"Mono/Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
Narration
[Message/communication apparatus]
Date: 17th October 645 AU
Location: Graceveria Regalia, the Capital of Regalian Autarchy.
POV: Narrator.
The first thing that greeted The Grand Autarch’s arrival was a singur sentence and synchronized salute by pcing their right palm ft on their heart on a diagonal angle.
“Eternity!”
““““For our Autarchy!””””
Cylene nodded and made her way towards an empty seat, pced on the same level as everyone in the assembly but noticeably more ornate. She took her seat and looked on quietly before her subordinates who were still standing straight, she blinked once and commanded them to sit.
“At ease.” The officials and officers sat down simultaneously, and none said anything. This contrasted with the hubbub and dynamic chaos before her arrival. They watched as the Grand Autarch merely tapped her finger on the table while her other hand rested under her chin. She appeared to be deep in thought.
No one dared utter a word. All those heated debates, insults, and even challenges were drowned by an oppressive aura of but one person. Her eyes scan the room nguidly, but the ever-so-fierce golden-tinted eyes are like bdes a short sweep away from parting their necks. After a few minutes of silence, Cylene’s eyes move toward the Interior Secretary, who is sweating buckets under her gaze.
“Report of the internal situation.”
“By your will! Currently, Regalia is under an unprecedented crisis due to a phenomenon that was theorized to be astral; akin to the Southern Icefield Exclusion Zone. Coordination and cooperation between branches have been going smoothly, although we’ll need to allocate more time to ascertain the full extent of our situation.”
“… 20th Global War’s total casualties?” Her tone turned somber.
“We are still assessing the final result of our census but… at least 30-60 million of our people had been gravely affected due to the 10-year-long war.” The Grand Autarch reclined back in her seat, they could only imagine the storm brewing inside her mind from such information.
“… about 5 to 10 percent of our popution…” Her pause made the assembly feel even the temperature dropping a notch colder.
“Decre this exact date, as well the following week, as the day of mourning. The only due we could afford the dead is remembrance, but life goes on. Etch their sacrifices into Regalia’s legacy.”
“By your will…” She motioned him to sit back down. Her mind raced through multitudes of projects that she had pnned before, during, and by the te stages of war. She then remembered her rather audacious request to either construct smaller reconnaissance satellites to avoid detection by NIIO or to arm them with defensive turrets. The tter one is unfeasible because how are they going to supply them when the skies are so contested? So the R&D goes with the former.
“Satellites status?” She asked the Director of R&D all of a sudden, the poor woman jerked slightly eliciting a side gre from the Western Field Marshal beside her. Cylene saw that small exchange, she only narrowed her eyes to make the firebrand behave.
Rhycelia trembled in her seat but maintained her fa?ade calm under pressure. The Grand Autarch’s stare intensified and the Field Marshal find it difficult to have any sliver of oxygen pumped into her lungs. When her Grand Autarch finally lost interest, she could breathe a sigh of relief quietly. The Director of R&D cleared her throat before giving the report her dy had requested.
“A-ahem, before the war, we had 22 military satellites, which were further reduced to only 4 by the 10th year. We now have confirmed the loss of our remaining celestial infrastructure. “
“Then how long before we could unch the repcement?”
“It will be done as soon as possible, current projection to unch a repcement satellite was sted for unch in 4 weeks at best. The satellites we had made years ago, but unable to unch due to contested airspace, should theoretically work as intended.”
“Lastly, what’s the status of our new experimental satellite? We try to downsize them if my memory serves me well…”
“At this point, Your Grace, we are still hard at work in theoretical groundwork and design… but the ck of funding proves to be challenging. At this rate, it would not be finished for at least 5 more months at a bare minimum for prototype testing… We deeply apologize for our failure 12 years ago… it was beyond our calcution for the Crusader to pierce the atmosphere before we did.”
“Enough.” The woman nods quickly, with her breaths held by her throat she watches raptly at what sort of judgment she’ll receive. Thankfully, fate sees her plight and decides to be kind.
“I’ll see what I can do and I want an updated report, general status, progress, and problems that occurred during development within a week. Else, losing your job would be the st thing on your mind, clear?”
