Stories from Astyria

[Aurora Confederacy]

150m below ground,
Terra-link tunnel,
Northbound
3km north of South Sands

Adina and Trisha, thundering north in a Valiant F16H with a container trailer settle into the routine though as the road dips below the surface, FM radio signals fade away to static and so the CD player is turned on, after all no point in listenning to static for the next few hours as the truck, like the cars around it passes along a tunnel like a rodent in a drain pipe and so putting a new twist to the term "rat running".

"what ya think, would you settle in Nikolia?" asks Adina to Trisha

"not sure, depends on their welfare, after all with these legs of mine, I might be able to claim for something though not sure, here there are a few advantages in the system as well. Can you pass me the map please as well, its lying in the door pocket of yours" replies Trisha

Adina reaches down and grabs the map before placing it on her lap to pick it up with her other hand in order to pass it across the cab, Trisha takes the map and unfolds the section she needs as navigating down the terra-link tunnels that form sections of the motorway network in the Aurora Confederacy mean that no GPS signals make it to the road as the roof acts as a shield to the signals.

"Wander what Scorpio and Joanne are gonna be doing after their trip, they seem an okay couple though not sure on Scorpio's idea of a tattoo, eh Dino?"

Adina, watching traffic as usual smiles, "I know, however her heart is in the right place, she's had a rough past though and she loves that dog!"
"oh Ravage..." laughs Trisha, "...thats the only dog I know that will give you a ball to throw then look at you after you have thrown it rather than chase it"
"oh he got you then?"
"yeah and I can't run that fast, speaking of these legs I think I might need to see someone about them, the residual limbs are becoming uncomfortable"

After about an hour the road begins to pitch up and slowly the motorway reaches the surface in a V-shaped cutting to shield it from the wind as the flat load of emptiness means that winds across this part of the country can be viscious. Trisha points to an exit junction and so Adina takes the instruction and then the road begins to go steep again as it dives down to 50m below ground level as it then turns north-east to cross under a river before emerging the other side and continuing nortwards towards Barentsburg, a destination that will take a couple of days to reach....

[Aurora Confederacy]

Peace Valley court.
Noon
March 2nd

Stood in the dock are two defendants who have been on trial since January for illegal bear trapping, a trap which caused the loss of the lower half of a hill walker's leg, they stand in cuffs and leg chains, head bowed wearing red jumpsuits that only come it seems in one generic fit of too large!, Rafiel Solsjen and Daryl Hannis are also flanked by two police officers as a judge sits in front of them in his chair, to their left (the right for the judge) sits a jury of 12 people and opposite sits two rows of people, witnesses on both sides as well as the young woman who was unfortunate enough to tread on the well concealed trap.

In the area below and behind the dock, two prison guards stand ready to accept the accused.
"Have they given the verdict yet?" asks the senior of the prison staff to a clerk,
The clerk, a short man with black hair and thick rimmed glasses looks up from his paperwork, "i think the verdict is due any time now, the jury has been called back in after the head juror has spoken to the judge"
"oh ok" was the reply from the prison officer

Up in the courtroom, the judge turns to the head of the jury
"Sir, have you reached a verdict on the two accused?" asks the judge
"we have, your honour"
"and what is the verdict on mr Hannis?" asks the judge
The reply was quick and short, "guilty, your honour"
"Thank you, and for mr Solsjen"
"Again your honour, We have reached a verdict of Guilty, sir"
"Thank you sir, you may retake your seat"

The court room fell silent and the two police officers flanking the accused re adjusted their pose spreading their legs slightly as the atmosphere began to show a tense atmosphere as the judge spoke again,
"Given the strength of the evidence before this court, i can not believe you had the gall to give a nor guilty plea, your manner and flagrant disregard for the protocols of this court hereby leaves a lot to be desired and your disregard for human life when you set these vile traps makes me hand down the harshest of sentences I can give under the guidelines as trapping illegally with inhumane weapons gives stiff penalties, and as you were also setting an illegal device without a valid hunting permit is also added to the baseline sentence, then topping that I can have no option but to sentence you to long prison terms, mr Hannis, for your act and leadership in this vile scheme you are sentenced to forty five years and will serve the full term before you can be considered for release back into the public domain..." the judge pauses and writes some details down on a document before proceeding "...and Mr Solsjen, for your part in the same vile scheme which nearly caused the death of a young woman you are sentenced to forty two years but will be eligible for parole in thirty eight years, I hope you were proud of what you have done because I am quite frankly disgusted." the judge looks at the two officers flanking the accused, "you may take them to the cells where they are to be transferred to Barentsburg prison, does the victim wish to say anything first?" asks the judge.

Isis mc.Callum, who last year was in Riysa documenting the capital for a travel magazine gingerly leaned forwards and brought herself to her feet, standing on a prosthetic leg, she looked the accused straight in the eyes then turned to the judge as she carefully supported herself on the barrier in front of the bench,
"Yes your honour, I have a short statement" she replies before turning to face the now guilty men, "When I was out that day, walking the hills and enjoying the scenery, I planed to have it relaxing before I went home to enjoy christmas, your inhumane trap resulted in me having to take extended leave of absence, loss of earnings and more time in physio awaits me so over the next forty years you will have time to think, was it really worth it as you have ruined three lives today, these being mine and also, yours..." Isis turns to the jury "I thank you for your attention to detail over this case and thank you for reaching a verdict, was it the right verdict, time will judge that, and to the judge, thank you your honour for your time and effort in this case, justice has been done here."

Solsjen turns towards Isis and spits sending a gob of human spit through the air however it landed short of its target and it was at that time that the two officers took hold of the two men and escorted them into the waiting hands of the prison service for what is likely to be a long time in prison. A witness turns to Isis, "They're going to be trouble in prison, I can see it. God will forgive them I think"
Isis turns to the witness, "if he is in a good mood!"
The witness next to Isis smiles, "god is always in a good mood, he stopped you bleeding to death did he not?"
"yeah but he didnt stop the pain" says Isis as she turns to take a stick for her leg, or rather, whats left of it, is still very sore.
"so whats next?" asks the witness, a witness who was on hand at the time to help Isis when she trod on the concealed trap in December
"Whats next, cuddle up to a wet nose as my jack russel will be missing me then its physio, lots of it"

With Solsjen and Hannis being slowly escorted to the prison van, the police have to resort to tazers to subdue the two men who quite simply do not want to go to prison however several thousand volts soon has them under control and yes they are escorted into the prison buss where they are locked into a cell and taken off to their new home for the next 40 odd years whilst outside the courthouse there is another scrum, this time one of cameras and journalists wanting a picece of the news, they however are met with a clerk from the court who gives them their statements as Isis and the procecution witnesses go out of one door and witnesses for the defence go out of an other door.

[Aurora Confederacy]

There is a time when holidays come to an end, Martyne and her wife Tiffany have been staying in Neu Engollon at a resort called by locals as "The Kerz", a city that is jointly administered by Neu Engollon and Nikolia and is on the shore of a large lake.

The time has come for them to check out and so they start to pack bags, Martyne packing and Tiffany folding garments

"We got everything Marty?"

Martyne looked up, closed the suitcase, smiled "babe, we have it all, just got to check passports"

Tiffany smiles, "they're here"

"plane tickets?"

Again Tiffany smiles as she replies "aye"

"Well let's go"

And so with suitcase in tow Martyne and Tiffany head out to get to the taxi rank and the taxi to the airport...

[Ord Caprica]

Costano, Pangus
51st Street
January 4th, 2014

Corporal Octavian V. Jordan
2nd Battalion, 5th Marines
Operation Enduring Fury

The new year was supposed to start off calmly, without violence or excitement. Instead it was filled with the sounds of war and the smell of death all throughout Pangus. Costano City was no stranger to the violence, having been a major major rebel stronghold during the early stages of the Invasion before being decimated by coalition airstrikes during the winter of 2013.Now the city was alive with activity once again as allied forces began their final push into the capital, Corvus to finally end the bloody conflict.

U.S Marines had been ordered into the city by the newly elected Caprican President, Oliver Kenway on his first day in office in order to secure the flanks of the coalition's advance deeper into Pangus. The 5th Marine Regiment had been tasked with the mission after landing in country only a few weeks previous and the 2nd Battalion had been called up to clear out the northern section of the city while the 1st Battalion swept north from the southern portion in a textbook pincer movement.

On paper the operation was simple, rifle squads would push through the streets of Costano, clearing the city house by house and eliminating any enemy rebels they encountered and confiscating any weapons or intelligence they came across. Officially, with the start of the new year, the operation was experiencing immense success with rebels fleeing the city en masse rather than face the might of the U.S Military. Unofficially however, they were encountering stiff resistance as Heraldan rebels dug in hastily for a bloody battle for the city against the Marines.

''Avenger 4-4, this is Avenger Charlie. We just got word that Avenger 1-1 is taking fire over on 49th street due west of your position. You are to take your stick and reinforce their position, how copy over?''

Corporal Jordan known as ''Avenger 2-1'' was riding shotgun in his M2 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle(LRV) when the call for his squad to break off from the convoy of U.S vehicles pushing south towards the city centre. He had been in near continuous contact with the enemy since the beginning of the year as part of the Avenger convoy, which consisted of the Alpha Platoon of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. His Marines had been up for the last 2 days clearing houses and being ambushed almost every hour on the hour. The operational tempo had demanded that they keep pushing southward until the convoy reached the 20th parallel, several blocks south of their current position which HIGHCOM had designated as the primary staging point for the final push into the city centre.

''Avenger Charlie, this is Avenger 4-4. Solid copy on last, Out. ''

Avenger 4-4, consisted of Corporal Jordan himself who served as squad leader, Lance Corporals Smith and Miller who served as his fireteam leaders and PFCs Granger, Bell, Mitchell, Bryce, Clearwater,Doge and Flint with Privates Nott and Pince filling out 4th Platoon's roster. The squad was split between 3 M2 LRVs which broke off swiftly from the rest of the Avenger convoy had headed towards their new mission tasking.

Corporal Jordan glanced over at his driver, PFC Bryce with a look slight apprehension. They had taken contact more than a dozen times in the last fourty eight hours and while he believed they were the best outfit in all of the Marine Corps, he knew that they could only cheat death so many times.

'''Talk to me Bryce, how bad do you think one one is getting chopped up? ''

''I don't know Corporal. 1st Squad has some pretty good guys behind the stick. If they're getting chopped up, then we might be in for a fi

BOOM!

A deafening blast silenced Private First Class Bryce and nearly leveled the entire block as a 400 kilogram IED ripped apart the lead vehicle of Avenger 4-4. The peace and quiet created by the explosion was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire as rifles and machine guns came to bear on the crippled LRV and the Marines that had dismounted from the vehicles to it's rear and were even now were trying to establish a perimeter around the wrecked vehicle.

Corporal Jordan who was riding shotgun in the LRV before it was struck by the IED, and ejected several meters by the force of the blast.

Get up you bastard. He told himself. Pain shot through almost every portion of his body but he began to will himself to first open his eyes and view the carnage that was unfolding in front of him. PFC Bryce was cut to shreds inside the burning carcass of the LRV with Privates Nott and Pince unconscious in the rear passenger seats. His first and second fire teams were set up a dozen meters to the rear laying down suppressive fire with their MA18 rifles and the M340 machine guns mounted to their vehicles.

His vision was hazy, and his ears were ringing incessantly but with great effort he stood and moved over to his mangled vehicle. From his vantage point at the forward most position of his squad, could see they were inadvertently caught in the killzone of a well-planned ambush. The IED had been placed on the right hand side of the road and was most likely remote detonated, though prematurely as the primary blast site looked to be several meters up the road. On the left side of the street, a three story building was raking their position with rifle and machine gun fire of their own from less than 100 meters away.

Jordan righted himself and grabbed his MA18 rifle and brought it to his face, firing a quick controlled pair at a shadow occupying a window on the second floor before rushing to backwards towards the rest of his Marines and the closest LRV. His movement was noticed almost immediately and the enemy showed their disapproval of his survival by raking the area he just occupied with machine gun fire to no avail. Reaching the first vehicle, he took cover behind the lightly armored passenger door. and quickly popped up to fire another controlled pair of shots towards the compound.

