[Xiomera]

Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged. - Samuel Johnson

I'm not a role model. I'm a role villain. -Marilyn Manson

---

Empress Calhualyana was not the sort of person who believed in breaking promises to herself.

She had promised herself to gain a measure of revenge on Eiria for its interference in Xiomeran affairs. This was something she could now check off her list. She had also promised herself to gain a measure of revenge against Milintica and Lauchenoiria. That hadn't happened yet. But it was coming.

But her next target was much more important. Both for her personal lust for revenge, and for her coldly dispassionate plan to restore her Empire. She had promised to break the back of Huenya, once and for all. And for both personal and business reasons, she was about to launch her plan to do just that.

Operation Tiquinpopolozque was the plan. The top Imperial Intelligence specialists had helped her plan it. Gabriel Fleming also had a hand in it. But ultimately, the sheer scope of the plan was Calhualyana's alone. She would utilize multiple resources within Imperial Intelligence to accomplish it.

And if she was successful, by the time it was over, Huenya would no longer exist.

---

Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli
Residence of the Vice-Speaker of the Huenyan Federation, Chuaztlapoc
5:55pm, August 24th

The servant moved quietly through the halls of the Vice-Speaker's residence and offices. It was dinnertime, but the Vice-Speaker was not dining with his family in the grand dining room. He was having a working dinner, and the servant was bringing him his supper.

Tiacihitli smiled as the servant, Izihuacan, walked in with her tray. She had been working at the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli for several months now, and the two had developed a pleasant rapport. "Ah, thank you," the Vice-Speaker said warmly, taking the tray from Izihuacan with clear relish. The chef that served the Vice-Speaker's residence was a particularly good one, and the meals tended to be excellent.

"The chef made sure to make the quail just to your liking," she said with a smile. Tiacihitli could smell the garlic and spices; it was one of his favorite dishes. He eagerly began his meal, washing it down with sips from a glass of wine.

Izihuacan nodded politely and walked out. She hid a small smile on her face. 

---

Xochuaxte Palace
Residence of the Great Speaker of the Huenyan Federation
6:02pm, August 24th

Texōccoatl smiled as he sat down with his family to dinner. "How was school today?" he asked Tonauac. "It was good," his son replied. "But I still wish it was summer break."

The Great Speaker smiled as he took a forkful of steak and chewed thoughtfully. "You know school is important though." Tonauac simply sighed in the tone of a child who had heard that many times from his parents, earning a chuckle from Tlalmaxxi.

Texōccoatl had more of the steak, enjoying the spicy sauce that it was seasoned with. It was one of his favorites. As he ate, however, he began to feel slightly odd. 

---

At his own residence, Tiacihitli had finished the quail and was finishing the last of his wine, looking over some reports. He began to feel slightly odd.

---

At the Palace, Texōccoatl found himself having trouble focusing. Suddenly, he slumped in his chair and fell to the floor. "Texōccoatl!" Tlalmaxxi shouted, as guards and palace servants rushed to his aid. "The Great Speaker is down! Get a medic in here ASAP!" a guard shouted into his radio.

---

At the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, Tiacihitli had also slumped onto his desk. Unlike at the Palace, no one was in his office to witness it.

---

At two different locations in Chuaztlapoc, a servant and a cook, respectively, were making their escape. The Itan had done their work well. The two leaders of Huenya were down and out. It was time for the second phase.

---

Multiple locations throughout Huenya
6:15pm
August 24th

As people in two different locations of the Huenyan capital frantically attended to the nation's leaders, other men and women had an agenda of their own. The Golden Blade had never gone away, even after the emergence of the so-called Western Xiomera. They would remind the security forces of the Huenyan Federation of their presence - en masse.

Throughout Huenya in cities and rural areas where ethnic Xiomerans dominated the population, armed men and women began attacking the institutions of state power. SIPS offices, Federal and local police stations, and Huenyan Army garrisons found themselves under assault. City halls, regional government centers, and even provincial capitals found themselves under fire at the same time. It was a fiendishly well-coordinated simultaneous strike, and the forces of Huenya struggled to respond.

And they would have to do so without their leaders to guide them.

[Xiomera]

August 26th

While the two leaders of Huenya were struggling to survive, Huenya had faced a crisis of power. The new nation had never had its line of succession tested. Normally, the Great Speaker would take over if the elected leader, the Vice-Speaker, was incapacitated. But both of them were down. This meant that power temporarily passed to the President pro tem of the Huenyan Chamber of Deputies. Tianquema, the ranking Deputy from Chuaztlapoc, was currently President pro tem. While Tianquema was a skilled politician, that was the sum of their attributes and personality. He was hardly the person to lead a nation in crisis, being faced with a giant terrorist uprising.

As Tianquema dithered and struggled to address the many and mounting pleas for decisions and plans from people throughout Huenya, the lack of leadership at the top would trickle down the chain. Without clear orders or purpose, the security forces found themselves retreating into their compounds and behind walls and fences. This meant that they were ceding increasingly large sections of the country to the Golden Blade. "Western Xiomera" was beginning to be duplicated in at least fifteen different parts of Huenya by the time that the 26th of August arrived.

And as more time passed, people began to stop looking to Tianquema for leadership, and prayed instead that one of the two men who had been stricken down would wake up.

Yauhmi the Benefactor Medical Center (YBMC)
Chuaztlapoc

In two separate hospital rooms, two men had spent the last two days fighting for their lives.

Tiacihitli had spent those days unconscious. At the hospital, the doctors had discovered after extensive testing that he had been poisoned with miquiztlicoatl, or deathsnake. This was an extremely rare (and extremely deadly) Xiomeran poison. Recovery depended on the antidote being administered quickly, followed by successful follow-up treatment. In most cases, even those efforts were not successful. 

Tiacihitli was an older man, and in average health at best. This made the outcome inevitable.

At 4:18pm on August 26th, the Vice-Speaker of the Huenyan Federation went into cardiac arrest. Despite the best efforts of the best doctors in Huenya, Tiacihitli never opened his eyes.

One of the dominos that Calhualyana had sought to topple had fallen. Now it all depended on the other.

---

Hours later, Tlalmaxxi and Tonauac were at Texōccoatl's bedside. The news that Tiacihitli had died had struck them as if they had been the ones poisoned. She didn't always agree with Tiacihitli, but Tlalmaxxi had always liked and respected him as a leader. Now, both of them feared that the same fate would befall their husband and father.

Texōccoatl also had not opened his eyes once since falling from his chair at the dinner table to the floor at his palace. The doctors could only tell Tlalmaxxi that it would depend on Texōccoatl's own body and his own will now. They had done everything they could. If the Great Speaker was strong enough to survive the miquiztlicoatl, he would. If he was not, he would die. It was up to him now.

Tlalmaxxi leaned down and whispered to her husband, her voice pitched low enough not to upset her son.

"Texōccoatl, you promised me that you would be by my side until the very end, no matter what happened. You'd better keep that promise," Tlalmaxxi said. Her voice choked back a slight sob as she leaned closer and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I can't survive without you. Your son cannot either. Neither can Huenya. Come back to us."

With those words, Tlalmaxxi sat down in a chair to await whatever happened.

---

Several hours later, as the clock approached midnight, Tlalmaxxi woke up to the sound of movement. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up straighter in her chair, looking at her husband.

And as she watched, Texōccoatl opened his eyes.

[Democratic Republic Of Eiria]

(Joint Post with Xiomera)

"That bitch is going to pay for this, one way or another."

Chancellor Stendē's expression, usually diplomatic and cordial, showed not one bit of friendliness. Her icy stare was amplified by her sleek black and navy blue mourning Halar. Those two colors were being worn by politicians and celebrities all across Eiria in solidarity with their Huenyan allies. Even some of Stendē's political opponents had jumped on the trend, eager to show their support for the family of the late Tiacihitli.

However, this touching show of support did little to soothe Stendē's cold anger. She was sick of being forced to remain actionless out of fear of violating an agreement that other parties were violating. She wanted action, and she wanted it now. As such, she had organized a virtual meeting of the most important figures within the UCS in order to determine a new approach to Caxcana's tenuous political situation.

Stendē took a deep breath, then opened her laptop, navigating to the secure call application. The call took a while to load (presumably due to all of the safety measures put in place by the Ministry of Intelligence), but eventually, it let her through, and she opened the digital conference room.

The first to arrive on the call was President Matōchmizalo of Milintica. "Good morning, madam Chancellor. I wish we weren't meeting under such circumstances," he said soberly.

Not long after that, the sound indicating that someone had joined the call echoed again. It was Great Speaker Texōccoatl. His haggard appearance, so different from his usual dapper style, spoke to the ordeal he had recently suffered. So did the background of the hospital room he was in. But his eyes, though bearing the signs of exhaustion, burned with an unmistakable fire. "Madam Chancellor, thank you for calling this meeting. And thank you for attending, Mister President."

"Of course. My sincerest condolences for your situation, Great Speaker. You should know that everyone in Eiria is wishing you a speedy recovery." Stendē adjusted her glasses as two more pings announced the arrival of Vice Chancellor Lynn Morrin and Aurian Queen Katherina, the latter of whom had her Queen Dowager mother was sitting behind her. The Chancellor nodded to the two arrivals. "Welcome, everyone. I'm glad that you all could be here on such short notice.

"I am glad as well, and wish to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your strong support of Huenya. This is something we need most dearly right now. Even in our worst nightmares we did not imagine Calhualyana would go so far," Texōccoatl said.

"So is it confirmed then? Is that devil behind these incidents?" Matōchmizalo asked.

"We have not found the smoking gun yet, so to speak. But who else could it be?" Texōccoatl replied. Matōchmizalo nodded, a grimace on his face. "If so, then we must punish Calhualyana severely for this outrage," the Milintican said.

"Agreed. Which is why I called you all here today, to discuss how exactly we can properly sabotage the Empress." The Chancellor picked up a folder from her desk and examined its contents. "As I'm sure you all are aware, the situation in Auria has taken an unexpected turn for the better. And although I'm not sure how long that will last, for now, we seem to have a clear opening to retake Lumiere. As such, many of our forces may be available for reassignment, now that it seems like Berenstein's regime has collapsed."

"However, military action may not be the best option to start with. We need to work together to get LIDUN on our side first, before the Xiomerans try to use it against us. Along that line, Great Speaker, our intelligence forces will be working alongside you to try to find the proverbial 'smoking gun.' Once we have the evidence that we need, we can finally isolate Xiomera from certain... 'republics' that are quick to jump to Xiomera's defense." Stendē did not state the name of the nation, but her tone made which leaders she was talking about abundantly clear.

"That sounds like a good plan. We do need to isolate Calhualyana's regime both diplomatically and economically before moving forward," Texōccoatl replied.

"I would also suggest that we need to amp up our efforts to disrupt the Xiomeran regime from within," Matōchmizalo said. "I know that Huenya has been doing some excellent work in that regard and we need to build on that with intelligence operations to build resistance to the regime within Xiomera."

"I agree wholeheartedly. Given the recent attacks on both Eirian and Huenyan citizens, our Ministry of Intelligence case officers have been practically chomping at the bit to settle the score." Stendē's lips curved upwards in a slight smile. "Along that line, in order to build resistance against the Empire, we need to shatter the illusion of 'righteous control.' Attacks, security breaches, data leaks. Anything that can humiliate Calhualyana."

"Huenya can certainly assist with that," Texōccoatl said. "We are already conducting intelligence operations against the Imperial government within Xiomera itself. We can coordinate with your intelligence agencies on that."

"Attacks are more our style," Matōchmizalo grinned. "We can insert agents and guerrillas into Xiomera to give Calhualyana and her lackeys quite a lot to do. Every attack will chip away at the whole 'Fortress Xiomera' image that she is trying to project."

"I should be up-front, though. Huenya tends to go more on the offensive in regards to what Calhualyana is doing against us. The more passive approach we have adopted in the past has only encouraged her to take more and more action against us. Huenya needs to stand up to her. And it will." Texōccoatl had an expression on his face of determination tinged with anger.

"That is completely understandable. We feel similarly, and we will be glad to assist you with any operations that you wish to undertake." After Stendē had said that, Morrin raised an eyebrow, causing the Chancellor to amend her statement. "Provided every measure is taken to prevent civilian casualties, of course. Did you have a particular target in mind?"

"Every district that is under attack has to be a target. If we don't rip this insurgency out by the roots soon, it will only continue to grow. Our plan is to order evacuations of each district prior to launching any attacks in order to prevent civilian casualties as much as possible." Texōccoatl brought up a map of Huenya showing the districts that were currently under siege. "Our plan is to start with the districts closest to major cities such as Chuaztlapoc and work outward from there."

Vice Chancellor Morrin examined the map. "Fu ut aud*, there are a lot of besieged districts. We may need to dip into the reserves stationed in Eiria in order to help you handle this. I don't think we'd be able to get enough troops from Auria without potentially compromising all of the progress that we have made there."

