Lymoca's Decision

  “This needs further deliberation.” Luis stated. Fox tilted his head to the left and nodded a little before stepping aside, giving Luis vision towards the rest of his cabinet. Luis's tone was severe, and his eyes narrowed a little from being fully widened with the previous news.

  Just then, a person from his cabinet walked to the front and slightly leaned over his desk, hands on its surface. “President, if we go with a ‘moving’ plan, we’ll have no other choice but to let go of one of our goals, of the long-term section.”

  “I know that,” Luis sharply and understandingly stated. The person nodded before adding, “But even if we do nothing, we’ll already have lost it. This declaration of war, no matter how I think about it, they will never see us again as ‘the better option’.”

  “…” Luis closed his eyes momentarily, feeling the heaviness of the situation even more. He even realized it was a miracle he wasn’t losing his head already, forced to sit down and calm down as he was once made to in his first term. Thinking of that, he looked at Lesly.

  Lesly looked at him in a deadly serious expression, similar to back then, but she didn’t have breathtaking black eyes that made him feel diminished. She looked at him with trust, with her confidence put on him. Luis imperceptibly nodded, looking at his cabinet before standing up to walk around it, sitting on its edge.

  “I want this to move further,” Luis’s proactively made his stance clear. The cabinet drew a breath of air though their nostrils, silent. He looked at his cabinet and gestured to himself and them as he spoke, “The entire world is watching now. Some will see this as our fault, some others will not. The clear thing here is what we will do, nothing else matters. Nothing ever did in the past, post or pre-Green Transformation, even pre-Sanctum Order.”

  “This doesn’t mean all of our talked plans are out. I’m still rooting for them, even if we cannot bring these talks for the future to others, and even if I never expected to lead the paved road myself.” Luis looked at them, asking them to see him, too. “Hell, next term was supposed to be when we changed the political ‘laws’ in Lymoca, getting rid of the nefariousness plaguing it all these centuries.”

  “Where you would help me mentor those who come before us, where I laid the foundation, and others followed it, regardless of which party or Key. It had to be that strong, and we are only starting. More than anything, thanks to him!” Luis pointed at Fox, but only momentarily, not letting a single person take too much importance in his heated, low-volume speech.

  “And trust me, I am not taking them away. I am Luis Heartez, but it’s only with you that I’m the President. Through my life, never did I imagine… leading this new future of Lymoca, as the world watches, just like it happened in the 8th century.” Luis’s eyes resurfaced with hope.

  “But now, and it might sound ridiculous, but we’re at the same level. Not because I am as incredible, or even because, together, we have the same opportunities and achievements they did back then. We… are far behind those times… We also- I also, want to bring this differently, an approach that… I believe loathes our past and would be loathed by it back.”

  Luis frowned with concern. “I can’t be like others, especially not as good as him, and you are too limited by me, and the current Ly politics. And that is the reason why this could work— because we are not enough to be like the past, but we have different chances, and live in different conditions. I want to make use of it to achieve things accordingly, not disrespecting our history, even when I’m directly going against it.”

  “Let me take the full responsibility. But let me tell you, and then show you, why I’m confident we can deal with this. Not just for this cabinet here, but Lymoca, every Lymocan, the Lys.” President Luis Heartez had his cabinet staring at him with locked eyes.

  “Endesa, Carnage— the Pyot and Meztle Islands!” Luis expressed, raising his voice as his tone turned passionate, “They will become scared, I’m sure, even when they are the most beloved allies we’ve had for centuries and centuries. They’ve seen all of Lymoca since the Lylaco Empire helped them form even before the Leafless Tree Coalition went on the move.”

  “But I know we can talk to them, and they will listen. It’s the same with the rest of the south, at least those who aren’t touched by ANS since those hundreds of years ago.” Luis narrowed his eyes like an eagle, making them frown and react.

  “I will tell you about these things later. Things that I have seen even from my first term,” said Luis before staring at the TV again, then back at his cabinet. “Terka has expelled our embassy. That alone wouldn’t have mattered. But they beat our people, hurt them, just because they could. Independently if there was a… casualty. This is enough for Lymoca, and too far for any nation. Nobody targets our people, whether they are a global power, weaker than us, or at our level— like Terka.”

  “If you want to convince me, stop me now, give me your arguments. Tell me that, even if this regains integrity but brings harm to our reputation, even if it makes things shake for a while after recuperating our sovereignty— that this is the wrong thing to do!” Luis stood up, straightened his back, and looked at his cabinet, patiently waiting for their words.

  But nobody raised a mere iota of a whimper.

  With the atmosphere of cordial, tacit agreement between each member of the cabinet, a person stepped to his front. “President, what do you expect to happen to Terka… if we actually… win?”

