Prime Minister's Office
Giovanni sat there with annoyance and anger at Arde as he stared through the monitor. Beyond the screen, Arde continued to list his demands with a serious look, "Due to the immense economic ruin the Parpaldia Empire has faced, the Republic of Italy is complicit and as such is obligated to pay over 30,000 gold bars equivalent to the 5 billion parlipos lost in economic activity."
The man sighed deeply as he rubbed his eyes. These demands were so unreasonable, it was almost insulting. First they were told to handover the infrastructure they built in Parpaldia. Then they were told to repeal the Trade Technology Regulation Act to open trade for Italian weapons, and now Arde was demanding they pay such a large sum of their gold reserves. He spoke into the microphone of the laptop, "Supreme Commander Arde, while Italy is willing to give some compensation to Parpaldia for your economic loss, this large sum is simply not viable. This-"
"With all due respect, Canessa," Arde said with poison at the Italian's surname. "You have set the Empire back years with its progress due to our lost economic prestige. Business and companies have been shutting down now due to the absolute lack of manpower caused by Ludius's hasty emancipation. All for a few bottles of wine."
"Then can we at least do the payments over, say a 5 year time period?" Giovanni said as he looked to Roberto who had an equally annoyed expression at Arde.
"That is too much time. I'll give your nation a year at..." Arde then looked to the side as a soldier approached him. He leaned in to the whispering man as his face contorted from confusion to anger. Arde looked back to the screen as he smacked the table in frustration. "I just received news that Remille has somehow escaped our captivity! Is this your doing, Canessa!?"
Giovanni and Roberto looked at each other in surprise and then to Arde. Giovanni quickly spoke, "What- No Arde we didn't do anything! We didn't even order a single boot on the ground!"
Arde sneered as he pointed at the screen accusingly, "Don't you dare take me for a fool, Canessa. We had Remille on lockdown, and her aides out. This can only be your doing. You are not a man of your world, and thus I shall be. Pray for your people, Canessa, for they can only hope a swift death."
The mana comm screen then went dark. There was silence for a moment in the prime minister's office.
"SHIT!"
Giovanni and Roberto quickly ran out of the office. With their hearts beating in anxiety, they immediately barged into the emergency meeting room. The generals all looked to the two as Giovanni spoke, "Arde's ordered to attack!"
"Attack!?" Moretti said as the generals immediately scrambled at the news, "What happened, sir?"
"He accused us of aiding Remille escaping— we didn't even know she escaped, let alone arrested!" Giovanni said shakily. He immediately took his seat along with Roberto as he stared at the screen with the map of the embassy and Prato alla Drava laid onto it.
"Crap," Moretti said. "Tell the men, quickly!"
...
Lorenzo looked around the church as his men helped them all up from the walls. The mess of the dead Parpaldians were nothing to him, but the least they should do is make sure the youth wouldn't see them. As he ordered his men to make sure nobody was hurt, Lorenzo's radio crackled to life, "Lorenzo, come in!"
"Yes HQ, what is it?" Lorenzo asked, alarmed at his superior's tone.
"We've received intel that Arde has ordered the massacre to occur! Get ready to engage in a defensive position!"
"Yes sir!" Lorenzo said in a haste before he spoke into the radio again, "Attention all troops! Parpaldia has ordered their men to engage. Prepare for their attacks, go!"
He watched as his men started to take position around the church. As he followed them, Lorenzo took out his binoculars. He spotted the school as he spotted movement within, his soldiers back in the village now ready to defend. He kept his binoculars as he looked to the mountainside before he spoke into his radio," Stalker, keep us safe will you?"
...
"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!" Rein shouted through the roughhousing of the inn restaurant as each men seized their laughter and drinking. They all stood up at the ready, and Rein now started to bark his orders. "We have received Commander Arde's orders to initiate the massacre, however we have reason to believe that the Italians may have infiltrated the village! I am currently not receiving replies from our guards!"
He then waved to one half of his men, "You lot, get your arse to the school and surround it!" He then pointed to the other, "You, to the church! Go!"
Each soldier started to file out of the inn as they grabbed their muskets and prepared themselves for the rain. Rein followed out as he mounted onto his steed, ready to shout and yell his orders.
