08-04-2025, 01:39 AM
Location: Facility Aegis-1, Deep Macon Mountain Complex, Lagard Province
Time: [REDACTED]
The steel doors sealed behind him with a hiss. The descent took nearly three minutes—straight down, 37 stories into the heart of the Macon Mountains.
Facility Aegis-1 didn’t exist on any map, not even military. Its power lines were buried. Its workers lived off-grid. Its funding came from black budgets and sovereign accounts tucked in closed-door appropriations. And its commander, nominally, was Colonel Henry Arthur Carmichael, R.H.A.F.—Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Hutori, and commanding officer of the 5th Fighter Wing
Officially.
In reality, he was the lead oversight officer for Project Satanil; A ghost program buried beneath a ghost mountain.
He stepped into the primary command deck. The walls were lined with control panels and blast-proof monitors. Every technician here had clearance higher than most generals. The overhead lights hummed with sterile energy. The silo feed came up on the main display. There she was: Satanil-XIII.
Polished like obsidian. Coated in radar-absorbent material. Standing 29 meters tall, nose to the ceiling of the armored launch cradle. She looked like a spear pointed at God.
“Final diagnostic complete,” said Director Harrow of Horizon Technology, nodding toward the missile. “Launch ignition test protocol standing by.”
Henry’s jaw set. “Yield confirmation?”
“Initial theoretical was 1.5 megatons,” Harrow said, unable to keep the edge of excitement from his voice. “New data points to 2.2 megatons. The containment lattice breakthrough—”
Henry cut him off with a raised hand. Too much glee for something designed to melt continents. “Is the lattice stable?”
“Fully. Thermal bleed minimal. We’re green across the board.”
He nodded once. The briefing had covered this. The Satanil-XIII could deliver its payload across the globe. It had adaptive mid-course corrections. It had no known countermeasures. And in less than five months, Horizon was expected to have five live warheads on standby—strategic readiness condition “Vermillion Prime.”
The Crown Prince turned away from the launch schematic and moved into the private comms chamber. He activated three channels: one to the Prime Minister, one to the Minister of Defence, and one to the Chief of the Defence Staff—his aunt, General Beatrice Steuart-Carmichael.
She’d been appointed just three months prior after the sudden retirement of her predecessor, and she was still shaking up the senior ranks. Henry trusted her. She’d babysat him as a boy. Now she was commanding the most powerful military machine Hutori had ever built. The fourth channel was offline. That one was personal. His father’s. Later.
Encrypted Communiqué
Sender: Col. H.A. Carmichael, R.H.A.F.
Commanding Officer, Project Satanil / CO, 5th Fighter Wing
TO:
RE: Project Satanil – Phase III Update & Operational Viability
Gentlemen, Madam,
This communique serves as formal notification that Project Satanil’s primary delivery system, Satanil-XIII, has successfully completed all pre-launch diagnostics and simulation protocols. Ignition test is scheduled and authorized pending final sign-off. Environmental stabilization is optimal. Secondary telemetry units calibrated.
Confirmed estimated yield: 2.2 megatons (theoretical) per unit.
Payloads entering assembly at Horizon Sector IV. First five warheads will be operational within Q3. Thermal regulation breakthroughs have improved both shelf life and stability. Redundancy systems exceed known equivalents.
Recommendation: Upon successful ignition test, activate strategic transition to “Vermillion Prime.” Recommend formation of Nuclear Strategic Oversight Council for ongoing chain-of-command evaluation, and expansion of early warning systems.
Observation: While the scientific success is considerable, ethical implications are equally profound. These weapons are not deterrents; they are extinction-level assets.
Respectfully,
Col. Henry A. Carmichael, R.H.A.F.
He disconnected.
Then he activated the fourth channel, encrypted beyond military protocols—using a cipher older than the country itself.
“Begin secure transmission to His Majesty King Charles III.”
A moment passed. Then: green light.
Henry stared at the blinking cursor for a long time before speaking.
“Father… the Sword is forged. And it is sharper than any of us imagined. I’ll oversee the test personally. If it works… no one will ever challenge us again. But I have to ask… have we made ourselves gods, or demons?”
Silence.
He cut the line.
Outside the chamber, the launch sirens began to wail.
