The Greatest Sin

Wissel turned on the news, Everything in Epa was broadcasting a live feed of KTV; Kirinyaa Television.

Elassa tuned to EIE. Her face turned pale.

Arascus sat down with Olephia as she stopped painting and sat on the couch. He put his arm around her to watch the broadcast.

Abakwa sat in office, the feed on his laptop.

Iliyal, Ilwin and Sara popped open a bottle.

Mikhail Alash excitedly saw his creations on television. There was no work being done today, every engineer was stood or sat on couches or benches or toolboxes as they looked up at the TV near the ceiling.

The entire world seemed to stop.

Today, it began.

Kassandora made a few final adjustments to her suit, then spread her arms out. “What do you think?” She asked Helenna and gave the woman a little spin. She was dressed in a long black overcoat she had made to specifications of Helenna by the Doschian firm of HAUPT, it fell to her calves. A white shirt, barely seen, with a black tie that disappeared under the coat. Tight leather gloves on her hands, tall leather boots and a leather belt, marked off with a blade penetrating a skull to show off it belonged to the Goddess of War.

“You look great.” Helenna said, then moved close to readjust the collar on the overcoat. “Like back then.” Kassandora smiled, she felt like it. The coat had bindings on the back to carry Joyeuse, it hadn’t been necessary, but swords always looked good on television. The blade materialized into those bindings and Kassandora stretched as the rest of the Divines entered. Fer and Neneria, Kavaa and Iniri. Kassandora had ordered for them too, although they had not arrived yet, her own took two weeks to make. Helenna’s was currently being shipped, although the Goddess of Love did not know about it yet.

“What about the hair?” Kassandora smiled at herself as she looked in the mirror. She was simply stunning.

“It’s better when its loose, don’t tie it back.” Helenna said.

“Alright.” Kassandora picked up the cap from the little stool and put it on her head. A high cap, pitch black, marked off with bands of silver and with the same crest as her belt had. It was a general’s uniform, a new vision for the world. The people would stare in awe, and Kassandora would send a message to the White Pantheon through the uniform alone: War has returned to Arda.

“Have you got your script?” Neneria asked.

“I don’t.” Kassandora readjusted the cap, then gave up and bent down so Helenna could fix it for her. The Goddess of Love’s hair today was red, just like Kassandora’s. “I don’t plan these things.” Fer leaned over as if she was afraid to touch Kassandora’s uniform and mess it up.

“Fantastic.” She said. “Real leather.”

“Only the best for us.” Kassandora said as she looked back into the grand mirror. Helenna had spent an hour today with a pair of scissors cutting Kassandora’s hair to form. Gone were the loose strands angrily bursting out in all directions, now she finally looked presentable for television. Kassandora could not contain her smile. “Helenna, you did a great job.”

“You said you wanted to look like the Goddess of War.” Helenna said. “It just sort of came about naturally.”

“And you did a good job in Nanbasa too. Well done on keeping up with the schedule, I know you were busy.” Kassandora had tried not to burn Helenna out, she had organised a lot, but it had all been very manageable. Underlings deserved praise when they did a good job, if you never praised your soldiers, you were called a cruel slavedriver. If you gave them a kind word here and there, they’d grow to like and work even harder.

“You had a tighter schedule than I did.” Helenna said as Kavaa came to clap the Goddess of Love on her back.

“Don’t worry about it, yours wasn’t easy too.” Kassandora did not let the woman play herself down. “I know other Divines who would have thrown in the towel after two days.” That much was true. Neneria and Fer wouldn’t have kept up with the constant socialization. Kassandora stood up straight and took a deep breath. It was somewhat sad she had to pull her eyes away from the mirror, she could stare at herself for another day. She checked the flare gun on the table, it was loaded, and put it into her belt. “Kavaa, your men know what to do?”

“They do.” Kavaa’s Clerics weren’t on firing duty, that important job was reserved for Kassandora’s own soldiers, but the Clerics would be ferrying ammunition from the cooled containers that sat under shade to stop the napalm shells from exploding in the Arikan Sun. Kassandora took another breath, glanced at her reflection one last time, nodded to herself and bathed in the sensation. War was coming back. Not a fake war, not a war of words or ideas. Proper war, with armies and strategy and tactics and logistics and men dying. Her own domain was descending back onto Arda. She licked her lips.

