“MN local counterattacks caused heavy CFN casualties in Gallia even with the ongoing regime change. VACCOM forces in Gallia conducted a local offensive to stabilize MN defenses in the so-called ‘2nd Defense Line’ by sending eight brigades into a sudden push to the small city of Brecille that was used by CRN forces as a supply hub. Participating in the offensive were two Orlish mechanized brigades, five Gallian motorized infantry brigades, and two Lorathian armored brigades—with the 4th and 6th Armored Brigades of the I LEF Corps serving as the main spearhead. The operation lasted for three days, leading to the capture of Brecille, and the operational destruction of these CFN formations: the 52nd Motor Rifle Division, the 28th Guards Tank Division, the 15th Separate Anti-Air Regiment, and the 44th Separate Airborne Brigade. Visually confirmed losses of significant equipment around the area showed nearly two hundred twenty vehicular losses from the CFN, in comparison to only forty-seven losses, mostly M8 IFVs, on the MN side.”
- Geopol Press
+++
Kingdom of Gallia
Toldoi
“Mother…” Princess Louise Alois, now titled Queen Louise Alois, could only watch from the glass window how her mother, the former Queen, was faring. Hooked up on so many machines in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit), her mother seemed to be barely clinging to life, and she had not many things that she could do to change that.
Stress, fatigue, defeat…Louise didn’t know why her frail and aged mother collapsed and gave in.
She clenched her fist after she wiped the tears that formed on her eyelids. I need to remain strong. She told herself. I need to carry onward. Damn it. Yet even with all that, the Queen of Gallia continued bawling as she watched her mother’s sickly form. Did they do this to her? What if it wasn’t natural? What if someone at the top ordered this?
Both anger and fear boiled inside her heart. Why would they do this? She asked. Why? Why? Why?
“Hey,” someone called from behind her. The teary-eyed Queen turned around, and her eyes met a woman in a brown coat. Behind her too were two women in plain clothing, seemingly looking around to secure the place. She had red eyes, silver hair, and a young face that seemed to smile a bit at seeing her. “You’re the Queen, aren’t you?”
“Who are you,” Louise asked defensively. “No one…no one’s supposed to know I’m here.”
“Calm down,” the woman laughed.
“You’re Orlish, aren’t you,” Louise asked, as her suspicion grew. “Did…did she send you here?”
“Her Majesty’s quite the soft woman,” she replied with a grin. “So she wanted me to keep a closer eye on you. After all, you look quite down, and…well, very vulnerable.”
“I’ll defend my mother,” Louise hissed, trying to keep her voice silent enough so that the medical personnel wouldn’t hear her. “I will keep watching her. Until she comes back. I won’t even fall asleep. I don’t care if you goons outnumber me. I’ll die gloriously in her defense if I must.”
“Quite motivated. Amelie would like this,” she then flashed Louise an ID card. “I’m the head of the Royal Investigations Unit. I’m Director Marie Wittfield, at your service, Your Majesty.”
“You just…” Louise’s eyes widened, as tears appeared in her eyes again. “The Queen of Orland sent you here? Did she? She did, right? I met her back then. When…when we were planning how we would defend my country. She was nice. She sent you here to protect us, right? You’re on our side.”
“Gosh, just one disaster and you look up to her as your salvation that quickly,” Marie chuckled. “Yes, we’re here to protect you, and…well, again, I have a lot of questions. We’re here to investigate the circumstances of your mother’s medical condition. After all, no stones must be left unturned when I’m in charge.”
+++
“General!” An aide ran straight into the office of the new Prime Minister of Gallia. General Clovis Doval—now styled as Prime Minister Clovis Doval, frowned as the two other high-ranking members of his new Junta also turned into the direction of the aide, namely the Army Air General turned Minister of Defense, Remi Leblanc, and Admiral Enzo Courbis, now the Minister of the Interior. “The Marshall, alongside the 8th Armored Brigade, is driving to Toldoi. He demands an immediate explanation for the treatment of his Queen and Princess!”
“Bah,” Remi scoffed. “Mobilize three brigades from the frontlines to block him and arrest him. That arrogant fool thinks he’s still in charge of the Armed Forces. Send him a prompt lesson.”
Clovis crossed his arms and sat on his table, as the aide stood in attention.
“That man is supposed to be the future King,” Clovis said. “We treat him wrong, we might be in pain. The Queen is very much in love with that man. And he still is the Marshall of the Armed Forces.”
“Dismiss him then,” Enzo suggested with a hard frown. “That youngster was never meant to be in charge of our great military anyway. He’s just there because he’s the damned son of Duchess Tuvein, and has the favor of the Royal Family. He’s a traitor who collaborated with women. Knock him down a notch.”
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“I suggest we let him be in charge of the 8th directly,” Remi grinned deviously. “He loves that unit anyway. Gave them every best toy he could get. Well, we can assign him and his unit the spearhead of our planned offensives against the Coalition. Make him prove his loyalty to our rule.”
Clovis weighed those ideas. He decided that he very much liked the idea. Yet there were still a few complications.
“We’re doing this because he collaborated with the previous Queen?” Clovis asked.
“Absolutely,” Remi replied. “Clovis, you mustn’t lose sight of our goals. It is not just a takeover for the sake of the Kingdom by removing decrepit women from their failed rule, we must also punish those who betrayed the Kingdom and its men. That man collaborated with the Royal Guard. He and his woman played us all. You almost got purged by him. Have you forgotten that?”
