EV: Cronus Interlude

While things had been going well for Lords Yu and Erlang Shen so far, on Othrys, Capital World of the Goa'uld System Lord Cronus, things could not have been going more differently. There had previously been much confusion as to just who had been attacking the frontier, as Cronus had been adamant that it would have taken far longer for Lord Yu and Erlang Shen to mount such an assault. Only recently had transmissions from the front reached Cronus' Palace on Othrys and made the situation clear. Unfortunately, the clarification revealed to Cronus that he had already lost two worlds to the invasion, while two others were either contested or about to be contested.

This, then, had thrown Cronus into a mighty rage. One that wound up lasting for days before any true action could be taken to rectify the situation. By the time the red rage had left Cronus' heart and allowed the King of the Titans to once again begin taking rational action to stem the tide, Aorsoi had already fallen, and Tokharoi would be under attack. It was Sindar, First Prime of Cronus, who had covered for the King of the Titans while he raged, slaying various slaves and smashing various works of artistry in his anger. Fortunately, the King of the Titans knew that to do so publicly would only harm the effort to defeat the invaders, and so had locked himself away in his chambers to vent his rage.

In the meantime, Sindar had begun collecting various forces from Cronus' Domain in anticipation of Cronus' forthcoming demand for a counterattack. Sindar knew that his God would demand an immediate counterstrike, after all. He had pulled in forces from the nearby core worlds directly under Cronus' Command rather than the command of some Underlord somewhere in anticipation of the order. Now, a fleet of some eighteen Ha'tak Battlecruisers and Forty Al'kesh Gunships, along with some Sixty Brigades of Jaffa and over eight thousand Ptah-class Fighters.

It was a mighty force, representing the cream of his God's Forces. It was also far larger than many System Lords would have dared muster at one time. Not just thanks to Ra's prohibition on large-scale invasions, but also because such a concentration of Forces would have left his God vulnerable to an assault on the flanks. Thankfully, however, Cronus' Flank was secure. This was not because his Lord engaged in Diplomacy, as the cowardly Lord Yu had done to secure his borders with Amaterasu, but in fact, thanks to the Greed of Sokar and the Opportunism of Ba'al.

They had attacked the Alliance of Bastet and Kali, as both Independent Queens had shifted forces northward toward their Alliance's Border with Lord Cronus in the anticipation of taking advantage of the situation. It served them right, Sindar thought. Such cowardly tactics deserved to be punished. Oh, certainly, neither Sokar nor Ba'al could be trusted to do more than serve their own interests. Neither were allies of Sindar's Lord, but Sindar knew that so long as they were distracting Kali and Bastet with their attacks, neither of the Allied Queens would so much as dare to cross the border. And if Sindar knew that, his Lord surely did as well.

"Sindar! Attend me!" Echoed the commanding voice of Sindar's Lord.

It seemed Cronus' rage had finally cleared. Either that, or he was calling upon Sindar to dispose of the corpse of yet another slave. Either way, Sindar hastened to answer the call of his God. When he arrived at Lord Cronus' Chambers, bowing to his Lord as he entered, as was proper, Sindar found the former was the order of the day, thankfully.

"My Lord, I have come as ordered." Intoned Sindar, bowing.

"Good. It is high time that we struck back at these invaders. Tell me, what preparations have you made for an immediate counterattack?" Questioned Cronus.

Sindar refrained from saying that the reason that they had yet to attack was because of his Lord's fury at the invasion. Such insolence would only see him smote, as his predecessor, Ronac, had been for failing to win the Battle of Kenmet against Apophis. Ronac had been smote in such a way that he had died slowly and in great pain, after all. Such a fate was to be avoided at all costs.

"My Lord, I anticipated your desire for a strong and immediate counterstrike, and have gathered together your direct forces." Answered Sindar with a bow.

"Excellent. A good servant should anticipate his God's desires. However, you have gathered all of my direct forces?" Queried Cronus.

