Lola and Alexandra meanwhile were trying to help out and pitch in in whatever way they could. They were looking online when they saw the ultimatum that Gisela had sent to Milica. Lola began to read it over.
"Hey Alexandra, you need to read about this." Lola told her friend while she was on the laptop. Alexandra walked over and she began reading the ultimatum.
"It's a European war." Alexandra told Lola. Lola began reading over the ten demands Gisela had made to the Serbian gang. One of these struck her.
"They ask of many things but by the looks of things, they want to investigate the assassination in their school." Lola told Alexandra. "This is impossible. To agree to such things is like giving up sovereignty, no school will allow this." Lola explained before Alexandra began to speak again.
"That's all right because Gisela probably wants the ultimatum rejected. It's only a rogue for what she really wants. Gisela clearly wants war. She wants it rejected because she wants to appear to MEXT that they gave the Serbian Gang a chance to avoid this conflict. She wants to appear blame free for the invasion she is planning." Alexandra explained to Lola that Gisela clearly wants a fight, and she was counting the ultimatum to be rejected. "Get some sleep because tomorrow is going to be a very busy day." Lola nodded before they sprawled out on the air mattress and fell asleep. Megumi was clearly going to help them out tomorrow.
The next morning rolled around as Alexandra knew that today was going to be chaotic especially with the release of the ultimatum. Alexandra, Megumi, Lola and all of their top-ranking members were there except for Kay and Himari. Yuri Nakamura was still in jail, so she wasn't going to show up to the meeting. They clearly had a problem with their hands, and they needed to solve it. Alexandra walked in as she began speaking.
"Listen up everyone. We got the news of the ultimatum that had been posted. Our friend Milica has less than 36 hours to agree to all of their demands or face war. We need to begin preparing ourselves for this conflict as we fear it will end badly if we don't interfere. We need to begin mobilizing for the war." Alexandra began explaining to the group that they needed to start preparing themselves for the days ahead. This will not go smoothly for them.
"Should we beg Gisela to give the Serbian Gang more time to decide on the matter. An extra day even as we don't want to stress Milica out too much. While at the same time, telling Milica to go over this carefully and decide whether or not to agree to these terms?" Megumi asked if the Serbian Gang was in trouble, and they needed to make sure they had an extra few hours. But they also wanted to use the time to fulfill Alexandra's demands.
"Do that, anything to try to stall Gisela's decision making." Alexandra desperately told Megumi to contact the commander for all of the Dual Alliance teams. Megumi nodded as she was off to contact both Gisela and Milica to tell them about extending the deadline to the ultimatum. Alexandra nodded and she also decided to make an announcement. She grabbed the microphone and began speaking. "Students of Saunders, I am declaring a partial mobilization of the school as time for a general war is winding down. The school needs to be prepared for a conflict such as this and it could use all the time it could get. I will make another announcement regarding any future mobilization orders." Alexandra made the announcement that Saunders will begin mobilizing for a war against the Dual Alliance.
"What do you want me to do Alexandra?" Lola asked as she wanted to find some usefulness with herself.
"Go to the storeroom and help out by handing rifles and ammunition to the students. Stay in the storeroom as we might have future mobilization orders." Alexandra instructed Lola to begin handing out supplies. Lola got up and made her way to the storeroom.
Inside the storeroom, the most active students decided to make their way to help out with the mobilization effort as they were going to be representing their school. Lola was inspecting the 3-line rifles they were handing out. They also had their ammo and plastic bayonets ready. Lola was part of the assembly line as she was handing rifles out to the students. Jajka and Mika were chatting among themselves while the assembly line was going.
"Is it true that we're going to be heading for war again?" Mika asked. She seemed to be curious about what was happening. The line moved up as Jajka began speaking.
"I believe so. Alexandra insisted on the mobilization order. If she announces that the school should be fully mobilized, then you know something big is obviously going to go down." Jajka explained to Mika while the line moved up.
"Do you think war is possible at this point?" Mika asked if this was true, was the partial mobilization being ordered as things were going to happen or was it going to be an event and they needed to be mobilized.
"It's possible. I've been following the events for the past couple of days, the deaths of the archduke, his wife, our ambassador to the Serbian gang. It's all coming together." Jajka explained to Mika. Mika came up to the line as Lola had the rifles out. She handed Mika a rifle and then Jajka walked up and took on herself. Lola continued to hand them out as the girls took about three stripper clips of ammo worth. They wanted to ration their ammo supply for the time being as there wasn't a whole lot of it to go around. Everyone was also handed bayonets as they were needed with the rifles.
"How much supplies will Saunders have once we get into the war?" Mika asked Lola if she had any ideas about their ammunition stockpiles.
"About a month if we use it up continuously. Our factories are making ammunition daily but it's nowhere near enough to match our consumption. Plus, we don't have many modern artillery pieces." Lola told them that they were still behind when it came to all the equipment of war.
