A/N: This is a complete overhaul of my old story years ago of the same name. Currently, this is but a proof of concept and I would very much like to hear your thoughts on it.
This is inspired by but not a direct reference to the world 8andahalfby11 created for his own series. Which I highly recommend if you have not read it. Updates would not be steady as this is very much a side project. I may change priorities depending on the interest. But for now, this is only a conceptual piece that I may expand upon. Thank you so much and do enjoy :D
Kasper's face contorted into one of displeasure and irritation as he stared at his phone. The infinite loading circle was back again for the fifth time in the span of fewer than two hours. Taunting him for his inability to receive any sort of meaningful internet connection.
"Goddamn internet."
He cursed, stuffing the slab of plastic back into his pocket.
"What did you expect? For the Japanese Shinkansen, you would expect a decent internet." Kasper's security team leader, William Kolter chuckled, his head still buried in the thick intelligence brief.
"This fucking sucks. Why did we even come to the special region in the first place?" the 21-year-old huffed softly, turning his attention to the rolling green hills and meadows outside.
"Because you're almost flat broke when your stepbrother decided to steal away your inheritance? And what's left of your fortune is here?" The large ex-delta force human-cyborg replied with a chuckle.
"It was a rhetorical question, Will." Kasper snapped. Anger bubbled just below the surface, the longer he thought about it, the angrier he got. His life was supposed to get better when his father died; he was supposed to take over the billion-dollar empire but no. His dog shit stepbrother had to swoop in and made sure that never happened. Cutting him out of any potential inheritance.
"You know, you should consider yourself lucky if you think about it. You managed to get away with a rather significant portion of your father's fortune despite it all. 2.5 billion dollars is a lot of money for a lot of people." Kasper's second bodyguard cum personal doctor, Ian Porter, pointed out.
Kasper's head snapped to the ex-SBS medic, "2.5 billion in assets. Not money." He corrected, "Half of it is pure military hardware which is hard to move in this current economy. The other half is the reason why we're in here."
A chime from the speakers above them got the group's attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will arrive at Sadera terminal station in a few minutes. Please be careful not to leave your belongings on the train.
The calm female voice announced before repeating the same sentence but this time in English and then in Saderan.
"Great, we're almost there." Kasper stated, almost sounding like a sigh of relief, "Are Ian and Rin ready?" he asked, referring to the last two members of his security detail, Kessel Adelson, the Ex Israeli Sayeret Matkal EOD tech and Yukihito Rin Ex JSDF SFG.
The both of them had been sent ahead as an advance team and to make the necessary arrangements before his arrival. The last thing Kasper needed was to get entangled with the Japanese military police or worse, the Saderans.
William nodded, "They checked in fifteen minutes ago, they're already at the station waiting."
"Good."
Back when the empire's provincial capital was in Italica, Empress Pina Co Lada accepted the throne in the hopes of reforming the empire. To bring about a new golden age upon her peoples. Seven years later, with the war but a distant memory Pina wondered if that day would ever come.
Even as she sat on the throne in the currently empty rebuilt Imperial Senate, her fingers tracing along the intricate gold fixtures that displayed the monarchy's power listlessly. Back then, before the days of the civil war, Pina had often wondered how it felt sitting on the grand throne, towering above the rest of the senators, pulling the reins of power.
When that dream came through, such an act filled her with a sense of strength and vigour, but nowadays, the feelings had faded. The realities of rule had worn her down. She looked up at the cavernous marble ceiling, at the intricate artworks chiselled into the stone, each one recreated to a T after the old building was destroyed in a Japanese airstrike.
Was it worth it? Two years and half a million Suwani for a glorified office building?
The past Pina would have immediately answered with a strong yes. But now, She wasn't so sure.
From her throne, she watched as Senators blicker, filibuster and drag their feet at every single proposal. Her plans to legalise same-sex marriage received significant push back in the senate and was effectively killed. Slavery while by law was now illegal. There were no special taskforces to combat it. Law enforcement lacked any sort of will to do so.
Her plans to reform the justice system to mirror that of Japan while some went through, most especially the major ones are still stuck in bureaucratic limbo, thanks to the filibustering and fierce opposition from senators originating from the more rural areas where large landowners dominate the politics there.
Even her plans to modernize the nation was going painfully slow. The empire was not what it used to be. Zorzal's scorched earth policy destroyed much of the imperial economy and displaced millions. What little funds left were used to pay the Japanese war reparations, when that was not enough land was given. This is not even including the several splinter states that split off from the empire during the civil war.
The People's Republic of Delarus and Alwari republic, one a religious fundamentalist nightmare and the other a totalitarian hellscape that frankly made the days of Zorzal look like heaven in comparison.
Her thoughts then went to the chair just directly below her—the chair which the prime minister sat. Sherry, for all her political astuteness and mastery in the arts of political intrigue despite being only at the age of 21 years old, was starting to become a growing thorn in the Empress's side. While her skills in easing ruffled feathers were clearly much needed, her close relationship with the Japanese and resulting influence was now starting to become a growing concern.
*Boom!
A loud explosion was heard, shaking Pina's from her thoughts. The praetorian guard acted quickly, forming a shield around her in an instant. Whisking her out of the building towards her car.
Yet another one.
Pina sighed internally, explosions like these used to terrify her, but now it had become a matter of routine. As the convoy sped back towards the palace, Pina watched the plums of black smoke waft over the city, like an ominous cloud hanging over the city, she had a feeling, a feeling that the end of the empire might be coming sooner than she had expected.