''ACE REPORT! '' He yelled as his Marines.

Lance Corporal Smith who was manning the machine gun stopped his firing only to reply to his squad leader.

''Both Vics are up, we've got atleast a dozen hooties holed up in that compound across the street laying into us with machine guns and rpgs, We can move from here because there's another group of the bastards flanking us from the south.

That meant that the only way out of the kill zone would be to push forward, closer to the compound or try and push through the guys moving up on them from the south. Either way, they'd be at a disadvantaged and would have to leave the casualties in the first vehicle in order to move effectively. Either way, the machine guns in the compound would have to be silenced either way if they were to have any chance of breaking out.

''Alright. Get on the wireless and tell Avenger that we are in contact and need immediate reinforcements.''

He popped his head up and took another look at the compound across the street. He could see muzzle flashes and shadows moving across all levels of the building. Looking southwards, he could see more shadows moving towards them with muzzle flashes heralding the arrival of the heralds. He quickly ducked back behind the relatively safety of the armored door of the vehicle and gathered his thoughts.

We're being flanked and pinned down. We move south, we can't secure our dead and wounded. If we move on the compound, then we leave our casualties behind for the guys coming from the south. THINK Otto THINK!

Jordan closed his eyes for the briefest moment and took a deep breath. He knew what he had to do and it didn't make any sense to delay it any longer.

'' Smith! I want you to lay down everything you got on that compound for thirty seconds.''

''Rah Corporal!'' Was the reply before the rapid bursts of automatic machine gun fire from the M340 began to slice through the air.

He looked up one more time, to gather once last look at his path. The street looked almost peaceful if it weren't for the wrecked visage of his LRV and the round casings littered around the street from the firefight that had erupted. The storefronts were peppered with bullet imprints and scattered debris from battles past and present. The city itself had been nearly leveled during the opening days of the war by U.S airstrikes and the guided missiles from the U.S Naval cruisers lying off the coast of the country. It was almost surreal that here he was, a young Corporal of Marines from Caprica City, with 5.56 rounds and rocket propelled grenades zipping through the air on a calm winter's day in a city that might've been a nice vacation spot had it not been for the war that now tore the country apart.

All of that didn't matter now because they were at war and he had a job to do, no matter the cost.

Jordan jumped up from his position behind the cover of the LRV and sprinted towards the compound like a forward towards the goal in a friendly game of football. LCpl Smith's covering fire was withering, any and all attempts by the rebels to end the young Corporal's life were thwarted with a half a dozen 7.62 rounds from the machine gun. Jordan reached the front gate of the compound in short order and more importantly, in one piece. He collected his thoughts and marveled at the fact that he hadn't been killed. He pushed open the compound's gate and breached the inner courtyard rapidly.

It was deserted and he moved quickly to the front door of the building. Wasting no time, he booted the front door and entered the main building. Inside was a long corridor with doors branching off in different directions, presumably leading to bedrooms and lavatories. Jordan kicked in and cleared each room in order, starting from left to right until he reached the second to last door of the hallway. From outside he could hear the grunts and gunfire from rebels inside. Jordan booted the door just like the others and as the door swiveled open, it revealed two men, of military age with assault rifles standing a arms distance from a singular window in the room. He leveled his MA18 rifle against the closest of the rebels, and fire a two shots in rapid succession, felling the man before turning his weapon on the second and repeating the affair. The men's bodies had hardly hit the floor before he moved on clearing the rest of the first level of the building and moved up the stairs.

He moved calmly, up the staircase, his weapon at the ready, waiting for any threats to make their presence known. As he neared the top of the stairwell, he saw the shadow of a rifle barrel pointing downward towards his direction. Jordan stopped in his tracks and retrieved a M93 fragmentation grenade, prepped it, waiting a few additional seconds to cook the explosive and tossed it up to the top of the stairs and the resultant explosion shook the narrow corridor violently.

Jordan rushed up the last dozen or so steps to find the mangled body of his would be killer. The rebel couldn't have been more than sixteen year old, his boyish looks contrasted starkly with the military equipment draped across his body, a slightly deformed rifle lay next to the body.He stared at the body for but a moment, before moving on to the rest of the second floor. He rushed through the rooms once more, clearing them one by one, corridor by corridor, felling six more insurgents before making his way up to the third and final level.

From his position at the top of the staircase, he could see that almost all the walls on this floor had been knocked down and three machine guns had been set up around a set of windows. More than a half a dozen men were moving about, firing upon his Marines who were caught in between the remaining fighters on this level and the group that was flanking them from the south. If he could clear out this vipers next then his Marines would be able to focus their full attention on the threat to their rear. Such a feat was easier said than done in this case.

He looked down for a second and counted his ammunition, only two more magazines were left on his person, one for his rifle and another for his sidearm. His rifle and fragmentation grenades had been expended and he only had one more flash-bang left. Standard U.S MOUT doctrine discouraged lone wolf movements for just this very reason. It was unlikely that he would come out of this engagement unscathed but nonetheless he withdrew the remaining flash-bang and removed the safety clip and pulled the pin. He tossed it in the ''room'' towards the largest group of men and no sooner than it had exploded did he pivot around the corner and fire a rapidly at the startled men. The rebels dropped in quick succession but not quickly enough as the remaining men turned inboard towards the source of the death of their comrades. One man who was situated in a corner of the room, turned towards Jordan as he advanced on the his comrades, he raised his rifle and fired a burst into his back.

The force of the impact of the rounds, caused him to fall forward and land roughly on the deck. The rounds failed to penetrate the protective armor and Jordan turned quickly on his assailant and returned fire of his own, cutting the man down with a savage burst of 5.56 fire. He crawled to towards one of the few remaining walls left on the floor. The rounds may have failed to penetrate his armor but it had succeeded in breaking several ribs and incapacitating him for the moment.

He had barely settled against the wall for a moment before a rebel turned the corner, looking for the man that had killed several of his brothers-in-arms, only to be gunned down in the same way as his comrades, only this time from behind. A second rebel didn't make the mistake of the man before him, instead he drew a grenade from some pouch on his body and to Jordan's horror, pulled the pin and threw it in the room were it landed a couple yards away from him near the staircase he had exited only moments previous.

Almost as if by some miracle, or nightmare; Lance Corporals Smith and Miller emerged from the shadow of the staircase , rifles up and at the ready and ignorant to the threat that lay just a meter away from them. Knowing the danger his men were in; Corporal Jordan jumped from his position against the wall and dove on top of the grenade.

--The END--

[Consular]

The Assembly
Vigil, The Conite Congressional Republic
1800H

The hall was filled with thunderous applause as the Speaker, Eli Onasi, walked towards the podium. He smiled broadly, making eye contact periodically with various other Assembly members in the hall, and occasionally waving. He payed special attention to the cameras, which broadcasted his appearance live to the nation. It was almost surreal really, the atmosphere more like that of a celebrity concert than a national legislature. But this was not particularly unusual for the Conite Assembly. The Speaker liked to make a show of things, and it clearly was working for him, because his popularity ratings remained through the roof.

It was a very large room, with a high ceiling, shaped not unlike an ancient amphitheatre, with tiered seating before a semi circular standing area. It had to be a large room to fit the hundreds of Assembly members. It was at the moment rather full, with each Assembly member and their staff being present for the formal announcement. At the back of the room, Peacekeepers stood ever watchful near the various entrances.

Reaching the podium, he waited a moment for the sound to start to reduce on its own. Eventually, he tapped the microphone gently, and started to speak. "Thank you, you're all too kind." He smiled again, and ran a hand brushing back through his jet black hair, prompting another burst of applause. Some said he had the kind of smile that could melt even the coldest heart, or at least, that is what the magazines published. He glanced at his watch, tapping the screen to activate the smart display, and quickly scanning over a few notifications. It was a practiced look of course, he had already checked his messages before taking the stage. "Alright then, let's get started, shall we?" His was a voice that commanded respect from the Assembly, and soon enough the room fell silent, but for the whirring of the cameras.

"One week ago, the results of the elections for the Assembly were announced." He paused briefly. "But that's old news now I suppose. This morning this Assembly met for the first time, to confirm the Speaker and Directors for the various Offices. So to get right to it, I'm pretty pleased to announce that I will remain as your Speaker for the next five years." The Assembly started to applaud again, but Eli waved them off, and gave the cameras a sly grin. "I think that's enough of that, can't have it going to my head now. Besides, we've got quite a bit to get through, and if you start with the noise every time I say something charming, we're never going to get anywhere."

With the kind of energy he could throw at an audience, most wouldn't have believed that their new Speaker hadn't slept at all the night before. Securing a majority in the Assembly was truly a nightmare of beaurocracy and intrigue, which involved navigating countless personal relationships and hidden agendas to gain enough support. Eli was very good at it, but even now, his majority was still far more precarious than his announcement suggested.

* * *

"He's absolutely insufferable sometimes." Calo Faber had been Director of Exterior Affairs for fifteen years now, a remarkable legacy to be sure, that had allowed him more than any other person to shape the direction of the CCR's foreign policy. He had also in that time seen many leaders come and go, and had very mixed feelings on their latest Speaker. He looked at the display with mild annoyance, idly swirling a glass of brandy in his hand.

"He's very good." Elaine was far less cynical, though it didn't take much to be less cynical than Calo. Elaine Kelham was a senior board member for Lamplight Technologies, and an old friend of the Faber family. "Quite the showman." She turned from the display and looked out the windows, at the bright lights and sprawling skyscrapers of Vigil.

"Indeed. Disgustingly good." Calo mumbled.

"He's a good man, and more importantly he inspires people like nobody I've ever seen, don't underestimate how valuable that is. But he's still very young. He will need your guidance again."

"And I will be glad to provide it." He sighed. "I mean the lad no disrespect, he's rather capable really. I'm just getting a tad too old for these games I fear."

"You're too old for that too." She gestured at his drink with disapproval. "And I hear your son has gotten a taste for it as well, which is unfor-"

"Oh don't start. The Peacekeepers are hardly going to charge in here and arrest an old man over a simple drink." He chuckled at the thought of it. "Oh dear, what a scandal that would be."

* * *

"So that confirms... what we pretty much all already knew, right?" Aurora turned in her seat, positioned carefully so she could face her guests but still be visible to the cameras. Aurora Metzger was the hostess of the CRR's primary television news service, and also hosted a number of popular commentary panels about significant events. "It was a foregone result. The man can't lose."

Frederic, seated just across from her, nodded. "The last election took us all by surprise. At only twenty three he was the youngest Speaker in our history. He's still the youngest even now, five years later, which is really saying something! But this time, there wasn't any real competition."

"There was that... What was his name?" She absolutely knew who she was talking about, but feigned forgetfulness.

"Serrell? The debates before the general election destroyed any chance he had. Onasi made him appear completely without imagination."

"That's the one. We shouldn't give the Speaker too much credit though, it isn't terribly hard to make Serrell look silly." That prompted a round of laughter from the live audience. Once they'd quietened down she continued. "I'm sorry, that was unkind of me. Serrell is of course a fine person and he's done some wonderful work for Concord."

"But the Speaker has a kind of momentum that moves mountains." Frederic offered.

"Very much that."

[Ord Caprica]

Langley, Upstate Allegheny, United States
Kenway Family Estate
2017 July 2
1121 Hours

The picturesque landscape of upstate Allegheny was said to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. The trees, temperate climate and views of the coasts and the abundance made it prime real estate for anyone looking for a comfortable place to sit back relax and enjoy themselves away from the stresses of the big city which was only an hour's drive away if you still needed to be close by.

It was definitely one of Gabrielle Kenway's favorite places to be whenever she wanted to get away from her problems. The average person would question would problems exactly that she could have given her life. She was the First Lady of the United States, married to the attractive and charismatic President Oliver Kenway, gifted with wealth beyond measure with two beautiful, healthy children it was easy to think that she had life made if that was a thing.