Koff stood in front of his troop as he held his musket tightly. They started to get into formation, their drummer playing a catchy tune of Parpaldia's pride. Since the whole thing was now in the open, it was the opportunity to show Italy the military pride and presence of the Parpaldia Empire.
"FORWARD!" Rein ordered. They started marching towards the school, their footsteps echoing through the rain as a sign of strength and determination. Koff kept his musket at the ready as so did their men. Their bayonets shined under the rain and streetlights, and the barrels of their weapons stared menacingly down towards the school.
Koff's heart started to beat quickly. He didn't know who or how many the enemy was, but he knew that they were still a strength to be reckoned with.
But the order he was accustomed to was quickly broken. It took him a second to see figures suddenly making themselves visible on the school windows. And quickly, too quickly, the sounds of his fellow men yelling in pain and being shot down.
Koff flinched as he looked around in a panic. A spray of bullets started raining down on them, their uniforms starting to damp not with rain drops but with blood.
"FIRE!" Rein quickly ordered. Those still standing quickly aimed their muskets as they shot at the school. Their own rain of heavy musket balls descended upon the innocent building as the Italians ducked behind the window. And moments later they continued their assault, "TAKE COVER!"
Koff quickly hid behind a horseless carriage, his heart beating quicker than before. He looked to his comrade beside him desperately reloading his musket as he rammed his iron rod down the barrel. Koff started to do the same, copying his comrade's actions quickly. But suddenly, just as thunder hit, Koff's face was quickly sprayed by the brains and gore of the soldier that once was beside him.
Koff took a moment to realise what happened. He watched the blood spill out of a giant hole on his comrade's head. And then he looked around. Thunder cracked yet there was no lightning, but his fellow soldiers were being struck down from above.
"What in the gods' name is going on!?" Rein demanded an answer but nobody could give him any. He quickly yelled towards the cannons, "LOAD! FIRE!"
Just as his cannon men were ready to give hell towards the school, they too were quickly struck down by the invisible thunder as they laid dead onto the grass. Rein's heart dropped to the pits of his stomach, his horse whinnying in desperation to get away. The prideful tune of Parpaldia was instead replaced with confused terror as they were being picked off one by one either by the bullets, or the thunder.
Koff panted quickly. He can't die here, he refused to. He looked to the side, seeing a safe enough area to try and get away. Koff quickly ran, and ran, ignoring the desperate pleas by his men. Suddenly, Koff felt a terrible pain in his stomach as he stumbled onto the grass. He looked down, his mind taking a moment to process the sudden immense pain and cold rushing through his body. He held his gut tightly as he fell onto the grass.
Koff looked down, seeing two of the same vision. He felt his stomach warm up yet his body got cold. He stumbled onto a tree as he looked to his shaking hand, his glove being stained a deep red. A terrible pain took over his abdomen as he panted deeply and shakily, his hand doing nothing to remedy the situation.
So this was what the border guard felt.
...
Antonio walked down the hallway of the embassy in a rush, his heart in the pits of his stomach. In the lobby of the embassy, guards and anyone who knew how to fire a gun kept themselves ready by the barricaded windows.
After he was told that Parpaldia ordered the attack on the school, he immediately ran off telling everyone to get ready. Those on the second floor, near the balconies, those on the courtyard; everyone. He then looked around as he watched everyone ready themselves. The guards looked on with intention, those with a gun looked nervous.
Enzo readied his Beretta pistol. This was the best weapon he was given, and yet no matter how modern it was, compared to the Parpaldians they were outnumbered.
Enzo watched as the captain he spoke to earlier bent down a bit to listen to his soldier's words. He couldn't hear them but the look of dread on the captain's face spoke volumes.
Enzo made eye contact with the captain. In his eyes, there was an apologetic look. But in his tone, were calculated and deliberate orders, "Ready! FIRE!"
Enzo took a second to realise what happened. The building shook as cannons shot at them. A hail of musket gunfire splintered some of the wooden barricades they put up. In a haste, Enzo and the guards started firing right back. The Parpaldians quickly hid behind their own defences, anything that could protect themselves from the bullets of the Italians.
