Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Muscle, and I don't claim to.
SLASH WARNING ADDED! SLASH IMMINENT! If you don't like it, look away!
Chapter Three: Megas Domestikos.
Flight BA 342 from Tokyo to Ankara touched down an hour late. Already, Turkish airspace was shut to most incoming flights; only those more than half way there were allowed to finish their routes. Unsurprisingly the flight was virtually empty. Mars had the top deck all to himself.
Almost as unsurprising was the insistence that two armed police sit in the upper deck with him. They had watched him intently for the whole duration of the flight, even standing outside the door when he went to the bathroom. He swore they had pushed a fibre optic tube under the door to make sure he wasn't trying anything funny.
The two police followed him off the plane, into the terminal building, through passport control, out into the taxi area and then gave way to a trio of burly Turkish soldiers, who clambered in after him. Fuming indignantly about this treatment, Mars leant forwards to the driver.
"Istanbul. Now." The driver looked at him with terror ingrained into his eyes.
"You mad? Is crawling wi…" Mars locked him in a deathly glare. Whimpering, the driver turned back to the wheel, started up the taxi and inched out of the taxi bay.
Topkapi Palace, Istanbul.
The shell splashes of the batteries overlooking the bay were beginning to ease off. The first two waves of troops had crossed the Bosporus and staggered up into the hills beyond, where they had engaged in close-quarters and often brutal hand-to-hand fighting with the gunners in the batteries.
Isaac Alexius Comnenus watched the scene with intent through his field glasses. He was immensely proud of the attack's progression over the past two days. Already, the Greek military was securely under control, and Greek troops were arriving over the Thracian border to help secure the Dardanelles. Ionia and Trabzon were secure; resistance in Cyprus was all but extinguished. His spearheads had encircled Izmir and were nearly 50 kilometres inland. The Turkish army and air force were in disarray, and the navy was running out of ports to send ships to.
Now, he could begin the drive towards Nicomedia and Nicaea, three days ahead of schedule.
Suddenly, the whirring of helicopter blades drew his gaze upwards. He took one look at the emblem on the underside of the helicopter and swore venomously.
A few moments later he bounded out of the main door of the palace and into the courtyard, to confront the whirring blades of a Black Hawk helicopter. Isaac stormed out across the gravel pavement as the side door was flung back.
A lean, almost straggling figure jumped down from the door and made its brisk way over to Isaac, who bowed briefly before looking up angrily.
"Sire, I must protest a your…"
"This is as much my battle as it is yours, Megas Domestikos. I have every right to be here."
"Sire, I rather you stay in Athens."
"No. I have no reason to hide. Now, show me the situation." Isaac sighed in frustration. He was too stubborn to be moved, and too intelligent to be outflanked.
"As you wish sire." He breathed, and then turned and led the way inside the palace.
The command room was deep inside the bunkers below the palace. Installed by the Turkish government in the 1950's as a shelter for valuables from the palace above, they had been continually upgraded ever since. Now, they were brimming with computer equipment, technicians and analysts, all frantically gathering, sorting, analysing and moving data and information with tremendous ferocity.
The central bunker boasted a large holo-table, on which was projected a 3D map of the whole region, with symbols shuffling around representing various military and civilian movements. Isaac led his commander to the edge of the table. The young man browsed briefly, then turned to Isaac.
"It appears that now might be a good time to announce our method to this madness."
"Well, maybe if we wait until Smyrna…"
"No." The commander tapped a large symbol on the holo-table near Crete. "This is the USS Carl Vinson and her battle group. If she does not know better, she will attack us. I cannot risk a war with the USA. She is simply to powerful at this time." Isaac nodded curtly.
"As you wish, sire."
SS Herculean, Golden Horn, Istanbul.
"Hey guys, something's happening!" Kid Muscle's bellowing tones echoed deep into the bowels of the ship.
Brocken Jnr stirred from his sleep gently, and twisted over slightly. Robin gave a slight sigh and shifted slightly, gently tightening his arm around Brocken's stomach. Smiling, the German leant back and kissed Robin's hair gently.
"Guten Morgen, meine Liebe," he breathed. Robin grinned softly.
The Chojins slowly filed back into the main hall, to find the TV newsreaders busily cutting off interviewees and turning back to face the cameras. Robin and Brocken shuffled into the back, unnoticed by anyone.
"And as we were just saying, the rebels are about to make a live statement from Istanbul. It is Audio only, and they have not let on what they will say…" The newsreader cast a glance behind the cameras, where one of the production crew gave a thumbs-up. "And it looks like they're making the statement now."
With that, the screen was filled by an image of the Hagia Sophia, though the news bar and clock remained on the bottom of the screen. A methodical and dry voice no echoed out from the TV.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the world.
As you are well aware, over the past few days, insurgent forces have overthrown the Greek and Cypriot governments, and have engaged Turkish forces in a ground war in Ionia and Thrace.
I am here to inform you of their mission.
600 years ago, the armies of the Ottoman Empire destroyed the Byzantine Empire. Since then, we have lain dormant, slowly gathering up wealth and power, accumulating back our pride and resources. Now, the Byzantine Empire is striking back.
We wish to create a constitutional monarchy, encompassing Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. We wish to encompass all faiths within these areas, particularly Christianity and Islam. We wish to create a nation that can be to the world an example of a multi-cultural society success. We invite representatives from the UN, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Kurdistan, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Armenia and Georgia to a summit here in Constantinople to discuss the future nature of this state.
The coronation of the first enthroned Roman Emperor since 1453 will take place on a date transmitted to the security forces at this time. All nations are invited to send representatives to the joint Christian-Muslim Ceremony.
Thank you for your time."
To be continued…Another short one, but the story is developing here. How will the Chojin's react to this announcement? And how will they react to Brocken and Robin? And what about Mars? Will he get his pound of flesh?