Queen Katherina, who had been silent up to this point, unmuted her mic. "And that is something that we cannot risk. Regardless of what happened to the regime of that traitorous parliamentarian Berenstein, we still have hostile factions to our north that we are holding the line against. Without both military and logistical support, we could lose a lot of the ground that we've regained."

Texōccoatl nodded. "We don't want to jeopardize the progress made in Auria at all. It may not be necessary to commit large numbers of troops. We believe that precision airstrikes and missile strikes on insurgent strongholds should weaken them enough for our own forces to eliminate them."

"That works well, then, given that as our forces approach Lumiere, airstrikes will become more dangerous. Our top air force and naval aviation officers will reach out to properly coordinate our actions." Stendē donned a slight smile. "Although, I should warn you, from what I heard from my former sailor husband, there's a bit of an infamous rivalry between our air force pilots and naval aviators. They'll serve you well, don't get me wrong. But don't be surprised if striking insurgent strongholds becomes somewhat of a competition."

"I welcome the competition, if it helps us eliminate these terrorists all the faster." Texōccoatl did not smile. He was clearly deadly serious. "Huenyan aviators may well join you in your competition." With that statement, he finally allowed a ghost of a smile to cross his face. He quickly grew serious again though. "I am glad we are in agreement on a plan of action. It is essential that the UCS be seen to act quickly and decisively here. Calhualyana is undoubtedly touting our supposed 'weakness' to anyone who will listen. I can't wait to disappoint her."

"Indeed. We must show her the true strength of our union." Stendē trailed off, considering her next words. " Calhualyana's actions, while vile and reprehensible, certainly have brought the world together against her. We're seeing record levels of enlisting in the armed forces, and a spike in applicants for both EICA and the Guard of the Republic. We should exploit this fervor." The Chancellor turned her attention back to the Huenyan Great Speaker. "How is public opinion in Huenya, given the recent attacks and insurgent activity?"

"From what we are hearing, public opinion is mixed. People are scared, and nervous. They are worried about the future of Huenya and whether or not it can survive." Texōccoatl shook his head. "But people are also angry, because they want Huenya to survive. The dream of a free and independent Huenyan state isn't something they are prepared to give up on. This gives us quite a bit of support. We are also seeing an increase in recruitment. And the latest polls seem to indicate that the public is ready for us to take the gloves off and deal with these insurgents already."

"If we want to use that passion to our advantage, we must act quickly and precisely." Morrin took the opportunity to speak up. "While our military forces assist yours in stopping insurgents, I'm sure that some sort of intelligence operation could be undertaken in order to stop Xiomeran resources from potentially reaching Golden Blade hotspots. Any suggestions on targets to sabotage? Do we know how the Golden Blade is getting resources in general?"

"We believe that they have been transporting supplies across the Gulf of Epeloc into Xonacatlán, and then transferring them from there into Huenya. Intercepting the supply runs at the border of Xonacatlán should shut the terrorists down," Texōccoatl replied. "As for targets to sabotage, supply depots on the western half of Xiomera proper and in Xonacatlán would be a good place to start. Perhaps airfields and port facilities as well."

"Noted. We'll be sure to pass that along to the proper intelligence officials so we may begin to plan out those strikes." The Chancellor said. "Is there anything else that you need from Eiria, Great Speaker?"

"I think that is a very good place to start. We will keep you posted if things on the ground change. We thank you once again for the help." Texōccoatl nodded firmly.

"Milintica will also begin preparing forces to assist both in intercepting the terrorists' supply lines and in sabotaging Xiomeran assets," Matōchmizalo added.

"Perfect. Thank you for your time, Your Excellencies. Eiria will be at your service if you need anything more." Stendē's face had returned to a stoic, diplomatic expression. "And, Great Speaker, on behalf of the Eirian Repubic and all of it's citizens, we wish you a speedy recovery."

"I thank you for the well wishes. I have a bit of a road ahead of me, but I am already on the mend. And soon enough, I be back to normal." Texōccoatl gave a slight smile. "Thank you both for your time as well."

As the rest of the UCS leaders left the call, Stendē glanced up towards the door, mentally taking stock of the situation (and all of the people whom she would need to meet with as soon as possible.) With one resounding sigh, she stood up from her chair, leaving the study to talk to her Chief of Staff. Let's get to work.

----

*Meaning "Fire and Water," "Fu ut aud!" is an Eirian expression of surprise at the size, scope, or difficulty of a task. It is the shortening of the phrase "Sana nejam fu ut aud pōr cis," literally "We're gonna need fire and water for this."

[Xiomera]

September 8th
Palace of Flowers

The military and intelligence advisors to the Empress waited nervously for her arrival at the Chamber of Whispers. It was just over two weeks since Operation Tiquinpopolozque had begun. The more optimistic version of the plans for the operation had expected Huenya to collapse by this time. But even in the most pessimistic version of the plans, some collapse or other had been expected.

Huenya was proving to be far more resilient than expected, much to the annoyance of the Imperial planners. When the incompetent emergency regime under Tianquema had stumbled and faltered, that had been what the Xiomerans had been counting on. No one had expected Texoccoatl to survive his poisoning, however. No one had expected him to then appoint someone to replace Tiacihitli so quickly either.

And what the Xiomerans really hadn't been expecting was the command and competence being demonstrated by Xiadani, the interim Huenyan Vice-Speaker. She was taking far more decisive action than one would expect from a temporary leader. With firm leadership restored at the top of the chain of command, the Huenyan military and security forces had made a 180 degree turnaround from their initial panic and stuggling. They had managed to fight the Golden Blade to a standstill. Now, they were gaining the initiative. It was looking increasingly likely that the terrorist insurgency would fail, unless something radically changed the situation. While the insurgency would still inflict a lot of pain on Huenya and take a long time to fully stamp out, it would not "break the back of Huenya" as the Empress had promised to do.

Unless Calhualyana had another gambit to play.

When the Empress arrived with Telchiuhtli, the head of Imperial Intelligence, everyone else around the table jumped to attention, only sitting down once Calhualyana had done so and waved to indicate they could be seated. General Zinahue of the General Staff, and then Minister of Defense Chuanacoyo, gave their presentations showing the latest status of the insurgency and how things were faring for the Golden Blade. It was not ideal.

But at the end of it, Calhualyana and Telchiuhtli were still smiling. This puzzled the others, until the Empress deigned to explain why. "It is highly amusing to me that the Huenyans thought the first phase, with Tiacihitli and Texoccoatl, was our bid to cut the head off the snake. Doesn't that amuse you, Telchiuhtli?" The intelligence director smirked in response. "Should I explain why this is so amusing, your Majesty?" At Calhualyana's nod, Telchiuhtli gave his own presentation.

And at the end of it, everyone around the table was grinning.

---

Phase three of Operation Tiquinpopolozque was beginning.

Over the next several days, thousands of Xiomeran "volunteers" would begin to infiltrate Huenya across the now porous and contested border, via the Gulf of Epeloc. With the insurgency already stretching them thin, the Huenyans and their Milintican allies would be hard-pressed to stop them all. Unlike the trick with CSSC in Auria, these were actual volunteers. In a country that was army-mad and increasingly brainwashed by a fascist and nationalistic party, such volunteers weren't all that hard to find. Many of them had military experience, and knew how to fight.

Those volunteers would reinforce the Golden Blade insurgents, giving the Huenyans that much more trouble stamping them out. But many more of them would camp out and wait with their insurgent allies.

The final phase of Calhualyana's revenge on Huenya would come soon, and in a direction the Huenyans would never expect.

[Lauchenoiria]

Content Warning: this post contains depictions of torture.

Jointly written with Xiomera.

---

Imperial Intelligence Black Site, near Cos, Xiomera

Mariya Adema usually worked out of the Ministry of Loyalty complex on the outskirts of Tlālacuetztla, but she always welcomed the chance to get to see more of her adopted country. Not that government black sites were popular tourist destinations, but with professional torturers they may as well be.

Today, her subject would be one General Nezina of the Huenyan military, captured in the city of Collanto on the first day of the renewed Golden Blade uprising. Her job was to acquire as much military information out of him as possible. He'd held out for a week, but she had studied the footage of previous attempts and was already working on a psychological profile. He would not hold out much longer.

Mariya had sent instructions ahead of her for how the prisoner was to be prepared for her arrival. So when she entered the cell, he was already chained to the back wall in such a manner that all of his weight was on his bound wrists. He was also shivering thanks to the excessive air conditioning she had ordered. Mariya was wearing a winter coat.

"Good morning," Mariya began in nearly flawless Huenyan. "Do you know who I am, or will I need to give the preamble?"

"I know who you are," Nezina spat. "You are the pet Kerlian she-demon that Calhualyana keeps around to interrogate people."

"Aww, thank you!" Mariya said. She did so enjoy being called a demon. "So, we can get straight to business. Are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"

"Nezina, Huenyan Federation Army, serial number HFM-16493659," the General replied, looking straight ahead with the stare of someone both determined and weighed down by thoughts of what was coming.

"The fun way, then," Mariya replied, smiling evilly. She placed the briefcase she'd brought into the cell on the table, in view of the prisoner. She opened it and flicked through the tools, holding several up to the light to let Nezina see. She eventually settled on a pair of pliers, turning back to see if Nezina's face had changed.

The sense of foreboding Nezina was feeling had clearly begun to take precedence over determination, if his expression was any clue. But the Huenyan general still remained silent, refusing to make things any easier for his tormentor.

Mariya shrugged, advanced on the prisoner and ran her nail along his cheek, drawing blood. She licked the blood off her finger, while looking him in his eyes. Then she darted for his hand and pulled off one of his fingernails with the pliers.

Nezina screamed, trying in vain to yank his hand away. The determination he was trying to show was impossible to maintain under these circumstances. Much like the Huenyan defenses he had commanded, Nezina's own internal defenses were already starting to crumble.

Mariya walked back to the table, placing the pliers to one side and rummaging through the box again. She picked up a hammer, swung it a few times, then shook her head and put it back down. Then she plucked out a device that looked something like a cross between a bottle opener and a pencil sharpener. She traced over an indentation on the bottom reading Made in Kerlile.

"Does that hurt?" Mariya purred. "Perhaps you'd like to tell me about Huenya's defenses now?"

Nezina spat out his name and serial number again, though his voice was noticeably wavering from the pain in his hand.

"Do you know what this is?" Mariya asked, holding up her new tool. "It's a relic from the Kerlian Civil War. I was a teenager during the war, myself. When I turned 18, I fought for the Matriarchy. Many of them, the DKS rebels, preferred death to capture. But at least we gave them the choice. They didn't ever give us one. Just killed everyone, no prisoners for them. Aren't you grateful you're alive?"

"I am under no illusions that I will remain that way. Your employer is as evil a person as has ever existed. So I have no reason to cooperate." Nezina grimaced and repeated his name and serial number again, as if it were a mantra.

"There are worse fates than death, you know," Mariya said casually as she walked towards his other hand. She pulled on each finger in turn, as if testing them. Then she picked his middle finger and inserted it into the little hole of her device. "There's always something worse. Still not talking?"

"I have no useful information. I was in command of a relatively unimportant sector. There is nothing I can tell you."

"Not at all," Mariya said, removing the device and cupping his cheek in her hand. "There's always something," she said, stroking his cheek. "Where are the military forces in and around Chuaztlapoc positioned?"

"I cannot tell you that. I can only tell you where the forces I used to command were positioned, before your employer's pet terrorists destroyed them." Nezina tried to pull his head away from Mariya's hand in apparent disgust.

"I think you can tell me more than you are saying," Mariya chuckled. She whipped out a second pair of pliers, that she'd been hiding somewhere upon her person, and ripped off another nail.

Nezina shouted again, his face beginning to become more panicked. "I can't! Stop please. I am telling you the truth."

"How well-equipped are the military forces in and around Chuaztlapoc?" Mariya asked calmly.

Nezina's face twisted in anger. "Take yourself to Mictlān, you witch!" His breathing had become quite heavy by this point.

"Why, do you know about a job opening?" Mariya asked. She went back to her collection of tools and fiddled with them. "Last chance to tell me before things get really bad for you."

"I can't, I really can't." Nezina tried again futilely to break free from his restraints. "Don't do anything else."

"You're lying to me. A pity," Mariya sighed. "I'll have to ramp things up a little. How about a makeover? I think you'd look nice with a Xiomeran flag burned into your forehead, don't you? Make sure it's the first thing people see when they look at you."

Nezina gasped. "No. No. People will think I am a traitor. Please don't do that. I can't anymore. I'll talk. Just….don't do that."

"Good, now. Let's try again. Where are the military forces in and around Chuaztlapoc stationed?"

