'It all begins today...' Alexis thought to himself as he rode his horse.

A week prior to the beginning of the new year, the armies of the Empire were marching out of the Capital.

The newly reformed Lunar imperial army was being led by several Generals, it was so imposing that the civilian masses that cheered for them felt fear!

Alexis had ordered all soldiers to march in a certain way, the goose step march!

It was simple, imposing and most of all... loud! Everytime the soldiers put their feet on the stone paved road made of granite, the force would induce a thunderous noise which was amplified because of the solid buildings around them, as they sang military songs in unison...

Alexis too was leading his forty thousand troops that were brought to the Capital to be shown off to the public.

He rode on a black stallion that was well groomed, it's saddle was grand but not decorated, it just seemed very imposing!

The horse too was walking pridefully, it's head was lifted up and straight as if it disdained the world around it...

Alexis was adorned in black military garbs that was decorated with a gold aigullete and two intricately decorated epaulette, otherwise known as shoulder pads...

He also had to wear a helmet much to his annoyance, it was an black and gold officer's pickelhaube, with white parade feathers attached to the spike on the top...

The black pickelhaube helmet was worn by all the soldiers minus the white parade feathers as those were reserved only for the Generals and such, the visor in the helmet overshadowed their nose and above giving them a very serious look eventhough the soldiers themselves were quite excited!

Aurelius, Annalise, Irene and Florestine were watching the march with complicated gazes, they were scared and worried about what might become of Alexis who would be leading an army to invade the Satellian Empire and fighting his first war...

Alexis observed the uniforms of the new Lunar Imperial army, the soldiers wore all black uniforms which consisted of black military tunics with several big gold coloured metal buttons, black pants and ofcourse... black boots. On their hands stood the bolt action rifle which was named as the 'Imperial standard Type 1' or just 'Type 1 rifle'.

The soldiers carried their own military bags that were packed to the brim with various items, clothes, pots, pans and ofcourse a shovel...

At the top of their pickelhaube helmets was a golden spike, which he thought could be used as a weapon during a close combat scenario...

Next to him was Sophia and the older man who stuck by her, they were proudly holding onto the banner which held the flag of the Grand Lunar Empire...

The flag was wine purple with a symmetric golden cross and a mix of saltire lines which were only drawn halfway into the middle which meant that there were four lines in each corner that never met at the centre point, in the middle of the flag which was also where the symmetric golden lines met, was the Imperial coat of arms.

It was a black shield with a white eagle, it's wings were spread out and above it was a waning crescent moon...

Ofcourse there were many intricate patterns around it but the white eagle and the moon was known as the Coat of arms.

Flags were waved for miles long, cheers were heard from every corner as the marching troops finally exited the city...

They then headed of to the South eastern side of the Empire where the borders of the Lunar empire and the Satellian empire was located.

The forces numbered at around a million men just from the capital alone... other major cities and those close to the borders were drafted too!

As far as Alexis knew, the Satellians will be poorly prepared to defend against this giant army equipped with rifles...

"Your highness, what are your orders?" Sophia asked him seriously, she had to speak in a loud voice as Alexis was further away infront of them.

Alexis slowed down, his horse now rode inbetween the two whites horses.

"Let's just follow the Generals, once we get there we can figure things out!" Alexis replied, he was getting excited...

The thirst for blood never disappeared from his body and he had this strong urge to spill the blood of his enemies!

-●-●-●-

Since the army was out of the city, they immediately stopped goose step marching and proceeded to walk, but faster than usual.

They would march for four hours and rest for two, then continue on for another four hours and repeat...

This way, they would march for twelve hours a day and rest for the other twelve hours.

He knew this was very tough for the soldiers but it had to be done.

Their end goal was to reach the borders from the capital city in which the distance between the two was around three hundred thirty six kilometres...

Alexis saw the soldiers looking at the officers in jealousy and sighed.

"Your highness, are you scared?" Sophia initiated a conversation with him.

Alexis glanced at her, she had a pale face that screamed fear!

"Not as much as you are!" He chuckled lightly as she blushed and released her left hand from the handle.

It was shaking and trembling as Sophia grit her teeth.

"I'm sorry for showing my cowardice..." She said and looked down in shame as Alexis pat her shoulder gently.

