The Rise Page 6
A monolith will be elevated inside the old fort, with the names of all past Colonels in charge of Worldsend Garrison, and the dates of their commandment.
Upon execution, this decree will be added as an amendment to “Worldsend Rules,” as written by Emperor Niklas the First.
This is my will,
Empress Theodora
Letter 16
To Empress Theodora,
With this missive, I inform you that the New Worldsend Garrison is now finished and fully operational.
Our first line of defense has been doubled, with twelve bunkers spanning the entire beach and set in two different rows in order to cover the waterline at high tide but also at low tide. The new cannons sent perform exceptionally well and, as a result, our enemy was destroyed before making it to the sand during five of the last eight assaults.
The fort has been reinforced, its outer ramparts reaching now thirty cubits in height and then in width. Guard towers, armed with the latest weaponry, stand every fifty steps on three sides, and every twenty steps on the Southwestern Wall facing the Ocean.
The new barracks are finished, and host presently more than one thousand eight hundred combatants. This allows us to have all twelve bunkers permanently manned, and the same goes for the guard towers. Even more, our soldiers are now permitted two days per month during which they can rest at leisure.
Likewise, the constant flux of supplies and men between Worldsend Garrison and Karabia had taken a toll on the old road. It has been repaired, widened, and improved. Three loaded carts can now easily move along the path, which solved the problems of traffic we had been facing during the first stages of the construction. This trail has also been paved with hard flat stones, all the way through the desert and The Marsh, allowing horses to go at full speed without risks of spilling the goods or breaking a leg.
We now have two perfectly functional roads linking the fort to the city of Karabia.
As a result, Karabia can be reached within two days from Worldsend garrison by an empty cart, and those coming fully loaded rarely need more than three days. The possibility to have a constant supply of fresh food makes life here easier, and those of us who knew the times when provisions were delivered only once a month appreciate the difference.
Our efforts have brought successes. At the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, a jewel of engineering and technology has risen from the desolate desert. The best soldiers of the Empire stand here, entirely devoted to their mission: protecting our people by destroying the atrocities as soon as they emerge from the rocks where the waves of the Great Ocean break.
***
Your Majesty will be glad to learn that, though the offensives are continuously made at great scale, with invading forces counting invariably thousands of them, they are scarcer than they used to be at the height of the construction. Those eight assaults I reported earlier happened in the course of five months, a rhythm similar to the one we were facing when I was still Private Inigo.
While the prediction of the War Minister seems to prove true in effect, I doubt that the enemy gave up in its intention. By no means can we consider that the threat is over.
The attacks are less frequent, but the horrendous dark master keeps on coming. I see it often, looming over the rock formations. Its heads have no eyes, or at least no things that could be regarded as such, yet I know it’s observing us. Its unnatural insect-like limbs are moving wildly, in an inauspicious dance, and sometimes I almost imagine I hear it clicketing.
My personal belief is that we have presently taken a key advantage in this war, and the invader admits it, aware that it can’t beat us for the moment. However, I have no doubt that it keeps on planning and gathering forces on its side, hoping to regain the upper position in the battle fought here for centuries.
Rest assured that no one in Worldsend Garrison would make the mistake of underestimating the enemy. The view of the abominations attacking from the sea always manages to convince freshly arrived soldiers of the utter importance of our mission.
And their master looming in the mist over the rock is a constant reminder that the threat is ever present, and more formidable than our victories could lead us to believe.
***
I would also like to inform you about a surprising report I got from one of our convoys.
Two civilians have been located on the road between Worldsend Garrison and the town of Karabia, where the desert turns into The Marsh. They were found hesitating in going further, through the dry landscapes, and have been easily persuaded to head back towards the city once told there was no waterhole on the way, nor any freshwater by the sea.
They were settlers looking for some unclaimed piece of land to build a farm. They had been scouting The Marsh, but it didn’t offer any suitable location for their plan. Then, they reached the road. Convinced that a path in such mint condition had to bring somewhere important, they decided to investigate and followed the trail until the limit of the desert, where they were discovered.
There is no reason to believe that they will try to return, nor spread the news. Nonetheless, we must take in consideration that this incident might be the first one of a lengthy series. The old narrow track made the perspective of crossing The Marsh and the Karabia Desert unappealing to any civilian, and such an attempt would have led the unprepared adventurer to his death long before reaching Worldsend Garrison.
However, the situation has changed.
The new road between the city of Karabia and the fort is most likely one of the best in the Empire and can be seen as an invitation to many other pilgrims, gold diggers, explorer, or anglers looking for less-fished waters than those of Igereiger.
A checkpoint will soon be installed at the very same place where those first farmers have been asked to turn around. There, the guards are to tell to any civilian wishing to go further that the peninsula is forbidden due to the lack of water and the presence of deadly scorpion.