  “…” Luis blinked twice at the woman with a serene pace, “I would be lying if I said I didn’t want it to return it as Ly territory, even if it becomes a strange commodity in the world map.”

  “!” Clamor, murmur, mumble…

  The cabinet grew disrupted at the President’s words. Luis was a little startled by their reactions, although he expected it. He lifted his left palm after crossing his arms. It remained on his right forearm, he just flicked his wrist. They didn’t react, so Luis elevated it to just above his shoulder.

  “…” The cabinet and their secretaries quieted down and looked at Luis, not knowing why but showing subservience now. Luis looked at them as if this was how they were meant to react, not realizing about how absurd and comical everything looked. One man raises his hand, and the people quiets down?

  Was this the Aforesanctum Order? A nobility meeting?

  “…” - “…” Only Fox and Nala seemed to see through it, exchanging a quick glance among the crowd with their narrowed eyes at ease before focusing back on the debate.

  “I’m not trying to become a ‘great’ conqueror, only to lose ‘ownership’ or my image for the null thought of gaining territory.” Luis looked at his cabinet with slightly sunken eyebrows. “But I do mean to say, if there is a chance, an opportunity, we can start there. It will also be a means to prove that the south has no need to rely on others to become a country, stable and alive.”

  “I know what you might be thinking, Cors. But Cors is an exception, they cut their beards off when seeing us getting shaved by a foreign coalition,” Luis slightly scoffed with this comment.

  The others listened, knowing well what he meant. Cors was always rich, and more so when Cors material and Mintip was discovered first in their territory and in the world for the first time. Things that added up one after another to keep nowadays Cors strong.

  “You haven’t known about this because it’s of utmost importance, and I was planning on working to reduce the foreign influence from under the tables of each country after dealing with the organized crime.” Luis stopped and sighed a bit, his head always up. “As you can see, that’s no longer available. Step closer to me if you still wish to… to… follow me.”

  Luis struggled to get those words out, not wanting to appear cynical, self-centered, or selfish, but… was there any other way to put it? He was taking all responsibility, and he was also the one dragging them all into it, like pulling their strings into a mass of endlessly spinning turbulence.

  Step, step, step, step, step, step, step… Step, step.

  Luis’s eyes widened, and his pupils dilated. After a second, maybe a little more than that, but in decimals, none beyond 1.99 seconds, everyone stepped forth and surrounded him like he was the most popular high school girl. He saw Lesly be one of the first, with Roam, Admiral Secretary, Sona, and some others following her speed.

  But after all of them gave their hearts out for him, he heard 2 most distinctive footsteps. He looked back, to his left, where Fox and Nala walked forth, standing just behind the first line of followers around Luis. He looked at them with shaky eyes, widened eyelids and relaxed eyebrows, and they at him with silent understanding before nodding ever so slightly.

  “Gulp. Now, let me tell you about what I meant with ANS’s hands reaching down south. But first,” Luis turned to Butler after getting Fox and Nala’s subtle confirmation. Butler wouldn’t say no at a time like this, which Luis knew after knowing Egoaiz Prein for almost 9 years. “This is the reason I told you I’m confident in being successful. I… have never told anyone about a ‘secret agency’, or a specialized lagj organization that works for the government. As the internet has it.”

  Butler stepped up, standing behind Luis with his arms resting on his sides, his amicable nature improving Luis’s image from his crazy talks.

  “It’s not for any other reason that I respect where this power comes from,” Luis’s words made them slightly frown again, curious and confused. Luis laid it out for them, “You’ve heard of lagj secret organizations from the ‘secret world’, but have you thought of a higher standard? I present to you what has been working for the benefits of Lymoca for longer than even your parents, whereas even your grandparents might have never known of them despite working together.”

  “…?” The crowd was even more confused, but so were they excited, feeling their blood boil and their skin numb at the possibilities, and then…

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I present to you one of Lymoca’s hoog secret organizations— Piya Sanctum District…”

  ***

  ANS, capital city. President’s office, in the main hall. 7 AM, while Proteros was just a little later.

  Today was the day the president of ANS was announced, where Gant Comfor not-so-overwhelming but superior vote count destroyed his adversaries and was shown to the world. A matter of utmost importance to the global powers and small nations of the world.

  But it was already half-taken away by the news of Terka’s actions; first with the expulsion of Lymoca’s embassy, and then their declaration of war on Lymoca. The pretext? Besides all the unruly titles and accusations, it was that Terka would rather focus on the world’s proactivity, future, and stability, away from a power that was ‘returning’ to its ‘dark past’.

  “What bullshit!” Gant Comfor berated, swinging a folder with documents from Terka, directly reporting to ANS. His face was enraged, and his chest heaved up and down, making the few members of his ‘future-to-be’ cabinet standing awkwardly before him.

