09-09-2019, 04:38 AM
Palace of Flowers, Gate of Huitzlampa
September 8th (atl 8, xatl mazatl)
10:06 am, Xiomeran time
"There was no point to meeting with them at all," Tepilcayotl said sourly. The Emperor had met with the Teyatia leaders, and a parade of different granola-snorting environmentalist types, for a solid week. It had been an unprecedented and unparalled display of Imperial tolerance for dissent, and letting those opposed to the Manauia Island Project have their voices heard. And it had not achieved a single thing.
Far from responding to the generosity that Topilpopoca had displayed, the ungrateful Teyatia met every Xiomeran offer or talking point with a stubborn, mule-like refusal to allow any development on the island whatsoever. Their bovine refusal to consider a single thing the Emperor had to say had been borderline insulting. The leader of the Teyatia, Tlihuātemā, had not even attended. Tlihuātemā had instead sent lesser functionaries, as if they were the equal of the Xiomeran Emperor.
The so-called environmentalists had been even worse, with impertinent demands to limit the scope of the project or cancel it altogether mixed with blatant accusations that the Empire was only moving forward with the project so that the Emperor and the Great Council could enrich themselves (and allow Xiomeran corporations to do the same). The Emperor's assurances that the project was meant to bring much-needed infrastructure and development to the primitive Manauia population were treated with scorn.
The whole thing had ended up being a disaster, with Topilpopoca finally standing up and declaring that if those in attendance would not listen, that he would leave, and that the Empire would proceed forward with the Manauia Island Project regardless of their concerns. And so, the Imperial delegation had returned home.
"There were two points, and we actually achieved them," Topilpopoca said chidingly. "The first was to make the bleeding-heart types around the IDU actually believe that we are listening to these impertinent rabble and have any intention of taking their useless concerns into consideration. We have to be fair, after all."
Tepilcayotl snorted in amusement, as the Emperor continued. "We also achieved one very important goal. We now know who the leaders of opposition to our plans for the island are. Tlihuātemā, and those who spoke for her. And those who spoke for these so-called environmentalists. I trust with that knowledge, you will be more than capable of isolating and eliminating any threat they may pose to Xiomeran stability, as always. So look at it as a win. By showing themselves so readily to you, they made your job much easier, Security Secretary."
Tepilcayotl shared the Emperor's chuckle as the Imperial limousine arrived at the front of the first of the defensive walls surrounding the Palace of Flowers. The grand plaza in front of the massive Gate of Huitzlampa, the most ornate of the entrances to the Palace grounds, was often the place where press conferences were held. The rest of the Cabinet was already waiting to greet the Emperor, with the exception of Secretary for International Affairs Huitzilhuani, who was in Eiria.
Topilpopoca stepped out of the limousine, waving to a small crowd of cheering loyal citizens as Tepilcayotl walked behind him. The rest of the Cabinet stood on the small stage that had been set up, with a podium waiting for the Emperor to speak about the discussions that had taken place on Manauia Island. As the Emperor stepped onto the stage and walked to the podium, he saw a small flash of light and looked down. He saw someone in the crowd, and his eyes widened. He came to a dead stop upon recognizing the figure below him. By stopping, he had just made one of the few mistakes of his long reign.
The flash of light rose up towards the Emperor, and three sharp cracks rang out. But this was no lightning and thunder; it was the sun, glinting off of a XM-38 Huatlxōc handgun. As the sound of the gunshots rang out around the plaza, blossoms of red began to grow on the front of the Emperor's previously flawless dark gray suit.
As the Emperor began to collapse, Tepilcayotl grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. "Help me, damn you!" he yelled to a nearby guard, who rushed to help support the Emperor. The glint of metal now turned towards Tepilcayotl; the Security Secretary glared defiantly at the assassin as the gun was pointed at him.
There would be no further thunder, however. With a cry of rage, the Defense Secretary, Xochiqui, hurled himself off of the stage at the gunman. His training as a former Jaguar Warrior still served him well, as he slammed into the assassin and knocked him to the ground. Xochiqui wrestled the gun away from the assassin, and began punching him repeatedly in the face. Tepilcayotl handed the Emperor off to two more guards. "Get him to IMH now! If there are cars in the way, blow them off the damned road if you have to!" the Security Secretary shouted as they carried Topilpopoca to his limousine. With a roar of its powerful engine, and the smell of tires burning rubber mixing with the smell of gunpowder in the air, the limousine sped off with a mix of security and police vehicles following it. More police and security personnel arrived, pouring out of the Palace grounds and now backed by Imperial soldiers and Shorn Ones, who pushed the media and the crowd away from the Palace and out of sight of the plaza with a ruthless efficiency.
