Chapter 8:

Jupiter

Convergence of the Three Empires


Red flak fire into the dark night sky, despite the advancements in tracking technology, they still struggled with hitting the Caspian planes that flew almost invisible in the dark.

Despite the fires that engulfed the airstrip and its surroundings, Caius jumped on a plane himself and taxied into the runway, “You think the kid could do it?” Asked Agrippa, he didn’t really wanna lose the boy so quickly.

Neither did Julius, though he believed, “He’s not his father’s kid if he can’t.” Caius stared at the two holding themselves in the hangar, he was given his own San-40 and on its tail was a prominent symbol, a black eagle with a royal crown, in its right claw it held a sword, and on its left claw it held a scepter. This was the symbol of House von Kaiser.

He gave a slight nod as Julius returned it, then, slowly, he gained speed. Through the rough bumps on the runway, he held on, faster and faster until liftoff. He flew into the night, behind him followed another San-40.

A rough yet friendly female voice came through Caius’ radio, “Hey, buddy,” It flew behind him before it caught up, “Kaiser 1 right? Friends below called me Jupiter, cocky right? Shit, I ain’t even Caspian. But I’ll be your wingman.”

“No offense but I don’t feel confident about that.”

“Tch, not only you Caspians could fly!” Jupiter blew past him, quickly, he caught up with two enemy fighters and blew them up, “WOOHOO!” Caius felt the hype through his radio and the boy could only smile.

“Better catch up then.” The two flew into the night, following the thermal image of the Caspian jets that they frequently shot down. One was the best pilot of the Reichsstadt and the other was the best pilot in a Caspian School. Yet they remained equal.

Julius and Agrippa weren't in the hangar anymore, Agrippa stayed in the airstrip, organizing the defense from ground troops seeking to invade it from the flanks. Julius meanwhile, headed back down. There, he murdered them all.

Gun in hand, he led a small team that cut through the frontlines of the Caspian ground forces, all the while coordinating the other flanks to do the same until they met up behind their lines. A perfect encirclement, and thus, they fired.

Their guns blazed into the night, drowning out the screams of terror that pervaded the entire cavern, they scream and yell, they fought back but they couldn’t. Not when the overwhelming firepower that Julius had in his crew’s disposal was present.

And it’s not like the mercenaries that he wielded weren’t fighting for their lives. He knew they did, with every inch of blood that fell upon his shoes, he felt their desire to just grab onto this blood and shower themselves with it if not for the small moment of living.

A significant portion of the Reichsstadt burnt due to the flames of war. Especially the fact that most of the buildings were made of wood. The watchtower at the plaza watched the battle from afar, it witnessed the carnage afoot. It witnessed Julius in his purest form, it witnessed Julius as the reincarnation of all generals that came before him. And he was, he liked to believe so.

In 10 minutes, the powerful line of the Caspian army was decimated, left to scrap for themselves what little people could be left behind, all without a single word from Julius von Kaiser. Soaked and bloodied, he stepped out of the mountain of corpses that littered Broadside Avenue, where he noticed one of them was still alive.

He grabbed onto the wounded soldier’s collar, spat out blood, and asked, “Tell us who sent you here and we might just spare you.” He threatened, pressing the gun upon the soldier’s temple. The soldier wavered, after all, Caspian wasn’t known for its ground forces, most of which were conscripts.

“Dorsia! Lieutenant General Barbus Dorsia!” The soldier cried out, tears fell down his face, it brushed away the blood that stained it, if not for a little bit.

Julius sympathized with the poor soldier, he rubbed the soldier’s face with a loving warmth, “Attaboy.” Julius dropped the soldier and walked away, he fired two shots at him and killed him instantly. He threw the gun to a random mercenary and brushed back his hair, “One of you ask Guippy who the fuck this Barbus Dorsia is. Two Hundred Thousand Caspian Francs to anyone that could bring him to me,” Julius glared at all of them, “Alive.”

The crowd split away from him as he walked back to his home.

*

Things couldn’t be more different above ground. They were still winning, but not totally. Agrippa struggled with defenses on the ground more so to the fact that the Close Air Support of the Caspians overpowered theirs, even if it was 10 minutes already, Caius and Jupiter still couldn’t achieve air superiority.

It was the danger zone, and Caius could feel his heart thumping to the sound of the engines of his fighter. Between the loud blaring of the robotic female voice that announced a missile is thrown towards him, and the red glow of the alert screen, he almost could not hear nor see his thoughts.

Yet nevertheless, they moved like blooming flowers in the night sky, their gratuitous petals ended the life of multiple pilots that night and finally, superiority. They swung around and aimed at the airbase, they aimed their guns at the trees and fired. Like a dazzling comet, their missiles flew into the dark night then, boom.

They then spun around again for another round, though as they did they noticed the firing stopped. Thermal imaging also revealed that some of the ground troops started to retreat. The fight was over. The 44th, what’s left of them, at least, was nowhere to be found.

They landed safely, all in all the Caspians lost half their battalion, but so did Julius. And Julius’ men aren’t built for direct conflict, no. That was how they would die, instead, guerilla tactics were implemented. But what happened today was less than guerilla.

Caius opened his cockpit and released steam from his sweat that fogged up the insides. It was almost at a point that he had to rely on his instinct, but nevertheless, he survived the fight. He clicked on his radio and attempted to contact Jupiter to no avail.

He stood up and looked around, behind him was Jupiter’s jet, but there was no one there, she had left as fast as she came. Agrippa was there though, he ran towards Caius’ plane to greet his friend, “My lord. We have won!”

There was chaos everywhere, the airstrip was on fire and was surrounded by both the corpses of their former comrades, of Caspian soldiers, and broken vehicles in between. But they won, they won only because they live to fight another day. “Seems we have.” Said Caius.

Agrippa helped him down, “Your uncle took care of the ones that went in from below. Heard that the entire place is on fire, won’t be an easy rest tonight, I guess.” This was Julius’ first night on this planet.

Cora
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