"So, we're going to take a beating if Kuromorimine attacks us head on?" Jajka asked if this was going to be true.
"That I can tell you for certain." Lola replied. The rifles weren't the only things getting deployed, but they were the first wave of what was to come.
Alexandra's partial mobilization went into effect, and this was having an impact, Saunders was now on high alert. As lunch time rolled around. Alexandra had decided to take a meeting with Earl Gray and Azumi. Megumi ran over to Alexandra as she had some news.
"Gisela told us that she will consider giving the Serbian Gang more time to decide and I told Milica to read it over carefully and come to her conclusion on whether or not to accept the demands." Megumi told Alexandra what she managed to learn from the conversations as of now. Alexandra nodded.
"Good." Alexandra told Megumi. Megumi got up and left the scene, leaving Alexandra to begin making her preparations. She began typing away to get into contact with Azumi and Earl Gray. The screens popped up and they were sitting in their commanding rooms, and they began speaking.
"Hey Alexandra, what are you doing out?" Azumi asked her. She was expecting Earl Gray, but her friend had taken over for her.
"Today is a busy day. I declared partial mobilization already. Megumi has asked Gisela to give the Serbian Gang more time to decide on the matter." Alexandra explained what exactly was going on and why the school seemed to be going in a disorderly fashion.
"Partial Mobilization already? You think you can try playing all the angles at once?" Earl Gray asked while she was sipping her tea.
"Yes. We need to be able to get the school ready for any sort of war. If we don't then Kuromorimine will be able to steamroll us over as we would be pretty behind. I'm not willing to risk this." Alexandra explained to Earl Gray that mobilization wasn't going to slow down. Azumi began to smile as she liked where this was going. "Now I must ask, does anyone want to back me up when we begin to protect Milica from Gisela in case, she decides to declare war on us?" Alexandra asked them if they were going to receive any back up to relieve some of the pressure.
"BC Freedom and Maginot stand behind you on these matters, I will just have to ask Rumi about it." Azumi reaffirmed the case that they were going to join the cause to protect Milica as well as help Megumi and Alexandra to distract Kuromorimine by making them fight a war on two fronts. Earl Gray was thinking about what to say and when Azumi finished speaking, she turned and began speaking for herself.
"Alexandra, St. Gloriana sympathizes but we can't make any commitment. We will only declare war if Kuromorimine invades a school that is not part of the alliance. We'll give the call to mobilize but we don't know if we will make any major commitments for now." Earl Gray explained to Alexandra that she agreed to these calls, but she wasn't going to join the war unless someone not part of the alliance got attacked.
"Okay, let me know what you two thinks as we got reassurance from Azumi, but Earl Gray still needs to make some kind of decision." Alexandra told them that she was going to leave the meeting and they needed to contact her if they decided to change their minds. Azumi and Earl Gray left the conversation as Alexandra had her confidence. Azumi was backing them up fully and now she needed to back Milica up fully.
Afternoon came around as Alexandra had gathered everyone again except for Lola who was ordered to stay in the storeroom in case further mobilization orders were given. Alexandra placed her stick on the screen and began speaking.
"May I all have your attention please." Alexandra began. Everyone turned their heads to her. "We got the news that BC Freedom is giving their unwavering support to us in case we get ourselves into a war and with their unwavering support, I feel like we can easily beat this war. Earl Gray said she wasn't going to join unless someone not part of the alliance gets attacked by the aggressors. And the aggressors being Kuromorimine and the Dual-Alliance." Alexandra explained to the group that their friends were going to back them up.
"Excellent job Alexandra, you're rallying everyone on our side." Megumi told her friend that she was more or less grateful for the support. Alexandra nodded before she decided to make an announcement.
"All students of Saunders, I am going to order a complete mobilization of the school. This is not a drill. Milica is in trouble, and we need as many students as we can on the front line." Alexandra announced that the entire school should get ready for war. Lola, who was listening to this from the storeroom, heard that the school needed more students on the front line. She opened up another crate and pulled out a rifle.
"Who's ready to give more of these?" Lola asked. The students in the storeroom cheered as they pulled the tarps off of the armored cars and their tanks, they were finally getting the order for a full mobilization.
Evening came and Kirishima had wished to speak to Alexandra. Alexandra opened the door and Kirishima walked inside. She sat down to speak with Alexandra.
"Alexandra, I noticed what was going on today and I beg for you to call off the mobilization." Kirishima began speaking to Alexandra that she didn't like what was going on and she was begging for this to be stopped.
"We can't, Gisela is going to declare war on Milica, and it is Saunders' duty to protect those in need. We have to mobilize if we are to help our friend out. Kirishima looked at Alexandra almost as if her partner's discussion was foolish and she was going to risk it.
"Alexandra, I mean it, call off the mobilization. There must be solidarity between the leaders of their respective schools. We need to work together to bring peace, or we will all fall alone." Kirishima tried her best to explain the situation. Alexandra and Kirishima walked to the outside of the school. The cold winter air gushed on their faces while they walked to find a good place to continue the conversation.