The captain could hear some of the pain grunts and yells from his men as they reloaded their muskets and hid wherever they can. This was insanity and yet all he could do was continue to yell his orders, "Hold them down, men! For— for the Parpaldia Empire!"
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Another barrage of cannon fire hits the building as Antonio ran back to the conference room. Dust and small debris fell onto him as the building shook under the cannon fire. He quickly grabbed the telephone once more and dialed. And immediately when picked up, Antonio exclaimed in panic, "Prime minister!! We're under siege! They're shooting even cannon balls at us! What do we do!?"
...
Back in the meeting room, generals and military aides of all sorts were already debating and arguing amongst themselves. The Parpaldians have launched their attack, and all Giovanni and Roberto could do was sit helplessly while they waited for their advice.
"Look even if our embassy personnel has superior firepower, it won't even matter if hordes of Parpaldians will continue attacking," one general said. "We need to act now!"
"We need to focus on a hasty response, we can't keep them waiting! I suggest we send more paratroopers to aid them, pronto!" Another said.
"We cannot risk their wyvern corps intercepting, we need a response from the air force. We need to send in our jets and just blow them up," an air force commander said.
"Are you crazy, those bombs would decimate the whole area! We need to send helicopters; maybe NH90s or our Mangustas for a more controlled response. We can't risk the lives of our countrymen with reckless bombing!"
"That will take too long, they can't keep waiting any longer!" Another retorted as the debate continued.
Moretti thought to himself for a moment as he bit his pen. He then suddenly sat up as he stood and looked to the army commander, "General, you've seem to forgotten that we still have our small diameter bombs on service with our Panavia Tornados. That's it, we need to send a precision strike towards the embassy! Just enough to get the Parpaldians off their backs!"
"But sir, wouldn't that possibly harm our people?" One spoke up.
"Nonsense, these bombs will be enough to decimate the Parpaldians without its blast radius causing calamity on our side. They'll be alright," Moretti said.
The generals mutter in agreement before one spoke up, "Moretti, I also suggest that we send the Folgore brigade to assist the embassy in defending itself. Unfortunately it seems any hope for negotiation has fully broken down. I say we strike the iron while it's hot and make Parpaldia surrender, asap."
"I agree. Let's move quickly, gentlemen!"
...
Ghedi Air Base was now in a flurry of activity as the Tornados were on standby. And with orders coming from the Ministry of Defence, one jet was now quickly taking off to its mission.
The pilot within the Tornado took a deep breath. As the jet took off and was now flying through the air at 2 mach speed, it wouldn't be long until he reached Esthirant.
...
"Mr. Catalano," Moretti said into the phone in haste. "We have sent an incoming air strike to get the Parpaldian forces off your backs. We will send reinforcements soon after. Round up your staff and bunker down!"
Antonio's heart dropped to the pits of his stomach, but he knew there was no other choice. He huffed before he nodded, "Y-yes sir!"
"Good luck," Moretti said. As Antonio ran out of the conference room, the building shook even more as another round of cannon fire struck the embassy. He then barged back into the lobby, "EVERYBODY! Listen up!! Rome has sent backup, but right now they're gonna send an air strike our way! Everyone needs to take cover!"
Outside the embassy grounds, the captain continued his orders of besieging the embassy in an attempt to flush them out. He deliberately targeted areas of the embassy with no people; the last thing he wanted was unnecessary bloodshed.
But suddenly he felt a cold chill run up his spine. He observed the embassy grounds. Guards and security that were shooting back at them suddenly ran away. He could observe the secretary from before run deeper into the building.
"Cease fire!" He ordered. The soldiers looked at their captain in confusion. A moment of silence was evident before one of his soldiers spoke.
"Captain, we must storm the embassy while we can. It seems they may have run out of bullets," he retorted but the Parpaldian captain quickly raised his hand.
"Quiet, do you...?"
A distant booming sound could be heard. And it was getting louder and louder.
Suddenly the tense silence of the night turned into a loud, fiery hell as the captain was thrown off his horse. In mere moments, terrified and pained screams of his men resonated into his ringing ears as the ground shook greatly. Bright explosions took over his vision, its fire burning his skin and uniform as the captain screamed and scrambled.