“By your will!”
“Ministry of Autarchy Resources Sufficiency and Development?”
“What is your bidding, My Grand Autarch?”
“Status of our energy and resources self-sufficiency?”
“So far, we have yet to encounter much of a problem.”
“Then y it out for me, what’s the status of our offshore oil reserves…?” Her words made him cmmed up immediately.
“…” The man is visibly uncomfortable to speak honestly. It is probably one of the most vital pieces of information to understand the immediate impact on the self-sufficiency of their nation.
“Well?”
His silence was deafening before he mustered up his courage to state it pinly.
“Our effort to ascertain the comprehensive truth is still ongoing… but I fear we have truly lost our northern offshore oil reserve… The prospects are also grim for the remaining 3 sectors.”
“How long would this sufficiency st?”
“Your Grace, due to extensive sabotage and air raid towards resource rich regions, we are confronted with problematic news.” Cylene nodded and added her piece.
“It was more due to chemical weapon, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed… our natural gases should endure for another 30-40 years, but our oil situation is dire. 5 years is all it took to deplete our reserves if we keep up consumption comparable to pre-war era. Our war time policy allowed us to triple the potential duration, but to maintain such standard shall hamper our rebuilding efforts.” Cylene is quiet, her fingers has been tapping the table. She continue with her inquiries after remembering another source of energy.
“Our Uranium mines?”
“20 years of non-stop operation before they ran out. We are coordinating with the Ministry of Domestic Pnning and the Rebuilding Committee to hasten the repair and reactivation of Nuclear Power Pnts as Autarchic Order No. 22… had been voted as null.”
He could feel his back sweating after that final part. The assembly rarely voted on their own regarding anything due to obvious reason. Then again Cylene just nodded, appreaciatively even, and prompt him to continue.
“We are confident that the first batch of reactivation shall be done in 6 weeks.”
“Noted, continue with your work.”
“By your will.”
“Ministry of Autarchy Audit and Finance?”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“I’ll be expecting you in my office at the Umbral Pace on the 27th of October.”
“Your word is my command, my Grand Autarch.”
She then inquired about RAIO’s findings so far. The Prime Director reiterated what he had stated beforehand, and everyone could see her brief astonishment which was superseded by her interest in that unknown ndmass.
“Preliminary estimate on its size?”
“Although still vague, we had theorized that the ndmass would be no less than 200.000 km2.”
“Prioritize it. Either we found civilization or a treasure trove of resources as our best possible scenario… of course, the risk would be a potential detriment that we must take into consideration. Especially with how 10 years of war had been affecting us… I could surmise that our damage is moderate at best, which means drastic measures might be necessary.” She grimly acknowledged that fact and moved on.
Cylene then addressed the Supreme Admiral. The man stared back unflinchingly under her gaze. She quirks her eyebrows in amusement briefly before composing her expression once more.
“If my memory does not fail me, our Nuclear Submarines had been dispatched for a preemptive and retaliatory strike, where are they now?”
“Our… transference… had also brought them along with us, they were discovered in our territory in varying distances. It was truly a miracle that they did not start firing blindly in panic when their navigational charts become unresponsive. There were still complications.
Such as when we discovered 4 submarines tailed by schools of unknown aquatic organisms that started attacking their vessels afterward. They used sonars that proved to be enough to scare them away before managing to rendezvous with one of our outlying patrol and sweeper 4 days ago while bring an SOS signal, apparently one of theirs had suffered substantial damage to its rudders.” Cylene eyebrows rose a little before prompting him to finish his report.
“It also proves to be another evidence of our crisis, them being tens of thousands of miles away from home would have taken them days or weeks to return. With the power you entrusted upon me, I had mandated the start of total extermination of harmful wildlife within preset boundaries.”
“And their status?”
“The test report dictates that all 22 are technically operational, although only 7 are fully prepared for rapid deployment. Regarding hostile aquatic life, RANF and RAMCG reported successes in their duties.”
“Good…” The Grand Autarch paused.
“How many detachments could be formed without compromising security?”
