The rest of the celebration flew by. At the end of the night, everyone was quite well acquainted with everyone else. Perhaps not all at the level of friends, but certainly potential allies. Sun Tzu had to make a speech before he let everyone go.

“The 12 of us in this room have earned the title of some of the best each of our respective communities has to offer. However, I hope that none of you, particularly the younger ones, takes that as a sign to stop improving. I know all of you are rather excited for the solo match to commence in a few days. So, I will tell you all which strategist will be placed into which country.”

A small murmur rumbled throughout the crowd as the twelve who would be in the solo match entered into the room. This announcement was slated to be released just two days before the start of the solo match. Now that they would be told who would be placed where, their excitement started to show.

“As I’m sure most of you should be aware, the best position for any strategist would be the United States of America, due to it being on a whole other continent than literally every other major player in the game. We have decided to give this extremely advantageous position to the community ranked last in the group matches. Suleiman of the Ottoman community.”

For any competitor that was still in the running for putting their community in first place, this was fantastic news. However, Suleiman and his community were the only ones that would not be able to do so. So this piece of news, when they hear it, will seem to be an extremely cruel joke.

“Moving on. The person who will be in charge of the massive Soviet Union will be Muqali of the Mongolian community. Germany will be helmed by Ramasses II of Egypt. Hideki Tojo will be commanding his own community of Japan. Maximilian Juventus of the Greco-Roman community will be leading the forces of the UK. Rajaraja of the Indian community will be the head of state for France.”

Many of these placements did not really surprise anybody, after all, during the second world war, these were the 6 countries that had some of the most powerful militaries and navies. So giving them to the communities with a less likelihood of winning would level the playing field a little bit. However, there were 2 big ones left that although did not have as much military might, still had the two biggest populations at the time; India and China.

“India, China, and Italy were hard decisions. However, given the rankings of the group matches we believe we have divvied them up in a fair manner. China’s very own Sun Wu will be in charge of Italy. While Herbert Plumer of the British community will lead the armies of China. Turenne of France will take control of India. Remember, these are all based on the rankings.”

By now, there were only 3 contestants from the US, German, and Russian communities who had not been placed. Logically speaking, as they were the ones who did the best in the group matches, they would be placed in less advantageous countries. However, which countries in World War 2 had as much firepower, and impact as those already listed? Not many left.

“Only 3 remain. Greece, Canada, and Poland. Erich von Manstein of the German community will be assigned to Greece. Suvorov from Russia will be placed in Canada, and finally, Maksim Mikhailovich Belov from the US community is going to be in charge of Poland.”

At this, Maksim could not keep quiet. “Hang on, are you telling me that I will have to lead the country that was the first to get invaded? That’s crazy.”

“Of course, but seeing as how everyone in your community is seemingly so brimming with talent, we thought it would be appropriate to give you and the other top communities at the moment a little challenge,” Sun Tzu responded.

“What challenges are the other two facing?”

“Well, for Suvorov leading Canada, he would need to either make a pact with the US, or get completely wiped off the map in a matter of months. As for Manstein commanding the forces of Greece, well, imagine being in the epicenter of such a violent conflict with many enemies on all fronts but not having nearly the same magnitude of firepower that the others boast. After all, the goal of this massive simulation is world domination. There can only be one winner.”

A hush fell upon the crowd. Such a result was the only way to determine who was the best of the best, adjusted for a level playing field, of course. That said, the World War 2 that happened in real life, as well as some of those that participated in it, was already a tragic scene of extreme violence, death, and destruction. What would it look like if all of the major countries vied for control of the entire world?

It’s important to note that their responsibilities are not limited to just leading the armies/navies/airforces of any given country, but they would also need to be the effective leader of the entire country. Making decisions that would affect millions of citizens. These citizens all had free will, and if their leader did not do a good job of leading, then mutiny would be assured.

Not only would extreme caution be required when making any and all decisions on the state level of every country, any number of missteps could ruin their chances of winning. Military knowledge alone would not be enough to win anything. Politics, business, religion, and everything in between would be important. For some like Hideki Tojo, this would not be as much as an issue as he had experience in many aspects. Others like Ramasses II and Suleiman, who have ruled over empires before, would also have an edge in this competition.