The explosions then stopped. The distant booming sound was far once again. And as the captain shakily sat up, the grisly sight of his men either dead or missing their limbs was what sent him over the edge.
This war. It was so pointless.
...
Imperial Palace
Arde sat in his study of the Imperial Palace as he sipped on some whiskey. On his table were revised plans of War Plan Pike; it was less grandeur than it should be. But it should work. He took a deep breath as he looked to the portrait above the fireplace.
"Candor..."
...
"Candor!"
The young silver haired prince fell onto his knees as a musket ball tore off his ear. Candor fell onto the ground in pain as young Arde ran to his side and pulled out a rag to bandage it, "By the gods, are you alright!?"
"I'm alright!" Candor said with a sneer. He looked back at the battlefield beyond them. It was now Day 23, and the Kingdom of Parpaldia was nearly at its knees. As the Angelus Kingdom continued their push, Candor wanted to join the fight for one reason; for Parpaldia.
Arde, his dear cousin, helped Candor up as he patted his back, "We nearly lost you there!"
"I'm fine, I assure you!" Candor said before he turned to his fellow men. "Don't give up, men! For glory! For the king, for Parpaldia!"
As Candor's charisma resonated through his forces, every Parpaldia soldier cheered at the prince's leadership. Arde included. And despite their wounds, the Parpaldians waved their flag proudly; a single black lion with a crown and a shield on a blue backdrop.
With renewed fervour and assurance at Candor's condition, Arde yelled and started to charge towards the Angelusians.
...
Arde couldn't help but let out a little chuckle at that small memory. The Battle of Dalivelle was a success, and one of Candor's best works... Where at all odds, despite their kingdom being smaller, Parpaldia emerged victorious.
This was what Candor wanted, he thought to himself. Candor didn't personally lead his men for nothing; he wanted nothing more than for Parpaldia to stop being the runt of the litter on Philades and emerge as its strongest nation. So for Ludius to surrender his father's legacy like that, it infuriated him.
Arde hoped that a diplomatic solution through harsh actions would've sufficed. But after Remille's escape via car, he knew that it was the Italian's doing. Arde took a deep breath. He waited in anticipation for the first updates to arrive.
"Commander!" A soldier bursted inside, "Sir- They're all gone!"
Arde's eyes snapped open and looked to the soldier. Alarmed, he stood up as he furrowed his eyebrows, "What do you mean!?"
"The soldiers sir- the ones at the embassy and the village- they've been decimated!" The soldier said breathlessly and shakily.
Arde immediately stood up and walked out. First Remille's escape, now this!? He spoke as he held his spade in its sheath firmly, "Tell me precisely what happened."
"Commander- the Italians have somehow snuck through our forces in their village. They managed to rescue the hostages without somehow anybody noticing them. And when you ordered the attack, they've repelled our forces," the soldier said, unable to believe this himself.
"And what of our troops by the embassy?" Arde asked as he looked to the soldier with further anger.
"Um- sir, they were taken out by some sort of explosion dropped by their mechanical wyverns... And after, we received reports that further Italian forces have somehow landed around the embassy. Captain Relium is in an absolute state of shock- he wouldn't speak to us."
"Damn it!" Arde swore as he suddenly swiped his hand and caused a decorative mirror to fall onto the floor. "Then we have nothing as leverage against the Italians!"
"Sir- what do we do? Do we...-"
"Absolutely not! No, I... I have another plan. Follow me," Arde said in haste as he walked off.
...
Thunder continued to crack through the night, but the rain had weakened. Ludius sat nervously in his bed. His wrists became sore from his continuous rubbing; his nails meanwhile bitten in anxiety.
This was bad. Very bad. Ludius needed to do something and yet all he could do was wait in his room like some dog. Outside his room, Arde ordered his guards that he wouldn't be allowed outside. His room, once a chamber of comfort and safety, was what trapped him.
Ludius shakily exhaled. He was frozen, he truly did not know what to do. He felt lost. But suddenly his bedroom doors opened as Ludius looked up to see Arde, "C-Comm...-"
"Come on," Arde ordered.
"Huh?" Ludius meekly said.