[Xiomera]

Oh, silver tongue suits and cartoons, they rule my world
Singing, it's a high time for hypersonic missiles
When the bombs drop, darling
Can you say that you've lived your life?
Oh, this is a high time for hypersonic missiles
Then you'll do the same, only the names change, honey
You can join their club if you're born into money
It's a high time for hypersonic missiles
And, oh, this is a high time for hypersonic missiles
And, oh, this is a high time for hypersonic missiles
Oh, this is a high time for hypersonic missiles
- Sam Fender, Hypersonic Missiles

---

Chuaztlapoc, Huenya
8:00 am, September 21st

While the rest of Huenya was fighting off chaos, one city rested in the assurance that it was safe. Chuaztlapoc, the capital of the Huenyan Federation, was the center of the entire Huenyan defense and security network. The sheer number of Huenyan soldiers and police reassured the locals, as did certain landmarks. In the Old City, the towering wall of the Altepetenametica, or walled city, that surrounded the sprawling Shorn Ones complex was one such landmark. Its ancient stone served as a reminder that Chuaztlapoc had the very best warriors that Huenya had ever produced at its defense.

In a much newer and notably more modern part of the city, another set of towering walls provided a similar reassurance to those inside them. Surrounding the Government Zone (Green Zone), high and smooth walls of reinforced concrete and steel protected the edifices of Huenyan power. Atop those walls, weapons and the soldiers manning them were a visible sign of deterrence. At the controlled access points in those walls, more soldiers and police carefully screened anyone seeking to enter the secure bubble.

Once inside, one was greeted by a modernistic fantasy. All of the buildings inside the Green Zone were crafted in the same palette of white, black and steel. It was dubbed the "Federation Modern" architectural style by Huenyan planners. The style had earned the mocking name "Modern Chain Hotel Style" from critics of the government. But whatever one's opinion of the architecture, the Green Zone presented a uniform image of order, progress and modernity. Nowhere was this more evident than around the Tlatlahcoyān, the central plaza of the Green Zone. The most important buildings in Huenya, such as Federation Hall and the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, were arranged in a perfect circle around the green and serene plaza. The product of Huenyans and their foreign allies, the Green Zone was in its own way as reassuring to Chuaztlapoc denizens as the ancient walls of the Old City.

The perfection made them believe that the Green Zone was invulnerable. It was too perfect, too powerful.

No one would ever dare attack it.

---

Ministry of Security Headquarters Complex
Tlālacuetztla, Xiomera

The Special Technical Operations Division of Imperial Intelligence lived for one thing: chaos.

The techies and computer wizards of STO prided themselves on being able to knock down any computer system or network, anywhere, at any time. The systems that protected and controlled Chuaztlapoc were child's play in comparison to what STO normally went after.

The first sign of their work would be received at multiple locations in the Huenyan capital.

---

Huenyan Emergency Response Agency (HERA) headquarters

HERA was the agency responsible for coordinating all of the emergency management operations in Huenya. At this time, the director Nacatzin and his staff were hard at work when all of their computers went down. Nacatzin tried to call various other departments, only to find that their phones were offline as well.

Ministry of Defense headquarters

At the MoD, General Huatli and her staff were discussing the latest developments in the insurgency with Defense Secretary Tlanexchel when their systems went down as well. It was a total blackout. Huatli and Tlanexchel both knew what that meant. They immediately tried to contact the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, the Palace of the Four Directions and the Green Zone defense center. None of those communications went through. Huatli quickly ordered several officers to go to those locations to warn them that an attack was likely imminent.

Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli

At the home and offices of the Huenyan Vice-Speaker, Xiadani and her staff were meeting when their computers and communications all dropped as well. Xiadani was also well aware of what that meant. She ordered the guards at the building to take up defensive positions.

Palace of the Four Directions

At the new Huenyan royal palace, Texōccoatl and his family were just starting their morning when one of their guards informed them that all of their communications and computer systems were down. Texōccoatl ordered the guards to take his son, Tonauac, to the shelter in the basement of the palace. He then went with his wife Tlalmaxxi to attempt to determine what was happening. "We have to get to Defense Headquarters!" Texōccoatl told the Shorn Ones assigned to his protection. The leader of the detachment simply nodded, left for a moment and came back with rifles for both Texōccoatl and Tlalmaxxi. Then he pointed out the window. Across the Tlatlahcoyān, men and women with rifles were running in all directions. They wore golden masks with the Xiomeran sun emblazoned on them.

Green Zone defensive perimeter

At the walls surrounding the Green Zone, the sudden loss of communications and computer access threw the defenses of the zone into disarray. Huenyan soldiers and their commanders frantically tried to get backup systems working and reach their superiors.

Chuaztlapoc outside the Green Zone

As chaos fueled by the lack of communications fell across the Green Zone, the city of Chuaztlapoc itself would erupt. In the days prior to September 21st, large numbers of Golden Blade terrorists had moved into the Capital District. The violent and constantly shifting insurgency had allowed them to mostly escape notice. But this morning, they were no longer trying to hide.

At the exact moment that the Green Zone was plunged into radio silence, hundreds of Golden Blade warriors would attack the capital. Police stations and military garrisons in and around the capital would become besieged, cut off from each other and from the rest of the city. More of the terrorists would move to take control of power stations and communications centers, seeking to shut down what Huenyan infrastructure was still operating.

Another group of several hundred terrorists, backed by Xiomeran "volunteers" who had managed to get into the country, would head southeast to strike at Xomaxtli Hill, the estate of nantzintli Yauhmi.

Back in Tlālacuetztla, the STO agents would go after the same power stations that the terrorists on the ground were targeting. One by one, they would go offline, forcing the defenders of the capital to rely on backup generators where they were available.

At the Green Zone perimeter, more terrorists and Xiomeran "volunteers" would strike hard at the checkpoints into the protected zone, throwing the already confused Huenyan defenders off guard.

Hall of Chuaztlapoc and the Altepetenametica

In the Old City, communications and power had gone down as well. The Shorn Ones, however, simply shrugged and took on the Golden Blade head on and without hesitation. In the entire capital, they represented the most coherent line of defense in what was rapidly emerging as a full-scale attack. The ancient walls of the Old City would serve their purpose once more, defending Chuaztlapoc from its enemies.

As the Huenyan defenders struggled to organize and coordinate their defense, the Xiomeran "volunteers" who were backing the terrorists began preparing the "gifts" they had brought the Huenyans. Missiles and mortars soon began to rain down on the Chuaztlapoc defenders.

In what had begun as a pleasant morning, hell had opened up on the Huenyan capital.

[Democratic Republic Of Eiria]

The stone building at the end of the alleyway appeared just like any other building in Chuaztlapoc. The brick was faded and slightly weathered, but not in a run-down way. As a whole, it was an average storage depot. And that's what made it so dangerous.

Chimalli hid at the end of the alleyway, positioned just around the corner in order not to cause suspicion. One wrong move, and he’d very likely end up dead, along with who knows how many Huenyans whose lives Chimalli was tasked to save. Despite this risk, he remained calm and resolute, focusing on the task at hand.

He took out a bandana of the Xiomeran flag and quickly put it on, scanning the street one last time before ducking down the alleyway. The early morning light caused shadows to envelop the storage depot's facade, giving the whole alley an ominous vibe. Still, Chimalli was composed, his ice cold glare masking his rapidly growing nerves

After all, it's not easy for an Eirian spy to walk into a Xiomeran terrorist base. Especially not when he has a bomb strapped to his back, concealed below his sweatshirt.

Pushing open the door, he gave a gruff nod to the guard on the other side. The guard gave him a slow once-over before begrudgingly turning back to the door. Chimalli said a silent thank you to the Intelligence Ministry's artists who had picked out his outfit and to the technician who had modified his sidearm to look like it was of Xiomeran issue.

He passed a pair of masked terrorists who side-eyed him without a word, before turning back to their discussion. The air in the warehouse was energetic, and hushed conversations echoed in the wide-open space. Various Golden Blade members were working on organizing and distributing boxes of guns, ammunition, explosives, and other arms that had formed a kind of maze on the depot's floor. Chimalli navigated through the labyrinth of weapons, giving a nod to a passing terrorist before stopping at a junction of open ammunition crates.

Carefully turning around to hide his actions, he squeezed the clasp that was hidden below his shirt, causing the bomb to fall out of the back of his sweatshirt into his hand. He gingerly moved around boxes of ammo within one of the crates, placing the device at the bottom. He then flipped a switch on the side and stacked the bullet boxes on top of it, suitably hiding the bomb within the crate.

He then began walking back through the labyrinth, occasionally stopping to examine a weapon in order to not seem suspicious. As he inched his way towards the building's other exit, he stepped with his heels instead of his toes, not wanting to accidentally trigger the detonator in his boot. When he was sure that no one else was watching him, he gave a nod and a "Long live the Empire!" to the other door guard before stepping out, briskly walking down towards the bright street.

Each step down the alleyway felt like it took an eternity, and he clenched his teeth, trying to resist the urge to look over his shoulder. As soon as he got to the corner, he scanned the street before making a quick right turn. Once he had gotten a block down the road, Chimalli paused, looking back towards the depot. With a sigh, he took off his bandana, leaned against the wall, and slammed the toe of his boot into the ground.

Boom

—-

Boom

Nekahual Stavē ducked down a side street, pausing a second to catch her breath. Smoke filled the street she had just turned off of as the remains of her assigned supply depot went up in flames, causing passersby to yell and take cover. She took one last second to breathe before getting back on the street, constantly glancing back at the fire in order to seem like an ordinary bystander. When she got two blocks away, she looked over her shoulder, turned down an alleyway, and climbed a nearby fire escape.

Waiting for Nekahual on the roof was a hooded woman, watching the depot fire through binoculars. "Nice job. They didn't suspect anything." She said in Eirian.

Nekahual gave a slight smile to her partner. "Nope. How did I look, hurrying down the street?"

The woman pulled her hood down, revealing her blond hair and gray eyes. "Not terrible acting, all things considered. You certainly got out of there quickly." She glanced down and picked up her rifle, pulling the strap over her shoulder. "There's no rest for us, though. We've got a job to do."

"You're never content on overwatch, are you, Aleksis?" Nekahual joked. "You better put that hood back on though, or you'll be shot immediately. If there's one thing that the Golden Blade hates more than Huenyans, it's Eirians."

Aleksis relented, pulling her hood back up. "Let's move. Before they destroy all of the Green Zone."

—

As soon as the first mortars fell on Chuaztlapoc, the guards at Eiria's embassy knew immediately that it was time.

All remaining staff, including the ambassador, were ushered down into the embassy's basement by a large contingent of both Solar Guards and General Security guards. As the stairs were flooded with panicked embassy workers and translators, well over a dozen "Foreign Service Workers" covertly exited at the ground level, greeting a Solar Guard officer at the end of the hall. The officer began handing them rifles, pistols, and ammunition, which the workers took without question.

As soon as the Eirian Ministry of Intelligence had caught wind of the incoming attack on Chuaztlapoc, they had assigned a large contingent of disguised agents to the Eirian embassy, knowing that it would likely be the target of some sort of terrorist action. These agents were highly trained fighters, accurate shooters, and cunning strategists, hell-bent on protecting the Embassy by any means necessary.

Between the Solar Guard contingent and these agents, any terrorist who approached the Eirian embassy would be in for a very rude awakening.

[Slokais]

The Embassy of Lao Sansong in Huenya was a sleek narrow post-modern building its ornate garden and Arikata shire stood out from the simple architecture of Chuaztlapoc. Nishioka Katsuro didn't have the roll traditional of many embassies, a Preist/Gardner tending to small plots of green between the high iron fence and the sleek glass of the embassy's offices. While most embassies were places of paperwork and board foreign service officers, the Lao Sansongian embassy was a social establishment. The Sansongian communities were very tight, with almost all children attending the Huenya no Sansongo gakkō or (HNSG) a private K-12 school.

Nishokia has stepped away from his duties to mediate in the small room of the temple he maintained when he heard the first explosion. Before he got up, Nishokia made out a quick prayer to Niwahebi, the protector of gardens. He prayed the attackers would spare at least this sanctuary. As alarms began to ring out through the complex, Nishokia grabbed his katana off the wall. Outside the sanctuary of the temple, the explosions and gunfire were louder, he saw office workers scrambling from the upper floors and to the basement. Nishokia wasn't going to just run by, he ran up to a security guard armed with a more modern weapon and a black Kevlar vest. There were about 15 official "Kaigai Purotekuta" or KP officers on duty.
"Golden Blade has breached the Green Zone, I need you to call HNSG and check their security status, and make sure all the students are accounted for," said the KP officer.
As Nishokia pulled out his phone, the officer asked him "Why the katana? The Xiomerans have more than spears and shields"
"Faith is stronger than any weapon when was the last time you read any of the Book of Raibu?"
"Of course, you Mainliners bring nothing but war how can you even..."
"I can't get a call through I'm heading over there," Nisokia said running outside.
Nisokia hopped in his black Bailey E103 sedan, spreading out of the parking lot once he opened the embassy gate.

