All the Queens men

[Blue]

Prologue


Egypt , the ancient land of wonder , a nation born of the gods and destined by the stars for greatness....

The history of Egypt has like her Queen, has been shrouded in myth and legend for time immemorial . The deeds of her people have been the making of legends since story telling began and the power of the egyptian gods have seen all their enemies prostrate before them. From humble beginings in the misty hills around the nile delta to mans first tentative grasps for the stars the egyptian people had led the human race everforward in the pursuit of enlightenment. Those nations which had seen the light chose to follow Egypts gleaming example and were strengthened and bettered for their loyalty ... for those who had fallen to the dark and chose to stand in Egypts way , only isolation , poverty , scientific stagnation and the eventuall overthrow of their empires was their rewards.
The Egyptian Empire was the envy of all others , her people delighted in their superior cultural achievments and their scientific community was rivalled only by the prowess of her Majestic Armed Forces.
However as with all greatness came a danger... jealousy.

From across the Gulf of Athribis the Roman Republic looked on at the magnificence of egypt with envious eyes , in Egypt the Roman Senate saw what Rome should be , a world leader , apowerhouse of ideas and greatness and as their envy grew ever deeper so their greed grew ever stronger and deep in the heart of the senatorial Citadel below the streets of Rome they drew their plans for Greatness.
The Senate of Rome knew that to defeat Egypt alone would be a feat only the Gods could perform so they dispatched envoys to the four corners of the globe in an attempt to gain allies for thier devious and callous assault on the worlds greatest power. They found only a few , but were heartened by the news that thier greed was matched by others and now braver and less furtive they chose their first victim.

Babylonia , once a great power nestled on the tip of the egyptian empire , they had chosen their lot and during the early 15th century had lauched an assault against egypt herself , it was a mistake of cataclismic proportions for their nation . In thier initial attack thier bowmen had raised two of egypts finest cities,
invoking the rage of the entire empire . Prince Rameses himself was ordered to take charge of the armies of egypt and crush Hamurabis hordes .
When he was done , no less than fourteen years later Babylonia was no more , only a small handfull of colonies on the Roman side of the gulf of Athribis were allowed to remain as Soverign states and these were under Egyptian Domminion until 1870 when the last of the Pacification forces were withdrawn.
The Roman invasion of ' The Western Babalonian City States ' was watched closely from egypt . Special intrest was paid when a group of Modern Armour was seen heading for the front lines . Up untill this point many in Egypt belived the Romans to be a backward nation . This was clearly no longer the case and on the day the Romans announced their victory over Babylon the Egyptian Government announced a three fold increase in defence spending.
As the year 1986 drew to a close the Roman Senate made public its Mutual Protection Pacts with Greece , the second largest nation on earth and sharing a land border with Egypts northern neighbour and earstwhile Ally Persia , and Germany Egypts most troublesome advessary , with whom egypt had fought several lengthy wars with over the Soverignty of the Southern Islands and lay not less than two hundred miles to the east across the Southern Ocean.
Within a year Roman Troops were Massing on the Persian border , and Egypt , the greatest nation on the planet braced herself for ' Total War'.

[Metaliturtle]

As the first to criticise, I SAY CHARACTERS PLEEZE!!

[dannubis]

great introduction
keep it up !!!!

[civman2000]

When he wrote the first part, I assumed it was just an intro and characters would added in the later parts...but are there going to be any later parts?

