It was the Empire that opened the Sassaran front during the Great War. We did not even think it was possible for any mass of men to cross the sands until we got reports from Khmet that a Warherd had been spotted in the nation’s south. By the time a defence was organised, the breadbasket of the White Pantheon had been burned, poisoned and wilted away. Kavaa & Iniri spent two years assigned to fix the damage that four months inflicted upon us. I, Elassa, was assigned as a quick response force, as was as Paraideisius’ flying forces to reclaim the sands.

The barren wastes, utterly worthless in terms of any tactical value save for the threat that could be projected from them, became oceans of sand. The policy of overwhelming force, through Allasaria’s Orders, Khmet’s reorganised force under King Rama trained specifically for desert combat, the deployment of two Choirs and an Archdemon failed to make any great strides against the beasts in the desert. Against a single Warherd in Epa, a quarter of the strength would have been needed. In the Sassara, the White Pantheon would have needed ten times the forces to create and hold a frontline.

Recounts of individual battles shall be covered in later sections, along with the developments in strategy. Kassandora’s organisation: the use of beastmen who could carry their own supplies to quickly cover large distances, the use of sorcerers in supply lines and splitting of forces into small groups, commonly no greater than just a hundred warriors, would have failed utterly in the Epan front.

It was the Guguoan admiral Zhu Tso, who stepped onto Arika and began to use the same navigation by wind and by star that sailors were well versed with. The final reorganisation came in the form of assigning men navigators from various fleets and attaching them to forces. On the ground level, the battles were still held on the land but the plans of grand strategy were quickly taken over by the United Admiralty. Coalition Forces began to treat the Sassaran Sands as something to sail rather than to march across.

- Excerpt from “The Archive of Arda”, written by Goddess Elassa, of Magic.

Olonia looked through her daily reports. She didn’t give Tanit breaks in the same way that Iliyal had not given her breaks during training but the roles were reversed. When they were in Erdely, the elf would be around to watch them not even half the time. Back then, she had hated it. Now though, she understood it was simply the burden of command. The annoyance came from a place of envy, she had wanted to stand where Iliyal stood. Training without even inspection was a humiliation and it should have been. Olonia trained twice as hard from that envy.

And more importantly, Tanit had the easier job. She simply had to stand there and dance to the tune that Olonia sang. Right now, Olonia had sent her off south with the scouts just as Olonia had been sent off with scouts during the Epan War. There was quite so dangerous as scouting and there was no training multiplier like real danger. The Goddess of Lubska had always seen Imperial smoking or sharing drinks and questioned as to how the men could so shamelessly flaunt such luxuries. Now though? She questioned how the ones who stayed sober handled it.

In Olonia’s charge was one entire Division, only two thousand men although not even half the strength by proper Imperial Guidelines. Five brigades of four hundred each, those split into four brigades of a hundred. Then three platoons of thirty along with a command squad of ten. If Kassandora had not set the reproducible and scalable blueprint to use, Olonia doubted she would have been able to effectively wield three hundred. Only two thousand men. Only their vehicles. Only their supplies. Only their overarching plans. Only it all. Less than half the strength it may be, but if this was what it took to manage two thousand, Olonia did not think she could manage anything larger.

Running Lubska was easier than trying to maintain morale in the Sassara. Olonia read through the quartermaster’s report. She pulled up the huge satellite phone by her side and dialled the usual channels. It was a huge black box with a radio receiver the length of an entire blade sticking out of it. “North Arika Logistics.” The call was picked up almost instantly.

“Goddess Olonia, One-Seventeenth.” Olonia began and launched straight into the problem. “I’m reporting a problem that we have here.” Already, she could hear a keyboard tapping away on the other side. If that was not a sign of competency, she did not know what was. “The dry food has to be stopped. We are using too much water to cook it. Send the wets over instead. That’s everything Nal.” That was common name whoever worked at North Arika Logistics, rarely did Olonia actually manage to recognise the voice and not once had she asked for a name.

“Understood.” Nal replied. “Urgency?” That was the common code here for how quickly they needed it.

“I’ve already halved water usage.” From the showers and for the cleaning of vehicles. Neither of those were needed to fight. “It’s an orange.”

“Understood. I’ve put the report through.” Nal replied. “Anything else?”

“Nothing. Olonia out.”

“Copy that and good luck Goddess. North Arika Logistics out.” And the call was dropped. That had been the fourth one just to Nal today. New clothes were needed, along with the headwraps that the locals wore to stop heatstroke in the desert’s scorching sun. New tents, lighter ones, to replace the ones that they had brought. Olonia had started circumventing procedure in the same way that Iliyal did when he contacted Arascus. Bar the fact that Olonia was contacting her government in Lubska and giving them specific instructions on what to pack. Tight mountaineer gloves were one, the standard issues were for winter and those made men bake. Olonia was about to ring one of her ministers to give a notice on scarves when one of her guards, a private Hector Cunningham, shouted her name. “Goddess Olonia!”

“I’m free.” Olonia shouted back, any problems the men had were always handled better on the spot. “What’s the problem?”

Hector peered in through the cloth door of Olonia’s tent. It was sparse on the inside. Olonia had not even bothered with a bed. There was a table in the centre of the room where meetings were held with the commanders of brigades. The desk were Olonia was sitting right at now, with the huge radio tuned to military channels. A stand for her armour. Olonia had not appreciated being told to leave her plate in Epa but now, even the chainmail was proving too fatiguing to be worn in the day. If coat was left out in the sun, one would be able to fry an egg on it. “It’s not a problem.” Hector said. He wore the pale yellow uniforms covered with darker shades as everyone in the One-Seventeenth did. On his head sat a  cap with a small hood to try and protect him from as much of the as possible.

