The Month of Earth, Monday the 1st, 1800

Dunwall,Gristol

Parliamentary Building

1:00 PM

" By the void, I've always prayed, in my past 20 years of being an adviser, that this day would never come.", exclaimed Adviser Daniel.

" Well, we just have to accept the facts. War has once again reveled its ugly head.", Adviser Calvin said.

" I mean honestly. The warnings have been their for years now!"

Just 45 minutes ago, news of a isle-wide revolution in Morley, had finally reach the shores of the empire. All over the country, people were shocked and confused about the subject. Responses from the public were greatly mixed. Some had high spirits and embraced the idea of jingoism. They believed that the empire's might and power would achieve a quick and pleasing victory. Others who were veterans of The Unification War, took to the streets to protest. They've been to Tyvia. Some of them are still haunted by their memories fighting there. They knew how war was and now..all they wish to do, was to prevent an entire extinction of a generation.

" Advisers Catherine and Arthur. When is the emperor going to arrive?", asked daniel." He has the public and parliament curious about his decision! If I have to find him myself, I'll..",

" NO!", yelled arthur. " He'll be here. He told us exactly to meet here in the situation room!",

" 150 miles away across the ocean! Lays an isle consumed by the flames of madness, all being controlled by a tyrant! This is war,arthur. WAR!"

The advisers were waiting in the situation room for the emperor to arrive. They continued bickering for the past three minutes, until they heard the double doors open. The door revealed two city watch officers, who took positions beside the door's sides.

" Advisers..presenting the emperor!", one officer said.

The advisers stood quickly out of their chairs, fixing their hair and brushing themselves off, looking at the spirit-broken emperor.

There stood Emperor Kaldwin. He had a blank look on his face. some could tell he didn't take the news so calm-like. They all could sense fear and anger within him. Once again, the emperor was the leader of a crippling nation at war.

The room was silent, until Adviser Catherine said " Greetings, sir."

The emperor looked over to her and flashed her a light smile. The others soon took their seats in unison as the emperor took his seat.

" Well,..advisers. Would you please brief me on the situation and how we plan to deal with it."

" Of course, sir.", said daniel.

Daniel soon flicked the light switch off, consuming the whole room in darkness.

" Calvin, could you please activate the projector?", asked daniel.

" Yes."

Calvin walked over towards the end of the table and cranked the projector's key to start up the fragile piece of machinery.

The projector wined and made mechanical noises until it shot a wide beam of light at the facing wall.

" you have the cards?", asked calvin.

" Yes.", said daniel while putting the cards in the projector slots.

" You press this button on the projector to change slides.", said daniel.

" Daniel, even the child of a hagfish knows how to work a projector.

Daniel smirked at his response. He soon pulled down the projector screen, Reveling the blurry image to be a map of Morley.

" As you can see, sir.", Daniel started. " Our intelligence states that the rebels are fortifying captured towns and have a massive defending force in the capital."

" Daniel, I don't need to hear this now! You can save that towards the end but, now all I want to know is who these people are and how did they conquered an entire isle, leaving our soldier's corpses in their wake!?", exclaimed the emperor.

" Well, sir..we don't have much but this is what our intelligence has so far."

Daniel gave calvin a look of approval, signaling him to the next slide.

The next slide revealed a decorated military man in his late-40's early 50's. His uniform had the dark color of green, which was the national color of the Morlian military. He had black hair, brown eyes and a sinister look on his face.

" We looked back towards the facts and thanks to the Morlian Military records, We were able to identify the leader of this rebellion."

The emperor had a stunned look upon his face, for he could tell who he was.

" Yes, this man is Cornelius Drakker.", explained daniel. " Former General of the Morlian Armed forces, now turned revolutionist leader."

" Survivors from the isle, told officials that they heard some of the rebel forces talking about a man who was their commander."

" The rebels said his name, but we weren't sure though, until they started talking in detail about him."

" That ignoble wretch.", spat the emperor.

" Yes, indeed. Drakker is a very aggressive character. He does take in failure with a positive reaction. He is a brutal, sinister man with the ambitious thought of " liberating the Morlian country". He would do anything to achieve that dream and would kill anyone would stand in his way.

The emperor shook his head in disappointment after daniel finished.

" Next one, calvin."

" No.", said the emperor.

" Um, I'm sorry sir but, we need to show you more before you stand in front of Parliament with your decision."

" NO, daniel!", the emperor yelled." This man...this coward has the nerve to kill our soldiers, murder a respectable and brave governor, and enslave an entire isle under his authoritarian rule! This bastard needs to feel a cold blade against his throat has he remembers the acts he has committed. He declares himself "the savior of the Morlian people" but, the only thing he has done, is establishing a radical dictatorship.