Nevertheless, it is likely that information will spread and curious wanderers will certainly come in greater numbers to the Karabia Peninsula. We can control the access by the road, but it is impossible for us to make sure nobody’s trying to cross directly through The Marsh and the desert.
I would never have thought it conceivable, but it seems that the first settlers had been scouting the marsh for days before reaching the path to the fort.
I’ve been isolated for many years in Worldsend Garrison, and I can only assume the world has changed greatly for people to look for good fortune in the desolate landscapes of the Karabia Peninsula. During my young years, this was known only as a lost and hellish place where life was not possible. Nobody in his right mind would have considered coming here to build a farm. Assuredly, discovering the horrors waiting at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, where the Great Ocean meets the Valkyan Sea, would extinguish their longing for exploring new territories.
Life is not welcome here.
We, soldiers of Worldsend Garrison, do our best to make sure that no otherworldly civilization takes advantage to fill in the void and settle among us.
Respectfully and dutifully yours,
Colonel Montoya
Letter 17
To Colonel Montoya,
The news of the completion of Worldsend Garrison is a considerable source of satisfaction in a time of turmoil and political unrest, both within our borders and outside of them. Knowing that the greatest threat to the citizens of the Empire—and of the entire world—is presently under control and in the hands of a person having the experience, competences and resources to protect us is a relief on my otherwise burdened mind.
We managed to secure the Karabia Peninsula from the invasion, and I issued an Imperial Law to make sure that Worldsend Garrison will be able to keep on operating without unnecessary disturbance. It has already been approved and signed by the relevant authorities, and it should be published officially before its copy reaches you.
Despite the promises of some fortune-tellers who gain influence
within the Imperial Court, it is impossible to know with certainty what lies in front of us. We can’t foresee the future, but it is our duty to do our best to make the world a safer place for our children. This is the only thing that counts among all the small tasks we accomplish every day; this is why we struggle so much.
We would like for life to keep on going as it always did, but we understand it is not possible, and we try to stir the course of History the way we can.
We’ll be long dead and buried when our actions will be judged. Will we be considered as heroes who managed to protect mankind, or as lunatics who wasted resources to face an innocent threat? We don’t know, but only thinking that there will still be men, women and children to judge us makes me more optimistic.
Maybe the attacks would have ceased anyway and all those men and munitions would have been of better use somewhere else, as our War Minister keeps on saying to whomever listens.
Maybe there is no real threat and the citizen’s taxes are being spent on luxuries by some parvenu in good grace with the Empress instead of being directed to education and infrastructure, as some local authorities in the Provinces rumor.
Maybe all this is useless, our efforts are in vain, the enemy is too strong for us and we will lose the war, as it occasionally crosses my mind late at night when I can’t sleep and fatigue prevents me from thinking rationally.
But if the dark atrocity genuinely exists, doesn’t give up, and keeps on coming, then our actions were justified. And if the invader remains contained to this beach at the tip of the Karabia Peninsula, if they are all exterminated there and our people never learn the truth about them … we will know we did the right thing.
This is the reason why my ancestor Niklas the First built Worldsend Garrison more than four centuries ago. With the same purpose of protecting our citizens, I decided the extension and modernization of Worldsend Garrison.
For the role you played in this achievement, Colonel Montoya, I thank you. History might never know how important you’ve been, but I do.
Gratefully,
Empress Theodora
Letter 18
IMPERIAL LAW
I, Emperess Theodora, Ruler of the Empire by the will of the Gods and through the inheritance left by my Father, the late Emperor Nikolas the Sixth, have given my approval to the following set of regulations.
The territory situated south of the city of Karabia, limited on its Western side by the Great Ocean and the Cliffs of Temuco, and on its Southern and Eastern sides by the Valkyan Sea and the Cliffs of Insanity, up to the harbor city of Igereiger, known as the Karabia Peninsula, is now under the management of the Imperial Army.
The Karabia Peninsula will be controlled from a military fort located within its borders, named Worldsend Garrison.
The Commander of this fort has total sovereignty within this territory, only an Imperial Order being able to overrule or countermand a decision taken by the Colonel in charge of Worldsend Garrison.
The access to the entire region of the Karabia Peninsula is strictly forbidden to any civilian, or any member of the Imperial Army not affected to Worldsend Garrison.
To ensure no accidental trespassing of the Northern Border of the Karabia Peninsula will occur, a wall is built from the Great Ocean to the Cliffs of Insanity overlooking the Valkyan Sea, South of Igereiger.
This barrier is monitored by soldiers with the order to convince people to turn away by any means they deem necessary. In case someone would cross this wall and penetrate in the territory administered by Worldsend Garrison, this person will be shot without warning.
The only access to the Karabia Peninsula and Worldsend Garrison is through a heavily guarded checkpoint on a road south of the city of Karabia. This checkpoint is part of the Northern Border, and the same rules apply with regard to those approaching or trying to enter the area.
