469 Preparing for the Coming Storm

After receiving word that the fortress was about to be attacked by an unknown party. Berengar was quick to get to action. While his guests dined on the food that he provided them, he quickly departed from the cabin and dispatched his orders. The hundreds of marines who were beneath his command gathered in the courtyard of the makeshift fortress as they awaited their king's speech.

Berengar stood at attention in front of his men, in the snowing weather, with his rifle slung over his back. He gazed at his soldiers in front of him with a broad smile. Since these men were marines, they were not dressed in the black and gold tunics of the Army, instead their uniforms and greatcoats were a navy blue. As for their cuirasses and pickelhaube helmets, they were still painted black, with brass accents. 

These men were the pride of Austria, and had been tasked with taking an insane journey to a distant land where they would set up the early stages of would one day become a colony. The fact that they obeyed such an asinine order was proof of their loyalty to Austria and its monarch. Thus, Berengar had an expression of pride on his face as he addressed his soldiers. 

"Men, I won't lie to you. We are in strange new land, and we are a very long way from the support of the fatherland. We stand here in a new world, surrounded by many unknowns. Among these are reports of an unknown enemy, with unknown numbers preparing to march on this outpost as we speak.

However, you should not be afraid, as what intelligence we have gathered suggests these are primitive savages fighting with sticks and stones. When compared to the firepower you wield, they will be an even lesser threat than the knights of Europe who you are all well accustomed to slaughtering!

I will not lie to you. Where you stand today on this foreign soil is of critical importance to the continued existence and prosperity of our great Kingdom! We do not know how large this land is, or how many people dwell here, but we know that there are foreign resources that could prove vital for the continued existence of Austria. 

It is my intention to establish a permanent colony here in this land, however, such a thing can never come to exist so long as there are no men here willing to defend it with their lives. So I ask each one of you, here, on this day, to risk your lives, to defend the ground we have broken in this new world, not for this land itself, but for the glory of Austria!

It is not a simple task to fight and die on some foreign earth far away from the land of your birth. However, for the sake of your families, and fatherland, I am asking for you to fight and conquer! In an ideal world, we would not have to kill and bleed for every inch of ground which we have to call our own.

Yet this is not an ideal world, it is a world of constant struggle. Each one of us must struggle to survive, and struggle to overcome our enemies who are pitted against us by the laws of nature as we all compete for control over the finite resources on this great earth. That is what you are all here to do, to conquer this land, and to make it and all of its resources a part of our Great Kingdom!

Upon finishing his speech, the soldiers beneath Berengar's command threw up their roman salutes and began chanting one of their many battle cries.

"For King, and Fatherland!"

Berengar smiled when he heard this words and quickly responded with a quip of his own.

"Hail victory!"

After having their moment of pride, Berengar dispatched his orders to his soldiers.

"I want those Mk2s loaded and ready for combat at a moment's notice. For the rest of you, man your positions, and monitor the treeline. It is likely that our enemies will come from any direction. As for the mortarmen, stand by and wait for the conflict to begin before you unleash hell on the hostiles. 

You are all veterans of multiple battles, so there is not much more I need to say. Trust in your training, and most of all trust in your brothers in arms who are by your side. If you do these two things, we will be victorious!"

After saying this, Berengar dismissed his soldiers and took a spot on a watchtower, gazing out through his binoculars into the snowy terrain of New York. It did not help that the ongoing snowfall heavily obscured his vision. Despite this, he would stay at his post until the upcoming battle was over. After all, it had been a while since he had tasted the blood of his enemies. 

---

While Berengar was preparing for a battle against the Algonquin in the New World, Linde was hard at work looking after her children, as well as Honoria's son, Alexandros. However, despite this she still managed to find the time to deal with her business as the director of Royal Intelligence. In her office, the Deputy Director Hemma was standing at attention, she was dressed in rather casual attire. After all, as agents of the Crown, they seldom required the use of formal uniforms. 