Time: [REDACTED]
The steel doors sealed behind him with a hiss. The descent took nearly three minutes—straight down, 37 stories into the heart of the Macon Mountains.
Facility Aegis-1 didn’t exist on any map, not even military. Its power lines were buried. Its workers lived off-grid. Its funding came from black budgets and sovereign accounts tucked in closed-door appropriations. And its commander, nominally, was Colonel Henry Arthur Carmichael, R.H.A.F.—Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Hutori, and commanding officer of the 5th Fighter Wing
Officially.
In reality, he was the lead oversight officer for Project Satanil; A ghost program buried beneath a ghost mountain.
He stepped into the primary command deck. The walls were lined with control panels and blast-proof monitors. Every technician here had clearance higher than most generals. The overhead lights hummed with sterile energy. The silo feed came up on the main display. There she was: Satanil-XIII.
Polished like obsidian. Coated in radar-absorbent material. Standing 29 meters tall, nose to the ceiling of the armored launch cradle. She looked like a spear pointed at God.
“Final diagnostic complete,” said Director Harrow of Horizon Technology, nodding toward the missile. “Launch ignition test protocol standing by.”
Henry’s jaw set. “Yield confirmation?”
“Initial theoretical was 1.5 megatons,” Harrow said, unable to keep the edge of excitement from his voice. “New data points to 2.2 megatons. The containment lattice breakthrough—”
Henry cut him off with a raised hand. Too much glee for something designed to melt continents. “Is the lattice stable?”
“Fully. Thermal bleed minimal. We’re green across the board.”
He nodded once. The briefing had covered this. The Satanil-XIII could deliver its payload across the globe. It had adaptive mid-course corrections. It had no known countermeasures. And in less than five months, Horizon was expected to have five live warheads on standby—strategic readiness condition “Vermillion Prime.”
The Crown Prince turned away from the launch schematic and moved into the private comms chamber. He activated three channels: one to the Prime Minister, one to the Minister of Defence, and one to the Chief of the Defence Staff—his aunt, General Beatrice Steuart-Carmichael.
She’d been appointed just three months prior after the sudden retirement of her predecessor, and she was still shaking up the senior ranks. Henry trusted her. She’d babysat him as a boy. Now she was commanding the most powerful military machine Hutori had ever built. The fourth channel was offline. That one was personal. His father’s. Later.
Encrypted Communiqué
Sender: Col. H.A. Carmichael, R.H.A.F.
Commanding Officer, Project Satanil / CO, 5th Fighter Wing
TO:
- The Right Honourable Michael Kensington, Prime Minister
- The Honourable Gen. Beatrice Steuart-Carmichael, CDS
- The Honourable Christopher Reinhardt, Minister of National Defence
RE: Project Satanil – Phase III Update & Operational Viability
Gentlemen, Madam,
This communique serves as formal notification that Project Satanil’s primary delivery system, Satanil-XIII, has successfully completed all pre-launch diagnostics and simulation protocols. Ignition test is scheduled and authorized pending final sign-off. Environmental stabilization is optimal. Secondary telemetry units calibrated.
Confirmed estimated yield: 2.2 megatons (theoretical) per unit.
Payloads entering assembly at Horizon Sector IV. First five warheads will be operational within Q3. Thermal regulation breakthroughs have improved both shelf life and stability. Redundancy systems exceed known equivalents.
Recommendation: Upon successful ignition test, activate strategic transition to “Vermillion Prime.” Recommend formation of Nuclear Strategic Oversight Council for ongoing chain-of-command evaluation, and expansion of early warning systems.
Observation: While the scientific success is considerable, ethical implications are equally profound. These weapons are not deterrents; they are extinction-level assets.
Respectfully,
Col. Henry A. Carmichael, R.H.A.F.
He disconnected.
Then he activated the fourth channel, encrypted beyond military protocols—using a cipher older than the country itself.
“Begin secure transmission to His Majesty King Charles III.”
A moment passed. Then: green light.
Henry stared at the blinking cursor for a long time before speaking.
“Father… the Sword is forged. And it is sharper than any of us imagined. I’ll oversee the test personally. If it works… no one will ever challenge us again. But I have to ask… have we made ourselves gods, or demons?”
Silence.
He cut the line.
Outside the chamber, the launch sirens began to wail.