“At the moment and excluding captured, empty, enemy vessels, our navy could spare at most 3 task forces of 8 ships or 1 fleet of 24 ships. Of course, using our remaining aircraft carriers would be out of the question unless we are prepared to lose them. Personally speaking, utilizing our remaining battleships, while certainly hasty, would cause fewer problems if tragedy befalls them. The age of cannons could serves us well, despite its gring disadvantages.” His subordinates agreed silently, even the staunchest ‘Big Guns Rule the Sea’ was spped with the harsh reality of the 19th Global war, and with the 20th being the final nail in the coffin due to NIIO’s nimble and cheap missile boats, URV’s arsenal warship, and greatly overwhelmed and outnumbered.
“I want a task force for auxiliary purposes, and a pair of task forces to map our lost Icefield in the south and that unknown ndmass to our east respectively.”
“Commander Regent Kennedy, how is our fleet faring?” The Commander Regent was confused for a moment before smirking a little. He got a grasp on what she was about to do.
“GSN’s sole supercarrier was damaged, but their battlecarrier is still intact and 2 out 5 LST/HA are good for deployment. About the escorts, 4 cruisers were damaged and 2 were sunk but we crify that the 10 submarines and 12 destroyers are retively intact and unscathed.”
“Good, that problem is solved then.” Cylene turns her head back to the Supreme Admiral.
“Nova Legones is located on the peninsu, until the North Fleet has been rebuilt, they will take the duty of maintaining the north.”
“Then the navy shall have no problem if Your Grace were to-”
“What are you talking about?”
“Pardon?”
“The GSN would be under the provisional command of the Navy while I shall take my mind elsewhere and Kennedy would be tasked with another.”
“… Your Grace are you insinuating…” The Supreme Admiral had naturally realized his misinterpretation of her idea, while that’s perfect in this shortage of manpower and ships, such an undertaking would no doubt be dangerous.
“Yes, if need be, we would secure the ndmass for ourselves. I will send my marine brigade to make ndfall along with the detachment. Of course, I do not intend to initiate hostilities immediately if there are intelligent lives there. I’ll forward the GSAF auxiliary AWACS and Sky Citadel to aid RAIO in conducting aerial surveys on said location before making the final call.”
“If I may be so bold again, we have yet to truly understand how to supply them effectively in this alien world. Especially with the challenge of hostile, gargantuan, aquatic life. While we have been proven successful so far; the sea always holds its mysteries.” She stared on for a few seconds before continuing like nothing.
“Which is precisely why I’ll send them forth first. If it is in the clear, or there are findings of interest, we will ship a proper occupation force. I decided on this course of action because my liaison for GSN’s Marine Force had informed me of their 90% readiness for deployment at any given time. I shall remind you that the Sky Citadel is sufficient for ad hoc supply airdrop and my Marine brigade was trained more… flexibly… to conduct prolonged deployment.” She pauses.
“My intention to deploy GSN’s Marines was due to our situation, we are battered. Not to mention the cost and logistics required of immediately deploying a rge force overseas would only be marching our bureaucrats and logistical staffs to their deaths.” She meant that as a joke, but no one ughed.
“At the moment anyway… Then, by sending a retively small contingent, we could refine further pning better. It helps that the issue of budget and supply would solely be provided under my supervision, Regalian resources would be freed to tackle domestic issues. In short…” She then leaned forward on the table, one of her hands beneath her chin while her eyes scanned around.
“It would be a trial by fire. Risky, but it is not the first time. We didn’t explore SIEZ with timidity but with initiative and pnning.” She rexed in her chair, one hand propped beneath her jaw.
“I despise risk, but what infuriates me more than that would be underutilized assets during vital moments.” Her eyes briefly flickered with Caligo’s who felt how those golden irises had reaped half of her soul, yet she stared back unflinchingly despite her battered heart; this was her punishment. She is more than gd to die a million times over for the Autarchy and a billion times more for the Grand Autarch.
“I prefer taking things slow, yet our people are facing both a fuel and food crisis looming on the horizon, nothing is more important than ensuring such a thing from ever going to happen.” This time everyone else either blinked or discretely looked at someone on their sides while Cylene seemed to be making pns in her head.
