The Russian community was an oddity compared to many of the other communities. The reasoning for this would be the tradition that whichever faction had the greatest strategists would be automatically instated as the ruling faction. This system led to a lot more competition, but far more growth than many other nations.

For a few centuries after the founding of the Russian community, the ruling faction would switch constantly. That would eventually change as the ruling faction figured out that it would be in their best interest to just crush and invite the brightest of the other factions to join them.

Presently, one faction stood at the top, the Elite faction. Named after countless victories against the other factions. At the top of this faction stood 5 men. Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov, Aleksei Alekseyevich Brusilov, and Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky.

Out of these 5 men, 3 of them were considered to be at the top of the Russian community. These 3 were Suvorov, Zhukov, and Brusilov. Since their strategic prowess was fairly close to each other, none of them could declare that they were the best. They certainly had their disagreements, however, they all knew what the stakes were if they were to have a falling out with each other. Currently, all of these top officials of the Russian community were gathered together to discuss the future of their beloved nation.

“Well, we haven’t been in the same room for over a decade, is everyone well?” Suvorov was first to cut the weird tension between all of his supposed comrades.

“Oh of course not! You should know that the best out of all of us,” Zhukov shouted in anger.

“Calm down, Zhukov. The matter with our two best prodigies defecting to the other communities was unthinkable. There was nothing that we could do,” Ushakov calmly reminded everyone.

“I agree, this is unprecedented in our history for some of our most powerful to defect to other communities,” Brusilov said backing up Ushakov.

“That is not true, it happens all the time with our weak strategists. Frankly, a million of them defecting is not an issue. However, we are talking about the biggest potential we had in our community just leaving,” Nevsky put his thoughts out.

“Right, the boy, Maksim Mikhailovich Belov, defected to the United States community while the young lady, Marisha Umnaya, was likely recruited by Jordsand. How can we let this stand?”

“Zhukov! Enough! What’s done is done. If they went over willingly, then there really will be no way to get them back. We will have to cut our losses and start training up the next generation of potential leaders.”

“Suvorov, are you saying that you are not even going to put in any effort into trying to get them back?”

“I see Suvorov’s point. Allegiance to one’s country has been the norm for most of the history of Planet 4. It is different now. Now all these new entrants have only one wish. To join the most powerful community,” Ushakov reasoned.

“What’s your take on this, Nevsky? You have been here the longest out of all of us. A few centuries more in fact,” Suvorov asked.

“What Ushakov says is true. Before, the strong would congregate together within a community. Now, the young’ uns still do this, but on a planetary scale. Not just limited to within a community.”

“Right! How dare they betray the motherland. Are they even loyal to-” Brusilov started but was cut off abruptly.

“It’s no use, Brusilov. Our intelligence network in the United States community has not even detected a hint of our male prodigy. Nothing needs to be said of the Jordsand community as they have effectively isolated themselves from just about everyone.”

“Humph...those idiots.”

“Speaking of this matter will do nothing but enrage us further. I suggest we move on to the main topic of our meeting today. It is, after all, a rare sight for all of us to have one of these meetings,” Ushakov reminded everyone of their true purpose in meeting today.

“Fine, fine. So what’s this about a mock tournament? I haven’t really been paying attention as I’ve been training for the past few decades,” Nevsky was truly interested in this matter. Enough so that he came out of his closed-door training to attend this meeting.

“The mock tournament is essentially a run-down version of the actual Death Match tournament. It’s smaller, with fewer communities participating, fewer and less valuable prizes, well, you should get the gist of it.”

“I see, well, as the only one here who has witnessed the actual tournament, I have to say, it sounds like a good way to gauge which community will have a better chance at the top spots of the Death Match Tournament.” Nevsky voiced his thoughts.

“Not to mention, a great boost to the economy of a community for however long the tournament runs on for.”

“Yes, a shame that our community was not chosen to host this magnificent event.”

“Well, not to rain on your parade, but none of us in this room have the history, respect, nor achievements to do what Sun Tzu has managed. Plus, the centuries of planning that went into putting this plan into action is astounding. 4 out of 5 of us haven’t even been alive for that long.”

“It can’t really be helped, Sun Tzu was the one who set the majority of this up. All we have to do is tow our strategists, merchants, rich people, and visitors to go and join in on the fun.”

“What about the next one? Will that also be held in the Chinese community?”

“Sun Tzu has announced that whichever community could score second in the upcoming Death Match Tournament would have the chance to host the next mock tournament.”

“Hmm, second hey? I would have been quite confident if our two brightest disciples hadn’t left us.”

“I have the same opinion, but we can only train up anyone else who shows promise. As well as convincing those we overthrew to learn the ways of modern warfare. The resources we sunk into that pair was painfully tremendous. It is tough to swallow, but we must.”

