Embassy of the Republic of Italy, Lardin Avenue

Antonio could not believe what he just heard. After he was dragged out of his bed and into the main house of the embassy grounds, he sat alongside his aides and coworkers around the main meeting room's telephone. He then spoke in a panic, "So does that mean Parpaldia is at war with us!?"

"By technicality, yes ambassador," Giovanni said through the phone. "It is likely however that Arde has launched a coup against Ludius but we haven't confirmed from neither him, nor Remille. Right now you guys need to evacuate the embassy."

One of the staff members, who stood by the window, looked through the blinds before she turned around, "I... think it's too late for that."

Antonio went wide eyed as he and a few others stood from their seats. They approached the windows and peeked through the blinds to see Parpaldian soldiers surrounding them, even having cannons aimed directly at the building. Antonio gulped as Giovanni spoke, "Mister Catalano? What's going on?"

Antonio rushed back to the telephone and spoke in haste, "There are soldiers surrounding the embassy grounds, sir! We're too late, I don't think we can leave!"

"Damn! Umm-" Giovanni said in a panic, "Okay, ambassador, you and your colleagues and their families need to hunker down, asap. Are they attacking?"

"I don't think so," Antonio said, "If they were they would have shot their cannons by now."

"Okay, get your guards and anyone else who can fight to fortify the grounds. I'll update you on what's gonna happen next, alright?"

"Alright prime minister. Good luck," Antonio said. "Well you heard the man let's get this place on lockdown!"

...

Antonio grunted as he lifted the table up to the window and grabbed a hammer nearby, "Keep it steady for me," he said. Holding a nail, he then started to hammer the table in place against the window as he continued to sweat bullets at the situation.

Outside, Enzo then parked the last car he could get from the parking lot as he stopped it in front of the main gate itself. The front yard of the former manor was quickly turned into makeshift fortifications as he hopped out and looked around. Whatever they could use as cover was placed onto the yard for their guards to take position. Couches, coffee tables, cupboards, no furniture was spared for its new role as either a barrier or a barricade.

Enzo stared down at the main leader of the Parpaldian soldiers. An old man on a horse who glared right back at the embassy's head secretary. He scoffed off but just as he was about to head inside, the Parpaldian called out.

"You there!"

Enzo's back faced the Parpaldian captain for a good while. He wondered if he should just walk back inside, but seeing this could be a path for dialogue, he relented. Enzo then turned back around, adjusting his glasses as he slowly and cautiously approached the iron bar fence.

The captain spoke, "Are you the ambassador?"

"No," Enzo said. "I'm the secretary of the ambassador."

"Right...," The captain simply muttered before he cleared his throat. "We demand that you and your men surrender, peacefully, and I'm certain that nobody needs to get even the slightest scratch in this standoff."

Enzo looked to the captain. His tone seemed almost diplomatic in a way. Unlike the message Arde gave, this captain's voice appeared more hesitant, "Now why would we do that?"

The old man huffed, "To ensure no bloodshed shall reach neither side, young man. That's all we ask."

Enzo shook his head, "I don't think so, sir... But if we're not gonna entertain your demands, I simply ask you entertain my question at least."

The captain looked to his men, many of them stood on guard at the first order to attack the embassy. What a mess, "Very well."

"Just... why? Why are you doing this to us?" Enzo said with a deep frown, "Italy has been an ally to your nation and now, now you're stabbing us in the back."

"I... I must correct you, sir, that we are not the stabber but the knife," the Parpaldian captain said. "But to give you an idea, your country has held us hostage economically. The economic crisis has crippled us. Badly."

"That was not our intention, that-"

"I'm sure it wasn't, dear sir. But Parpaldia is on her knees and all me and my men can do is follow orders. So please, run along," the captain said with a regrettable tone.

With an equally exasperated sigh, Enzo nodded before he turned around and walked back inside the main building.

Antonio stepped back from the now barricaded window before he looked to Enzo. He nodded to him before he walked off, "How are things outside?"

"Tense," Enzo simply said. "All our guards are in position and those who know how to shoot a gun are part of them. But right now we're seriously outnumbered."

"Those cannons make me nervous," Antonio said. "How's the rest of our staff?"

"A bit cramped in the cellar but they should be safe," Enzo said with a nod before the two reached another more secure meeting room within the building. They took their seats among the others.

"Good," Antonio said before he huffed and spoke up to his coworkers. "Alright people. This is a very tense situation right now. All we can do for now is lay low, stay quiet, and let Rome do the heavy work for us. Nobody does anything drastic. As long as we keep our cool, nobody will get hurt."