"We have to help Milica out. I will say it again. We need to help our friend out and we can't leave her alone and let Gisela try to fight her. We need to stand by someone else's side, not let them fall apart like this." Alexandra's words were getting heated in the cold air. It was the argument that seemed to be the warmth, but Kirishima once again began speaking.
"Alexandra, I will tell you that there will be revolution. Revolution if we don't work together and all the status of Sensha-Do being played in international tournaments will be no more." Kirishima's words too were getting heated. Alexandra knew she had to defend her position as she didn't know what Gisela was up to or what her intention was. She also knew that she and Megumi had to defend Milica and the Serbian Gang. She turned to Kirishima, and she began to speak.
"When will you learn that if someone is in trouble that you feel obligated to help them out?" Alexandra asked Kirishima. Kirishima and Alexandra were stating their cases and that they needed to either work together for peace or face war. Then something tragic happens, it was one of those small tragedies that lined the path to chaos. It is something that would tear someone up if they read it with perfect hindsight. So tragic that it would cost the lives of seventeen million men in a four-year war. Alexandra began to speak. "If the Dual-Alliance swallows the Serbian Gang whole, we will go to war." Did you, the reader, catch that? If you didn't then neither did Kirishima.
"Please call this off. We need to find a plan for peace and hopefully talk to Gisela about it." Kirishima tried to change her tactics to ensure that there could be peace between them all.
"I'm sorry but this was inevitable. I couldn't get along with her and if she would confront us in combat. I plan on crushing her." Alexandra did her best to speak to her. What neither of them knew was the fact that Solti had agreed to the condition that they would not annex a foot of Serbian soil if they won the war. No one told Alexandra and Kirishima about this and neither of them got the memo. This could have been one of the last few moments that they could avoid this conflict. The two sides argued their case, but they were meeting in the gentle night. The last gentle night they will know for possibly years. Kirishima walked away as Alexandra proved to be a stubborn girl to reason with and sadly, the opportunity was missed. Alexandra walked back to Saunders as the argument was pointless.
The next day. Alexandra logged on to get the news about the deadline from Gisela that she considered about the day before and she felt like she still had a lot on her shoulders. Megumi was getting everything ready when the screen popped up.
"Have you considered the deadline for this?" Alexandra asked Gisela if she made any decisions about extending the deadline. Gisela knew she was talking to Alexandra as the two of them didn't get along with each other, but she knew she needed to make her case firm.
"We refused to extend the deadline to the Serbian gang as the ultimatum expires this evening." Gisela told Alexandra that her decision was final. She was not making any exceptions to this. Alexandra seemed to be stunned by this. It was clear that Gisela clearly wanted war at this point.
"I guess you have your reason for it. I believe we're going to have our war tomorrow if they don't respond back." Alexandra told her with a solemn voice. She was right. Gisela clearly wanted war with the Serbian Gang, and she had made the right call to mobilize. Hopefully Milica was going to make up her mind and either agree to her demands or reject them and start the war.
"We'll see what she has to say. I need to get ready as well. It was nice chatting with you." Gisela told Alexandra before they left. It was one of the few times where they were actually nice to each other and that they could chat about this. After the heated debate with Kirishima last night, it was all or nothing. She knew she needed to gather everyone and tell them to get ready about it. She had managed to gather the meeting with the school a half hour later on the field. Megumi and Lola were there as someone else was distracting Kay. They had an announcement to make.
"Students of Saunders, Gisela has refused to extend the deadline so, we're going to have to go to war with her in order to protect our Serbian Allies. If we can find out what happens next tonight. We can delay the inevitable for another couple of days so begin practicing with whatever time that remains. Megumi will be the one to guide you." Alexandra left the stage as she didn't know what was going to happen. Milica better make up her mind.
Gisela was waiting around in her office as she was waiting for Milica to return the ultimatum to her, and she could read it over. She was praying for the ultimatum to be rejected so she can have her war. She was also going to declare war if they didn't return the ultimatum at all.
"Milica and her gang have two minutes left before the ultimatum expires. If it expires, then I will declare war on her." Gisela told herself. She looked around as the mail shoot to her door opened and an envelope dropped in. Gisela got up and slowly made her way to the door. Once she reached the door, she looked down to see the envelope. She picked it up and turned it to the flat side where they would write to her. On the flat side it said her name and it was from Milica. Gisela hoped it was what she was looking for and she got out her mail knife and opened the envelope. Once opened, she dumped it out to see what it was that Milica sent to her.
Inside the envelope was Milica's reply to Gisela's ultimatum.
[A/N]: This is a pretty short chapter as it's just mostly a continuation of the events from the last chapter. Plus, most of the chapter takes place over the course of Alexandra's busy day. This can possibly be the last moment before the war will take place and now with Milica sending their ultimatum, there might be another last chance of avoiding a complete war. The last chapter of this part will display this sort of behavior. See you later.