10-23-2022, 05:12 PM
Chancellor's Manor, Geminus
October 12th, 2022, 5:11 PM
"Sea kašiet! Cas kucē poiva kašet un arb!"
Chancellor Leah Stendē gripped the report that had recently been placed on her desk, hurling various insults and obscenities at a certain Empress across a certain sea. "Cas… Lēta es repjunēca, nēonerca, ut un mōnste! Es rēon deša vel?!"
Julius Riekstins, the Chancellor's Chief of Staff, stood on the other side of the large oak desk, slightly stunned. In his several years of working with Stendē, he had never seen her as outwardly angry as she was now. "I'm as surprised as you are, Kurena. But we have to figure out how to respond. This situation will definitely get to the media quickly, and we should set the record straight before it does. We don't want wild speculation on an issue like this."
Stendē was silent for a few moments. "The public isn't my concern right now, Julius, I'm sorry to say. Calhualyana has crossed every single line imaginable. That bitch has to pay for what she's done." She glared at the papers with enough force to shatter glass. “We can’t just let this go unpunished.”
Riekstins adopted a bit of a sterner tone, his head tipped to the side. “And what exactly do you have in mind to ‘punish’ her? Respectfully, Madam Chancellor, most of our options would either be ineffective or end with a total disregard for the Jinyu Agreement. I’m sorry, but it’s hard for us to respond without rapidly escalating conflict in the region.”
“And why don’t you give that excuse to Cihitlina? Oh, wait, you can’t.” The Chancellor spoke through gritted teeth. “And Metotoa would probably try to dribble you like a basketball if we offered that weak excuse to him. Or at least, he’d try to, with the arm that doesn’t have serious nerve damage.” Her angry tone was fading quickly into remorse, and she turned away, staring at the wall. “They trusted us. They came here because we told them that they’d be safe here. That they could be happy, and live without fear. We… we failed them.”
Her Chief of Staff walked into her field of view, meeting her dejected gaze. “Hey. We didn’t fail them. We had no idea Calhualyana would do something like this. And… They both came here for a reason. If Cihitlina was given the choice between living forever under the Empress or living here for the short time that she did, I don’t think that she’d have changed her mind about defecting. Especially since Metotoa is still alive, and still has that freedom that they both lacked before they defected.”
Stendē sighed. “Sage advice, as always.” A look of concern flashes over her face. “As soon as we begin preparing for a briefing on this situation, I want security greatly increased on Metotoa. As soon as Calhualyana finds out that he’s still alive, he will be perpetually at risk. I want several layers of security on him at all times. Municipal Police, Divicōn Nacōnals dei Enketecōn, anything it takes. Hell, I’d have him stay here at the Manor if he wanted to! Plenty of bedrooms, plenty of security. Even if he doesn’t want to, I should probably call up the Generals of the Guard of the Republic as well and see if they can spare a couple Solar and Lunar agents. Calhualyana won’t get another chance at this.”
"Of course, I'll get those orders passed along right away." Riekstins cocked his head to the side. "I take it that you'll be working on your press release?"
The Chancellor nodded, the flashes of anger and sadness forging her expression into one of steely resolve. "Absolutely. It's time to make our message abundantly clear to her royal highness, the witch of Caxcana. These underhanded, vile actions will not go unpunished. They'll need the Angels to save their fucking souls when this is all over with."
—
Not a half hour later, the stage was set. The Manor's briefing room was packed full of journalists and live cameras, waiting on baited breath. They had been informed of an urgent situation developing, and that it would be headline material, however they were told nothing more. As Stendē took the podium, the gathered members of the press had their eyes locked on her every move. She took a deep breath, adjusted the mic, and began her speech.
"Good evening, everyone. I apologize for the short notice, however there is a situation developing that needs to be addressed." She paused, preparing herself for the information she would have to share. "Earlier today, two prominent asylees from Xiomera collapsed in public while seated in a cafe in New Riga. They were rushed to nearby Guillon Medical Center, where one of them was unfortunately pronounced dead despite the best efforts of medical personnel. According to toxicologists assigned to the case, the pair of asylees were subjected to a highly dangerous and previously unknown toxin, which was passed into the victims via physical exposure on their hands. We are unsure exactly how this poison was delivered, however, the information that we have makes one thing clear: This was a blatant assassination of asylum seekers."
"This vile act is inexcusable and purely disgusting. Previously, I had thought that certain moral lines were uncrossable in today's geopolitics, that certain things were sacred enough to not be touched. It appears I was mistaken." The distaste in the Chancellor's voice was palpable. "Asylum seekers should not have to fear being assassinated just because they wanted a better life. And the fact that athletes simply defecting would cause enough danger to Xiomera that they would take such a revolting action shows how truly fragile certain autocratic regimes are."
"But we don't have such weaknesses. We aren't crippled by dissent, or emigration. We don't have to hold our people hostage or kill anyone who isn't keeping their head down properly." Stendē's speaking rhythm was speeding up now, matching the overall tone of the speech. "Not are we the people who will, out of fear or blind loyalty, comply with a leader's every wish and whim. We don't bend, and we don't break. And certain leaders are about to discover just how unyielding our resolve is."
"I ask the honorable leaders of the world a question: Is this something you can tolerate? Can you ignore innocent lives being lost as a pathetic show of 'strength'? If you can't, then I implore you: Stand with us. Fight against this heinous threat, and together we will prevent barbaric acts like this from ever happening again." She stared directly at the camera as she delivered this manifesto. "Thank you all for your time."
