Manifest Fantasy 10 The Nobian Emperor's Folly

Month 6, Day 5, Year 237

Emperor Novus was in a meeting with his High Command, discussing the recent failures of the Dark Shadow. The Dark Shadow director was protesting his budget cut.

"SILENCE!"

Fearing for their lives, everyone in the throne room heeded the emperor's command. It became so quiet that even ambient buzzing of the magical lights could be heard. Finally, the emperor spoke.

"The Dark Shadow shall not engage in any further activities for the procurement of funds. Your failure at the hands of these Americans has cost us valuable time and effort that could have been delegated to the a.s.sasination of a Sonaran target!"

The Dark Shadow director hung his head, staring meekly at the floor.

"Additionally, we are running low on resources. Our offensive on Sool Fort was intended to capture the resources beneath the North Grenden Plains. We desperately need resources in order to continue our war against the Sonarans. My generals, have you any thoughts?"

One of the generals spoke up. He was tall and had graying hair. Although his demeanor reflected the semblances of loyalty, his eyes revealed his true intentions. This was the same man who had spread rumors about the Americans; he was the Sonaran agent.

"We can send a larger force. The Sonaran Federation expended most of their high-grade mana crystals on their s.p.a.ce-time manipulation spell. Our spies have reported that their defenses at Sool have grown only by ten thousand, leaving the fort with fifty thousand defenders. If we send five detachments and supporting units from our dragon corps, we can easily crush the defenders."

"And what of the newcomers who have created an establishment around the portal?"

The general, consumed by loyalty to his mission, was about to convince Emperor Novus to give an order that would result in the collapse of the n.o.bian Empire.

"Then we shall double our forces and crush their magically incapable troops."

The Pentagon, Was.h.i.+ngton D.C.

10:28 A.M.

June 7, 2019

A collection of generals were present in the room, conducting a meeting. The President and Secretary of Defense Richard Lee were also here, as the situation unfolding was deemed to be an urgent matter.

The meeting began with Lee's announcement of the completion of Fort Was.h.i.+ngton on the other side of the portal. The completion of the fort came in a timely matter, as numerous RQ-4B surveillance aircraft had just detected a large force ma.s.sing by the North Grenden Plains, n.o.bian in origin. A rough estimate placed the troop count at about 200,000 strong, and they're approximately 5 days away from our position.

"We don't have an alliance with the Sonaran Federation but I think we should still notify them of the situation," President Keener suggested.

"Perhaps we can contact the n.o.bian forces using the magical communication devices in Sool Fort, to ensure that they don't mistake us for enemy troops," General Eisenhower added.

"Have the emba.s.sy get King Selios on the line," Keener ordered a staffer.

Within a few minutes, the U.S. emba.s.sy in Sonaris was able to get a hold of King Selios. Upon hearing the news of the n.o.bians ma.s.sing, Selios was grateful, and immediately put Sool Fort on high alert.

"King Selios, is it alright if you have your troops in Sool Fort magically contact the n.o.bian forces? We want to make sure that they won't mistake us for an enemy and attack us."

"Of course, President Keener. Give me a moment…"

After about a minute, Selios returned to his telephone.

"President, the n.o.bians are ignoring our hails. I antic.i.p.ate that they will leave you alone, but you must prepare for the worst. May Sola's light guide you."

After the call ended, the meeting room erupted into a cacophony of suggestions.

"We need to ready our defenses and deploy everything we have. We will ensure peace through power!"

"What is the current armament of the fort?"

"The airfield has about 6 10s, 15 F-15s, 20 F-15Es, 40 F/18s, 4 F-22s, and 4 modified F-35s, which are currently testing experimental point defense systems. We also have 10 M1A2 tanks, 3 M1A3 prototypes, 20 LAV-25s, 20 Bradleys, 20 M777 units, and 10 M270 units. Although, it's probably worth noting that the M1A3 railgun systems aren't really functional at this point, but we can still use the onboard machine gun platform for anti-infantry. Additionally, we have about 5,000 combat personnel at Fort Was.h.i.+ngton."

General Harding a.n.a.lyzed the situation. "This armament is sufficient to annihilate the n.o.bian forces, but how long would it take? Our aircraft can drop bombs that can each kill hundreds of enemy soldiers, and their dragons can easily be wiped out by our anti-air systems. The real concern is this: what will prevent them from streaming into the base? If they close the distance with most of their forces still intact, then our defenses won't be able to maximize their damage output due risk of friendly fire."

General Eisenhower proposed a potential solution. "Perhaps we can merely send a helicopter to warn the n.o.bians. We will establish a firm boundary, and articulate the consequences for intruding in our territory. This will allow time for our combined arms forces to whittle down the enemy force as they approach Fort Was.h.i.+ngton."

Harding added on to this. "If need be, we can supply reinforcements from Area 51."

The President, wary of the generals' discussion, reminded them of the potential political nightmare that may result from such ma.s.sive troop movements. "I'd rather not have to send too many troops and risk alerting Russian or Chinese spies to our discovery. The more people we involve, the harder it will be to keep a secret. We need to learn more about this world and find allies before we can reveal our secrets to the American people and the rest of the world. Our Manifest Destiny is at hand."