The streets of the Green Zone had become devoid of cars quickly, smoke rose from a nearby side street as Nisokia sped by. Just a block from the school, a checkpoint. One singular Golden Blade soldier standing watch over a makeshift line of cars. Nisokia rolled down the tinted window of the Bailey, the soldiers staring back at him. Quickly thinking, Nisokia pulled out his Huenyan language skills.
"Long live the Empire," he said looking the clearly inexperienced insurgent in the eye.
"I'm just a Samurai," he said, pointing to his Katana in the back seat
The soldier seemed to fall for the cultural romanticism and motioned him forward.

Nisokia had attended HNSG almost 15 years ago, back when it was simply the Sansongian School of Chuaztlapoc with only a dozen students in his graduating class. Yet since then the school had quickly outgrown the old brick building and now featured a full sports field and a modern library. He had not been back inside, only occasionally teaching gardening classes on the outdoor field. Walking through the front door, he immediately saw the problem. A group of Golden Blade soldiers were picking through the front offices and questioning the old man, manning the front desk.
Was that Mr Tomio?
Tomio had always been there for him especially when he was bullied for his family's lack of wealth. Tomio always allowed Nisokia to eat lunch with him when he didn't feel like it.
"Hey," Nisokia said before stabbing one of them, taking his gun he shot the other two quickly.
Mr Tomio looked up at him, he had been cowering behind his desk.
"Nisokia..?" he said standing up
"I'm here for the kids"
"I thought you hated this place"
"Honor is first, were all the students?"
"They are in the library, they were attending an author reading"

The halls of HNSG were filled with student work and posters, far from the coldness that Nisokia had once felt here. Turning the corner into the library he saw the entire student body. It had grown significantly, now over 200 or so faces looked back at him. The students were all hiding under tables their teachers crouching behind bookshelves.
"I'm with the embassy," he said
At once the students began to shout out their questions, many simply rambling in fear. He sat down on the carpeted floor by a bank of computers.
"Insurgents have entered the area, yet we are safe here, Mr. Tomio is safe, and if we keep our faith help will be here soon"

[Aramantha]

“Our turn I guess.”

The voice came from Mindy Mendel, defacto leader of the Filament Steel and head advisor of the Branchian Intelligence Department. Usually she adopted a position much closer to home but intelligence had warned of an upcoming attack on Huenya and she wanted to be there to assess the situation personally. Now, with the siege one the city in full swing, she could finally make a move. A move that began with finally hoisting their flag.

The Filament Steel flag was, in particular, a symbol of their message. It was how they let people know who they were and pushed any blame away from watchful eyes looking into their real operations. It was a symbol of fear for many, especially the governments that had something to hide. The flag was black, with silver threads sewn throughout. The surface reflected the light. Across the surface, the twisted, severed head of a dragon is crossed with three chains, painstakingly embroidered into the cloth. The original design had never been made for printing but rather for hand sewing, but the effect was unmatchable. And besides, nobody touched the flag of the Filament Steel.

Now it hung proudly from the side of their compound, finally taking its rightful place as a pawn in this action. And it had the added side effect of being very noticeable. Mindy had no doubt the Golden blade would eventually come to them.

And that’s exactly what she wanted too. She’d assessed the situation — the level of destruction in so short a time by so small a terrorist force. Would they eventually prevail? The autocrats usually did, and if they did, the BID very much wanted to get their fingers into the pants of the winning side. They were dealing with enough problems with the whole Nils situation. But that was the magic of the Filament Steel too. If the Golden Blade were beaten back, it wouldn’t matter. Any blame for involvement in the Huenyan schemes would fall solely on a terrorist organization — an organization that by all accounts and purposes had no connection to the government at all, and had in fact been condemned by them on multiple occasions. There was something to say about the clever ruthlessness of the Branchian government.

So now Mindy sat facing the picture window, watching the chaos unfold below. She’d only have so long to wait.

[Lauchenoiria]

Xomaxtli Hill
September 21st, 8:02am

Riley Nelson woke suddenly with the conviction that something was very, very wrong. True enough, she was immediately greeted by the sound of a distant explosion. Within 30 seconds, she was up, fully dressed, and armed. She left her room at the exact same time as Nelichē, in the room next door. The pair looked at each other, nodded once, and moved forward as one, watching each other’s backs as they moved to determine exactly what was going on.

Xomaxtli Hill had a few minutes after the rest of Chuaztlapoc to prepare for the attack, but everyone present knew it was happening. The three resident Auroras moved to assist the Shorn Ones and other security with the defence. They expected Golden Blade terrorists, and perhaps further Xiomeran agents and soldiers. And indeed, Xomaxtli Hill would be attacked by the Golden Blade. But it would not be the Golden Blade alone.

While the terrorists had the whole city to attack, there was one squad of hostiles approaching Xomaxtli Hill for whom it was their sole target. Kerlile still had some Auroras loyal to the Council; and the Council very much wanted the Robinson Auroras back. They would use the Golden Blade’s assault as a cover to grab Riley Nelson and Tlālzixiuhxa (and Nelichē if possible, but she was not the priority).

The Council-loyal Auroras also had orders to capture Yauhmi on behalf of the Xiomerans. Unbeknownst to the Council, however, they had no intention of following that order. The one single thing that every faction of Auroras, no matter who they now pledged their loyalty to, agreed upon was that Yauhmi was under their collective protection. Not even Zichitla would harm a hair on Yauhmi’s head.

Nelichē joined the group of Shorn Ones escorting Yauhmi to safety as the Golden Blade attack began. Nelichē allowed the group to go ahead, bringing up the rear as they escorted Yauhmi to the safest exit. A Council-loyal Aurora suddenly saw Nelichē turn a corner from where she was perched, and slipped off after her. The other Aurora did not see who Nelichē was following - if she had, she would not have followed.

Nelichē and a group of Shorn Ones were by an unknown back entrance, not shown on the plans that the Council-loyal Auroras had acquired. Yauhmi was with them. The Council-loyal Aurora turned the corner, gun drawn, pointing right at the group. They collectively froze - even the Aurora herself. She locked eyes with Yauhmi, and the pair stared at each other for a second, before the Aurora whispered “tēmāquīxtihqui”.

Then the Aurora turned and vanished back the way she came. Nelichē gave chase, but the other Aurora had vanished. Nelichē scanned the corridor but there was no sign of the other woman. And then suddenly a cloth was over Nelichē’s mouth and she began to feel woozy. She’d reached around immediately to counter whoever had attacked her, but it was too late; she’d breathed in something that was about to cause her to lose consciousness. She tried to ascertain who’d got her, but she slipped under before she could.

One of the other Council-loyal Auroras was experiencing a fight she had not expected. The masked woman who’d attacked her was clearly not Huenyan, and not one of the target individuals. And, curiously, the masked woman was clearly attempting to incapacitate her rather than kill her. The Aurora spun around, grabbing the other woman and attempting to get her in a chokehold, but as she did so, the masked woman jabbed her with a needle, and the Aurora swiftly lost consciousness.

Riley Nelson and Tlālzixiuhxa were among a group defending the estate from some Golden Blade terrorists, when they were attacked also from behind by a pair of Council-loyal Auroras.

“Nicole,” Tlālzixiuhxa said, recognising one of the women. “So, the Council has decided to throw themselves behind Calhualyana fully,” she spat as she fought her former friend. “Despite everything the Huenyans did for them!”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Nadia,” laughed Nicole as she slammed Tlālzixiuhxa into a wall, holding her by her neck. “You betrayed Kerlile; you’ve been betraying Kerlile your whole life and you know fine well the penalty you must face.”

Tlālzixiuhxa struggled, trying to get free, or even just to breathe as Nicole choked her. Relief came from an unexpected source - a needle in her arm. And one in Nicole’s. Both women tried to turn to whichever third party had incapacitated the pair, but fell unconscious before they could.

Riley, meanwhile, had lost her fight. She was bleeding from where one of her opponents had slammed her head into the floor, and she was so woozy she could do nothing about the fact that was being dragged along the ground, her hands zip-tied behind her, and her captors slamming her roughly into every obstacle they encountered. She tried to fight but the signals from her brain simply weren’t reaching her limbs. She felt a rush of terror at what would happen to her once she was returned to Kerlile.

Her captors tossed her roughly into the back of a van, jumping in and driving away. Someone tied up her ankles, gagged her, and tossed her in what appeared to be a cage designed for dogs by the size. They locked three padlocks on the top and then sat back, smirking at her. She blinked away the blood from her head wound and tried to identify her captors. Stella, she would have said had she not been gagged. The other Aurora, one year younger than her, saw her staring and spat in her face.

“Traitor scum,” the younger Aurora hissed. “You’re going to wish the Eirians had locked you up for the rest of your life. Their prisons are paradise compared to where you’re going.”

Riley believed her. She closed her eyes, partly to protect against the blood and spit and whatnot, and partly to try and suppress the urge to cry that was suddenly so very, very strong. Goddess, if only I’d let Nelichē kill me, Riley thought. I could do with a merciful death right about now.

And then something landed on the roof of the van, hard enough to make a dent.

[Slokais]

Nishioka Katsuro wandered the same hallways where he had been from 8:30 to 3:30 from age 12 to 15. His parents were administrative assistants for a Sansongian military firm known as Kenmichi working for the Xiomeran govermeant. Nishokia sweated in the white work coat that was standard issue for embassy workers. They still hadn't fixed the damn AC after all these years. He peeked into a classroom that had once been his, Year 8. He remembered walking in on his first day, the class turning towards him. The school rarely got new students as most came in together when a new office or building opened. The sound of distant gunfire brought him back to reality.

He called the embassy once again, this time getting an answer.
"We have about 200 or so kids here at the school, already ran into some Golden Blade outside"
"Can you hold your position?"
"Yeah, although more Golden Blade are pouring in, more are bound to come looking here"
"We can't spare anyone. We are dealing with our own insurgents right now"
At that moment Nishokia was looking at the desks standing in neat rows, pencil cases and calculators still resting on them
"Hold, going to try out a favor"
Nishokia rushed out of the room, turning left back into the library. Still walking quickly, Nishokia ran behind the checkout desk and into the reference room. Opening drawers
From outside, the librarian approached him "Excuse me?"
"looking for the yearbook from 2005-2006, any ideas?" he asked back still opening the creaking wooden drawers.
Finally, he reached a tall stack of yearbooks. Reaching in he pulled out a short, thin book looking as if it had been printed out.

Nishokia sat down at the row of computers, the entire room was now silently watching him.
"I'm trying to find someone," he said to no one in particular.
He typed in the name of his old friend, Tlacelel Shichiro. Tlacelel was born to Huenyan and Sansongian parents, holding dual citizenship.
Tlacelel was now working as the head of a small military contracting company called Protech. Digging further he found his or at least his office's contact information.
Nishokia quickly dialed the number, stepping outside of the library to take the call. An automated message responded
"Thank you for contacting the Office of Protech Sales, Please listen to our menu options as they recently changed.
Press 1 if you wish to purchase goods from Protech, connecting you to a service representative"
Press 2 if you wish to purchase our award-winning contracting service, connecting you to our resource office"
Press 3 if you are an employee of Protech and would like to talk with President Shichiro"
Nishokia pressed 3.
"You have pressed 3, is that correct"
"Press 1 if Yes"
Before the rest of the numbers could be listed off, Nishokia saw Golden Blade approaching the building. Still holding the phone to his ear, he rushed towards the entrance. Crouching behind a corner his gun drawn.
"Re-directing to the Office of President Shichiro"
"Come on" Nishokia said as Golden Blade burst through the doors.
Although he couldn't understand what they were saying fully, he thought he heard one ask
"Does the Samurai have a sword?"
"You are the one who watches too much Anime," the other said
At that moment, Nishokia burst around the corner, shooting at the first two Golden Blade as the rest came in.
"Nobody told me had a gun" he heard one of them yell
At that moment, he heard a female voice, human this time on the other end of his phone.
"Hello, I'm trying to reach Tlacelel Ixtil Shichiro," he said saying the middle name he saw in the yearbook
"Look, I don't know where you are sir, but you need to schedule an appointment"
"Tell, T-Cell I'm at HNSG"
"T-Cell? Mr Tlacelel is a respected businessman, I won't allow someone with-"
Nishokia turned lunging at the remaining Golden Blade with his sword, managing to cut the remaining ones in the lobby down.
He held the phone close again
"Hello"
"Nishiokia?" the voice on the other end said
"Oh, man Tlacelel it's been a minute. Look I need you to bring a couple of guys and a big transport plane right now to HNSG"
"Man, don't play like that you're not in Chuaztlapoc?"
He held the phone out to the sound of distant gunfire
"Why are you there, I fought you moved back to Fukagawa over a decade ago?"
"I work for the embassy" Nishokia responded as he re-loaded the gun he found with spare rounds.
"Damn, I got a spare transport I can give it to you, just don't scratch it up alright"
"I can't fly a plane"
"Well, find someone who does, your operation, your problem"
"Just tell your pilot to land on the HNSG backfield, you know the one where we used to play football?"
"Yeah, just hold down the fort for an hour or so"
"Okay, see you soon" he said

While waiting Nishokia called the embassy, apparently they were still hunkering down and were waiting on a ride out. He told them he got in contact with an old friend and there would be a transport plane coming soon. He convinced the embassy to head over to HNSG to also be airlifted out. Even directing them on a back way to the school.
"Even a Milinticar should be fine out on the roads" he assured them of the conditions.

