…
…
…
Night falls on Moona Hoshinova's last day in the Governor's Palace in Xenokuni City.
The decorated Kolonel paces through the halls of what once was the Empire's most prized possession in the East. She bids farewell to the place that has been her home for years without saying a word.
Moona regards the Pavolian paintings and sculptures, the fine Xenokunian china and Elysian silverware, the books and the historical artifacts from all three nations intermingled one last time. She decides to take none of them. That leaves her baggage trunk remarkably empty for someone of her stature.
'Where I'm going, I won't need much.'
All Moona has are the basics and nothing more. The garish, ceremonial garb that she wore for the ECN cameras now remains in the dressers. Her unfathomably shine-polished boots stand beside it, unworn.
Instead, Moona wears her old uniform: the clothes of a humble Pavolian Garrison guardswoman. Her stainless steel guardswoman's gorget and her ceremonial saber are the only luxuries she dons. She wears her old, battle-scarred boots that have walked through every street of Xenokuni City on patrol.
Moona passes by a mirror and sees herself in the simple uniform: an image or better times.
A bitter frown forms on her lips. Her image of her younger self fades away and she walks on.
She turns a corner and finds herself in the banquet hall where she signed her terms of surrender with pomp and circumstance. Not a trace of that opulence and fanfare remains - save for her cadre of ranking officers gathered there with wine glasses in hand.
Moona enters the room. Despite her uniform, the officers salute her and she returns the gesture.
She passes by a credenza and brings out a bottle of red wine - a rare bottle that was not finished during the banquet. Then, she makes her rounds and pours wine for each of them.
"This will be your last taste of wine before you are released from prison." Moona speaks in Pavolian with compassion, "Enjoy it to the fullest."
When Moona has poured wine for her officers, there is very little wine left for her own glass. One of her officers offers to open up another bottle, but Moon politely refuses.
And so, Moona and her officers raise their glasses and toast to the Garrison.
Moona downs her meager splash of wine, sets down her glass and speaks to her staff. Her tone is frank, muted and humbled, contrasting the grandiose speeches she made for the ECN's newsreels.
"Those of you who serve me have chosen to walk the harder path in life. There was no harder post to man in the entire Empire than Xenokuni City. Here, you are far away from your homes and family - beyond even the Banda Puncak Biru province and her snaking valleys. Here, you keep the peace of a hostile population who do not want you here."
Many officers lower their heads in solemn agreement. Moona lays her hand over her heart.
"Your posts were hard, but I have seen your work and the work of those who serve under you. I have donned this uniform many times and patrolled with our guards on their beats. Hah. Many of them didn't know who I was without the Kolonel's clothes."
She taps her metal gorget and smiles.
"Even my gorget is the same as theirs. So I know that they, for the most part, have treated the Xenokunians with respect. As well as we could have at the time, given our situation."
Moona paces around and finds a bust of the Holy Mother Towa carved into a column in the banquet hall.
"Mother Towa would favor us, the peacekeepers, over the monsters who slaughter others in Her holy name. After all, we, the Garrison, have kept our humanity while others have turned into bloodthirsty, vindictive monsters around us - relished in the… carnage. Like savages."
The image of Zeta Vestia flashes in Moona's mind.
Moona's officers hang their heads low. Some of them shudder. Some fold their arms with displeasure. They share in Moona's agony.
Moona clears her throat and continues her remarks.
"No matter what Zeta and her slanderous agents say, you, my Garrison, have fought bravely and honorably against the Elysian tide. You prepared this city's defenses as best as you could - but most importantly, you trusted me when I defied Zeta's orders and asked you to raise the white flag. You had every opportunity to turn tail and run - or join Zeta and her HaKugrenadiers for a way out before the Elysians tightened the noose, but you stayed with me."
Moona looks out the window of the banquet hall and sees the Elysian Starfall banner fluttering in the wind and bathing in the moonlight. She heaves a sigh and turns to her officers.
"So, rest assured. Even as you surrender yourselves to the Elysians waiting for you outside, you still serve Pavolia on my authority. I will tell this to the Empress herself - and she will listen. I know she will listen. So, please - represent me before the Elysians and preserve the wellbeing of your fellow prisoners. If you must cooperate with the Elysians to do that, then do so. There is no shame in defeat if the spirit continues to burn brightly."