Clovis frowned.
“I have not,” Clovis said. “But, aren’t we the same? We are under the Mandate of Nations. We follow the orders sent to us by Eutstadt—”
“We do not!” Remi said indignantly. “That Queen’s words are nothing but suggestions. We can break them anytime. We are independent. Both from the rabid radicals of Eirhow and Velikov and from the women of the MN. We can be the true Vanguard of the revolution. We have Gallia. We have a Queen to keep ourselves legitimate. All we need to do is to convince our incoming monarchs to remain in line. And remove the opposition.”
Then, he gave a thumbs up.
“We win after that.”
“Block him then,” Clovis gave his orders to the aide. “Bring in the 7th Mechanized, 9th Mechanized, and the 15th Motorized to respond to the Marshall. Inform him that he shall be demoted for his insubordination and that if he dares resist, then cite the clauses in our Martial Law provisions that let us shoot traitors.”
The aide saluted.
“At once, General!”
Then, he left. Enzo sighed deeply.
“What of the Queen?” the Admiral asked. “She’s not going to like this.”
“Heh, so what?” Remi said. “Clovis, send in our men to put the Queen back in her place. I heard she went to visit her mother. We can do it in one go. Get her back to the Palace, and tell her to follow our plans.”
“The RIU is with her,” Clovis answered. “I’m afraid the Queen of Orland beat us to that.”
“What?! I thought she was on our side,” Remi said. “I knew it…she must be planning for something. To use her as her bargaining chip, for…for whatever she wants.”
“Again, we take orders from Eutstadt anyway,” Clovis said. “So it’s up to the Queen of Orland how she will handle our two ‘Queens’. We can’t do anything if the news reaches Her Majesty that we beat up her fianceé except let Queen Amelie explain things to her.”
“Eh, I think we’re overblowing things anyway,” Enzio said. “Calm down, Remi. It’s all going to be fine. I mean, what can our Queen do? She’s powerless.”
+++
“They demoted him?!” Louise shouted at Marie.
“Calm down, calm down,” Marie said, trying to hold the obviously panicky Royal in front of her. “Amelie’s got a plan for this. We’re doing our best to make sure that the Junta is kept in check. Just remain calm.”
“How can I be calm?” Louise asked. “First, they disbanded the Royal Guard, which means no one can protect me now. Then…then they remove Henry from his job. That’s ridiculous! How can a bunch of Generals who took power for themselves just kick out their leader? No, not just the leader of the military, the future King, my King!”
“Well, they just did,” Marie chuckled a bit.
“This is not a laughing matter,” Louise narrowed her eyes. “I need to talk to the Queen of Orland now. I need her to get Henry back in control. I need control!”
“You have no control,” Marie said. “Orland is here to protect you, not to give you control.”
Louise’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Marie turned serious.
“I’m still waiting to get Amelie on the line,” Marie said. “But she’ll explain things to you.”
+++
West Orland
November Palace
“Is that…true?”
“Lamentably, yes,” Amelie eyed Nia to the side as she talked on the phone. Her assistant merely gave a shrug at Amelie’s gesture, as she reached for a few documents, handing them to Amelie. Amelie gave its contents a few reads, before talking back to the new monarch of Gallia. “You see, the thing is…”
“I never read it yet!” Louise shouted on the other side of the line before she heard the woman clear her throat to backtrack. “I mean…I haven’t…I haven’t even seen it. I doubt Mother saw it either. I doubt anyone in charge saw it. How can they just…just make those kinds of rules and say it’s the new rules? That’s illegal. It’s made up. Obviously, I can overrule that scrawny Prime Minister. That’s in my powers as the Queen.”
“Not anymore,” Amelie said as she read the document. “The new constitution they’ve enforced says it already. The position of the monarchy is now…from now on, officially reduced to a ceremonial position. Section I…the Kingdom of Gallia’s Government, that being the Prime Minister’s office, the independent Ministries of the Royal Cabinet, and the Gallian Parliament, is not bound to the absolute authority of the sitting monarch—”
“That’s a travesty!” Louie exclaimed. “How can you allow this? This is unacceptable. No one voted for this. My mother’s or my signature isn’t there. It’s a farce. Illegitimate. It’s a lie!”
“Well, it doesn’t matter now,” Amelie said. “The Generals and Admirals of the Junta can reinterpret Gallia’s system however they like now. I have no intention to challenge that. This is what they sent me. They announced yesterday that from then on, their new constitution is the law of the Kingdom. Not the word of the monarch. I have no opinion on this matter. I suggest you do not resist these changes. You have no one backing you. My protection can only extend so far.”
“But you can. You have soldiers here. You have—”
“Do you really think if I could, I would have allowed your mother to be forcefully removed from the throne,” Amelie’s voice turned icy. “Understand this. I have a war to fight. Your Kingdom has a war to fight. Hell, your Kingdom’s fighting for its existence. And your biggest problem is your throne? Have some shame, Queen Louise. Your problem isn’t the priority anymore.”
“Then Orland…isn’t standing in my back? If I try to retake my power…?”
“No,” Amelie answered. “And even after this war, don’t try coming to me. That’s your problem now. I understand that their rule is threatening, but I have no intention of angering them. And I have no intention of breaking down our alliance in this time of war.”
Then, Amelie served her judgment at last.
“Just suck it, will you?”