Their Choice

  “Sir… but this. The world has never seen Lys intervening. Even as the Lylaco Empire, we only moved through conquering, not interrupting in other kingdoms or nations' matters. Even with Cerka and Torka's tension with Lymoca, it isn't justification for any country to do that, even less for Lymoca!” A person spoke out, carrying everyone's worries and insecurity.

  “The situation isn’t stable in the south, but Cors, Preato, and Collan are keeping it as solid as possible. Terka is still in development, and wars to barge into territories and annex them have begun.” Luis went on, “You don’t have to deny within yourselves— why Torka didn’t go for the fat meat juice of Terka. Or why Cerka didn’t select any other than Argopolas, which is on the other side of the south.”

  “They even ‘distributed’ land when planning this. That much is obvious,” Luis shook his head. “They are afraid of Collan, which has great cooperation with Cors, especially as they were brought up by both our countries. Preato? It’s second to Cors down there! Attack it, and they might just show you how they took the Kingdom of the Valads off the map and caused the Corsel Empire trouble.”

  “If you know how to respect Preato’s history, then what about Cors?” Luis looked at his people with ardent intention. He could see the glint he wanted to invoke grow in their eyes. “They are more afraid of us.”

  “We have as the population as Cors and Collan have together, but their military industry isn’t independent like us. Not as much, not as advanced. We have experience in war, and our soldiers fight for the brimming lives their families enjoy back home. It’s not Lypros or territory we’d lose. It’s humiliation to every Ly, if we are insulted again, like Terka did.”

  Luis’s words trailed off. The ‘war room’ continued with its silence. Only their eyes could do the talking and thinking. Luis further added, “I am begging you. Letting other’s hands get into Moonblue will be the disaster we, Lys, have been protecting our people from for so long.”

  “Let me show you it isn’t war we’re birthing, but attacking it from their weak spots. We have the means, and we can defend our face, accordingly and fabricating an image. No more countries should fall to the manipulation we’ve spoken of without a single word.” Luis looked at his people with intense eyes. His sharp gray-black eyes making them think twice and over again.

  “Let me show you why the south is fine as it is, with its people and its means. Nobody dares to touch us when knowing doing it to one of us… you touch all of Lymoca.” Luis added, his eyes hardening, squinting with a pumping heart. Lesly suddenly spoke, shaking her head to clear her face of any hair strands. “When does it stop?”

  “…” Luis looked at her and couldn’t say a thing. He was baffled and momentarily wordless. Lesly pressed on, her knuckles pushing hard against the blueprint map. “When does it end? Should these wars end in our favor, with the history of one fail, two failures. When will they stop?”

  Lesly stared deep into Luis’s eyes, penetrating into him. She stepped back and walked around the central table, beginning from her right. “Terka sinned. Not towards the heavens, or just to us Lys. Not towards humanity, as many whispered of us before.”

  She reached beside Luis, slowed her steps, looked at him, and continued. Luis’s eyes relaxed, squinted, lowering his head to follow her movements with his chin without looking at her. Lesly continued moving behind him with all ease in the world, encircling the table back to her spot.

  “Terka also sinned against the history and bloodhood we’ve shared for thousands of years!” Lesly Rivera’s voice became stronger yet vulnerable, her visage wrinkling and turning fierce because of that. Her pearly teeth seeming sharper than before.

  “Didn’t we all belong to the same beginning point? Didn’t we spread from corner to corner, knowing nothing and moribund until the first civilization of the Fourth Order began? And it began with all of us, moving up north, down south, a little to the east or west, not as gifted to move too much sideways. Like in the east.”

  “Yet, weren’t we also understanding? Receptive and tolerant? We allowed strangers to step here, and that was only one of our steps towards our current development. More than enough, never below anyone else— any other political entity!” Lesly fiercely gestured before moving left.

  Heading towards Luis, this time from her left, she walked slower. Without a pristine realization, she had the war room’s attention all to herself by now, absorbed.

  “Many things happened, before and within the Lylaco Empire. It’s good you all studied as much as we did. It’s important for our Lye.” Lesly paused for a couple of seconds. “But don’t limit your eyes to your mind. What we see in the world with our eyes right now is the fall of other nations.”

  “Lys vowed for peace, further valuing it with the coming of the Green Transformation. Lys always acted for the good of the supercontinent. We had no need to look for anyone’s approval when we did. Why do we now?”

  “No. This is the moment,” Lesly pointed at the floor, flinging her wrist up and down. “Where we keep protecting the land, territory, ideas, people, and culture some seem to now ignore. Cerka isn’t governed by their people, but the wishes of a few. Was it different with Terka? It is the same with Torka!”

  The cabinet members’ eyes flickered, looking up at each other. Luis’s eyes expanded a bit, noticing the glint from before surfaced all around their eyeballs. Lesly walked to Luis’s right and placed her hand on his lower back, nodding when looking straight into his face.