Moona's eyes twinkle. She stands in attention and gives her officers a smart salute.
"And for this, I must say - I have never served alongside any finer men and women than you gathered here today. I am eternally grateful. I hope, Mother Towa permitting, that I will have favorable news for you from the Blue Throne. I will do everything in my power to end this war and bring you - all of you - home. You have my word."
"Ma'am!" Her officers salute her too.
Moona lowers her hand and picks up her emptied glass once more. She gives her last toast.
"To the greatest men and women of the Empire! Berusalang!"
"BERUSALANG!"
…
Moona joins her officers at the gates of the Governor's Palace. She watches them offer their wrists to Elysian shackles before they are marched into Elysian trucks bound for the exclave.
Baelz Hakos is present at the scene and takes note of the officers and their ranks. One by one, she crosses off the names on her list save for one.
Moona's.
The Kolonel approaches Bae and stands by her side.
"Your time hasn't come yet, Kolonel Hoshinova." Bae remarks, "You're heading in the opposite direction. West. To the Blue Throne."
"But it won't be soon before long, Lieutenant Colonel Hakos." Moona jokes.
"Just 'Hakos' is fine. You're not Elysian." Bae waves her hand dismissively, "You outrank me anyways."
"I wonder for how long." Moona snorts.
"What do you mean by that?" Bae raises her brow.
"Pavolian intelligence says that you won the battle of the Manor House. When Zeta's 101st Tank Division was leaving us for dead, they were saying that you were the genius behind the Xenokuni City invasion." Moona reveals, "If Elysian promotion schemes are anything like Pavolia's, then you will become a Colonel - maybe even a Brigadier - because of this."
Bae heaves a sigh.
"Do Pavolian officers get promoted that fast?" Bae asks innocently.
"If the Empress wills it." Moona snorts.
Bae chuckles. Then, she answers Moona.
"I'm credited with those victories, but it's my subordinates who did the heavy lifting." Bae admits, folding her arms, "We butt heads often, of course, but they insist on doing things when they believe they're doing the right thing." She snorts, "Just like what you did here in Xenokuni City, against orders from your Brass."
"I guess that's true." Moona nods. She glances at Bae and muses, "Would one of these stubborn-headed subordinates be Ollie Kureiji?"
"Hah. Oh, don't get me started." Bae chuckles, "That girl's a handful, but she's tough as nails, has a great eye for people and gets things done."
"Sounds like good old Ollie alright." Moona nods with a pleasant smile.
"Seems she got that stubbornness from you." Bae grins.
Moona smiles fondly.
"There is still a while before midnight, Miss Hakos. Would you humor me for a moment?"
"If it doesn't take too long, why not?" Bae shrugs.
"Tell me more about Ollie's time with the Elysian military."
"Eh…?" Bae tilts her head, "Why should I do that?"
Moona turns away and looks up to the starry night sky and reminisces.
"Ollie is a dear old friend of mine, Miss Hakos. I couldn't sleep for a while after she defected. I once even begged Zeta to send her agents to see how she was doing - or to try and exfiltrate her… but Zeta refused me, of course. But still - I was afraid that the Elysians were as savage as the propaganda says they were."
"You truly care about her, huh?" Bae rubs her chin.
"Of course!" Moona insists wholeheartedly, "You have no idea how relieved I was to hear that Ollie had become a fine officer - even though she had become an enemy."
Bae furrows her brow and racks her brain for a moment. Then, a smile breaks out on her lips.
"If that's the case, then you should ask Lieutenant Kureiji yourself." Bae teases. She pats Moona's shoulder, "That girl doesn't stop talking about you. If you reached out to her for a chat, she'd be over the moon!" Her grin widens, "Pun intended."
Moona smiles too.
"Alright then. I'll have a nice long chat when she and that special tank crew of hers bring me to the border. I'm looking forward to it!"
When Moona says this, one of the Elysian prisoner trucks honks its horn.
"That's my cue to skedaddle - and for you to get back inside." Bae advises her.
"Understood." Moona nods, "Thank you again for taking care of Ollie all this time, Miss Hakos."