The staff murmured amongst themselves as Antonio looked around. Most were nervous, some were more brave enough, but he couldn't help but look at one of his particular staff as she stood up, "Yes Camilla, what is it?"

"Sir, umm..." Camilla fumbled with her hands. "What... what about the Astaldi representatives?"

The room suddenly went quiet. Dread immediately befell Antonio's face as he looked to Enzo who was just as taken aback. He gulped, "Do uh, we have communication with them?"

Enzo immediately shook his head, "No sir, I- we haven't been able to because the cell signal is still so weak out here."

"Uh, try the telephone, we have ours linked to their hotel right?"

Enzo nodded quickly at that. He then quickly walked out with Antonio to the nearest telephone in the building.

...

Faloin's Rest Hotel, Golrim Avenue

The bar of the hotel remained still and quiet in the peaceful night. Rain lightly pattered down the glass window as most of the magical lanterns in the room were extinguished.

In front of the bar itself, Riccardo Calvano leaned against the marble countertop as he drank his glass of Disaronno. He wasn't the only one left. There was the bartender himself on the night shift, two Parpaldian musicians who have been lightly practicing to the side with their soft piano and violin giving the bar a comforting atmosphere.

And coming back from the bathroom was Vincenzo, his fellow representative. They were to have a meeting tomorrow with the government of Parpaldia regarding their possible bid to have Astaldi build their factories.

Riccardo read over his files again. Exhaustion was now washing over him, and his idea of having a few drinks for rest later boded well. Though that same success couldn't be said for Vincenzo who drank more from his glass. He sighed, "Stupid insomnia... Of all the nights for me to get it."

"Yeah well, bet your wife's gonna be smug about it when you get back hm?" Riccardo said with a snide smirk as he continued reading his files.

"I hate taking those things, I swear they don't work for me," Vincenzo said with a groan before he'd drink the rest of his whiskey down.

Riccardo simply shook his head as he then shuts his file. He sighed as he turned to Vincenzo, "I'm exhausted, will you be alright here?"

"Yeah I'll be fine... See you tomorrow," Vincenzo said with defeat as he signalled the bartender for another glass.

Riccardo nodded before he grabbed his file and walked out of the bar. He took a deep breath as he looked around. He still can't quite believe that he's in such a place. Time traveling, he realised, also involved various cons and one of those was having to take the stairs.

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He looked to the future elevator that the hotel was gonna have. Too bad that he was too early for it. The man rubbed his eyes as he started to go up the staircase to the fifth floor. Dreadful.

Riccardo sighed deeply as he reached his room. He fished into his pocket for the key before he then slipped it into the lock and turned the door open. Riccardo entered inside and locked the door behind him as he sighed and laid onto the bed.

But it's as if the world didn't want him to sleep. The room's telephone started ringing. He groaned as he lazily reached for it and placed it against his ear, "Hell—"

"Hello! Who am I speaking with?"

Riccardo rubbed his eyes as he sat up and spoke, "Riccardo Calvano of Astaldi, what can I help you—"

"Mister Calvano, this is the Italian Embassy. There is an ongoing situation within the Parpaldia Empire. We're not sure about the full details, but we believe a coup has occurred and as of now Parpaldia and Italy is in a technical state of war. Where are you right now?"

Riccardo's eyes shot wide open as his heart started beating quickly. War? They were told Parpaldia was a safe place to be! Riccardo approached the window as he looked outside, "Uh, still in the hotel sir? Just- war!? What's the situation?"

"Again we're not sure of the details, mister Calvano. All we know is you need to be safe. Who are you with right now?" The voice said in haste.

"Just me and two of my coworkers. What do we do? I— I haven't experienced something like this before!" Riccardo said with a cold sweat.

"You need to get to a safe place. Right now the Italian Embassy is surrounded by enemy forces, and we have reason to believe that they may be hostile to any Italian citizens they see. And we cannot arrange evacuation due to a hostage situation in South Tyrol. Get your coworkers, hunker down somewhere, and be careful."

Riccardo swallowed a lump in his throat, "Okay. Thank you."

"Good luck, sir," Despite his exhaustion, Riccardo felt a burst of energy as he then placed down the phone. He immediately stepped out of his room and knocked onto the door adjacent to his.

"Aria? Aria, open up!" Riccardo said in a panic. After about five minutes of hasty knocking and shouting, Aria Esposito opened the door with a groan. The blonde woman was still in her sleeping clothes as she frowned at Riccardo.

"God dammit Riccardo what—" However her annoyance was quickly gone as she could see the fear in Riccardo's eyes.