"Most of them, My Lord. I have not stripped your worlds bare. Garrison Forces are still present, as are the training Cadres. However, all of your offensive forces have been gathered together here at Othrys." Informed Sindar.

"I see. And what of Kali and Bastet? Are the two Bitch-Queens not prepared to plunge a dagger into my back for this move?" Asked Cronus.

"They tried, My Lord. However, Sokar's greed and Ba'al's opportunistic nature have foiled their plans. Both of them noticed Bastet and Kali moving forces to take advantage, and both of them have attacked the Allied Queens. Neither Kali nor Bastet will trouble you so long as they are fighting Ba'al and Sokar, My Lord." Explained Sindar.

"Very good! I always did say you could always count on those two to try something like this! A Dishonest God will always be Dishonest, after all!" Laughed Cronus.

"As you say, My Lord." Opined Sindar.

"Still. With my forces gathered, we should strike quickly. What would you suggest I do here?" Questioned Cronus.

"If it were me, My Lord, I would assault Erlang Shen first. You would have loyal forces under the Command of Pallas to augment your attack, and by striking at the weaker link in the chain, you may yet break the invasion. Once Erlang Shen is defeated, your forces will be able to thunder into the flank of Lord Yu's forces." Advised Sindar.

"Then it is well that you are not in command, Sindar. Erlang Shen is but a whelp. Is not Yu the larger threat? Has he not penetrated further into the frontier?" Queried Cronus.

"It is as you say, My Lord. Yu has seized more territory." Acknowledged Sindar.

"Then it is Yu we will attack first. We should be able to clean up the Boy Erlang Shen at our leisure afterward. After all, how many ships could he possibly have?" Asked Cronus.

"Reports from Pallas say he attacked your brother with a fleet of eight Ha'tak Battlecruisers, Sixteen Al'kesh Gunships, and eight of those Intermediate Ships he is so fond of." Answered Sindar.

"Yes, my Brother. Tell me, does Coeus yet live? If so, I will need to devise a proper punishment for such incompetence. What did Pallas have to say about Coeus?" Questioned Cronus.

"Pallas did not know if Coeus lived or was slain, My Lord." Responded Sindar.

"It is no matter. If he lives, he will find out that death in battle against Erlang Shen would have been a far more merciful fate than the penalty I will levy on his wretched form for such gross negligence! If he is dead, then it matters little. Either way, we shall see when the time comes." Growled Cronus.

"What are your orders, My Lord?" Queried Sindar.

"How many ships does that Old Snake Yu have amongst his fleet?" Asked Cronus.

"Reports from Zelos say he has attacked with close to twenty Ha'tak Battlecruisers and Forty-eight Al'kesh Gunships." Informed Sindar.

"That is such a massive force that even his pact with Amaterasu must be strained to the breaking point! Has that Old Snake finally gone senile after so many years? What could possess him to muster such a large fleet for this?" Asked Cronus.

"I am unsure, My Lord. However, the best estimates that Apate's agents were able to give us before you had her imprisoned on Tartaros were that Lord Yu had recently engaged in a crash shipbuilding program and could have as many as Forty Ha'tak Battlecruisers and eighty Al'kesh Gunships throughout his Domain under his personal command, with potentially another thirty-six Ha'taks and seventy-two Al'kesh amongst various Underlords. If that is the case, it certainly signifies enough strength that he would be comfortable sending so much force after you." Theorized Sindar.

"Provided he can trust his Underlords, a fatal weakness if ever there were one. It is all highly irregular, though. Ra wouldn't have allowed something like this to happen prior to his seclusion. It seems that Lord Yu knows something about the Supreme System that the rest of us do not." Intoned Cronus.

"We still must respond, My Lord." Pointed out Sindar.