“There’s a delivery for you Goddess.”

“For me?”

“Two actually.” The man held out a letter.

To Olonia, Of Lubska.

This letter is for your eyes only. I advise you burn it once it is done.

What a way to begin. Olonia took a step back from the soldiers and held the piece of paper closer to her face. They wouldn’t have caught anything due to the sheer different in height in the first place, but it never hurt to be careful. She continued to read.

I did not want to say sooner, as I wanted your attention focused entirely on the training of Tanit. With this letter should come a crate. It is from the Imperial Bureau of Weapon Designs. Proper rifles are being manufactured for deities, they are through the testing stage and are set to enter production. Nevertheless, results from combat would be appreciated. If you are able to respond quickly, final adjustments can be made.

The second part is your new assignment. It has been a thousand years since Tartarus last walked on Arda’s surface. You are to scout out as much as about them as is feasibly possible. Special attention is to be paid to the presence of Tartarian Royalty along with the question regarding the development of new weaponry.

In regards to this, whereas I am aware you have been granted command of the One-Seventeenth, I am letting you off the leash in all ways. You now operate under jurisdiction of High Command and are not part of the North Arikan Theatre. They have been informed already. From the moment you read this, the lives of the men under your command are your responsibility alone and no one else’s. I have personally signed off on lifting all restrictions and rules of engagement for the One-Seventeenth. You are sanctioned by the Empire to do anything you require in other to win the Epan War. Trust your own instincts, you have shown me you have them in the Epan War. My personal recommendation is to run with a skirmishing strategy of hit and run. If you need any advice then I am of assistance. You have my number.

Tremali, Iliyal. Hand of the Emperor.

Olonia re-read the letter again. It was shocking and it was grand. It was recognition and it was responsibility. It was… Olonia folded the letter back up and placed it in her pocket. It was amazing. Let off the leash? Downright magnificent. She knew what meant. Iliyal was testing her to see how she could handle the situation alone. If she had to ring, it was just a total failure.

With vigour renewed, Olonia turned to the soldier who had passed her the letter. “And the crate?”

“It’s being brought right now.” The man said. “It’s heavy. Apologies.”

“None needed.” Olonia said as she smiled in satisfaction. “Good news gentlemen.” She decided to spread the joy and tapped the pocket where Iliyal’s little letter had been placed. “We’re officially independent. Under my authority, we’re…” Olonia’s eyes grew wide when saw the guards pull the sheets aside to make space for the delivery. It was a massive great, as long as Fer was tall easily and it took six men to lift.

Past them, Olonia’s camp was active. The light vehicles they had been given were being maintained, Olonia had never thought she would see the off-road bikes and quads be used in the military, but those were the best for these sands. A platoon was going off for reconnaissance. Another was returning. A drone circled above. They had been given a few to test out against Tartarus. A group of men were dismantling jammed rifles and cleaning them off sand. That was the breaktime in the Sassara. In the distance, the sun was rising straight ahead. The sky was a cloudless bright blue. Supposedly dust-storms were common in these regions, Olonia had yet to see any change in weather. Dunes rolled in the distance.

A wave of height came in with the men, and then the gate closed as the team of sixed gently set the huge down on the ground. “Goddess Olonia.” One of the men said and saluted. “A delivery from Iboud!” Olonia dismissed him with her own salute.

Exciting. Getting presents from Iliyal. It set alight something devilish off within Olonia. Something she didn’t even know she had. Iliyal was sending her a gift. True, it was a weapon and it was part of a job but it wasn’t as if the Empire lacked for suitable candidates. She had been chosen. Not Saksma. Not Paida. Not Agrita or Aliana. Not a Daughter-Goddess. Not even one of the tens of thousands of minor fortress spirits that existed throughout Epa. No. It was Olonia.

The Goddess of Lubska blew a strand of snow-white hair out of her face as she knelt down by the crate. Her fingers tugged at the wood, it was nailed shut. Back then, she would have asked for someone to help her. Now, she just brought the knife out from her belt and stabbed it into a small crack between two planks. She gave it some pressure and smelled fresh steel immediately. Fresh steel and a gust of cold air. And just like that, she was interrupted. “OLONIA!” Tanit’s cry from outside. Shouts came from outside. One guard’s words were cut off. “OLONIA! LET ME THROUGH!” And Tanit burst through the cloth. In her dark-yellow combat uniform, her shawl had been lost.

“Why are you looking like that?”

“Look!” Tanit said. “Look! LOOK!” She a finger down her arm to get that powder off her and pressed it into Olonia’s palm. “LOOK!” It was obviously panic, Olonia had seen it in herself. The woman had to calm down before they got to extracting anything reasonable out of her. She looked down at the markings Tanit had left as the Goddess of Ibya fell to her knees. That wasn’t a good look. Divines should not break down before mortals. Olonia raised her eyes to the men. Enough were competent enough know what it meant. They turned around to have their backs to the two Divines. Those who missed the look followed the crowd after a moment of shock. “I saw it!” Tanit wailed. “I saw it! I saw a black Sassara Olonia! Night on one side! Day on the other!”

Olonia took a deep breath as she rubbed her fingers together, only barely listening to what Tanit was going on about. She knew what this substance was. She had seen it countless times. “Olonia!” Tanit kept on crying. “Like a flood! Like a wave! From one side of the world to the other! As far as the eye can see!”

Olonia stuck her tongue out and dabbed her dirtied palm against it. “Olonia! What will we do!?”

Olonia tasted the substance. Unmistakable. There was nothing else that was even similar.

Ash.