A remote location in the Federation of Free Republics
The assassin had completed his mission. A tyrant was dead. Saintland now had a king who, at the very least, did not appear to be one of them. After spending weeks on the run, every night at a different hotel in a different small town in the middle of nowhere, he finally realized that he had not only evaded stadium security, but had even evaded suspicion from the police. With no law enforcement agents of any kind on his tail, he realized that he could finally return to the secret compound, without endangering the Brotherhood.
While he had been more than willing to sacrifice himself for the cause, he now realized that he would not have to. He had committed regicide at the Championship Game of a major international sports tournament, in a stadium filled with over a hundred thousand people, and gotten away with it. Not bad for a first-timer, who had only recently been accepted into the Brotherhood. Still, he was somewhat conflicted by all of it.
"The actions of the few determine the future of the many." So he had been taught by the leaders of the Brotherhood. But, it still bothered him that his decisions, his successes, his failures would have such a great impact. Yet, his second thoughts went away after he thought about it a little more deeply. They stand for what they call "order," a world where everybody has a station in life and is expected to stay there. They are intent on taking over everywhere they can and imposing their tyranny upon everybody. The Brotherhood's mission, since the beginning of recorded history, has been to strike down tyrants so that the many may be free to choose their own fate.
Now, one of the leading enemies of freedom in the multiverse was dead and his Kingdom was now in the hands of his son, who appeared to be non-ideological. The Kingdom at the North Pole would be a better place, once the Patriarch finally croaked. That likely wouldn't take much longer, since he was in his nineties and, according to information discovered by the Brotherhood's hackers, was secretly afflicted with prostate cancer, which was now recurring. Since the Patriarch didn't have much longer to live, it was vital that the Brotherhood eliminate the tyrant now.
With the tyrant gone, the assassin hoped that the rest of the multiverse would stop viewing Feministvs Sanctvsterra as worthy of their support. Feministvs Sanctvsterra was just as bad as the hardliners in the Church of Saintland. They were only opposed to the current regime in Saintland because they wanted the power for themselves. Feministvs Sanctvsterra did not really care about freedom. That was just a pretense for a group that was truly interested in establishing a Matriarchy, where men were treated as second class citizens and the regime would be virulently homophobic, much worse than the current situation. At least the Church of Saintland provided an option for gays and lesbians, who made up a fairly significant portion of the clergy, and most of them didn't actually believe the Church's doctrines about their sexual orientation being sinful. While Feministvs Sanctvsterra may very well leave lesbians alone, they absolutely detested gay men, whom they considered just as misogynistic as the Church of Saintland. Needless to say, no self-respecting man could allow Feministvs Sanctvsterra to continue building international support.
If Saintland was to become a somewhat free country, King Paulus XV had to die on that day in Republica. There simply was no alternative. Had the assassination attempt failed or had he decided not to attempt it, he knew that time and fate would not align so favorably for a long time to come. If Paulus had lived to see the second day of February, the Patriarch would have soon died and have been replaced by another Patriarch, ensuring the control of Saintland by them for another decade or 2. The Brotherhood rarely got an opportunity such as this one. Most of the time, their targets were much lower profile. In most cases, the death of a high profile tyrant would not, in fact, advance their ends. That was the reason why they had no plans to assassinate Lord Almighty Gregory. Those behind Gregoryisgodistan would just appoint a new Lord Almighty Gregory and their populace would never know the difference. This rendered assassination of the tyrant futile. Taking down Meghan Kinson had also been discussed, but that had been rejected because it wouldn't have accomplished anything. Besides, in the long run, she just took herself down anyway.
He entered the compound and made his way toward the leader. Brayden Froude was the current leader of the Brotherhood. He had spent his entire life battling, in the shadows, against the dark forces that would take freedom away. He was already aware that King Paulus XV was dead, as was anybody who hadn't been living under a rock over the past several weeks. He also knew that his young trainee had proven himself up to the task. Normally, he wouldn't have assigned such an important task to somebody so young, but the Brotherhood had been short on members in recent years. In recent years, many members of the Brotherhood had met their untimely demise under rather questionable circumstances, leaving the group severely weakened. He didn't really have many options, besides that other member of the Brotherhood who had failed in his mission to eliminate Izmailov. Ever since, Izmailov's fascist thugs have been on an upswing in popularity. Now, they are closely aligned with the military and edging ever closer to the seat of power in the FFR. Since inexperience is less of a problem than incompetence, he gave the most important mission in centuries to the new recruit and that decision seems to have paid dividends.
