//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Escalation 1028 // by Nagerleral //------------------------------// "Good morning, gentlegriffs," Helltalon said as he entered the war room. The war room was located in the Imperial General Staff building in the southern side of Griffenheim, and during peacetime it functioned as the headquarters of the – as its name suggested – General Staff of the Griffonian Empire; overseeing the Imperial Army, Navy and Air Force. Its wartime headquarters, on the other claw, were located in a newly renovated bunker in a forest some kilometers east of Griffenheim. Boreas had not even raised the sun yet, and the building was full of activity. As predicted, reconnaissance flights had spotted a massive Solarian supply build-up in the Haukland Islands, especially the northern ones; and the Solarist navy had turned even more aggressive in its approach to Vedina, even accidentally – some say not so accidentally – entering Griffonian waters, with the Imperial Navy having to escort the Solarian ships out as a result of the incident. In the middle of the room a giant map, similar to the one displayed in the Palace two months ago, took all the width and most of the length of the table. August Duskwing, Chief of the Army, was speaking; pointing to various symbols placed around the Hauklands and the Vedinian coast with his right claw. "The Equestrian build-up continues along the islands. Large concentration of supplies and materiel have been spotted on the northernmost Haukland island, and we even have detected a newly built airbase along the eastern coast, with an estimated capacity of around five hundred airplanes," he said. Duskwing took a sip from the coffee mug next to him before continuing. "We have also spotted a fleet of Solarian ships on the Winterhold port. We haven't identified all ships, but the biggest one appears to be HRMS Empress, the newest carrier in the pony navy. We assume they're there to resupply and repair," He finished, looking at Marshal Bronzetail, who had been appointed Chief of the Military High Command in the last months by Emperor Grover VI. Fritz Ebonbeak, Chief of the Airforce, continued to speak after Duskwing. "From the Haukland base the Solarians are conducting several missions over Vedina." He pointed to the Vedinian capital. "Just yesterday they bombed Trunahm, mostly targeting the industrial center of the city, but also the central district, mostly residential and commercial." Ebonbeak then moved his claw south and then west. "Tactical bombers have also made bombing runs on the defensive positions the Vedinians have set up along the coast." Bronzetail nodded. "The ponies look likely to launch their invasion any minute now. Are the armies assigned to the Vedinian border ready for when this happens?" He turned to Helltalon. "Yes, Marshal," he said. "Most of the armies have been stationed in Winghagen, Cloudbury and New Skynavia." He pointed to those locations in the map. "They are ready to go when the order is given," he finished. Bronzetail once again nodded, putting his characteristical corn cob pipe he had on his left claw on the table. "Prince Ondska is unlikely to give up even if the ponies land in Vedina," he said. "He gave that 'defiance' speech yesterday after refusing the capitulation from Daybreaker, after all." Helltalon frowned. Ever since the days after the Red Wedding of 1011, Prince Ondska had ruled Vedina with an iron claw. The militaristic Prince had instituted a belief system centered on the survival of the strong, and the destruction of the weak; and he entered a military alliance with Erwin Highhill, forming the Northern Alliance with Nova Griffonia. His personality, and his ideology in particular, would not allow him to surrender to the Equestrians; he finished thinking. Highhill had capitulated a month ago, surrendering to Daybreaker's armies in the former lands of the Penguin Kingdom. It was mostly unknown what happened after, as Nova Griffonia entered the same darkness that shrouded Equus in mystery. From what he could imagine though, it was not good. Konstaninos Hellcrest, the Chief of the Imperial Navy, was about to continue, but a knight in ceremonial armor bursting into the war room stopped him from speaking. He quickly walked to Marshal Bronzetail, saluting the officer and giving him a small paper note, leaving the room as quickly as he entered it. The griffon read the paper, and looked each officer in the eye before speaking. "Well." Bronzetail took the pipe out of his mouth. "Looks like the ponies finally did it." "They landed?" Hellcrest said, surprised even though it was expected. The news jolted through him, removing all traces of drowsiness from sleep he still had from his body, and putting the griffon on adrenaline-fueled alert. "Yes," Bronzetail said, rather bluntly. "Multiple landings last night, along the Vedinian coast and the peninsula." He