What the average person didn't know that she did was that beneath the sometimes thick veneer of luxury and glamour, her life was a far from perfect.

Her handsome husband was a serial adulterer, a fact probably not even known to his principle mistress, his press secretary of all people. By her count, he'd slept with atleast a dozen other women since they'd been married in 1991 and there was no indication that he'd stop his philandering ways any time soon. She was luckier than most women who married sporting men like him, Oliver at least had the decency to keep his affairs discrete but it wasn't like she's was wholly in the dark. Even still she loved him and wouldn't dare dream of divorcing him. She liked her life of luxury, the state dinners with foreign diplomats and pop stars at Bright Hill.

She wondered sometimes whether she was to blame for his constant cheating, she'd been an aspiring model when they met and for the first couple of years of their marriage she'd been adamant in her desire to have an independent career and an independent life and then she'd gotten pregnant out of the blue and maybe pushed him into the arms of another woman. She wasn't exactly the typical homemaker and wasn't there for him when maybe she should've been or maybe she'd let herself go.

Their room in the Brick house on the estate was huge and she got up from their bed that she was sure that he'd slept with at least one of his women in and moved into the massive bathroom. She looked at herself through the full length mirror and critiqued herself. She was wearing a light link silk nightgown, still having gotten ready since waking up after a long night of drinking her problems away. Her dirty blonde hair hung down past her shoulders and it seemed to frame her face well. Oliver had always said that he loved it when she had long hair and she tried to keep it long for his sake though she preferred to keep it short. At five foot nine she was taller than most women with a slender figure that she worked tirelessly three times a week to maintain again for the sake of her husband and her marriage. Elizabeth, her husband's mistress and press secretary had told her during the campaign that her being in shape played well with the voters. Her breasts had sagged a bit after she gave birth to her daughter and she had seriously considered surgery to correct it but Oliver had protested vehemently at the thought.

Her girlfriends had said that she was still attractive and she knew she still drew attention from other men but she had her doubts. Her sister, Cheyenne had jokingly suggested that she have an affair of her own to get even but she knew she didn't have it in her character to do that to her family and in the back of her mind, she knew Oliver wouldn't allow it, she would could very well put someones life in danger in addition to her own.

In the corner of the mirror, the bottle of wine that she had left unfinished the night before stood on the nightstand, silently beckoning her to drown away her sorrows and wash away her thoughts of inadequacy in it's loving embrace. She turned and made her way towards the bed, tears forming in her eyes as she did, thoughts of always being second to another woman slowly beginning to break her spirit.

She poured herself a healthy serving of the beverage and gulped it down quickly before pouring another and was about to down it quickly as well when the heavy footfalls of someone outside her door stopped her.

Knock knock

It was eleven o'clock but her schedule for the day had been cleared by the secret service in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Oldtown so there shouldn't have been disturbing her today. The kids were busy with their own lives and studies and Oliver was supposed to be in Ulysses for the foreseeable future with everything that was going on.

''Yes?'' She answered cautiously.

Knock Knock

That was weird. The Secret Service were not known to play practical jokes or anything like that and they normally never disturbed her when she was in her bedroom. Putting the glass of wine on the nightstand she went over to the recliner where she had laid her robe down and put it on, heading towards the door quickly. She opened it and almost screamed when she saw it was her husband, dressed handsomely in his favorite white shirt and navy blue slacks, a bouquet of red roses in hand.

''Ollie, what are you doing here?''

He smiled brightly at her, hugging her tightly as she ushered him into the room.

''Aren't you happy to see me?''

''Of course, I just thought you had to be in Ulysses.''

'' I run the country sweetheart, the country doesn't run me. ''

He leaned in and kissed her passionately, dismissing away her questions in a heartbeat.

The Secret Service told me that you had left the city Friday night so I pushed all my meetings to next week and decided to fly up here.''

He was smiling but in the back of her mind it registered that today was Sunday so what was he doing all Saturday that he just now arrived but she simply dismissed those thoughts, deciding to just be happy in the fact that he was here with her and just her. She jumped him and kissed him again, even deeper this time, driving him back towards the door. She wasn't sure if it was the wine or the thoughts she was having earlier or the fact that she was just happy to have him her all to herself but she just wanted to enjoy the moment to the fullest.

Catching the hint immediately, he held onto her tightly and walked decisively over to the bed, all the while returning her kiss, their tongues dancing fervently with each other. He placed her gently onto the bed and began to undue the buttons on his shirt while she undid his trousers. The shirt came off almost as quickly as his pants dropped, and jumped on the bed next to her kicking off his shoes and shimmying out of the restricting garment and within seconds Gabrielle was on top of him, kissing him sloppily as his hands began exploring her slender frame as if it was his first time in forever.

She grabbed his hands and pinned them to the bed, leaning down to kiss him but stopping just outside of his reach, withholding the sweet embrace of her lips that he now desperately craved.

''I want another baby. ''

It was a bombshell and certainly not one that either of them had been expecting and she sat up, surprised at herself for uttering the words. She looked back at her husband to watch his reaction as he leaned back on his elbows, looking up at her. His brow was furrowed the way it did when he was thinking about something, as if he were in a different place or a different time.

There was silence, she was sure that he'd tell her she was crazy and promptly make up some excuse about having to get back to work or the capital or something along those lines but the words never came. Oliver looked into her eyes, as if trying to read her mind through her eyes.

Still more silence.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore and she rolled over off of him.

''I'm sorry, I didn't mean that.''

Gabrielle moved to grab something, anything from the nightstand, just to get her mind off of the moment that just had when she felt his strong hands grab her and turn her back around to face him and then felt his lips pressed against his and she melted all over again. Oliver looked into her eyes again, but this time the look was different and she couldn't begin to guess what he was thinking.

''Okay. Let's have a baby.''

She was shocked. She didn't know if she really wanted to have one or not but she couldn't help but smile at the thought. With a new child, he'd have to spend more time at home, with her. There'd be less time for that Elizabeth and her daughter, he'd have to focus on his real family.

''Really?'' He had said it but she needed to hear it again, just to verify that she wasn't dreaming.

''Yea. Gabrielle Anne Kenway,I Oliver Kenway the second, want to have a baby with you. ''

She kissed him again, tears welling in her eyes again, this time for a different reason. Maybe, just maybe she'd accidentally found a way to save her marriage.

[Ord Caprica]

Ulysses, C.D, United States
Pine Grove Restaurant and Bar
2017 July 3
1146 Hours

'' I don't care if she if her cousin works for Jeff Banks or not, she's still a bitch so she can't hang out with us.''

Of all the places for the young and wealthy daughters of Caprica's most elite mothers and father's to congregate, one would not have been able to guess that'd be found at the Pine Grove Restaurant and Bar, drinking import lagers and feasting on a lunch of cheeseburgers and chips. Sitting at a window booth was the First Daughter of the United States, Arielle ''Ari'' Kenway, Melissa Harding-Rhodes, heiress to the Harding-Rhodes fortune, Serena Humphrey, daughter of a Congresswoman and one of Caprica's premier chefs, and Ivy Rhodes, her cousin and a rising star in the modelling world.

Other than their rather illustrious ancestry, they all had one thing in common, they all went to the Ballard School for Girls in the capital.

'' Besides, she's totally dating Melissa's ex..'' Ari continued..

Melissa, the one whose ex-boyfriend had just been brought up stood in an obvious state of shock and embarrassment.

''It's fine. I was the one who dumped him not the other way around.''

Arielle rolled her eyes at her friend.

They were all still dressed in their school uniforms; crisp white shirts with conservative plaid skirts in the school's colors of navy blue and forest green, the school's logo prominently featured on their shirts.

''You can't call her a bitch just because she dated Christian months after Melissa dumped him. '' Serena chimed in.

''Let's be honest Sir-Rena.. She's a bitch and she was totally plotting on Christian while they were dating and it's only been six weeks since they broke up.

Serena rolled her eyes at her friend this time.

''Whatever, I don't care. And Don't call me Sir-Rena. You know I don't like it.

''My bad. I thought you liked it since you're a raving l-e-s-b-i-a-n''

''AM NOT!!''

The whole table erupted into riotous laughter causing some of the restaurant's other patrons to turn their heads towards the girls. The telltale ringing of a cell phone interrupted the groups laughter and Arielle reached down and grabbed the offending device and answered the call.

''Hello?

''Yes ma'am. I'm out with Melissa and Serena and her cousin right now. I don't want go. Please don't make me go. Because those people stink and they're always expecting me to say something important. That's daddy's job not mine though. Can I just stay hang with cousin Lizzy then until you guys get back?

Arielle put the receiver of the phone down and covered with her hands and mouthed to her friends.

My mother's trying to get me to go to Paradise City for some meeting my dad's having over there next week.

''Hey mom. Our food just arrived, can I call you back in an hour. Thanks, love you bye.''

Click

''I swear. Every time Daddy has to go somewhere, my mom tries to bring me along like I'm some kind of trained poodle.

Laughter erupted all around.

''I don't know Ari. It's kind of cool that you get to travel around the world with your family to all these cool summits and stuff. My dad barely let's me out of his sight since my mom caught Damien in my room last year.'' Ivy chimed in.

It's sorta cool I guess if it was like an actual vacation or something but it's just work for them and I don't really get to even do anything. And there's hardly anything to do in Paradise City with all those people, freaking secret service won't ever leave me ALONE!''

She yelled the last bit just loud enough for her ever present Secret Service bodyguard, Frank to hear her. He was sitting in an adjacent booth, with his partner James who simply chuckled to himself. They were dressed in casual clothes to better blend in with regular patrons but the transparent ear pieces and their physical demeanor were a dead giveaway to anyone trained to look for that sort of thing.

''Trust us, Miss Kenway. We don't want eavesdrop on your conversations about skank Vanessa or Christian as much as you don't want us to.''

'''See! Even Frank thinks she's a bitch. She absolutely can't hang out with us.''

The girls just shook their heads at their friend and her Secret Service escort.

[Blackhelm Confederacy]

The people of Colchester had always privately viewed themselves as far better than their Hesperidesian neighbors. They were, certainly, the most prosperous nation per capita on the poverty stricken continent, but they were also they sole state on the otherwise hellish landmass that did not partake in a terrifying level of racism and civil war that had become common elsewhere. For most of its history, in fact, Colchester Landing was a place of peace. Even in the tumult following the collapse of the Exponential Empire, the people of Colchester maintained their dignity and kept their composure, persevering as a miniature paradise in an otherwise troubled world. And this idea of a progressive superiority, the thought that they were much more advanced than the savages that circled them, played a major role in the passing of the Capital Punishment Reform Act of 2003. The act was meant to eliminate what many Colchester citizens felt was the most inhumane part of the death penalty; the wait. Knowing the time and place of one's impending doom must surely play hell on the mind, its advocates argued, and thus it was decided that, should a criminal be found guilty, they would be dealt with immediately. No long, drawn out period of waiting on death row to lose your mind counting down the minutes to their their demise. Unfortunately for the criminal, however, Colchester law mandated that no blood be shed in the commision of the act, meaning that the method of execution was death by drowning.

The death by drowning, wherein the victim was placed in a box and lowered into the sea, had been the preferred method of execution for several hundred years, although after the passing of the Capital Punishment Reform Act it was no longer a public event. In fact, no one had ever witnessed the act, aside from the executioners, since 2003, leading some to speculate that perhaps and even more humane form of punishment had been concocted within the hallowed halls of government.

But all of this brings us to the present plight of Omatubwe Malinga. Mr. Malinga now sat, alone, in a meticulously appointed room that would not have been entirely out of place in Versailles or some other palace of European or Astyrian royalty. The solid mahogany walls, complete with ornate gold inlay, surrounded the man in his chamber, were he sat awaiting the verdict from the jury. His trial had taken place no more than an hour before, and now he sat here, in this room, awaiting the verdict, which would appear on a screen before him. The screen, situated above the unlit fireplace, seemed strangely out of place in this Baroque looking room, but nonetheless it was, at this moment, the single most important thing in Mr. Malinga's life.

