on its own.

"We have tanks and heavy equipment as well, right?"

"Yes, sir. We even have twelve factories of varying sizes producing military equipment - although the Taurer Plant that produces Löwe tanks in the east end of the city was bombed 20 minutes ago."

Amelie observed the proceedings with great attention. Never had she been truly exposed to military matters of such depth. William, the Colonel, and Walter discussed positions, defense lines, critical sectors, and points to be defended.

And now, logistics and supplies. The very strategic framework of military warfare. Naturally, the dreadfulness of the situation wasn't lost on her.

The mere fact that they were discussing the defense of her capital city cracked her heart. Had she failed so much, that her Kingdom truly crumbled at such a state? So much so, that now, she had to fight wars, and sacrifice the blood of many for victory.

She could not simply stand down anymore. Her delusions had faded. War was here - and it would never back down. While she would have likened it to having a chat with Heindöff to talk the matters out, she knew that was nonsense.

He had committed treason and so did all officers, politicians, and soldiers with him. In her sleep, he and his men had launched an attempt to violently usurp her.

There could be no negotiations. Not until she had weakened them enough and strengthened her position.

Still, she sighed.

“Do we really need another mass conscription?”

The question hushed the discussion as all looked at the Queen. It was both a bitter and scary word for both men and women in the room. For men, it represented their disposability. For the women, it represented one of their greatest failures and crime. Amelie didn’t want such measures. So did Jacqueline.

But Walter was quick to answer.

“Yes.”

“And who will we conscript?” Asked Amelie, already sure of the answer herself.

“There are still many men in this city.” He said quickly, although his voice seemed to drop a little. “Many, veterans of the Great War, or former military men who know how to hold a rifle and follow commands.”

Yet she didn’t want to conscript her female subjects. It went against her ideals. Why should she extend the pain instead of eliminating it? Yet…she could not eliminate such reality for men either. But then, who would fight for her if not for them? She had read history for a long time, and almost all attempts to conscript women failed.

Gaul tried it in the Great War - all that Kingdom saw was an insurrection and it was reversed quite quickly. It made her wonder, why men would almost always accept such fate, with but only a tinge of resentment. Perhaps a misplaced sense of duty?

Duty to what? A collective that didn’t care? It baffled her.

“I see…do we have the powers to enact such measures?”

Jacqueline looked at her and nodded.

“I cannot. I would need the Parliament’s approval should I desire to do so. You however can. Just a word from you, and you can force all eligible young men straight to the recruitment centers.”

Amelie glanced at Walter and William, one last time. Both had the same response in their eyes.

We have no other options.

“Then a draft it is then. I want all of Orland to mobilize from today to meet all threats to our national security.” Her voice almost cracked. “And…all young men, as long as they meet requirements - are required to report to the draft, according to the needs of the Armed Forces of Orland.”

Walter and Jacqueline nodded. Her Majesty’s orders - to defend all of Orland, shall be followed.

…

Alice didn’t like the sounds of it. Outside, distant booms and rattles could be heard from her room. Outside of her room, soldiers, knights, and all other adults ran around everywhere.

Three Knights, friends that she had known for many years, dragged her off her beloved bedroom to a secluded room. It had no windows, the doors were locked, and it was almost dark. They told her to stay put, and only one of the Knights, Guinevere, stayed with her.

“What is happening?” She asked.

“It will all be alright,” Guinevere replied.

“It doesn’t seem to be alright.” She rebutted. None of it indeed was alright. What alright? There was gunfire outside. She was no dimwit, she knew it when someone fired those cylindrical abominations.

She knew what it meant when the sirens sounded.

She knew what it meant when many soldiers were around.

She knew what it meant when Amelie was gone in the middle of the night.

And she knew what it meant when explosions and gunfire were happening outside.

She loathed their nonsense. Their babying of her. She was a child, but she was no mere innocent angel who would not know such awful realities.

And so she frowned.

She would never trust that nonsense once more. Albert told her that “everything will be alright”, but where was he now?

Gone. He was now gone on the high seas. How could he? How could they all do this to her? To lie and lie.

“Your Highness-”

Guinevere was interrupted by the door opening. On it was Marta herself - her maid in waiting, and behind her was Amelie. Immediately, the princess’ eyes brightened at the sight of her older sister. Her only sole bastion in the sea of darkness.