"True. Call in Hyperion and Oceanus. Have them join their forces to mine. They are close enough that it should only delay our counterattack by a few days. In the meantime, tell Kratos and Perses that they are to take their forces from Bactria and Sogdiana and reinforce Pallas on Tokharoia against Erlang Shen. Once Hyperion and Oceanus arrive, we will assault Yu as he tries to fight Atlas at Seres. That should give us a total strength of thirty-eight Ha'tak Battlecruisers and seventy-six Al'kesh Gunships. That should be enough to annihilate Yu's fleet. Then we can deal with Erlang Shen at our Leisure." Commanded Cronus.

"It will be done, My Lord." Bowed Sindar.

Then his God turned his back on Sindar, dismissing him. Sindar bowed once more and left to go carry out his God's commands. Privately, however, Sindar was worried. Hyperion and Oceanus were Underlords whose territories guarded the Flanks of Cronus' core Territory. If they took their own offensive forces to help deal with Lord Yu and Erlang Shen, the casualties could weaken the flanks of his Lord's Core Territory. That could be an issue, as outside of Oxeanus, Hyperion, and Crius, Cronus' remaining Underlords knew they could be stripped of their rank and power at any time and either be tortured to death or sent to exile on Tartaros whenever their Lord's moods took him. If their forces took too many casualties, it was possible that a revolt could form among the underlords.

If that happened, Crius would be forced to keep his own forces on station to prevent the exiled Titans and the surviving Olympians from seizing control of Tartaros and joining the revolt. Cronus may have slain Zeus, Poseidon, and several of their spawn during the reconquest of the Olympian Provinces, but others had gone into exile alongside many Jaffa on Tartaros, and only the stripping of any advanced magic from the exiled, along with regular purges of the Planet by Crius' forces, kept them confined to the Prison World of Tartaros. Sindar knew that the remaining Olympians and the Exiled Underlords would jump at the chance presented by a wider Underlord Revolt to cast off their exile and retake the Olympian Provinces they had once reigned supreme over.

And if that happened, his God's Domain might just disintegrate entirely, leaving other System Lords and rebels to pick the remains clean. However, Cronus would not be denied, for he was a wrathful God and wished his counterattack to be both mighty and terrible. As such, Sindar could do naught but carry out his God's orders and hope that things would all turn out for the best in the end. If they did not, he did not fear for himself, of course. No, instead, Sindar feared for the continued safety of his family in the ensuing frenzy of invasion, revolt, and partition that was bound to occur. After all, if his God's Forces were savaged enough that a mass Underlord Revolt plus an Olympian Uprising became possible, Sindar would likely already be dead. When he took that into consideration, the only thing he could do was to call his family after carrying out his God's commands and tell his wife and young son to move out to one of the villages in the countryside of Othrys for a while.

If Othrys was attacked, the Capital would be the first to feel the wrath of any rebels or invaders, after all. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the next chapter. In it, we get a look at the response to Lord Yu and Erlang Shen's Invasion of the disputed border territories. As predicted, Cronus didn't take it well, and he wasted precious time flying into a rage, killing Human Slaves, and breaking shit. Fortunately, he has a competent First Prime. Unfortunately, his temperament also means he's planning to throw a lot of forces into his counterattack. That might just backfire on him if he takes a shitload of casualties. After all, Cronus is not the most reasonable of System Lords. Kind of the Opposite, actually. He's a pretty bad boss.

A note on the place names in this chapter. You'll note that I have utilized different names for Yancai, Yuezhi, Daxia, and so on. These are Greek-style names for those worlds. In keeping with the theme of the disputed territories being, well, disputed, Cronus and his Underlords have Greek-style names for the Planets, while Lord Yu, Erlang Shen, and their Underlords have Chinese-style names for them.

At any rate, the next chapter will have us returning to Erlang Shen's POV for the Battle of Yuezhi, before showing an interlude with Lord Yu at the Battle of Yancai. I'll also have some more Images out afterward as well.

Stay tuned. . .