Sovereign

“Gallian Royal Government steps down after a day of siege from GAF mutineers—and later coup plotters. For nearly the entire day, Toldoi was rocked when trucks, armored vehicles, and soldiers of the Gallian military assaulted the city by morning, with scenes of Gallian tanks aiming their main guns at Toldoi Palace, alongside deployments of sniper teams, machine gun teams, and other assault units against the Queen’s residence. Queen Clericia Alois and the leaders of her government formally surrendered after hours of confrontation, with the Queen apparently being escorted out by her guards and Orlish soldiers present in Toldoi. The Gallian Kingdom currently has no proper leadership, but it is expected that newly appointed members of the Gallian general staff will be announcing a junta within the next few days. The Queen’s condition also remains unknown.”

- Geopol Press

+++

Kingdom of Gallia

Toldoi

Princess Louise Alois was a confused mess today. Out of nowhere, armed men had barged in on her residence, told her to pack up and “get moving”, and she wasn’t even allowed to contact her mother nor was she allowed to contact Marshall Henry Tuvein—her fiancée, and the head of the Gallian Armed Forces.

When she left the urban camoed van with the group of soldiers that picked her up, she found herself in downtown Toldoi. It was midnight, yet, the streets were packed. She watched in the distance as a roadblock that was seemingly hastily set up by protestors was smashed by a tank, causing the distant crowds to shout and flee.

On their side, more trucks of her Kingdom’s military stopped near her, unloading soldiers that now held not just simple rifles, but riot shields that they clearly took from the police. The soldiers all poured out from the trucks, rushing to reinforce the lines of soldiers cracking down on the protestors.

Then there were the countless ambulances, parked armored vehicles, and whatever else. She felt her blood run cold as the soldiers pushed her forward roughly, forming a tight perimeter around her.

“Watch it!” She suddenly snapped at one of the soldiers as she was pushed roughly. “I am the Princess of the Kingdom! Who the hell are all of you to shove me like this into whatever nonsense you’re planning?”

“Keep moving you brat!” One of the men, his face covered by a balaclava, shouted at her. “Unless you want your brain matter splattered on the road, then keep moving!”

She wanted to fight back, but she knew better, feeling herself pushed forward. She continued walking as best as she could, as the soldiers continued surrounding her. She looked to her side. These young men weren’t exactly only keeping watch of her. Instead, they were also looking at the buildings, rooftops, and what else.

Goddess, is someone about to shoot me?

“Keep moving!” The soldier behind her said as he pushed her forward. Louise couldn’t believe how these men were treating the Princess of Gallia. And that was what scared her greatly. All these…the lack of contact with her mother…or Henry, it was all….

“I’m trying!”

“It’s not safe here!” The man continued. “So you better walk faster, young miss!”

What the hell is happening?

She kept looking around on the streets. The path they were taking was seemingly cordoned off by lines of soldiers. And whenever she looked in the distance, she could see the white smoke of tear gas going off, alongside the clashes between the protestors and soldiers with riot gear.

She searched and searched for anyone different from these soldiers, who merely kept pushing her onward roughly. Anyone. Anyone who she could ask. But there was no one. It was as if she was fully surrounded by men who would snap at her any second now.

Until she saw them.

There were three of them. Soldiers. Their shoulder patches weren’t of the Gallian flag, but of the Orlish tricolor. They were seemingly talking to themselves beside their HMLV. One of them was laughing, the other one groaned in an annoyed manner, while the last one seemed to be just staring at the moon sleepily.

Louise didn’t waste her time and tried to push away one of the soldiers to get herself out of the tight cordon. The Gallian soldiers suddenly barked and shouted at her, trying to pull her back, and Louise screamed, taking the attention of the Orlish soldiers.

“Stop pulling me!”

“Yo, what the hell?!” One of the Orlish soldiers snapped in her direction before the trio ran to her. “What are they doing to her?”

“Help! Help! They’re trying to take me away, somewhere!” Louise begged, before being pulled by the soldiers.

“Surround her you fools!” The man behind her shouted until the Orlish soldiers reached them and the soldiers around her stopped trying to drag her back into the center.

“Gentlemen!” The man who appeared to be the leader of the trio tried to laugh awkwardly as he approached them, his accented and slightly broken Gallian bleeding through. “What seems to be the problem with her? She seems distressed.”

“I’m Princess Louise Alois and I don’t understand why or where they are taking me! I need help! Please!”

“We are taking her away from the decoy convoy,” the man who was holding her answered. “You three should just keep doing your job there. Young miss, can you please stop being a headache?”

“You’re all dragging me to places against my will,” Louise snapped. “How else would I respond to these, these violations of my rights!”

“Uhh, yeah, sir. I think you guys are making the VIP panic,” the Orlishman smiled at Louise. “Your Highness, uhh, there may be some miscommunication happening, but these guys I think are just escorting you to the palace to be crowned. Immediately from what I’ve heard.”