Kassandora left her own tent and her army fell silent. When she had first arrived here, there were three camps. Her own, the Clerics’, and the Kirinyaan tribesmen. Now, there was a small town being built. Wooden structures were being put up, there was an airstrip, concrete had been poured out over the dirt to house give Kavaa’s airfleet a place to stay. Roads had been laid down. KIAB had been replaced by real representatives of the Kirinyaan government who stayed in large buses that served as homes for them. Shops had gone up, deep wells had been dug, and there was even a brothel here and there. All the things an army needed.

She marched as men turned to look at her in silence, the rest of the Goddesses had gone to their own duties. Fer was to help the men if anything too heavy or cumbersome to carry. Kavaa and Iniri would stay near the Binturongs to stop anyone getting too close, Neneria would help them. Helenna was on question duty, from spending two months in Nanbasa, she knew the most about the operation other than Kassandora herself and Kassandora didn’t have the patience to deal with a thousand news crews. She was only here to give a speech.

KTV, the largest news station in the country had been granted an interview with Kassandora. The only channel in the country, it was a calculated move. The Kirinyaans were ecstatic about the fact that Kassandora had picked them as her favourite and it sent a good message to Epa: This is not your country to come in and make demands as you wish. EIE had begged on its knees for an interview and Kassandora had still not granted it.

KTV had their station set up on the small hill to record it all. It was a small platform. The green, red and yellow tricolour of Kirinyaa. Next to was the flag of Ausa, the green and blue, with a white dot in the middle. A pretty girl with curly hair was speaking as she held up a microphone. Kassandora walked in the midday Sun as journalists were pushed away by Kirinyaan police to make way for her. She didn’t even turn to look at them, instead just walking straight ahead with a smile.

From the top of the hill, past the tents and crowds of bustling spectators that fell quiet when they saw her, she could see the two batteries of Binturongs on the other side of the camp. Great cannons, they all had a scoop in the back that had been lowered to pressed into the dirt. The guns were already raised and men were standing at attention around them, a pile of shells next to each one ready to be loaded when for when they fired. Kavaa and Iniri were already there, along with Clerics in full plate looking just as they had when they marched onto Olympiada. They had formed a cordon only Kirinyaan officials and select news crews were allowed to enter into. Now, several teams had set up cameras to catch a shot of the first volley, more Ausan and Kirinyaan flags around them waved in the cool breeze. Helicopters flew around them, careful to stay out of the line of fire but eager to catch a recording from above.

Sixteen of them. Sixteen! Kassandora contained her grin. She couldn’t let herself indulge now, not when she had to be presentable. She had only expected one battery. She got two! Sometimes, the world really did her give its favour.

A young man in a suit, a badge of KTV over his breast approached Kassandora as she waited. More cameras flashed as more pictures were taken. “Goddess Kassandora, General Domkat of Ausa and President Ruku have finished their speeches. We’re ready for you now.” One was some general from Ausa without an army, the other was the President of Kirinyaa, a man Kassandora had meant several times. She did not reply to him, she wanted to squeal like a little girl when she looked at her new toys. A range of ten miles! Ten miles! Back in the Great War, the greatest cannons had three! These had ten! Theoretically, they could fire every forty seconds! Forty seconds! Back then, cannons would only manage ten shots an hour!

Kassandora turned her gaze away and looked at the platform KTV had built for themselves. It was a nice structure, wooden and raised. Kassandora would obviously not stand on the platform, or else only her legs and hips would be in the shot. She readjusted her tall cap and stepped towards the cameras.

Olephia quickly started writing on her papers. There were already papers strewn about on the floor before her and Arascus as she filled them up. “LOOK! IT’S KASSIE!”

Wissel ignored his ringing phone. There was no point. Everyone would be talking about the same thing. He knew Kassandora had been active in Nanbasa, a few channels had reported on her constant meetings but this… The Goddess of War had returned to grace Arda with her demesne once again.

Elassa felt her grip slip around the glass she was drinking from. Everything was going badly. Everything had been going badly. Nothing was working. And now… How could Kassandora stand on national news like that?

Sara leaned forwards as Iliyal and Ilwin both raised their glances and saluted the television. Then they burst out in laughter and downed their drinks. Sara could not pull her eyes away from Kassandora, she wanted to look like that.

