Chapter 3

[ x ] Hence, you spoke to the major generals in private. [Very slow to take effect across the Empire, but grants reputation with Major General Manfred von Ulmer, Major General Otto von Fuchs and Major General Monbert von Stein.]

As you make your way through command bunker seven you can't help but worry, your relationship with the commander of the 168th wasn't bad, but there was still a lot of the usual distance one would expect between superior and subordinate. Meeting a man like Major General von Stein was nerve wreaking even at the best of times, for the man already served the Empire and his Imperial Majesty when you weren't even born yet, meeting him to deliver bad news felt humiliating, like you failed the Empire in some way. You were genuinely worried that you were going to waste the limited time of a hero, and that was astonishingly a feeling so strong that it was straining your will to even go through with informing him of your issue, and fears for the future.

But the fact was that you wouldn't be able to call yourself an imperial mage any longer if you were going to chicken out on something this important to the survival of the 354th. Furthermore, friendly fire would become a massive problem if the peaceful state of Europe would come to an end, seeing as the Empire loves its Artillery with passion like no other with only the Russy Federation coming close. Having Artillery support was a given for imperial units and that would obviously mean that any deployment of sufficient density on the border would result in the same kind of issue you were currently facing, that the spotters couldn't be replaced one way or another didn't change anything, it still needed to be reported.

If the Empire was struggling with this much mana then having the skies filled with the mana of enemy mages in addition could only exasperate the problem in the future. Mayhaps some investments into the training of imperial spotters, tactics and more equipment could help for a time, but even then you can't see a solution that would actually fix the whole mess in the long term, a fact you sadly had the pleasure of telling to the major general before you.

Despite the major general's age he caught on as quickly as you had expected, for the implications were quite dire, normally imperial mages could move from the Waldstätte Confederacy in the south to the coast up north in more or less two hours. But with the communication disrupted, they would be stuck wherever they were deployed until they could be moved by train like everyone else. And that was quite terrible for imperial Mage Battalions which would get visits from all kinds of friends from the west, essentially forcing the mages between a rock and a hard place seeing as the alternative to engaging was imperial flak from positions behind the lines or from their flanks.

No man, no matter how skilled would actually be able to identify them in time with the speed required of a Battalion if it wished to disengage from charging enemy mages, or in other words, the little problem you found within the current setup could take away the mobility from the fastest units of the Empire could deploy. And truth be told you had absolutely no idea how to fix it, for the best you could personally do was as you told the commanders of the 182nd, 197th and 168th that there was a massive challenge for the Empire to overcome, and what struggles with communication your Battalion had already encountered.

The major generals were naturally not versed in what was and what wasn't a normal issue for mages, but they were pleased that you came to Major General von Stein and by extension the whole trio first and in private. The three of them decided to grant you a boon of sorts, lacking experience when it came to mages they wanted you to come up with smaller and immediate fixes to the problem that they could bring before the General Staff in Berun, with your name under theirs.

It was a sign of thanks that you wouldn't even dare to dream of, a chance to enamor yourself to the higher ups as thanks from the three distinguished heroes of the Empire before you. Though your workload would certainly increase, if you managed to put something decent together, you couldn't help but smile at the opportunity. Whatever you will put together will get the attention of the generals sitting in Berun, and might just affect the Fatherland if they're satisfied with your ideas. You couldn't help yourself, but thank God for turning your fortune around, this little boon of your superiors is the greatest chance to boost your career and standing in the army you could possibly get, and that for simply speaking up when it was your duty to do so, you truly loved the mindset of the older generations.

Please select the two options you like the most:

[ ] To limit the mana pollution in the field, spotters should work as one unit to discourage enemy mages from attacking. [Grants slightly improved communication at the cost of nothing.]

[ ] To limit the mana pollution in the field, Mage Battalions should limit the use of flight magic when not required to half their number. [Grants decently improved communication at the cost of national prestige.]

[ ] To limit the mana pollution in the field, Mage Battalions in combat should try to end their battles at whatever cost and as aggressively as possible. [Grants greatly improved communication at the cost of negative pr.]

[ ] To limit the mana pollution in the field, mages should refrain from softening up enemy mages, when it's possible to leave them unharassed without endangering fellow imperial units. [Grants greatly improved communication at the cost of negative pr.]

[ ] To limit the mana pollution in the field, Mage Battalions should opt to force enemy mages into retreat through saturation bombardment. [Grants slightly improved communication at the cost of nothing.]