Suddenly the situation turned awkward, if not for the Supreme Admiral who chuckled and affirmed his order with a smile. His stoic face breaks slightly to show a fond expression hidden underneath. Thumping a hand on his chest, he speaks loud enough for everyone to hear it properly.
“Consider it done, you can expect our utmost… nay, even above and beyond for support!” Cylene tilted her head a little but said nothing and continued with all the good and bad situational reports on her hands.
POV: Cylene
‘So I’m Cylene now huh? This is a screwed-up scenario… I just hope that it won’t immediately turn FUBAR when I try not to make things worse.’ I couldn’t help but agonize about what was happening.
One moment I was trying my best not to get screwed by the whole server.
How people just ganged up on me just because I supplied weapons to everyone interested… Negotiation with Gush and his pals was going well, welp… I was this close to convincing them to intervene.
For once, I had stabilized my situation only for it to be thrown into the gutter when the game froze, prompting me to start panicking.
My misfortune was yet to end when I felt like someone just bashed my head so hard that I was instantly knocked out cold.
Lastly? I got briefed about how utterly boned I am along with my fictional country that turned real…
…
…
Well, Cylene’s country… Hey Cyl, you there? Could you please help me?
…
…
‘Wow, I have developed schizophrenia already… mighty fine and dandy… my future is so bright!’ Good job me! Scratch the optimism, let’s see how I could screw things up… at least I don’t get their names wrong.
Hmm? How could I tell? Not too hard really.
Except for the 3 Supreme Officers’ profiles I had been more than acquainted with, the table has names pced in front of each person in attendance, else I would be hel confused and probably blow my acting. Never in my life, a simple wooden pque would be an object of sheer gratitude in my eyes.
Another thing of note, back in the game most NPCs were all randomly generated with some that got leniency for customization on my part when I was bored. Except for the leaders of my household army and bodyguard who got full treatment, they are a really special case. Kennedy could be made the de facto Supreme Commander of the Regalian Armed Force, but that only happened 4 times including this one.
There is also another one that is… controversial to say the least. She is handling a plethora of much more sensitive matters, thus she’s most likely never going to be seen out in the open.
I could try to handpick, nitpick, and just organize everything, but I already have my hands full with managing an ENTIRE continent, so I choose those with stats in mind while mostly disregarding NPC’s bio since it would automatically update itself based on performance. A little fvor text that is now, potentially, detrimental in effect…
‘God, how I love and hate that game for its sheer customization… Hah…’
While the Supremes 3 are base models with considerable tweaking, Kennedy was modeled after someone famous for being a dork and a complete badass. Hmm? Wish fulfillment? Well, excuse you, I have my selfishness so deal with it. Still though… these people are so stiff… Is this a form of game interpretation of how I pyed? If so…
‘How much of a tyrant am I that almost no one seemingly dared to voice anything?!’ I mean, those I know, from their profiles, could be somewhat xer the rest are almost like statues!
It is kind of scary having all these people’s attention solely on me and my words, but even more unnerving that I don’t know why they look like that. I tried my best to keep my eyes from moving all over, people were seemingly intimidated when I stared at them but when I looked around they got a false impression that I was displeased! What am I supposed to do?!
I’m not grateful at all for being pced this far up in the totem pole, it just relives bad memories back in the day. Ugh…’
Then I have to deal with this, a council filled with people who know how to go around in politics. Either I’m barely making it or perhaps my fake acts, polished from countless dealings in real life, have been so convincing I could keep it cool. If I’m being honest though, I daresay my survival was all due to Cylene’s notoriety and infamy… I don’t know how long I could keep it up. A part of me wants to stay alive, and another dreaded things and actions necessary to keep myself safe.
“… and that would be the outline of how we would proceed moving forward.” I just nod and say a bit of this and a bit of that. I still need to understand how the people see Cylene after all. The st time I checked on in-game status, it was excellent or something but that could be wrong here. Who knows that the stability was due to how the war turned for the worse, for all I know since the war is gone now… that modifier is gone or there was never such a thing, to begin with.