Xochiqui was still hitting the assassin, and Tepilcayotl ran over and grabbed his arm. "Let me go! This man must die!" Xochiqui shouted, as the assassin moaned.
"Not here. Not now. Justice will be served, but not yet," Tepilcayotl said quietly. "I need this man alive."
Tepilcayotl stooped towards the ground, as Xochiqui stood up and glared at the assassin. "I will need this man.....to tell me what he knows. To tell me who is behind this, and who he is, and why he did this," Tepilcayotl said with a voice full of soft menace only audible to Xochiqui and the assassin. The assassin had turned away, bent over in pain. Tepilcayotl reached down and roughly grabbed the man's bruised and bloody chin to turn his face upwards. Upon seeing the man's face, Tepilcayotl gasped. "Did you not recognize this man as you were trying to beat him to death on the street, Xochiqui?" he asked.
The Defense Secretary looked more closely at the man on the ground. "Cētlalhui?" he shouted, his face darkening. While the man on the ground had grown a beard and lightened his hair, Xochiqui now recognized him.
Cuicanan, the Secretary of Justice, had walked up; recognizing his former boss on the ground beneath him, he spit on the man in disgust. "You miserable, disgusting failure. You coward," Cuicanan said, his voice grating.
And then, to the astonishment of the three men standing above him, Cētlalhui began to laugh.
"You call me a coward? You all lick the Emperor's boots and when he throws you away, you accept it like meek little sheep. I chose not to accept it, like you do. And a failure? I just accomplished what so many before me could not. I took your Emperor away from you, and off his throne," Cētlalhui said, laughing even harder with a tinge of hysteria.
As Xochiqui and Cuicanan glared, Tepilcayotl leaned back towards Cētlalhui.
"You accomplished only one thing, you miserable crawling worm of a wretch. You, and anyone you ever cared about, are about to learn just how much pain a human body can experience. For all the pain that we will experience if Topilpopoca dies, you and those you love will experience it a thousandfold. And then....you will die knowing that even with your filthy crime today, the Xiomeran Empire will continue on, while you and those you love do not. I can promise you that....you should've shot me first, Cētlalhui. Topilpopoca would be gentle compared to what I am going to do to you," Tepilcayotl finished with a soft hiss to his voice.
As Cētlalhui groaned and lay on the ground, Tepilcayotl gestured for a pair of ASI agents to take him away.
September 8th (atl 8, xatl mazatl)
10:06 am, Xiomeran time
"There was no point to meeting with them at all," Tepilcayotl said sourly. The Emperor had met with the Teyatia leaders, and a parade of different granola-snorting environmentalist types, for a solid week. It had been an unprecedented and unparalled display of Imperial tolerance for dissent, and letting those opposed to the Manauia Island Project have their voices heard. And it had not achieved a single thing.
Far from responding to the generosity that Topilpopoca had displayed, the ungrateful Teyatia met every Xiomeran offer or talking point with a stubborn, mule-like refusal to allow any development on the island whatsoever. Their bovine refusal to consider a single thing the Emperor had to say had been borderline insulting. The leader of the Teyatia, Tlihuātemā, had not even attended. Tlihuātemā had instead sent lesser functionaries, as if they were the equal of the Xiomeran Emperor.
The so-called environmentalists had been even worse, with impertinent demands to limit the scope of the project or cancel it altogether mixed with blatant accusations that the Empire was only moving forward with the project so that the Emperor and the Great Council could enrich themselves (and allow Xiomeran corporations to do the same). The Emperor's assurances that the project was meant to bring much-needed infrastructure and development to the primitive Manauia population were treated with scorn.
The whole thing had ended up being a disaster, with Topilpopoca finally standing up and declaring that if those in attendance would not listen, that he would leave, and that the Empire would proceed forward with the Manauia Island Project regardless of their concerns. And so, the Imperial delegation had returned home.
"There were two points, and we actually achieved them," Topilpopoca said chidingly. "The first was to make the bleeding-heart types around the IDU actually believe that we are listening to these impertinent rabble and have any intention of taking their useless concerns into consideration. We have to be fair, after all."
Tepilcayotl snorted in amusement, as the Emperor continued. "We also achieved one very important goal. We now know who the leaders of opposition to our plans for the island are. Tlihuātemā, and those who spoke for her. And those who spoke for these so-called environmentalists. I trust with that knowledge, you will be more than capable of isolating and eliminating any threat they may pose to Xiomeran stability, as always. So look at it as a win. By showing themselves so readily to you, they made your job much easier, Security Secretary."
