Preparations, Little Arrangements

  The next to follow were even more astonishing than the south of the Moonblue supercontinent. Zyckevele and KAA supported Lymoca. Lymoca has always shown a great relationship overall. But while it had ANS as a neighbor, their relations were strangely 'okay', yet also somewhat divided within ANS, and sometimes appearing bleak. On the other hand, when it comes to KAA and Zyckevele, Lymoca almost always exchanges good-natured words, and their interactions always remain equilibrated.

  In this case, their support wasn’t words, at least not in specific. Not only were they in Lymoca’s side and even critiqued ANS for their strange favoritism in a matter that does not concern their people or their government, they also sent resources for the war.

  It wasn’t even known if there would be a war, yet Zyckevele sent military equipment and utilities, such as for fabrics of military use, from camouflage to uniforms and sleeping bags. On the other hand, Knight Assembly Association sent money. Directly like that, they shipped their goods to Lymoca on the west’s afternoon of day 1.

  Even global powers such as those 2 hegemons, with KAA remaining strong even with the tremendous losses that aren’t just in territory and prestige, as it was with Lymoca in the Great Haul. They wouldn’t have been able to send so many resources from morning to afternoon.

  One could see that, ever since the situation in Terka, it wasn’t just Piya Sanctum District that had seen the events, even if the White Blood did so from up close. Terka had their own hoog secret organization. If Lymoca’s PSD wasn’t careful, they would be seen, and more so tracked.

  Regardless, while ANS insulted Lymoca, the greatest powers in the east stood by them. While the neutral and even ‘pro-Ly’ Moonblue countries supported Lymoca or didn’t favor Terka, they did nothing while those thousands of kilometers away immediately sent help.

  This wasn’t it, as other countries, like Marcoplix, also stood out and showed their dissatisfaction with the peace being broken, which was what most of the other countries in the world thought of. Although they did not speak up for it, they silently advocated for peace. Yet, Marcoplix’s claims were also that Lymoca should know their place… Although this was pure show, since this country always showed alignment towards Zyckevele, even if not for KAA.

  One of them, Merula, who had the strange surrounding borders around Iztos, supported Lymoca’s defense but also wished the Green Transformation’s ‘originator’ to bid as they were supposed to. Furthermore, Iztos openly supported Lymoca but wished no war nor invasion from either one of the territories to the other.

  Lastly, from those who spoke with small voices, Xeoxia, one of the few countries to have good relations with Merula, backed Lymoca on their honor and sovereignty to protect their people and avenge their dead. They also added that no civilians should be harmed, but said nothing about either side backing down.

  The board had been set. Lymoca declared their stance, while Terka initiated everything, on their own, with nobody’s aid.

  … In the morning, just a day before time ran out for Terka, Luis was giving his conference, when, timely so, Terka’s social media distributed a viral video. Luis was asked about it, but of course, he knew nothing. He put it on his press conference’s screen.

  “We ran away from Lymoca, from a Preut they let rot in war for profit!” A small group, not even 10 people, without shirts, and mostly with curly hair, talked to a camera. They wore nothing on their tops, but a belt made of leaves and bushes’ branches coiled their hips, with a large, brown loincloth covering their crotches and half their thighs.

  They stood with slightly spread legs, forming fists with their hands, slightly bending their backs, and exerting force from within their bodies with an infuriated expression. But their voice was still soft somehow, and they lined up beside each other.

  “When we were taken by Terka, we found a life, a true home— where we can live as Preutians! We will retake our land! Raise up and show the Lys we are the true people to govern Preut, no one else! Now they want to take Terka too. We won’t let this happen! Over our corpses~!”

  “…” The video ended, with Luis showing a startled expression yet at ease. When he turned back to the news reporters, who were used to these mornings, but the sold out media still came to try their luck, they laughed a bit.

  “President, the people around the media have already confirmed the identities and general whereabouts of these people. They have been confirmed to be from Preut, who fled to the south when the Disastrous War began.” A female reporter with large square glasses and pretty, with white skin and striking black hair was granted a microphone soon after the video ended.

  Luis didn’t have the time to say anything before she did. After hearing her words, he nodded before gesturing to the technician, who was working on something. Luis smiled a bit, speaking directly to the news reporter, “That’s true, I have just confirmed that they are Preutians, too.”

  The news reporter stuck her tongue at the middle of her mouth, feeling something about to come back at her. Luis added, “But they did not flee from the war. These youngsters seem to have come to Terka 2 days after the Preutian civil war began, while residing in Endesa without official identification. They’ve been living in Terka for only 2 years, not 6 years. Well, that is the information I can confirm.”

