11-15-2020, 11:24 PM
November 4th
Empress Camaxtica Military Headquarters Complex, Tlālacuetztla
Empress Calhualyana stood on the dais at the end of the parade ground of the Tlaxcanayuc, a slight wind ruffling her long hair gently. The smile on her face was genuine, and not the smile she flashed for the media. It was a smile of triumph, and of promises.
The Tlaxcanayuc had, before the unprecedented events of 2020, been the headquarters and main training academy of the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors. But after the storming of the Palace of Flowers at the beginning of the coup, and the decimation of the Shorn Ones, the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors had refused to follow the coup plotters. They had revolted, fought the coup armies, and then decamped to Yauhmi's side of the border when western Huenya had exploded in revolt. The coup armies had tried to stop them - tried being the operative word.
The Jaguar and Eagle Warriors had tossed aside the Imperial Army as if their opponents were kids playing army. And now, they sat on the other side of the dividing line at Zapotlán, flying the flag of the separatists. This image, in her head, taunted the Empress. Calhualyana, however, always had a plan for everything. Even before she had deposed Xochiuhue, she had worked with General Zinahue on a suitable response to the treason of Xiomera's former special forces.
Standing in front of the Empress, on the parade ground at the Tlaxcanayuc, were thousands of the best soldiers Xiomera still had. Some of them were former Jaguar and Eagle Warriors who had decided to stay in Xiomera. Others had been recruited from the ranks of the best soldiers in the Army, the International Legion and the Patriot Legion. Some had come from the ranks of the top members of ASI and the Imperial Police. Still others had been recruited from among the toughest members of the Xiomeran civilian militias that backed the Imperial government. Calhualyana had taken that core of the best of Xiomera's martial capabilities, and adapted the training programs used by the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors to the needs of her Empire.
The forces standing in front of Calhualyana were arrayed in two separate halves on either side of the parade ground. Half of them, to the left, were wearing new dress uniforms created especially for them - shimmering white with gold trim and capes. The other half, to the right, were wearing their own bespoke dress uniforms - black as an obsidian blade, with the same gold trim and capes as their counterparts. The men and women wearing those uniforms stood at attention with supreme precision as the Empress addressed them.
"You represent a new tradition in Xiomera," she told them. "We are a nation that reveres tradition. But when our traditions fail, or when they betray us," she said, in a pointed reference to the former occupants of the Tlaxcanayuc, "we are not afraid to follow a new path. No one innovates in the face of adversity better than Xiomerans. So you stand before me, the best of Xiomeran warriors, ready to forge your own entries in our legends. Your story will start at Zapotlán. But it will resound through the centuries."
Calhualyana turned to the rows of soldiers to her left. "You, the Warriors of Huītzilōpōchtli, bear his symbol and shine like the sun. You will be the ones at the forefront of battle, always ready to fight, never wavering. You will be the beacon that encourages your comrades as you lead the way into battle. You will be the embodiment of Imperial might and Xiomeran bravery. You will carry the mandate of our patron forward and stand as the visible and unstoppable manifestation of his will and our power."
The Empress then turned to the rows of soldiers to her right. "And you, the Warriors of Tezcatlipōca, carry the mandate of the Smoking Mirror. You will embody his power - the power of the night winds and the fury of hurricanes. Striking in secrecy and with stealth when our enemies least expect it, you will carry his power of the night sky. In unison with your fellow elite warriors, you will undermine and undo everything our foes seek to accomplish from the shadows."
Calhualyana raised her arms, hands upright as if in prayer. "Together, you will be the unbreakable shield and unstoppable sword that vanquishes our enemies and drives us forward. Long live the Empire!"
As one, the thousands of soldiers in the room unsheathed their ceremonial swords, raising them over their heads. "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" they shouted, their cries echoing. As the echoes died down, the Empress smiled again.
---
November 5th, late evening
Listening Post, Camp Green, east of Zapotlán
A group of Huenyan and allied soldiers were gathered at a command post near the front line, joking and bantering as they killed time. They were assigned to watch Xiomeran troop movements across the front line, but the general consensus was that the Xiomerans were finished. Their new fake Empress had asked for peace talks and was making conciliatory gestures, and their supposedly scary Imperial Army had gotten itself kicked out of half of their Empire. So the soldiers gathered at the observation post weren't at all concerned.
Their conversation was interrupted when a battered figure stumbled into view, shambling towards them. "Stop!" one of the guards shouted in Xiomeran Huenyan, raising his rifle as the other soldiers scrambled to take up defensive positions. The man stopped as ordered. The soldiers at the listening post were confused; he was wearing what appeared to be a Xiomeran special forces uniform with a general's rank tabs. What the hell? the Huenyan soldier who had shouted out the challenge thought as he moved forward. "Don't make any sudden moves or you'll get shot. Who are you?" the soldier demanded.
