The weather was good at Lateran City. The sky was completely clear, without any clouds, and the rays of the Sun fell on the white skycrapers, reflecting on them and creating a truly breath-taking sight. On the streets, there was a lively air among the passer-byes, who went on with their daily lives as usual.
'What a lovely day'. Thought a bed-ridden Leumen to herself as she contemplated the outline of Laterano through her hospital ward's window. Her room was very neat and well illuminated. There were a couple of bookshelves, dressers and other furniture scattered around, and the plants on the corners gave it a welcoming touch.
The sankta continued to gaze at the landscape, but at that moment a knock on the door was heard. She diverted her gaze towards it and said.
"Come inside, it's open."
The person on the other side complied and turned the knob. The door silently opened, giving way to a red-haired liberi woman clad in her usual uniform and with a bouquet of flowers between her hands.
"Oh, Fia!" Exclaimed Leumen smiling wholeheartedly at her. "What a surprise to see you around today."
Fiammetta was momentarily taken aback by her attitude, but soon she regained her composure.
"Ehm... I had to attend some business at St. Michael District, and since the hospital was near, I decided to pay you a visit." Without lifting her eyes off her, she approached Leumen's bed and deposited the bouquet on her lap. "Here, I bought some flowers for you."
Picking up the bouquet, the pink-haired sankta brought it to her nose.
"Hmn... These petunias smell very good." She refocused on her friend. "Thanks for the gift."
"I'm glad they're of your liking."
She simply answered with a smile. An almost imperceptible silence settled between the two, yet after a brief while the liberi spoke again, her expression more subdued this time.
"Leumen... How it is going? The recovery, I mean."
"Well, the doctors say that I'm doing a good progress so far, but to be frank with you, I still haven't gotten used fully to the wheelchair. It feels very strange to live without being able to walk or move your legs."
"Yeah..." Fiammetta couldn't help but lower down her gaze. Noticing her friend's downcast expression, Leumen put a hand over her shoulder.
"Hey, don't put that face, Fia. I'll eventually get over it, I assure you."
Upon hearing her words of reassurance, the gloom on her eyes vanished. Looking up at the sankta, Fiammetta smirked a bit.
"Heh, you haven't changed in the slightest, Leumen."
"Nah, I'm simply someone who cares for her friends." She humbly responded.
It seemed like their conversation had died out, but then Fiammetta had an idea.
"Now that I think of it, the weather is good today. Why don't we go out for a walk?"
"Ehm... yes, I would be glad to, but..." Leumen's cheeks adopted a faint shade of pink. "Could you help me get out of the bed?"
Despite the awkwardness of the situation, Fiammetta remained calm and proceeded to lend her friend a hand. She slid one of her arms under the sankta's legs while Leumen rested her back against the other one, and like that the liberi lifted her from the bed. Immediately afterwards she carried Leumen to the wheelchair and helped her to settle down.
Almost as soon as the maneuver had finished the pink-haired sankta dropped on the wheelchair's back and sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Fia."
"You're always welcome, Leumen." Kindly replied Fiammetta. "Now let's get going."
That said she grabbed the wheelchair's handles and pushed Leumen outside the ward.
/ /
The hospital where had a small inner garden, full of green and bushes. In the middle stood an old oak tree, its bare branches lightly swinging with the cold winter breeze. Surrounded by this idyllic nature, Fiammetta and Leumen calmly walked as they continued with their conversation.
"You know, Fia? I find relaxing to walk through the garden, in a way it's my favorite place of the entire hospital."
"Is that so? Well, it's not hard to see why. Wards tend to be chillingly lonely, and personally I'm not a fan of that." Replied Fiammetta.
"Totally agreed..." At that moment Leumen recalled a funny anecdote from their days at the Cohors. With that in mind, the sankta decided to tease her friend a bit, and feigning normalcy she said. "Oh, that reminds me of a story Mostima once told me. According to her, you and her stumbled with an abandoned hospital during a recon mission across Kazdel, and since here was a high risk of it being a hiding place for Sarkaz mercenaries, you decided to enter inside. She said that between the two you performed a full search of the building, but just before leaving, you entered one of the rooms and there..."
"Please, don't continue!" Exclaimed Fiammetta, trying her best to hide her embarrassment. "I don't know what Mostima told you, but it wasn't like that! I swear that mannequin didn't look like one!"