Soon, a few dozen or so embassy workers pilled out of Bailey's. Nishokia ran outside to greet them. The city had become smokey with the various fires and explosions, he heard helicopters overhead. The evacuation of the city was well underway. Finally, a plane began to head towards them.
"Clear the area" he yelled.
As it approached, however, he realized it would be too small to fit all of them. Nishokia had pictured a transport plane, with an opening in the back. Instead, it was a converted mid-sized plane probably once used for regional flights by some airline. By the time all of the students filled out, he knew it couldn't fit all of them. Nishokia took a peak inside, maybe 80-100 seats not enough for a school of 150+ plus several dozen embassy workers.

Nishokia realized what had to be done.
"We have about 100 seats" yelling to the crowd.
Both embassy workers and students looked at each other as if they would have to fight someone to get on.
"Embassay staff plus, the younger students are going on this flight, then it will come back for the rest of us" he said
Students and teachers began to protest but Nishokia yelled.
"Hey!"
"We are all going to make it through this, I don't think these Golden Blade will be gone soon, but someday we will all return here. Saikoishi and all the pantheon of spirits are looking at us to stay strong"

And with that, the plane filled up. The elementary school and some middle school students were able to fit in with the embassy staff. As the plane began to take off, barely missing the top of a nearby house, Nishokia said a silent prayer. Until today, he was all but a gardener simply doing his job, today he was leading his countrymen and the students of a school he had once hated. He would get through this, they would get through this and all of Huenya would too.

[Greater Acadia]

Cpt. Darren of the Acadian Special Forces was dying.

It had happened very quickly. The mortars had started raining down on the Green Zone, and he and his team had quickly moved to secure the Acadian Embassy and keep the civilian staffers safe. They'd called in reinforcements, though with no base within Huenya proper, the response would be hours out. He and his team would have to hold out until they arrived. It had started well enough. Within the first few minutes, all they really had to worry about were the mortars. They hadn't been too accurate, or perhaps had been focused more on other targets. Only one had struck the compound on the fourth floor of the building. Thankfully no one had been hurt.

That changed pretty quickly once the attackers stared massing in the streets outside the Embassy. He had sniper teams on the third floor, and they had engaged them as they commenced their assault. He ahnd the rest of the special forces team assigned to guarding the Embassy had quickly laid down suppressive fire as best they could, trying to keep the Golden Blade from breaching the compound. It had worked for a time, and many of the enemy had fallen in the assault. But, simply put, there were more of them than he had troopers. They were outnumbered at least four to one. Possibly more. It was hard to tell from the chaos of battle. Acadian troops were well trained, special forces even more so. But they simply hadn't been equipped to deal with this many attackers.

They were even less equipped to deal with the terrorist packing a rotary grenade launcher. He'd blown a hole in the wall near Cpt. Darren's position, riddling him with shrapnel. He went down, concussed and losing blood quickly. He could barely register what was going on around him. All he heard were the strangely muffled gunshots and shouts of alarm. Through bleary eyes he spotted Golden Blade entering the building.

Elsewhere, John Ritagowski, ambassador of the Federation of Greater Acadia threw himself to the floor as bullets flew in the room. The guards fought back as best they could, but were overwhelmed by the men who soon entered the room.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE OR YOU WILL BE SHOT!!!" Shouted a man in heavily-accented English. The staffers and diplomats in the room were roughly manhandled to their feet and cuffed.

The man who shouted earlier adressed them when they were all brought before him. He spoke the words that sent dread through John's heart.

"You are now prisoners of the Golden Blade. You will comply or you will be harmed."

[Xiomera]

SIPS headquarters

The headquarters of the Special Investigative and Prosecutorial Service in the capital was a coveted Golden Blade target. Perhaps the most coveted.

There was a reason for this. As the group responsible for running the Huenyan post-civil war TRC and enforcing its mandates, the SIPS was easily the entity that ethnic Xiomeran extremists hated the most. It was the one that often put them in jail and punished their leaders. Just off the central plaza of the Green Zone on Tlācaxoxouhcāyōtl Avenue, SIPS headquarters would become the center of one of the largest waves of attackers as the Green Zone was breached.

As alarm bells rang out, SIPS agents and the small contingent of Huenyan Army soldiers guarding the facility rushed to its defense. "Are we taking prisoners?" Acalxototl, a SIPS agent, asked Chief Prosecutor Tiacapantzin as the first terrorists appeared on the plaza in front of the building.

"If there are any left once we're done. They aren't here to take prisoners, so we're not playing nice either," Tiacapantzin growled, raising his rifle and taking careful aim as Golden Blade terrorists began running towards them.

---

Federation Hall

On the roof of the entrance hall of the Huenyan legislative complex, Natana Arono smiled to himself. "See a terrorist, shoot a terrorist," the Milintican murmured to himself. Crack. He smiled more broadly as a terrorist running towards the building dropped many yards short of his goal.

The Milintican was the best sniper alive from a country that excelled in guerrilla warfare. Being a sniper was practically in a Milintican's blood. Arono had no shortage of options to choose from. The Golden Blade terrorists were running openly towards the Hall en masse, counting on their superior numbers and barely even using cover. "I am so glad my enemies are idiots," Arono sang to himself. "But damn, there are a lot of you, aren't there? I'd better get to work. See a terrorist, shoot a terrorist." Crack.

---

Outside the Palace of the Four Directions, a group of Golden Blade terrorists had begun to besiege the building. They saw a set of massive double doors swinging open, and moved to intercept. But they weren't about to stop what was coming.

Multiple heavily armored SUVs came surging out of the gates at a high rate of speed. Shorn Ones were leaning out of hatches at the top of the SUVs, shooting any terrorist that came close. The bulk of the vehicles also proved to be an effective terrorist deterrent, as the drivers of the vehicles plowed over any enemy stupid or slow enough to get in front of them. Without slowing down, the vehicles sped across the Tlatlahcoyān towards the Defense Department complex.

One terrorist, however was armed with an RPG. With a snarl, he aimed at the vehicle in the center of the convoy and fired. Inside the vehicle, Texōccoatl and the others braced for an impact. That wasn't going to be, however. With no hesitation at all, one of the escort vehicles veered into the path of the oncoming RPG. It exploded in a massive fireball, as the other vehicles screeched into the parking structure of the Defense Headquarters.

Texōccoatl and the others rushed inside the building and were quickly escorted to the strategy room. Inside, General Huatli and Defense Secretary Tlanexchel were trying to get communications working again and figure out their response to the attacks. "General, our scouts report that the embassy area has come under attack. The Acadian embassy has already fallen and others may be next," an aide reported.

Huatli cursed. "What happened to the units I ordered to go defend that area?"

"They encountered unexpectedly strong resistance from the terrorists and were not able to push through in time," the aide replied.

"Damnit. Order the 18th Division to send additional forces to that area. One embassy is bad enough, we can't have others fall." Huatli turned as Texōccoatl and his entourage entered the room. "Thank the gods you're all safe," she said, only to be interrupted by more bad news. "General, multiple checkpoints at the barrier wall report that they have been forced to retreat. More enemy forces are entering the Green Zone from outside the wall."

Huatli grimaced. The initial attacks inside the Green Zone had happened when terrorists had infiltrated the area by slipping past the checkpoints. Now, if the checkpoints began falling, more enemies would be able to flood into the Zone, making it even harder for the Huenyans to defend the area. "Order airstrikes on any terrorist columns entering the Zone from outside. I know it's going to pose a risk to civilians, but we have no choice. We cannot let ourselves be overrun here," she ordered. Texōccoatl nodded in agreement. 

---

At the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, Vice-Speaker Xiadani was facing a similar dilemma as the occupants of the Palace of the Four Directions had faced earlier. Her official residence was already under siege, and her options were to try to escape or to stand and fight. Her inclination was not to run. Her security detail was arguing otherwise, when a garbled message came over the radio. "....gathering at Defense Headquarters...Texōccoatl and General Huatli are...defense of the capital. Advise retreat to headquarters."

Xiadani sighed. "That is a foolish plan. We will never make it. Besides, I am not about to let these terrorist bastards chase me out of my own house."

"With respect, madam Vice-Speaker, it is more foolish to remain here. There is no guarantee that any relief column can make it here before the terrorists overrun us." Enetzin, the Shorn One in charge of her protective detail, gestured out the window. "We can use the tunnels underneath the residence to escape to the plaza and make a run for Defense Headquarters."

"I am Necatli. We do not run," Xiadani said stubbornly. Enetzin sighed. "That stubbornness is why the Necatli lost to the Xiomerans so many centuries ago," he replied tartly. "It is not a sin to retreat in order to fight again later, as long as you come back and defeat your enemies. But you need to be alive to do that, you know."

Xiadani stared in surprise at the bluntness of her guardian, before she began to laugh. "You know, you may have a point," she admitted finally. "Where are these tunnels of yours?"

---

Outside the building where the flag of the Filament Steel was flying, a single person walked up to the gate and waited to be recognized. She was dressed like a Golden Blade terrorist, but she was definitely not that. Cihuaxoche was an agent with Imperial Intelligence, and was one of the Xiomeran agents supporting the Golden Blade attack on Chuaztlapoc. If anyone were going to make an offer to the Blade, it would go through her, and only her.

[Slokais]

Nishokia felt the pressure mounting, from his position on top of the roof of the HNSG he saw embassies being overwhelmed by Golden Blade forces, soon their attention would return to HNSG. Nishokia could imagine the stories that had probably spread through the ranks of the Golden Blade. As the hours went by, he wondered if the flight had made it out at all, even if it did would the city to dangerous to fly into? Tlacelel was an inspiring businessman, why did Nishokia expect him to come through for some he hadn't seen in so long? Sansongian people of his generation were the ones behind this new era of mafia-like violence.

Nishokia had last been in Lao Sansong in late 2021, with the opening of the embassy. He took the job as an escape. He still remembered the cold night, the night he killed for the first time. His parents had both been fired after the company they were in changed leadership to a clan that brought in their own people. That's how it worked, even thousands of miles from Lao Sansong, provincial and clan ties always came first in business. In high school in Fukagawa, he got involved in a smuggling operation called the FG Vipers. Nishokia was eventually picked up by the most powerful claim in the province and was sent to infiltrate the home of a rival clan. In the process he became a gardener, slowly gathering intel.
"Take the final shot," the Samurai said, the rain and shadow of his helmet obscuring his features
The boss lay on the ground, crawling for mercy.

Nishokia had turned to religion and studied at the University of the Holy Word in Hiranonamachi. He had received basic certification as a Kidzuiteiru or "aware one" the lowest level on the organizational chart of the Arikata religion. From there he applied for jobs, trying to distance himself from his clan connections. Huenya was a breath of fresh air, far enough from the problems of home but with the connections of the community.

At that moment, a group of helicopters approached the field of the school. Quickly, Nishokia climbed down back to the field. Before he arrived he already recognized the blue flower, the symbol of his old clan. The remaining students and teachers were being loaded up, taking a peek inside the helicopter, Nishokia saw a familiar face.
"Hey, it's Nishokia," said a bearded man with tattoos covering him from the neck down. He then climbed toward him reaching out his hand to pull him up.
"Job's not done, everybody is not in yet"
"So now you're eager to finish the job," he said
"Good to see you haven't changed one bit" Nishokia responded helping a student up.
"Anyway, we heard from an associate that there were a bunch of Sansongians stuck in the city"
At that moment, Golden Blade appeared from the woods behind them. Dozens of them guns up.
"Where is the Samurai" one of them said in English.
"That's you, man," Nishokia's associate said jokingly to him.
A soldier pulled him away from the helicopter. While another waved for the helicopter to take off.

As the helicopters flew into the night sky, Nishokia knew this time they were not coming back. At that moment he wished hadn't done so many things, yet taking a deep breath, Nishokia once again made out a silent prayer as he was shoved into the back of a windowless van.

[Lauchenoiria]

The Lauchenoirian ambassador to Huenya knew this wouldn’t end well. The last time a Lauchenoirian had been taken prisoner by the Golden Blade, Alvarez had double-crossed Calhualyana to get him released. Ambassador Angelica Vicario knew that there could be no repeat of such a scenario, and that if the embassy fell she was as good as dead. All the rest of the staff knew this as well, and fought accordingly.

The Golden Blade had not expected such vicious defence by the Lauchenoirians. Each and every one of them was giving everything they had, and nobody would even consider such foolishness as surrendering to the terrorists. When it became clear that the Lauchenoirians were about to get the upper hand, the terrorists became frustrated and decided to switch strategy. They launched a short-range missile straight at the embassy.

The top floors of the embassy were instantly destroyed, with the ceiling of lower floors collapsing in parts. Some security personnel and a pair of low-ranking diplomatic staff were killed instantly; with many more being injured. The explosion also blew out the eardrums of many of the defenders, causing alarm and confusion. Ambassador Vicario clutched the small pistol she’d been given harder. She did not know much about guns, but she knew with certainty that if the terrorists breached the embassy, she would shoot.

