It was a clear blue sky and the summer wind gentle blew amongst the trees of the jungle. It was a joyous occasion. Commander Huren and his men came back into the capital city of Dongala as heroes; they were decorated with full honors. The wars of the north and south were finally over. The Kalidorian people were hopeful for a prosperous and peaceful future. The iron gates of the yellow brick walls opened to the triumphant men, beautiful flower pedals fell from the houses above. Musical instruments were sounding; wives of the soldiers came from the crowds and grabbed hold of their husbands. The army was paraded through the majestic capital city, over the flowing rivers, to the halls of the Senate.
They marched upon the pearly white, marble stairs to the Senate square. There awaited the wise council members. In the middle stood an older man, Chancellor Serubo, a wide eyed, bald and bare faced character who led the Senate members. By merely his appearance, however not a particularly handsome man, it radiated wisdom and his eyes obviously seen many things in his life time.
"Huren!" Chancellor Serubo greeted his longtime friend, "Another successful venture and now you… your men have united this fair continent for the greater good of the Kalidorian people."
Huren smiled and shook his head, "Just another disturbance of the peace finally set to rest, my old friend."
Serubo look to the sides of Huren to see the two brothers kneeling, "Come, come get up… we've been told of your heroics and facing Lord Alexander in combat."
"Well, it was all in a day's work for heroes like us!" Kael said to which his brother quickly smacked him in the back of the head.
"Forgive my brother…" Desra said staring at Kael, who was rubbing the back of his head.
Huren and Serubo merely laughed and led the honored troops to the hall. Many Kalidorian dignitaries were there enjoying the many fruits and choice delectable foods of the Republic. There were many songs being sung and rounds of wine going around.
The jubilant old chancellor, along with other members of the Senate, looked out upon the people with raised hands. Victory was a sweet taste, however, the Greeks had the bitter taste of defeat as Kalidor set up puppet governors to take over and for the most part the conquered cities were given resources to rebuild and allowed to govern themselves, however, under the watchful eye of their new overlords. Lord Alexander, on the other hand, was imprisoned on the island of Port Ha'ven. He screamed a multitude of obscenities into the air and swore a day of revenge upon his ancient rival.
Trade now flowed freely from north to the south, unhinged by enemies from either side. In that moment, Kalidor was far more prosperous than ever before. Washington and Sejong relied heavily on resources as they were being pushed out of America by the marauding Arabian forces and also an unknown superpower from the East was pressing in.
In the moment of celebration, an Arabian envoy came into the city. No one seemed to notice with all the celebration… all but one. Serubo and others celebrated their acclaimed heroes when the envoy found their way to the Senate building. The laughing stopped, everyone's eyes darted to the hated Arabians. It would seem they did not have their fill of war and battle.
A Church of Light priest quickly ran up from behind and pleaded, "PLEASE… no more war, good sirs… let this go, your people are not being persecuted! We have finally rea-"
With a loud smack and a deafening thud on the ground, the priest went tumbling to the ground unconscious and crumpled. The head of the Arabian envoy looked towards the Senate with contempt. He walked ahead of his group and held out a long scroll.
"To the Senate of Kalidor… long ago have you taken Baghdad, Damascus, and Jaffa from us. We would have our cities back without bloodshed. In the eyes of God, we are the rightful owners. We have matched your military man for man… it will be this new war that will return the glory of the Arabian Empire."
Senator Serubo walked out from the crowd of senators and shook his head, "We have heard about the peace Rome had to sue with you and your people. Are you really that hungry for more bloodshed and war?!"
"My father died in that war… defending our empire along the north of this continent. It was due to your crazed hunger that any of this started!"
Serubo was not a man to back away from an argument, "Might I remind you, it was YOUR people that sided with the now defeated Greeks and attacked us when we were content to the confines of our borders?!"
The Arabian representative unsheathed his blade but as soon as he did, the Kalidorian guards also did the same and surrounded him. This was an act of war, however, there were more troubles looming over the recently conquered territories. Arabian infiltrators had gone to the various conquered Greek cities and incited a revolt while things were not yet set in stone. The fires of war were not extinguished; they were only masked for a moment.
"This is an act of war!" Huren declared, "You and your kind must be wiped out!"
The envoy, with blades drawn, had that aura about them that when they were ready to die, they would go it without hesitation. The senators ran towards the many seats as the envoy clashed with the guards, led by Huren. Meanwhile, the celebration was still going on outside, a joyous public unaware that peace has not yet come. A renewed campaign will now ensue. While a battle raged inside the celebrated halls of the Kalidorian Senate, the people were still celebrating. Believing the wars to be finally over, it was decided to keep this war at the border and push into Central America in secret. Over the years after the war, Kalidor had been upgrading their arsenal with improved rifles and Gatling guns were superior weapons than their volley guns of the past. However, this new Arabia was not the same Arabia. They had less accurate rifles but they were close in the arms race.
The battle was quickly dealt with as the elite Senate guards and members of the military including Huren outnumbered them. But these Arabian troops also killed a couple of guards. Serubo came over from hiding and a tear swelled up in his eye, "We must not let the people know about this war... the people are tired."
"We will take them at the border and push them out of Central America, they will not be able to recover." Desra suggested, slinging his blade unto his shoulders.
Serubo nodded in agreement and left with his head down. War... it never really is gone. They say war is an interruption to peace... but perhaps peace is really the interruption to war.