"Okay, I get it!" Responded Leumen, raising her arms in sign of defeat. "I didn't mean to offed you, it was simply a bit of teasing."
Her friend emitted an angry Hmph! as answer. Letting out a small sigh, Leumen turned her gaze towards the oak tree in the middle of the garden and spoke.
"Now that I think of it... Are there any news of Mostima?"
Upon hearing the sankta's question, Fiammetta's expression turned subdued.
"Unfortunately, no. Last thing I heard was that she and the Penguin Logistics pals had narrowly escaped the Russians at Trotskygrad." Pausing for a brief instant, she bitterly smiled. "Why did Mostima have to go fight the bloody Russians? I tried to convince her not to leave Laterano, I begged her... yet despite all my pleas, she didn't listen."
*sigh* "I know. Mostima was well aware of the risks of getting involved, but I guess she simply couldn't stand having to stand and watch as others get slaughtered."
"But she's putting her life in danger, dammit!" Fiammetta clenched her fist, barely able to hide her sorrow. "Doesn't she that she will die? God, if that happened, I..."
"No, she'll make it. Mostima will survive, of that I'm sure." Declared Leumen with certainty in her voice. Her words took the liberi aback completely. "Don't worry, Fia. Mostima is a resilient woman, and besides, my sister and her buddies are with her, so I believe she'll be fine."
"I hope so, Leumen, I hope so..."
Feeling a bit more at ease, Fiammetta and Leumen prepared to continue with their walk after this brief interlude, but before they could do anything they heard a voice calling for their names.
"Hey, Fiammetta!"
The two women quickly turned to the voice's owner, and there they spotted a male sankta approaching them through the path.
Apart from being tall, what stood out the most about him was the glossy knight armor he wore and the imposing minigun on his back. His face wasn't covered by the helmet's visor, allowing one to appreciate his gray hair and kind expression.
Leumen greeted him from her wheelchair.
"Hi there, Mr. Patrizion."
"Good morning, Leumen." He replied coming to a halt. "Glad to see you awake after so much time. How are you doing?"
"Fine, maybe a bit exhausted with the therapy sessions, but that hasn't prevented me from going out for a little walk."
"It's good to hear." For a brief instant, it seemed to the pink-haired sankta that there was some worry in the Apostolic Knight's look, but it soon became irrelevant as the man spoke again. "Leumen, I don't want to be a bother, but... Could I take Fiammetta for a second?"
"No, it's alright." She answered.
Having received Leumen's permission, Patrizion led Fiammetta to a more discreet corner. From where she was, the pink-haired sankta could make out the conversation, albeit just small fragments of it.
"Grandpa, why you needed to talk with me do urgently?" Asked the liberi, visibly confused.
"Well, it's complicated, but in short, a couple of hours ago I..." Leumen wasn't able to discern none of what he said. Meanwhile, Fiammetta's expression had turned dead serious upon hearing his words.
"Is that really true?"
The knight simply nodded. Muttering curses under her breath, the liberi turned her gaze back to her friend and said.
"I'm sorry, Leumen. I have an urgent matter to attend, so I'm afraid I have to leave."
"Don't worry." Replied the pink-haired sankta in a reassuring tone. "I'll ask one of the nurses to take me back to my room later."
"Okay... See you later."
That said, Fiammetta followed the Apostolic Knight to the hospital's entrance, and soon both disappeared from sight. Letting out a small sigh, Leumen turned her wheelchair and watched the oak tree, immersed in deep thought. 'What did Mr Patrizion tell her?', she wondered to herself.
X-X
The sound of footsteps reverberated across the Basilica as two people went down the lavish halls of the Holy See.
"No matter how much I think about it, I don't get it. Why would the Pope summon a meeting with such short notice?" Asked Fiammetta to Patrizion as they walked. "This isn't him at all."
"Yeah, it's very strange indeed. I suspect something really serious must have happened." Replied the knight.
"..." No more words were exchanged and instead they continued with their path. The duo had to make several turns and descend a steep staircase, yet eventually they reached their destination. Before them stood a big pine door with beautifully carved relieved all over its surface, representing all kind of Saints and Sarkaz. Taking a breath, Patrizion turned the knob and pushed the door open.
