[Lauchenoiria]

Lauchenoirian Federal Parliament
Afternoon, present day

This could go one of two ways.

If her calculations were correct, then her own actions in the scenario would be overshadowed by the revelation, not of knowledge but of evidence. If they were wrong, then it would potentially end her own political career.

The cost of inaction, however, would be her morals, and that was not a price she was willing to pay any longer. The demonstrations against her, coupled with the beliefs of her fellow world leaders had chafed at her mind for the past month, rubbing up against her internal feelings of guilt and inadequacy even as she kept her true intentions hidden.

Josephine Alvarez had been one of those teenagers for whom politics called like a siren whispering sweet temptations in a sailor’s ears. It was not out of a desire for power, but rather reasons of ideology and hope for change that pulled her to her chosen career path. Like most ideologues, however, entering politics had infused her with what would at best be called pragmatism, and at worst corruption and lust for power.

She had known how her recent actions would be interpreted, not that it had made weathering the glares and distrust much better. Yet she also knew that her past actions, those she had done under the influence of said power-lust and corruption, made her recent story all-too believable. When she had made the decision that risk was worth the reward, and that it was time to stop compromising on her morals and ideology, she had decided to use that perception to her own advantage.

Empress Calhualyana was a formidable opponent on both an intellectual and military level, but she was also in many ways predictable. The Empress liked to be in control; she liked to have others under her thumb and dependent upon her mercy. The way to manipulate Calhualyana, therefore, was to have her believe she was manipulating you.

And as the Empress gloated, she gave Alvarez what the Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria needed.

Evidence.

Prime Minister Alvarez made her way into the parliament chamber, sitting down at her assigned seat and waiting for the previous debate to end before she could make her speech. They were discussing - yet again - the intricacies of private education, religion, and whether the two should legally be allowed to be linked. It was a tiresome debate, and every time a decision was made someone would try to challenge some other minute aspect of it, bringing it back to the parliamentary floor.

Eventually it ended, and the motion to permit international schools aimed at attracting foreign students to have a religious element was voted down. Alvarez was quite sure the same motion, reworded and with a few clauses moved around, would return to the debating floor within the next several months. It was not a subject which interested her, but it appeared to be one of the most hotly debated ones among parents and her fellow parliamentarians.

When she was called upon, the Prime Minister rose and cleared her throat, preparing to address parliament on the subject of Paul Ramirez, the election observer who had been held hostage by the Golden Blade following the Huenyan elections. Most people expected the speech to be about his recovery from the situation, his return home, or some other basic feel-good story to distract from the ever-growing anti-government protests. It was not.

“Good afternoon,” she began. “I stand before you today with information that will be of the utmost importance to a number of peoples, primarily those in Huenya. This information and its accompanying evidence is the result of months of cumulative work by Lauchenoirian Intelligence aimed at the discovery of proof of the source of funding behind the Golden Blade and other terrorist organisations in the Huenyan subcontinent.”

The silence was broken by a few mumblings of surprise and interest. The Prime Minister ignored them and continued on.

“On the second of February, 2022, following advice and planning given to me by our intelligence community, I initiated a phone call with Empress Calhualyana of Xiomera about Paul Ramirez, an impartial election observer of Lauchenoirian nationality who was kidnapped by pro-Xiomera terrorist group the Golden Blade. There, I negotiated a deal with the Empress for the release of our citizen in exchange for our withdrawal from the Aurian blockade and a reduction of sanctions against the Xiomeran regime.”

Angry shouts, the sounds of people standing. The Presiding Officer tells people to be quiet. The Prime Minister continued.

“This deal, however, was not the true intention of the call. Following this discussion with the Empress we used the situation to gather further intelligence which unequivocally reveals the Xiomeran Empire as the funder and controller of the Golden Blade terrorist organisation. Our withdrawal from the blockade, and supposed fulfillment of the deal, allowed us to gather the final piece of evidence to prove Calhualyana’s complicity in the terrorist attacks.”

This time the yelling was a roar. The emotions of the gathered members of parliament were all overlapping, some still angry, others surprised while more still were jubilant at the thought of Lauchenoiria double-crossing the Empress. This time Alvarez let the yelling die down in its own time before continuing.

“Needless to say, I wish to address this next comment to Empress Calhualyana: we are not your puppets to boss around and control. If you think you can get away with ordering your pet terrorists to kidnap our citizen for leverage, you are wrong. We will not bow down to you, and we will stand up for what is right. To that end,” Alvarez shifted her tone to indicate the end of her message to the Xiomeran ruler, “I am announcing today that we are taking formal military action against the illegitimate, Xiomeran-backed regime of Andrew Laurent-Cordonnier in Auria, in support of the rightful government of Queen Sophie.”

This, surprisingly, elicited far less yelling. Perhaps because it was less surprising, and perhaps because it had broad support from most political parties represented. Still, Lauchenoiria had not waged a non-defensive war in a long time.

“We are taking this action because it is long past time that we stood up for those who seek to protect the rule of law and the international order. The age of colonialism and empire is over, and it is time we send a clear message to Empress Calhualyana that her sly attempts to conquer other nations will not be unopposed. To King Andrew and his supporters, I say this: it is not too late to step down and reject the control of Xiomera. Stand up for your nation’s independence and stand with us in our attempt to rid your nation of these would-be conquerors and their mercenaries.”

As she sat back down, awaiting questions, she exhaled slowly. It was done. Only time would tell if it had been the right decision. And what the consequences would be.