Bae nods back, "Until next time, Kolonel Hoshinova."
…
After Bae and the Elysian guards take away the Pavolian officers, Moona returns to the comfort and solitude of the Governor's Palace.
There is still some time before midnight, Moona thinks. Her own convoy hasn't arrived quite yet.
Moona passes by that same mirror in the hall again. This time around, in the reflection, she is not alone.
Ollie Kureiji, Zeta Vestia and Kaela Kovalskia, all still innocent youths, laugh and cheer and play tag in the halls of the Governor's Palace. Moona remembers their voices and the smiles on their faces.
She longs for them hopelessly.
It makes her heart ache.
Oh, so much.
The visions of her dearest friends in their youth take off and rush towards the palace library. Moona places her hand over her heart and follows them.
She finds the visions gathered around the standing piano by the hearth flame. Moona heaves a sigh and sits down before the piano. She can feel the intent, anticipating gazes of the visions looking over her back.
Then, Moona plays songs from their youth.
The visions smile.
As Moona plays Pavolian standards, a fourth vision appears. A vision of a young Reine Pavolia, still the bright-eyed Putri Kekaisaran - the Imperial Crown Princess without a care in the world.
That Reine, a stark departure from the scowling Empress in the portrait hanging on the wall, smiles and bobs her head along to the tunes that Moona plays. Her starry eyes urge her beloved Moona-simpai to keep playing. The other visions nod in agreement.
Moona obliges. She plays for her phantom audience.
As her medley draws to a close, her mind wanders to the tune of the Pavolian National Anthem. Her fingers follow.
Then, the phantom of young Reine starts to sing.
'O Pavolia raya!'
'Merakyat, merdeka. Tanahku negeriku yang kucinta.'
Moona's heart trembles.
She starts to sing too, answering Reine's verse.
'O Pavolia raya!'
'Merakyat, merakyat. Hiduplah, o Pavolia raya!'
The anthem's melody swells and Moona's playing intensifies. But then, at the highest peak of the song, Moona's fingers press a key that makes no sound, derailing her rhythm.
Moona's song comes to an abrupt end. She tries to press on the key once more, but it still does not sound. The visions of Ollie, Zeta, Kaela and Reine fade away behind her.
And then, as Moona frets over the piano and wonders what to do, the door of the palace library creaks open.
A piano wire shimmers menacingly in the moonlight, wrapped around the gloved hands of Fraile Hakka Banzoin like his prayer beads. He approaches Moona from behind and growls.
"Kolonel Hoshinova. Let us pray."
Moona tries to turn around, but Hakka strangles her with the wire.
…
"Hrgh… urgh… graaaah!"
Moona grunts and gasps. She pushes back against the sharp piano wire with her bare hands, but the wire pierces her skin. Waves upon waves of pain sweep through her, but she wills her hands to stand firm.
"... WHO!?" Moona hisses, stealing sidelong glances of her assassin, "WHO SENT YOU!?"
"Zeta Vestia sends her regards." Hakka says, tightening his grip with his gloved hands, "I cannot meet the Holy Mothers anymore. Not with these stained hands. Please meet them in my stead."
Moona resists with all of her strength, but her hands grow numb. The wire grazes her neck.
It cuts through.
"Hrk… hrng… HRRAAAH!"
Moona's violent throes echo through the palace library.
It is at this time that the library doors creak open once more. Altare Regis and Ollie Kureiji enter the room. They hear Moona's struggle. They see Friar Hakka slitting her throat.
They see the blood. Their own hearts stop.
"ANJING!" Ollie curses violently.
Her body moves on its own. She draws her pistol and shoots.
BANG! BANG!
Her shots fly wide but one grazes Hakka's shoulder. Altare draws his gun too and fires too.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The guilty friar lets go of the piano wire and runs away from the barrel of Ollie's and Altare's guns. As he does, he draws the saber that Moona wore on her hip and topples bookshelves, taking cover behind them.
Memorabilia of Moona Hoshinova with the younger Zeta, Kaela and Ollie spill out onto the floor. Moona herself falls down to her knees as well, surrounded by her fondest memories as she bleeds out.