“Is there any chance that either of those 2 will be joining in on the mock tournament?”

“Actually, that is something I have a bit of information on. Apparently, a cloaked figure appeared and entered into the most important Chinese tournament along with 4 other figures. From what my scouts gather, there is a good chance that this person is Marisha Umnaya, ”

“Are you saying that she attended a tournament with the members of the Jordsand community? Need I even ask the outcome?”

“No, your assumptions are correct. There was no one that was able to stop them. Sun Tzu may not have been there, but even he might not be able to win against such terrifying opponents.”

“Did she do anything notable? She did just join the Jordsand community at that point, right?”

“She nuked the Queen of the pirates after toying with her for some time. The pirate queen is quite the fighter, perhaps even on your level of naval warfare, Ushakov.”

“Perhaps, but pirates are nothing but pirates. How can they compare to an Imperial Russian Admiral such as myself?”

“Going by some other reports, it doesn’t even seem like our prodigy needed to ally herself with anyone.”

“You’re kidding, the Chinese should not be that weak, can they?”

“Relatively speaking, the ones that participated in that tournament weren’t really the best of the best. However, it seems as if their blueprint front has been slowly growing in terms of both quality and quantity. Sun Tzu bought the majority of those from the other communities while he was traveling around.”

“Does that mean that their innovation has been lacking as of late?” Brusilov questioned.

“Them? Lacking in innovation? It is hardly thinkable. For as long as I have been on this planet, they have been one of the most innovative when it came to researching and developing weapons. From what I heard, that had been the case for many generations before me. Is this a signal for their decline?” Nevsky spoke aloud, more so thinking out loud rather than talking to his comrades.

“Possible. However, we would be fools to take this at face value. The Chinese have always been crafty people. They might be purchasing all of these blueprints in order to create something totally new that fits their style of battle.”

“That is quite speculative, Zhukov. Fear not, if we just make sure our 100 strategists are well-trained, well-prepared, and have a personalized blueprint collection, then we will be able to easily beat many of the other communities.”

“Personalized? Does that mean that you three have finally decided to go down...that route?”

“You mean communism?”

“I wasn’t going to say that, but in a way, yes. Communism. With a twist. Are you really going to instate such laws into our community?”

“Yes, we will have to do so in order to breach the gap between us and the other communities.”

“What do you mean?”

“There is almost no doubt in my mind that we are a top existence if we were to fight in the mock tournament now. However, our base of strategists is not solid enough that we have any guarantees of making it to the top 3. We can bridge that gap by distributing some of our more advanced blueprints.”

“How far are you willing to go with this?”

“We won’t give them the absolute best of what we have, but something that should give them an edge against most strategists. They will prove their loyalty to us, and in time they will be rewarded with even more blueprints.”

“...Not a terrible system. Is this what you think can cause some of our better strategists to stay with us?”

“I do. At least, it is definitely better than the old system of not even sharing scraps with those not blessed with talent.”

“Are you planning on taking this community-wide?”

“We’ll work on those who are already powerful and work our way down from there based on potential. The latter part of this will be accomplished after the mock tournament, or even post Death Match Tournament.”

“Because of the talks you are in with the old kingdoms of Russia?”

“Precisely, there are many strategists that have yet to join us. You are an exception, Nevsky, but many of the others are stubborn beyond reason. They cannot see that their era is long gone.”

“Fret not, the old kingdoms will acknowledge Russia once we place highly in the upcoming tournaments.”

“The problem is that we do not have that luxury. We will need their strategic prowess as soon as possible. If we are able to do well in both tournaments, then our economy will be able to grow many times what it is right now.”

“Right. Nevsky, this is why I ask of you to contact everyone that you have come in contact with and ask them to join our community. Convince them of our superior might.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“I know you have taken an interest in aerial warfare. So we will hand over a few blueprints related to aerial combat.”

“Oh! You sure know the way to my heart. It’s a deal. I’ll go get it done as soon as possible. Unless there is something else that we need to discuss?”

“No, not really.”

“Alright, then I’m off.” Nevsky happily scampered out of the room and proceeded to pay each of his dear allies a personal visit.

“What should the rest of us do?” Ushakov asked.

“For you, Ushakov, prepare a training regimen for anyone with potential. Remember, we don’t have much time. So we will need to work together to strengthen ourselves. The rest of us will make one for land warfare.”

“Will do, Suvorov.”

“Can’t wait to finally compete again.”

“It is a shame that the tournament isn’t starting sooner. I want to see how I compare to the Chinese like our little prodigal traitor.”

“Good, now let’s get to work. There is much to be done in the coming few decades.”