The conference room was crammed to the top with people. Apostolic Knights, Cardinals, some Legatii... the entirety of Laterano's top branch, the Curia, was present there. It was an imposing display of power, but to be honest, this was overshadowed by the tension in the air. The look on the attendee's face betrayed the restlessness they were feeling at that moment.
Fiammetta and her grandfather tried to not pay too much attention to the uneasy environment, instead going over to their assigned seats. Not even a minute after they had sat when a Pontifica Cohors Guard burst into the room and announced to the people.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the Vicar of the Holy Law, Saint Yvangelista XI!"
The entrance of his Holiness was both pompous and magnificent. At the head of the procession was the Pope himself, an old man with a great beard and soft expression, followed by his entourage of cardinals and bishops. Everyone remained stiff as a log as the head of the Lateran Church slowly walked over to his throne, which presided the table. He sat down with a graceful movement, and once he was finally comfortable, the Pope touched the marble floor with his staff and spoke.
"You all may sit."
The sound of moving chairs momentarily engulfed the conference room, gradually quelling down. With silence restored, Yvangelista took a quick glance of his audience and began to talk.
"My sons and daughters, I thank you all for coming today. As many of you know, a few months ago a mysterious nation going by the name of Russia began a full-scale invasion of the lands of the Ursus Empire..."
"This doesn't look good." Whispered Fiammetta to Patrizion's ear. "Where do you think he wants to get to by talking around so much?"
"I don't know, let's keep listening." The Apostolic Knight turned his attention back to the Pope, who continued delivering his speech.
"... The international community, Laterano included, expected a quick victory of Ursus over the Russian Federation; but to our surprise, that wasn't the case. It wasn't just that the Russians wiped off the Ursus Imperial Army, but that apart from that they've conquered a vast area of the country." He made a brief pause. "I'm telling you all of this because there have been... significant developments on the situation." He then shot a look at the purple-haired sankta woman sitting besides him and gestured her to take the floor. "Cardinal Velliv, please explain them the details."
Standing up from her seat, the cardinal cleared her throat and addressed the room.
"Ejem... As his Holiness has mentioned, Ursus's armies have been left in shambles and unable to defend their territory. Two days ago, our Legatii on the field reported that the Russian Army has breached Deity Gypherburg's first line of defense, and they're currently fighting their way through the city's outskirts. These advances have made us come to a hard yet inevitable conclusion... The Ursus Empire's fall is imminent."
The attendees reacted with great consternation to the news.
"May the Lord have mercy on us..." Muttered one of the cardinals. "The collapse of Ursus will destabilize Terra's balance of power irreversibly."
"I fear so... but the bad news doesn't end there. Just a couple of hours ago the Office of Foreign Affairs received a communiqué from Kazimierz's National Council. It said..." Velliv closed her eyes and carefully pondered what she would say next. Seconds later, she reopened them and, taking a deep breath, dropped the bombshell. "It said that Russian troops have crossed the border into their nation."
The moment she pronounced those words the entire room was consumed by chaos. People jumped from their chairs and shot looks of utter disbelief at the purple-haired sankta.
"Law blessed, if they have invaded Kazimierz... we could be next ones!"
"We are doomed!" Cried out another person. "Those barbarians will raze our sacred homeland to the ground!"
"Irrumabo! What are going to do now?!"
The clamor became more heated by the minute, yet before it could spiral out of control any further, the Pope drew his gun and fired at the ceiling with a loud noise.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The entire room was engulfed in deep silence. Letting out a sigh, the Pope leaned back on the throne. He subsequently said.
"I understand your concerns, I really do. This crisis is unprecedented in Terra's history, never before had we faced a foe like Russia. Their power is truly terrifying, and not even I can deny that fact." He paused for a second. "Up until now I had believed that, by maintaining strict neutrality, we could avoid any problems with them, just like always... but in the light of these recent events, I've realized that our current policy isn't going to shelter us from the storm to come. If we are to save Lateran and its people, then we must put and end to this war."
The audience was surprised by his Holiness's change of heart, yet it was well-received nonetheless. One of the Apostolic Knights, a veteran one by his look, rose from his seat and spoke.
"I fully agree with his Holiness. The only way to protect our country is by stopping the Russian aggression towards the nations of Terra. Now the point is... How will we do it? The Russian Army has demonstrated its colossal power on the battlefield, a direct confrontation would be a suicide."
"You're right." Contested Velliv. "Facing them directly is out of the table, but perhaps we could use our network of alliances to get the other nations involved. I highly doubt Russia can wage war across multiple fronts."
"Maybe, but we are in the dark about Russia's real capabilities..."
"Hmm..." Pope Yvangelista thought long and hard of what their course of action would be. Minutes passed without nothing coming to his mind... but then the idea came. "My sons and daughters, I think I've got it. If we really want to take Russia down, then... we have to strike their leadership."
The entire room let out a collective gasp of disbelief upon hearing the Pope's plan.
"A strike against Russia? Is your Holiness really sure of...?"
"Yes." He promptly answered. "It might sound reckless, yet it's our only realistic chance of defeating them. We know very little of Russia's intentions, but apparently the main instigator of the invasion is their president, Dimitri Gergeiev. His death could trigger a power struggle within the Russian Government, something that would divert their attention from Terra. In other words, if we take out the snake's head, the rest will come crashing down."
The Pontiff's explanation seemed to have convinced all the audience... except for one person. All of a sudden, Patrizion rose up and, before everyone's eyes, addressed the Pope.
"I'm sorry, your Holiness, but I strongly oppose this plan."
This move by her grandfather took Fiammetta completely by surprise. Nonetheless, she closely listened to Yvangelista's response.
"It's okay, Patrizion. The opinion of an Apostolic as wise and faithful as you is always welcome. Tell me, what do you see wrong in my plan?"
"If I may, your Holiness, I believe that striking the Russian leadership would be counter-productive for us. For starters, there's nothing guaranteeing us that the Russians will retreat from the conflict once we get rid of the President. Apart from that, we also must expect a heavy ring of protection centered around Gergeiev; and finally, if we are really going to execute this operation it must be a total success. A single mistake can ruin the entire plan, and what's worst of all... if that happens, then the wrath of Russia will fall upon Laterano."
"I know..." Replied the Pope. "This plan puts our nation in great danger, but as I've said earlier, sitting and doing nothing isn't going to do us any good. This is our only chance to end the war without too much bloodshed."
"I see..." The defeated Patrizion went back to his seat. In the meantime, one of the cardinals turned to the Pope and said.
"Okay, I guess everyone agrees with his Holiness's idea then. Now, the question is... How the hell are we going to get to Gergeiev?"
Velliv took advantage of the opportunity to intervene.
"I suggest we send two assault teams of the Pontifica Cohors and one brigade of the Apostolic Knights. They'll infiltrate Russian-occupied Novaya Volga, and there they'll wait until the president decides to show his face. From there the teams just need to wait for the right opportunity... and et voilá, Gergeiev is no more!"
"Hmm, it sounds like a good plan." Thought the Pope.
"Yeah. The only difficulty they could stumble with is getting past the Russian patrols, but I already have a solution for that. You see, it just so happens that I know of a group of Ursus dukes currently living under Russian occupation. These nobles are led by a woman named Koshelna, and it seems that they're planning an assassination attempt on Gergiev. Given that our objectives are practically the same, they could smuggle our troops through the border."
"That's great!" Exclaimed Yvangelista. "Get in touch with those Dukes and offer them an alliance."
"As you wish, your Holiness."
"Good." The Pope then turned his gaze towards the public and said. "Well, if there's nothing else to discuss, then I declare the meeting as over!"
/ /
Time after the meeting had ended, Fiammetta managed to catch up with her grandpa at the Basilica's entrance. She noticed his downcast expression almost right away, and with a worried tone she asked.
"Grandpa, are you alright?"
The liberi's question woke Patrizion from the darkness. He blinked a couple of times before glaring back at Fiammetta and answering.
"Ah, yes, I'm good. Sorry for spacing out, I just..."
"Let me guess. You're worried about the Curia's resolution, am I right?"
*sigh* "Yeah..." He looked up at the sky. "I don't know, Fiammetta. I might be wrong, but... I fear this will end very badly for everyone invloved..."
Fiammetta didn't know what to say. The plan explained by Velliv seemed very solid at first glance... yet, deep down her heart, she too had a bad feeling about this. She could only hope her grandpa's funest prediction was wrong...