Author's Notes
Hi again!^_^
This new chapter requested a bit of time to be finished, but at least it's finally ready.
Major Dante is not a creation of mine, but he becomes from my beta and great friend Apollonir, and from his fantastic Gate's story "A WORLD OF SHAME AND GLORY"
See you soon with the next one!^^
Cj Spencer
PS. The chapter's title comes from theatrical vocabulary, since the Proscenium is the metaphorical vertical plane of space which serves as the frame into which the audience observes the events, the place where the play take place. Even the next chapter will have a similar title.
9
Italy was a nation used to face dramatic earthquakes, but the truth was that in a nation where, even excluding the ancient buildings, more than half of the structures were completely deprived of seismic criteria every quake could turn into a potential disaster.
And the earthquake which had hit the Central Italy in the first days of November had proven to be really dramatic, with three entire towns wiped out almost completely, as much as many other villages all around.
Plus this, the region affected by the earthquake was a really distant and impervious one, in the heart of the Italian Apennines, so the rescue work had been really difficult since the beginning, and three days after the first quake there were still dozens of people buried alive under the ruins.
However, there was something new compared to the countless other earthquakes happened in Italy in recent years, and the subsequent search for survivors.
Immediately after the first rescues reached the place, even a special military unit did the same, taking place however not in the heart of the damaged zone but in a small valley on the other side of the mountain, toward Perugia. Orders were that every time a survivor badly injured was taken out of the debris it needed to be taken to one of the three special heliports, where military helicopters were ready to depart for the "special hospital".
During the third night of searches, in the almost completely destroyed town of Civitella del Lago, a group of rescuers of the Civil Protection found an aged man under an old house not far from the main church, badly injured and apparently dead.
A paramedic quickly reached them to feel his vital pulses.
«He's still alive!» he shouted after a brief visit, then he called for more help. «Red code! To the military heliport, quickly!»
Then a small group of soldiers reached the town's borders as fast as possible, finding the military Bell-202 with the engine already kindled, and when they finally put him on board the vehicle departed immediately, crossing the mountains and reaching the military camp after a brief journey into the night.
At a first glance it was an incredibly common provisory camp settled to provide first aid to the people hit by the quake, but the truth was that much more was hiding in those tents on the other side of the barbed wire, the guards and the alarms.
When the helicopter landed in the camp's provisory heliport, the soldiers unloaded the wounded man, finding Officer De Simoni, the camp's second in command after High Chief Giordani, to wait them.
«What do we have?»
«Male, third age, from Civitella. Internal bleeding, various traumas and lack of pulse.»
«To the tent N.4, to the queen! Hurry!»
The truth, in fact, was completely different. Many people, including the journalists, thought that it was just a special military hospital created to give support to a really bad situation, but in truth on its inside there weren't common doctors.
Maybe the Special Region's healing magic was not so scientific and rational like the Earthly medicine, not to mention that magic itself was still far from being understood by the Earthlings, but its miraculous effect were all but undeniable.
The Avion and the White Elves in particular were blessed with extraordinary healing abilities, but since there were no Elves in the FASI the burden to try to save all the poor guys was entirely over queen Isengardia and her maidens.
The queen had an incredible gift for such things, and her magic arts were so powerful that in those three days she had been able to literally drag countless people out from the depths of death, but all this was undoubtedly really tiresome for her, and after almost seventy-two hours of restless work she was at her limit.
«My queen, you need to rest a bit.» said one of the maidens when Isengardia, after yet another surgery, was forced to sit to avoid collapsing. «We can care of this by ourselves.»
«Have you looked around, Meeysia?» the queen replied. «These people are dying. We cannot let it happen without try to save them. No one ever rested since when that tremor happened, so why should I do it?»
In that moment De Simoni and two other paramedics entered in the tent with a new victim, an aged man in a very bad condition.
«Your grace, we need you!»
Yes, I'm here.
Almost staggering Isengardia reached the operating table, waiting for the human staff to connect the victim to the machines; then, after a brief moment of meditation, she put both of her hands over the man's chest, and when she closed the eyes, a pale, warm light surrounded both her and the victim.
Initially it seemed that even for that poor old man the life was returning to shine over his pale skin, but two minutes later the vital signals were still weak, and there were no signs of progress. The queen tried with all of her force, but ultimately the signals stopped completely, and even after a desperate attempt to reanimate him with common instruments the aged man died, leaving Isengardia exhausted and tearful.