[Blue]

Thanks for the Advice- Characters on their way

[Blue]

ALL THE QUEENS MEN
Chapter One

It had been a long time since Admiral Seromias had been home and he feared it would be longer still if the comuniques he had recieved early the previous day were anything to go by. The Admiralty Office were certainly in a flap over something , if only they'd tell him what ! It wasn't like he was some conscript straight out of the training ponds - He was ADMIRAL SEROMIAS , one of the most decorated men in the navy , commanding not just any ship but the R.E.N.S Carrier Steel Sky. The most powerful vessel afloat , surounded by a fleet of nearly twenty of the best vessels that Egypt owned , manned by the top officers in the entire Empire . All this under his command . And still those cattle brained fools in Alexandria chose to keep him in the dark .
" Message from the nuclear sub Whisperer sir " called the coms officer " they just made sonar trace on the Persian sub we suspected was off Cape Hispalis . Requesting permission to go deep and track them ! "
Seromias smiled to himself , those Persians were always trying to sneak their subs through HIS waters... " well ..." he mused " i supose they're our friends now."
" Order the Whisperer to keep an eye on them but tell them to report in every two hours ... this thing at the Admiralty could be a drill or ..." he broke off realising what he was thinking " or maybe it is'nt."
He turned to his X-O , a man nammed Jario , he had been serving with the Admiral nearly twenty years now and was as the closest thing to a friend Seromias had.
" What do you think Jario . You reckon the boys back home are planning some kind of drill for us?"
Jario shrugged " Two years ago I would have said yeah.... but now .... I don't know. I mean last year they reintroduced national service , we've got six new battleships in production . Even the sixth fleet has been reinforced and what does that lot need besides mothballing . I just get the feelling the big guys in Thebes know somthing and it's got 'em worried."
" Worried ." Laughed Seromias " You're talking like Rome just went Nuclear capable or something . No Jario . I don't buy it . Ever since that little spat with the Germans over the Southern Islands the whole nation seems struck with paranoia . So the Greeks and the Romans have signed an M.P.P . Even together they wouldn't dare , simply don't have the fire power , to threaten us . We're Egypt Jario , Egypt. "


Captain Viricius Triti sat silently in his command chair , the tac display in front of him momentarily forgotten , around him the crew of the first ever Roman nuclear sub sat just as silently ,
reaching forward he tapped his sonar officer " Do they see us "
The sonar officer nodded marginally " they just sent of a hi-Freq radio blast . Decript coming in now ." he nodded towards the com officer who was rapidly typing the encoded message through his computer , he turned to his commanding officer and smiled
" They have us I.Dd as the Persian sub "Xexes Pride . They request instructions."
Triti smiled slyly to himself . So it had worked . He never believed it would but it had , simply copying the stolen plans to the letter had convinced those arrogant Egyptians , or as he reffered to them , scum , that they were in fact , Pesians.
"new heading " he stood smilling " take us north . Take us to the current location of the Egyptian Carrier Steel Sky."


"message coming through Admiral " called the coms officer " coded ... sir its coded RED "
Seromias threw a glance across the bridge at Jario his face taunt , code red was the new signaling sign for only the most urgent messages , if he'd been asleep only a code red would have woken him " well Jario . I Guess its not a drill . Would you care to join me in my quaters "
Taking the message script Seromias lead the way off the bridge and in to his private briefing room. Jario sat while Seromias read the message.
" sir " he asked after the Admiral had finished reading " Whats it say ?"
Silently Seromias handed over the note.

FROM.... CINC EGYPTIAN FORCES EAST.
TO ..... ALL COMMAND PERSONNEL.

BE ADVISED... ROMAN FORCES ....ENTERED PERSIAN TERRITORY
08.35 AST ... PERSIAN FORCES IN RETREAT .
COMAND AUTHORISATION DELTA SEVEN ENACTED.
STATE OF WAR NOW EXIST BETWEEN EGYPT AND ROME.
EXECUTE UNRESTRICED WAFARE AGAINST ROMAN AIR .
SEA AND LAND FORCES.
NUCLEAR ARSENALS REMAIN UNDER STRATIGIC DETERENCE
COMMAND. CONVENTIONAL FORCES ONLY. REPEAT NUCLEAR
WEAPONS REQUIRE AUTHORISATION CODE FOR LAUNCH.
SECONDARY....BE ADVISED .... LIKELIHOOD OF HOSTILITIES
WITH GREEK REPUBLIC IMINENT... TREAT ALL GREEK FORCES
AS POTENTIALY HOSTILE.