"I said come on, boy! What are you, dumb now?" Arde said in anger before he grabbed Ludius by his arm. Ludius shakily huffed, stumbling on his legs as he was dragged out by Arde.
...
Jana soon placed the car into a stop. Despite the musket ball holes in the Maserati, she was very thankful that they managed to get out.
"Is this it?" Remille asked as he looked to the derelict looking structure beyond them in the night while the headlights illuminated its facade.
"Yes miss," Jana said. "One of the abandoned mana comm posts beyond Esthirant. It should still work."
"Perfect. We need to get in contact with the Italians. We're not safe here," Remille said with a huff as he and Jana got up the old stone staircase.
Jana held the musket still as Remille then tried to open the door only to see it was chained and locked. Remille looked to Jana only for the maid to gently nudge her away. With a huff, Jana gripped the musket tightly before she started bashing the lock off.
The lock and chains soon fell as Jana opened the doors. Inside, the main office area remained empty and dusty. Jana started to bring Remille upstairs to the mana comm tower.
"Here it is," Jana said as she opened another door. Inside, an old mana comm set laid dusty as Jana started to clean it. "It's the old type, but it should allow vocal communication. No visual representation unfortunately."
"That's fine, thank you Jana. Now then there should be some..." Remille then started to rummage through the desks of the mana comm tower only to pull out an old mana crystal. It lost its shine, but it should still work. "This should be enough right?"
Jana nodded. Remille then handed the mana crystal to the maid. With that she then tossed it into the old funnel as the mana comm started to sputter back to life.
"Set coordinates to Rome, Chigi Palace."
...
Moretti furrowed his brows as he leaned against the table, "This is an attack on Italian sovereignty, ladies and gentlemen. And while our allies have been left behind on Earth, their replacement governments have not. By that technicality, I suggest it is finally time we invoke Article 5 of NATO."
The generals murmured before one spoke up, "And this is for the troops by the border?"
Moretti looked to the general, "Indeed. I don't wanna have to spend further resources on these fools. Get the Americans to send their drones to make it easy."
The room talks in agreement. A drone response was perfect. Roberto immediately sat up, "Call the Americans and tell them to send their drones."
"Well with that in mind... We have Parpaldian troops surrounding the border, but with the technical invocation of Article 5 of NATO, we've decided to tell the Americans to just send their drones to dispose of them. The rest of our jets will be focused on air superiority in Esthirant... Meanwhile we will be sending troops to secure our assets around the empire; we can't let these Parpaldians study about oil and machinery on their own," one general explained to Roberto and Giovanni.
"When can we expect things to finally calm down?" Giovanni asked with an exasperated sigh.
"We don't know for certain, sir. Arde has taken the reins and until we...-"
"Rome? Rome, come in!"
The room stopped and looked to their mana comm. There wasn't any visual feed coming in, but Giovanni immediately knew who it was, "Miss Remille, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me!" Remille replied through the shaky audio.
"Oh thank god! What on earth happened?" Giovanni asked as he leaned into the mana comm intently.
"That bastard Arde launched a coup against Ludius, and had me arrested! This just- it all happened because of the economic crisis and Arde has Ludius in his grasp!" Remille said in anger before it turned into nervousness, "Prime minister please understand, Parpaldia had no intentions of attacking your people. Ludius didn't order this!"
"I understand miss Remille, but unfortunately we had to respond and just... blood has spilled," Giovanni said with a sigh.
"... Very well. Please, you need to help us. I'm with my maid Jana, she's the one who helped me escape. It's not safe here in Parpaldia," Remille pleaded.
"We'll send a helicopter to your location. Speaking of, do you know where Sir Kaios is right now? We are unable to contact him for answers."
"Knowing Arde he might've attempted to arrest him as well. Prime minister, the situation here is out of control. I'm not sure what to do; that bastard Arde lied to our soldiers about Ludius ordering the invasion!"
...
The mana comm officer leaned intently. There was interfering magic signals coming through, possibly someone using a last generation mana comm. Those things weren't the best after all.
But what really worried him was the voice, and what she was saying. It was Remille, there was no doubt about it.
"... Very well- minister- get- help us! Take Arde down- save Ludius please!"
The mana comm officer slowly leaned back. It was undeniable.
The war. It was Arde's doing.