Thus Did The Imperium of Mankind Fight There

Part 34 Dire News

Meanwhile-In the Capital City of Sadera

The government of the Empire was currently in turmoil and had descended into infighting. The Senate was gridlocked with indecision as its various composing factions fought over what course of action the Empire should take.

This all began a little over two weeks ago when a Gate, the first to appear in centuries, if not millennia, appeared by the grace of the Gods on Arnus Hill.

The immediate reaction to this news was excitement. For the aristocrats and the Imperial family, life was a constant bid to outdo their ancestors and compatriots and impress their colleagues. The Gate promised whoever conquered it and became the master of the other side a place of unprecedented eternal glory.

For the merchants, it represented what all men of trade live for; wealth. The resources that could be gained from the other world would flow into the Empire and make whoever seized them unimaginably rich. Slaves, gold, silver, and all manners of other things they could obtain with the appearance of the Gate made them all salivate.

As for the common people, they were simply grateful to be able to carry on with their lives. Ignorant and kept in the dark about the schemes of their lords. However, none of these hopes and ambitions were realized and now the Empire had plunged into crisis.

It started when an army was dispatched to Arnus Hill with orders to secure it and then march to and conquer whatever lay on the other side. After a contingent was sent through the Gate, no news was heard from it for several days.

This, at first, caused no disturbance within the upper echelon of Sadera. Any number of things could cause a delay in communication. What did most certainly cause a disturbance though, was the appearance of a second Gate on Alnus Hill, not three days after the first.

The jubilation and euphoria felt by the rich and powerful of the Empire increased by truly epic proportions. They saw the never-before-seen occurrence of two Gates as a blessing from the Gods, a sign of approval, and as a reward for their great deeds.

Upon hearing the news, a second army was hastily formed and dispatched to the Alnus Gate as well. Though smaller in size compared to the one sent to Arnus Hill due to the speed at which it was organized, such was the confidence those in power felt that this raised no concern in the slightest.

Surely, they thought, with even the Gods on their side, nothing would or could stand in their way.

That confidence was now shattered as dreary news came back seventeen days after the appearance of the Arnus Gate. On that day, Senator Godasen entered Sadera, not in triumph, but as a blabbering madman with a ragged party of surviving legionaries who looked as soulless as they felt.

The despondent party had traveled to the nearest Imperial camp with all haste and then commandeered wyverns to fly them to Sadera as quickly as possible. A trip that would have taken ten to fifteen days was shortened to three through sheer desperation.

The Senator had immediately demanded to be allowed to address the Senate and the Emperor. That was why now the Senate and the Emperor were assembled in the Senate building to listen to Godsen's tale, or to put it more cynically, his ravings.

Senator Godesan was nothing like his former self. His fellow Senators could barely recognize him. Whereas before, when he first set out to Arnus Hill, proud and boastful- speaking of the unimaginable glory he would achieve- now he was a shadow of his former self.

His once ornate robes were torn and covered in soot, his eyes glinted with insanity and when he spoke, he was a hair's breadth away from foaming at the mouth. The story he spun too was one of pure madness.

He spoke of metal golems, whose eyes glowed red, of metal beasts that caused the very earth to shake beneath them, and of an entire army of mages that banished all those who stood before them with red light.

The Senate listened with disbelief and astonishment. Never before had the Empire suffered such a one-sided defeat. If what Senator Godesan was saying was true- and judging by the state he was in, that was very likely- then the Empire had lost 280,000 men in just over two weeks.

When questioned by his colleagues if there was anything, anything at all he had to show for his losses, Godesan said...nothing.

The Senators couldn't believe it. Over a quarter of a million men lost, with their weapons, armor, equipment, and animals along with all of their supplies, and in exchange, the Empire had nothing to show for it.

No slaves, no riches, and not even the slightest clue of who or what they were facing. The Senate utterly could not accept this and soon accusations of cowardice and falsehood were thrown at Godesan.

Then, as if all of this wasn't enough, a praetorian guardsman entered the Senate building, reporting that a messenger had returned from Alnus Hill with an urgent dispatch. Emperor Molt allowed the messenger to enter the Senate building and deliver his missive. If it was dire enough to warrant interrupting a meeting of the combined Senate and the Emperor, he wished to know why.

Walking, or more accurately stumbling, in came a legionnaire wearing the armor of the Wyvern Corps. He was covered in blood and dazed but managed to kneel before the Senate and Emperor Molt to make his report. His report...that the entirety of the Alnus Gate Conquest Army had been destroyed.

The Senate was now in true uproar, the army sent to Alnus Hill was smaller, but still numbered 150,000 men. Combined with the losses from the Arnus Gate, the Empire had lost over 430,000 men in back-to-back defeats.

Of course, the Empire still possessed millions of men under arms and hordes of expendable monsters. This did not even include the armies of its vassal states. But the loss of nearly half a million soldiers meant the provinces around Arnus and Alnus Hill were now virtually devoid of military presence. 

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