The Future of Warfare

Prologue: The Beginning

-Capital City of Rockbourn, Sorathian Empire-

-August 13th, 1949-

The day when the World War had ended in the hands of the Western Alliance four years back. While it is the World War fought between major and minor powers of the world, it was the battle mostly between the world superpowers of Atlas, with the Sorathian Empire, Kingdom of Antaria, and Kingdom of Tylos to the West and the Imperial Empire of Sakurajima, Dynasty of Xion, and Reichsland to the East. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but the Sorathian Empire and her allies had pushed on, destroying everything that the Eastern Blood Pact had thrown at the Sorathian Republic and her allies.

The citizens of Sorathia had gathered in places where there were radios to listen, television to watch the whole thing unfold, and those who were in the capital gathered at the Plaza which is in front of the massive and majestic building, the Castle Stanislas, to listen to what the Chancellor had to say.

While Stanislas was not really a "castle" in a Medieval-ish sense and more like a fortress, its imposing structure gave the people the sense of a formidable castle that will never falter even if it got hit hard; the evidence of its invincibility can be seen in the form of scars left behind by bombs dropped from the Sakurajiman's Long-Ranged High-altitude Bombers during the final years of the World War as a desperate but final act of aggression against the Sorathian Empire.

On the main balcony of the Stanislas, a group of people came out to face the people of the Sorathian Empire. At first glance, they all looked normal, with the men wearing dark blue suits with white shirts beneath, pairs of long dark blue trousers, topped with polished black shoes and sporting slick, short hair of different colour and women wearing the same thing, except black knee-length skirts and, if their hair was long, wore ponytails.

Later, they then move aside to allow the last person to come out. He may seem like a humble ordinary man, wearing the same attire as the people who came out before him. However, the moment he came out to face with the citizens, is the moment the people began cheering out, waving out the flag of the Sorathian Empire. It became clear who he is; he is Nelson W. Banks, chancellor of the Sorathian Empire. And the leader of the said Empire as well.

"Citizens of the Sorathian Empire!" the cheers died down as Nelson began speaking out.

"Today is August 13th, the day when we finally ended a war that had ravaged Atlas for nearly a decade. A war which the Sorathian Empire and her allies had endured as a test of survival. While the Imperial Empire of Sakurajima and her allies are not as advanced as us, their war machines were not something that we should underestimate; I solemnly wished that my predecessor had taken them seriously, and had not underestimated them, before they suddenly attacked us in the Golden Bay Harbour."

The citizens all agreed with the Chancellor. The Attack on Golden Bay Harbour was when the Sakurajiman Naval and Air Forces had initiated a surprise attack on the Sorathian naval base where the majority of the ships are located, both military and civilian vessels. While that event was long in the past, the memories of it was still as fresh as it was hours after the raid.

"But that was all in the past. Today, we are to celebrate our fourth anniversary of the Victory of the Western Alliance. This would not be possible if it wasn't for your contribution, people."

Most of the citizens are humbled by this, knowing that they were indeed part of the history of the Empire, whether it be factory workers who had worked their heads off to keep the nation's stock topped up to soldiers who risked their lives while being deployed to the fronts to even someone as simple as a policemen who keep law and order within the streets of their cities and towns.

Nelson looked at the citizens below, as if reading their faces. While there are some who hated the Empire for some reasons, they were just a minority over an overwhelmingly majority of the citzens who genuinely loved the Empire and the Chancellor. But still, he makes sure that the minority would not use the bad times to their advantage, as shown by the rise of the Fascist Party in the Karlslandian Republic, later renamed as Reichsland, whose leader used market collaspe and sabotage to his advantage to gain his seat in the Office.