  “Do these people think I gave them the order to do this? That they could act on their own just because of mutual benefits between our countries!?” Gant Comfor berated some more, growing louder. Instead of appearing like an old man, he was full of vigor, and this had nothing to do with drugs or colored medicine, it was all his natural efforts.

  “Why the hell did they do this? Hmm?” Gant Comfor asked nobody before looking up at his cabinet. They noticed his eyes, but he spoke faster than they seemed to think, which further irritated him. “Does nobody have a mouth to word? Or did you just forget how to use it? It was clearly functioning well when you were sucking up to me.”

  “Don’t take me wrong, I don’t doubt your abilities, but if skill was all it took, ANS would have had encased what we needed, revetting them already.” Gant Comfor looked at them like easy pickings, making some of them feel like back in their younger days, or like never before. “Long lost causes, like this Terka, would have long become their own superpower in that south.”

  Gant spat here and there, cleaning his desk with a napkin as he continued. When he finished, he took a few deep breaths to relax. Then, he commented, “They don’t know what’s good for them. Act in our name? They can act on their own. Immediately send a dispatch, no, just a digital letter. This is their bidding, so they will deal with it themselves. Heng! They will be lucky if Lymoca just ignores their chicanery.”

  “Then,” a fairly young-looking man in his 50s stepped on the spot and looked at the president, his eyes sparkling. He had shaven, military red hair, pure black eyes, and was white. “If Lymoca dares to act, can we move to protect Terka?”

  “Dares to act? Protect Terka?” With upturned eyes, Gant Comfor looked at the military official, scoffing. He added, “Do you think Lymoca has the capabilities to act? Or, do you think we can, I would allow, for ANS to mobilize just to protect a foreign country? No, you are young and stupid, you were never told of the magic worked during the Green Transformation after the Total Change War period, also known as the Great Haul.”

  The military official seemed taken aback, making Gant think: ‘what if this one idiot doesn’t even know what I’m talking about?’, before shaking his head. He went on, turning the atmosphere tenser for the others in the room with each new word, “You think the world just grew tired after the 1st century’s Great Revolution? Or the subsequent Smeared Century of the 2nd century? That the Grand Warring period of the 2nd century is how it is officially known to honor the ‘achievements’ from nations that persist until today? Not because of shame?”

  “There is no talk of Lymoca waging war against Terka, that ‘To?o’ idiot only wants to show Lymoca they control nothing if the south really puts themselves to the notion. But while efficient, his personal kinks got him way out of the picture for ANS. They might be the first to be encased now.” Gant Comfor stood up, becoming calmer as he spoke, and his people couldn’t help but differentiate his growth and maturity from others, or any other person his age for that matter.

  “… No, even though this will teach Lymoca they have no way to the north or the south, like they once did before falling, scaring them from repeating the past. Terka has dared to act on their own, which is unacceptable. And BRING ME EARL!” Gant Comfor suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.

  “!” The people were startled but quickly set in motion, but Gant didn’t see it, so he ordered again, “BRING ME EARL! I SAID, BRING ME EARL!”

  ***

  Lymoca, 9 AM. At the daily press conference in Lymoca, from president Luis Heartez.

  “I apologize. This delay was necessary. I and my cabinet, especially the security members of the cabinet, with the others, too, had a tense meeting. As you can see, the matter with certain newly arisen situations are taken seriously.” Luis stood before his podium and talked to the news anchors and reporters.

  “I want to talk about one thing first, the last initiative I have put forth in this term.” Luis tapped his fingertips on the sides of the podium, taking his time and strangely draining the incertitude of the people sitting before him. Unlike before, it was all full, like the first press conference, but with even a few more tens of reporters onsite.

  “The progressive works towards it being talked out has improved recently, and I want to thank all parties who are willing to not let others tell us when and what not to celebrate, much less why. I won’t speak much of it, it does not correspond to me, but I really wish for this to go through. Nobody can tell us to do things we don’t want to, no matter the why’s.”

  Luis spent a full half a minute looking ahead. He spoke after deeply breathing in and slowly breathing out. The atmosphere tensed a bit, with his sharp gray-black eyes showing a relentless light like life.

  “The organized crime in Lymoca has been deteriorated to the levels where everyone in every city can finally go out at night and resume local festivities. There won’t be more military vehicles patrolling your communities, but the national guard will be at half a minute’s notice. Expect many SPD, PAB, and PPO units near you, patrolling the streets.”

  “First and foremost, there has been an inside cleansing to the police forces in Lymoca. Many people who were connected to the organized crime have been arrested or neutralized in the worst cases. With this, I will also show you the politicians who were directly involved in organized crime matters, caught by the government’s intelligence, and the arrested youths from the cleansing operation.” Luis declared, about to turn to the large screen behind him to his side.

  A female reporter lifted her hand before an attendant gave her a microphone. “President Luis Heartez, does this mean you weren’t just massacring criminals in the wild, but arresting them, too?”