"Don't worry too much about it, try to justify your fear... mold it into your drive to live and when you face the enemy, kill him!" Alexis encouraged her as she nodded and thinly smiled.

"Your highness, you speak as if you have experienced war!" The older man said in a surprised tone.

Alexis laughed and shook his head, "When I was six years old, my grand uncle threw me into the beast forest! I had to fight for my life, literally... it was good experience and enough for a war!" Alexis then shrugged as the man looked shocked.

"Y-You mean Supreme Elder Philip threw you into the beast forest?!" Sophia asked him with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'm his student!" Alexis smirked and remembered the good times when all he had to do was enjoy life...

"By the way, your highness, I've heard of a new weapon being made in the Empire... do you know what it is?" Sophia asked him curiously.

"Similar mechanisms as a rifle but bigger, it is explosive and needd to be maintained by five people... the name's howitzer!" Alexis explained the basics as the two of them listened and shivered at the mention of explosives...

"How strong is it?" Sophia asked again as Alexis opened his mouth to speak.

"Mmm... very strong! But it is slow... it is used for long distance attacks and cannot be used for our battles as of now, maybe in a couple of years we might see them in warfare..." Alexis mumbled.

'The weapons are that of the late 19th century... the people are now several centuries more advanced than they were before, ever since science became more mainstream in the society...' Alexis thought and looked into the horizon...

This was the first time in his life where he could travel and look around the scenery, the beast forest does not count as it was just a forest.

-●-●-●-

"It's getting warmer as we get closer to the borders..." Alexis mumbled as he rested on his black stallion which was lying on an grass field.

Behind him were hundreds of thousands of tents that covered the entirety of the plains.

His horse neighed in response as if it had understood what he just said.

"Yeah... but it's so peaceful out here, away from the noise and people of the capital..." He continued.

Alexis took his helmet off of his head and put it over his face effectively blocking out the sunlight that hurt his eyes even when he closed them... he then took a small nap.

Sophia was walking around the camp until she came to an area where there was nothing but grass.

She then saw a black horse lying on the grass and a man resting on it's stomach, the horse was docile and seemed like it enjoyed being with it's rider.

Sophia then walked over to the two and sat down next to the horse which huffed, she then gently caressed the horse as it slowly started to stand up.

Alexis was woken from the disturbance and found Sophia directly above his face and staring into his eyes...

"Ehem!" He cleared his throat as she became flustered and moved away from him.

'She resembles Florestine in some ways...' Alexis thought with a small smile, he then turned to his horse which was resting on the ground for around ten minutes...

"Sorry about that buddy, I heard it's not good for horses to lie down..." He mumbled apologetically and pat it's back.

"And you... get on, we're going back!" Alexis spoke to Sophia who had a tinge of red on her face but took his hand and got on the horse.

She was behind Alexis who tapped the stomach of the horse with his foot as it started trotting back to the camp.

'His back is wide...' She thought and looked at him with dreamy eyes.

"I still don't understand why you became my subordinate!" Alexis told her while controlling the horse that was walking at a fast pace...

"...it was my punishment and I accepted it already, since I'm already there, why should I shame myself and quit?" She replied with a voice of pride in her voice as Alexis smiled at her.

"That's very admirable, You have grown up from being Party girl to Sophia" Alexis said with a serious look on his face.

Sophia looked down, her face blushed from his compliment.

"Y-You have changed too..." She mumbled.

"Oh? How so?" He asked her curiously.

"Hmm... you seem more open, before... you looked like you had a stick up your ass!" She laughed at him as Alexis snorted in amusement.

"...maybe..." He sighed and shook his head and gazed at the setting sun with a small smile, the soldiers who saw them together whistled while their friends laughed at them.

'...these men, I'm sending them to their deaths. They think they are fighting for the Empire not realising they are doing it for an Emperor only...' Alexis mused.

"What has gotten into your head to keep you so silent?" Sophia asked him curiously.

"Just thinking about somethings..." He replied.

"Like?" She queried.

"Did you know that you ask too many questions?" Alexis voiced with annoyance laced in his tone.

"You are still the same meanie!" Sophia retorted and put her tongue out to further annoy him.

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This is the Author, I just want to say that the uniforms of the soldiers are like those of the prussian army but black with gold buttons...

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