Tanya's Third Life as a Barbarian Queen, Chapter XXXV

I will have the chapter as links to download at the bottom of the post. As well as a link to the Google Document page.

Kontia.

Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi.

This was the first time I had truly beheld a Saderan legion and not a rapidly-assembled force operating away from the main body of their unit. Even as I looked out from atop the fort hastily constructed upon the Saderan road, the Legion did not resemble a mass of men so much as a sheer tide of steel and crimson. What stood out to me the most was that tens of thousands of people made a lot of noise. 

Here and there, golden standards would be held aloft, a dizzying array of icons of shining gold with liveries and banners harried by the strong wind of the steppe. Each shuffle, each movement, of scabbards tapping against leather, of helmets clinking as segmented pieces shifted, or the clash of thousands of steel rings rubbing against each other in tens of thousands of chain vests. 

The sound carried as far away as I was, I could hear the sheer presence of the Ninth Legion, could see their lines extend only so far, perhaps a mile wide. It was an odd choice and indicated that Zorzal did not intend to give battle today. After all, deploying the full length of his formation would tire the men and damage the battlefield prematurely if he did not intend to fight. That would indicate this was merely about showing his might; when night fell, he would rest his men and deploy a wider formation.

I had deployed scouting forces, but none among the chain of runners had declared that anything other than foragers and scouts had been found. I would have to be vigilant overnight in case Zorzal attempted to move some of his forces under the cover of darkness to attack a different section of the wall tomorrow. 

I hoped that he would see reason and surrender, wished that Sadera would see reason and allow a ceasefire, that this war would be over. But I had trusted in the rationality of men for several lifetimes... and the unfortunate truth was that it was natural for people to resort to violence. Just as millions would throw away any wealth accrued into pachinko parlours, many more would stake everything on just one more act of violence, one more battle, one more push, one more campaign, one more roll of the dice as if that would solve all of their problems.

War, just like gambling, only solved anything when you rigged the system. It was only worthwhile when you were the house, when you had absolute control and could stack the deck in your favour.

Resolve, honour, a righteous cause? One might as well trust in luck. I was fighting this war because I had to, not because it was beneficial to do so.

"You don't think they will attack, do you?" I blinked and glanced at the Gothic Lolita sitting upon one of the cannons I had deployed in this fort. It was a shiny bronze thing, freshly made and fired only once before. She represented Yannit, my chief engineer of the artillery project. The last casting of the Mark-4 four pounder design. While he had been working hard to cast as many Mark-4s as he could, I had seen to it that a large boring machine would be made. It was a crude thing, effectively just a scaled-up steel bore powered by a big wheel turned by Lepus. 

Rather than cast the cannons with a bore that suffered the risk of the mould shrinking, cavities forming, and other issues related with a complex cast, it was better to cast a cannon as a solid piece and cut out the bore with what amounted to an oversized drill. It meant that the cannons would take longer to make, of course, each casting needing more material that had to be recovered after the hole was bored, but testing had already shown the benefits of the extended production pipeline in the uniform quality of guns produced.

Yannit had been upset that the creation of the boring machine had been undertaken by fifty hand-picked cadets rather than goblins in his ordinance department. But quite frankly, I needed to expand my production and development rather than allow my capabilities to stagnate. 

He could be upset all he liked, but I would be establishing more Ordnance Departments.

"No," I said at last to the servant of Emroy, "they are too poorly positioned to attack."

"Hmmm~," the diminutive woman hummed as she straddled the bronze cannon in a practically inappropriate way.

"Miss Mercury," I began, earning an odd smile from the Apostle as I did so, "there are some Temples at Kontia that can host you for as long as you wish to remain in the city." Hopefully not for very long.

"Casting me away already? How heartless you are!" Her mocking tone and openly sly grin seemed to be lost on the women about us who were giving me rather pointed looks. It was aggravating that they had become instantly deferential to her, as if she represented some potential good fortune.

The 'gods' of this world were real... in a certain manner of speaking. They had representatives in priests and priestesses, in oracles and prophets, and, of course, they had Apostles. To their credit, they did not so much demand worship as promote worship. Their temples were franchises, their priests, public relations managers and brand ambassadors. People went to temples in Falmart to learn about how to please particular gods that might offer them something in return, or to hear what a particular god had to say regarding any given matter.

Of course, none of this ever came directly from any god, it always came from someone 'interpreting' the will of their god: someone who had already joined the franchise, had become invested in the success of their god, and, like any good pyramid scheme, sought to expand the power and influence of their brand.

