A/N: This is chapter thirty-seven of "Second Chance" which marks the beginning of the Venice Operation. I'm uploading two chapter because for some reason the last chapter didn't go up. It will only begin here and really start up next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gunslinger Girl
A cold wind blew outside as the agents gathered. An emergency meeting had been called by Jean in order to talk. However everyone knew what was going on. Thanks to media and social networking the capture of St. Mark's Basilica was taken over by the Five Republic Factions. Jean walked in an placed an enlarged picture of St. Mark's Basilica.
"I am certain you all know what is occurring." began Jean.
"The Padania are making there move." replied Sandro.
"They overran the basilica and are currently flying the Flag of the Venetian Republic." continued Jean.
"Never thought I'd see St. Mark's Lion flying on that flag again." mused James.
"What do they want?" asked Hilshire.
"They demand the release of all terrorist prisoners including Aaron Cicero." answered Jean.
Jean clenched his fists in anger thinking about Cicero before quickly regaining his composure.
"We are not giving into terrorists." said Jean.
"What are we doing?" asked Sandro.
"We will be going in." answered Jean.
"All currently fratello available are going to take part." added Lorenzo.
"Sounds good to me." Bernardo.
"We're leaving in thirty minutes." said Jean.
"Yes sir." replied the others.
The group split up and departed. As they did, Sandro walked by James.
"You're first big mission here." noted Sandro.
"Same for you." noted James.
"Touche." replied Sandro.
James thought of Elsa and Lauro.
"I'll let you get Elsa." said Sandro
Sandro left James in his thoughts.
"This is going to be interesting." thought James.
James left and headed toward Elsa's bedroom. The entire time he couldn't take his mind off of Lauro. Once James arrived, he found himself unable to knock due to be plagued by thought of Elsa under Lauro's command. However, the ex CIA agent remembered the importance of the situation and opened the door. He found Elsa lying on her bed look at the ceiling.
"Normally she'd jump to her feet when I come in." thought James.
The American quickly shook his head and focused.
"Hellos sir." said Elsa.
Elsa got out of her bed and stood up.
"Elsa, we need to get ready to go. We have the biggest mission of our career." said James.
"What is it sir?" asked Elsa.
"The FRF have seized control of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice." answered James.
"I understand.' replied Elsa coldly.
James slightly flinched at the cold tone in Elsa's voice.
"We'll been leaving in an half hour." noted James.
"Understood." said Elsa, still cold.
"I wonder if she acted this way with Lauro?" asked James to himself.
"What will I need sir?" asked Elsa.
"Both of your guns. We'll need what we can." answered James.
"Understood." said Elsa.
James watched Elsa gather her things and felt a pain in his stomach.
"I heard she and Lauro were a great team. He must have imprinted it in her." thought James.
James pondered for a moment.
"Hey Elsa, do you want to continue our history lesson?" asked James.
Elsa stopped for a moment.
"Whatever." answered Elsa.
James winced at this.
"Okay then." began James.
James thought for a moment where they left off.
"So after the fall of Napoleon, the pre-revolutionary status quo was restored. The Papal States, Grand Duchy of Lombardy, Duchy of Parma and Duchy of Modena and Reggio were restored. The Duchy of Massa and Carrara was restored, but in 1829 it was annexed by Modena and Reggio." began James.
Elsa paused for a moment and let out a soft sigh.
"Why was that sir?" asked Elsa flatly.
James felt his stomach sink a bit Elsa's tone.
"Duchess Maria Beatrice d'Este died and her son Francis V was the Duke of Modena and Reggio." answered James.
Elsa nodded in affirmation and went back to work.
"The Kingdom of Sardinia was rewarded getting Liguria, Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. The capital was moved from Cagliaria to Turin." continued James.
Elsa just just muttered.
"The Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily shared a monarch and were united into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which was the largest state pre-unification. The Duchy of Lucca was established in 1815 and annexed by Tuscany in 1847." said James
"What did that happen?" asked Elsa flatly.
James felt another ping in his heart.
"Duke Charles abdicated and soon became Duke of Parma." answered James.
Elsa continued her business.
"Austrian took the former Republic of Venice and Lombardy establishing the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia as part of the Austrian Empire. It was also called Austrian Italy. The Kingdom of Illyria (1816-1849) consisted of Venezia Giulia and much of Slovenia with the capital at the now Slovene capital of Ljubljana." explained James.
"Fascinating." said Elsa flatly.
"The old order was restored and lasted in the 19th Century. However, in the 1830s and 1848/49 revolutions shook Europe. In Venice, the Republic of San Marco was established while another Roman Republic was established, but all revolutionary gains wee crushed. The Kingdom of Illyria was abolished with Venezia Giulia being the Austrian Littoral. King Charles Albert of Sardinia lead Sardinian forces in the First Italian War of Independence, but was defeat and deposed for his so King Victor Emmanuel II." said James.
"Of course." said Elsa.
"Sardinia took part in the Crimean War and impressed Napoleon III of France who vowed to back a Sardinian war against Austria. In 1859, that triggered leading to the Second Italian War of Independence. The French came to their aid and Austria lost Lombardy, thought they refused to recognize it." continued James.
"Wasn't there something about Magenta?" asked Elsa.
"The Battle of Magenta occurred on June 4, 1859 at Magenta, Lombardy. A nw color was recently discovered and named magenta after the battle." answered James.
Elsa made a audible noise, but did not look at her trainer.
"In 1860, revolutionaries overthrew Duke Robert of Parma, Duke Francis V of of Modena and Grand Duke Ferdinand IV of Tuscany establishing the United Provinces of Central Italy which quickly merged with Sardinia." said James.
"What about the south?" asked Elsa monotone.