Despite this, she enviously gazed upon Linde's heavenly figure, that was currently contained within the woman's formal uniform. The black, white, and gold uniform was very similar to her husband's kingly attire, the difference being the medals she wore were entirely awarded to intelligence officials, and she did not wear trousers, rather a short skirt, with thigh-high boots.  Linde noticed Hemma's distracted gaze and smiled before cracking a joke to the woman. 

"I'm flattered, Hemma, but I will have you know that I am happily married..."

The Deputy Director immediately snapped out of her gaze and frowned at Linde's comment before replying.

"Director, that was not funny."

In response to this, Linde merely scoffed. After dealing with Hemma for so many years, she knew that the young woman completely lacked a sense of humor, thus she was not willing to waste the time arguing with her about the finer points of comedy. Instead, she shifted the discussion to the topic at hand.

"Is everything prepared?"

Hemma immediately nodded her head in response to her boss's inquiry and wore a proud expression as she confirmed it.

"The operation to retaliate against those who were responsible for the assassination attempt of the Third Queen is underway as we speak. I assure you that before long, we will have one less variable to worry about."

Linde wore a pretty smile as she heard this and nodded her head. She was pleased with the operation as planned, but there were still several variables she was concerned with, thus she asked away. 

"What is our probability of failure?"

The Deputy Director remained silent for a few moments as she made the calculations in her head. After doing so, she responded with a stern gaze.

"Approximately ten percent."

Linde nodded her head once more, before asking another question in her mind.

"In the event of failure, are there contingency plans in place to deal?"

Hemma nodded her head before responding in the affirmative.

"Yes m'am"

Upon hearing this, Linde smiled. She looked through the mission's dossier once more before stamping her approval on it. The moment she did so, she lectured her deputy director about the seriousness of the operation at hand. 

"I want to make this clear to you and the agents beneath your command. This is a highly classified operation that, if our involvement is revealed, would set back our diplomacy with our allies for decades to come. If, for whatever reason, our agent is captured alive, they are to be disposed of before they can reveal any information. These orders come straight from the King himself, and are absolute. Do I make myself clear?"

The deputy director nodded her head once more.

"Yes m'am"

Linde was happy with this result, thus she handed the stamped document over to her subordinate. However, when Hemma grabbed ahold of it, there was fierce resistance. When she looked up she saw Linde was glaring at her. The Second Queen of Austria made one last comment as she stared down her Deputy Director. 

"One last thing... If, for whatever reason, the Second Prince shows up to the kill zone, the operation is to be aborted immediately. We can not afford to be held responsible for an attack on the Royal Family of our closest ally, even if that scoundrel is the one responsible for the attempt on Honoria's life."

Hemma nodded her head before responding to Linde's last remarks.

"Understood"

With this acknowledgement, Linde released her grip over the dossier in doing so, transferring ownership of the classified document to Hemma's hands. Once Hemma had received the dossier, she exited Linde's office, and began distributing orders to the parties that would carry out Austria's revenge. 

As for Linde, she sat back in her leather-bound chair and sighed heavily. She knew the possibility of this ending poorly was higher than estimated. She could not explain how, but she had a feeling thing were about to go awry. It was at this moment that she wondered whether Berengar was doing well on the other side of the world, or if he had sunken to the depths of the ocean in pursuit of his dreams. 

"Berengar... you better return to me in one piece. If you don't, I will never forgive you..." 

With that said, the second queen of Austria reached into her desk and pulled out a chalice and a bottle of wine. She gazed upon Berengar's favorite drinking cup, which was fashioned from the skull of his younger brother, and looked into its gilded eye sockets with a hint of disdain etched upon her immaculate features as she commented to herself.

"You always had an empty skull, Lambert. I can't believe my father wanted me to marry a loser like you. Though I suppose there was one good thing to come from our engagement, and that is the fact that I met your brother. How I wish he was here right now to share this drink with me. I suppose you will have to suffice..."

After saying this, the woman poured the wine into the skull of her ex-fiancee and drank its contents in silence. Her plans were in motion, and now all she could do was sit back and wait for the results. After drinking a couple cups of wine by her lonesome, Linde returned to the Palace to look after her kids. The fact that Berengar had given her three beautiful children helped abate the worry that she felt deep within her heart.