Malinga watched the four words emblazoned on the screen with eager eyes; Jury Voting In Progress. He would be set free, he was sure of it, it was only a matter of waiting for the jurors to come to this conclusion for themselves. His public defender had conducted an excellent case, making the argument that Malinga was not a bandit at all, but instead a refugee fleeing the poverty of Jafala. And the homesteader he killed was no innocent victim, but was instead an overzealous farmer who was a bit too eager to harm his trespassers. After all, a gun was found with the dead farmers body, and Malinga himself had been shot, albeit it was only a graze, during the course of events that lead him here.

The dark skinned man sighed audibly as he sank down in the cushioned couch, thinking how his very existence was now hanging in the balance by a jury of whites. To his knowledge, the whites had never treated his kind fairly, and that was, in large part, why he took so much pleasure in burglarizing that homestead. It was a small act of justice, a vindication for centuries of oppression, he told himself, and now he would just need to manipulate the white man's flawed legal system and walk free. He already thought of what he would do when he got out too. He would make his way back to the small stash of money and valuables he had hidden away, and have himself a shopping spree. And when that ran out, there would always be another simpleton out there who decided to build his home far from the safety of society to refill his coffers from. Next time, however, Malinga promised himself he would be more careful. For one thing he wouldn't get shot, and if he did there was no way he would go to a hospital in Colchester for treatment. What a fool he was, thinking he would be treated for a gunshot wound in Colchester without anyone asking questions. But he certainly paid for that mistake. Next time, he would find one of those Jafalan bush doctors. They never ask questions, not like they would care about the answers anyway.

Just as Malinga began getting lost in his thoughts, thinking about what he had done wrong and how he would rectify this next time, a sudden chiming sound emanated from the television screen before him. He immediately snapped out of his mental trance and looked back at the screen, where the words had now changed: Jury Decision Found. This was it, this was the moment he had been waiting for, and, suddenly, for the first time he began to feel real dread. He looked around the room, thinking what he might use as a weapon should the verdict come back as guilty. He was not going to allow himself to be hauled off by the guards willingly. He could already almost feel the box filling with water, looking out through the clear plexiglass at the sea as it rushed to fill his chamber. The thought was almost too terrible to imagine. No, no he would fight. They would need to knock him unconscious to get him into that box, that was for sure. His eyes darted over to a nearby lamp, that would do nicely, it could at least take down one of the guards, maybe buy him a few moments to find a new weapon to defend with...yes..and that table, perhaps he could pry a leg off it and use it as a bludgeon. There was plenty he could wield here, a veritable arsenal of mundane items surrounded him, any one of which could be quickly turned into an improvised instrument of resistance.

And then suddenly the chimes sounded again. His heart raced in his throat as the words left the screen and were replaced by new ones: Not Guilty. Malinga leapt to his feet in joy as he heard the distinctive sound of the door unlocking. The solid CLACK of the bolt sliding backwards was matched by a new message on the screen. "Congratulations. Please Exit the Room." No need to read that twice, Malinga thought as he happily pranced across the room, his mind racing with the thoughts of all the things he would by as he reached the knob and began to turn it. However, much to his momentary shock, the knob did not turn when he twisted. Instead it released the faintest hissing sound, as a cloud of poison gas was released into the receptive palm of his hand. It only took but a second or two for Malinga to collapse, his heart no longer beating in his chest as the nerve gas once again proved effective.

He had, in fact, been found guilty. But the administration thought it was wrong to burden one with the thoughts of their impending death by telling them so. And the gas was a far better way to die than drowning. And even better, it shed no blood in the process.

[Ord Caprica]

Ulysses, C.D, United States
Steak and Ale
2017 August 14
1012 Hours

''Personally, I don't know why you stick around. President or no President, he's still a philandering bastard and without a prenuptial agreement you'll never have to worry about money or anything like that if you left him.''

''It's not that simple Chey. He's the most powerful man in the country and more than that he's the father of my children and I just can't do that to them. They've got lives here. Ari loves her school, her friends, and Trip is getting ready to start college soon. It wouldn't be fair to them.''

''And what's fair about him sleeping with his Press Secretary or that staffer from Sierra before that or the singer, what was her name, Jamie? What would Daddy say if he knew you were letting him do this to you?''

It'd been a constant back and forth between First Lady Gabrielle Kenway and her sister Cheyenne for the last thirty minutes. The younger Edwards sister had been attempting to persuade her elder sister to leave her husband or at the very least separate in response to his rampant cheating for some time now, a sense of urgency was added as the First Lady's mental state had been markedly deteriorating as of late.

''You don't understand. David is a professor, if I left him now with the reelection coming up it would be devastating to his campaign. If he lost the race, it'd kill him.''

''And what about you? I can see that it's killing you staying with him. Does his sanity mean more than your own?''

''Yes. I'd rather deal with it my own way than give him to that bitch Elizabeth. ''

'' You're way is getting pregnant and that's not going to change anything. You've already got two children and that hasn't stopped him yet.''

''He's a good father, he's never done anything when the kids were young. ''

''That's not good enough darling. I just don't want to see you hurt anymore.''

Gabrielle sighed at her sister. It was true, she was tired of the philandering but she couldn't see herself leaving him. She was a politicians wife and before that she was an officer's wife and it just came with the territory. The men cheated from time to time and that was just something she had to deal with. The Family Readiness representative told her once that supporting their husbands meant having to make sacrifices and she'd always considered this to just be one of those sacrifices she'd have to make and she'd made it for twenty three years, but there had never been another child in the equation before, a child that wasn't theirs.

''If you won't leave him then you need to tell Elizabeth that she's going to have to stop bringing her baby to Bright Hill.

She almost spit out the wine she had been drinking. Her third glass to be exact.

'' I can't tell her that. That's his baby too. ''

''Allegedly''

Her sister had always been the blunt one in the family. That's probably why she went into journalism.

'' I'll think about it okay. I'm not going to make any spur of the moment decisions. ''

Ulysses, C.D, United States
Executive Suites, Room 114
2017 August 14
1212 Hours

Elizabeth was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the First Lady of all people here, at her apartment in the capital, with her husband, The President of the United States and their entire Secret Service detail. Out of character would be the understatement of the year but she handled it with as much tact and restraint as she could possibly muster given her situation. She'd put her daughter, Natalie down for a nap moments before and offered refreshments and now was sitting on her couch as the First Lady scowled at her and the President tried his best to not appear uncomfortable even though it was apparent that the course of events had thrown him for a loop more than anyone.

''We are here to iron some things out that can only be discussed between the three of us.''

Gabrielle began before nodding at the lurking Secret Service men who prompted exited the room wordlessly.

''I know you've been sleeping with my husband for some time now and I know that it's not going to stop anytime soon and I've come to terms with that but there are going to be some ground rules going forward.''

Elizabeth's mouth stood agape, literally wide open in pure shock as the First Lady blew open what was supposed to be the biggest secret in modern politics. Her first thought was that this was some kind of joke but she couldn't be so lucky because everything that she said was true. She was in fact sleeping with the President on a somewhat consistent basis and there was little chance that it would stop anytime soon. She had fallen in love with the man despite her better judgement and willingly fell into the role of his mistress, a role that was as normal to her now as going to work.

For Oliver's part in the matter, it was even more of a open secret that he was fond of the opposite sex and Elizabeth wasn't the first woman he had an affair with nor the only one he was currently involved with, merely the most prominent. He'd been taught the value of discretion by his father when he discovered his own string of affairs only after the man had passed away and as far as he knew his own mother was never aware or atleast never acknowledged them.

While he had the self composure to not reveal his thoughts on the matter as visibly as his paramour on the couch, he was deeply shocked by the whole matter.

Gabrielle on the other hand was completely composed and had a air of calm indifference about her that was unbeknownst to the other two in the room was brought on by a comfortably level of intoxication that seemed to be her constant companion these days.

''Now, with that being said. The current arrangement as it stands cannot continue. You two can carry on as you like with a level of discretion of course but if Natalie is to be a part of our extended family then it stands to reason that she should be given a room at Bright Hill and something resembling a schedule should be put into place.''

''I don't think that's going to happen, Madam First Lady.''

''It's Gabrielle, I think we're at least on first name basis since you've been fucking my husband.''

Elizabeth swallowed, hard. For all her education and professionalism, never in a million years did she think she'd be put in this position. Her lover's wife, the President's wife was attempting to arrange some kind of shared custody arrangement for her illegitimate daughter with her husband.

''Oliver?''

Her voice was neutral but clearly a plea for some response to what was being asked.

''Since everything is out in the open now, I agree with Gabbie, Natalie should have a place with us. She's as much my child as Trip and Arielle.''


She leaned back to let her back rest on the couch, simply floored by what was being discussed. But the pragmatist in her was ever at work and she couldn't help but consider how such an arrangement would work in reality. She swallowed again, this time more to help her compose herself and collect her thoughts.

''So what would such an arrangement look like?''

Such formal words given the very unorthodox proposal that had just walked into her living room.

''It'd be simple really. We'd give Natalie her own room in Bright Hill and she'd be able to stay over and see her father and her siblings a bit more consistently, while I am not there. Ferrying her from work and back her and day care's isn't good for her anyway and this way there's considerably less logistics needed. It's certainly not the more conventional set up but I'm confident that this way, we can have some semblance of normalcy and my husband can quit scurrying around in the shadows like the scoundrel he is.''

Oliver winced at the name but showed no outward emotion. He sat there calm and collected, his navy pinstripe suit immaculately pressed as if this were simply another meeting with his advisers over some crisis of national security or another.

''I'm not going to divorce him Elizabeth, I will not give you the satisfaction of taking my husband from me. The best you can hope for is being a quickie in a conference room between meetings.''

''Gabrielle.''

''No, Oliver it needs to be said because I have put up with this for far too long. I knew what you were when I married you and I have my own reasons for staying silent as long as I have but I will say what I have to say. He's my husband despite this fling with you, he will remain my husband and the only reason why I'm here is so we can move forward and do what is best for the children. And there will come a day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but there will be a day when you too have to explain yourselves either to those kids or to God himself.''

Gabrielle stood up from her chair next to her husband and moved towards the door. Her pink and white pantsuit shuffling with the movement. As she got to the door she paused and turned back around to face her husband.

''Should I expect you for dinner?''

''I'll be there.''

''Good, I'll see you at seven. Good afternoon, Elizabeth.''

The First Lady pulled the handle on the door but it didn't budge, and she stood there struggling with the door till Elizabeth stood up and helped her with the door, lifting up with door by the knob, causing the latch to release and allowing her to exit, more or less gracefully. After she'd gone, she stood there in silence with the President, no words were shared between them for a while but they were both wordlessly going over the conversation that had just taken place moments before.

''Can I get a drink?''

''Water?''

''Scotch''

Elizabeth made her way to the kitchen and poured two drinks, one for Oliver and one for herself, downing both of them before refilling them and taking one over to the couch where he sat motionlessly.

''Thank you''

The words were polite but there was tension in the room still.

They sat in silence, sipping their drinks, gazing at each other but never making eye contact until Natalie's crying over the baby monitor brought them back to reality. Elizabeth got up to go sooth the noisy toddler, an act that took no more than a few minutes but when she returned the living room was empty. He'd gone home to his wife most likely, leaving her alone with the baby as was he often did. Finally the full reality of her situation hit her and the tears began to fall down her face and she didn't attempt to stop them.

[British Hifax]

Bloemendaal Hill
Aspen, Nidwalden
6:30 a.m

---

It was 6:30 a.m. when the iPhone of the Princess Letizia ringed, the sound bursted in the master bedroom of Bloemendaal Hill, a unique mansion made of wood and stone with a modern warm interior, the manor has been property of Letizia for 14 years since she bought it when she was 31 years old. This morning the Princess wasn’t lonely, with her there was Juan Cantú, the rich star and tennis player of Hifax who for a year has been the secret fiancee of Letizia.