  “But, this does not mean,” Luis added just as the news reporter started speaking again. His words louder and more pressing than those of whoever tries to speak and interrupt him. Luis raised his voice to capture even more momentum, “That it is not important, or that we should ignore this. For starters, their attire is insulting.”

  “By the time Preut, even in AO, was populated after the expansions of the Ly people in Lymoca, nowadays Lymoca, leather was already used as armor. This is a representation of the insults this Terkan country’s government are shoving to us.”

  “Look, these people still have families in Lymoca, even people who knew them. We won’t abandon them, neither. They can publicly show a proof of their voice not being forced or coerced, a cry for help for us to rescue them, and I’ll send a team of experts to ensure their safety. That is all they must do.” Luis grabbed his podium and spoke to the news reporter, and the Lys, that he wasn’t letting even these seemingly sold out Preutians fall in Terka’s hands as long as they raised theirs.

  “President, may I ask,” a pretty little someone was granted the microphone, with a guy who did not match her beauty and slenderness. BFL’s top start news reporter, Angelina, and her cameraman, Eduardo. She spoke with a smile, and even seemed to tease; as Luis gestured her with a nod to go on. “How do you know of history so much nowadays?”

  “I have a great history teacher, but she knows that even with someone as amazing as her, one won’t learn if they aren’t going to learn. In short, I have been studying of the deeper, more profound Lymoca and its Ly pre-Order history overall.” Luis tried to answer as shortly as possible.

  “Thank you,” Angelina flashed a bigger smile before sitting back down, having no troubles sucking up to the president, who was recently growing in reputation like a meteor crashing unto the earth. Luis winked with both eyes before continuing with his press conference. He was much more at ease doing so, with the Lymocan map behind him back on the screen, showing only 3 small blinking lights left.

  ***

  Proteros, presidential distinct main meeting room. 2 PM.

  Fox stood in a corner of the room for a few minutes already. Luis was also here, with only a few people not having arrived yet. Lesly and Butler among them. Nala, Nauer, and the White Bloods’ representative captain, Lian, the brown old man with military hair and very muscular were present and exposed in front of everyone. After all, Piya Sanctum District was known to the cabinet members now, even if not to any lower seat in the government.

  “…” Fox lifted his left eyelid, narrowing it, with his back against a wall. Lesly and Butler walked in with a large, folded sheet in her hands, and Butler holding thick and solid, hence incredibly heavy, cases. The people around the table, making everything crowded, stepped aside and looked at the stars of the hour.

  “Sorry for the delay. The imprisoned bandits were demanding— they wish to see the President and Chief Secretary of Security.” Lesly said, putting the sheet on the table. Before opening it, she looked up at Luis. Luis nodded with his elbow supported by his other arm across his stomach. “We’ll deal with that later. Reveal it to us.”

  Lesly nodded before opening the map. It was longer rather than larger overall. It depicted Lymoca’s image, which slowly actually zoomed out and revealed the north of the Moonblue supercontinent’s south. Then, it revealed Lymoca, some of ANS at its northern border, and the rest of the south.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  It was moving, it was interactive… it was a technological marvel. Furthermore, it could move with ‘chips’ added to the ‘table’. Lesly made the example as she tapped twice before a menu showed near her body, not where she tapped, and picked a black flag with the Silverplated Eagle as its symbol: Lymoca’s flag.

  She placed it on the Lydwe State, bordering with Endesa. As soon as she did, Luis questioned, “Won’t it be better in Lydee? It’ll shorten a couple of days at best.”

  “It would be the case, but with Cors’s aid in letting us use a fraction of their main roads, we’ll reach there much sooner. We would drive in almost 2 weeks by land, but with Cors…” Lesly looked up after tracing a murky green line from Lydwe to the northeastern territory in Terka. She looked at Luis, “We would take 7-8 days. We’ll also have to petition this to Endessa and Carnge.”

  Everyone slowly looked at Luis, knowing what he had to do. Luis looked at Lesly before noticing their gazes. “I see… Can’t I get a rest? Have I not done enough?”

  Luis spread his arms, asking with a vulnerable frown. They shook their heads after a second. Lesly joined the tips of her eyebrows before slightly shaking hers, wording with an initial chuckle. “No. You have to do more, President. But the waters are… ‘safe’. We need these extra favors.”

  Luis looked left and right and bit his lower lip before nodding with a gentle demeanor. He looked down at the map as he looked at the starting line and the line leading to Terka. He could practically see everything and everyone in motion. Luis felt his hands tremble, hidden between his crossed arms’ elbows nooks and his ribs.