After the missile, the remaining defenders of the embassy began to falter, with the terrorists advancing as they killed the last of the security personnel and started on the poorly-armed diplomatic staff. A young man, an intern, managed to take down a terrorist by smashing a heavy paperweight shaped like a butterfly into his face. Unfortunately, two further terrorists overwhelmed the intern, adding him to the list of fatalities for the attack.

When all hope seemed lost, and Vicario had begun to seriously consider if she’d be better off ending it herself, lest they capture her and do worse, Huenyan reinforcements finally arrived. The terrorists now had enemies to their front and back. Because while the diplomatic staff were hardly trained fighters, they were very motivated. After a prolonged battle, the Huenyans managed to overwhelm the terrorists, reaching the embassy - containing a very, very relieved Ambassador Vicario.

[Democratic Republic Of Eiria]

Chancellor's Manor, Geminus, Eiria

Chancellor Leah Stendē was in no mood to be messed with.

The dossiers and reports from several military and intelligence meetings were stacked in neat piles across her desk, open to random pages. Combined with the numerous briefings that she had received from officials, one would think that Stendē was completely aware of the happenings in Chuaztlapoc. But she still wasn't satisfied. There are so many things that we don't know. There are still so many things that can go wrong.

For the past few hours, press correspondents had been practically trying to bang down the doors to the staff wing of the Manor, asking every single question about the attack on Chuaztlapoc that they could think of. Numerous quick-thinking aides had placated them, but Stendē knew that they wouldn't be satisfied for long. The government had to make a statement, no matter if the Chancellor felt prepared or not.

She grabbed a sheet of notes that she had scribbled on a legal pad, tore it off, and stood, sliding her desk chair back. As she walked towards the press room, she passed her Chief of Staff Julius Riekstins, who stood and walked beside her without a word. He had been in the exact same meetings as she had been, and after all the years that they had worked together, he knew a lot of what was going through her head. The concern, the paranoia, the resignation. He didn't say a word, but Stendē knew all the same what his expression meant. You're setting the policy for all of Eiria. Good luck.

As she walked onto the platform, the normally bustling press room quieted down to near-silence, which was quite a rare event. It seemed like nearly every journalist in Eiria was waiting with baited breath to see what the Chancellor would say.

Stendē adjusted the microphone to point towards her mouth. "Good day. I understand that you all have been waiting for this briefing, and I apologize that it took longer than we expected to prepare. The situation in Chuaztlapoc is chaotic and rapidly changing, and my ministers wanted to keep me informed when possible. As such, the briefing was delayed."

She coughed into her elbow before resuming her speech. "The terrorists that call themselves the 'Golden Blade' are currently attacking key parts of the Green Zone. These places include the Palace of the Four Directions, the SIPS Headquarters, and most shockingly, both our embassy and the embassy of Greater Acadia. Our embassy is still under our control, however we are preparing to evacuate all staff at a moment's notice."

"We will not stand by while terrorists backed by Xiomera attack and defile the sacred places of our allies. Right now, we have operatives from the Ministries of Intelligence and Defense working hard to fight the terrorists throughout Chuaztlapoc. I wholeheartedly believe that they will succeed in their task. No matter how strong the monsters that Xiomera gives us are, we will always be stronger. While we are alive, they will not steal freedom from the people of Huenya, or Auria, or of any other nation. We will not allow it."

The Chancellor turned towards the nearest TV cameras, staring daggers into the black screen. Instead of speaking in Eirian, she flipped to English, only slowing down very slightly. "This is a message for Empress Calhualyana, who I imagine is watching the situation from safety in Tlalacuetztla. Your vicious attack will fail. We know that you've been supporting these terrorists, and once the attack on Chuaztlapoc is over, you will pay the price for every life lost in the Green Zone. Today will not be the day that you regain your empire, not on our watch. Thank you."

As the press corp shot from their seats and started shouting questions, Stendē was escorted to the door by Riekstins, who started whispering in her ear. "We have a squadron of bombers en route to Chuaztlapoc. Hopefully they can stem the flow of terrorists into the Green Zone long enough that we can airlift everyone from the embassy."

The Chancellor nodded, narrowly dodging a staffer as she quickly walked back to her office. "We're gonna need the luck of all the Angels on this one."

—

In the cockpit of a Lēbela-2 tactical bomber, Commander Fēliks Dalār's eyes were locked on his controls, the Huenyan countryside below him barely catching his attention. After all, that was the job of Anrē Zevē, his Weapons Officer, who was strapped in behind him.

The suburbs of Chuaztlapoc looked microscopic as they flew over them, aiming for the center of the capital. Their mission was simple: destroy Golden Blade positions in the Old City to hinder their forces from continuing further into the Green Zone. However, they would have to be incredibly precise, as firing missiles into a historical area of a metropolis is an incredibly risky endeavor.

As they passed over the modernesque buildings of the Government Zone, Dalār slowed the plane down, their target rapidly approaching.

"Missiles ready. Getting a lock on the target." Zevē radioed, his Nordjuran accent somehow transmitting clearly.

"Copy. Adjusting speed. Prepare for a flyby." Dalār looked down at his console, watching as the terrorist battlements came onto his scope.

"Tren, duv, un… missiles away."

Dalār saw the Golden Blade fortifications light up on the scope, vaporized by an Eirian-made ZK missile. "Destroyed target. Let's get back to the ship." He turned on the main radio channel that connected him to his superiors. "Terrorist position was neutralized. Ready for airlift."

—

(Pre-Translation speech of Leah Stendē

"Lien dēr. Endem ku tut de vus attenanasaoj pōr cis isumēta, et atvanōtem ku preparam pōr plu lait ku sagam. Lei situacōn danz Čuaztlapoć es āotisk ut tal māna dauz, ut mons ministresei mei voilanasa infōrmat ka poivana. Kō cas, mus azkamansa lei isumēta."

"Leis terōristei ku vēles zaunana 'Lei Zōbe dei Zelt' nag uzbrana enduasei lielasei deile Zōn Velts. Cisei enduasei inclua lei Pale deile Čati Direkcōnei, lei Štabs dei SIPS, ut ku mas suprenam lei plu, leis tut duv ambasadei dei mus ut Mēu Aćadēa. Mus valdam mas ambasad jōp, pōrta preparam evakuet tut darbēsei danz un sekun."

"Nē stavam talu ka terōristei kē Šīōmera atbala uzbra ut sulea leis enduasei svekrēsei dei mas drasei. Nag, dvacana uparēsei deiles Ministesei dei Inteligence ut Āsenz darbana dauz cinmet leis terōristei danz tut dei Čuaztlapoć. Tēcem arvec tut dei mons kōr ku sana reusana arvec seres darbēta. Nē svara kō stēr leis mōnstesei ku Šīōmera mas da arana, kā sana aram plu stēr. Ka dvivam, nē sana pīlagana lei libretca dei leis persei dei Huenya, vī Auria, vī jebek auts nacōn. Nē toi sana atlaujam."

[Xiomera]

As the siege of Chuaztlapoc continued, a game of "two steps forward, one step back" commenced for the Huenyan defenders. Huenyan reinforcements were able to gain control of the embassy quarter, preventing any further embassy attacks. They managed to repel Golden Blade forces attacking the Lauchenoirian embassy, but with significant losses. They were also able to capitalize on the Eirian bombing run and engage Golden Blade forces long enough for the Eirians to successfully evacuate their embassy. They surrounded the Acadian embassy as well, cutting it off from further Golden Blade reinforcements.

They were also able to push Golden Blade forces away from the Palace of the Four Directions and the Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli. But that meant opening up weaknesses in other areas of the capital, which the Blade was quick to exploit. The SIPS headquarters, which was not strongly defended, had to be abandoned. The Golden Blade were quick to destroy vital records inside the building which were used by SIPS to counter ethnic Xiomeran extremism. The Defense Department complex now became the center of repeated assaults as well, as the Blade were determined to get to the Huenyan leaders inside and execute their decapitation plan once and for all.

One victory that the Golden Blade was quick to celebrate - and put online in propaganda videos on social media - was the overrunning of Xomaxtli Hill. While the terrorists were furious that Yauhmi had been able to escape, taking over her estate and burning it to the ground was enough of a victory for now. If they had their way, the Green Zone and all of its buildings would be next to burn. And they had thousands more bodies to throw at that goal, with more Xiomeran "volunteers" streaming into the city alongside the Blade's fighters.

From the now embattled Defense Department complex, Texōccoatl and the others could only watch the video as Xomaxtli Hill burned. And now Fort Huacopec, the major linchpin in the capital's defenses, was also under siege. Much of Chuaztlapoc, in fact, was a no-go zone. Huenyan forces from other battlefronts were having to be pulled to the capital, which left weaknesses that the Xiomerans were all too happy to exploit.

September 28th
Tihanang, western Huenya

The Tihanang district, on the border of the Necatli and Itotemoc regions of Huenya, had long been a hotbed of ethnic Xiomeran separatism. Much like Xonacatlán in eastern Huenya, it was led by the Golden Blade and others who wanted no part of Huenya. Since the siege of Chuaztlapoc had begun a week earlier, the Blade had been preparing. They had consolidated several districts under their control, with Tihanang as their "capital". The pullback of Huenyan forces to try to save the capital had certainly helped them consolidate their gains.

In Tihanang, they held a "vote" much like the one which had been held in Xonacatlán. The vote, as expected, favored separation from Huenya and joining Xiomera as a new province.

Three days later, the Imperial Parliament in Tlālacuetztla voted unanimously to accept Tihanang as the latest Xiomeran province. That night, five thousand elite Xiomeran paratroopers landed in Tihanang to assert this new claim. Calhualyana knew she had to act that quickly. When the news that Haesan, aided by Sanctaria, would be boosting Huenyan air defenses was announced, the Empress knew that she had a narrow window to launch uncontested air operations. And she took that window.

It was "Western Xiomera" round two. And as Calhualyana replayed Leah Stendē's speech in her palatial office, she chuckled to herself. If Chuaztlapoc somehow manages to survive and I don't decapitate Huenya as planned, I may not regain my entire empire as you say, Stendē. But I will surely regain a piece of it. One piece at a time is better than nothing at all. One piece at a time, or all at once....it shall all be the same in the end.

And the Empress laughed once more at her thoughts, eagerly scanning the map of Huenya.

[Aramantha]

The Filament Steel was named approximately 34 years ago, in a meeting with higher-up members of the BID. The idea for the Filament Steel had long since been in the works and the first mission was well into its planning stage. And only now had they realized they still hadn’t come up with a name.

The problem was that most terrorist organizations have a reason behind their name. Part of their founding, their message, their religion, their hatred. The BID was, for all intents and purposes, devoid of any of that. Sure its generic message of “freedom of information at any and all junctures” was a pivotal part of what helped the facade, but there was no character behind it, and the BID had waffled on the topic for months. Should they gather a stronger personality? Should they invoke a religious or political group?

But here they were, with time slowly waning and pressures beginning to mount. And instead, they wrote a name intended to inspire fear. Thematically aligned with their focus on hacking, information, and fear.

•••

Mindy smiled as the single Golden Blade agent approached.

“Do we know them, Hal?”

A tall, gaunt man typed furiously at a computer, looking for a match within their vast facial recognition database.

“It appears we do. Cihuaxoche, she’s a fellow agent for the Xiomeran offensive.”

“Oh good. I was hoping they wouldn’t send a lackey.”

She clicked a button on the panel beside her and watched as the gates swung open to let the agent inside.

“Let’s make a lovely first impression, lassies.” came another voice, this one from Kila, their head propagandist and diplomat

The men and women and everything in between each stood or sat at attention, watching, listening to the agent’s footsteps as she climbed the stairs. Finally, she entered, and Mindy broke into another grin.

“Hello dear.“ she said, standing up and shaking the woman’s hand, “Crazy day out there, isn’t it? How about we make it crazier?”

[Slokais]

It didn't Tlacelel long to figure out what was going on. The FG Vipers tried to pretend like Nishokia had died on the way out, it didn't take long of asking to dig out the truth. Nishokia had been given up to allow the rest of the group to leave. For the greater good? Indeed it was, but the FG Vipers were honorless thugs who turned over one of their own.

Tlacelel returned to Lao Sansong after he graduated from HNSG, he managed to place highly on the Sansongian National Exam and was accepted into Kanjshima Imperial University. At KIU, Tlacelel had joined a guild while on campus, had lots of parties, and rode around in samurai armor with security even though most had never picked up a sword in their life. After college, Tlacelel took his marketing degree and began to work in sales for arms companies. Those years didn't feel real, surrounded by wealth, lies, and manipulation. The goal was also to influence conflicts and sell to both parties. In 2020, he went back to Huyena, but he never left. In 2021, Tlacelel bought a small abandoned Xiomeran airfield before the Huneyans could. From there he built Protech, this time providing security services and creating his own weapons. Taking the call of an old friend, was a call back to a different life. Yes, he had money, but everything Tlacelel had been doing these days felt wrong.