Now, what would happen if people got fed up with their leader? Sure I can try to suppress them, but that won’t help my survival. What’s more worrisome, I could be as conscious as possible about a potential dagger being stabbed behind my back, but when they want me gone then I’m out.
‘I’ll beat myself up again ter, but now…’ Focusing back on the meeting, I could see that they had started to rex a little, except for a woman who had a scar on her face. She had been watching me intently, but discretely, and honestly, I got creeped out but her gaze didn’t feel hostile at all… Uh…
“My Grand Autarch, what should we do with foreign equipment left on our soil?”
‘Oh yeah, almost forgot… Other pyers’ soldiers all vanished except for their armaments and equipment…’ Thinking about it, I could utilize them but maintenance costs would balloon and I’m not even sure we could sustain them for long… Hmm… Reverse engineer? Huh, let’s try that.
“I have a keen interest in the utilization of electronics and weapon systems, those had a rge sway in scoring troublesome wounds on us. Prioritize reverse engineering, or at the very least learning, their technologies, and while we’re at it, I want records on how they managed to outcss us to be presented on my desk with comprehensive analysis within 2 months. Failure to do so would be punishable… severely.” I kind of feel bad, but being a mock Tyrant is taking a toll on my sanity already… Goodness, I shouldn’t have made Cylene’s biography while being half-pstered and a mental trainwreck.
““““By your will!””” The meeting continues. I listened some more, especially on what needs to be done to alleviate food shortages… Hmm… would algae cultivation work?
‘Eh… no… that’s 22nd century specially bred food to feed the masses… like cattle…’ I keep my face bnk no matter how much I want to grimace at that memory; knowing them and their reaction you know. While I was taken down memory ne, Kennedy asked a crucial subject.
“My dy, who would be the next Supreme Marshal?” The assembly goes quiet again. I lost my Supreme Marshal due to a variation that included pnning, skills, errors, and some stupid RNGs, he was protected on par with Cylene but still got killed…
‘I don’t have anyone to repce Simon at the moment… erm… uh…’
“That would be announced in due time.” They all nodded and continued with discussions. I’m honestly getting bored once every noteworthy piece of information had been id out, it turned into a general information-sharing venue.
I look to my side and see Kennedy nodding back; giving me the go-ahead to leave, so I just announce my departure due to urgency that needs to be addressed soon, which is partially true. Once again, everyone saluted without daring to question why I left with such a vague excuse… Huh, no wonder Tyrant would usually turn into a Dictator, this degree of freedom is just surreal.
Once outside of the building, I walked toward the 5 parked VTOLs, each carrying 12 soldiers. This amount of escort seems rather weak, but I send as much manpower as possible to do my bidding elsewhere. My bodyguards open the door for me to settle inside and think about my next move.
Post-war efforts usually pertained to what to do with the losing side, which we were about to do. However, neither we lose nor win because of this and I’m having a headache for it.
I need to be keeping a close watch on those below me. It sounds ruthless and heartless, but I need to either nip a problem in the bud or try to pcate them as best as possible with my survival on the line. If the war taught me anything…
‘War at home is the worst kind of war, even more so when your brothers and sisters stand against you.’ That’s important, but I need to familiarize myself with the situation first, then I’ll think about how to spin it around.
[END OF CHAPTER]
Author’s Note:
Yo there, this is me, myself, and I, the author who is looking for work.
My work, all of it, would slow down considerably.
For those confused about how to pronounce her name, it is Shy-leen.
Not Si-len, Cy-len, Cy-le-ni, Si-le-ni, Si-le-ne, Se-leen, and stuff…
GSN Supercarrier: Modified Kitty Hawk-css with a nuclear reactor and propulsions plus a maximum load of 90.000 tons due to enrgement. Most of its equipment was sourced locally, only the appearance being simir.
LST/HT = Landing Ship, Transport / Helicopter Transport. For reference, a mix of the Tarawa-css and the Casabnca Bay-css turned into a transport and support flotil.
That’s all… update when? Uh…
Ciao.