  “First,” Luis looked at the news reporter from an independent anchor ask with the words of the media, not of an investigator, for a few seconds before answering. “It’s not ‘the wild’. That is where people lived, you know? It’s rural areas. To answer your question, of course! We took as many prisoners as possible, but the organized crime had a brainwashed force of youths willing to die for… no reason. No homeland, no family, no purpose— just their illusory ideas of belonging to a major force in the country. Thank you for asking.”

  “Thank you…” The reporters felt a little silly before sitting back down, giving the microphone back to the attendant. Then, another person lifted his hand, this time a brown, slightly old man, perhaps in his 80s to 90s. Luis gestured to the old man before an attendant gave him a microphone.

  “President Luis Heartez, one simple question. Is that how you called this operation? The ‘cleansing operation’?” The old man asked. Luis nodded and calmly answered, “It is. If you wonder why it doesn’t have a more unique name, the answer is as simple: it doesn’t need one.”

  As Luis answered these questions and then explained the daily activity of the Ly forces against the OCs. There were 2 particular places in the world that were focused on knowing what he had to say, more than in the east or the rest of the Moonblue supercontinent. Terka and ANS.

  Gant Comfor watched with his cabinet and the congress in an enormous room in the major capitol. In Terka, To?o R. watched in a meeting hall, with a large screen, and sitting from a table with his cabinet, including some military officials.

  While Gant was checking on the daily press conference almost every few days a week, only using this time to have everyone ready in case something unexpected occurred, as they weren’t one of the most powerful nations for nothing. In Terka, To?o R. was fuming in silence, flinching in his seat from Luis blatantly ‘ignoring him’ and Terka, talking about his domestic affairs instead.

  But finally, the time came, and the squinted eyes from pure, hidden rage in To?o’s eyes relaxed a bit, letting him feel fresh all over his body.

  … Luis looked at the camera and then slightly above his nose level, lifting his chin to whiffle out of his nostrils. Then, his sharp gaze was maintained in the main camera, the one meant for his social media and the livestreaming features directly from the government. “Earlier on, everyone was notified of the news that Terka expelled our embassy from their territory. Well, that wasn’t all. Let me tell you everything. And yes, I will… ‘talk’ of this declaration of war, which only half-broke the peace that the world agreed to maintain— no matter what. At least once upon a time.”

  “When our fellow countryfolk were ‘moved’ out of the embassy, it was through the force of a specialized police, which ensured our Lys and even some Terkans suffered abuse of power from them. All of them were beaten, with the exception of the children 3 years old or younger. Women were beaten unconscious, while men were choked until they stopped moving.”

  “Here, in this footage, a compilation of events happening before and after the Terkan police forces entered shows what happened… They were censored for the sake of our fellow countryfolk.” Luis showed a video with half when there were Terkans protesting, and then cut to when an enormous, high-end military vehicle crushed the embassy’s entrance and walls, nearly crashing into the building before backing away. But he didn’t stop there and continued talking.

  “They were thrown with force, they were humiliated, and there was an incident…” The other half of the screen was illuminated, showing how people were forced out, with a mother trying to find her baby until she could barely move on her own.

  Of course, there was also the strike the old man near that baby suffered from the back of his head, by an elbow nonetheless. When these images surface, Luis spoke the following words.

  “Victor Javier V. P. He was the ambassador I appointed there 5 years ago, with half his wife’s family being Ters, not uniquely to Terka. He… was murdered in this exploit— this assault on the Lymocan embassy in Terka, left on the broken sidewalk like he wasn’t a living being!”

  In Terka, To?o’s eyes widened. He knew what this meant, especially after declaring war without previous notice. He looked at his cabinet, but none knew about this, stunned. When he looked at the young man Martin, the latter winked and nodded at him. To?o R. suddenly felt stupid yet with a strange feeling taking root inside his sternum, spreading to through his chest and extremities…

  “!!!” Lymoca, in and of itself, was shell-shocked. Struck silly with this news. Yet, Luis had but started.

  “In this plot! Terka violated Lymoca’s Humane Key! They have stained the geopolitical image of 2 countries, and the supercontinent! We have been violated, they have killed one of our own. For no reason! With no motives! Only the words of a mere president without even 30 days in office. One of our own has been murdered! Our sovereignty purged and bashed to debris in their territory.”

  “They dared to do this outside our homeland— they dared to face the weak with firearms and brutal force. We will show them what we do with those petty criminals, now with the power of our entire nation because!… We are lye! We do not let anybody slight us!! As Lys, they have murdered one of our own for sport! As Lys, we will seek answers directly from the people who harmed us! We DO NOT tolerate any crime against our people nor our nation! The Terka government has until the next week to apologize for their crimes and violations!!”

  …