“Crowned? But my mother is still the Queen…”

“Well, not anymore, apparently,” Louise’s eyes widened, as the soldiers behind her groaned. The Orlish soldier looked back at one of his subordinates. “Hey, you two, follow them until they reach their actual convoy. Give her some piece of comfort. I’ll keep watch here.”

“You sure with that, sarge?”

“Yeah.”

The two soldiers nodded before the Orlish soldier turned back to her.

“These two guys are going to come with you,” he said. “Don’t worry, you’re under the protection of Orland. Our Queen sends her regards.”

+++

West Orland

November Palace

It was already three in the morning, and Amelie was now lazily scrolling on her laptop as she awaited the next phone call.

Her eyes were now baggy and darkened. Even the light, cutesy music she was listening to was barely keeping her awake. But Amelie held on defiantly, as she shakingly took her cup, now filled not by tea but her third serving of coffee. Her office was now dark, with the lights turned off. She also really wanted a blanket to protect her from the cold if she ever fell asleep on her desk

But the coffee was her ally in these dark times. She held onto it, and pulled it close to her face, before she blew on it, feeling the warm air from the vapors. One sip, and she felt herself jump back awake.

What the hell?! Too bitter!

She almost threw up. With Nia valiantly abandoning her by promptly falling asleep on the other side of the room, Amelie was the last woman capable of serving herself coffee. And it seemed that her brewing skills were atrocious. She reached out for the milk on her table, pouring some of it into her cup in a desperate offensive to save her coffee, but suddenly, someone opened the door to her office.

It was William.

Amelie’s eyes suddenly shined, as her voice raised jubilantly.

“William, it’s you, it’s really you…is there a bed now?”

“You look dead,” William said, walking forward while sighing. He was once again holding another ominous folder (and at this point, Amelie thought that she must be developing trauma from the endless scenes of William holding a folder and barging into her office), and Amelie’s shoulders further sagged at the sight. Another report about another disaster. Amelie curled down on her seat, trying to appear small, all while shooing him. “Anyway…”

“Go away, bad news. Go away. Go away. Shoo. Shoo. Please…”

“Can’t,” William chuckled a bit. “You know, if you wanted to, we can deal with this ourselves. But, since you said to keep you updated each hour, and you seem so adamant about holding the fort here, well, here you go.”

“I want sleep…” Amelie muttered. “But I can’t. Ugh, this is painful…”

“Yeah, well, you see, the thing is, Queen Clericia’s condition is now stabilized. The folks in the hospital got her heart back in order. They’re still checking what to do going further, but now, the worst should be over. We’ve also posted guards from the 19th in the hospital, and more Royal Guard personnel should be coming soon, alongside OPM personnel as well…”

“Mhm…that’s good news…” Amelie sleepily said.

“That, and Princess Louise has safely reached the Palace. She’s apparently very shaken by the events, and she’d probably need your words of reassurance, but she’s fine and dandy, and you can talk to her tomorrow instead.”

Amelie nodded slowly, her eyes already half closed. William continued.

“The protests in Toldoi are still intense, but more and more military units are being deployed. Protesters and their ringleaders are being slowly dispersed, one by one. The Gallian military however is being heavy-handed, but we can’t do anything yet about that. What we can say though is that with the measures in place should still restore public order by tomorrow.”

“William…that sounds very mean of them…” Amelie mumbled.

“Yeah. Well, sure. Next, the GAF leadership has confirmed their three new leaders already. General Albrecht talked thirty minutes ago with them, and he told me that things were fine and that they were cooperating. They’re already setting up the structure of the next government, and they have promised us that they will step down and hold elections once the war ends.”

“Now that sounds kind of them…”

“And finally, coalition forces from the north have been attempting a continuous breakthrough in our defensive lines. So far, the Gallian military is still fighting with us side-by-side, unabated. It seems like the troops at the frontlines are going to be continuing the job as best as they can, so the worst thing we expected, that this would fully disrupt the front, is becoming unlikely. Chief Air Marshall Zimmerman is also organizing more round-the-clock CAP and CAS missions even if the Air Force suffered more casualties if things get too desperate.”

“...I wanna go to my room…” Amelie said, now fully half asleep. “...Sleep. I want to sleep, William.”

She heard William sigh, as Amelie’s head fully fell on the desk. Without many options, William acted, and Amelie felt William placing one of her arms over his shoulder while pulling him up.

“Come on, don’t act like a child,” William told her, as he placed her arm on her shoulder. “Can you walk?”

“I guess…”

“Yeah, well, I’ll support you till we get to your room then. Goddess, you’re going to get me into trouble with this.”

“Sowwy…”

Amelie opened her eyes a bit, as she tried to walk, even with her body already so heavy from both fatigue and sleepiness. The two slowly walked to the door, with her supported by William. Amelie stopped briefly.

“Oh come on, get a move on. You wanna sleep right?”

“...I just wanted to say, thanks.”

“Well, you seem mighty awake now. Care to walk on your own feet?”

Amelie however just adamantly closed her eyes and tried to apply more of her weight on him to convince him that she was really sleepy.

“...Fine, whatever,” He chuckled. “You can be really childish sometimes.”