Brayden Froude - Abelino, I've heard that you have completed the task before you. Well done, my boy. Well done.
Abelino Greece was grateful to Brayden for bringing him into the Brotherhood and giving him the opportunity to carry out such an important task.
Abelino Greece - The Tyrant-King is dead. To my knowledge, there were no witnesses and I left no evidence behind. I believe we're clear.
Brayden Froude - I hope so. The last thing we need is for the police to come in here. They do not understand that the freedom of the many depends upon the elimination of the few. They do not understand what must be done.
Abelino Greece - They do not and I hope that Fate will never see my path cross with theirs.
Brayden Froude - The police do what they think is right, but the stakes are too high to suffer a tyrant to live.
Abelino Greece - What do we do next?
Brayden Froude - We need more members. Go out and see if you can find anybody with the potential to join us, but remember that we'll have to kill them if they turn out to be unworthy.
Abelino Greece - Indeed. We can't take the risk that they will reveal our secrets. Once you're in the Brotherhood, you're in the Brotherhood for life.
Brayden Froude - While it is unfortunate, there is no other way. Those who leave the Brotherhood must die, so that the Brotherhood may live.
Abelino Greece - The importance of secrecy to our work does complicate recruitment.
Brayden Froude - But, surely you have met a few men who have the ability and the temperment to be part of the Brotherhood?
Abelino Greece - I have and I will see about bringing them in.
Brayden Froude - Good. Until we grow the Brotherhood in our country, we will not be able to exercise much influence.
Abelino Greece - Have you heard from any of the other cells around the multiverse?
Brayden Froude - Not lately. Most of them are also struggling at the moment, but I'm sure a few cells still survive and are still advancing the cause of freedom in their areas.
Abelino Greece - If we want to set the world free, we must first set our own backyard free.
Brayden Froude - Correct and you, Abelino, can help make this Federation truly free once again.
Abelino Greece - That is why you brought me in, isn't it?
Brayden Froude - Yes, yes it is. If the FFR falls to the forces of darkness, then freedom falls everywhere. We must not let Izmailov's fascists ever come to power, for if they do, all is lost.
Abelino Greece - If that is the case, then I will see to it that each and every foe of liberty ceases to exist.
Brayden Froude - That's a good sentiment, Abelino, but it is naive. In many cases, if you kill one of Them, you only set our cause back. Assassinations must be saved for when they will actually make an impact.
Abelino Greece - I understand that, but I wish we could eliminate the evil forces that would take freedom away.
Brayden Froude - We can't. The most that we can do is maintain the balance between those that seek freedom and those that want to be set free from choice. The other side may be evil, but there are many, possibly the majority, who do not desire to be free and would prefer to live in a predictable world, like the one that our primary foes desire.
Abelino Greece - Then, we must force them to be free.
Brayden Froude - Indeed, that is the only choice for those who desire to be free. Freedom is a scary thing. When we are free, that means that we are free to make self-destructive choices and it even means that some will end up better off than others. A free society is inherently an unequal society.
Abelino Greece - Its a tragedy that many people so fear being free and an even greater tragedy that many who are free allow their jealousy of those who made better choices than them to consume them and lead them to the dark side.
Brayden Froude - Do not concern yourself with that. Freedom is the end and, if freedom is to prevail, those that oppose freedom must be sacrificed.
Abelino Greece - They will be.
Abelino kept thinking about what his leader had told him and he kept thinking back to what he had done in Republica. After speaking to Brayden, Abelino knew that he had done the right thing. Abelino knew that his choices had paved the way toward a better future for Saintland. Even if many in Saintland were content with their unfree lives, freedom should still be imposed upon them, against their wishes, because it is True and Right. Abelino knew that he was doing the Right thing, as he set out to recruit more members for the Brotherhood...
CB - #2 - Queenie Wilbur 
Star United States 
