The End
His television faintly sparkled into life. The film he had been watching on a state channel disappeared - the desk of Xinxi had replaced it. He turned towards it. A calm presenter said nothing for a moment, before slowly saying, as much to herself as to the nation, "The Republic-State is under attack."
What the ambassador had seen moments before filled the screen of the television. The presenter continued reading, a voiceover for a helicopter's view of the fire. The ambassador took a hard, stern look at the scene unfolding outside his apartment. Quickly, he pulled himself away from it, flicking on the main lights. He sat down on the leather sofa, his back hunched over as he stared at the television. The commentators had nothing to say, nor did he.
A faint roar came from the distance. The ambassador's bushy eyebrows drew closer together, his full lips pouting. He walked back to the great, expansive southern windows, looking east. His eyes widened. High in the sky were aircraft, black as the night yet their outlines still clear as day. The roar of their engines overwhelmed whatever sound of the city there was. There may have been ten of them, but he could not tell. He stood there. His heartbeat lept with fear, it pulsating in his chest as if it were moments away from bursting out of his chest.
A score of harsh anti-aircraft fire burst into the sky. The ambassador watched. In minutes, the entire sky was orange, the roar of the planes mingling with the gunfire.
"This is a State Announcement for All Citizens."
He slowly turned back to his television. The screen was grey. "All citizens are advised to return to their residences immediately. There is no state of alarm in place. Military forces have been ordered to cease all action and await further instruction." The message began repeating on loop. The gunfire continued for a few moments, though quickly died down. The city was silent. The few surreal minutes had passed - now, the city waited. His steel-grey eyes turned back to the scene at the Imperial Palace. The fire-fighters had all but given up. The paramedics simply stared at the charred corpses, some of them collapsing from shock - quickly, they became the patients.
He jumped as his telephone began ringing. It was a beige, modern yet discreet thing - he stared at it for a moment before approaching it. He picked it up.
"Ambassador Emilio Mediqua?"
"Speaking."
"The General-Secretariat orders you to attend an emergency meeting at its headquarters, commencing immediately," said the cool, accented voice on the other line.
Emilio looked back through the window, "But there is no headquarters now."
"A temporary headquarters has been established at KGGM Zhuyi," replied the secretary, the voice androgynous. "Military vehicular elements will transport you to the meeting. Said elements will arrive in two and a half minutes."
Emilio said nothing, dropping the phone. The next few minutes went by in a blur.
He emerged on the street, outside the massive skyscraper of the apartment complex. A hulking four-by-four, printed in woodland camouflage, hummed impatiently. A soldier got out and approached the ambassador.
"Ambassador?"
Emilio nodded.
"You know where you are going?"
Again, he nodded.
"Good. Please, get in the vehicle."
The ambassador crawled into the four-by-four. Before he had even closed the door, the driver sped the car away down the straight roads of the planned city. There was no sound, nor light; it was a ghost town now, or so it seemed. They made no conversation in the car, listening to the hurried radio chatter and the faint, Tosvanne post-rock in the background.
"Get out."
Emilio woke up, shaking and flailing wildly for a moment. The driver pointed at the door. The ambassador nodded. He kicked open the door and practically jumped out. The car sped away. The ambassador dusted off his grey shirt. Helicopters were taking off all around him now, the piercing shudders of their rotors deafening. Fighter craft roared overheard, protecting the base like a lioness and her cubs.
A short man in a jumpsuit, his jet black hair ruffled by the craft, approached Emilio. He clasped a hand over Emilio's ear, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Ambassador Emilio?"
Emilio nodded.
"Come with me!"
Overhead, The End began.