  Additionally, Lesly wasn’t versed in these matters, nor was she the only one to think of this, but it has been too short since the situation arose. Only a hoog like Piya Sanctum District could ensure enough information to wage the possibilities and chances of every single irregularity and most successful endeavor this fast.

  “…” Fox looked left and right, knowing Lesly was briefed by Butler, who should only speak in matters pertaining to other secret organizations, as per status and role. He couldn’t help but give these people here another glance; nervous, excited, and some shaking at times, attending this seriously, with further analysis.

  “We will use our military transporting vehicles, with the combat types will be following behind and few in between. These guarantee our 90 km/h. If we had a little better preparation, and experience, we could enforce the same level of military expertise, but we unfortunately cannot.” General Edgar Plomo added, tapping the map twice before showing a window at the sea, below the words ‘Quarter Moon Ocean’ to show the large and combat military vehicles.

  … They debated for another 3 hours, with Luis checking the time, as he had to ensure Cors would let them pass in less than a few days, and he surely wanted to start sooner than later before tonight.

  “President, if Terka does indicate they are apologizing, what will we do with all these preparations?” Edgar Plomo asked after arriving at a silent conclusion. Luis looked at him, knowing this was an important question, not just from Edgar’s conflict desisting tendency.

  Their President looked at them and nodded, “Of course we’ll stop everything immediately.”

  The others nodded, but they couldn’t help looking down at the map. Everything they’ve been working for the past few days like lab rats and for the first time in their lives would be gone if someone, just one person, said ‘sorry’.

  “Did all of you conduct this research?” Fox spoke at this moment, bringing some attention to himself, especially from Luis. Fox tilted his head and added, stepping off the wall he was leaning on and releasing his arms. “All of this, was it from your cabinet?”

  “Yes,” Luis nodded. He moved his fingers to articulate his hands and spoke while facing Fox, “They each were further tasked with analysis on Lymoca’s situation abroad. Our ports, trades, and foreign business in our country have been properly investigated, and they will act accordingly to a situation, if it is presented and needs our direct attention.”

  Fox looked at everyone, just a bit, and in front of him, before looking at Luis in the face again. “Then they better be prepared. They are about to face their worst, more worked year yet. They have followed you for 2 terms. This will load them like never before. Have you prepared their replacement when they feel they can do no more? At least for a couple of decades at least?”

  “Well, of course, gulp.” A person, one of the deputy secretaries under the Secretary of Economy, spoke. He looked at Fox, head low, while and sweating a bit, clearly afflicted by today’s reconfirming meeting with everyone from the cabinet and representative captains of the District.

  “Oh? You prepared that already?” Fox asked again. Luis shrugged a little and cocked his head for a moment, “They recognized it would be tough and have presented me their recommendations, should they decide not to continue after this term.”

  “You do believe you’ll be here at the end of the year?” Fox asked, looking at the ceiling, waiting for the President’s answer. Luis looked straight at Fox’s face and spoke solidly, “I do, yes.”

  “…” Fox lowered his gaze, looked at the President, and nodded before walking to the table. He walked behind Lesly, past Butler’s front, and stood between Nala and Lian, with Nauer looking at him calmly from Lian’s left.

  “Of all this, the District isn’t here just to gather information ‘to act accordingly’. I don't think we are.” Fox said, looking between Lymoca’s south and Terka’s north, divided by the Lyclan Sea. He then glanced up at Luis, “Where are you gonna put us?”

  “…” - “…” Luis and Fox exchanged an eerily long glance from several meters apart, with Luis holding his wrist behind his back with his other hand. Luis parted his lips without noise, waiting for an extra second before emitting a voice, at last. “Are you fine with this? Me sending you to a war?”

  “…” Fox looked at the President with a more silent, inexpressive visage. Then, he subtly articulated, “Would it be weird if I say I like it? The idea, I mean. It… excites me.”

  Fox spoke with his impassiveness; his soft and broken voice, shaking his shoulders after circling them on the spot. Nala didn’t bother hiding a knowing smile, with Nauer scoffing, and Lian nodding in approval. On the other hand, from the rest of the room, all eyes on him, awkward.

  “I suppose ‘no’.” Luis said, a little smile forming on his lips. He nodded a few times, just a bit, before resuming the finals steps of this meeting’s reconfirmation, its last check before putting everything on a green light, with only the right time and the supreme commander’s orders remaining to act.

  One thing to notice was the lack of Admiral Valentino Peralta.