«I'm sorry…» she mourned before fainting. «… I… tried… my best. I'm sorry…»
De Simoni helped the queen's maiden to lay her over a cot to let her rest, then, after having helped his men to take the body out from the tent, he reached the camp's main barrack, finding Giordani in live conference with the Prime Minister.
«The results are more than satisfactory, Sir. This earthquake has made even more damages than the Amatrice's one last August, but at the same time, even thanks to the FASI, we're counting less than half of the victims.»
«I understand.» Rigamonti replied from Rome «Good work, Giordani. Your squad is proving its potential every passing day.»
«Thank you, Sir. Initially I too was quite skeptic about the results we could have been able to reach, but now I must say it: magic is undoubtedly extraordinary. Thanks to the queen and her knowledge, we've been able to save people that would be dead for sure without their efforts, even using our most advanced medical resources.»
«I couldn't agree more, Giordani. This new source of power could become the engine to lead our nation to the most unthinkable goals in the international context.»
«It's sad that we're not able to use it. Unfortunately, we still need for the Special Region's autochthones to provide such power in this world.»
«A problem that we're already working to, my friend. For now, I trust in you and your squad to take care of such problems. The president has given the complete green light. From now on, the FASI will not need for his approval to be deployed, and it will be free to perform any such of mission simply with my personal authorization.»
«That's a good thing, Sir.»
«For now we'll take care of the internal problems mainly. However, the situation is becoming quite complicated in every corner of the world, so I suppose that we could request for the FASI's efforts even outside Italy soon enough. I trust you to prepare the squad for such missions in the shortest time possible.»
«It will be done, Sir. We're already working on it. We temporarily interrupted our training programs to provide help here in Umbria.»
«I must admit it. I didn't want to deploy the FASI initially, cause of the problems we faced last month with Japan.»
«Obviously Sir. Fortunately, if I can, I heard that the problem has been solved.»
«Not entirely, but for the moment I suppose we should be safe. I always thought that Talleri was a crazy bastard, but this time his effort has been quite useful. The documents we sent to the US will be more than enough to keep Motoi and his dogs in their place for a while. In the meantime, let's try to implement our camouflage abilities.»
«Right, sir.»
«Good night, Giordani.»
Rigamonti closed the communication, then Giordani turned to De Simoni.
«Report?»
«Today, we count thirty-six wounded successfully recovered, nine partially recovered and four deaths.»
«Missing ones?»
«Twenty-one victims are still under the debris. But at this point I doubt we could find someone still alive.
«I understand. This means there's no need for us here anymore. We'll wait till Bogorth will conclude his work in repairing the main routes to the collapsed towns, then we'll make return to Rome. Tell queen Isengardia and her maidens that they can depart for Istrana this night if they want. Dispose of the hypnotic amnesia for the wounded, and refresh the victims' list, then you can go to sleep.»
«Yes sir.»
General Pedersoli was in his office in the HQ's main building, but that one was destined to be a special morning.
Operation Columbus had achieved many important results since its beginning, but the economic treaties, the political alliances and other such things were just one of the many plans that Italy and its government had on schedule for the Special Region.
Now that Castria's region was completely under control, it was time to expand the Italian influence to west, on the other side of the Mountain Range of Ice and Snow. However, that one wasn't just about to be a mere political or military expansion to west, but something a bit more important and… practical.
«Sir, Major Dante is here.» said his attendant in the interphone
«Let him pass, thank you.» he replied, and after a brief moment Major Vincenzo Dante, the Falcon-9's leader, crossed the door of the office.
As a member of the Alpini Major Dante was trained to face the worst climate conditions, but after all they were still located not far from the tallest mountain range of the entire Special Region, in the heart of Northern Falmart, and the Major's long, heavy military coat completely soaked in rain and mud proved that such difficult conditions were a hard quest even for someone like him.
«Major Dante reporting for duty, Sir.»
«At ease, Major.» then he turned for a brief moment toward the window behind his desk, where the raindrops were following to tinkle like many tiny bells. «A really bad morning, don't you think?»
«So so, Sir.»
«And unfortunately this is just the beginning. Winter is coming, and hearing our local friends soon this entire region will be completely isolated from the rest of the world.»
«And I suppose this is the reason for why you called my squad back to the base, General.»
«Relax, Major. No one doubts about you or your squad. I'm more than sure that you could face any sort of difficulty stronger than this. In fact, I've not called you here in Castria to spare you a bad mission, but to assign you to an even worse one.»
«Sir?» replied Dante a bit surprised
At that point the General took a strange, azure stone out from one of his desk drawers, showing it to Dante.
«Do you know what this is, right?»
«I think it's called enthyum.»
