Fate of the Empire

Grover VI sat at a sizable square table, accompanied by his generals and various advisors, most of whom were finalizing the plans and preparations for the defence of Griffenheim. A debate had just begun on whether it would be wiser to position their forces along the city's northernmost edge to attempt to defend it in its entirety, or on the south bank of the Griffking river, which flowed through the city's center, as it would be an easier position to hold, perhaps worth abandoning half of the city to the oncoming threat. The debate wore on for some time, as those present showed themselves quite divided on the matter. With no clear decision in sight, he listened a short while longer, and, having made up his own mind on the subject, decided to interject; but before he could speak a word, a noise, seemingly insignificant, managed to catch his attention: clawsteps; audible over the many voices - though only just - and approaching rapidly. Several variations of the same general phrase he knew was inevitably on its way played through his head as he heard the steps halt abruptly at the door, watched the handle hastily turn, and saw a panting messenger stumble into the room and puff out:

"They've reached Griffenheim."

The words silenced the whole room; they were the precise reason that they were there, but none had expected them so soon; all had hoped that they would never come at all. Now they were faced with the harsh reality of their situation: the Republicans had reached Griffenheim at last, after a war that had lasted eighteen years and that had claimed the lives of over twenty-five million Imperial griffons. In the few moments of stunned silence, he thought back tohis eighteenth birthday in the year 1021; the war had only just been declared by Archon Eros, who had previously led the Empire to victory against both Aquilea and Karthin, the year prior. When he came of age, and Eros ended the regency, coronating Grover VI as the next Emperor of Griffonia, leadership of the Empire, along with the ongoing war, passed to him. Witnesses of their past successes, he and his officers had been confident at the time that the war would not last beyond 1023; they had expected the Republicans, an allegedly small band in an empty, frozen land, to be easy to sweep up, before pivoting their gaze of conquest east. They proved themselves otherwise, and not even the most skeptical general in the Empire could have predicted that they would be able to hold in their fortline so stubbornly.

After five years of stalemate, and multiple futile attempts to break the fortline, the Republicans finally broke the silence. Concentrating their outnumbered air force, the Republic executed the first nuclear strike in history on a vital airfield in the Whitetail mountains; being used to ream and refuel thousands of Imperial aircraft, its destruction force much of the Empire's air force in the north to be grounded due to lack of fuel, and without air support, Imperial forces in the Northern Regions could not withstand the sudden counter-attack from the Republic's mechanized spearhead. The Republicans rode their momentum from then on, and the scrambling Imperial army could only do its best to slow them down as they pushed all across the line. The Empire's scattered troops fought admirably, toning down the severity of the oncoming tide to some small degree, but it was still not enough, and now, sixty years since the initial revolution in 978, the Republicans were about to enter Griffenheim for a second time.

The battle that was about to take place would decide the fate of the Empire as a whole. The Republicans had previously been unwilling to accept anything save unconditional surrender, but with the recent passing of Kemerskai leading to reports of infighting within the Republic's political structure from Imperial spies, and the exhaustion both sides felt from nearly two decades of war, he hoped that if they could at least hold the city, and grind the Republic's advance to a halt, an agreement could finally be reached. The years of memories were over in a moment, and Grover gave the final say in how to execute the defence.