The man raised his head, and the soldier stopped in shock. Even under the bruises and the torn uniform, it was very clear who the man was. "I am - was - General Cuauh'ez. I commanded the Special Forces of the Xiomeran Empire. But I was betrayed. We were all betrayed."
The man swayed on his feet, looking around. "I came to warn you.....Calhualyana....something is coming here," Cuauh'ez said faintly. "Something you cannot stop," he breathed, before his eyes closed and he fell to the ground.
---
November 15
Zapotlán
"Fall back! FALL BACK!" Sgt. Nyaotlehue shouted, her voice echoing.
Her unit, which had recently been redesignated as the 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 18th Battalion of the Huenyan Army, had been enjoying a relatively quiet deployment to Zapotlán. Arriving after the city had fallen, they had been deployed to a point just east of the Intra-Xiomera Canal, watching the front line and occasionally engaging in minor skirmishes with the Imperial forces that had remained loyal to Calhualyana.
That had all changed on November 6th. The massive assault that Xiomeran forces had launched that day had rapidly overwhelmed the opposing forces, sending them fleeing back into Zapotlán. Nyaotlehue's platoon had already lost a third of its troops. Reinforcements had arrived, and had been decimated just as quickly as they had arrived. Word had come down from command that some kind of new elite force had been created by the Imperial military, and that it was taking the lead in the attack on Zapotlán. Nyaotlehue believed it - she had never faced such a powerful enemy before.
Nine days later, the allied force that had occupied Zapotlán had lost almost all the ground it had gained in its initial invasion. Enemy forces had pushed them across the Intra-Xiomera Canal, and were slowly but surely advancing towards the city center. Nyaotlehue and her platoon were scrambling in retreat, not so much trying to mount any counter-offensive as trying to stay alive and hold on until something, anything, happened to save them.
An explosion from a tank round sent Nyaotlehue sprawling to the ground. As she tried to find her command headset and issue new orders, she saw the Imperial forces, in black fatigues she did not recognize, advancing. Nyaotlehue finally found her headset, and grabbed it just as gunshots peppered the ground around her. Dodging behind some rubble, she began issuing new orders to take up flanking positions on either side of the road. As her platoon desperately tried to hold their position, Nyaotlehue shouted into her headset for air support, artillery support, something to help her fend off the inevitable.
Empress Camaxtica Military Headquarters Complex, Tlālacuetztla
Empress Calhualyana stood on the dais at the end of the parade ground of the Tlaxcanayuc, a slight wind ruffling her long hair gently. The smile on her face was genuine, and not the smile she flashed for the media. It was a smile of triumph, and of promises.
The Tlaxcanayuc had, before the unprecedented events of 2020, been the headquarters and main training academy of the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors. But after the storming of the Palace of Flowers at the beginning of the coup, and the decimation of the Shorn Ones, the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors had refused to follow the coup plotters. They had revolted, fought the coup armies, and then decamped to Yauhmi's side of the border when western Huenya had exploded in revolt. The coup armies had tried to stop them - tried being the operative word.
The Jaguar and Eagle Warriors had tossed aside the Imperial Army as if their opponents were kids playing army. And now, they sat on the other side of the dividing line at Zapotlán, flying the flag of the separatists. This image, in her head, taunted the Empress. Calhualyana, however, always had a plan for everything. Even before she had deposed Xochiuhue, she had worked with General Zinahue on a suitable response to the treason of Xiomera's former special forces.
Standing in front of the Empress, on the parade ground at the Tlaxcanayuc, were thousands of the best soldiers Xiomera still had. Some of them were former Jaguar and Eagle Warriors who had decided to stay in Xiomera. Others had been recruited from the ranks of the best soldiers in the Army, the International Legion and the Patriot Legion. Some had come from the ranks of the top members of ASI and the Imperial Police. Still others had been recruited from among the toughest members of the Xiomeran civilian militias that backed the Imperial government. Calhualyana had taken that core of the best of Xiomera's martial capabilities, and adapted the training programs used by the Jaguar and Eagle Warriors to the needs of her Empire.
The forces standing in front of Calhualyana were arrayed in two separate halves on either side of the parade ground. Half of them, to the left, were wearing new dress uniforms created especially for them - shimmering white with gold trim and capes. The other half, to the right, were wearing their own bespoke dress uniforms - black as an obsidian blade, with the same gold trim and capes as their counterparts. The men and women wearing those uniforms stood at attention with supreme precision as the Empress addressed them.