"Moona-simpai!" Ollie shouts. She rushes to her side and tries to stop her bleeding, "Moona-simpai, hang in there!"
She whips her head to Altare and cries, "Sergeant Regis! Get the bastard!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Altare answers resolutely, gripping his pistol, "Padre! Put your hands up!"
Hakka doesn't respond.
Altare slowly approaches the toppled bookshelf while Ollie tends to her old superior officer. He holds his gun steady, looks down through the iron sights and shouts.
"Friar Hakka! What the hell are you thinking!?"
"I did what was necessary for the survival of the Xenokunian people." Hakka answers from behind the bookshelf, "The Pavolian victory is inevitable. If only you knew what storms are brewing on the horizon, Elysiano. When that time comes, and the Elysians are expelled from this continent, Zeta promised me that Xenokuni would have her independence as a country and as a sovereign people!"
"A Pavolian victory…?" Altare furrows his brow. He inches closer and shouts back, "You're talking out of your ass, padre. The momentum's on Elysium's side. We're going to win this war!"
"Keep telling yourself that." Hakka answers stubbornly, "The Pavolians will win - and I must shield Xenokuni from the Pavolian sword-fall. Only a decisive Pavolian victory will earn Xenokuni her freedom - not an Elysian victory. Not a negotiated peace like what Kolonel Hoshinova wanted!"
"Huh!? If the war ended right now, the Xenokunian people would be spared!" Altare argues.
"Zeta promised to protect me - and my flock - from the culling. They have already done so before. Collaborators like me were spared. Hardliners were shot on the altars of their churches. I gave Zeta their names and closed my eyes and my ears."
"You heartless bastard!"
"Heartless!? I'm keeping the heart of Xenokuni herself alive! We won't be quartered like lowly thieves and then forgotten as footnotes of an old conquest by the Elysian parliament again. We would even take back the exclave that Elysium forcefully took from our ancestral lands and wash away the shame of generations. So, Pavolia will win. Pavolia has to win!"
"You're just trading one shame for another, padre. You're washing off blood with more blood! Do you think your people want more death and destruction!?"
"They will understand in time, Elysiano. But for now, I have already made a deal with the devil. I have already strayed from the Holy Mothers' light. My prayers do not reach them anymore. They do not hear me! This silence - this fucking silence has forced my hand! I have already set things in motion. So, I'm willing to pay any price!"
Hakka leaps out from cover with the saber in hand and roars,
"PATRIA O MUERTE!"
Altare grits his teeth.
"Goddamnit!"
He points his gun at Friar Hakka, aiming for his legs, and fires.
BANG! BANG!
Altare's shot hits the friar's arm and his thigh, but those wounds do not stop Hakka's momentum. The friar glares at Altare with bloodshot eyes and swings Moona's saber.
THWACK!
The blade cuts through the air and whacks the pistol out from Altare's hands. It's edge cuts the back of Altare's hands too, drawing blood.
Hakka's eyes fall upon Altare's throat. He shifts his weight to thrust at the Elysian soldier, but his wounds flood him with pain. Hakka stumbles.
And then, he sees Ollie pointing her gun his way and screams.
"RAAAAAGH!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG-CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Hakka looks down and sees his chest riddled with bullet holes. Moona's saber falls from his grip. He lays his hand over his heart, finding it pierced.
He falls down to his knees. Blood drops down his lips. He croaks his last bloodstained words.
"Ah. Patria… para ti. Muerte… para mi."
The bloody friar keels over and dies by Altare's feet.
Ollie Kureiji breathes heavily. Her empty Elysian pistol rattles in her hand.
But then, she feels a pair of lacerated hands wrap around hers.
Moona's.
Ollie turns to Moona and sees her clouding golden eyes. The dying Kolonel makes Ollie lower her gun. Ollie's empty gun falls from her hands. She holds Moona's hands in hers, feeling the Kolonel grasping back with her waning strength.
Ollie shudders.
Moona's grip weakens. Then, her hands go limp.
"M-Moona-simpai…?"
Ollie clasps Moona's hands. Tears stream down her cheeks and she wails.
"MOONA!"
…
…
…
Far north of Xenokuni City, in the Pavolian border province of Banda Puncak Biru, a long armored train cuts through the night and rumbles through the snowfields of a valley. It is a mobile fortress on rails decked out with anti-aircraft guns, machine guns and even artillery carriages.