‘God, who’s now?’. said Cantú with a sleepy voice

‘It’s the alarm…’ answered Letizia yawning, ‘...didn’t I tell you? I have to go to Princetown’.

‘What? we’ve been here for only two days’

‘Yes but the Foundation... tomorrow will be the inauguration and I have to be there. I’m the president, I’m sorry…’ said Letizia making a small pause and moving the sheets to see the face of Cantú, ‘... but it’s important for me’.

Letizia already knew that most of the boys she were with where tired at some point of her life, paparazzis, parties, interviews, dinners, they were all part of her and she couldn’t abandoned them. However at difference of her past boyfriends, Cantú has been very supportive, but the time comes and the idea of continue having a secret romance with the Princess was starting to irritate him, specially seeing that this vacations were planned for four months earlier.

The Princess get out of the bed and walked into the dressing room where she dressed with a ⅞ coat and a long white trouser, both items oversized and combined with a pair of white stilettos, something simple and easy to carry for a long travel to the city-state.

‘You look beautiful Letizia.’

‘Thank you...I’ll try to compensate you Juan, I’m sorry’ were the last words of the Princess before she left the bedroom and walked to the garage where her black Cadillac Escalade was, she stowed her purse and suitcase in the trunk of the SUV and started her ride to the airport.

The weather was incredibly horrible, the snow and wind clashed in the doors of the car and the road was poorly visibly, even with such car. Letizia maintained the velocity at 85km/h and in less of 20 minutes she was in the town, and at approximately 15 minutes more at the airport. While she was driving through the lonely streets of the fancy Aspen she was thinking in her lasts words to Cantú, ‘I’ll try to compensate you’, what was she going to compensate? this was her life and she wasn’t sure if she wanted Juan to be part of it, her life has been full of loves but, why Juan was different? Letizia could remind the words of her mother when she knew about her romance with the tennis player.

‘Long time ago I was a girl like you... love comes and goes and… and sometimes you just do not feel it, try to find someone who you will not end feeling that in the end, is he is Cantú, great but if not...’, her words were done for this occasion, Letizia knew she wasn’t feeling the same love for Cantú that she felt a year ago when they first saw in a party at the Palace and it was probably the time of leaving him, not as in a dramatic break down but leaving him anyways. However, she didn’t wanted to get in a plane with a smudged makeup so in order to left the moment behind, Letizia turned on the car radio, but the news on the radio weren’t the best, the nidwaldester weather wasn’t getting better, on the contrary, many airports were being closed for snow alerts.

‘No lo puedo creer’. thought the Princess making a turn to the left and entering to the airport where after some more turns she was entering to the area of private hangars where she parked her Escalade and walked to her chartered Gulfstream G600.

‘Oh, Welcome Your Serene Highness’ said the Pilot who was looking at the last weather inform with his First Officer who was also looking it with some worried face.

‘Thank you,’ the Princess smiled, ‘we are going to take off, right?

‘The forecast is not encouraging but… we are sure this will take off’

The Princess continued walking entering to the business jet and greeted the two crew members that were inside and in less than 20 minutes the plane was taxiing in direction to the runway, the pilot announced the hard take off and in five minutes more the Princess was leaving the town, once again, hearing the words of her mother and thinking about her relation with Juan Cantú. Letizia, in a new attempt of escaping to think about it, took a nap to arrive refreshed in Princetown.

14 hours later, at 10 kilometres east from Princetown, the Gulfstream was in its approach to the Akoya International Airport, from the window seat of the Princess she could recognize the peninsula of Ferrat and the whole coast of Princetown full of lights, an incredible night spectacle that she always loved. The plane made its final turn of 60° to the east to run into the final approach, the pilot opened the landing gear and passing through the green mountains and blue water the plane smoothly landed in the runway of the airport.

After taxiing to the VIP Terminal the customs revisation were easy and fast, in 15 minutes Letizia was driving her LZS Coupe to her mansion where she was going to spend the whole day before the inauguration of the ‘Hifax Foundation’ at night, however, 20 minutes after she arrived to her home, Pierre called her to have launch at the Yacht Club and how her emotions had been going, talking with her brother was something she couldn’t refuse.

[Consular]

Xaio household
Vigil, CCR
1400H

"Come on Teru! You'll have to try a bit harder than that." Lee laughed, easily deflecting the incoming slash, parrying the blade off to the side. He noted that the lad had left himself completely open to counterattack again, though he refrained from exploiting that opening for now. Even though the training blades they used were blunted, they could still cause quite a bit of pain if used aggressively.

Teru did not laugh, and was instead visibly frustrated. "I'm not getting any better." They had been going for hours and he was clearly a bit exasperated with his lack of success.

Lee frowned, but wasn't about to let his student give up. "Not with that attitude you aren't. Come on, try again."

"I've been doing these lessons for months. Months! I'm still awful, and my father..."

"Your father believes you can do better. And despite your whining you are. I promise you're a lot better than when you started." Lee grinned slightly, hoping a small joke would help. "You know, when you started you really were awful."

"I'm not whining! It's just, this is stupid! When am I ever going to use a sword anyway!" He tossed his blade to the ground.

"Teruhito! You will show your teacher respect." Both teacher and student turned to see Xavier, Teru's father, walking down into the courtyard. Lee reflexively snapped to attention, while Teru regarded his father nervously. It occured to Lee that he had no idea how long the General might have been watching.

"So you have failed both in practice and in understanding." Xavier sighed. "A blade has little use on a modern battlefield, yes -- but you are not only learning how to fight. You are learning coordination, control, and most importantly, discipline. As it stands you clearly lack all three."

Teru bowed his head and didn't say anything.

"Pick up your blade." Xavier ordered. Teru complied, and reached down to retrieve the sword, when he was suddenly knocked off his feet as his father violently backhanded him in the face.

Lee flinched but said nothing, merely standing at ease with his hands clasped behind his back.

Teru tried to get back up on his feet, but didn't get the chance. He yelped as Xavier brutally kicked him in the gut, and fell back down.

"You will redouble your efforts." Xavier ordered coldly. "Next time I observe your training I expect improvement." He glanced his watch. He had already wasted enough time on this disapointing distraction today. Without further comment he turned and walked away.

A few moments passed, feeling much longer than they really were. Once he was sure the General was gone, Lee moved over to where Teru was still lying and offered a hand.

"Don't touch me!" Teru snapped. He got back up himself, pushing away Lee's offer of assistance.

Lee wasn't sure what he should say. "Maybe that's enough for one day." He eventually offered.

Teru briefly made eye contact with him, but didn't say anything, before turning and storming off into the house.

* * *

As the car sped off towards the aerodrome, Xavier allowed himself to relax, and closed his eyes to rest for a moment. He didn't expect to get much time to himself once they arrived.

Next to him in the back seat, his assistant Anthony glanced up at him, before returning his gaze to his laptop's screen. "General, if I may-"

"You may not." Xavier cut him off bluntly. He strongly suspected where the conversation was heading and had no desire to continue it.

Anthony paused, then hesitantly decided to push his luck a bit. "You're too harsh on the boy."

"My family is not your concern Lieutenant. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Yes sir."

[Consular]

Metzger Tower, penthouse
Vigil, CCR
2100H

"Hijaio! I..." She looked slightly flustered, and subconsciously ran a hand back through her hair to make sure it wasn't a total mess. "I wasn't sure you'd actually make it."

"Of course I made it, Sonia." He grinned. "I mean. It's not like I had any better offers."

"Oh, yeah, sure." She blushed slightly, but quickly covered it up. "Bet you were drowning in uh, offers, huh."

There was a moment of silence. It wasn't awkward at first, but started to quickly head that way. Eventually Benji broke it. "And don't call me Hijaio! Anyway, am I just gonna stand here holding this or can I come inside." He glanced down at the box he was holding.

"Right, yeah, of course." Sonia smiled and moved to the side, letting him through the door. As he moved past she let her smile lapse, slightly annoyed with herself. She hadn't seen him in a year and that was the best she could do?

Benji made his way into the apartment, the penthouse rather, and placed the box on a table in the lounge. Barely had he set it down when he flinched as someone pulled him into a slightly too tight hug. "Ben!"

After a few moments he returned the embrace. "Kieran, how's life? I, uh, I can't breathe by the way."

Kieran laughed and backed off. "Not bad my friend. How's being all important working out for you? How long are you back for?"

"I have to report to the Assembly tomorrow afternoon, then I leave again."

"Afternoon, huh? No early start then. That's good, that's good." Pulling a pocket knife from his belt, Kieran cut open the top of the box. Inside were stacks of cans, labelled with the branding of various foreign alcohol companies. He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. "My man. You are, you are just the best."

"You know how much trouble you'd be in if Peacekeepers caught you bringing this in?"

Benji laughed. "I'm pretty sure they know. It'd just be too embarrassing to arrest me over something like this." The truth was the upper echelons of government largely ignored certain prohibition rules, and as long as it didn't get too out of hand the Peacekeepers looked the other way.

More people arrived, mostly friends from their university days, and it didn't take them long at all to break out the cans. Most were lightweights, which wasn't too surprising given they rarely got the chance to drink.

Before the clock hit twelve most found themselves sitting on the couches, largely glazed out, while Kieran attempted to play a butchered version of Hotel California on his guitar. Benji had closed his eyes and was drifting off, when he felt someone sit next to him. He opened his eyes to see Sonia had made herself comfortable, resting on his shoulder. Their eyes locked for a moment.

She took his hand and pulled him up from the couch, leading him up a staircase to where the bedrooms where. Most of the others were too intoxicated to even notice them leave.

They had barely closed the door when she pushed him against it, leaning in and kissing him. His hands wandered freely as their kissing grew more passionate and aggressive, eventually lifting her up and wrapping her legs around him. He carried her across the room and set her somewhat roughly on the bed...

* * *

Benji cringed as he walked slowly into the kitchen, bright sunlight flooding in from the open windows and assaulting his senses. He hadn't actually drank that much, or so he thought, but the quiet and painful buzzing in the back of his mind seemed to disagree.

He closed his eyes and leaned on the bench for a moment, before opening them to see Kieran offering him a glass of water. He nodded his thanks and took it, taking a few careful sips. "So..."

Kieran leaned back on the bench and looked at him. "So." His expression quickly gave way to a grin.

Benji frowned. "What?"

"You gonna uh, you gonna go in front of the Assembly looking like that huh?"

"Well I'm gonna put some fresh clothes on you dumbass." Benji said sardonically. He turned and looked at the window, squinting to see his own reflection. He had rather unmistakable red marks down his neck. "Oh." He sighed. "Shit."

[Consular]

41st Street Gym
Vigil, CCR
1500H

Lee hit the end of his set but just kept punching, smashing the boxing bag over and over until his hands started to hurt under the gloves. Which was good, because once it started hurting, that was when you started to actually count for real.

"Easy there, you'll wear yourself out." Elias leaned over the ring, his gaze carefully studying the man's form. "Stamina is just as important as strength."

"Fuck off." Lee retorted, not even bothering to look and see who had spoken. Eventually he finished his set and glanced at the side of the ring, and instantly regretted his language when he did so. "Sorry." He offered. There were few people who commanded respect within the force quite like Elias.

Elias didn't look offended and waved off the apology. "Having a bad day?"

"Something like that." He turned and started into his next set. Boxing helped to vent his frustration, better that than actually hurt someone. Though he was mainly just angry at himself, and not for anything he'd done, but what he hadn't done. The fact that it was nothing new just made it so much worse.

A few moments passed as Elias silently let him finish the set, before speaking again. "Few of us from the Group are heading over to the steakhouse. Join us." As far as invitations went, this one was fairly forceful.

"Isn't it a bit early for that." The steakhouse was where STG went for drinks. The prohibited kind of drinks, naturally. They served steaks as well.

"No such thing." Elias stated plainly.

Lee paused for a moment, but no great excuses were shoving their way to the front of his mind. "I'm busy."

