164 Before The War (1/2)
Year 2035, April
2:00 P.M
Kuusamo, Finland
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It was the sixth day after Amathelia announced her intention to ally with Neo Africa, which would ultimately unite the whole world. Of course, after hearing it live through a monitor screen back then shook me to the core. Everyone was talking about it. Though, Gheele didn't want to ally with C.U, obviously.
Neo Africa combining with Great Corporate United was a plan that had been thrown at Gheele's lap for years. The reality of it was not so simple since the C.U's ruler would be the one in charge, instead of a pure alliance between those two superpowers.
”Alright, alright, alright, I'm coming through! Come on, Lady Lily, behind me,” said Caesar as he shoved himself into the crowd of people.
On that day, we all gathered in a Teria airs.h.i.+p near Kuusamo. Aside from the members of Lutalo, there were Maltyie, Gray, and Agatha as well. Not to mention, the former members of Enkhtuya had also joined the crowd, including Ulii.
”Now that everyone is here . . . Let me present the new member of Lutalo,” said Gheele after he stood up.
Most of us had taken a seat in that lounge area, except for a few unfortunate others like Caesar and Lily. When Gheele gestured at Freya who was sitting next to me, she slowly stood up and bowed.
”Freya Nikulaenkov. She's the newest member of Lutalo . . . Freya, I welcome you,” said Gheele firmly.
Everyone clapped their hands when Freya received her own Lutalo Uniform when Klaus handed it. Her uniform was plain black with no distinct color since it was a spare one.
”I did want to give you your own official uniform,” said Klaus with a sigh. ”But, that will have to wait after this war is over.”
”Thank you, Klaus . . . And Master Gheele.”
Freya bowed at the two of them before she sat back down.
”Wooooooo!” Caesar was the only one still clapping his hands but shortly fell silent when Maltyie glared at him.
'When will he tell Maltyie about his true ident.i.ty?' I thought. Sometimes, I even want to tell her the truth myself.
”Now, back to the real reason why we are all here,” said Gheele with a stern expression. ”As you guys have already known, Neo Africa will not enter an alliance with the C.U. The risks outweigh what my citizens will gain from it. Amathelia will surely ask for the governors.h.i.+p to be exclusive to her only, just like what she announced six days ago.”
”This . . . This will create a world war, isn't it?” I said.
”No. There are a lot of regions like Canada and Russia, who will not be joining the war. The coup d'etat has affected the military forces there significantly. Of course, those rebels' objective is to place Maltyie Holm as the C.U's next ruler, which I agree with wholeheartedly.”
Everyone except Maltyie nodded.
”Alright. I will leave the rest to Agatha,” said Gheele.
Agatha took on his role and continued from where he had stopped. ”Neo Africa, as of right now, is ready to defend against the C.U's attack. The naval forces had made its way across the Atlantic Ocean in order to intercept the oncoming fleet of battles.h.i.+ps. As planned, Master Gheele's Aegis dome will surround the entire Neo Africa by tonight. This will prevent any ballistic missiles and enemy aircraft from getting through our borders.”
She continued, ”By tomorrow, Caesar and Hope Domitius will be joining Neo Africa's naval fleet. Sofeea would be a.s.sisting the ground forces at the northern front of Bulgaria.”
”They will deploy Julia, the only remaining member of Melker's Aegis squad on the western or northern front,” said Caesar.
”Caesar!” Lily stood up. ”I . . . I will not be in the same team as you?”
”No. This is the best way to distribute our fighting strength across the warzones. You will be with Lady Ava and the few members of Enkhtuya here in Finland. Oh, and Big Si--Er . . . Maltyie. Yeah, Maltyie will be here as well.”
”Oh . . .” Lily's yellow eyes glittered as if she was about to cry.
”Anyway,” said Maltyie. ”The People's Light is busy fighting off the remaining forces in Russia, so they will be less likely to partic.i.p.ate in this war. We have the coup though on our side. With my ability to strategize, we would head straight to the border of Sweden from here with no difficulty.”
No one denied her proclamation. After all, she was an expert in a lot of fields and more often than not, she had proven it. The meeting didn't last long and we all dispersed after that. Though, at that night, most of us gathered outside of another Teria airs.h.i.+p that had landed on the snowy ground.
It was time for Hope, Sofeea, Gheele, and Caesar to head back to Neo Africa in preparation for the upcoming war.
”Sofeea, stay focused on your surroundings,” I said to her.
”I will. Don't overexert yourself, Mer Ava. I wish all of you who will be fighting here in Finland the best.”
”Don't die.” That word came out of my mouth unexpectedly.
”You too.”
I hugged her tight and she returned it. After that, I watched her board the airs.h.i.+p along with Gheele.
”Lady Lily! It's time for me to go . . . So stop pulling my uniform, please!”
Caesar was trying to pry Lily's hands away from his Lutalo uniform, but it proved to be quite difficult even for him. Lily's yellow eyes shed endless tears, no words uttered.
She was like a child holding onto her father.
”I will be coming back here to help you and Lady Ava. Don't worry,” a.s.sured Caesar.
This time, he hugged her instead and Lily found herself bawling in front of everyone. It took a couple of minutes, but she finally calmed down and let go of Caesar.
”Promise?” said Lily.
”Promise.”