Snow-capped mountains and pristine alpine forests flank the train as far as the eye can see. The shimmering light of the moon and the stars illuminate the name of the train, the Pavolia Raya, spelled out in gold letters on the side of the carriages and the Imperial Pavolian standard - a peafowl spreading its wings crowned with laurel leaves - flying alongside the Pavolian national flag.
Under the shadow of that fluttering flag, Zeta Vestia looks up to the cloud-shrouded moon from inside a passenger carriage and smirks with glee.
She watches the moon disappear.
In her hands is a telegram message in morse code. Zeta pockets the telegram and saunters leisurely through the halls of the Pavolia Raya train.
All the while, Zeta hums the tune of the Pavolian national anthem.
'O Pavolia raya!'
'Merakyat, merakyat. Hiduplah, o Pavolia raya!'
As Zeta wanders around, she comes across the doors to the Imperial parlor car. Standing there are sharply-dressed soldiers of the Imperial Guard stand by the door and salute Zeta, pounding their chests.
"Pavolia raya!" The guards cry.
"Pavolia raya." Zeta returns the salute, pounding her own chest too.
The Imperial Guards step aside and let Zeta inside.
When Zeta entere the parlor car, she is greeted by the opulent decorations of Imperial Pavolian regalia that line the mahogany wood panel walls like a museum in the Blue Throne. Replicas of statues and busts of great Pavolian heroes and statesmen populate the car.
Only one great figure in that hall isn't a bronze or marble imitation, however.
Empress Reine Pavolia herself, seated at a chessboard by the window.
The Empress wears her royal blue military coat and the boards of medals pinned to its breast. Her clothes, her posture and her sharp, focused expression mirrors her official portrait that hangs on walls throughout Pavolian lands.
Reine shifts her head towards Zeta. Her stern expression softens for a brief moment, but she shifts back to her dignified mask in a heartbeat.
"Fancy a game of chess, Zeta?" Reine offers.
"If the Empress wills it." Zeta snickers.
Reine frowns.
"You know we don't have to talk in courtly language when it's just us, Zeta." Reine adjusts her board of medals, tempted to rip them off, "We've known each other for a long time. You know how much I hate all that official crap."
Zeta snorts.
"Alright, Reine. Let's play. Just like old times."
Zeta saunters over to the chess board and sits down across from
Reine. She sets the board with swift hands and then makes the first move.
"Your turn, Reine." Zeta smiles.
Reine nods and she responds to Zeta's first strike.
The two of them take turns, trade pieces and play the game before them. Slowly but surely, Reine starts to win in materials.
She takes this time to chat with her foe.
"So, tell me, old friend. How goes the war? We're going to the frontlines to rally the troops all of the sudden - at your insistence."
"It's a sudden request, but there's order in the chaos." Zeta admits, "For one, it's been a while since you've been out of the Blue Throne. Think of this as getting some exercise."
"Don't joke with me, Zeta." Reine is not amused, "Tell me about the war."
Zeta sighs and shrugs.
"Haven't you heard enough about the war from the Imperial Court by now?" Zeta raises her brow.
"I have. But all of them say the same thing: that we are winning and that victory draws near."
"But that is the truth! Your closest advisors wouldn't lie to you." Zeta insists.
Reine furrows her brow.
"My closest advisors lie to me everyday. They tell me what they think I want to hear: what you tell them to tell me. You are lying to me right now. I don't want to be pleased, I want to be told the truth!"
Zeta snickers.
"Am I that obvious?" Zeta hums, tilting her queen piece on the board with her finger.
Reine crosses her legs and leans back into her seat.
"We grew up together, Zeta. And I'm not stupid. I know that Xenokuni City, our most strategic bastion in the East, has fallen to Elysian hands. I heard Moona's surrender speech on the radio. Don't you even dare deny this."
Zeta lets go of her queen and raises up her hands.
"I won't. Xenokuni City has, indeed, fallen. Battle lines have been redrawn to the old Pavolia-Xenokuni border and the Elysians are massing their troops and their planes…"
Zeta snorts, "…and their tanks."