October 12th, 2022, 5:11 PM
"Sea kašiet! Cas kucē poiva kašet un arb!"
Chancellor Leah Stendē gripped the report that had recently been placed on her desk, hurling various insults and obscenities at a certain Empress across a certain sea. "Cas… Lēta es repjunēca, nēonerca, ut un mōnste! Es rēon deša vel?!"
Julius Riekstins, the Chancellor's Chief of Staff, stood on the other side of the large oak desk, slightly stunned. In his several years of working with Stendē, he had never seen her as outwardly angry as she was now. "I'm as surprised as you are, Kurena. But we have to figure out how to respond. This situation will definitely get to the media quickly, and we should set the record straight before it does. We don't want wild speculation on an issue like this."
Stendē was silent for a few moments. "The public isn't my concern right now, Julius, I'm sorry to say. Calhualyana has crossed every single line imaginable. That bitch has to pay for what she's done." She glared at the papers with enough force to shatter glass. “We can’t just let this go unpunished.”
Riekstins adopted a bit of a sterner tone, his head tipped to the side. “And what exactly do you have in mind to ‘punish’ her? Respectfully, Madam Chancellor, most of our options would either be ineffective or end with a total disregard for the Jinyu Agreement. I’m sorry, but it’s hard for us to respond without rapidly escalating conflict in the region.”
“And why don’t you give that excuse to Cihitlina? Oh, wait, you can’t.” The Chancellor spoke through gritted teeth. “And Metotoa would probably try to dribble you like a basketball if we offered that weak excuse to him. Or at least, he’d try to, with the arm that doesn’t have serious nerve damage.” Her angry tone was fading quickly into remorse, and she turned away, staring at the wall. “They trusted us. They came here because we told them that they’d be safe here. That they could be happy, and live without fear. We… we failed them.”
Her Chief of Staff walked into her field of view, meeting her dejected gaze. “Hey. We didn’t fail them. We had no idea Calhualyana would do something like this. And… They both came here for a reason. If Cihitlina was given the choice between living forever under the Empress or living here for the short time that she did, I don’t think that she’d have changed her mind about defecting. Especially since Metotoa is still alive, and still has that freedom that they both lacked before they defected.”
Stendē sighed. “Sage advice, as always.” A look of concern flashes over her face. “As soon as we begin preparing for a briefing on this situation, I want security greatly increased on Metotoa. As soon as Calhualyana finds out that he’s still alive, he will be perpetually at risk. I want several layers of security on him at all times. Municipal Police, Divicōn Nacōnals dei Enketecōn, anything it takes. Hell, I’d have him stay here at the Manor if he wanted to! Plenty of bedrooms, plenty of security. Even if he doesn’t want to, I should probably call up the Generals of the Guard of the Republic as well and see if they can spare a couple Solar and Lunar agents. Calhualyana won’t get another chance at this.”
"Of course, I'll get those orders passed along right away." Riekstins cocked his head to the side. "I take it that you'll be working on your press release?"
The Chancellor nodded, the flashes of anger and sadness forging her expression into one of steely resolve. "Absolutely. It's time to make our message abundantly clear to her royal highness, the witch of Caxcana. These underhanded, vile actions will not go unpunished. They'll need the Angels to save their fucking souls when this is all over with."
—
Not a half hour later, the stage was set. The Manor's briefing room was packed full of journalists and live cameras, waiting on baited breath. They had been informed of an urgent situation developing, and that it would be headline material, however they were told nothing more. As Stendē took the podium, the gathered members of the press had their eyes locked on her every move. She took a deep breath, adjusted the mic, and began her speech.
"Good evening, everyone. I apologize for the short notice, however there is a situation developing that needs to be addressed." She paused, preparing herself for the information she would have to share. "Earlier today, two prominent asylees from Xiomera collapsed in public while seated in a cafe in New Riga. They were rushed to nearby Guillon Medical Center, where one of them was unfortunately pronounced dead despite the best efforts of medical personnel. According to toxicologists assigned to the case, the pair of asylees were subjected to a highly dangerous and previously unknown toxin, which was passed into the victims via physical exposure on their hands. We are unsure exactly how this poison was delivered, however, the information that we have makes one thing clear: This was a blatant assassination of asylum seekers."
"This vile act is inexcusable and purely disgusting. Previously, I had thought that certain moral lines were uncrossable in today's geopolitics, that certain things were sacred enough to not be touched. It appears I was mistaken." The distaste in the Chancellor's voice was palpable. "Asylum seekers should not have to fear being assassinated just because they wanted a better life. And the fact that athletes simply defecting would cause enough danger to Xiomera that they would take such a revolting action shows how truly fragile certain autocratic regimes are."
"But we don't have such weaknesses. We aren't crippled by dissent, or emigration. We don't have to hold our people hostage or kill anyone who isn't keeping their head down properly." Stendē's speaking rhythm was speeding up now, matching the overall tone of the speech. "Not are we the people who will, out of fear or blind loyalty, comply with a leader's every wish and whim. We don't bend, and we don't break. And certain leaders are about to discover just how unyielding our resolve is."
"I ask the honorable leaders of the world a question: Is this something you can tolerate? Can you ignore innocent lives being lost as a pathetic show of 'strength'? If you can't, then I implore you: Stand with us. Fight against this heinous threat, and together we will prevent barbaric acts like this from ever happening again." She stared directly at the camera as she delivered this manifesto. "Thank you all for your time."
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