However, most of the others had been so specialized into the art of war that they knew almost nothing of such matters. Of course, being in a high level position in each of their respective communities would not come anywhere near close to the same experience as said individuals would have. Only time would tell how competent each participant would be.

News of the placements would cause quite a stir among those paying close attention to the tournament. Especially those from the Jordsand community. While everyone was focused on the tournament, Luca, the head of state of the Jordsand community, had other matters to worry about. At this moment, he was having a conversation with a mysterious person.

“So, do you have a clue on who you will be sending to the upcoming War of the Worlds?” The mysterious person asked.

“Vaguely, though they are quite a bit of a disappointment compared to some of the others that I brought in previously,” Luca admitted.

“What a shame, the time limit is fast approaching. Are you sure nothing else will be able to rise to the occasion?”

“Likely not, nothing will be able to come close as the dominant group here keeps killing the rest. Like it or not, I can only depend on them.”

“Haha, how unfortunate. Truth be told, I am in a similar position. My entrant this time around is, for lack of a better word, will get stomped by the competition. I have no faith in it.”

“It?” Luca asked.

“Correct, I do believe I will be one of the first to have a cyborg participate in the War of the Worlds. Aside from being mediocre in everything, it just doesn’t have the capacity to do anything extraordinary. And as you said, like it or not, I can only depend on it.”

“Is it not possible to pick a fully living being?”

“Afraid not, he is the best of the best that is available to me at the moment. I don’t think a few thousand years will change much. They are a bunch of half robots, after all. Shame. Shame. Shame. Why did my lovelies have to go get into this crazy trend of robotification. They were fine just as they were. If a little grotesque.”

“A big shame indeed. The two of us used to be such popular contestants, but after those last few flops of ours, well, we are now among the worst. How did it even happen like this. We were on top of our game.”

“I’m not sure, but it is a painful memory to recollect. Hey, whatever happened to your last entrant? You told me a long time ago that...what was it again?”

“He lost his mind, just as the vast majority of others had, but him, he had the audacity to betray me and seek to live out the rest of his life elsewhere. I found him, he somehow made his way to the Dynasty of Destiny and worked for them for a million years before he finally died...again. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. What happened to your last flop?”

“I’m not sure, but she’s been gone so long now that I’m pretty sure she is dead as well. It’s a shame, I had great big expectations for her. Now she is nothing more than an annoying memory for me.”

“Don’t fret, there’s always next time,” Luca reassured the mysterious person.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, with the way things are going on my planet, there may not be a next time.”

“I know I’m usually the pessimistic one, but life is more resilient than you or I can ever imagine,” Luca assured the mysterious person.

“I would be inclined to agree, were it not for the fact that anything living would be roboticized indiscriminately, or just killed outright.”

“In the span of millions of years, there’s really nothing much anyone can do, even beings as powerful as us.”

“It’s not just that aspect. I feel as if everything that you and I do is pointless. I mean this whole War of the Worlds event, what is the point of it? To impress others? What use is that?”

“While I don’t have an answer to that question, it sounds to me like you have finally had enough of all of this. Don’t tell me you are planning to…” Luca dared not say more.

“...no, not yet at least. But I feel that I am getting ever closer to doing it. Being conscious for as long as we have, it gets boring. I’m not sure how long this supposed immortality lasts, but I don’t doubt that it will eventually disappear.”

“It’s kept us going for this long, what’s another few few years?”

“Hah, nothing lasts forever, the Dynasty of Death has assured that. Even us, we will eventually perish, leaving nothing behind when we go. Don’t you think so Luca?”

“That is a depressing thought, no doubt. I won’t get into the semantics and whatever nonsense that I don’t believe in, but as long as we’re here, why not make the best of it? Don’t tell me you intend to feel sorry for yourself for the rest of your afterlife?”

“Oh of course not. It’s just everything has gotten so dull. It was dull during the last few War of the Worlds, and it is likely to continue being dull down the line. I mean, how many of our entrants had managed to get scouted anyway? Less than 10 over the years? Depressing doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

“I can’t say I’m enthusiastic about our chances, but I do have faith that we will rise again. I will make sure of it.”

“Whatever, there are matters that I have to deal with now, Luca. Why don’t we talk again before the War of the Worlds?”

“That’s fine with me, old friend. Send my regards to your champion, I hope our champions will learn to get along.”

“Sure, sure.”