RA SAVE THE QUEEN. LONG LIVE EGYPT.

MESSAGE ENDS.....


Jario looked up " ohh bugger "




to be continued......

[SKILORD]

i like it!

[Blue]

ALL THE QUEENS MEN
Chapter two

The briefing room was already filled with people as the Prime Minister made his entrance , most were seated around the cabinet table , those that hadn't already sat took their seats as he arrived . The Prime Minister sat down at the head of the table . To his left sat the four department heads of the Armed forces , each in full uniform. On his right the were the the five members of his cabinet and directly in front of him , sitting regally in her chair was the Queen , her face grave , her hands clasped before her on the table , her entire demeanour showing that she was uncomfortable with this sudden breach of protocol . The Monarch never sat in on cabinet metings. Ever . Until now.
" Your majesty , Gentlemen... " began the P.M " you have all been breifed on the events of the past two hours , but before we begin " he nodded to the CinC Army " General Kisall will bring us up to date . General..."
The General stood " Thank you sir. Ma'am " he bowed briefly , even here , deference for Royalty was to be maintained
" Right ... Over the past year the forces of the Roman Republic have been increasing their battle readiness ... we now know why.
As you are all aware forces from the romans Alpha and Bravo contingents launched an attack upon the Persians Eastern border provinces..." he paused and took a sip of water from his glass " we belive this is the first wave of a full scale invasion."
"Are we sure ..." interjected the Foreign Minister " that its simply not an attempt to counter Persian nuclear superiority. If it is then the Persians can probably deal with it alone."
The P.M stirred " minister this is not a should we should't we discussion. The statement has been made. We will Protect our Allies. We are at war with Rome."
"but surely Prime Minister ...if we can find a peaceful solution we must endevour to... "
"We are at war with Rome... and very likely to be at war with greece and Germany before the day is out..." intreupted the P.M " the discusion here is how to deal with these threats." He turned to the CinC navy " Admiral..."
The CinC navy smiled gravely at the P.M " Gentlemen... we at the joint chiefs office have been working closely with the boys from intel...we have been planning for this eventuality for some time... Our Naval forces have been at full readiness for over a year" he glanced at the three men sitting next to him , in turn each nodded " as have our air force , Army and our Stratigic Deterence Command Forces. We have been working closely together to develop a number of fully intergrated opperational Strategies. "
" By fully intergrated do you mean "nuclear" " asked the Foreign minister , his face taunt.
The Admiral nodded " a number of plans do call for the use of our stratigic forces . Yes. "
The Trade minister shot a look at the P.M who simply shrugged " this is maddness " said trade " Admiral if we use our "stratigic Forces " as you call them to attack Rome we invite the condemnation of the World. We simply look like bullies . We've got 'em you haven't so there. Prime minister i strongly recomend we refrain from escaliting this to a nuclear level . The political lashback could cripple the economy..."
" i agree " choursed the Foreign minister " i fear it could also lead to a widening of the conflict. Even a nuclear attack upon ourselves... do not forget that greece and germany are thought to posses nuclear forces."
" we are aware of all these concerns " said General Kisall " rising from his seat " which is why we at the Joint Chiefs are suggesting we initiate "OPERATION SWIFT RETRIBUTION" . "
" Does this operation require the use of nuclear forces ?" asked the P.M
" No." was the reply. The P.M scanned the faces of his ministers , most looked like they were facing Armaggedon. Maybe they were . " Tell us about it General."
The meeting went on for almost four hours , the joint chiefs each detailing the part their forces would play. The P.M and his ministers listened closely. The Queen sat in silence throughout. After the second hour a messenger arrived with confirmation of the Greek declaration of war. After the third hour came news of the destruction of the persian city of Gordium . During the fourth hour the cabinet voted.
As the meeting came to an end the P.M gave clearance for "OPERATION SWIFT RETRIBUTION " to begin . Turning to the Queen he said " Ma'am i belive it is time for you to adress the nation." The queen nodded agreement " and what do i tell them Prime Minister ?"
" tell them..." the P.M stood straight and proud " tell them , now begins our finest hour."


to be continued.....

