Beautiful Moon Night

Nightfall. Two planes flew together, almost in harmony, amidst the dead-silent darkness of the ocean and the sky. For miles and miles there was nothing to see, only the carrier group, the moon, and the stars. They flew low, they flew high. Through the waves they wander and yet they remain fine.

There was silence between them, that even through the encrypted comms they were unable to say anything, anything to one another. But there was nothing that came to mind of the both of them. Even if they felt truly alone, together.

“The waves are still tonight,” Caius started, “This was the first night I’ve had where I could see the three moons well.” They reflected off the ocean along with the stars, as if a giant mirror for miles and miles.

“Were there no moons in Caspian?” Asked Angelica, for all her life she only knew the three moons. She has not even stepped foot outside her planet, compared to Caius who used to travel to different planets in the Caspian Empire with his family.

“There were a lot. Caspian had 84 moons. But most of them were so small we couldn’t see them amidst the clouds and the city skylights.”

“So a view like this, would be foreign? Yes?”

“Yes. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life.” He gawked at the sight of stars colliding upon sea colliding upon the sky. Like milk spilt through a black expanse. And the moons themselves added to the view.

Angelica stared across the sky and saw her leading pilot stare blankly into the night. She didn’t know what was in his mind, nor would she bother to ask, she wouldn’t know what to say in the first place after all. She only knew how to fly, her entire life, her entire ego, hinged on her skills, thus, she challenged him, perhaps to cool the air. She knew she would win, after all “Want to chase?” She asked.

Caius turned to look at his fuel and saw that he had enough, “Yeah, sure. Why not?” At that point, Angelica flicked on her afterburners and flew past Caius. Caius did as well as they locked one another in a long chase.

They chased through the waters, and flew above the carrier at mach speed several times against the behest of the people below. But what do they know? They’re exercising, this was relevant for future operations. At least, that was their excuse.

For Angelica it was the joy and fear of finally finding an equal in the battlefield. One that could match her skills and possibly, threaten her life. It excited her, even though she knew in her heart that she would win in the end. For Caius, it reminded him of his time in the academy. And as he perfectly tailed her every movement down to a T. It seemed that, “Jupiter, I got a lock.”

The diodes, dials, equipment, all around Angelica’s plane sprang into chaos as the terror of being locked onto by a plane that possibly carried a missile dwelled upon them. This was the first, no, second time this happened. And though she weaved to and fro in an attempt to shake off the lock, Julius kept his eyes on her.

Left with no other choice, she lowered her speed, and with tremendous force, pulled up, causing her aircraft to enter a high, almost 90 degree angle. This stalled it and massively reduced its speed into a stop. Now she’s behind him and she flicked on her afterburners once more, “My win.” She said.

As she stabilized her plane, Caius was already in a loop so tight it was no longer than his aircraft, he was already above her, missiles aimed steadily. It was then, as Angelica looked above and saw Caius flash a smile that she realized, “My win.” She lost.

That was her first actual loss, and though in her eyes she knew she was alive. In her heart she knew that she died that night. Her hands shook so much that it felt terrible to even land her plane. It was a mess of emotions for her, seeing as her entire personality dwelled on the fact that she was undefeatable in the skies. Even by her peers, even by her enemies. That she was the greatest ace in all of Concursus. But now, as her fingers shook in agony, she knew she wasn’t anymore. Not anymore.

“Not anymore…” She was shaking inside her seat when Caius himself went up to her to get her out. He looked at her with slight confusion, she was, after all, looking at her shaking arms and muttering the words, “Not anymore, not anymore, not anymore.”

He snapped her finger at her as she turned to notice him, in her eyes she saw a feral beast ready to devour her whole. Her eyes were full of fear, fear not because he defeated her, but fear because her status was overthrown. She was no longer capable of being Jupiter Megalos.

“Are you okay? How about we exercise again tomorrow morning?” He offered. She was reluctant at first. But if there was one thing that Julius taught her, it wasn’t to face her fears, her demons. It wasn’t to beat them in battle, no. It was to make them submit to your whims.

She grabbed Caius by the collar, face to face with her demon, and said, “I will pummel you to the ground.”

“So that’s a yes?” He asked nervously and made sure to not further anger, frighten, or distress her. She pushed him away as she jumped out of her plane on her own, as a last symbol of her ruined pride, she spat at Caius’ shoe and walked away.

Agrippa rushed over to him, “My lord, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” He looked down to his spat-on shoe, “I just beat her in a chase.”

Agrippa stared at Angelica as she frustratedly walked down the flight deck. Though it was a dark night, it was still a lively place. At times like these, there were some crew members that would make a living selling whatever goods they took with them. There were no restrictions, and as such there was a sprawling market that sat beside the flight deck. Angelica disappeared through that crowd.

He would not see her again until tomorrow morning.

*

A series of messages are passed through a series of networks through a series of mouths through a series of people. Words spread around slowly in such an interconnected yet ultimately disjointed Galaxy, this is because the information network of each empire is different, there is no unity between them. Word from one Empire to another would only spread if an outside force would dictate such, and with the war for Concursus, the three Empires in question have come to limit the migration of their citizens to and from their respective empires.

Word is sent to a bar by a messenger, through the gossip of many, through private messages, and phone calls by friends and conventional allies. Through word of mouth, through word of absolute information they would know all of one thing, and one thing only. A message sent through the entirety of the galaxy by any means necessary.

“The Kaiserreich is open for admission.”

What followed after the message was a high influx of people all over the galaxy making a beeline towards Concursus. They numbered in the high hundred millions, the story of the Kaiserreich grew far and wide. And with the announcement, Julius inadvertently sent millions to their death. Yet he doesn’t care, all he cares about are the few that manage to get in.

The first challenge in getting into the Kaiserreich was getting to Concursus in the first place. Concursus is a highly fought over area, even its system is under heavy lockdown by the three distinct empires. Even the pathway systems towards said area have high security. This was the first purge of candidates. Anyone unskilled enough to get through such a blockade was never gonna get into the Kaissereich.

The second challenge came directly after the first. There was no safe landing in the entirety of the planet, no neutral drop pod where civilians could use and military could not. No, there was no neutral space. That only existed when Romulus still existed. Instead, every unauthorized landing is a crash landing.

Only the skilled--or lucky-- few that would find the airstrip above the Kaissereich would be able to enter the interview, and thus Julius’ harsh screening process. You see, Julius had a reputation. Not as Julius von Kaiser. He knew full well that if the status of his identity came around this entire operation would be for naught. No, he needed a monarchial moniker, something grand, something massive. He took the name “Augustus”. Augustus von Kaiser, king of Kaiserreich. It was the name he’s known for by everyone outside the Kaiserreich, and every low plebeians that comes around.

It was a name that showed him in an immaculate light, a holy light, a deified light if you may. Through his rampant propaganda, some of the mercenaries saw him as this sort of God of Mercenaries that would fight with them and would win them their every battle, with extraneous riches of course. Others saw him as the Deity that protects Concursus against the three empires. As such, he was revered as the King of the Kaiserreich. And only those he respected would be able to enter it.

He also ordered the expansion of the Reichsstadt. With the Caspian engineering technology that he acquiesced, he would be able to expand the Reichsstadt’s possible population to at least four million throughout the next few days.

Though as he sat inside his study and witnessed the first few new faces enter his kingdom, he wondered if he would be able to utilize them all to their fullest potential. He would need them after all. Four hundred million soldiers are no joke.

He sipped his coffee. It was going to be a long year.