James wince a bit at this.
"In the South, the Red Shirts overtook Sicily then crossed and took the mainland where they disposed King Francis II of the Two Siciles. Sardinian troops overran the Papal States leaving only what is now Latium under Papal control. The Kingdom of Italy was formed." explained James.
"Yup." said Elsa.
James gulped at this.
"There's no change. She used to love this." thought James.
James decided to keep going in hopes of igniting a flame.
"In 1864, he Italian capital was moved to Florence while Prussia defeated Denmark and secured Schleswig-Holstein. Prussia and Italy made an agreement where Italy would help Prussia if Prussia went to war with Austria. In 1866, that occurred with the Seven Weeks' War ending in a decisive Prussian victory." continued James.
Elsa did not respond, so James decided to continue.
"Italy joined leading a campaign known as the Invasion of Trentio as part of the Third Italian War of Independence. and as a result gained Venetia. Of course, Austria did not want to give it to Italy so directly so it passed to France and who gave it to Italy In 1870, Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War ousting Napoleon III. French troops in Rome were forced to return allowing the Italian troops to enter Rome on September 20, 1870. The Papal States were abolished and Rome became the new capital." concluded James.
Elsa still remained muted, so James again continued.
"Italian nationalism, anarchism, socialism and the refusal of the Papacy to recognize Italy lead to turbulence for the new state. As was common, Italy sought an empire conquering what is now Somaliland in 1889 and Eritrea in 1890. An attempt to conquer Ethiopia in 1895 through 1896 ended in failure." continued James.
Elsa stopped and looked at James.
"I am ready." stated Elsa.
"We have some time. Anyway, King Victor Emmanuel II died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son King Umberto I who was assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci in 1900 and succeeded by his son King Victor Emmanuel III. In 1911 to 1912, Italy defeated the Ottoman Empire and gained not only modern Libya, but the Dodecanese Islands as well." said James.
Elsa looked at James blankly.
"Hey Elsa, why don't you pick it up here." suggested James.
"No thank you sir." said Elsa.
"Let's go." said James.
The two departed and headed down the hallways. They reached the common area where the others were assembled and were waiting. The other fratello where there except for Jean. However, Rico was there waiting for her handler. James kept a fake smile on his face, but the pain in his heart was throbbing.
"We're ready." noted James.
"Jean is talking to the Minister of Defense." said Jean.
Henrietta looked over at a grouchy looking Elsa.
"Are you ready?" asked Henrietta politely.
Elsa scoffed and turned her head.
"I'm fine." answered Elsa.
"Please be more polite." requested James.
Elsa looked ad her handler and rolled her eyes.
"Yes sir." replied Elsa.
"This is not the Elsa that I know." thought James sadly.
Victor Hilshire looked on with concerns of his.
"Elsa was cold to everyone else, but she gave all of her affection to Lauro." said Hilshire to himself.
"Sir, I'm concerned." whispered Triela.
"So am I." whispered Hilshire.
"What are you two whispering about?" asked Ameado.
"The mission." answered Hilshire.
Ameado simply shrugged.
"Okay." said Ameado.
However, Jose was so certain Hilshire was being totally honest.
"Sir, is something the matter?" asked Henrietta.
"No." answered Jose.
Henrietta looked over at Elsa and the two shared a glance before Elsa adverted her eyes.
"Sir." said Rico happily.
Everyone looked over to see Jean coming there way.
"What's up?" asked Jose.
"We received a last minute intelligence update." answered Jean.
"What is it?" asked Hilshire.
"It seems the Padania are better armed than we thought. We traced a illegal route to an Arab dealer." answered Jean.
"Is it related to any group? ISIL or Al-Qaeda?" asked James.
"We are not sure." answered Jean.
"The civil strife in Libya, the Syrian Civil War and the conflict against the Islamic State has allowed many groups to run freely." noted Olga
"Russia has dealt with insurgencies in both Chechnya and Dagestan for decades now. They are no easy threat." stated James.
"Da. The Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis and the Beslan school siege have shown how dangerous they can be." said Olga.
"Then Grand Imam of Egypt Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy condemned the Islamist actions in Beslan." noted James.
"Let's not forget we're dealing with the FRF not and Islamist group." said Jean.
"Right." agreed Hilshire.
"We may know the identity of the perpatrator." said Jean
"Who?" asked Jose.
"We believe it may be Giacomo Dante." answered Jean.
The resulted in gasps of surprises form the other adults.
"We have not confirmed this yet." added Jean.
Jean clenched his fits together.
"Right now, we must leave." said Jean.
"Right." replied the others.
The agents grabbed their things and headed out.
"Elsa, I hope you're okay." thought James.
James and a group of people kept their eyes on Elsa as they left.
In Venice, the Padania terrorists had bolstered their defenses. The police and local law enforcement had besieged St. Mark's Basilica in an attempt to keep the terrorists pinned down. The Flag of the Venetian Republic was still waving outside despite several attempts to remove it. All of it which were met with intense gunfire from the terrorists that forced a retreat. Inside, the terrorists were waiting for a response.
"How is the situation?" asked Dante.
"Excellent sir. News has spread and we've gained support online." answered one of the terrorists.
"Worthless armchair revolutionaries." spat Dante.
"The government is scared of us." scoffed another terrorist.
"They're biding their time. An attack will come soon." said Dante.
"Sir, do you think we could hold them back?" asked one of the terrorists.
"I am not sure." answered Dante.
The terrorists whispered among themselves.
"No matter what occurs, we will fight to the bitter end to keep those pigs back!" declared Dante.
"Long live Padania!" cried the terrorists as Dante watched.
A/N: There is chapter thirty-seven finished. Next time, the assault begins. Please review.