Daniel and the other advisers remained silent as the emperor spoke with tears forming in his eyes.

" Don't worry, sir.", said arthur " We're standing with you and I think we should all agree that you should refuse recognizing the new Morlian government and instead, purpose a declaration of war against Morley."

" You're right. My friends,...let's express our voice to the others, shall we?", said the emperor.

The advisers and the emperor left the room passing the guarding officers.

They were heading towards the parliament's chamber which was a large dome with the shade of white and blue as the internal colors. The chamber was directly in the center of the building. It was here were the major parties of the empire came together to discuss new laws and decide on certain subjects. There was only three parties with seats in the chamber: The Civil Party, The Union party and The National Classes Party.

The Civil Party was the current ruling party. They would always put their resources towards the people before giving it towards the empire's élite. They would handle situations with peaceful solutions but, if it was threatening, they would be quick to act. The Union Party was a patriotic group who thought of putting the nation's interests first and to do anything to make sure that the country prosper in glory and riches. The National Classes Party was a new group in Parliament. They believed if there was more order and control in the country which, also included the upper class having more power with their businesses, would be beneficial to all. They always blamed the poor classes of the empire for its problems. They were a shady group of politicians who had a fondness for the color red. Their logo was an eagle on a red banner.

The emperor and his advisers were in the hallway that lead towards the tall podium that faced the entire room.

Emperor Kaldwin was nervous. He was about to announce his decision of retaliation not only to parliament but, to his citizens who suffered enough last year. He knew that war would cause a lot of problems but, with the economy dropping and the majority of the population in poverty. This would be a "war to end all wars".

They soon reached the double doors. The emperor could hear all the commotion outside the door. The room was in a frenzy. The parties were yelling their opinions to other members in the room. They were just scared. All of them were scared.

" Sir, are you ready?", asked daniel.

" Yes, daniel."

" Don't worry, sir.", said daniel. " We're with you. You're never alone."

" Daniel, I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about the sons of mothers who will never make it back."

The emperor opened the double doors, walking into the chamber. The room was instantly silent. All the members of parliament were staring at the emperor. Some gave a warm smile and a nod, others bowed in respect.

He marched up the last few steps until he was at the podium. He looked upon the faces of parliament.

"Welcome, members of parliament. If you would please take you're seats, we will begin."

After they took their seats, The emperor began his speech.

" Members of parliament, we are gathered here today to discuss an important matter. The so-called "Kingdom of Morley" in their arrogance has enslaved an entire people in their iron grip. They slaughter their own people in the streets. They killed a friendly and respectful man and they hope to take the fight to our own lands but, they will be denied. The enemy sees us as cowards but, we will show them we won't go quietly into the darkness. From the sea to the shores to the streets of Caulkenny, we will never surrender.

The party members and the advisers looked up in amazement at emperor's new-found confidence.

" General Drakker and his associates are warmongers. They may have strength in numbers but, when it comes to trust and devotion they are weak. Our ancestors fought many foes in the past. Drakker is no different. By the heavens, this will be a difficult moment. There will sacrifices but, there's no such thing as quick and bloodless war. And so, I stand before you today on behalf of the people of this nation, to ask for a declaration of war against the rebel government."

By this time, the entire room was applauding towards the emperor. They knew that this would be a deadly conflict but, everyone was ready to put aside their differences and stand together with the emperor at this most difficult time.

...

Adviser Daniel took each member's votes. Only now, this will be the moment when parliament either joins the emperor or refuse his offering.

" Members of parliament, out of a total of 400 seats. 371 seats has decided... to accept the emperor's declaration of war against Morley!"

At this moment the majority members cheered in joy. Some started singing patriotic songs and hugged each other. The ones how refused just stared into space and shook their head in disappointment.

The supporters weren't cheering about the possible glory of this war. They were cheering about doing the right thing, defeating an evil tyrant and protecting the people of the country.

" Sir, congratulations. Not only your decision passed but, you manage to unify a broken parliament!", Daniel said sounding excited. " What should we do now?"

" Now, I'm going to tell my daughter what happened. What I want you to do, daniel, is to tell the military to mobilize and begin building recruitment offices."

" Yes, sir!"

" And daniel." The emperor included.

" Sir?"

" You were always a good friend."

" Thank you, Empero-.", Daniel paused. " Thank you, william."

They both shook hands and went their separate ways.

...

I promise the next chapter will go back to corvo's story.