"No you're not." Elias turned to walk away.

"I'm retired!" Lee shouted after him.

"No such thing!" Elias called back over his shoulder. "Finish up and take a shower. That's an order, Sergeant."

* * *

The steakhouse was a quiet place, tucked into a pleasant walkway between major roads in the central city. Most of the places along the alley had open plan layouts and such, but the steakhouse was a tad more discreet, locked away behind a reasonably unassuming facade.

By the time Lee made his way there, the others were already seated. He recognised everyone at the table. Retired or not so lucky, the Group was a tight knit sort of thing, though he'd stop short of calling a few of them actual friends.

"Ingram. Pull one up." Elias slid a full glass across the table to an empty space. Lee grabbed a stool from the bar and pulled it over to the table, taking a seat. He didn't touch the offered glass for now. The others were mid conversation and aside from a few nods his way didn't let his arrival interrupt that.

"Naturally I cut that fucker's throat." Eve paused to take a long sip from her drink, as Lee wondered exactly what kind of conversation he'd walked into. "Son of a bitch bled like a pig too."

"Oh nice. Here I was thinking that story might have a happy ending." Skye rolled her eyes a bit, picking with disinterest at the chips on the table. "It started off so innocent too."

"You know her so much better than that love." Kane grinned.

"Please." Eve waved her glass pointedly in his direction, probably to emphasise her words. "I always provide a happy ending. If you get what I'm sa-"

"Oh god." It was Skye's turn to take a long drink. "I'm sure we'd all love to hear about that in more detail, except, wait, no, please stop. Lee, hi, how are you, please change the subject. Thanks."

"Uhhh..." Lee faltered and there was a brief awkward silence.

"I heard you've been training Xaio's son. How's that going?" Elias offered. Though his expression was as neutral as they came, something in his eyes told Lee the question was both very deliberate and unavoidable.

"Maybe we don't go for that topic." He said firmly, hoping that would be the end of it. It wasn't of course.

"I know it's not what you signed on for, but you're more important to him than you know. You're there when his father isn't." Ever the strategist, in warfare and family alike, Elias had a plan.

"Xaio's a good man. He just... needs time." The words didn't sound very convincing, probably because Skye wasn't sure of them herself.

"General just got a little fucked up when his missus got shanked." Far too late Eve cringed as she realised she's said that aloud and not just thought it. The others around the table looked at her disapprovingly.

"I'll talk to Xaio. You help his son. Their relationship isn't beyond saving yet. And I think it's worth saving." Elias glanced around the table, and the others nodded.

"Here we fucking go." Lee muttered under his breath, finally lifting the glass and taking a drink.

[British Hifax]

Café del Country
Casuarinas, Princetown
Hifax

Some time after the inauguration of the Hifax Foundation, Juan Cantú and The Princess Letizia were saw for a last time having breakfast at the fancy ‘Café del Country’, a café located in the Casuarina bay and listed between the the most expensive cafés in Astyria and one of the most preferred places for jet setters and socialites in Hifax, this due in part to the natural beauty of the place where its located and in part to the architecture of the building, a typical house of Casuarinas with a rooftop garden with view to the entire bay and yacht port of Casuarinas and the rest of the city of Princetown.

The meeting was catalogued by the media as a previous step to a new royal wedding, however, both Cantú and Letizia knew that it was totally not the purpose, in fact, it was totally the opposite, after the travel of Letizia from Aspen to Princetown she thought that the best option for their relationship was to put an end, she was sure that she wasn’t feeling the same love for him that she used to and for her surprise, he was also thinking in taking a ‘break’ obviously not before trying to solve the problems, a characteristic of Juan.

‘We both know why we are here, Juan, this… this can’t continue’, said Letizia while looking at the menu of the Café.

‘I know Letizia, I know what’s happening between both but I’m still thinking that there’s a way out’

‘There isn’t Juan, I’ve been thinking about this the whole week and no, there is not a way out, we both know that this isn’t the same and…’, and in the middle of the climax her sentence obviously pre armed, the waitress appeared with a slightly nervous but fresh smile, ‘Your Highness, have you chose your breakfast?’, the Princess answered with her best face, ‘Yes, sure, a cappuccino with Kona coffee, a cheesecake and a simple orange juice’.

‘Ok, and you, sir?’, said the lady looking at Juan Cantú, ‘I am still deciding, thank you’, the girl left the place walking to the kitchen and both continued the conversation.

‘...and as further I would like, I’m sure this has to end, we can’t continue and we’re destroying each other’.

The conversation continued with Juan Cantú trying to find a solution to the problem but Letizia was enough closed to understand his points, although in fairness, both knew that a break down was the best option and in the end they understood it and the two continued their own paths, Letizia left the café and while she was driving her LZS T33 around Casuarinas she realised how important Cantú was in her life but only during specific moments, like the death of her father. She was incredibly convinced that her life could continue normally without him and deep inside her, she knew that Juan Cantú was thinking the same while driving to his house, his last smile before getting into his A8 transmitted confidence and a sense of friendship.

[British Hifax]

[ Princetown, Hifax ]

Shortly after Letizia agreed with Juan Cantú to not seeing each other again, she was invited to an event in Saint Barthélemy and obviously, being the president of the Hifax Foundation she shouldn't refuse to assist. The schedule was very simple, the event was part of the inauguration of a new building on the island's university and for that day she was going to have a full agenda visiting the installations, talking with students and offering interviews, however, she was needing some days alone, far from Princetown and with a cool weather, the occasion fit like a glove and the Princess, before accepting the invitation added a couple of days after and before the event just to relax.

It was the 20th of April, a very rainy day in the city-state when the Princess was leaving to Saint Barts, although the plane had an advice of a difficult take off, the pilot managed himself to make it smoothly and in some short 15 minutes they were far enough from the turbulence and from the city-state. In a bit more than 3 hours Letizia was fastening her seatbelt again, now for a landing in the airport of the island, the plane over passed above the calas of marine blue colour and green hills and did a wide turn forming an inverted ‘C’ to finally land. The plane was headed to the apron and Letizia finally got off, feeling the sun in her face again and breathing that pure air that Saint Barthélemy has.

Letizia left the terminal walking through the pedestrian crossing to the parking lot, thankfully, the place was empty, there were only a pair of very expensive cars, SUVs and her pure white Peugeot 308 CC parked there, the convertible was one of her favourite cars. She dropped the two valises that she carried from Princetown and pushed her keys into the ignition, waited for the hardtop to retract and started her trip to her mansion in one of the green hills that ended in the calas where the town of Cala Ferro was. A truly exclusive and paradisaical enclave on the island.

The house was named ''Villa La Gema'' and had a typical Tuscan style, something that characterised the island. Its location provided stunning views of the beach and of a near peninsula, however, the house was not one of the most expensive in the neighbourhood, it was valued in some HFF 10,000,000 when Letizia bought it near 2015.

[ Ferro Hills, Cala Ferro, Saint Barthélemy ]

While the sun was starting to descent and hide in the horizon, Letizia was arriving to the neighbourhood, the lights, located on both sides of the road were starting to turn on giving an amber light while at the distance the sun was hiding leaving a black and orange sky. Letizia arrived to La Gema, opened the garage and parked the 308.

Some time later she was relaxing and eating a typical Hifaxian dish, a caprese salad while watching the news on a TV,

''...la renuncia del primer ministro de Hindia Belanda no toma por sorpresa al Reino de Noordenstaat, agregó la ministra de asuntos exteriores del Reino durante una co…''

when suddenly her iPhone ringed, Letizia grabbed it and answered the call,

''So, I heard the news...'', said happily a man on the other side of the line,

''Wait...'', exclaimed, ''Maximilian? how are you? It has been a long time’ answered Letizia.

‘It has been nice, I can’t argue…’ said Maximilian, a famous aristocrat of Nidwalden and old friend of Letizia, ‘... I heard you are in Saint Barts, is that correct?’

‘Hah, you never get tired of trying, right? the information is correct, I am here’

‘Cool, my helicopter is descending in the heliport near the Ferro Hotel, I know a great place to dinner not so far from here…’

‘You are incredible Maximilian…,’ said Letizia standing up from the table, ‘Are you in or…?’ said the man, ‘I’m in, wait some minutes and I’ll be there.’ said Letizia accepting the offer while seeing through one of the arches that was directed to the famous Ferro Hotel how the helicopter was descending.

The Princess didn’t think it twice, she went to her bedroom and go dressed with an outfit that she has used previously, a white belted gown with a thigh high split and decorated with a delicate thin gold belt. She got in her convertible and drove to the heliport of the hotel located in top of a small hill, while leaving the place in the helicopter and watching the magic night lights of the coastal towns of the island, she asked,

‘...so, where's this great place?’

‘José Ignacio, do you remember?’

‘Oh, my God, Maximilian, do you still remembering that place? we were so young’

‘We are still young Letizia, please... ok, get ready we’re almost there’, said Maximilian while making a maneuver with the helicopter to finally descend in a place near the town. José Ignacio was a well known town of the island, it had a very few streets that ended all in a central square but the magic of the town was not only this square it was also the marina located on both sides of a cala and although the town was located on the end of it and hidden by the mountains on both ‘banks’ of the cala, it offered the the most beautiful views of the narrow passage illuminated by the lights of the yachts and the reflect of the moon in the water.

Letizia and Maximilian drove to the central square where they left the car as there were no more streets in the town and after a short walk they both seated in a restaurant located in front of the marina.

‘Tell me, it has been a long time we don't talk, you are officially the Princess now, hah?’

‘Haha…’, smiled Letizia, ‘I am, all this has been… so.. fast, the death of my father, the coronation, my brother in the throne, the foundation, everything changed so fast, it's incredible…’, said, ‘ ...but you should probably know everything, right? tell me about you, I thought you were going to be in the Coronation?’

‘I wish! but there were so much things also in my life also during that time, it was incredibly crazy but, here we are, right?’, said Maximilian starring the face of Letizia.

While both continued talking about their lives Letizia re discovered the feeling that she had missed years ago, it was during the Hifaxian summer of 2001 when both had a trip to the town, they were truly lovers, however, they were still immature and their relation failed without ending the summer, although Maximilian continued looking for Letizia, she continued her life searching for the true love that every Princess should have, something that probably three weeks ago she felt that had found it. But that feeling that believed missed between the morning in that Café of Casuarinas and today was apparently coming out again, maybe it was the atmosphere of the place, the amber lights, the marina or the wine, but both were sure that there was something else special between them. The dinner ended with no more than Maximilian driving his Peugeot 5008 to his mansion in Puerto Banús.

[Great Nortend]

CHEPINGSTOW: Chepingstow is not a large city. Indeed, it could hardly be described as a city, it being so rather quite small. It consisted mainly of the grand Chepingstow Abbey and Cathedral, the adjoining Cathedral Close, a large green, and a smallish market town that had grown up around it and the meandering River Stough Minor over centuries. Of course, the city was abuzz with activity on the days when markets were held, but other than on feast days, the little settlement was scarcely busier than Rockleham in the far North. The only industry was that of printing, for Chepingstow had been for many centuries the heart of the monastic scribal and later, printing, traditions.

It was therefore with great surprise that the citizenry of the city woke up last year in the languid last days of August to read in their newspapers of the brutal and calculated killing of the well-liked Lord Mayor, Sir Alan Rigby. The police called it forstall, which made it worse for the easily alarmed population. In the days after, the facts slowly trickled into the collective knowledge of the city, only serving to increase suspicion and alarm: killed by a sharp, silver dagger (though hadn't everyone a knife similar?); a right-handed assailant (well, wasn't everyone?); who was wearing size 9 shoes (well, thank goodness for that!). It was only when the prime suspect, Mr John Fielders the post-master, was arrested that one would feel a sense of relief sweep through the narrow lanes and cobbled streets. He would surely be convicted at the next Assizes.

