Aboard the assault transport en route to Budapest, Solomon quickly recovered from his brief emotional slump.
He pulled up the war briefings relayed by satellite reconnaissance and reviewed them carefully, repeatedly checking whether his strategic expectations aligned with battlefield developments, calmly adjusting logistics allocations and addressing wartime supply needs. Not long ago, Victor von Doom had said he treated war like a math problem composed of shells, bullets, fuel, and blood. Now, that description seemed perfectly apt. The reason the Immortal City had been able to seize the advantage was precisely because it had maximized its strengths, pushing the conflict into a high-end competition of advanced armaments. This was a war that could be solved like an equation.
The Immortal City's war against Hungary resembled the Gulf War of 1991—a conflict waged with overwhelming air dominance and electronic supremacy. But the Immortal City relied even more on long-range, beyond-visual-range strikes. Solomon needed to pluck the fruit of victory as quickly as possible. Unlike the U.S. in Iraq, he did not have the luxury of conducting prolonged bombing campaigns. For this, he was willing to burn through staggering sums of money. Supplies accumulated over years poured out like floodwaters. Even Stephanie Malick had to take anti-anxiety medication just to endure the strain.
The Pápa, Kecskemét, and Szolnok air bases had all been annihilated by missiles with multiple warheads. Hungary's transport helicopter regiment, attack helicopter regiment, and first and second SAM groups were destroyed. Radar centers at Békéscsaba, Medina-Medina, and Bánkút—all operating RAT-31DL solid-state L-band 3D phased-array radars—had been pounded mercilessly. Hypersonic missiles deployed by the Immortal City were beyond the interception capabilities of current human technology. Hungary's defenses still relied on Cold War–era Soviet systems. They were powerless before the Immortal City's technical edge, which opened vast room for airborne mechanized infantry deployments.
The Martian foundries' designs had always accounted for extraterrestrial transport. Modularity was their hallmark. Many of the Immortal City's armored vehicles shared a common chassis. Stripped of their troop compartments and most of their armament, assault transports could air-drop the armored vehicles used by gene-modified warriors directly to the front. This was how they hammered Hungarian remnants in transit, clearing the way for Solomon and the Praetorians to carry out the decapitation strike.
A blinking marker on his datapad shifted Solomon's attention away from logistics.
The Martian transport pods had already proven themselves in the campaign against the Skrull base and again in the Fimbulwinter War. Solomon was very satisfied with their performance. Now, one such pod was streaking from orbit toward Budapest. Technicians on the station had calculated with precision: the pod's arrival time would coincide perfectly with that of the assault transport above the city. Another equation with a flawless solution, each step fitting seamlessly into his war plan. Solomon relished the feeling of having every piece in hand—but reminded himself not to grow addicted to such comfort. Predictable patterns invited defeat. Sometimes tactics could not afford to be too rational.
As for why he was not simply striking Hungary's government offices with missiles—the reasons were historical and complex. The Immortal City could not remake Hungary by brutally replacing Viktor Orbán's government. The Soviets had tried that, and the results were written in history. The Immortal City would not repeat such mistakes. Its strikes targeted NATO. Hungarian industry and infrastructure remained untouched, and civilian casualties were kept to a minimum. That restraint laid the groundwork for cooperation.
In domestic policy discussions, Stephanie Malick argued that Orbán's rise was rooted in Hungary's EU membership, which had brought no benefits but instead sacrificed national interests to Western European oligarchs. Urban youth fled abroad in droves, while workers and farmers, angry and disenfranchised, voted Orbán's conservatives into power. On the common ground of opposing neoliberalism, the Immortal City and Orbán had room for cooperation. In some respects, this war could even be an opportunity for Orbán's government: the Immortal City's actions could free Hungary from EU economic shackles, reclaim enterprises held by Western capital, and purge domestic opposition by amending the constitution or by force. The Immortal City needed to help Orbán find the resolve to follow an authoritarian road against populism, toward a shared human destiny, against runaway capital.
Latovinia would eventually grow with Sircaria and Transylvania folded in. Regional stability would become vital. Thus, the Immortal City had to help Orbán satisfy his working- and middle-class base, supplying Hungary with technical support. Only then could Latovinia gain a steadfast ally. It had to show its military might, play the role of a giant hammer smashing every shackle. Then, a new southeastern European political bloc could be built around a recovering, labor-hungry Latovinia—rather than around EU oligarchs and foreign capital.
Solomon knew this war would not last long. But its end could come in several ways: marching with gene-modified warriors and Praetorians straight to the White House, holding the heirs of the great Western dynasties hostage to force the military-industrial complex to yield; or ordering Voidcraft to destroy all NATO communications satellites, crippling the alliance to a World War II–level; or unleashing his unmatched projection and decapitation capabilities, collapsing the enemy's command structures entirely. He already held the cards to force international capitulation. The satellite-annihilation plan was only one contingency, a single cog in a vast war machine.
The road to peace was through war. Negotiations had already begun, their language spoken in shells and missiles.
He would not linger in Hungary. That was part of the plan.
Victor von Doom would stabilize the rear while Solomon pushed deeper into Europe with his gene warriors, coordinating with the S.W\.O.R.D. station's missile pods and Voidcraft to strike NATO facilities in rapid succession—while making clear to the world that this was only a fraction of Latovinia's war potential. Since Congress had already passed its emergency intervention act, measures against Latovinia were imminent. His timetable for the Hungarian operation was six hours, three of them reserved for talks with Orbán.
Even if it was all bluff, the Immortal City's superiority in electronic warfare left most of the world's intelligence agencies unable to fathom Latovinia's capabilities. After striking NATO, Solomon planned to go straight to the United Nations in New York. He knew most nations would refuse to hear him, but Stephanie had prepared a speech anyway. There, he would reveal the alien fleets detected by the Immortal City, urging humanity to unite.
It would be his last attempt at peaceful persuasion.
The assault transport shifted into hover mode, hiding just below the clouds over Budapest. They bypassed what remained of Hungary's armored formations and reserves, aiming directly at the command structure. Few nations could defend against such tactics.
Solomon rose from his seat, his face grim, bolter and sacred sword in hand.
He strode to the ramp, watching as the transport pod—its retro-thrusters blazing—plunged toward the outskirts of Budapest like a giant meteor. From its yawning hatch burst four towering war machines, each twenty meters tall, striding toward the sunlit city. Behind them, assault transports carrying armored vehicles opened their bays. Gene-modified warriors strapped into jetpacks, bolters and chainswords at the ready, prepared to rain down upon Budapest.
The assault transport dove like a whale crashing into the sea.
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.
Every 5 reviews = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.