Interlude IV: A moment in the Great WarPart OneThe trenches stank. Loose damp soil mixed with the metallic smell of blood and the rot of death. The sound of shell bombardment was a companion, walking hand in hand with death. The Prussians had been bombing them for hours now, but thankfully those black flying machines were gone. Like an omen of death, the Prussia plane had singled were in the trenches to bombard and they had lost many men to those cursed planes.At least the emperor was kind enough to send their planes and at last shoot down the Prussian bastards. How many of his friends and comrades had been killed before their reinforcements arrived?He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to think about his best friend Thomas miles back where he'd left the boy, rotting in a puddle on the ground. He had left the first friend he'd made when he enlisted. He couldn't even give the boy a proper burial. If he stayed, those shells might have killed him too.Joseph collapsed agai
Chapter VII Part One"What? Did you get a real meal? Real food?" Rolo complained, jabbing his fork in my direction. "How is that fair? I'm eating mystery meat out of a can."I sighed. Why did I tell anyone about the general's invitation? Because they'd find out sooner or later, with the balding old man inviting me to eat with him every day. I still hadn't figured out a way to decline without offending him."Fair?" Alphonse said back. "You're supposed to be a knight. War is never fair.""You know what I mean.""I'm afraid I do not."Alphonse and Rolo had a history that I had been unaware of. Port Royale was the colonial capital of Acadia. House Chevalier and House Morel both lived there. Of course, they would know each other."Alright, that's enough," Bian interrupted. Both of them stopped. She pulled a chunk of meat out of her tin and shook her head. "It might not be fair, but that's the nature of Calixte's status. He can't help being born a prince anymore than any of us can help bein
Chapter VIII Part OneI had killed someone. At least one person was dead because of me. Maybe both pilots I shot down were dead. Until now, in either of my lives, I hadn't killed anyone. I had not taken someone's life.What did I think was going to happen when I joined the military? That I wasn't going to be asked to kill anyone? Did I think I could avoid killing my enemies? Looking back on it, the thought of murder hadn't crossed my mind.I hadn't been a soldier in my last life. My dad had been in the army and he had told me old war stories as a child. I had never wanted to join the service after those stories and I think that was the idea. How could I have forgotten everything he ranted about?War never changes. That was a meme in my last world. How many times have I read one and laughed? Staring at a pile of bodies, smelling urine mixed with burned flesh, it wasn't so funny anymore.War was hell. Even in this world, that simple law hadn't changed. How many times had my friends and
Louise Empress Louise was not a patient person by nature. The only person she had even been patient with was Francois, and that was not by choice. He was the only one with a higher station than her in the whole empire, so she couldn't command him to do anything.Everyone but Francois's children and that other bitch he took to bed was fair game though. Which was why the artist being late was unacceptable. Her time was more valuable than his, frankly, and the longer she was made to wait, the more irritable she became.As a Prussian artist in Aquroya, he should be down worshiping at her feet for the patronage she's shown him. The Great War was still fresh in the people's minds and the Aquitese hadn't forgiven Prussia for what they did. If it wasn't for her, he would have to go back to Vienna.Of course, being a Prussian in Vienna was hardly better than being a Prussian in Aquitaine. Prussia had led Vienna to defeat in the Great War, and the Austro-Hungarian-Reimanian empire had barely h
Chapter IX Part OneWhen I came too, it was dark. The window was smaller than it should have been, but I made out the sky beyond. It was twilight, that time between the light and day. The sky was just starting to lighten, but it was still too dark to see.I laid back down and turned over. My arms fell over something... There was someone in my bed with me. What?Whoever it was, they were soft and warm.Who had slipped into my bed? I tried to remember the night before, but everything was blurry. I had come back from my first combat mission and then Bian had found me. She gave me wine...I guess that explained the blurriness. At least I wasn't suffering from a hangover.Had someone snuck into my room drunk and gotten in bed with me? If they were drunk enough they wouldn't know what they were doing. I just hope it wasn't Alphonse or Rolo. Let it be a girl, please.The events of the night before came back to hit me like a train. Tanya had found me, we had gone to her room, and I lost my v-
Euphemia IThe headline read: "Florentine Colony of South Morocco declares war!"Below it, in much smaller print, were the words: 'Emperor Francois charges War Group Victorian with the defense of Morocco. Aquroya and Reim agree the matter is a colonial incident - war averted.'My driver looked back at me from the mirror. "Are you alright, your highness?""Yes. I'm just nervous," I said. It was only half a lie."What's there to be nervous about? Prince Henri is your brother.""When my brother calls on me, it's always to his estate or a cafe.""I see."Did she? Maybe she did. I turned my attention back to the newspaper. Calixte and Victoria were in Morocco. The defense of the colony would be left to them. I had faith in my sister's command, but Calixte was untested. Sure, he had an unnatural reserve of mana, but what did my fourteen-year-old brother know about war? We had only debuted a few months ago.He was going to be a mounted knight, flying a warplane, but that just put him in the
Calixte IBrigadier General Blanc was nervous. It was the first time I had ever seen him nervous. Whenever I ate with him, he was full of, undeserved in my opinion, confidence. He was talking to an older man with a head full of white hair. I had never seen him before, but I recognized the black uniform he was wearing; Office of Secret Intelligence.It was the imperial equivalent of the Gestapo or the KGB. They reported directly to my father and only answered him. Not even the Imperial Assembly or Military High Command could interfere with the OSI.My heart started pounding a little more. I was a prince and my station usually protected me from certain institutions, but my father had given them discretionary powers that could be used against me.The white-haired man turned when he saw me. I saluted, noticing the three stars on his uniform. "Sir!"The white-haired officer saluted back. "At ease, your Highness. I'm Agent Laurent."Laurent? That was a common name in the empire. Like Smith
Interlude: NGLFThe Captain stared out at the city, the lights illuminating the darkness. Her new overlords had named it Bayard. Her former masters called it Thinis, and they would claim they built the city. The Egyptians were liars, they had built 'Thinis' years ago, not the invaders. She had no illusions that Aquitaine and Corai would be any better than their old masters.If anything, Corai was worse than Egypt or Aquitaine. Her people knew the latter two were imperial invaders, but they seemed to forget Corai had invaded their home just the same. The only difference was Corai controlled the other half of their homeland, where their brethren were ground under heal. The Front ignored this because of the money and weapons Corai supplied.The Captain worried. What were they going to do if they did liberate themselves from Aquitaine? They would still have Corai to deal with and Corai acted as their benefactors. One day they would need to fight Corai, and she didn't know if the front was