05-23-2021, 09:20 PM
Palace of Flowers
Calhualyana was sleeping when the phone in her bedroom rang. The Empress quickly snapped awake; one couldn't be a heavy sleeper and survive, either as an ASI agent or a Xiomeran ruler. "What?" Calhualyana snapped.
Xiuhcatli, her steward, was on the other line. "We just received an urgent alert from the Security Ministry, your Majesty. The Cauhloc...is under attack," he said, his tone almost as disbelieving as Calhualyana's initial reaction. "The Cauhloc is under attack? By who?" Calhualyana was already rising from her bed as she asked the question, marching to her closet to throw on a simple jumpsuit and boots.
"We are not sure, your Majesty," Xiuhcatli replied, his voice wavering. "The attack is still taking place...."
"Meet me in my sitting room. Have a contingent of the Palace guards come with you. Five minutes," the Empress snapped, hanging up. Calhualyana searched through her closet until she found a particular outfit she had not worn in quite some time.
When Xiuhcatli and the team of Palace guards arrived at the Empress' chambers, they found her standing in the sitting room. She was wearing a set of ASI special forces combat gear. "Give me a rifle," she snapped to one of the guards.
"Your Majesty...we don't know who is attacking the Cauhloc, or why...it may be dangerous," Xiuhcatli demurred.
Calhualyana looked at Xiuhcatli, her gaze as sharp as the dagger strapped to her waist. "Do...I...need...to...ask...twice?"
Xiuhcatli hastily gestured to one of the guards, who handed the Empress his rifle and stepped back, bowing. The Empress walked out of her chambers, the team of Palace guards falling in behind her gesture to follow.
---
The ride from the Palace to the Cauhloc normally took twenty minutes in the light traffic at this time of night. It felt to the Empress like hours. Someone has dared to attack ASI.....if they are still there when I arrive, they will pay.
The Palace contingent pulled up to the main gate of the Cauhloc; ASI special forces and Army rapid-response teams, along with Imperial and municipal police, were already on scene. Calhualyana marched in with her team, making a beeline for the entrance to the underground detention wing. "Tlihue!" she shouted, spotting the Director of ASI. "What is the status of the situation?"
"Your Majesty....the attackers have already escaped," Tlihue said nervously, noting the rather white-knuckled grip the Empress had on the rifle she was carrying.
"Escaped," Calhualyana said flatly.
Tlihue began talking about how the attackers had managed to escape through an emergency tunnel, and about the attack itself, but the words barely registered to the Empress. With a sudden whirl, Calhualyana turned to a nearby wall, firing at it with her rifle. As chunks of concrete flew into the air and fell to the ground under the onslaught of bullets, she kept firing until the clicking of the empty rifle finally penetrated the red haze over her vision. She threw the rifle at the wall.
And then, as everyone in the immmediate vicinity was sure they were seeing their own death warrants, the Empress of Xiomera looked up at the sky and screamed at the top of her lungs, a pure cry of utter frustrated rage.
She turned back to Tlihue, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the closest wall. "Get....this....situation....under....control. And then, you and your deputies and the Security Minister will report to me at the Palace. You had better have an explanation for this."
Leaving Tlihue gasping for breath, the Empress stalked out of the Cauhloc.
Calhualyana was sleeping when the phone in her bedroom rang. The Empress quickly snapped awake; one couldn't be a heavy sleeper and survive, either as an ASI agent or a Xiomeran ruler. "What?" Calhualyana snapped.
Xiuhcatli, her steward, was on the other line. "We just received an urgent alert from the Security Ministry, your Majesty. The Cauhloc...is under attack," he said, his tone almost as disbelieving as Calhualyana's initial reaction. "The Cauhloc is under attack? By who?" Calhualyana was already rising from her bed as she asked the question, marching to her closet to throw on a simple jumpsuit and boots.
"We are not sure, your Majesty," Xiuhcatli replied, his voice wavering. "The attack is still taking place...."
"Meet me in my sitting room. Have a contingent of the Palace guards come with you. Five minutes," the Empress snapped, hanging up. Calhualyana searched through her closet until she found a particular outfit she had not worn in quite some time.
When Xiuhcatli and the team of Palace guards arrived at the Empress' chambers, they found her standing in the sitting room. She was wearing a set of ASI special forces combat gear. "Give me a rifle," she snapped to one of the guards.
"Your Majesty...we don't know who is attacking the Cauhloc, or why...it may be dangerous," Xiuhcatli demurred.
Calhualyana looked at Xiuhcatli, her gaze as sharp as the dagger strapped to her waist. "Do...I...need...to...ask...twice?"
Xiuhcatli hastily gestured to one of the guards, who handed the Empress his rifle and stepped back, bowing. The Empress walked out of her chambers, the team of Palace guards falling in behind her gesture to follow.
---
The ride from the Palace to the Cauhloc normally took twenty minutes in the light traffic at this time of night. It felt to the Empress like hours. Someone has dared to attack ASI.....if they are still there when I arrive, they will pay.
The Palace contingent pulled up to the main gate of the Cauhloc; ASI special forces and Army rapid-response teams, along with Imperial and municipal police, were already on scene. Calhualyana marched in with her team, making a beeline for the entrance to the underground detention wing. "Tlihue!" she shouted, spotting the Director of ASI. "What is the status of the situation?"
"Your Majesty....the attackers have already escaped," Tlihue said nervously, noting the rather white-knuckled grip the Empress had on the rifle she was carrying.
"Escaped," Calhualyana said flatly.
Tlihue began talking about how the attackers had managed to escape through an emergency tunnel, and about the attack itself, but the words barely registered to the Empress. With a sudden whirl, Calhualyana turned to a nearby wall, firing at it with her rifle. As chunks of concrete flew into the air and fell to the ground under the onslaught of bullets, she kept firing until the clicking of the empty rifle finally penetrated the red haze over her vision. She threw the rifle at the wall.
And then, as everyone in the immmediate vicinity was sure they were seeing their own death warrants, the Empress of Xiomera looked up at the sky and screamed at the top of her lungs, a pure cry of utter frustrated rage.
She turned back to Tlihue, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the closest wall. "Get....this....situation....under....control. And then, you and your deputies and the Security Minister will report to me at the Palace. You had better have an explanation for this."
Leaving Tlihue gasping for breath, the Empress stalked out of the Cauhloc.
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