Tepilcayotl shared the Emperor's chuckle as the Imperial limousine arrived at the front of the first of the defensive walls surrounding the Palace of Flowers. The grand plaza in front of the massive Gate of Huitzlampa, the most ornate of the entrances to the Palace grounds, was often the place where press conferences were held. The rest of the Cabinet was already waiting to greet the Emperor, with the exception of Secretary for International Affairs Huitzilhuani, who was in Eiria.
Topilpopoca stepped out of the limousine, waving to a small crowd of cheering loyal citizens as Tepilcayotl walked behind him. The rest of the Cabinet stood on the small stage that had been set up, with a podium waiting for the Emperor to speak about the discussions that had taken place on Manauia Island. As the Emperor stepped onto the stage and walked to the podium, he saw a small flash of light and looked down. He saw someone in the crowd, and his eyes widened. He came to a dead stop upon recognizing the figure below him. By stopping, he had just made one of the few mistakes of his long reign.
The flash of light rose up towards the Emperor, and three sharp cracks rang out. But this was no lightning and thunder; it was the sun, glinting off of a XM-38 Huatlxōc handgun. As the sound of the gunshots rang out around the plaza, blossoms of red began to grow on the front of the Emperor's previously flawless dark gray suit.
As the Emperor began to collapse, Tepilcayotl grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. "Help me, damn you!" he yelled to a nearby guard, who rushed to help support the Emperor. The glint of metal now turned towards Tepilcayotl; the Security Secretary glared defiantly at the assassin as the gun was pointed at him.
There would be no further thunder, however. With a cry of rage, the Defense Secretary, Xochiqui, hurled himself off of the stage at the gunman. His training as a former Jaguar Warrior still served him well, as he slammed into the assassin and knocked him to the ground. Xochiqui wrestled the gun away from the assassin, and began punching him repeatedly in the face. Tepilcayotl handed the Emperor off to two more guards. "Get him to IMH now! If there are cars in the way, blow them off the damned road if you have to!" the Security Secretary shouted as they carried Topilpopoca to his limousine. With a roar of its powerful engine, and the smell of tires burning rubber mixing with the smell of gunpowder in the air, the limousine sped off with a mix of security and police vehicles following it. More police and security personnel arrived, pouring out of the Palace grounds and now backed by Imperial soldiers and Shorn Ones, who pushed the media and the crowd away from the Palace and out of sight of the plaza with a ruthless efficiency.
Xochiqui was still hitting the assassin, and Tepilcayotl ran over and grabbed his arm. "Let me go! This man must die!" Xochiqui shouted, as the assassin moaned.
"Not here. Not now. Justice will be served, but not yet," Tepilcayotl said quietly. "I need this man alive."
Tepilcayotl stooped towards the ground, as Xochiqui stood up and glared at the assassin. "I will need this man.....to tell me what he knows. To tell me who is behind this, and who he is, and why he did this," Tepilcayotl said with a voice full of soft menace only audible to Xochiqui and the assassin. The assassin had turned away, bent over in pain. Tepilcayotl reached down and roughly grabbed the man's bruised and bloody chin to turn his face upwards. Upon seeing the man's face, Tepilcayotl gasped. "Did you not recognize this man as you were trying to beat him to death on the street, Xochiqui?" he asked.
The Defense Secretary looked more closely at the man on the ground. "Cētlalhui?" he shouted, his face darkening. While the man on the ground had grown a beard and lightened his hair, Xochiqui now recognized him.
Cuicanan, the Secretary of Justice, had walked up; recognizing his former boss on the ground beneath him, he spit on the man in disgust. "You miserable, disgusting failure. You coward," Cuicanan said, his voice grating.
And then, to the astonishment of the three men standing above him, Cētlalhui began to laugh.
"You call me a coward? You all lick the Emperor's boots and when he throws you away, you accept it like meek little sheep. I chose not to accept it, like you do. And a failure? I just accomplished what so many before me could not. I took your Emperor away from you, and off his throne," Cētlalhui said, laughing even harder with a tinge of hysteria.
As Xochiqui and Cuicanan glared, Tepilcayotl leaned back towards Cētlalhui.
"You accomplished only one thing, you miserable crawling worm of a wretch. You, and anyone you ever cared about, are about to learn just how much pain a human body can experience. For all the pain that we will experience if Topilpopoca dies, you and those you love will experience it a thousandfold. And then....you will die knowing that even with your filthy crime today, the Xiomeran Empire will continue on, while you and those you love do not. I can promise you that....you should've shot me first, Cētlalhui. Topilpopoca would be gentle compared to what I am going to do to you," Tepilcayotl finished with a soft hiss to his voice.
As Cētlalhui groaned and lay on the ground, Tepilcayotl gestured for a pair of ASI agents to take him away.
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