As always, this decision has been taken for the interest of the Empire and its people, and it is trusted that all citizens will abide the law from its day of publication.
By the will of the people,
Empress Theodora
Letter 19
To Empress Theodora,
Today—meaning yesterday, as you’ll probably get this letter by tomorrow, as it is leaving on tonight’s train—is the fifth anniversary since the last death occurred in an invader’s offensive. Five years, during which we had to repel fewer than two dozen attacks.
Nowadays, brawls among soldiers seem to be a greater threat than the abominations crawling from the sea. Bar fights and advanced age. Many of our men have celebrated their sixtieth birthday. Some of us even reached the seventieth, though we didn’t really advertise about it.
Nobody knows I turned eighty some months ago.
Getting old is not a subject of pride here, and I’d rather not remind some of the officers what an anachronism their Commander is. Many of them already view me as a relic from ancient times, someone who can’t keep up with progress. I see no valid reason to fuel their gossip.
I read in the Karabia Tribune that your older son, Giorgio the First, is about to marry the daughter of a merchant from Igereiger. This came as a surprise to me that our future Emperor could find his wife amid the bourgeoisie of a small fisherman village, but times have changed. I actually learned that Igereiger is now more of a bustling commercial port, thanks to the new trade routes opened with Valkya. I understand those fearful warriors from the Southern Continent turned into skilled leather artisans, and their products are sought after among the aristocracy.
Times have changed.
As you can imagine, I also read the rumors that Giorgio the First could refuse to take the throne when you resign. Such affirmations can be spotted weekly in the newspapers we receive here, and this is a recurrent subject of discussion among the soldiers. While I do not see myself serving anyone other than Her Majesty Empress Theodora, this pains me to think that the next Commander of Worldsend Garrison might not have any Emperor to respond to.
Times have changed.
What is immutable, however, is the horror and sense of utter rejection the enemy immediately awakes in our troops. Their attacks have become rare, nevertheless nobody in Worldsend Garrison is taking them lightly. Idleness might be an issue in moments of peace, but, as soon as the Knower’s Corp starts to have premonitions, the military discipline comes back and our men get prepared with great care and attention.
Times have changed, but Worldsend Garrison is not underestimating the enemy.
The visions and nightmares are as strong, vivid and unpleasant as when Lieutenant Monroe was perfecting the Elixir B. Psychological support is requested by more than eighty percent of the Knowers. Their gift is a real curse, and I doubt any of those able to share a part of their mind with the abominations will ever take lightly the threat they cause.
***
I am sure that Your Majesty already noticed a certain wariness and familiarity in my letter. Truth is that, after so many years corresponding with you, I feel as if we knew each other. Even if we never met, we went through something crucial together, and this establishes a bond. I might be a simple Colonel of the Imperial Army, while you are our Empress, some things we shared were too important and confidential not to create an emotional link.
Do not misunderstand me, I do not plan to reveal any long-hidden love that would only be awkward and misplaced. My feelings for you are purely of respect and admiration for your person and your achievements. But you are the one I wanted to inform about my decision.
Tonight, when this letter will leave with the train to Karabia, I will walk towards the beach.
The guards on the walls, and the soldiers on duty in the twelve bunkers will see me. Many will ask where I’m going. Some might even try to stop me, but I am still their Commander and none of them will dare to oppose my will.
I will head to the shore, to the waterline.
For some days, this will create some kind of commotion in the fort. Nobody will understand. Those who could are alrea
dy buried along the road to Karabia. Men will think that I lost my mind. Some officers will say that I had lost it a long time ago… There will be talk, and then things will settle in. My name will be engraved on the obelisk, under Colonel Sigalvo, and I will be forgotten.
Those presently in the fort can’t apprehend the reasons pushing me to walk in the sea, but you can. A cemetery is no place for a Commander of Worldsend Garrison.
This is not where Colonel Sigalvo ended, before me.
This is not where Colonel Balakov went, before him.
A Commander of Worldsend Garrison has to die on the beach, fighting the enemy, and his body has to disappear somewhere between the waterfront and the rocks.
I am sure they will be there, waiting for me. I don’t know how many I will eliminate before they get me. Maybe I will manage to kill their master. Or at least to hurt him. This would be my final victory.
***
I suggested long ago the name of my successor, and my opinion hasn’t changed. I already wrote my letter to him, with all necessary explanations concerning the commandment of Worldsend Garrison. I trust there won’t be any problem, and I can leave knowing that I fulfilled my mission.
There is no greater satisfaction for a man.
It’s been an honor to serve during your reign
Cordially,
Colonel Montoya
Letter 20
To Empress Theodora,
I am quickly writing those lines before the train leaves towards Karabia.