END OF WAR: THOUGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES
The Warden line collapses in the past 100 days of the war, Day 749-849.
END OF WAR 96 --- Moth. At the end of the day, the human cost is almost too high to fathom at more than a simple statistic. 849 days of ceaseless fighting, and at over 4.6 million dead, the Legion emerged victorious after a rapid turnaround of momentum. The case as to why this occurred is still mostly unknown, be it operational fumbles, or providence on the side of the Legion, but perhaps what made the difference was the approach to the equipment authorized for distribution in the Mercy Valley.
While both Caoivian and Mesean militaries have had rail networks and engineering tools like the flamethrower available for military use, this war was the very first time seeing them deployed to the frontline without concern for their procurement. In that same vein, mass production technology has greatly improved from its first discovery some years back. It's been compartmentalized, pre-packaged and hand-delivered to logistics branches to set up shop where they found the opportunity most beneficial to the cause. Authorization of the harvesting of resources like Coal from the rich veins beneath the Earth also provided both factions with a means of creating power stations for these new facilities.
[PRESS] Moth B. Mann.
Storm cannons have become mobilized, placed on rails, capable of providing an infantry assault with artillery that carries its ammunition and power with it. In an instant, the 'proactively defensive' nature of artillery has changed significantly, proving once again that Artillery is the king of battle.
But the tech from the Mass-Production Facilities went further than simply turning it into a user-end process. Scientific and mechanical minds have also created simpler parts procurement and assembly to allow armor in the field to be upgraded by the regiments who own them, giving them a far more extended lifespan than previously experienced.
After a long process of debates at the negotiating table, it also appeared that both factions authorized the release of their heavy class fleets of battle tanks, as well as a re-engineered class of tank- something thought only real in the annals of history, resurrected by minds far more cunning and meticulous than I; Super Heavy Tanks, the Caovish 'Predator', and the Mesean 'Ares'. Behemoths appearing with their lesser cohorts, for the first time.
Even the technologically savvy Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles have had their schematics reworked and retooled to create smaller variants, capable of being placed in specially designed tubes and packed with explosive or incendiary material to lay waste to fortifications with little regard to who or what they strike.
While everyone celebrates, I can't help but notice that some of the older veterans are disgusted with the candor of the new recruits. I fear the old breed may be dying off faster than anticipated, not by bullets, but by differences in perception to the war. Perhaps this is how the cycle proceeds, but I can't help but sympathize with them, knowing what I know, and what the new blood doesn't.
Out in the fields of Origin, I can see the clouds tease the edges of their wisps, gracefully reaching a long black arm down to the ground, only to realize that the 'arm' is merely carrion birds, taking delight in the feast that awaits them for the next few days, or weeks, at least until war starts up again.
Most of the veterans have no goal of turning this region into a homestead for themselves, as I once said avidly some years before.
There's nothing here but lost souls and trenches half-filled with the stink of wars that have come and gone without fanfare. Soon enough, they will be tomorrow's coal, like we all will be, to be shoveled into a kiln that will drive the next war machine forward into the open maw before us. Nobody's to blame but ourselves- We broke the seals, after all; so now we get to witness firsthand what demise awaits all of us at the apex of this conflict.
[PRESS] Poe.
END OF WAR 96 --- Poe. After 849 days of bloody, bitter, wretched butchering in the scale of millions, the Wardens have yielded and the 96th Conflict in the Foxhole Wars has ended. As indicated on the map here, they had experienced a tremendous reversal of fortunes from just a few months ago- being pushed all the way from Origin to Oarbreaker in the West, nearly surrounded in the Linn-Moors line in the Center, and completely routed from Weathered Expanse and Morgen's Crossing in the East, with Colonials reaching all the way to Speaking Woods and the town of Sess, Basin Sionnach to the extreme North. Six towns have been bombed- all in Warden territory.
My Colonial colleagues are celebrating the unbelievable comeback they've had. But I dare to ask: at what cost? 4,677,055 lives- 2,350,941 Wardens and 2,326,114 Colonials. Perhaps I may be old and tired, but sometimes I think what life would be like without the greedy, power-hungry, vain sods who keep this war forever going.
I'm one of the remaining reporters donning blue. I need to find my more partial colleagues at La Voix de Callahan and The Jade Cove Herald; salvage the remains of their equipment at the rubble of Kirknell and Jade Cove. I'm sure you all at home...well, those who still have a home, have your own struggles. Good night and good peace, however long or short it lasts.
Written by: [PRESS] Poe & [PRESS] Moth B. Mann
Edited by: [PRESS] Poe
Mapping by: [PRESS] Poe
Date of Publication: 4/11/2022