An expectant mother, fearing the perils of motherhood, would go to a priestess of Miritta. She would hire said priestess as an expert in gaining Miritta's favour. Then, depending upon whatever branch of the franchise she had visited, she could be instructed on animal or material sacrifice, or perhaps she must merely pay the priestess to beseech Miritta on her behalf.

Perhaps she would be encouraged to whore herself out as a venerated prostitute at the temple, or offer her husband up for uncompensated labour for the priestess. Regardless of what payment was required, once the priestess was satisfied, they would offer the intervention of the Goddess during the customer's childbirth, preventing the child or the mother from perishing regardless of any complications that could arise.

The worship of Miritta was different in every franchise location as, like with every good franchise, it must adapt to local tastes and customs, so requirements, taste, and decorum could be wildly different from city to city and region to region.

There were many branches that considered prostitution to be a grave sin against their Goddess' domain. But the Goddess herself never came down to dictate if the 'Aesthetist' faction was correct or if the 'Venerati' had a more accurate doctrine. Whatever entity was being worshiped likely did not care so long as they could carve out their own domain and not have any of the other franchises muscle into its market.

Rory Mercury worshiped Emroy; moreover, she was an Apostle of that being, effectively the most highly-paid and privileged member of Emroy's franchise. Trying to curry favours with her would be incredibly difficult, as she was already well-compensated for her work. I could not think of anything I had that Sadera could not likewise offer to what was effectively the CEO of a global brand. 

Emroy did have a rather diverse portfolio compared to some of the other 'gods', though. War was among them, and it could be that my introduction of gunpowder weapon systems had garnered their attention. It could hardly be a coincidence how quickly Rory had appeared after I had first deployed a cannon.

But while I could guess at the intentions of the Apostle all I liked, it was a moot point. For now, Rory represented a potential risk factor and little else. It was not like she had offered any deals, she had simply decided to follow me and I could not reject her from my presence without offending her brand loyalists.

How frustrating. 

"I want to see how these canons of yours work!" Rory said, rubbing the polished metal she was sitting on with her hands as she affixed me with an excited, wide-eyed expression.

"I am quite happy to offer you a demonstration at a later date, but these weapon systems are not quiet." At least, the ones I was willing to deploy in this battle were not quiet. I was not willing to use that particular ace up my sleeve until absolutely necessary. "They cause a large bang, one that could startle the Saderans and cause... misunderstandings," I explained, using easy-to-understand language.

"Surely such a fearsome weapon should be presented to the Saderans to encourage their surrender," Rory said in a teasing tone.

"If their hopeless logistical situation does not convince them to surrender, nothing will," I deadpanned.

"A fair point," Rory acknowledged, "but we both know that things have already gone much too far for any..." She grinned and licked her lips. "Amicable settlement? Hundreds of thousands of proud, headhunting rabbits, your sisters and the occasional brother taken into bondage to be scattered across a thousand slave markets. Could you make peace with the people that have done this to your brethren?"

I schooled my expression, well aware that this was not a private conversation. We had an audience. People would talk, and soon the entire migration would soon hear some version of this conversation or another. Rory Mercury was a representative of a vast conglomerate that had most of its assets located within Saderan population centers. The infrastructure and customer base that the Lepus had to offer was a fraction of what could be gained compared to the continent-spanning Empire.

I simply did not represent a valuable market and Rory knew that, knowing that while her brand had a foothold in Lepus culture, I had very little to offer the franchise. The very fact that she was here and no other Apostle had ever taken an interest in the Lepus was evidence for that fact. Just like how a powerful corporation could push into small and developing markets in my first life, getting concessions and what amounted to monopoly charters from a corrupt leadership, Rory was clearly pressing for the same thing here.

If many corporations wanted to exert influence onto a small country, then the country could more effectively negotiate with all of them. But with just a single powerful corporation, negotiation power was often deeply unequal. 

I had to choose my words carefully, or the Apostle could make my position as Queen of the Tanaoi (and unofficial leader of the surviving tribes) untenable. I had to present myself as at least somewhat receptive to her influence, or she would seek out other vectors of political pressure within the Lepus... Or create them if none exist that would suit her interests.