A day after the planes returned from the Huenyan capital, Tlacelel was handling calls. In light of the recent conflict, his clients were asking for more and more products. He had to constantly remind them his supply was limited. While walking along through the converted hangar that had become an office, Tlacelel walked right into Ambassador Masashi.
"How are your people doing" Tlacelel
"Good, I have talked with Kanjshima and the government is planning something"
"Against the Golden Blade?"
"No, them and Xiomera"
"Why, don't Sansongian companies have deals with Xiomera?"
"The Huenyans are calling for support, and the international community has yet to truly act. This is the perfect moment for Sansongians to prove themselves"
"Happy to help" Tlacelel responded as he signed a shipment order.
"I actually have a meeting with the House of Wisdom soon, let's walk"
Tlacelel opened the door to the airfield, stepping down onto the tarmac.
220
Tlacelel was extremely humble to the House of Wisdom. Education had taught him, that anyone elected to the House of Wisdom was indeed wise, although sometimes he doubted this. Either way, Tlacelel mostly stood and listened. The plan sounded like it had been in development for several months. It was obvious being denied from LIDUN, made the House of Wisdom think about their international reputation. That plan wasn't immediate although, Tlacelel had been warned not to reveal it to anyone even Huenyan's as far of Xiomeran sympathizers had been confounded by the success of the Golden Blade. However, what would be revealed is the status of Nishokia, and a speech would soon be made to Parilmeant in Lao Sansong calling for his freedom. The hope was that being revealing this, Lao Sansong's upcoming action would seem justified to the international community. Tlacelel felt a little turned off by the deceptiveness, that his friend was only being recognized so that his government could save face. Yet this was the way of Lao Sansong.

Nishokia awoke in a dark and damp prison cell. Daylight coming from a narrow slit in the wall, dust shining in it. On the other side a door with a narrow food slot and a thick window looking out on a hallway. He could see the cells around him, were filled with people of all different nationalities. Those captured in Chuaztlapoc had obviously been brought in together. Before falling asleep that night, Nishokia made a prayer that someday he would leave this prison.

[Aredoa]

“Viva los luchadores,"
“que luchan por la libertad,”
“cantamos las palabras de Vallez,”
“con la indomable voluntad!” [1]

The number of Aredoans remaining in the embattled Huenya was sparse. All but essential embassy staff had for weeks been urged to return home immediately to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the brutal conflict between Huenya and the Golden Blade.

The severity of the situation on the ground, however, didn’t seem to rattle the dozens of Aredoans who were chanting revolutionary-era songs as they travelled across the Huenyan countryside. In fact, it was the reason they were there.

After weeks of liaising with Huenya’s embassy in Vahania without the knowledge of the Aredoan government, 213 Aredoan veterans were finally on the ground in Huenya, bringing with them their years of military experience. Some had served in combat roles, others as medics. Some had Huenyan heritage, others did not. The only common factor was the reason they had volunteered to fight for Huenya: their indomitable belief in freedom and self-determination, not just for Aredoans, but for the world.

Having been handed rifles and backpacks of equipment by a small contingent of Huenyan forces upon arrival, the men and women were then loaded into the back of eight military transport trucks. They were in high spirits as they made the journey towards Chuaztlapoc from the northern port where first they docked in the country. They would first stop in Aloyaxcan, a mid-sized town north of the capital, where they were promised a hearty meal and a good night’s sleep before joining up with Huenyan and international forces in Chuaztlapoc the following day.

The convoy of trucks was now just miles out from Aloyaxcan where they would post up for the night. It seemed like nothing could bring down the high spirits of the fighters as they laughed, sang, and engaged in general camaraderie.

That was until the convoy passed what at first sight appeared to be a normal, unassuming hill. A loud bang was heard out of nowhere. Seconds later, the truck at the head of the convoy ignited with a ferocious, fiery bang.

The later trucks in the pack quickly slammed on their brakes. The volunteers inside hurriedly took up their rifles as they exited their transports, their ears ringing loudly as they attempted to process what had just happened.

It was an ambush. From the hillside, Golden Blade fighters who had obviously got hold of the convoy’s planned route sprung up from their waiting places and opened fire. 

Chaos ensued. The Aredoan volunteers and the Huenyan soldiers accompanying them scrambled to take cover. Not all would make it, with some being picked off by their hilltop enemies.

Despite vastly outnumbering their Golden Blade opponents, the fighters would quickly come to realise the desperation of their situation. With their enemies in a superior natural position, they would struggle to counter.  They were sitting ducks.

Desperate officers quickly made contact with the Huenyan barracks in Aloyaxcan. The forces stationed there were significantly reduced, with most manpower and resources being poured into the defence of Chuaztlapoc. Nevertheless, those who remained in Aloyaxcan would quickly scramble to come to the aid of the besieged Aredoans.

Holding out until relief could arrive was living hell. Each minute that went by felt like hours. The exchange of gunfire was constant. The barking of orders and screams of injured volunteers only added to the harrowing atmosphere.

Some twenty minutes had passed by the time Huenyan reinforcements arrived. They were much better equipped, swiftly setting up mortars and shelling the Golden Blade positions. It would not be long until gunfire slowed, and then came to a complete stop.

It was replaced by a silence just as chilling, with the scenario replaying in the heads of all the fighters as they recovered, tended to the injured, and collected the dead. The horrors of the Huenyan war had been permanently implanted into the brains of the Aredoan volunteers, just hours after their arrival.

Of the 213 of the volunteers, 32 would not even live to see their first Huenyan sunrise. But as the ancient Aredoan proverb goes, morar ah liberaro as sorar d'Oah otrona. To die for freedom is to live forever. [2] The thirty-two men and women who perished had made the ultimate sacrifice to keep the eternal flame of freedom burning, a sacrifice that would not be forgotten.

---

[1] The chorus of The Words of Vallez, an Aredoan ballad that became popular during the Great War. It is used to rally people to fight for freedom, inspired by the speeches of the Aredoan revolutionary Xiomara Vallez.

[2] In Aredoan, there are two translations for the verb "to live". When talking about the act of being alive rather than where one resides, the phrase is "sarar d'Oah", literally meaning "to see the sun".

[Greater Acadia]

Federation City, Greater Acadia
To say that Christine Belle was livid would be an understatement. It had all started when the Golden Blade had brazenly attacked the capitol of Huenya, and assaulted the Green Zone. Despite the best efforts of the secuitry team, an attack on the Acadian Embassy was successful, and most of the staff had been kidnapped. Now, their faces were all over the internet, posted up on ransom videos. One of which Christine had been watching on her office computer. One John Ritagowski, looking somewhat worse for wear, sat on his knees, arms bound as a masked Golden Blade terrorist read out their list of demands.

Cancel all aide to Huenya, military, economic, and humanitarian. Remove all diplomatic relations, including all consulates or embassies. Recognize all Golden Blade, and by extension Xiomeran, claims to the country.

Christine clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her office phone and quickly dialed an extension.

"Get me a line to Xiadani yesterday." She practically growled the minute the phone was answered.

As far as she was concerned, the kids' gloves were coming off. All she needed was for Huenya to play ball.

---------------------------------------

Geminus, Eiria
Michel Francois walked calmly through the halls of the Chancellor's manor with his aide, Maria Stevenson, at his side. He'd visited a few times before to speak with Chancellor Stendē, though this time he wished it had been under better circumstances. Fellow Ambassadors, this time to Huenya, had been kidnapped. Word had it that Interim PM Belle was apoplectic behind closed doors at the situation. Now he was being summoned to speak with the Eirian Chancellor. About what he, frankly, had no idea. Part of him hoped for offers of support in locating their missing people. Though if he had to explain why Acadian security had failed, frankly he didn't have all the answers.

He approached the door leading to Stendē's office, where two guard stopped him and his aide and checked their security clearance. It was routine, and the guard made a show of really inspecting the documents presented before handing it back.

"The Chancellor is waiting for you, Mr. Francois." He said.

Michel nodded to him before the doors were opened and he was lead inside.

He cleared his throat. "Good morning, Madam Chancellor. You asked to see me?"

[Xiomera]

Chuaztlapoc
October 2nd

At the Golden Blade's operations center in Chuaztlapoc, Masina was being kept waiting, and he was not happy.

Along with his colleague Cihuaxoche, Masina was the other Imperial Intelligence operative assigned to provide "assistance" to the Golden Blade in their assault on Chuaztlapoc. He was, in actuality, an Imperial minder to keep the Blade on as tight a leash as possible.

Masina had failed in that task, and had heard about it in no uncertain terms from the Empress herself. Calhualyana was not happy. So Masina was made unhappy. And in return, he was about to make some terrorists very unhappy.

The doors at the back of the room finally opened, and three men walked through them. "Yes, Masina, what is it?" the man in the lead demanded.

"Altecal. Who told you to attack embassies and foreign properties like schools?"

Altecal shrugged as he removed the golden bandana from his forehead to wipe some sweat from his brow. "We don't need to be told who our enemies are. Or who to attack." Masina shook his head. "Actually, you do, as evidenced by your blatant stupidity. Your actions are almost guaranteed to invite foreign intervention now. Which is exactly what we told you to avoid. You were ordered to leave the foreigners alone."

Altecal glared at the intelligence agent, his face twisting in anger. "Maybe we're getting a little tired of taking orders from you. Your kind are the ones who lost the civil war for us in the first place. Here's my advice, Masina. Take your soft self back to Tlalacuetztla and hide while we do the real work of retaking this land for the Empire." Altecal placed his hand on the butt of his revolver, to emphasize his point. Masina saw this, and sighed slightly. Altecal smirked at his apparent victory, turning to walk out of the room.

The second his back was turned, Masina whipped out his own pistol and shot the terrorist leader in the back of the head. Altecal dropped like a sack of potatoes. The other terrorists in the room pointed their weapons at Masina. "Do it. I dare you," the Xiomeran snapped.

The fate of their leader fresh in their minds, the terrorists slowly lowered their guns. "Good. Cacuautoa, you're in charge now," Masina said as he pointed to another man in the room. "From now on, remember who you lot really take your orders from though. And no more attacks on foreigners. Or else. That's coming from the Empress herself."

Masina turned to walk out of the room himself, deliberately mimicking the actions of Altecal in another pointed dare to the Blade fighters. No one pulled out a weapon. As Masina walked outside, he sighed again. He really hoped that his use of Altecal as an object lesson to the other terrorists would stick. Because if there were any more attacks on foreigners, he would answer for it to the one person in Xiomera no one wanted to answer to.

---

In another part of Chuaztlapoc,  Cihuaxoche smiled at Mindy and the other Filament Steel agents. "Chuzatlapoc could do with a little more chaos. I'm Cihuaxoche, Imperial Intelligence, but I am sure you already know that. So who might you be, and what did you have in mind?"

---

In yet another part of Chuaztlapoc, the leaders of Huenya were meeting to decide their next steps. "We've begun receiving the shipments from Haesan and Sanctaria, and they're already being put into use. We should soon be able to regain air superiority over the capital thanks to them. Soon, we can add air support to our operations against the Blade," Defense Secretary Tlanexchel said.

"How soon?" Xiadani asked.

"Within the next few days, ideally. Our pilots need to be brought up to speed on the new technology, but they're quick learners and know their way around a plane."

"Good. The next step will be to boost our forces on the ground. I want us to open up our armories to civilian volunteers. We need to put rifles in the hands of every man and woman old enough to point one at an enemy and shoot them. If Calhualyana is going to send 'volunteers' after us, we're going to return the favor," Xiadani said firmly.

Texōccoatl grimaced. "Arming untrained civilians and throwing them onto the streets is going to lead to massive casualties. We can't risk that."

"We can, and we will. And I'll tell you why." Xiadani stood up and walked over to a digital screen showing the current status of the battles around the capital, and Huenya as a whole. "Everyone keeps calling this an insurgency. It's not that at all. We've stumbled into a new civil war, ladies and gentlemen. It's the extremists or us. And if this is a civil war, I intend to win it. By any means necessary." Xiadani jabbed a finger at the map, pointing at Chuaztlapoc. "If Chuaztlapoc falls, Huenya falls. This nation will not survive the loss of confidence that would come with the loss of our capital. It just won't. Every Huenyan has to come to the defense of this city now. All of us. I'll pick up a rifle myself if I have to. But the time for half measures passed long ago. This is Calhualyana's big gamble, throwing the entire Golden Blade against us nationwide in one go. To match her, we have to throw everything we have right back at her. We all have to be prepared to sacrifice now. Whatever it takes."

General Huatli sighed. "She's right, we've got to give this everything we've got. Nothing else will save us now."

Texōccoatl shook his head. "I know. I am just dreading the losses we will take."