“With your leave, My Lord, I wish to call Mrs Fielders, Mr Fielders' wife.”
“Admit her, Mr Tipstaff.”
“My Lord, will Mrs Fielders tell the Court her recollection of the evening of the 29th day of August last year from 6 in the afternoon?”
“Mrs Fielders...”
“Well... it was a Wednesday I think. At six I would have said my prayers, of course—”
“My Lord, Mr Salway asked if Mrs Fielders would recount her recollection, not her supposed habits.”
“Quite right, Mr Williams. Mrs Fielders, if you could please think back and tell the Court exactly what you remember only.”
“What I remember... well I remember that John, my husband of course, opened the door himself. Our maid, Sally, was away home for the harvest and we had to open our doors ourselves. I came to greet him... he had his briefcase. I hung up his hat, his straw boater—I remember because I thought it was getting a bit rough around the edges—, and then went back into the kitchen. I was in the kitchen before he came home too, cooking our dinner. I always cook the dinner because we haven't a cook and Sally is quite unable to cook a decent meal at all. It was a mushroom and chicken dish. I went out into the woods behind our house for some chanterelles, which are always tasty. We quite like our chanterelles, and ever since I went on a mushroom-foraging picnic with my friend Mrs Lucwise and her friend, a mycologist I think,—”
“My Lord...”
“Mrs Fielder, please. If you could recount your recollection only, without the discourse.”
“I do apologise, My Lord. Well, at around seven o'clock we had our dinner, the two of us, and after dinner, whilst I was cleaning up in the scullery, I think John went into his study. He said that he had some accounts to go over. I finished around half an hour later, and retired to the sitting room and worked on my cross-stitch. I've been working on this large floral desi—sorry, I digress. At nine, the light had faded quite a lot and it was getting rather hard to see so I packed my things up and retired to my bedroom. I think I called out, 'I'm going up now dear,' to John, and I heard a mumbled reply I think. I'm not sure exactly what he said though. Anyway, I very quickly fall asleep and soon, it was the morning.”
“And does Mrs Fielders sleep normally in the same bed or room as Mr Fielders?”
“Yes, we usually sleep in the same room. I didn't hear John enter the bedroom, but in the morning I saw him in his bed, still asleep.”
“But Mrs Fielders does not usually notice when Mr Fielders retires for bed?”
“No, I don't. I'm usually already asleep.”
“So Mrs Fielders would agree that there was nothing out of the ordinary on the night of the 29th of August last year?”
“Yes, I would agree so.”
“Thank you, My Lord. I have no additional questions.”
“Mr Williams, do you wish to cross examine the witness?”
“Yes, My Lord. Would Mrs Fielder tell the Court whether she is a light sleeper or not?”
“No, I would not say so. John sometimes says that I could sleep through anything except the doorbell.”
“So she is a heavy sleeper?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Therefore, would Mrs Fielders be under sure as to the exact time when Mr Fielders retired to bed that night?”
“No, he retired soon after me. Well, he usually doesn't stay up too late anyway and if he does, he always tells me. He doesn't like wasting the electricity—we've got electric light you see—and usually comes up at least by ten at the latest.”
“But she is not sure as she does not recall his retiring?”
“No... I suppose not. As I said I was asleep all night.”
“So Mr Fielders has no alibi for his whereabouts after around nine o'clock in the evening on the 29th of August.”
“Mr Salway, please refrain from making comments and constrain yourself to questions for the witness.”
“I do apologise, My Lord. I have no further questions.”

[Vossem]

Carigrad, Nikolia
Jan walked down a quiet path through a park that ran along the Dunav. It was still early, so he could enjoy some peace and quiet before he would spend another long day visiting all the tourist attractions that Annelien had planned for their second day in the Nikolian capital. While he was glad to be there, and loved Annelien to pieces he also enjoyed taking some time for himself, to have a walk, take in the less-touristy sights of the city, and eventually to bring back some fresh breakfast for him and his fiance on his way back to their apartment. All in all it was a good arrangement, he got out of the room and Annelien got breakfast in bed, win-win. And so, he continued on his merry way, stopping by a small bakery on the way back and in his very best broken-Serbian, eventually managed to get what he wanted.

Annelien on the other hand, still lay in bed, tangled in the covers lazing until Jan returned. She drifted in and out sleep, watching the ceiling fan in the other room before dozing off again. Finally, she heard a key in the front door's lock, and she slowly sat up, before dramatically stretching with a grin on her face. She swung her legs out of the bed and onto the floor, before standing up, pulling her shirt down and made her way over the kitchenette.

"Mooooorning dear." she said, hugging Jan from behind and trying to look over his shoulder while standing on the tips of her toes. "How was your walk?"
"Morning to you too, finally up eh?" he quipped back, turning around to face her. "Yeah, not bad. Found a cute little park along the river."
"Worth a visit?"
"Maybe." he said, leaning in and kissing her on the forehead. "After we eat though"
"Sounds good to me. How long were you out?" she asked, putting the rolls in a small basket and reaching around to put it on the table to see .
"Half an hour maybe? Did I wake you up?"
"Maybe. I've been drifting in and out for awhile now."
"Sorry, dear." he said smiling, gently pushing her towards her chair.

Just as he went to sit down himself, his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He reached down and pulled it out to see the caller id. "Sorry dear, I need to take this. Go ahead and start without me." he said, picking up the phone and walking out onto the balcony, closing the door behind him.

"Yes, I'm in Carigrad. Yes. Yes, of course. I've met him and picked it up. Will do. Thank you, you to."

With his call out of the way, he went back inside, sat down with his fiance and enjoyed his breakfast before heading out into the heart of the city to go to whichever museums Annelien had chosen for the day.

[Vossem]

Vlierdorp, Vossem
Three unmarked vehicles sat parked along the side of the road in a dark warehouse district, spaced equally as to remain inconspicuous. For the most part, the streets were quiet with only a few people heading home from their late shifts, or arriving for the graveyard shift.

Marrieke looked over the briefing one more time. Looking down at her watch, she closed the folder, and inserted her earpiece. "Inspector Vandenvoorde, all teams check" she said calmly. Though her voice was calm, her nerves were starting to act up, they always did before a raid. One by one, all four of her team leaders sounded off with a click over the radio, followed by her partner. Looking down at her watch again, she quietly counted down until they were set to move. Tonight's assignment was a routine raid of a warehouse reported to contain smuggled rare animals, a clear violation of the already lax import laws in Vossem. The Finance Ministry's Eenheid Bijzondere Ingrepen, or EBI, was specifically set up to deal with reports deemed too dangerous for regular customs officers, so here they were.

Finally, it was time to move in. "Inspector Vandenvoorde, all teams move in." she called over the radio, getting out of the car and drawing her side arm. Two pairs of teams filed past her as her partner and two other EBI officers formed up behind them. The door to the warehouse was breached with a handheld battering ram, and the teams filed in, announcing their presence. As Marrieke entered the warehouse, she heard sporadic gunfire followed by precise burst. Her teams were engaging someone, they must be at the right address. As she and her partner made their way further into the warehouse complex, the building opened up to a large open storage area filled with containers. She reached for her stanley blade and cut open one of the manifesto sleeves and pulled out the neatly folded piece of paper. The writing was cryllic, no good to her. She returned the paper to its sleeve, and proceeded. As she made it to the next area, she passed two bodies, their weapons having been kicked away, before getting the all-clear sign from her teams.

"They don't usually shoot at us." she said to her partner.
"Nope, that's certainly new. Must be something important in the containers." he replied, taking off his face-mask.
"Do we have permission to crack the seals?"
"Not sure, lets call in the all clear first and get provincials down here to seal off the sight."
"Probably a wise decision." she replied, pulling out her phone and called the office.

"Inspector Vandenvoorde here, the warehouse is secured. We didn't find any animals, but we have a few shipping containers. Manifests are in cryllic, so we would like to confirm their contents."
She paused.
"Alright, thank you." she replied, waving over an officer to cut the sealing ring and open the container. One of the masked officers pulled out a bolt cutter and opened the container, before stepping back so she could look inside. It was filled with pallets of plastic-film covered boxes.
"These certainly aren't exotic animals" her partner laughed, cutting through the protective cling wrap film and taking one of the boxes out. "They look like medicine boxes." he said, tossing one of the boxes to Marrieke.
"They appear to be medicine boxes, nothing I'm familiar with sir." she said into the phone. After a moment, she hung up the phone, and gave the order to close the containers and seal off the site until specialists came in to evaluate the contents of the shipment.

With that, the teams all closed the containers, and waited for provincial police to arrive to hand over the site to them. They carried the bodies out in body bags to the entrance so they could be taken by the provincial police coroners, or whoever else showed up to take them under the province's jurisdiction. Then ,just as silently as they arrived, the teams got back into their vehicles and left.

---

The next morning, Marrieke entered the Finance Ministry's provincial office, and entered the elevator to go to her floor. Once she got out, nobody was at the reception desk. She looked around a bit, poking her head into the bathrooms, then into one of the open office spaces, but nobody seemed to be there. She proceeded to her own office space, and put her bag down on the ground, and logged on to her work station. As soon as she had logged in, her section coordinator appeared, sticking his head out around the corner and called her over. "Marrieke, could you please come to my office for a moment?"
"Yes, of course." she answered.
Together, they walked through the empty floor to his office, where three strangers sat waiting for her at a conference table. Her partner was already there.
"Good morning inspector Vandenvoorde. Congratulations on your raid last night." one of the men said, standing up to shake her hand.
"Good morning, thank you. May I ask whats going on?" she replied, shaking his hand.
"Technically no, but we'll tell you anyways since we'll be working together from here on out he answered her with a smile, before sitting down. "I am lieutenant Seef of the Royal Information and Security Service, and these are my colleagues, agents Liese and Dervoorne. We're here regarding your raid last night."
"I see, nice to meet you all. What about our raid brings you to our humble office?" she replied, taking a seat herself.
"Well, that shipment is directly involved in a case we're currently leading and has further implications than your organization can deal with, so we're absorbing you and your partner into a temporary task force. Congratulations, you're getting promoted!" Seef said, leaning back in his chair. "Corina, could you pass miss Marrieke the case file please?"
One of the officers pulled out a thick folder and slid it across the table, before getting up. "Our target is an organised criminal syndicate involved with smuggling pharmaceuticals under the radar of the authorities. While that is, in theory, bad enough, they have been responsible for a string of deaths caused by faulty products. The warehouse you raided last night contained one of their shipments, in this case about three and a half tonnes of paracetamol, some of which tested positive for toxins related to cheap manufacturing methods. Now, we have an idea of where the drugs are coming from, but we aren't certain yet. All we know for sure is that the shipment you found last night shipped out of Nikolia, or at least thats what the manifestos say, we're working on confirming that at the moment. If that is indeed confirmed, it strengthens the case we have to seek cooperation from the local authorities. We did however ping a phone call from Carigrad a few days ago, though we don't know nothing specific."
"That is... a lot to take in." Marrieke sighed, leaning back in her chair.
"Yeah, it sure is." her partner grinned.
Marrieke looked up at the agents. "Well then, I accept the transfer. When do we start?"

[Nikolia]

7:03h
Jesenice, Kribian Voivodeship, Nikolia
Nikolian Red Cross Ambulance Station Jesenice 10

Jan (41) and Katarina (35) were just starting their shift after examining their ambulance van and taking a cup of coffee as call from their on-board radio started their day:
- Dispatch to Ambulance-035
Katarina picked up the receiver as both of them entered their vehicle and fastened their seat belts, ready for the action:
- Ambulance-035 receiving
- We have received a call of a pedestrian hit and run, patient is male, mid 30's, unconscious with weak breathing. I am transmitting you the details over the TS, over
- Received, Ambulance-035 out.
As they rolled out of the station and turned on their lights and sirens, Katarina opened the patient data on the onboard telematics system which already directed them to the location of the accident which was some 5 minutes of cutting through morning traffic away. By law, ambulances in Nikolia are required to reach the scene of the accident in 15 minutes, or 30 minutes if the call is originating from a rural and remote area. This high requirement is met with a vast network of ambulance stations across the country, and various private companies offering ambulance services for the Nikolian citizens. This, however, means that the education standard is very high and rigorous and that's exactly what Jan, a senior EMT was recalling whilst fighting against the Jesenice downtown traffic.