"Not a total peace, you are right that I cannot accept the enslavement of my people." Nor did I accept the enslavement of any people. "However, it is impossible to demand the Saderans return the people they have taken without an accord being made between our peoples. There are concessions I am willing to make, an end to raids into Saderan lands, proper trade agreements, perhaps even exchanges of wealth. But I will free my people! That, I shall not compromise on, nor will I ever allow myself to be tricked into bondage as Tyuule was." Rory seemed to consider my words before shrugging.

"Well, you are going to have to-" Rory's words were cut off as she blinked and gave a sharp intake of breath, shifting in place on the cannon and whipping her head towards the Saderan lines.

The low, omnipresent din of activity created when tens of thousands of people were assembled was suddenly silenced by a staccato of explosions echoing out across the battlefield, coming from just behind the Saderan lines. I slowly turned to look at the great mass of Imperials as my ears fell forwards, my disappointment now total, absolute.

I watched as the vast Saderan army seemed to shimmer in its confusion. Men turning and craning their necks at the unusual sound at their backs. I knew that some Centauri Mages had attack spells that could be as loud as the compressed black powder charges I had given to the hostages, but still, such sounds, and so many of them in procession, were alien to the Saderans.

A horn was blown, followed by another, and soon the Ninth Legion advanced. Not as one, but century by century, here and there. As men ran from one unit to another, discipline, or coordination, seemingly lacked. But advance they did, thirty or fourty thousand, perhaps half of their number in a short front against just a portion of my army.

I turned about fast enough to unbalance myself. "Send out runners, they are to go along the line and order every other company here!" A thousand possibilities filling my mind and just moments to consider them all. "To be clear, they are to leave half of the companies in their position. Am I understood?" I looked at the officers in the fort with me and they all gave quick assent to the orders. "Then repeat them to me!"

"We are to deploy runners along the defensive line with strict orders that every other company deployed in an area is to redeploy here, this will mean that each company that remains will have to take up the defensive responsibilities of the company that is being re-deployed." Lucia responded quickly, and the other officers gave similar responses.

"Good, see to it," I ordered before turning to officers assigned to my Cavalry and Artillery companies. "Deploy along the right flank. Close to fort Eight." Artillery was potent, but I had a limited amount of guns. If I could get a good angle on the enemy forces, rather than firing directly into them, if I could fire along their lines they would have an outsized impact.

I turned about to face the oncoming Legion, carefully studying the advance. It was impossible for an army to advance at the same pace over such a wide distance and, indeed, the great mass of humanity assembled for war had a contour to their front. A wave, some centuries marching faster and some slower, had put them out of step with each other and the Ninth Legion seemed to lack the capacity or the will to correct that.

"Get these guns firing!" I demanded of companies operating this fort. We were on a fort built over the Saderan road, the direct centre of the Imperial lines. I grasped Rory Mercury by her middle. She threw her hands up and cheered as I plucked her from the cannon and placed her aside so my women could work.

"Two minutes until they are in range of slingers!" I infused my voice with a trivial amount of magic, just enough for the irregular companies along the trench lines to hear and prepare for the Saderan advance. As I spoke, the cannons were pulled back, loaded, and dismally under-trained operators placed spark formula plates into grooves cut into the guns before pressing the buttons and turning away with their ears clasped tightly to their heads.

The fort was not an enclosed space, but still the roar of the four cannons I had deployed here caused everyone still within earshot to stare wide-eyed. Rory cheered as solid iron shot struck the ground just before the Saderans advance and bounced though dozens of men.

"Reload!" I ordered. The stunned crews got to work, slowly, inexpertly, but they operated the guns well enough. They might have been temporarily stunned at the sound, as Lepus ears were more sensitive than human ears, but the size and shape of our ears as well our strong constitution made any damage from the cannons' roar temporary. 

With my orders given, I turned to regard the Saderan advance again, looking out carefully for anything that could offer me an edge in the battle suddenly thrust upon me. I watched as slingstones impacted the Legion and men fell in droves, as the guns fired again, as the tide of crimson and steel approached inexorably despite the casualties we were inflicting.

"I'm glad you are enjoying yourself," Rory Mercury commented between the guns firing. I blinked in confusion for a moment before I realised.

I was smiling. 

As my heart rate quickened, as the greatest battle I had ever conducted played out before me, I quickly put Rory out of my mind and focused. I would need to focus on the here and now. I would need to study the situation if I was to find a way to nudge the battle in my favour beyond the weeks of preparations for this very moment.

I could not afford to fail here, after everything.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-gjojff4q4jxU2VsYItDkVTZA3UCxC8Bt5i-V91Oazc/edit?tab=t.0