[Blue]

ALL THE QUEENS MEN
Chapter three


The Queen shifted nervously in her seat as all around her people busied themselves with the last minute checks. She seldom spoke to her people , had only ever made speaches of this sort to parliament . Her role was now more ceremonial than official and though her ancestors had ruled Eygpt for over five thousand years her job now was mearly a figure head with no real power. But as the Prime Minister had told her what Egypt needed now , more than ever , was just such a figure head , a guiding force for the storm ahead and somthing to affirm their faith in Egypts power. She was that somthing.
The director called for quite " on air in 5..4...3.."
The queen put on her bravest most solomn face
" People of Egypt. I speak to you today from the palace in Thebes. This morning at around 8.30 our time forces from the roman republic launched an invasion of our northern neighbour and closest friend Persia...."

Three hundred miles south in a hardened bunker General Kisall , commander in chief of the army turned to his chief aide
" contact all area commanders . The light is green . Begin OPERATION SWIFT RETRIBUTION"



" The persians are a mighty nation ..." the queen went on " but their forces have been driven back."


In Athribis the call came in ... and the thirty first para regiment joined the forty divisions already airborne and heading across the gulf of Athribis for Rome.


" Your government has acted swiftly to aid our allies in persia. Egyptian diplomats in Rome have been recalled. Our forces are moving to aid the besiged Persians"


From every port along the egyptian east coast naval and amphibious assault craft made for the Roman coast. Taking with them nearly fifty divisions of modern armour , thirty marine battalions , scores of mechanised infantry and the greatest fleet of warships ever assebled.

"as i speak to you now , forces from our army , navy and airforce are enroute to rome. Egypt has long held her temper in check , now the romans will learn what it means to make war on our neighbours. They will learn via the hardest lesson of all ... defeat"

Aircraft which had been cicling in holding paterns for hours turned towards rome ... thier bomb bays full to capacity


" This is not a war of Egyptian making ... but it will be the making of Egypt. There will be dark days ahead .... we must prepare for loss of Egyptian lives but our resolve must not falter , our nation is strong , our pride is strong , our people are strong and we will prevail"

As the Queen finished her speach the colective might of egypt rained down on roman territory . 100's of divisions of modern armour and mech infantry poured over the border into their northern provinces , suported by naval , air and the new radar artilliary bombardment. Their Western coastline was swamped by naval landings and airbourne forces , thier oilfields on their south coast was flatened by the new stealth bombers and thier navy was obliterated before it could put to sea . Egypt had certainly lost her collective temper.



************************************************** **

"....we will prevail."
"Switch that damned radio off." shouted Admiral Seromias " we know we're at war . we dont need to listen to the official anouncment."
Seromias turned back to the view from the command bridge window , below on the deck of the carrier the bombers which had just arrived back were being preped for another bombing run , he frowned , counting the planes . Another two had not made it back. Roman air defences were proving to be stronger than anticipated. Then again the entire Roman war machine was proving to be stronger than anticipated . This was turning into a real bloodbath. The initial attack had cought them off guard ... cought nearly every one of guard , no one not even the Egyptian area commanders had expected such an all out attack but the joint chiefs had insisted and every single available unit had either been airdropped , ambhibously landed of simply thrown across the border into roman teritory. He'd even heard rumours that most of the heartland cities were being defended by nothing more than a single battalion of concripts. That most of their garrisons were already deepinside roman territory.
The horror stories from the front were appaling most of the para regiments had been wiped out. The marines had been forced back onto their transports. The mech infantry units were being scatered from the modern armour that they were escorting.
Even the navy had been badly mauled , after believing most of the roman navy sunk in the first wave of air and cruise missile attacks the fleet had been ambushed by a group of battleships , seven ships including the carriers Alexandria and Eagles Nest had been lost in that debacle.
Seromias looked back into the bridge , checking for signs of strain which were now showing on the faces of his men , most of them looked calm enough a few looked tired and worn but for the most part...
" Sir squadron one away " called the flight control officer - a few more men and broken planes to litter the roman country side
" Track them in lieutenant. Keep me informed "
The bridge door flew open and a young sailor literally fell ont the bridge , Seromias looked on disaprovingly " yes "
The sailor straintened up , saluted " sorry sir... Commander Jario request you join him in the mess sir"
"what!!" Seromias waved him away " tell him if he wants me ... tell him to come here. I'm the Admiral on this ship ... i will not be called for like a dog "
"but sir " stamered the junior officer " he says its critical.. sir you need to see this..."
Seromias stared hard at the junior , a hundred insults flying through his mind ... but if Jario thought it was important " i'm on my way"
The mess was six decks down from the bridge situated between the forward hanger and the mens quaters and it took Seromias nearly ten minutes to make the trek .
"this had better be good Jario " he said as he entered the strangley deserted mess hall. Jario looked up from the T.V set which seemed to have him messmerised " oh its not good sir... its very , very bad ..." he pointed at the T.V " look "