"And you insist that we are still winning this war?" Reine demands.
"But of course. This is all part of my plan." Zeta answers without missing a beat.
"We lost Moona to the Elysians, Zeta." Reine growls, "She's our simpai! She took care of us when we were young. We actually had a youth because of her!"
"A simpai that loses a key bastion of ours without so much as offering an actual fight is no simpai of mine, your highness. Moona's weakness lost us that bastion."
"Moona? Weak?" Reine shakes her head.
"Moona-simpai has always been weak. She is kind - too kind for her own good. She worked so hard to appease the Xenokunians at the expense of her defenses. I told her to stand and fight, but she expelled my 101st Tank Division and raised the white flag over the Governor's Palace instead. The city could have withstood a month of siege if I had my way, but it did not last a day in Moona's hands."
"She must have had a good reason to do so." Reine insists. She rests her hand over her heart, "I know her."
Zeta pauses. She looks Reine in the eyes and corrects her.
"Knew her. She is not the Moona-simpai that we knew who watched over us and played the piano for us at the old Manor House."
Reine grits her teeth and glares at Zeta, "What makes you say that!?"
Zeta is unfazed.
"My right hand has gathered evidence of Moona's treachery. She has made a secret deal with the Elysians to try and turn you against me."
"…a secret deal?" Reine's rage turns to dread, "Your right hand… that's Kaela, isn't it?"
Zeta nods.
"Kaela left Xenokuni City just now. She sent me this telegram before she cut the cables there. I think… that it's best that you see it for yourself."
She brings out the long telegram strip and hands it over to Reine.
The Empress reads the telegram. Her expression shifts from scrutiny to disbelief - then to sorrow.
"They killed her. The Elysians…" Reine croaks. Tears form at the sides of her eyes, "Moona-simpai… she's…"
"The Elysians already got what they wanted out of her. So, they executed her like the savages that they are." Zeta spins her lies without missing a beat. She reaches over the table and lays a hand over Reine's, "I'm sorry I couldn't convince her, Reine."
Reine hangs her head low. Her tears fall upon the chessboard like rain.
Zeta pats Reine's hand.
Then, she offers her a handkerchief.
"Moona-simpai and I saw things differently many times, but she was a Kolonel of the Pavolian Army - and an old friend. With your blessing, I will avenge her."
"Can you avenge her?" Reine asks, looking over the tear-swept chessboard.
"But of course." Zeta answers. She gestures to the chessboard and asks, "May I show you?"
Reine sniffles, but she nods.
Zeta picks up her queen and moves it across the board.
"Sometimes, your highness, you have to lose a little to gain a lot." Zeta grins, "Checkmate."
"Checkmate…!?" Reine gasps.
She looks over the chessboard, searching for her mistake. Zeta smiles proudly.
"From our first moves, I already knew I was going to win." Zeta explains, "I can do the same for the Pavolian Army. I will teach the Elysians their hubris."
"You really think so?"
"I do. When the dust settles, the Pavolian flag will fly from the poles of the Governor's Palace again - and even further beyond! The Manor House, perhaps - or even that damned Elysian exclave! I just need you to trust me for a little while longer, your highness. Give me your Imperial assent. Complete battlefield control."
Reine sinks into her chair and covers her face. She grabs a sheet of paper and presses her Imperial signet ring into it, leaving an embossed mark.
She grabs a fountain pen next and writes a short note on that paper. Reine takes a deep breath and adds her signature.
"You have my assent. Do what needs to be done, Zeta. You will have my full cooperation."
Zeta takes the paper and bows profusely.
"I will have the heads of those responsible skewered on stakes in the streets of the Blue Throne, your highness. You have my word."
Reine doesn't respond. She just slinks into her seat and waves Zeta away.
"Leave me for now. I… need some time to think." Reine says.
Zeta nods and excuses herself from the parlor car.
And leave me for now."
Reine crumples the telegram in her hand and sighs, "I need some time to think."
Zeta nods and excuses herself. She walks back to the communications car at a leisurely pace. When she gets there, she has the telegraph officer there relay a message.
"To Letnan Kaela Kovalskia. We have Imperial assent. Begin the preparations, over."
…
…
…
TEMPEST
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