“And now, before we start, we at KTV are proud to announce that Divine Kassandora, Goddess of War, has come to share a few words for us.” The woman turned and as Kassandora stepped next to her podium. Even with those steps and the fact her feet started at Kassandora’s knees, her head only reached up to Kassandora’s chest. Of War watched the cameras slowly move and focus on her, their lenses turning to try and get all of her in frame.

“Thank you.” Kassandora said, she put her arms behind her back, pushed her chest out and took a deep breath. “Although these words are not for KTV, they are for Kirinyaa and for all of Arika.” The woman nodded excitedly as Kassandora began her speech. “Firstly, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to Ausa for the sixteen Binturongs. Thank you to the Unions and companies that have put their own profits aside to fund this project. Thank you to the men who designed the Binturongs. Thank you to every to Kirinyaa for letting me stay, and thank you to the Kirinyaan people for believing in me. Thank you to you all. Today, I repay you.” Kassandora made her tone hard as she imagined an army standing before her. She could see it, these journalists were warriors, the battlefield was the mind. She began her war.

“The Jungle has rampaged unchecked through this continent for countless generations. There is a saying that man is closer to death every time he goes to sleep, that saying is nowhere more true than in Arika.” Kassandora raised one arm straight to indicate the Jungle. “We can see the death of this continent expand every day. We wake up to the news of another person taken. We see the struggles of Ausa, reduced to a mere twelve coastal cities, always under threat by this endless enemy. We see in Kirinyaa were it grows unchecked. We suffer its plagues and diseases, we can only turn tail and run away when it spreads into yet more homes. Its wanton greed claims the riches of Arika.” Kassandora lowered her arm and made her posture grand.

Joyeuse flashed from her back to her open palm and she stabbed it into the hill. “This.” Kassandora let the sword go and it stood up straight. “This is the end! When I first came here, four months ago I met a man called Arusei. His entire family has been stolen by the Jungle. The bones of his ancestors like under that green ocean. I made a promise to him. He will step where his forefathers could not. Over these past two months.”

“Now. I have met an uncountable number of people in Kirinyaa and all them of say the same. What happens when the Jungle grows to the coasts? When it drains Kirinyaa’s rivers, when it scales Kirinyaa’s mountains. What happens when it start growing north. Is the whole world doomed? Doomsayers among us say yes. But Arika says NO!”

“Through the advent of the Binturongs, we have developed a weapon to fight back.” Yes Allasaria. Yes Elassa. Yes to the Whole Pantheon. Yes to the whole world. Do you hear that? A weapon. Pantheon Peace has just been broken and a weapon has been developed. A weapon for war. What will you do now? Will you side with the mindless behemoth devouring Arika? Or will you let the weapon stand? Check and mate.

Today. Kirinyaa breaks Pantheon Peace. Tomorrow, the whole world.

“No longer are we defenceless against this growing menace. No longer must we count the days until our doom. Today is the first time we wield our new blade against the Jungle, tomorrow, I hope Ausa wields it. Next week, I hope all of Arika will come together to strike at its mutual foe. Today, I, Kassandora, Goddess of War, announce to the entire world that in our lifetimes, we will see organisations like the Arikan Jungle Crisis Fund be no longer needed. No longer needed because the Jungle Crisis will be over! Today, I announce the beginning of the Reclamation War!” The crowd burst out in cheers and Kassandora waited for them to cool down.

“My last words is for the enemy right here! Today is the day that you take a step back.” Those words were for the Jungle, as much as they were for the White Pantheon. Kassandora pulled out her flare gun. She held it for a second and listened to her own heartbeat. Then she pulled the trigger. A red light shot into the air towards the Jungle.

On the other side of the camp, sixteen explosions sounded as the Binturongs fired, the crowds went silent for a moment, then cheered. Cameras turned, helicopters pulled away. The ground shook, shells whistled through the air and Kassandora turned. Twenty-one seconds she counted. And then, fire exploded across the Jungle. Fire burning in black smoke. Fire that felled trees, that left nothing but dark ground and ash as it rampaged.

And then, the sixteen Binturongs fired again.

And again.

And again.

And the Jungle burned.

And the crowds cheered.

And Kassandora’s artillery kept firing.

Raging fire and deafening explosions and frantic cheers. Music to the ears. Kassandora licked her lips again.