Chapter 5

Gaul

Gaul had changed a lot since the end of the war. From big changes like rail and telegraph lines leading from the coast all the way to Italia, Hispania, and eastern Germania, to smaller ones like the buildings in the villages, which were more like towns than the smaller settlements they had been five years before.

They still showed signs of how rapidly they’d advanced, with older longhouses made of logs with thatched roofs next to larger, Roman-style buildings with stone walls and tile roofs. In another ten years, most of the log buildings would be gone, modernized to Roman standards.

Assuming Ky didn’t change those standards by then, of course.

The building they were using was large, a replacement for their central hut, capable of holding several hundred people at a time and a rival in size, if not opulence, of the forum in Devnum. Most of those spots were already filled and tightly packed, with the rows of seating looking down at the center speaking area.

Lucilla could feel the eyes on her as she made her way to the center of the room. Representatives from every other collective government that had formed, like in Germania, Hispania, and Gaul, as well as tribal leaders and city representatives from the more fragmented areas such as Greece and Scandi, had all come. The messages she had sent out made it clear that Britannia had a major announcement that could affect every person on the continent and Africa, but had not been specific as to what it was.

Some would have already figured it out, as Lucilla had begun backchannel conversations with the more friendly representatives well before the summit was called, but she was glad to see so many had taken the invitation seriously. Part of that was because so much of the known world was now not only using but becoming dependent on Britannian technology, especially the harder to produce but consumable things like gunpowder and fertilizers, both of which they had kept the formula as secret as possible. But she hoped part of it had to do with the cost Britannia had paid, and the respect they had earned by finally ridding the west of the Carthaginian menace.

The realist in her knew it was almost certainly the former that was motivating most of those in attendance, however.

“Thank you all for being here,” Lucilla said, her voice carrying throughout the hall. “I know some of you have traveled a great distance to attend this meeting, and I am grateful for your commitment. Your presence here today is a testament to the importance of the matter at hand.”

She paused, looking around the room at those in attendance, making sure she had their attention.

“By now, many of you have heard about the attack on our port in Africa. For some of you it may seem like a distant event, far removed from your daily lives and concerns. But I assure you, that is not the case. What happened at Port Amicitiae is not an isolated incident. It is an early warning. A warning of a danger threatening every one of you.”

She paused again. There were some murmurs and a few scattered conversations, but she had the attention of most of them.

“At the end of the war we disseminated reports from sources inside Carthage and prisoners captured after the city fell. Reports of an eastern power that supplied them with advanced weaponry greater than anything seen in the west, aside from those weapons designed in Britannia. Weapons not copied from our own but developed in the east. I know for many of you, that seems like a long time ago, and perhaps many of you have forgotten about this threat, but the destruction of Port Amicitiae shows that the Easterners have not forgotten about us. What’s more, every one of you should be concerned about a people who had no problem supporting a power like Carthage. It shows what these Easterners value, and what we should expect from them. For five years, we have lived as if the threat of annihilation and subjection was defeated alongside Carthage. It was a naive hope, one born of exhaustion from war and strife. A hope that’s time has drawn to an end. These Easterners have set their eyes on the west, looking to take up the mantle Carthage once held.”

“What does that have to do with us? Who cares what they value or crave?” a representative from Athens asked. “The East is far away. No one has ever even seen one of these people, let alone had any dealings with them.”

“We have seen their ships,” Lucilla answered. “We fought them in the battle of the Sea of Reeds, their ships standing alongside the Carthaginian ships, at the end of the last war. We know the ships that attacked our port are the same ones that assisted the Carthaginians. Their designs are too unique and recognizable to be anything else. And we are nearly positive that this is just the beginning.”

“What do you want us to do about it?” a Scandi chief asked.

“It is time for the west to come together. Just as many of us came together during the last war, now is the time for us to unite. Britannia cannot afford to face this threat alone. The Easterners have shown that they are not another Carthage. For one, they’ve shown a technological ability much greater than that shown by Carthage. Britannia will continue to work to keep our armies ahead in that regard, giving them an advantage in the field, but we do not know how far the Easterners have come in five years, while Britannia worked to rebuild the west. We cannot do this alone. If we stand divided, we will fall one by one.”

She turned, slowly, looking to each of the groups seated around her. “Which is why we asked for this gathering. Britannia is ready to take a stand, and we ask you to stand with us. We are proposing a unified response, an alliance of the West. A pooling of resources and manpower to withstand the coming storm.”

“So you want to use our people while you sell us weapons?” a representative from Hispania said.

“No. Britannia will provide the majority of the technical and material support. We have the most advanced weapons and the means to produce them, and we will put our people on the line as well. Britannia has already begun new recruitment efforts and will make up a significant portion of the armies that need to be fielded. But our war with Carthage bled our people deeply and there are not enough of us to do this alone. We want partners who are willing to join us in the defense of our lands. I should say that Britannia could sit back while those of you on the continent are rolled over, crushed by these new invaders. You stand between us and danger and our island offers us protection. But we understand that we, as a people, are not an island. We exist in cooperation with you, our neighbors. Which is why we want to stand with you.”

“As you said, some of us are not in the way of this storm, as you call it. Why should we worry about what happens on the continent?” a Scandi asked.

“For the same reason you joined the fight against Carthage. Because it’s in your best interest. These are your neighbors, the people you trade with. Your prosperity is tied to theirs.”

One of the Gallic representatives called out, addressing the Scandi chief. “You might have been able to sit out the last war, selling to both sides while my people died for their freedom. But if what Britannia says is true, you won’t have that same luxury this time.”

The Scandi chief bristled. “We didn’t...”

Lucilla held up a hand, silencing them both. “I appreciate your concerns. I in no way downplay the part you played in defeating Carthage, but our friend from Gaul is right. This fight is going to be larger and more consequential than the war with Carthage. When the Easterners come, and they will come, everyone here will be in their way. We will all be in danger if we don’t band together.”

The Scandi chief looked away from her. Lucilla turned again, sweeping her eyes over the crowd.

“Britannia is ready, once again, to defend itself and anyone who would join her from this new Carthage in the east. We have faced great challenges before, and we have emerged stronger. Now is the time for us to stand together, to safeguard our future. I ask you now, who among you will stand with us in this Alliance of the West?”

A representative from Germania stood and said, “Britannia has proven themselves true friends to all freed people. You have fought alongside us, bled with us, and helped us rebuild. We will gladly stand with our friends, now and forever.”

Lucilla nodded, a smile of gratitude on her face.

The Gaul representative rose next. “Our people have seen the horrors of subjugation, and we will not let it happen again. We are with you.”

They looked to the collection of Scandi chieftains. Oen, the one who had spoken before, and was clearly the one designated to negotiate with others, shook his head, “We came to listen only. We cannot commit Scandi to war. We will take your words back to our people.”

“Hispania doesn’t need time. We’ve had our differences, but you helped us when one of our tribes tried to replace our Carthaginian overlords and showed you can be trusted. We’re with you.”

“You’re all fools,” the Athenian said. “Can’t you see they’re playing you, trying to get you all to continue bowing and scraping? Their influence and power was waning, and so they invented a new enemy, a new fear for you all to cower against. We will have no part of it.”

The rest of the Greek representatives stood. Bickering, petty people who hardly ever came to agreement had managed to find a common ground. And it was going to doom them.

“You’re making a mistake. When the Easterners get here, you will be first in line, the first to fall to their cannon.”

“Greece will stand forever, against both fictional threats to the east or against the very real threat to our west. Should you try to come to our lands in the name of protection, we will fight you. We see through you, Empress,” the last word was almost spit, the man’s contempt on full display.