- Man, those were some hard 3 years... Jan sighed My mentor, Aleksa was real pain in the ass, ha ha. He was one of the best paramedics and instructors in Nikolia, received many awards from the Secretary [of the Red Cross of Nikolia] and whatnot. Even though he felt like an entitled prick, he had all the right to be one. He glanced at Katarina who was sipping the coffee and distractedly looking through the side window. Hey, you seem distracted he remarked, at what she replied: I just remembered my first shift, it was probably the worst shift in that station's history...

· · ·

12:51h
Motorway A-1 near Homolj na Dunaju, Mehedian Voivodeship, Nikolia

Motorway A-1, the busiest motorway in Nikolia, connecting Beograd and Carigrad carries more than 220,000 vehicles every day on a 254 km long stretch of asphalt. In order to regulate the traffic, a special unit of the traffic police, the Motorway Police is working tirelessly around the clock, 365 days in a year. Today, we are together with Homolj na Dunaju Police department and their Motorway Police on a 24 km long stretch of A-1 under their jurisdiction.

Zlatan (32) and Kristijan (28) are working together in the first shift, and their task today is to inspect the trucks on one of the specialised checkpoints along their stretch of A-1. As they positioned their BMW M3 patrol vehicle on the side of the road where they will wait for a truck to escort it to the checkpoint for the inspection, a noteworthy truck passed their position. Zlatan, being at the steering wheel sped up to catch with the truck, while Kristijan reached for the radio to inform their colleagues at the checkpoint of the arriving truck:
- Unit 12 to checkpoint Bravo-2 we are flagging a truck bearing license plate number GJR 4331 Moravia 24, we are three kilometers to the checkpoint, over
As they overtook the truck, they turned on their blue lights and a rear LCD panel emerged from the rear window saying "Police, please follow us" indicating the driver of the truck that he is one of the "lucky" individuals to be checked today. Several minutes later, Unit 12 and the truck exited the motorway onto the checkpoint where a full team of people were waiting to inspect the truck. The heavy hauler stepped onto the weighting station and as it halted in position, the computer screen at the weighting station indicated a problem.
Jana (35), weighting station operator:
-This weighting station is able to weight up to 100 tons and is able to measure weight at every axle of the vehicle. In order for the vehicle to be properly controlled, it is necessary to load it properly and not put more than the prescribed weight on each axle: If this happens, the vehicle could become extremely dangerous as its braking potential and stability are brought in danger. This truck has more than 1400 kilograms over the limit on the power axle, so we will have a word with the driver.
In Nikolia, a penalty for overloading a truck on an axle goes up to 375 krunas (50 NSD) per 100kg, which means that this driver can expect a fine of around 5250 krunas or about 700 NSD.

END OF PART 1

[Nildwalden]

---

---

''Oh, Maqtajer...very authentic but isn't it like... not very nice? with like weird people and stuff anyways, see you there'', said Anne while walking around her house, a two-floor loft decorated with a modern and minimalist design in a whites, greys and light blues palette. Anne walked from the living room to the kitchen where she left a glass of juice and walked towards the dressing room smoothly through the arches that separated the loft spaces. Once there, she dressed in a v-neck blouse combined with a pink flared skirt that could barely touch her knees. While choosing her heels, her phone ringed.

''Uhm... yes?'', answered moving some white heels in front of the mirror.

''Where are you, Anne? Our parents are already there'', said Frederick, her brother, from the other side.

''Arriving, you?''

''Already here, did you picked up the present?''

''Of course, I just... Jesus, this necklace... it's here, in the back of the car'', said looking left to her shirt collections in the dressing room.

''Anne, are you driving and putting yourself a necklace?''

''Oh not really, I'm at home, gotta go'', said Anne hanging up the phone and finally putting that necklace.

At the Schlosshotel Kronberg; a stone castle in the outskirts of Cologne, protected by the woods and a golf course, the scene was different. The entrance roundabout was filled with luxurious black sedans around the stone fountain. Once in the place, Frederick got off from his BMW X1 with his boyfriend, Diego Ortega, a Hifaxian economist.

Leaving the car both got invaded by an overwhelming summer warmth. Crossing the entrance arch, the elegantly dressed porters opened the doors and both faced the enormous double-deck reception naturally divided on a side by small livings with views to the patio and the golf course and on the other, with the reception desk where groups of tourists with their luggage could be easily recognised among the fancy guests of the party.

Once inside, Diego took Frederick 's hand, ''I still don't know if it's the best Frederick, we both know how important this is for your mother''.

''Look, I'm not going to continue with this... we both know what we want, hm?', said smiling, ''...I'm going up for while...'', said Frederick moving right to the stairs and pointing at the enormous crystal wall facing the patio, ''...you can go out if you want''.

''Ok, don't worry, I'll stay here''.

Frederick went upstairs to the suite where his mother was preparing herself for the event. Walking around the corridors in a dark blue suit, he saluted with a distant smile to those he found in his way until he reached the suite's door. Frederick hit the door and Marie, a blonde, tall woman of blue eyes that happened to be his mother, opened.

''Oh Fred, you are here, how are you?''

''Fine, you?'', said closing the door while her mother left to continue her makeup at the bedroom.

''Fine... I was just finishing here and... done, oh, before you say anything, look this'', Marie walked to the bed and grabbed a coat-hanger that was holding a white knees dress, ''Fred...'', said smiling at Frederick, who was looking through the window, ''...Fred!'', shouted.

''What, mom? oh''.

''Where are you? Jesus Christ every day more gone... how's the dress? Do you remember it?''

''I'm... I'm sorry, looks beautiful, the one from Carigrad right?''

''Yeah, those days...'', Marie took the coat-hanger closer to her body and moved to the mirror, ''I've never used it so I thought this could be a good opportunity...''

''It truly is... and about opportunities... I had to talk with you about something, Diego came with me''.

''Ah, your friend?''

''You don't marry friends mom, face it, he's my boyfriend''.

''I was just testing you Fred...'', said smiling, ''...just... just don't make him appear in the family photo, mhm? you know the rules, not even Alexander is going to appear''.

Frederick moved his arm and made a slight disapproval gesture with his face, ''whatever... ah, they're here'', said looking through the window, ''I'm going down, see you there''.

''See you, Fred, send me a message if you see your father around'', she replied.

Frederick left the suite and went down the stairs, gave a fast look and found Diego and Letizia, the Hifaxian Princess, talking and walked towards them. The place was surrounded by an aura of elegance and tranquillity, with the green forest and park in front of the terrace, the guests of the party enjoying themselves and the musicians playing classical music live.

''...sí, estamos pensando en vivir aquí aunque también por mi trabajo tengo posibilidades en Lema, oh, here's him'', said Diego looking at Frederick, ''how's your mother?'', asked him.

''Being my mother, you know'', said smiling and giving a slight sigh, ''..but anyways, how are you Letizia? Long-time we don't see!''

''Totally Fred, it has been a fast year, I had almost no time after the marriage...', a waitress approached them with a tray with champagne glasses, behind him, Maximilian, ''...oh yes, thank you'', said Letizia while the three took a glass.

Maximilian joined the talk and Frederick remembered his mother's words when he saw his father walking through a hidden path that crossed the whole golf course.

''I'm sorry, I should check something hm...'', said walking in direction to the table where Anne was talking with an older woman and relative of both.

''Oh, hi Charlotte... I see you are great'', said Fred.

''Fred!... thank you, I'm fine, who's that young boy you came with?''

''You'll know him later'', replied laughing, ''...Anne, I should talk about something''.

''Yes, tell me'', said Anne.

''But like...'', said moving his eyes to the enormous green golf course, ''... in private''.

''Oh...'' answered Anne smiling at Charlotte and standing up. Once in private with Fred, she said, ''what is it? I was having a beautiful conversation with Charlotte''.

''Yeah, no doubts about it. It's about dad, something's telling me he's having... an affair''.

''Oh that... no, totally no... I mean, I'm sure he wouldn't, you know him''.

''Yeah maybe, It's just... I saw him now...'',

Anne looked at Fred, ''Hm? That doesn't mean something, Fred, we're mature now, come on''.

''You're true, maybe it's just me... I'll send mom a message anyways, she told me to do it if I saw him around, she's probably wanting to take the family photo first''.

''Yeah, do it... '', said Anne seeing how Fred left walking in direction to Diego, she breathed deeply and grabbed her phone from her small handbag, ''whatever you are doing there, don't be stupid'', she texted and sent to her dad.

Far from the castle, below the grove of trees and surrounded by the golf course, the classical music being played at the terrace was almost imperceptible and the leaves of the trees gave a slight shadow while some sunlight was able to pass through them. Werner, the father of Anne, Frederick and Christine and husband of Marie was a man of some 59 years old, of medium stature and grey-haired, he inspired confidence and made most of its fortune with Marie owning a chain of exclusive design stores, his marriage was though, not in its bests times. Through the past three years, Werner has been living a second life with Brigitte, a woman of a few years old more than him. Brigitte was a truly attractive woman and always elegantly dressed; she was an old friend of Marie that with the pass of the years, their relationship became more distant.

''You called me Brigette but I think I left it clear last time we spoke''.

''It's just... I... I can't'', said Brigette getting closer to Werner.

The cellphone of Werner beeped and he looked at it but paying little attention, his eyes went back to Brigette's face.

''I'm sorry'', said moving his arm to put a distance between both, ''I can't continue with this... you should leave'', said Werner turning back and to the castle, while Brigette hid her tears putting on some black glasses.

Before leaving for good, Brigette stopped her white Volvo XC90 at the entrance of the hotel, rolled down the window and gave a letter to a security guard saying, ''please, give it to Marie von der Leyen... thank you'', finished rolling up again the window and making a turn to accelerate the car at high speed in the route that passed by the entrance of the hotel.

-

The party was a social event that meant a lot for the family and their business, it was a statement for the upper class of Nidwalden and Lorecia. This year, everything was going as Marie had planned; every year, the family posed for the cover of the Lorecian edition of the Insider magazine as if they were the image of the perfect family, something that inside them, they knew they weren't. Christine, the oldest sibling, arrived just in time for the photo with her boyfriend, Marie called the photographer and the family (without Christine's boyfriend and Diego) posed with the parents seated in two separated white bergeres in front of their children.

Once the photo was taken, Marie stood up smiling and kissed her children, the family seated in one of the well-set tables where Diego and Alexander were already seated. Marie grabbed her champagne glass and offered a toast but before she could say anything, a security guard dressed in a black suit moved towards her.

''Ma'am, for you'', said giving Marie the envelope with her name written in cursive.

Marie reacted with surprise, ''Oh... sure... um, did the person said a name...something?''

''It was a woman, that is the only thing I can tell you, I am sorry...''

''No... it is fine, thank you'', answered Marie, ''I have to do something, yes? I'm back in a minute'', whispered to Frederick and Christine, that were seated to the left and right of Marie, before walking alone to the park.

After reading it Marie looked up the horizon where the blue sky and the green course touch together and thought, ''You will pay your bad decisions, Werner... and you will pay them with interests''.

Marie stood up and walked back again to the table. Her husband followed her with the look, once seated in front of him, he said,

''Everything right, Marie?''

''Oh, yes, yes... just... just a letter of a fan'', she answered.

''Oh well! that's new mom, a fan?'', said Christine before taking a sip of wine and stabbing a Sorrentino with her fork.

''Oh, come on let's not make something big from this, yes?'', said Marie with a higher tone.

Anne looked at her siblings and shrugged to later move her lips forming the word ''I don't know''. She moved her serviette and suddenly her phone ringed.

''Brigette is dead, she crashed her car, we're at the hospital'', said the message.

Anne was taken aback by the message. Diego, who was seated next to her saw her face.

''Everything fine?'', said Diego.

''Yes, yes, nothing wrong'', answered Anne.