  … After the meeting, with every present person heading directly to where they were supposed to, with some not necessarily needing to do anything for now, not knowing what to do, lost. Luis and Fox walked to an inner precinct within the presidential precinct.

  They entered a zone where a part of the captured bandits were imprisoned. Only those who were deemed as leaders or leading figures. There were 50 Green Bloods and some White and Red Bloods. All just in case.

  They went through the soldiers guarding the facility, with Luis offered a presidential salute at the entrance, which he returned. Then, they met with a little someone that even those from other ‘camps’ in the preemptive jails, hidden from the public, kept by some PSD SAs, that saw him as a leader to follow.

  Carlos Medena ‘Rafas’, also known as the leader of the Lyclan Cartel. The white young man as still slender, maybe a bit too much nowadays. His smooth jet-black hair was messy and falling now, but his predatory eyes were as shiny and untouched as when he surrendered himself.

  He had a restricting collar on his neck, thick, rough, and metallic. It didn’t do anything to him, or tighten. It wasn’t even marking the skin of his sickened neck, but it was connected to the ground, temporarily adjusted so he couldn’t straighten his back, or he might dislocate his shoulders after breaking his collarbone.

  Fox stood before him, looking at the fella whose eyes weren’t bad, with Luis stepping in with 5 parts shy and 5 parts proactive. Rafas looked at Fox, then at Luis, before concentrating his eyes on Fox’s face. Those polycoria eyes made him frown, but he was stable, not shaking once.

  “What do you need?” Fox curtly voiced. Luis remained half a step behind Fox, with the latter noticing and giving the former a brief side eye. Luis added, “We don’t have time to waste on meeting a person if the person isn’t of help.”

  “May I know… are my people being visited by their families, as accorded?” Rafas’s voice was a little dry and broken. Fox didn’t move a centimeter as he spat, “He knows you’re trying to show you’re human, but it isn’t needed. He’s a softie. Just speak your mind. Like he said, don’t waste time.”

  “…” With Fox’s simply spoken words, one emphasized, Rafas became stunned. He gulped, hardly so, before speaking straight. “This war… will you let the pe- the bandits help you in it?”

  “Not at all.” Fox shook his head, with Luis looking at Rafas with sharp eyes. Yet, Rafas didn’t feel he was being subjected to something. But if it was to anything, then to a thought in the president’s head.

  “Your… people,” Luis looked down at the young man with a small frown. “Are not capacitated, trusting, and need punishment. Maybe you’ve heard of flowery words from other countries, from ANS definitely, but others, too. But the Ly forces aren’t comprised to be given a payment, even if it is at the start for most. Becoming a soldier is for the honor of fighting and dying for all Lys. To the people’s service, not to win, kill, and scare.”

  “What I spoke of are usual customs of military forces in the world, though not everywhere. It’s a bit of a niche trend.” Luis stepped forth and bend his back to level his face to Rafas’s. “Now, what do you think of yourself? Let alone the Guerramar Cartel and the Coalition Party Syndicate. Just your Lyclan Cartel alone, does it deserve to even serve beside the Ly forces?”

  “…” Rafas looked at the president’s face, until he kept doing it, but with a vacant light. Fox stepped in, slightly pulling Luis back. He looked down at the disheveled young man, much older than him, and bluntly asked. “What’s your name again?”

  “Rafas…” The young man lazily shook his shoulders as he responded. Fox tilted his head, shaking it once, saying halfway through, “It’s Carlos Medena. Learn it for once. That could’ve been a better start.”

  “Now,” Fox knelt beside Carlos. Tilting his head, he looked up with his polycoria eyes twinkling from 7 impenetrable black pools, with 4 in his left eye to 4 in his right eye. “What do you know of the deals of Guerramar cartel with ANS? What contracts has the ANS military forces provided you should you decide to add yourselves to their trolley? ‘Tart talkin’.”

  … 1 hour later, long having departed from ‘talking’ with Carlos Medena, separating from the President. Fox went to a random, tall building near the presidential precinct. He carried a lunch bag with him, but he didn’t go to the rooftop the way an ordinary person would, using gut bions instead. Now, he sat on the edge, taking a big lonche out, looking quite simple.

  Nevertheless, Fox gave it adoring eyes. His tongue moving inside his mouth, he unwrapped it and took a few bites in a row, swinging his legs in the air as he looked in the opposite direction of the setting sun. It was dark and gray above, orange and burning behind him, yet obscure and obscenely, eerily silent in front. Fox had just begun enjoying his meal.

  …