Sovereign

“The Coalition of Free Nations accuses the new government of the Gallian Kingdom of human rights violations against women! ‘These women are demanding for peace and instead are being rewarded with tear gas and batons,’ said the Federal Republic’s Foreign Affairs Minister. ‘It’s appalling,’ he reiterated during a press conference this morning. ‘Truly appalling. My heart goes to the countless poor Gallian women being dragged into this Junta’s brutality, guided by our vile Queen in Eutstadt who refuses to abdicate’. These words however fall into deep ears, as the Gallian Junta continues to brutalize and crack down on the anti-mobilization protests. While these women are no saints, for many are protesting the removal of the vile Queen Clericia of Gallia, we must remember that they at least fight against the idea of prolonging the fight against liberation indirectly.”

- The Front

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West Orland

November Palace

“I reiterate,” Amelie said as the cameras flashed. “That Orland stands with the new Gallian government. The internal affairs of Gallia aren’t Orland’s domain of responsibility, as such I refuse to take sides in their struggles, as it is Gallia’s right to decide who shall rule. But Orland, as a whole, will side with whichever government is residing in Toldoi, and will defend them as stated in our alliance with them.”

Amelie looked away from the teleprompter.

“Whether it is Queen Clericia, or Queen Louise on their throne. Whether it’s the old government or the new government ruling them. Gallia is Gallia, and Orland is with Gallia.”

Amelie stepped back and left the podium with a dignified walk. Making her backstage, she immediately sighed as William handed her a bottle of water, which she promptly took.

“You did well,” William said.

“Thanks,” Amelie replied. “I hope this works.”

“I don’t know,” William watched as Amelie drank from the bottle after she opened its cap. “I think you’re overestimating the chances of them dissolving just because they’re counting on Orland’s aid.”

Amelie closed the half-full bottle and handed it to William.

“And I think you’re underestimating it,” Amelie smiled confidently. “I know they’re resisting the change because they think I’ll be on their side. Because they think the world will be on their side. Well, with me falling out of the list, the rest of the MN would follow, as Adelaide said.”

Suddenly, an aide appeared behind Amelie. She bowed briefly.

“Your Majesty, the Foreign Ministry has just notified us that Princess Kawasaki made a public statement to support the new Gallian government.”

“Thanks,” Amelie said, as the aide nodded and stepped away. Amelie looked back at William. “See? It’s working. I speak now, then my friends follow suit. It’s a simple arrangement. After this, those protestors would have no more international backing. They’ll become demoralized, and in the face of the Gallian military, they’ll disband.”

Amelie walked forward, while William followed. The two made their way to a more secluded area before they continued their discussion.

“It’s how we can dismantle them,” Amelie continued. “Give them pressure. Just enough pressure to force them into submission by making the situation hopeless for them, but not too much that you and Walter were suggesting…that…that it might embolden them.”

William laughed a bit.

“You’re becoming quite the vicious woman, huh?”

“Of course,” Amelie placed her hands behind her and turned around to William. “I have to be. To win in this war, I have to learn to be…a bit more playful, with how I approach things.”

William crossed his arms.

“You know, we prefer to be blunt and straightforward,” William said. “But I guess our mentality isn’t really one for subtlety.”

“Hmm…and why is that?”

“Simple,” William smirked. “Our philosophy is based on warfare. Shock-and-awe. One of the core doctrines of the military. Superior firepower, concentrated in their weakest point, delivered rapidly and effectively—that’s how you dismantle your enemies. You destroy them utterly, with speed, and shock.”

“So that’s why you, Walter, and the OHC advocate for the Gallian military to give the Gallian military the freedom to just…deploy violence at scale?”

“The strength of gunfire is how you convince the enemy,” William said. “But I guess you prefer that alternative of yours. I can understand. In fact, I think we’re going to enthusiastically follow you with that.”

“And why’s that?” Amelie looked down a bit, quite confused at how men in her government were acting. “I noticed you guys backed down quickly when I shot your ideas down.”

“Well, truthfully, as much as we’d like to feel superiority with being proven right, I think I’m way too clueless at dealing with this, and I imagine Walter and General Albrecht, or Jan, or Alfred is much the same. Normally, when someone protests, you don’t…let them…”

“You what?”

“In our experience…” William breathed in deeply, his voice turning slightly grim. “You disperse them with full force. Crush them with the power of the state. Then you’ll raid their bases. Close down the venues where they organize. Eliminate the leaders and the thinkers. And scatter the followers. Then…then you burn their ideas to the ground. Demonize it until it’s pushed to the fringes. Where it’ll either be only picked up by lunatics or become forgotten.”

“...That’s how we dealt with you, no?”

