09-23-2020, 09:00 PM
September 12
7:00 am XST
Zapotlán
Suyin Chiu was somewhere in the line to the Chiu seat on the Council of Kerlile, something like 74th, but there had probably been several new baby girls born since the last time she’d bothered to do the calculation. She had a cousin (second cousin? There were so many of them it was hard to tell) who shared her full name who was much further up the line than herself. Not that she particularly cared (she told herself), being on the Council would be extremely stressful, even more stressful than the military career she’d chosen and this was the third war she’d seen in her lifetime.
She turned 18 in the last year of the Kerlian Civil War, and was too far down the Chiu line to be exempt from conscription, and in those days there was no time for much training before being thrown in the thick of it. Despite this, Suyin had discovered that she genuinely liked being in the Kerlian military, and she felt useful there. She was a patriot, and a true believer in the Kerlian ideal of equality for women. Fighting for Kerlile was all she wanted to do with her life, so she’d stayed in the military and made a career of it.
Then came the Lauchenoirian war, where things were more complicated and more dangerous: while she was loyal to Kerlile and would never question orders, she didn’t think much of Suleman Chaher and was relieved when he died. She hadn’t been high-ranking enough to know the whole Clarke-Aurora-invasion plan until it was revealed to the world in Haven, Sanctaria. She’d lost a lot of people under her command in Lauchenoiria. She’d been merciful, however: her squads never took prisoners, knowing what her countrywomen did with them.
Now she was about to set foot on Xiomeran soil, under the overall command of President Arnott’s sister, having been told she needed to prove herself to their allies because they would think she’d been given her rank only because of her surname. What the Xiomerans failed to understand though, she thought bitterly as their ships were sailing towards the island nation, was that she was so far down the line that she was afforded no special treatment whatsoever and had worked for everything she had.
Suyin was so caught up in her own thoughts that she’d tuned out the sounds of the naval battle beginning until something caused the landing craft she was on to abruptly shake, leading her to let out a string of swear words in a mix of English and Mandarin. She hated ships, hated water, couldn’t wait until they were on dry land being shot at. That, at least, was familiar to her. She’d never been on the sea before; had never even seen the sea before. Even now, she had to fight to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged.
“Be ready to go the moment we hit land,” Suyin warned the group of Kerlians she was in command of just before they reached land. “They won’t go easy on us, these sons-of-misogynists. These aren’t the untrained Lauchenoirian rebels from two years ago.”
And with that warning, the landing craft landed, and the Kerlians advanced.
7:00 am XST
Zapotlán
Suyin Chiu was somewhere in the line to the Chiu seat on the Council of Kerlile, something like 74th, but there had probably been several new baby girls born since the last time she’d bothered to do the calculation. She had a cousin (second cousin? There were so many of them it was hard to tell) who shared her full name who was much further up the line than herself. Not that she particularly cared (she told herself), being on the Council would be extremely stressful, even more stressful than the military career she’d chosen and this was the third war she’d seen in her lifetime.
She turned 18 in the last year of the Kerlian Civil War, and was too far down the Chiu line to be exempt from conscription, and in those days there was no time for much training before being thrown in the thick of it. Despite this, Suyin had discovered that she genuinely liked being in the Kerlian military, and she felt useful there. She was a patriot, and a true believer in the Kerlian ideal of equality for women. Fighting for Kerlile was all she wanted to do with her life, so she’d stayed in the military and made a career of it.
Then came the Lauchenoirian war, where things were more complicated and more dangerous: while she was loyal to Kerlile and would never question orders, she didn’t think much of Suleman Chaher and was relieved when he died. She hadn’t been high-ranking enough to know the whole Clarke-Aurora-invasion plan until it was revealed to the world in Haven, Sanctaria. She’d lost a lot of people under her command in Lauchenoiria. She’d been merciful, however: her squads never took prisoners, knowing what her countrywomen did with them.
Now she was about to set foot on Xiomeran soil, under the overall command of President Arnott’s sister, having been told she needed to prove herself to their allies because they would think she’d been given her rank only because of her surname. What the Xiomerans failed to understand though, she thought bitterly as their ships were sailing towards the island nation, was that she was so far down the line that she was afforded no special treatment whatsoever and had worked for everything she had.
Suyin was so caught up in her own thoughts that she’d tuned out the sounds of the naval battle beginning until something caused the landing craft she was on to abruptly shake, leading her to let out a string of swear words in a mix of English and Mandarin. She hated ships, hated water, couldn’t wait until they were on dry land being shot at. That, at least, was familiar to her. She’d never been on the sea before; had never even seen the sea before. Even now, she had to fight to keep the contents of her stomach where they belonged.
“Be ready to go the moment we hit land,” Suyin warned the group of Kerlians she was in command of just before they reached land. “They won’t go easy on us, these sons-of-misogynists. These aren’t the untrained Lauchenoirian rebels from two years ago.”
And with that warning, the landing craft landed, and the Kerlians advanced.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax