13-01-2025, 02:00 AM
Black Room (military command centre), the Hosheh, Kingdom of Beiteynu, 11 October 5599, 13:08
These past two days had been the longest of his life. Ever since that one phone call everything had gone to ashes. Attacking the Xsampans.. they had deserved an escalation. The revolutionaries in Wiel's demands had been too tight. But ever since then he also knew they would have listened, they would have made a deal. A compromise that would have kept both sides happy. Then the nuclear bomb? Hellfire had become reality..
The politicians and generals no longer asked for his input, even though he was still officially the Meleh and Commander-in-Chief. Nobody bothered him though, he could go wherever he wanted. He turned to his personal Royal Guard, a fellow exile he had known since he was a boy. A grizzled veteran he trusted with his life. "Show it again." The man whipped out his phone and together they watched the aftermath of the nuclear detonation one more time. All those lives, all civilians. The flames, the smoke, the ashes, the tinder. It all burned into his brain. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and fought hard to control his emotions. After a while he pushed the phone away. "What have we done?" He muttered, looking up at Jeztri after. "We- no. I have made the greatest mistake. I have failed everything my father built, broken it down, destroyed it. Now all I have are ashes. They were right, Jeztri, they were right to kick me out all those years ago." The silence was long and hard after, even with all the talking in the room.
As they were walking out the Hosheh the Royal Guard finally found the courage to speak. "If.. if I may, Your Majesty?" He stopped walking and looked at Jeztri, ready to find out how loyal he would be. "We can always return home, sire. Home to Wrnuke.. I- I have heard they didn't execute a single one of the Guard, most of the royal family still live there too, th-they all have their titles, Your Majesty, just no further rights." He wanted to speak further but he raised his hand to silence him. For a moment fear showed in the eyes of the Guardsman, but he smiled at him. "You are right, home. Home is where the answers are. The hellfire, the ashes, the world is aflame with nuclear destruction. We must return, but I won't return as a King, Jeztri, I am going to return as a Jelbic man longing for his own steppes."
Office of the Secretary-General, People's Council, Wiel, Jelbic People's Soviet Republic of Wrnuke
As the Minister of Defence was explaining the current situation of the massive naval battle the red light on the desk phone started blinking. For a second it irritated Secretary-General Nutrem Rotrovresk, he had given explicit orders not to be disturbed during this briefing. Then he remembered the red light was only for the highest priority calls. A lump appeared in his throat as he appeared for the worst. "Apologies, Bulut, the phone." Minister P'ílkotr nodded. He picked it up. "Yes?" On the other end of the line he heard the new Director of the recently reformed RSB. "Secretary-General, my sincere apologies for disturbing you, but we have had a rather interesting call, an old extraction number from the royalist times was used. Those numbers are usually to get lost VIP's, lost agents, assets that need ASAP recovery.. well.. the code used was 0001, which may mean nothing to you but it is reserved for the monarch of the Kingdom of Wrnuke." He was speechless for a second. "Wrntukai wants to return home?" The Director responded hesitantly. "We are still verifying if it is him or if someone got the phone number and his code out of him.. but the agent taking the call said it sounded just like the old King, yes." What a strange turn of events. "If it is him.. bring him home, Director. But keep it highly classified, we will only announce this if we know what is going on here." After that he hung up, with the Minister of Defence staring at him in disbelief. "The King?" Bulut asked, all he could do in response was nod meekly. Perhaps he could be reformed.
These past two days had been the longest of his life. Ever since that one phone call everything had gone to ashes. Attacking the Xsampans.. they had deserved an escalation. The revolutionaries in Wiel's demands had been too tight. But ever since then he also knew they would have listened, they would have made a deal. A compromise that would have kept both sides happy. Then the nuclear bomb? Hellfire had become reality..
The politicians and generals no longer asked for his input, even though he was still officially the Meleh and Commander-in-Chief. Nobody bothered him though, he could go wherever he wanted. He turned to his personal Royal Guard, a fellow exile he had known since he was a boy. A grizzled veteran he trusted with his life. "Show it again." The man whipped out his phone and together they watched the aftermath of the nuclear detonation one more time. All those lives, all civilians. The flames, the smoke, the ashes, the tinder. It all burned into his brain. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and fought hard to control his emotions. After a while he pushed the phone away. "What have we done?" He muttered, looking up at Jeztri after. "We- no. I have made the greatest mistake. I have failed everything my father built, broken it down, destroyed it. Now all I have are ashes. They were right, Jeztri, they were right to kick me out all those years ago." The silence was long and hard after, even with all the talking in the room.
As they were walking out the Hosheh the Royal Guard finally found the courage to speak. "If.. if I may, Your Majesty?" He stopped walking and looked at Jeztri, ready to find out how loyal he would be. "We can always return home, sire. Home to Wrnuke.. I- I have heard they didn't execute a single one of the Guard, most of the royal family still live there too, th-they all have their titles, Your Majesty, just no further rights." He wanted to speak further but he raised his hand to silence him. For a moment fear showed in the eyes of the Guardsman, but he smiled at him. "You are right, home. Home is where the answers are. The hellfire, the ashes, the world is aflame with nuclear destruction. We must return, but I won't return as a King, Jeztri, I am going to return as a Jelbic man longing for his own steppes."
Office of the Secretary-General, People's Council, Wiel, Jelbic People's Soviet Republic of Wrnuke
As the Minister of Defence was explaining the current situation of the massive naval battle the red light on the desk phone started blinking. For a second it irritated Secretary-General Nutrem Rotrovresk, he had given explicit orders not to be disturbed during this briefing. Then he remembered the red light was only for the highest priority calls. A lump appeared in his throat as he appeared for the worst. "Apologies, Bulut, the phone." Minister P'ílkotr nodded. He picked it up. "Yes?" On the other end of the line he heard the new Director of the recently reformed RSB. "Secretary-General, my sincere apologies for disturbing you, but we have had a rather interesting call, an old extraction number from the royalist times was used. Those numbers are usually to get lost VIP's, lost agents, assets that need ASAP recovery.. well.. the code used was 0001, which may mean nothing to you but it is reserved for the monarch of the Kingdom of Wrnuke." He was speechless for a second. "Wrntukai wants to return home?" The Director responded hesitantly. "We are still verifying if it is him or if someone got the phone number and his code out of him.. but the agent taking the call said it sounded just like the old King, yes." What a strange turn of events. "If it is him.. bring him home, Director. But keep it highly classified, we will only announce this if we know what is going on here." After that he hung up, with the Minister of Defence staring at him in disbelief. "The King?" Bulut asked, all he could do in response was nod meekly. Perhaps he could be reformed.