«Precisely. And as you probably already know, this is the engine which supports all of this world.»
«Of course, Sir. As far as I know, this is the stone that's granted to this world's mages to make use of magic.»
«Exactly. This stone is used for alchemy, magical studies, even to create the magic staffs used by the sorcerers. We don't know how to use it or how it's able to provide this power to the Special Region's inhabitants, but its power is all but insignificant.»
«But what sort of use could we find for such material? We're not able to use magic, Sir.»
«Not for now. But the government, and not only the government, is really interested to explore the magic's possible uses in our world. And the study over this mineral could prove to be a first step in the right direction.»
Then Pedersoli got up from the chair, heading to the region's map hanging on the wall.
«The locals say that anciently the Empire used to extract enthyum for the biggest part from a vast number of mining caves located in all of the Mountain Range. Most of those mines are exhausted, but we received news that there should be other sites in the valley of the Terminus River. The orders for your squad are to reach the valley and search for the said sites following the rumors we've been able to collect.»
«As you command, Sir.»
Despite his respectful answer, Pedersoly easily noted the doubtful glance in the eyes of his Major.
«You can speak.»
«Me and my squad are Alpini, sir. We fought in the mountains of Lebanon and along the Hindu-Kush in Afghanistan. But those were mountains we knew, and that we were prepared to face.
These mountains… are unknown. We're not aware of what sort of problems we'll be called to face, not to mention that face such enormous mountain range with the upcoming winter could be really difficult, even for us.
If I can Sir, should not be better to wait for the next spring?»
«Relax, Major. You'll not stay on those goddam mountains for a long time. Thanks to the directions we received from the locals, we've been able to find a pass not far from here, the only one safe enough to be crossed by vehicles. Unfortunately, this pass is located in a bad position, and as the snowstorms begin it will be completely covered in a brief time. Obviously, if the search for the enthyum was the sole problem, there would be no need to run. But unfortunately, this is not the sole reason for which I'm sending you out there.»
«Should I suppose that it has something to do with our problems with the communications?»
«We tried all possible solutions to solve our problem with the interferences coming from Arlea, but none of them has been useful. So, we decided to resort to a drastic solution: we're creating a communication system which uses a vast number of antennas that will be placed all along the mountain range, from the far north till Arlea's borders. This should be enough to obtain radio coverage over the entire northern Falmart, from Castria to the Empire's eastern borders.
However, someone is repeatedly attacking some of our construction sites, and we've already been forced to postpone the works' end. There are almost twenty squads out there, and I don't want to leave them without coverage one minute longer.»
«Understood, Sir. In this case, me and my team are more than ready to provide our help.»
«Very well. Reports say that the attacks have been all performed by an heterogeneous group of demi-humans made by orcs, avions and cobolds. We suspect of a local band of marauders which used to live on this side of the mountain and has been forced to leave when we arrived. They should have a hideout somewhere in the valley, probably not far from the village of Neperia.
Your primal objective is to take care of this problem, then you'll be free to search and signal the potential mines for when we'll be able to excavate them after winter. When you'll have finished, you'll come back to Castria from south, crossing the Southern Pass and passing from the Arlea Forest.»
«The Southern Pass is located inside the Empire. We could be found out.»
«The garrisons close to the mountain range are always half-empty during winter, and in any case most of their army has been sent to the south, to face the Japanese. So, you should be safe. But in any case, your orders are to avoid as much as possible the most frequented routes and streets along your journey, since the valley too is heavily put under the Empire's influence. And if you'll be forced to reach a village or a city, you'll need to do it completely undercover: which means no uniforms, no modern instruments and no weapons that you cannot hide. Is everything clear?»
«Perfectly sir.»
«Very well. However, since as you said the places you'll be called to explore will be completely new for you, you'll not be completely alone in this journey.»
On that moment, someone knocked at the door.
«General sir, I'm here.» said a female voice
«Perfect timing. Come, my dear.»
When the door opened, Dante found himself face to face with a female Cobold, half human and half dog, with orange, short and shiny fur, pointed ears, human traits and yellow, fierce eyes. She was dressed as a hunter, and probably she was barely twenty years old.
«Major Dante, this is Zori. Your local guide.»
«Nice to meet you, Major Dante.» she said in a safe, strong-willed way. «I hope we'll work well together.»
«I have my own scouts in my team, Sir.»
«Not like her. She comes from the other side of the range, and she knows the places you're about to visit like the back of her hands. Trust me, she'll be a fine support for the Falcon-9.
Plus, this is an order. The mission begins tomorrow morning. Prepare yourselves.»
«Yes Sir!»
In the same moment when Dante and Zori were leaving the room, Florenzi entered, presenting a document to the General.
«General, the definitive list of the earthquake's victims.»
«Thank you, Mauro.»
Pedersoli looked it, but suddenly an astonished and upset expression appeared on his face.
«God, no…»
In order to avoid unwanted attention, King Deiphobos and his war council decided to move the meeting with Reich's ambassador in a less showy area of the palace, in the royal family's private library, and pretend that the newcomers were simply delegates from a trading company which wanted to discuss some problems with his majesty to solve a dispute over the taxes put on their goods.
When the ambassador and his servants entered in the room followed by a couple of big and apparently heavy coffers, they found Deiphobos and his council already sat around the marble table at the room's center, and contrarily to the common costumes none of them got up to salute the ambassador.
At the opposite, the king had his sword leaning against his chair, and when the ambassador approached he made sure that he could note its gently caress on the hilt.
«Welcome to Calibria, people of Reich.» he said in an almost threatening tone
«We thank you greatly for having accepted our request, Your Majesty. Reich is happy to have the blessed opportunity to meet the mighty lord which has been able to stop the Empire and extend his dominion to all the vast Plains.»
«Stop the pleasantries, Reichian!» replied an impatient Aristhes. «Name your terms and go away.»
«And this is?» asked the ambassador clearly annoyed
«This is my best general» replied the king. «And he's the man that will keep you firm while I behead you if you'll give me a reason to do it, so for your own sake pay big attention to your own words if you care for your life.»
The ambassador hesitated for a brief moment, trembling like a scared children much to the Generals' fun, then he started to talk.
«In this case, I'll be as direct as possible. Contrarily to what you can think, I'm not here to speak about war. I'm here to speak of peace.»
«A strange word to hear by someone from Reich.» Dyomedes said. «I always thought that it was absent from your bastard language.»
«Captain Dyomedes is right.» Pharmenon said in a better and gentler way. «Since its foundation, Reich has known nothing but war.»
«Things are changing a bit in our empire. Our latest ruler the Magnificent Ygraine, may Fuhrer protect her, doesn't want to walk along the same path of her ancestors. She refuses to fight unnecessary wars, and her only purpose is to serve and protect her people. That's the reason for why I'm here. To ask for your help.»
The members of the war council astonished looked each other, almost in search of confirm by their fellows of what they had just heard.
«Peace!?» Phyleos repeated
«In your case, yes. The war is moving our actions, but it will be not a war against you, nor someone else in the Plains.
We have only one enemy. The Empire.»
«Do you want to start a war against the Empire!?» Kleymenos said.
«It's not just a war, great Captain. I cannot explain you our reasons, but trust me if I say you that everything we've done till now has not been with no reason. Now circumstances are forcing us to start a war against the Empire, but our empress doesn't want to provoke an useless war for the sake of one that we cannot avoid to fight.»
«Reich fights wars since its foundation.» Pharmeneon observed. «What price can have to fight one of two wars more?»
«As I said, our benevolent Empress wants to put an end to all this. Her purpose is to stop any aggressive war, and turn Reich into a peaceful nation. But in order to do it, we need to fight one last war. Just one, and all of this will end.»
«You're crazy.» Phyleos said «Do you really think we could believe you? You Reichians know nothing but war and massacres. And now should we think that a little girl has been enough to make at ease all of you!?»
«The loyalty to the Imperial Family is the column which sustains our empire. Our first Emperor came among us and turned us into a mighty nation when we were just savages, and our debt with him and his descendants will never be repaid. To support our Empress in everything and obey her every command is a duty to which no-one in Reich would never dream to disobey. Empress Ygraine commanded us to do this, and we'll obey to her till the death if necessary.
All we ask is that you grant a safe access across your territory for our army.»
«Safe access!?» shouted Dyomedes. «So that you can approach undisturbed our city, and then attack us when we'll be defenseless? Maybe do you think we're just a bunch of idiots?»
«We have no hostile intentions toward Calibria, Mighty General.» calmly replied the Ambassador. «And to prove it, we'll let you decide the route our troops will follow to reach the southern border of the Empire.
And obviously, we'll not walk over your earth without pay you the proper prize.»
The ambassador then nodded to his servants, which opened the two coffers, revealing to the council's eyes more gold, jewels and gems than many of them had never seen in their life, a proper and true treasure.
«This is just half of the prize we're ready to pay you in exchange for your aid. The other half will be payed when our troops will have safely crossed the Plains.»
«How many poor bastards have you killed to collect all this?» provocatively asked Aristhes
«All this things come from our Empress' personal treasure. A please from Her Highness to prove her benevolence and her strong will to reach a pacific agreement with you.»
Then the king, much for his councilors' disbelief, got up from his chair and reached the coffers, passing the hand among the jewels, the coins and all the other things while his eyes begun to shine like the gold in front of him.
«Please, Ambassador.» said Pharmeneon at that point. «We don't doubt about your words of course. But I'm sure you can understand us if we find them a bit… strange.»
«I understand wise man. But as I said, my loyalty goes to my Empress. Her judgment is always right, no matter what it can be. She's the connection between us and Fuhrer; he and the high priest are his heralds on this world, blessed with the duty to lead Reich to glory and prosperity. If she says that this is the right way to do it, then I'm ready to obey her even at the cost of my life.»
«We'll think about it!» suddenly said Deiphobos, pursuing all ones to turn toward him
«I'm happy to hear it, my king.» the ambassador replied, the first one to recover from the astonishment.
«I'll make you know my decision by tomorrow. Meanwhile, I must ask you to return to your camp, wherever it is. I don't want someone find out that we're talking with you Raichian scum.»
«Obviously, great Lord. As you wish.»
«But… my king…» Aristhes tried to say
«And feel yourself free to leave these things here.» Deiphobos said in an higher tone «They could… slow you along the road.»
«With pleasure, Your Highness.»
«Go, now. Your dwarven perfume is disgusting me.»
Then the Ambassador and his servants left the room, leaving the king alone with his council.
«My Lord, please tell me that you're not really disposed to accept their requests.» Aristhes said again.
«The General is right!» said Kleytos. «Reich's word counts like shit! You can perfume it, but its essence will never change! You can have faith on them like you could have for a dog with rabies! I don't want such scum on my land!»
«It's my land, Kleytos!» Deiphobos shouted. «I hope you'll not forget it!»
«S… sorry, my king…»
«Did you look in his eyes?» said Pharmeneon. «He's really devoted to his Empress. Maybe even Reich has finally found a ruler worth of her role. If there's a little hope to reach an agreement with one of the most powerful forces of this continent, don't you think that we should at least try to catch it?»
«And I should believe that a brat with a crown has been able to put all those savages to their place all of sudden?» replied Kleymenos. «With all respect, Wise Mage, but it's really difficult to believe it.»
«In almost one hundred years, Reich has known nothing but war. They turned their little nation into a powerful empire faster than any other human kingdom in history. But maybe their defeat against the Singing People has changed them, made them… wiser. I don't know if this Empress Ygraine's attempts are so kind and pure like his ambassador tried to make us believe, but I think that the sole fact that she's trying to put the word before the sword is enough to have faith on her.»
«With all respect, Dean.» said Aristhes. «I'm not disposed to put my city's destiny in the hands of a young girl which could be killed in any moment.»
«You also said that you didn't want to see Calibria burn. They offered us a pacific solution, but we all know what will happen if we refuse.»
The generals remained silent, anxiously trembling while they thought at the inevitable consequence of which the dean was referring to.
«Calibria is still recovering from the last war against the Empire of three years ago.» Heraclyus said. «I have no doubts about our soldiers' power of our walls' resistance, but honestly I don't know if we could be able to face such similar siege once again.»
«But fight a war against Reich and win could have an enormous echo in all Falmart.» Kleymenos observed. «If we manage to put them in their place, it would be the proof of Calibria's might, and we could become the greatest military power not only in the Plains, but in the entire Northern Falmart.»
«Only till the next assault.» Pharmeneon replied. «Reich is like the Empire. They never leave their defeats unpunished.»
«Let's suppose that you're right. What will happen when the Empire will be fallen, and Reich will become the most powerful nation of this world? Who do you think will be the next ones?»
«A war against the Empire will be incredibly long and painful, and despite all of its power and technology there's no guarantee that Reich will be victorious. The difference in soldiers and land is overwhelming, and Reich will depend on us to assure a continuous provision of troops to the frontline.»
«The Dean could be right.» Dyomedes said. «And in any case, we could even cut off our agreement in any moment. If we do it while Reich will be in the middle of its war against the Empire, this could turn into a dramatic situation for them.» then he smiled «This could be their end.»
All ones turned again toward the King, which however smiled almost amused.
«I need to drink.» he said going away. «And to fuck. Provide me the biggest jar of wine we have, then send the hottest bitch of this fucking palace to my room. I'll make her cum so hard that when I'll have finished she'll neither be able to remember her name.»