“More or less,” William said. “I saw it myself back then. When…when I was just a teen. Heh, the police were really thorough with those older guys. I still remember how some of them would test out their spells on them to give us a good lesson…”

“Back when the Orlish economy collapsed, the NRF and ORP both rioted heavily,” Amelie said. “I remember holding back the Royal Guard and the Police during those days. I didn’t know it would go that bad had I not intervened…”

“Well, I mean regardless of what you did, the fatalities were going to happen,” William said. “You know, funnily enough, I’m actually quite surprised with how low the fatalities are between the Gallian military and the protestors. Normally, at this point, the cities would be burning, and there would be dozens of fatalities on the government’s side and thousands in the protestors.”

“That’s how it goes when men riot, no?”

William laughed.

“If you’re going to send a message to the government, you gotta do it while preparing for death,” William said. “That’s why the Civil Defense Unit existed. When we do it, we expect violence from the get-go. We expect bullets and spells to fly. We expect to be gassed. Hence the way the ORP and NRF organized back then. They went in with gas masks, steel shields, and guns from the onset.”

“The women protesting in Gallia only use their wands and basic magic,” Amelie said. “I haven’t even seen them deploy much of the more lethal spells. I imagine if they wanted, they could collaborate by sucking out the air from the lungs of the military personnel. That should finish things quite quickly.”

“You can do that? I remember back then that the Royal Guard would do it from time to time,” William said, a bit curious. “They say it’s a sucky way to go.”

“You wouldn’t want it,” Amelie said, laughing a bit. “It’s a bit more on the illegal side as far as magic goes. If I pull the air out of your lungs mentally, it causes quite a gruesome death. Wind-based magic is kinda like that. You can slice people from a distance. Or suck the air out of them. I was even looking into spells that forced air inside of a person’s lungs. I think that one’s just kinda sadistic though.”

“Ah, yeah, I’d rather not,” William laughed awkwardly. “It’s a blessing you women don’t train much on combat magic anymore.”

“Not really from our side with the way things are,” Amelie chuckled a bit. “I imagine many are regretting their decision to forgo the more disgusting side of our magic.”

“I guess,” William shrugged a bit. “But that’s why we proposed a more violent response. Amelie, these protestors seem a bit unprepared for the military responding in a violent fashion. We hope that if we remove the leash, they'll crack at once. Rapidly. They won’t know what gets them. I mean, sure, the military is deploying some measures of brutality from time to time, but it’s responsive.”

“You want to be proactive.”

“And organized. And rapid. And overwhelming,” William’s eyes almost turned psychotic for a second. “That is how we think we’ll be able to restore order in Gallia. That is how we’ll be able to disperse them. We give them everything that the Gallian military can offer. And they’ll be shocked into submission.”

“Well, I think you know why I don’t want that though,” Amelie said. “I just cannot accept that solution. Not while I’m in charge. In fact, I don’t want people to ever go through that again. If I held the Royal Guard and the police back when you men were all on the streets threatening to slice my head and put it on a stick, what more now?”

William gave a tired laugh.

“I know,” William said. “Better that you’re in charge, really. If it was Walter, I’d have followed him already.”

“That kinda makes me a bit scared,” Amelie smiled nervously before she frowned softly. “Come on, William, aren’t you a bit schooled into my ways at this point?”

“Your ways?”

“The ways of gentleness, William!” Amelie poked him a bit. “You should have at least picked up on that. And here I thought you were one of my closest followers.”

“Apologies,” William laughed a bit. “But Amelieism has been kinda hawkish lately, so I get a bit confused.”

“That’s just a temporary measure! And don’t call it that way. That’s an ugly name!”

“Still,” William backed a bit. “I don’t think I can fully follow you on everything, even if I want to believe you.”

Amelie stopped her playful scolding.

“I…guess that’s normal, though. My ideals aren’t yours.”

“I share some of it,” William said. “But I think differently. And I’ll stick by what I suggested. If your plan fails, and this escalates until it becomes dangerous enough to disrupt the war effort, then you’d be at fault. I won’t tell you that you should have followed us, but still.”

“I understand,” Amelie said, looking to the side. “We’ll just see how it goes. If they disperse within a few days, or in a week, perhaps it’d have work. I hope they do disperse. I don’t think your plan would be acceptable to implement.”

“The problem with that is that you can’t fully control the Gallian Junta,” William pointed out. “They’re cooperating right now, but only so far as they believe the reassurances you and Adelaide are giving them. Eventually, they’ll be frustrated that the protests are intensifying that they’ll be forced to—”

“I know, I know,” Amelie rested her back on the wall, as she sighed. “I know that. It’s what I’m really worried about. If you think my plan will fail, well, that’s not my main worry. I worry that the Gallian military will stop believing me. I told them to give us a week while continuing the current state of their response. We’ll be doing our best to politically and diplomatically isolate the Gallian Royalists from any form of international support. But, they're kinda twitchy…”

“Yeah,” William said. “They are. They’re a government only supported by the military. They’re no government of the people. That’ll compel them to become more heavy-handed if you fail in this scheme. Because that’s the only resource they have to maintain control. Just like all male-led revolutionary republics of the CFN. Violence.”