"Aria, listen to me. I- the embassy called. We're at war and there's no telling if we're even safe here. We have to go hide somewhere right now!"

"War? What—"

"Less questions, more hiding!" Riccardo said before he realised something. "Oh god, I need to get Vincenzo. Look just- get dressed, I'll be back."

Aria nodded quickly before she shuts the door to her room. In haste, Riccardo started to run downstairs back to the lobby. But as he reached the third floor, Riccardo could hear shouting outside. He quickly rushed to a window as he spotted Parpaldian soldiers. It was barely audible, but he could hear them demanding that the doors to the hotel be opened.

Riccardo ran even faster. He needed to get to Vincenzo. But as he reached the mezzanine of the lobby, he could hear familiar hotel staff panicking and screaming as the Parpaldian soldiers got inside. Riccardo went down lower as he slowly crawled towards the railing of the mezzanine.

"Get your hands off me!"

It was Vincenzo. Riccardo covered his mouth as he could see Vincenzo being dragged out the building. Oh god, should he try and save him? He went towards the large main window of the entrance as he could see Vincenzo being forced to kneel.

"I'm Italian god dammit! Let go of me!"

Riccardo spotted a Parpaldian soldier on a horse. And there was a crazy look to him. With vigour in his voice, he declared, "For the good of Parpaldia, your involvement in the slow poison of our empire shall be no more!"

Vincenzo looked around in fear and confusion. But then a shot rang out. A Parpaldian soldier approached from behind with a pistol and shot the man dead in the back of the head. The soldiers cheered loudly.

Riccardo covered his mouth in shock, hyperventilating. He watched blood pool under Vincenzo only for his eyes to meet a Parpaldian soldier's.

He was quickly pointed at.

"Shit-!" Acting quickly, Riccardo quickly started to run back upstairs as he could hear soldiers start to flood back inside the hotel. They were intent on killing him, but why!? He was just a company representative!

Riccardo ran and ran up the stairs. He quickly returned to Aria's door as he knocked, "Aria!? Aria! Hurry!"

Aria quickly ran out, wearing nothing more than a jacket, jeans, and sneakers, "Where's Vincenzo-"

But Riccardo ignored her words. He immediately grabbed her wrist as he started running. Aria didn't need to know anything else, she started running with her coworker as they both could hear the shouts of soldiers rising through the stairs.

Riccardo and Aria only knew one thing. To get as far away as they can from the Parpaldians. But there can only be so many floors for them to hide in. They eventually reached the rooftop restaurant as they looked around. Riccardo quickly started to barricade the entrance with tables and chairs, "Find a way out, hurry!"

Aria looked around in a panic. Where can they possibly go? They trapped themselves. She ran to a nearby window as there was a view of a smaller building across the alleyway. She quickly had an idea, "Riccardo, over here!"

With a pile of chairs and tables against the door, Riccardo looked back before he rushed to her. She then pointed out the window and to the rooftop of the building across, "We can- we can maybe, shatter this window and just, quickly jump across right? And maybe run uh, across the rooftops to somewhere anywhere but here!"

Riccardo gulped. This sounded like a bad action movie but what other choice did they have? "Alright, stand back," he said. He quickly grabbed another chair and with a grunt, tossed it against the window as it shattered. The chair fell into the alleyway below with the rain now starting to get inside. Riccardo looked to Aria before he huffed. "I'll... go first."

Aria nodded shakily, wondering if this was even a good idea. Riccardo prepared himself, and the distant Parpaldian shouts were enough to give himself motivation to do anything but die. He bit his lip as he started to run.

Riccardo jumped. Everything seemed to go slow for him, but he was quickly brought to reality as he fell onto the building below with the roof tiles scraping his arm. Riccardo yelled in pain but in his adrenaline rush, he stood up before he signalled Aria to come next.

Aria nodded before she yelped as she could hear the door start to try and be bashed in. She looked to the door for a moment and then out the window before she too ran and jumped. Riccardo quickly positioned himself as he caught Aria, the two falling back onto the roof as they yelled in pain. Riccardo panted before he looked to Aria, "Y-you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine-" Aria said as she stood up and helped Riccardo back onto his feet. They both looked to restaurant window only for Aria to grab Riccardo's hand. They didn't know where to go or run, but all that was important is to get away.

All Riccardo could do at that moment was run, and pray for Vincenzo's soul.

Chigi Palace

Giovanni paced around his office, nervous as he bit his nails. His staff had quickly set up the mana comm for him to negotiate with Arde but it was agreed that giving into the man's demands was not gonna cut it.