"No more so than I am," Xiadani said grimly. She thought about the next task she had after this meeting: signing condolence letters to families. Huenyans, Eirians, Acadians, Lauchenoirians, Aredoans and more. Xiadani insisted on signing every single one by hand, even when her advisors told her using an autopen would make the process easier. She wanted to remember the names, even if she had never gotten to meet the people behind those names.

Later that day, around the parts of the capital that the government controlled, Huenyan Army officers would begin opening up their armories and screening people who wanted to volunteer for the fight. The screening was thorough, to limit the impact of Golden Blade infiltrators causing havoc behind the lines. The numbers of vetted volunteers added up, slowly but surely. It was the beginning of the Huenyan Volunteer Self-Defense Force. Xiadani had gotten the idea from Milintica's Popular Freedom Militias, and created a Huenyan version without the ideology. Instead of the virtues of socialism, the Huenyan Volunteers would have only one ideology: defending their homeland against anyone and everyone trying to tear it apart.

---

As the meeting in Chuaztlapoc broke up, Xiadani was informed that Christine Belle was calling. She put the growing stack of condolence letters aside for later and picked up the phone. "Good morning, madam Prime Minister. This is Vice-Speaker Xiadani. How can I help you?"

---

Chamber of Whispers, Palace of Flowers
Tlālacuetztla
Later that day

"I have been informed that our agents in Chuaztlapoc have taken appropriate measures to ensure that there are no more Golden Blade attacks on foreigners in the country," Director of Imperial Intelligence Telchiuhtli said. "The rogue leader Altecal has been...retired and new leadership put in place."

"Good. I want the Blade kept under tighter control from now on." Calhualyana sipped her coffee, making a noise of appreciation at its quality. "But, I assume, we can now expect to see said foreigners interfering with our efforts in Huenya."

"That is my assessment," Telchiuhtli said soberly. "The Acadians and Lauchenoirians, in particular, are likely to be highly angered by the attacks on their embassies. This incident may finally motivate some kind of foreign response. Possibly even direct intervention."

"It already has," Prime Minister Toquihu snapped. "Haesan is sending arms to the Huenyans, and now Sanctaria is talking about doing the same and is helping Haesan do so. That could be a disaster."

"A signal needs to be sent. We should slap sanctions on both Haesan and Sanctaria for their presumptuous interference in our affairs." Cuicanan, the Minister of Justice, shook his head. "We can't let them get away with it."

"Oh, that's brilliant. Let's sanction two of the most important trading nations in the entire world, that won't end badly for us at all. That kind of advice is why you should stay in your lane and administer 'justice'," Toquauhtli snorted. The Minister of State slapped the table with his hand. "We should not respond at all."

"I would second that," Director Telchiuhtli replied. "If we respond at all, it will only prove that we are connected to the Golden Blade."

"I think you let that cat out of the bag ages ago, Telchiuhtli. Does anyone really believe we aren't connected to them anymore? Anywhere?" Cuicanan laughed. Telchiuhtli's face turned slightly red at the remark, and he muttered something about agreeing that someone should stay in their own lane.

Quihichua, the Minister of Loyalty, spoke up next. "Might I make a suggestion that doesn't make us appear impotent and weak by not responding, but that also doesn't connect us explicitly to the Blade? Just expel one diplomat each from Haesan and Sanctaria. Say that while we don't condone violence, we are doing so out of solidarity with the brave ethnic Xiomerans who are fighting to free themselves from the racist repression of the Huenyan state. That checks off enough boxes, I would think."

"That is a bad idea," the Minister of State replied. Calhualyana thought for a moment, taking another sip of coffee. "I disagree. Do as Quihichua has suggested, Toquauhtli. One from each. For the exact reasons she cited. It's not even a lie. The Haesanites and Sanctarians are helping Huenya fight against our kin, who it is solely our responsibility to protect."

Toquauhtli sighed slightly, but nodded. He knew better than to argue too much with Calhualyana. 

"There is another matter, Empress," Telchiuhtli said. "We have received reports that the Huenyans are creating some kind of local self-defense force in Chuaztlapoc. Arming citizens to fight against our proxies. While they will be little more than unskilled peasants with guns, their numbers could pose a threat to our operation if allowed to grow."

Calhualyana nodded. "Instruct our Blade friends to take a special interest in these so-called volunteers and wherever they may be mustering. I want the Huenyans so scared of us that they don't even dream of picking up a weapon or raising a hand against us. Terror will be our friend now." Calhualyana finished the last of her coffee.

[Haesan]

Jules Kwon, the President's bookish Chief of Staff, just finished briefing Kim I-seul on the Xiomeran response to the arms sales.  He calmly inquired, "Do you think this merits a serious response?  This could just be more posturing from the Xiomerans."

President Kim replied, "Jules, you know as well as I do that our response needs to be proportional, at the very least.  We're not going to look like pushovers here.  Where is Xiomera's diplomatic presence again?"

"Ah I see, let me look," Jules said absentmindedly as he shuffled through his papers.  "Other than the embassy in Hwagang, there are consulates in Suyang and Anfa of course, and then also one in Anmi, apparently?  It must be to coordinate between the SEZs, there's no other reason why that would be a target city."

"That's an appealing option to target, how many are staffing it currently?  How big of a splash would it make?"

"My notes say no more than a few dozen embassy staff are housed in the consulate itself, it's a small location and mainly handles business registration and other affairs.  However, some intelligence does seem to indicate that they're using the consulate as a hub for managing surveillance and shadow policing of migrants, like they discovered in Acadia earlier this year.  We can't be certain though, but it would explain the relatively low rate of citizenship applications for Xiomeran workers in SEZs if some system like that were in place."

"I'm tired of always feeling two steps behind Calhualyana, let's do something proactive for once.  Removing some Xiomeran control in SEZs might prove very useful if things escalate further.  For now, let's deflect.  Have [Minister of Foreign Affairs] Cho [Ji-hwan] close the consulate in Anmi, and make it a public statement centering around a strong government concern about illicit surveillance while ensuring absolutely nothing is said about Huenya.  If the intel turns up false, the worst that happens is that the Xiomerans are mad, which is kind of the point of retaliating anyways.  If it's true, we've done something really good here.  Regardless, this surveillance narrative provides us nice cover."

"Well, what about the economics?  Isn't this risky?"

"Don't worry Jules, I'm preparing for this outcome.  I'm convinced there's a silver lining in this mess.  Backpedaling will only make us drown in the coming wave, we have to swim forward."

Jules let out a deep sigh. "If you say so."

"Oh, if you're on your way out, could you get a line to the Bank of Haesan?  Also, let Sabrina know to come right away after her meeting."

"Will do."

"One last thing, that diplomat they expelled, what was her name again?"

"Kim Eun-sol, I believe it was."

"Ah yes.  If you could make sure she gets a promotion and a cushy gig somewhere, that would be much appreciated.  She made a lot of plans possible today through her sacrifice."

"Duly noted."

The door to the Chamber of the Moon (the Presidential Office) delicately shut.  It was going to be a long night in Hwagang, presumably one of many to come.

[Xiomera]

Tecpancalli Tonaltzintli, Chuaztlapoc
8:45 am, October 14th

"This is a very serious decision," Texōccoatl said. "I agree, but it's the only decision we can make," Xiadani replied.

The decision in question was Huenya's just-announced decision to rescind its no-first-strike policy with nuclear weapons. Huenya was slowly turning the tide against the Golden Blade insurgency. But to Xiadani, the insurgency was just a symptom of a greater disease - Xiomera's refusal to let its former empire go. As long as Xiomera felt that it could attack Huenya without serious repercussions, they would continue to do so. It was as simple as that. Huenya had been waiting for the rest of the world to make that point to Xiomera. The international community had completely failed to do so, letting Xiomera get away with attacking Huenya and stealing its land time and time again.

Now, Huenya would send its own very clear warning to Calhualyana. Content yourself with what you had gained, and back off. Or else.

"I think we can both agree that we're not insane and that lobbing nukes at Xiomera would only invite similar retaliation. But we have to make Calhualyana and her proxies believe that we are insane enough, or desperate enough, to go that route if we're pushed too far." Xiadani smiled grimly at Texōccoatl. "Do I make a convincing enough madwoman?"

Texōccoatl whistled softly. "I wouldn't want to piss you off if I were Calhualyana." Xiadani's smile grew wider.

---

Palace of Flowers, Tlālacuetztla
Noon, October 14th

"It's a bluff!" Chuanacoyo sniffed derisively. The Minister of Defense stubbed out a cigarette and waved his hand. "Xiadani knows fully well that we would level Huenya so badly that the place would be glass for a thousand years if they lobbed a nuke at us. She's desperate, and she's trying to scare us off. We should ignore the Huenyans' posturing and keep going."

"The Huenyans do have enough nukes to turn us into glass as well," Minister of State Toquauhtli said as he poured himself another glass of mezcal. Chuanacoyo shook his head vehemently. "Not with our ABM defenses. Huenya can't touch us."

"Do you want to bet Tlālacuetztla on that?" Toquauhtli sneered. "Or any of our other major cities? If just one gets through, we're facing disaster. And that crazy Necatli fool Xiadani has forty of them to throw at us."

"Not to mention, provoked or not, the rest of the world will not take kindly to us 'turning Huenya into glass', as you put it." Cuālincōcatle, the Minister of Trade, took a big drink from his own glass. "We simply cannot risk calling Xiadani's bluff, because she may well be crazy or desperate enough to do it. And then what? Don't forget that the Sanctarians have a base in Huenya. The Sanctarians have been content to ignore us up to now, but if we start throwing nukes at a country they're based in, somehow I doubt they'd remain as passive."

"Nor would literally every other country in the world," Toquauhtli snapped. "It's not like they don't know we're responsible for all of this, after all. If things escalate so far that they go nuclear, the world will blame us, and will respond."

"Hah! They haven't responded yet," Cuicanan, the Minister of Justice, laughed.

A slight cough echoed from the center of the room. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Calhualyana. The Empress had been listening to everyone debate whether or not the Huenyan threat was genuine, and had made up her mind.

"We have to take the threat seriously, even if it's a bluff. Xiadani is Necatli, and the Necatli have always been halfway to crazy when it comes to fighting. They also love to be martyrs." Calhualyana sipped her coffee slowly, thinking. "We will make it appear as if we are backing down. We will move our forces back from the border a short distance. We will also order the Blade to slow down or stop most of their attacks, and consolidate their forces. But consolidate them as close to Chuaztlapoc as possible. The Huenyans think they have won the fight for their capital....let's see how that works out for them. When the time is right, everything left that is available, throw it at Chuaztlapoc. Make the damned city fall this time. And when it does, once there's no longer a Huenyan government to issue orders, we send in teams to neutralize the nuke sites in case some rogue leader decides to go through with an attempt to hit us. It's not like we don't know where the missiles are, they're all fixed site missiles." The Empress smiled slightly. "Once her capital has fallen and her trump card is taken from her, let's see what Xiadani has to say then."

[Xiomera]

(OOC note: moving forward, as I await certain outcomes of other related events, the posts in this thread will be backdated to match the actual pace of events.)

October 31st

With the winding down of Xiomera's presence in Auria, the mercenary corporation CSSC found itself in a bit of a dilemma. The Aurian mission had been highly profitable for the Xiomeran PMSC. But with the end of the mission, and new contracts relatively sparse due to certain nations' irritation with Xiomera, something new was needed to keep the company's bottom line profitable. Also, mercenaries without work tend to become irritable and bored. They then tend to turn that irritation and boredom on each other, and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity. Thousands of CSSC mercenaries were now back in Xiomera, and needed something to do.

CSSC needed a new contract to keep its coffers filled and to keep its soldiers happy. The Imperial government was more than happy to help with that, as part of Operation Tiquinpopolozque. The numbers of Xiomeran "volunteers" helping the Golden Blade with their attacks were starting to dwindle, as average Xiomerans began to realize that possibly getting blown up or shot was not anywhere as romantic as the war propaganda the Ministry of Information produced made it seem. And as the conflict in Huenya ground on, the numbers of domestic "freedom fighters" was likewise dwindling.

But thanks to the CSSC mercenaries that were now back home, there was a ready pool of additional people for Calhualyana to throw into Huenya to destabilize the country.

So on the day that many around the world celebrated Halloween, the Empress had no treat for Huenya, but yet another of her tricks.

Thousands of "former" mercenaries would stream into Huenya, aiming for Chuaztlapoc. They were, allegedly, demobilized "volunteers" of the same sort that had already been entering Huenya from Xiomera. However, those civilian "volunteers" hadn't had years of military training, recent combat experience, and enough hardware to equip a smallish country's army behind them. The CSSC mercenaries posing as "volunteers" did.

The Huenyan defense forces had been making progress against the insurgency, but facing CSSC would prove to be an entirely different challenge. Eventually, critical defensive lines would buckle, leaving the CSSC "volunteers" a clear path to the Huenyan capital. Thousands of Golden Blade fighters had been regrouping and re-arming near the capital as well, preparing to make a second and final push to seize Chuaztlapoc and end the Huenyan government once and for all.