The T.V was showing a newschannel from back home , E.N.N or the like , the screen was filled with images of tanks rolling through long grass , like an ad for a weapons company only Seromias new diffrently " are those greek " he asked
"sure are sir " answered Jario . Seromias stomach was suddenly turning " where are they "
" listen " said Jario as he turned up the volume on the set the picture flashed back to the anchor at his desk...
"....it apears the tanks crossed the persian border into the Avaris province last night without any ressistance from local forces. The nearby city of Avaris is , according to E.N.N sources protected by only a small garrison of around 100 men. Initial estimates put the size of the greek force somewhere near a million. Local people are fleeing in terror but no official response has yet been made by the govt as to a response or most importantly as to how such a large force could pass through persian teritory unnoticed... our reporter on the ground is ....."
" How the hell could this happen " Seromias stood unblinking trying to comprehend , oh god Assilia and the kids are in Avaris.. oh god..
"sir have we had anything official through from command yet"
asked Jario " or do we just tune into E.N.N for our daily update " his voice full of scorn , he too had family in Avaris.
Seromias blinked , shook his head to rid himself of the image of his kids being crushed beneath the treads of a greek tank " we need to contact command.."
But before they could get to the bridge there was a sound like a distant thundercrack and the ship shook fractionally . Two seconds too late the alarm klaxon sounded . There was another Thunderclap this one much closer and over the ship address came a startled cry " Admiral to the bridge . Enemy sub on the port side . Admiral to the bridge"


To be continued....

[Blue]