Roberto was no better. He sat nervously, rocking himself back and forth in an armchair as he kept fidgeting with the wedding ring on his finger. Crisis after crisis and he felt powerless to do anything.

There was much at risk. What if Arde didn't stay true to his words? What if more demands were given? What if they compromise Italian sovereignty? These were tough questions to answer and nobody in the room wanted to yield but what other choice did they have? Now that the Italian Embassy was surrounded as well, Arde had two cards up his sleeve and they were gonna release bloodshed.

Giovanni and Roberto waited and waited. They were told by Moretti to wait at least a few more minutes to try and think for a plan. Soon enough, Moretti walked through the doors of the prime minister's office as the two men looked up to him. Giovanni spoke, "Well?"

Moretti didn't seem to say anything for a moment. He then cleared his throat to Giovanni, "You're gonna negotiate with Commander Arde, sir."

Roberto ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. Giovanni sighed deeply. "There was no other way, was there? We'll have to-"

"To buy some time, sir."

Giovanni scanned Moretti's face, "Huh?" Roberto had an equally confused look as both president and prime minister looked at each other.

Moretti then guided Giovanni to his seat behind the desk and in front of his monitor. He grabbed another chair for Roberto, directing the president to sit with him. The mana comm was already set to Arde's magical coordinates, all he needed to do was turn it on, "Sir, you're gonna need to buy us some time. Along with you, Canessa. There is a lot at stake here, but we believe we've chosen the best course of action."

Roberto scratched his cheek. He didn't want this technical war to turn into a full blown conflict, "Which is?"

Moretti then showed off a crude labeled map of the South Tyrol region. Encircled was Prato alla Drava being pointed at by an arrow, "We will be enlisting the help of the 4th Alpini Paratroopers Regiment for this stealth and special operation. They are specialised in mountain warfare, able to stand the cold rain, and are one of our most elite regiments in the army. We will be flying them in from Verona and make a drop near Prato alla Drava. Your job, sir, is to stall and delay Arde for as long as you can until they are able to either save the hostages or take the village back. It's gonna be tough."

"Wait but- Arde says that if they spot a plane or helicopter, they will be killing the hostages. Isn't this risky?" Giovanni asked nervously.

"The average wyvern can only fly below the clouds, prime minister. Their larger biology requires them to intake more oxygen compared to birds... They won't be able to spot the plane at a higher altitude," Moretti said. He then turned to Roberto who sat nervously in his seat. "This is our best plan, sir. And I cannot approve of it unless you give the go ahead."

Roberto gulped. He then furrowed his eyebrows as he sat up, "Alright... I approve. Go get those bastards."

Onboard a C-27J Spartan, above South Tyrollean Airspace

Lorenzo Greco sat in the plane as he took a deep breath. He had been part of the army for over 20 years now, becoming Sergeant after his efforts in Afghanistan. He has seen war, and loss his fair share of comrades on the way.

But he never thought he'd see war in his own home nation.

It was unfathomable but he knew he had no time to sit and think of the unprecedented situation. Lorenzo looked to his squad. 12 soldiers strong, they were the perfect group within the regiment to handle the mission, as they were told. He stood up, parachute on his back as he spoke, "Alright, listen up!"

His soldiers immediately looked to the Sergeant, "Again, reminders. This is gonna be a tough mission for all of us. As you know, Parpaldian boots have stepped onto our Italian soil and like the cowards they are, resorted to hold hostages to try and get an edge over us. This is a stealth rescue operation, emphasis on the stealth. If they spot even a glimpse of us, they have orders to shoot the hostages, no questions asked."

Lorenzo sighed deeply. He then showed off a street map of Prato alla Drava as he pointed, "As such, there will be no use of flares to keep track of each other, and instead we will parachute and meet up here, a small house on the side of the train tracks leading into town. Once we regroup, we will slowly advance into Prato alla Drava to the community centre where it is believed the hostages are held. We'll have the assistance of a few Alpine snipers, but again, number one priority; stealth. The rain and thunder will cover us. Any questions?"

Lorenzo looked to his men. With silence instead, he knew that they were ready. Lorenzo nodded, "Get ready, we're about to deploy."

"Yes sir!" The squad answered back. Each men stood up, parachutes at the ready as they all started to line up by the cargo door. As if on cue, the relative calm of the Spartan's interior was replaced with the strong cold winds of the air, and the loud rumbling of the plane's engines.

Lorenzo then started to command the soldiers out of the plane, "Go go go!"

One by one, each paratrooper jumped out of the plane and into the dark, cold depths of the winter South Tyrol air. After Lorenzo made sure nobody was left behind, he huffed before he ran out and jumped into the clouds.