  Luis blinked and slowly turned his head to the central table and everyone around it. He filled his lungs at his slow own pace, saying, “Lymoca has gone through numerous changes, yes. Only a couple were major… Don’t be afraid— be with me. This is another period, another life cycle. Let me guide you. I can show you why everyone ‘down’ there is as important as every one of us is.”

  “…chatter, chatter…” The cabinet members briefly conversed, debating and mostly asking questions to each other in low volumes. Luis waited, his chest filled with patience, his head full of ambition and longing, and his heart filled with warmth, holding Lesly’s hand.

  “President…” General Edgar Plomo spoke at this moment, when the sounds were emptying the room, but some were still at it. Luis lifted his forehead, staring at the General with upturned eyes. Edgar began, “I am opposing to every conflict in our country, and more so to intervene.”

  “But even without vice president Rivera’s words, I know the south cannot be ignored. Cors might meddle in at some point, but first to what? To obligate the HLS when 4 national forces are slitting each other’s throats?” Edgar Plomo shook his head.

  “President, we knew to do better then. No thought was given to secondary words. We resolved it all, didn’t we?” Edgar puffed his chest out. Luis looked at his General and blinked, slowly nodding afterward. “And we’ll do it again.”

  “Whatever you think is best, President.” - “We are in no war, so the President cannot decide on his own. That’s why he has us. Lymoca is with you, President.” - “Those punks might get too bored after getting rid of their ‘best friends’. What better than to give them a new purpose?”

  “So— do all of you agree?” Luis looked at everyone, asking one more time. They looked at each other, nodded, and placed their eyes on Lesly Rivera. She stood straight. Understanding them, she puffed her chest out and faced Luis. “We agree, President Luis Heartez.”

  “Very well,” Luis looked at Lesly and smiled thinly. He then gestured towards the door, “Then, let’s see what they think.”

  Omar Preon and Benito Metelti were at the door, opened by Roam, who held it open for them. The cabinet sweated a bit, returning their faces to stare at Luis. They were going through this quickly. It looked like it would happen tomorrow at the latest.

  “Before writing it to the congress, I have something to show you that you must know.” Luis became heavily stern. “It concerns Lymoca’s finest pieces of history, hidden by even the most benevolent President in the world. It is the reason why Lymoca has achieved so much so ‘easily’. I have told your bosses this before, and now I will let the underlings know it. In time, it will surface to the public, and you will know why in a few minutes…”

  ***

  Fox woke up completely. His body returned to normalcy, for whatever his body counted as such. He first felt his left arm gain mobility before the rest of his body. Then, he felt the pain and ardent sensations everywhere. Fox was injected with countless green and yellow syringes, with the silver medicine having turned his body inside out into plaster-like feelings everywhere.

  The smell was everywhere, and the sensation, too. He didn’t need a report or study to know the obvious state of his body.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Below his armpits and his inner thighs were the places where Fox felt the strangest. When he opened his polycoria eyes, they felt groggy and tired. He saw a ceiling, with the blurriness from ‘earlier’ dissipating from the corners of his eyes, as if rapidly fleeing from the light.

  Fox blinked and tried gulping down, feeling the difficulty of such simple acts. He accidentally brought air into his lungs with that gulp, and he tried standing up immediately.

  “Wowowow! Wait! Stop moving!” A voice called out, but Fox had already stood to his feet, with Fox’s ears tingling with loud footsteps, followed by lighter but still loud as fuck footsteps. It was like peeking one’s head into a ginormous speaker rumbling with music.

  Splasssh- guuuush! Fox’s movements made the tubes connected to his wrists pop off. Blood came out, but not from his wrists. The tubes, which were like cables with the girth of a baby’s wrist, had a cone-shaped needle in the middle, which had been inside Fox’s body.

  It dripped some droplets of blood after streaming out a couple of litres. Fox didn’t feel dizzy, but his head was a bit bouncy. He faced the door, taking off the IV from his body as he walked away. He was clothed now, outside his destroyed semi-empowered suit, with jeans and a gray long-sleeved shirt.

  Facing the door, with his back facing many doctors and nurses scared the shit out of with those faces, Fox saw Nala with her heaving chest. She waited there at the door, waiting or him. Soon after, Esmeralda showed up, nearly sliding off the floor behind Nala.

  Fox walked to them with difficulty. He let himself go when just a few steps before Nala, who extended her arms and caught him, his face fell on her small chest. Fox felt his face in a comfortable spot. Nala’s scent and her body rubbed on his face, giving him a massage.