ALL THE QUEENS MEN
Chapter Four

The Persian ammbassador sat waiting for the Egyptian prime minister his hands twitching eith nerves , his collar was already damp with sweat , this was not going to be pretty. His fears were well and truly justified , the collosal mistake made by persian intelligence and the orders given in the highest levels of his government could quite concevably lead to the collapse of the Egyptian nation , even worse they could lead to war betwwen Egypt and Persia and Persia was already on the verge of defeat at the hands of the Romans , if they lost the Support of egypt or were forced into war then....oh god... the very notion caused him to shudder ... how was he supposed to deal with this , how could he explain.... the doors burst open and the prime minister entered the room...showtime.
"Ambassador ..." the P.M nodded curtly before sitting behind his huge ornate desk ( which had , conicidentaly , been a gift from Persia) " i pressume you know why your here ?"
The ammbassador nodded solmenly his eyes searching for something , anything but the P.M to focus on.
"then perhaps you can tell me " roared the P.M standing so suddenly that his chair toppled over " why the hell are Greek forces being allowed to pass through persian lands to invade Egypt. Not just a few greek troops i may add.... nearly a million armed men...in EGYPTIAN TERRITORY ...while our ENTIRE armed forces are overseas in Rome fighting a war in defence of PERSIA."
The Ammbassador stutered , shifting awkwardly " Well...mr prime minister ...as you know our government has issued an instant declaration of war upon Greece for this vile attack. Persia has acted swiftly to curb any further ... well....incidents of this nature and we ...we...we can only appologise and we will....of course offer any aid we can to Egypt at this time... we well .....we"
The prime ministers voice , when he spoke , was nearly a whisper. The ammbassador could not decide which was more unerving , the screaming or this. " Incident mr ammbassador , incident. You refer to the potential destruction of Egypt as an Incident. Let me remind you of one thing... if Egypt falls then Persia falls with her. And not nesacarily at the hands of Romans."
He paused to let the threat sink in... " now tell me how did this happen? And i want the truth Ammbassador." he smiled , but there was no homour in it " i need to acertain how to deal with your nation from this day forth . Either as friend ....or Enemy."
The ammbassadors pulse was racing , in his next few words hung the fate of his people , it was a burden he was unprepared for and had not asked for but it was his to bear
"Mr prime minister the truth is " he paused praying that the P.M was a reasonable man " the truth is ...we are not sure. we belive the greek forces managed to con their way into persia using an out of date right of passage document. we had intended to cancel it but....well our communications have been a little strained since the invasion. They are close to breaking point. The border guards i am told were unaware of the Greek intentions ...they belived they were moving to aid our own troops on the front lines. Persia totally accepts all resonsibility for this. It was our mistake. The President is drafting a statement as we speak. And our good will has been proven by our declaration of war on greece. As you know we share a long border with greece and i am informed that this new front is likely to stretch our forces to breaking point. we have done what we can to atone. Mr prime Minister i ask...no ... i beg you to accept this as truth .... if you do not then both our nations risk destruction . We cannot aford to let this distract us from the real enemy."
The P.M sat silently for a few seconds his face set in stone , his eyes looking at but not seeing the ammbassador . He blinked once and it was buissness as usual " Very well ammbassador . I accept that this was a mistake upon your nations part and not some plot against Egypt but this does not solve our dillemma ...there are greek forces in egypt and we do not have the abbility to drive them out. Egypt is on the brink of disaster mr ammbassador ... and it appears there is nothing we can do to prevent it."
The ammbassador was stunned ... Egypt , the most powerful nation on earth , on the brink and only three days into the war. He had just saved Persia from the wrath of Egypt ... but he wondered who would save Egypt....

************************************************** **


General Kisall entered the room as the ammbassador left , nooded gravely to the P.M and placed the suitecase which was chained to his left wrist on the desk.
" Its time sir."
The P.M rubbed his eyes , it had been a long few days and the ones to come were bound to be even longer. If , that was , there were anymore days to come. He looked hopefully at Kissall
"Are you sure theres no other way?"
" I'm sure sir. weve thrown everything weve got at them. And some we haven't . Most of the southern cities are completely defenceless now. We conscripted every man we could , stripped every halfway distanced city of their garrisons and we barely even scratched the surface. we have no option sir. we must do this now... if we wait they'll be too close to Avaris and we risk killing our own people."
"How many of our troops are in the area?"
"sir. Please. They're soldiers. They knew the risks. We cannot be concerened by that. We must defend the country. They'll understand."
"Alright " said the P.M , it was probably best he didn't know. He reached for the case and unlocked it , took a small plastic card from his wallet and typed the numbers into the keypad in the case. Kisall checked the numbers on a similar card and typed them in also. He looked at the Prime Minister
"Sir. You have authorised the use of nuclear weapons. The target is Athribis Province. This is inside Egyptian territory. The warheads will explode over Greek forces in this area. Do you understand this."
The P.M 's voice was choked his face smeared with tears " Yes"
Kisall pointed to a small button inside the case " to confirm the launch order please press this sir."
The P.M steadied himself , took a deep breath , said a quite prayer and pressed the button. His hand shook all the way.


to be concluded......