"You represent a new tradition in Xiomera," she told them. "We are a nation that reveres tradition. But when our traditions fail, or when they betray us," she said, in a pointed reference to the former occupants of the Tlaxcanayuc, "we are not afraid to follow a new path. No one innovates in the face of adversity better than Xiomerans. So you stand before me, the best of Xiomeran warriors, ready to forge your own entries in our legends. Your story will start at Zapotlán. But it will resound through the centuries."
Calhualyana turned to the rows of soldiers to her left. "You, the Warriors of Huītzilōpōchtli, bear his symbol and shine like the sun. You will be the ones at the forefront of battle, always ready to fight, never wavering. You will be the beacon that encourages your comrades as you lead the way into battle. You will be the embodiment of Imperial might and Xiomeran bravery. You will carry the mandate of our patron forward and stand as the visible and unstoppable manifestation of his will and our power."
The Empress then turned to the rows of soldiers to her right. "And you, the Warriors of Tezcatlipōca, carry the mandate of the Smoking Mirror. You will embody his power - the power of the night winds and the fury of hurricanes. Striking in secrecy and with stealth when our enemies least expect it, you will carry his power of the night sky. In unison with your fellow elite warriors, you will undermine and undo everything our foes seek to accomplish from the shadows."
Calhualyana raised her arms, hands upright as if in prayer. "Together, you will be the unbreakable shield and unstoppable sword that vanquishes our enemies and drives us forward. Long live the Empire!"
As one, the thousands of soldiers in the room unsheathed their ceremonial swords, raising them over their heads. "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!" they shouted, their cries echoing. As the echoes died down, the Empress smiled again.
---
November 5th, late evening
Listening Post, Camp Green, east of Zapotlán
A group of Huenyan and allied soldiers were gathered at a command post near the front line, joking and bantering as they killed time. They were assigned to watch Xiomeran troop movements across the front line, but the general consensus was that the Xiomerans were finished. Their new fake Empress had asked for peace talks and was making conciliatory gestures, and their supposedly scary Imperial Army had gotten itself kicked out of half of their Empire. So the soldiers gathered at the observation post weren't at all concerned.
Their conversation was interrupted when a battered figure stumbled into view, shambling towards them. "Stop!" one of the guards shouted in Xiomeran Huenyan, raising his rifle as the other soldiers scrambled to take up defensive positions. The man stopped as ordered. The soldiers at the listening post were confused; he was wearing what appeared to be a Xiomeran special forces uniform with a general's rank tabs. What the hell? the Huenyan soldier who had shouted out the challenge thought as he moved forward. "Don't make any sudden moves or you'll get shot. Who are you?" the soldier demanded.
The man raised his head, and the soldier stopped in shock. Even under the bruises and the torn uniform, it was very clear who the man was. "I am - was - General Cuauh'ez. I commanded the Special Forces of the Xiomeran Empire. But I was betrayed. We were all betrayed."
The man swayed on his feet, looking around. "I came to warn you.....Calhualyana....something is coming here," Cuauh'ez said faintly. "Something you cannot stop," he breathed, before his eyes closed and he fell to the ground.
---
November 15
Zapotlán
"Fall back! FALL BACK!" Sgt. Nyaotlehue shouted, her voice echoing.
Her unit, which had recently been redesignated as the 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 18th Battalion of the Huenyan Army, had been enjoying a relatively quiet deployment to Zapotlán. Arriving after the city had fallen, they had been deployed to a point just east of the Intra-Xiomera Canal, watching the front line and occasionally engaging in minor skirmishes with the Imperial forces that had remained loyal to Calhualyana.
That had all changed on November 6th. The massive assault that Xiomeran forces had launched that day had rapidly overwhelmed the opposing forces, sending them fleeing back into Zapotlán. Nyaotlehue's platoon had already lost a third of its troops. Reinforcements had arrived, and had been decimated just as quickly as they had arrived. Word had come down from command that some kind of new elite force had been created by the Imperial military, and that it was taking the lead in the attack on Zapotlán. Nyaotlehue believed it - she had never faced such a powerful enemy before.
Nine days later, the allied force that had occupied Zapotlán had lost almost all the ground it had gained in its initial invasion. Enemy forces had pushed them across the Intra-Xiomera Canal, and were slowly but surely advancing towards the city center. Nyaotlehue and her platoon were scrambling in retreat, not so much trying to mount any counter-offensive as trying to stay alive and hold on until something, anything, happened to save them.
An explosion from a tank round sent Nyaotlehue sprawling to the ground. As she tried to find her command headset and issue new orders, she saw the Imperial forces, in black fatigues she did not recognize, advancing. Nyaotlehue finally found her headset, and grabbed it just as gunshots peppered the ground around her. Dodging behind some rubble, she began issuing new orders to take up flanking positions on either side of the road. As her platoon desperately tried to hold their position, Nyaotlehue shouted into her headset for air support, artillery support, something to help her fend off the inevitable.
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