  The sensation woke him up. As the people behind him remained rooted to the spot, clueless, Fox was helped up by Nala and Esmeralda without saying a word. Outside, in the hallway, Fox struggled to breathe regularly, saying, “Bring me to the meeting…”

  “So hardworking? Are you even alright, Foxy?” Esmeralda frowned a bit. Nala put some more effort, bringing Fox’s weight with her the most, taking his left side, which was a tad heavier.

  “I will be. I can go on… I must be there.” Fox spoke. Nala stared ahead, not even questioning. Esmeralda still frowned, worried and wanting him to remain bedridden, but she helped carry him away like Nala did, not questioning him one bit.

  A time later, Fox was brought to the war room, where the meeting had long given the writing to the congress, who will study it for now and decide upon this tomorrow. Fox nodded to his women. Nala let him lean on the doorstep, with Esmeralda keeping his hand in both of hers for a little longer before he supported himself off the doorstep.

  “Fox!?” Luis suddenly lifted his face and saw Fox. The war room was barely noticing this when someone cried out. They turned towards the entrance, where they saw a weak and should-be-bedridden Fox barely standing by the door, a little sweaty and limp.

  “We were just getting over the last points.” Luis looked at Fox and stated, gesturing towards him. “Come in. I’ll show you what has been talked about. The meeting is almost over.”

  Fox’s eyes randomly looked around before he moved his body off the doorstep, walking with his legs. He was slow, and it hurt like hell, but he could do it. As he neared Luis, Fox’s pace sped up.

  He stood between Butler and Luis, his body heavy the moment he stopped, but at last, his lungs felt alive. Fox lifted his face and saw most people write something, taking a few minutes before departing. Butler looked at Fox until he stared back, giving the Raging Blood a nod before leaving.

  All Fox could discern was bits he heard before ‘barging’ in like a dying old man. They talked about the transportation, with the major issue being the deployment of the PSD, which everyone now talked about freely. After he entered the room, Fox read a bit of what they were writing.

  It was like a teacher dropped a heavy case of homework on students, with Luis as the team leader, delegating everyone. Each Secretary, whose lower members would aid and they would further task, was given notorious work. As a matter of fact, it was more than the previous time when Terka initiated the Ters-Ly War. Now, it looked like it was only the ‘First Ters-Ly War’.

  “What are you doing here now? You won’t go anywhere outside Proteros like this. Is your mansion ready? You should take a break first. It will take time before the new medium NUAs are deployed.” Luis looked up at Fox after taking in the state the young man was in.

  “Leave Fox be. Since he’s here, then he’s… he knows what he’s doing.” Lesly said from the side before stepping backwards. Luis turned to her, nodding. Lesly had a lot of work to do, while he had a speech to make in an hour. Everyone had reasons to be stressed and busy.

  All except Fox.

  “You’re finally letting me lead thousands now?” Fox spoke with low eyelids, his eyes were only able to gaze as high as the seats in front. Luis smirked, shaking his head while they were left alone in the war room. “I don’t know about it. But you at least will lead some 200.”

  “… That’s a lot.” Fox looked at Luis’s shoulder with side eyes before speaking flatly. Luis lifted his eyebrows, with Fox asking, “Has anything to do with why everyone in your circle knows about Piya Sanctum District? Otherwise, so many people involved…”

  “Yes.” Luis nodded, turning more serious. Fox nodded a bit, pained and a bit somnolent from the blood loss. His open cuts from the tubes were healed, but he still had less than half the blood in his body.

  Looking down at his hands, Fox felt a bit prickling from the inside. He remembered Nala and Esmeralda were waiting for him outside, and that his mansion in Proteros had stored copious amounts of hot chocolate ‘material’.

  “You do you, then. Notify me when the Raging Blood is allowed to be deployed.” Fox said, already on his way to the door. Luis raised his eyebrows in surprise, hurrying to say, “It’s the war room now, Fox. Here will be all the meetings, you heard?”

  “Mmm!” Fox exclaimed, lifting a backhand and faced it to Luis, walking to profound black eyes and gray, light blue eyes at the doorstep. His back slumped, and his eyes almost asleep. Whatever politicking was underway, it couldn’t matter to Fox.

  Luis shook his head a bit but forced a fatherly smirk when staring at his daughter. He had no words nor time for Fox, although Fox and his daughter had time to heal. However, all that pain, all these losses… He refused heavier protection and spying on fellow southern countries. Now, there laid 3 dead cabinet members, a critically injured Fox, and the sightings of the worst.

  At least, the country could respond quickly. At least, his cabinet was of one heart without him needing to do much convincing… or any. Lastly, at least, the congress will know what to do tomorrow.

  … When Lymoca’s war room meeting ended, it was nearly 1 PM. The country was still waiting for news from the government, and the opposition, but the red alert kept everything quiet and shut tight.

  Not even the opposition wanted to talk about any of this. Those who didn’t participate in the party, especially those 2 or more states from Proteros, were swarmed by reporters, but neither had a positive face. What’s more, they treated any opportunity to blaspheme Luis’s administration like flies, ignoring the reporters like never before in their lives and training.