“Amelie! Amelie!” With tears, she embraced her older sister. Unlike before, the gates blew open. Worried, utterly worried, was a mere understatement to describe Alice. At the very least, her beloved sister was here.

“Alice? Why are you-”

“Why are we still here?! We’re leaving, aren’t we? I’m scared, they might hit us. I know what is happening! The bad guys, they’re here, right?”

She felt Amelie’s hands on the back of her head, as she soothed Alice.

“Look, we will be safe, alright? This city and the Palace are under heavy defense.”

“But, but still!”

“And, William has notified me of a fortified bunker nearby. We will be moving there, if that would ease your anxiety a bit. Just trust me.”

“But what if the bad guys stormed us?”

“I will never let that happen.”

…

Tor Bridge

Ludendorf River

7th Mechanized Regiment

04:34 Hours

On the other side of the bridge, multiple squads of the 7th positioned themselves on the small town situated on it. Civilians lined the evacuation routes, as trucks and cars passed through the military checkpoints to move through the Tor bridge.

It was hectic, as the bombardment of Halia itself was audible for all to hear.

“Hey, you seeing this shit?” Asked one of the soldiers to his buddy as he placed down his binoculars.

The two were huddled in the dark outskirts of the town, as they observed the road for approaching vehicles.

“It’s the enemy, I think.”

“You think?”

His buddy pulled out his radio in response.

“Clearly.”

With a few buzzes in the radio, the two reported the approaching enemy, before they bolted off.

Tank threads rumbled forward, as the approaching column arrived just a few hundred more meters. The troops of the 7th prepared their rifles and AT weapons in haste. Their goal was simple, delay the enemy before they reached the bridge itself.

One such squad had two men who manned the furthest point in the town. The two were hidden behind a store that stood near the entrance of the town.

“Steady…got the locks?”

“Aye, sarge.”

“Fire at my command.”

The imposing hulls of the Löwe tanks came ever so close. The soldier’s portable anti-tank weapon system, which he held, tracked the lead vehicle’s movement. And then-

“Fire!”

…

“They are here.”

William’s brief report concluded Amelie’s hasty efforts to vacate her office. Even with Alice’s maid-in-waiting’s help, it was a messy business. Papers and books littered her room, and it looked less like a Queen’s office and more like a college student’s unfortunate cave.

“How far?”

“They are at the Tor bridge. The 7th reported a developing engagement with them.”

She paused from compiling her documents into one of her folders.

“...Casualties?”

“They eliminated a dozen enemy vehicles, but, the town on the bridge is under heavy artillery fire.”

“I see.”

Within minutes, Amelie and her staff were moving through the hallways. She only carried her necessities, as she needed to reach the bunker posthaste, less she died an unfortunate death.

“Can we really hold this city?”

“I cannot tell much more other than we will try.”

William followed her closely, and he occasionally conversed through his radio whenever Amelie wasn’t asking anything.

She stepped off the Palace entrance - and what greeted her truly sent chills up her spine. In the distance, the night sky was enveloped with yellow and red lights from the fires that raged in the distance. Tracers and missiles rose up, without end, and her city burned.

Burned in the fires of war. She could not fathom how she would even rebuild it if she won. But such thoughts were distant nonsense - mere drivel from a mind that struggled to comprehend the hell she witnessed.

“So…this is what war really is?”

“Amelie?”

“William…is this what you men saw in the Great War?”

The thunder of distant explosions synchronized with her words, as she turned back to William. Even in the darkness, his face would almost flicker with each boom.

The Great War, the war young men like him saw alone. The war they were forced to be in. The war that massacred their kind with cold abandon. The hell that was their fate.

Now the fate of even the most powerful kinds of women.

“Indeed. Isn’t it hell already?”

She turned back to her burning city. Weakly, she nodded. Why had it all ended this way? No such answers came. But she came to one realization.

All I can do now is end this. To the bitter end.

“William, will you follow me and see this war to the end?”

“I already gave you the oath. Yes, to hell and back, for you. Same with my men. Same with countless loyalists with you today. We will.”

“Then…let us win this war, and end this hell. Once and for all.”

She would be a victorious Sovereign - eventually.