looked at the map and pointed to the various points in the map he mentioned with his claw. "From the reports, landings have been made near the towns of Flyghamn, Jarnkoping, Kloby and Skyrim. Pegasus paratroopers have also taken the Jarnkoping port, with Solarian reinforcements arriving quickly, and bombers have destroyed bridges and infrastructure leading to the coastal regions of Vedina." "Its a full scale assault," Helltalon said. "We need to act quickly." Bronzetail put his his talons on the table, standing on his hind legs. "Helltalon, as ordered by the Emperor you and your army group will mobilize towards the Vedinian border." The marshal turned to Ebonbeak. "Tell the knights to alert the Emperor immediately." Helltalon saluted Bronzetail, before rapidly moving out of the door. He went downstairs and into the basement of the General Staff building, where the communications centre of the Generalstab was located. With the authorization of the Chief of the High Command, he was allowed into the secretive section, giving the orders to the griffons there. They were transmitted through the encrypted radio the centre had, with a simple message: generals Marshtail, Thundertail and Mudbeak and their armies would begin moving towards the Vedinian border – immediately. Once he finished, he began moving back up to the war room, thinking in the process. This was the decisive moment, all that needed to happen now was to see how the Solarians would react. During the last two months, the General Staff thought of multiple possible scenarios, and most came back to the same conclusion: Daybreaker, when faced with an entire continent pressuring for negotiation, would accept an offer. There were scenarios where this didn't happen, of course, but they were given small chances of happening. It was believed that a Second Great War would be an outcome so detrimental to both nations that it would not happen. As he entered the room, he found out that Emperor Grover VI had already arrived. He bowed to him, and looked at Bronzetail, determination in his voice. "The orders have been transmitted, Marshal." He saluted. "Excellent," said Bronzetail, who once again turned to Grover VI. "Your Majesty, as I said, multiple landing points along the coast. The port town of Jarnkoping has been taken by the Equestrian marines and paratroopers, and reinforcements and supplies are arriving quickly." The Emperor looked around the map, his eyes showing that he was thinking intensely. "Daybreaker will probably not accept our offer from just the Reichspakt," he said. "Summon Foreign Minister Silverbeak and tell him to contact the following governments about the offer to pressure Equestria." He adjusted his glasses. "Jet Set will probably accept, he fears that Daybreaker will invade New Mareland. The Arcturians will probably accept as well if we frame it as a just demand." "Any other nations, Your Majesty?" the Emperor's aide next to him asked. He finished, "We can even try the Dogs in the east, they may be communist, but they may just realize that Daybreaker will not stop at Vedina and support us. Tell Silverbeak that its Grover's orders." The aide nodded and very quickly flew out of the room, leaving Grover VI with the High Command in it. "Gentlegriffs," he started, "Put the operation on motion." Grover took off his glasses. "Helltalon, you are assigned to Cloudbury to command your army groups on the Vedinian frontier, a train will leave at dusk. Duskwing, tell Rodier to put his griffons on alert." The Emperor then looked at Hellcrest and Ebonbeak. "The Imperial Navy will also be put on alert so its ready to move in case of a major incident, and the Air Force will begin to move and deploy a quarter of its planes to airbases within Northern Griffonia. Is that clear?" he finished. "Yes, Your Majesty," Helltalon said, not listening to what the other griffons in the room were saying. As he left the building and went outside, his mind raced – he had to prepare so he could catch the train to Cloudbury at sundown. That meant that not only he had to get most of the things he had brought to Griffenheim in the last two months ready for the trip, but also that he needed to tell his wife in De Vleugels about his mission. She did know about it, and the news of the Solarian landings probably had been heard by everygriff at this point, but Helltalon still knew that these news would still be sudden, even if they were prepared for it. He flew and landed near Harold's black Krähe, saluting the light brown griffon before entering the car. He told the chauffeur to go to the apartment he had been given last month as accommodation, since that's where he kept almost all of his things; thoughts of the task he had ahead going through his mind, and how it needed to be executed to perfection. It was still early morning, and he realized that it was going to be a long day. And a long week, and probably a long month.