  The members of NF and neutral parties, neutral only in name now, urging the Lymocan policies to make some changes, were also silent but giving hope to the people. Esmeralda spoke to them when Fox was still unconscious, speaking for her father.

  There was no room for a beautiful young lady; clever, intelligent, and decisive in all extreme proportions, to not be considered by the public eye and her people. Lymoca was halted as the nation, but their people trusted President Luis Heartez. It was his doing that have given Lymoca successful outcomes, and unbeknownst to them, it was Fox they leaned on for the opportunistic situations.

  The balance between fear of another period of war, short if possible, and the worry for the south increased. Nobody knew in which part they stood, because their government remained silent. Still, they hoped, and they believed in themselves as Lys.

  ***

  ANS. Major capitol, war room.

  “Cerka has demonstrated their worth. Their navy is strong and bountiful. Even though they only have a small gulf as their coasts, we have seen their vessels everywhere in the Valad coasts of Argopolas.”

  In a room with a few dozen people present, including the congress’ most influential people, those with status, and titles. Where the floor, walls, and ceiling were squeaky clean with gold material, and the decorations had golden reflections.

  After a person with ANS navy uniform stood up, explaining with a thick clip of documents in his hand. He sat down, followed by a young person in military uniform whose seat was beside an old man with short white hair and reddish skin, bulky and tall.

  “The Torkan paratroopers have successfully landed in Melenon. While both their land forces’ soldier numbers are low, there are signs proving the efficiency of their new armament. They have taken about 13% of the remaining Avican territory.”

  “Do they have the strength to push forth? Spread? Take more and demoralize Melenon as a whole?” Gant Comfor asked, bored from the resume after a detailed report. The army official blankly stared ahead before turning to the General, who ignored him.

  “Absolutely, Mr. President.” The young official responded. He slapped his sides with his forearms to continue, “Torkan forces are unstoppable. With Melenon not responding until an hour and 20 minutes, approximately 85 minutes after the descent, it shows their lack of preparation.”

  “They were not ready, trusting their distance from Lymoca and Cors, and have grown comfortable. They are nothing that the Avica Kingdom once was, forcing even us to not want to touch that place after such lengthy travels. If-”

  “Yes, yes. Lymoca stopped us initially, so we attacked them. We conquered more than half their territory, so we went for the south to choke them. We couldn’t because they still had a fight in them, and the south were like rabid dogs, punching anything stepping into their land in the balls. Okay!” The ANS president looked at the table and swung his head up and down, irritated.

  “But can they hold their ground? Will they not lose any territory after Melenon carries on and grows a sack big enough to understand even our tanks aren’t indestructible? We surely didn’t see that before a mere, new, innovating explosive crippled any super tank before, did we?”

  “Ehh… n- Mr. President.” The young official was taken aback, not comprehending how nor why would this geezer know all of this. He planned to just say the good things. Now, his wording was ruined. He dropped his shoulders with a quick, momentary droop of his eyelids before going, “Torka isn’t showing attrition or is indicative of faltering. Moreover, they believe they have the right for more territory. After all, as long as they conquer just a small part, they’ll have sea borders!”

  “We promised them 10% of Melenon territory, not sea borders.” Gant looked at everyone, focusing on the Fleet Admiral and General, before staring at the young official again. “What do you think will be more efficient if we let them… do all the work?”

  “… Perhaps… a 30%?” The young official gulped, his buttcheeks sinking in a bit. The General lifted an eyebrow and tilted his head backwards, giving the young official an admonishing glare. The young official gulped again, but his sweat quickly cooled off a bit.

  “With the 30%, sea included, they will be more than glad. We can give them the lengthier protrusion in Melenon, where the Avica Kingdom once failed to defend against the Lylaco Empire, and reclaim it. This could be enough to make them thirst after.”

  “History. Honor. Beauty— male or female. Coitus. And even boredom. These are the greater encouragement for any force. Maybe you have a great future, huh…” Gant nodded as he listed. He looked at the young official with clasped hands, fingers intertwined, and added. “Accompany me from now on. I need someone to serve me tea and warm my dishes regularly. Don’t fret. I will be closely watching over the military.”

  The General moved his lips a bit, grimacing. His fists tightened for a moment, quickly releasing. Gant scoffed deep inside, ‘Not only Preut, but other countries with our military bases having organized crime groups lead to you. Do you think I’m still the fool of last term?’

  The Admiral gave the General a side glance, appearing elegant, derisive, yet conveying a message. The General replied back to the Admiral. Gant then looked at Laen Worfield.

  …

  Let It Rain: Map of old Resilient, 5th century, should be in patreon and Ko-Fi now. Yes, still freeeeeeeeee.