• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
***** To Communist High Command*****
*****LOCATION UNKNOWN*****

First United Workers Troops have entered combat zone with German allies, seek to occupy local region and push back Imperialist scum.

Front very changable, relying on capitalist allies to maintain superiority of numbers. Request French and Brittanic reinforcements and supplies. 2 Legions of sizeable threat in area.

Awaiting orders
********** UWW 1st Army ********
*****Salzburg*****
 
Theodora heard a loud noise outside. "What the..." she muttered, walking over to the window. "Did somebody drop something or..."

Then she looked up, and her face paled.

Three red airships soared gracefully through the clouds over Constantinople, bearing the insignia of the communist rebels on their sides. As she watched, they rained down bombs all across the city, leaving flaming wreckage behind in their path. Entire blocks were flattened as the airships charged forward.

They were headed towards the Senate.

"Everybody, get down!" she shouted, backing away from the window.

A bomb detonated right outside the window, and the last thing she saw before she blacked out was the glass in front of her shattering as the shock wave struck it.

((I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I kept getting distracted.))
 
Senator Raphael Favero sat in stunned silence as the window blew in. He looked down at the piece of toast in his hand and scowled. "Now there's glass in my toast. Curse you rebel scum!"
 
(( Well, I guess I'll delay my main post for this. :) I was starting to wonder if you had abandoned the idea. ))

Emperor Michael picked himself off the ground, where he had dropped at Senator Doukas' warning. Before he was fully to his feet, members of the Scholai Palatinae were at his side. They quickly escorted him from the room and to the bunkers and tunnels provided for the Imperial Family. Other members of the guard and the palace medical staff were heading into the room to assist the senators.

(( And it's all you guys for the rest of this monthly update. ))
 
Talbot Palaiologos heard loud noises outside the Senate building. A woman named Theodora shouted something but he didn't hear. He hurried to a window to see a bomb heading straight towards him...

Talbot Palaiologos, the last Palaiologos of the pure Palaiologoi family, is dead.

The Habsburg- Palaiologoi, the Latakis- Palaiologoi, and the Valois- Palaiologoi all now vie to succeed to the prestigious crown of the Palaiologoi family.
 
Theodora slowly regained consciousness, finding Dalassenos shaking her head.

"THEODORA!" he shouted.

She quickly pushed him away. "Can you at least show a married woman some respect?" she snapped. "You're married too!"

"Sorry, Theodora," said the general.

She looked around her. The whole place was in ruins. The roof was blasted clean off, letting in sunlight. The outer walls had also collapsed, allowing her a view of the chaos that was engulfing downtown Constantinople.

"How did the rebel scum get here without knowing?!" she demanded.

"Somebody just lost their job," muttered Dalassenos, "Anyways, the Emperor is safe. Martial law has been instituted across the city. We need to get you and the other senators to the bunkers under the Palace while the legions get in position to shoot down those airships."

"It's no use," said Theodora, "They're too high up to shoot."

"We'll find a way, Theodora, we always do," Ioannes assured her, "We're Romans. We always survive, even in the darkest of times."

She staggered to her feet, and pain flared in her right leg. She cursed in a very unladylike fashion.

"Do you need help?" asked Ioannes.

"Your gentlemanly nature is not required, thank you very much. I can walk just fine." Theodora shot back.

"You remind me a lot of your father," said Ioannes, "We were good friends, you know."

"I know, I've heard."

Dalassenos walked over to Palaiologos's limp body, lying by one of the shattered windows. He felt for a pulse. "He's dead."

"A good man he was too," said Theodora, "He had no children. The rest of the family's going to tear itself apart over his titles."

Another bomb detonated close to the room, not close enough to cause any damage but close enough to almost knock her off her feet. Rushing outside, she watched as one of the airships loomed menacingly and directly over the Senate building while the others remained aloft in the clouds.

"You said they were all in the clouds!" she shouted.

"Yeah, they knocked out our antiaircraft in the first wave, we're still trying to get the defenses back online!" Ioannes shouted back.

She observed the airship and noticed that rather than bomb bays or aircraft runways, there were cabins. This wasn't a bomber or carrier...

Ioannes noticed it too. He turned to his men. "Transporter!"

Hatches in the bottom of the airship flew open, and ropes dangled down, followed by men in black suits. Ioannes's soldiers raised their weapons, only to be shot down by machine gun fire from the airship.

Ioannes turned to Theodora and the other senators. "Run!"

They ran as the rebel commandos reached the ground and started shooting at them. Anybody who couldn't run was quickly tied up by the commandos and taken away.

((Paris))

"Sir, Reds 1 to 3 have engaged the enemy. They report that much of the capital has been incapacitated and occupied by our own forces."

"Excellent. How far are we from total victory?"

"All strategic and morale-boosting locations have been occupied, save for the Senate and the Palace. The Emperor is in hiding, but we can flush him out like the rat he is with our new mustard gas. Then we shall proclaim the birth of the People's Union of Rome!"

"Excellent. What of the senators?"

"They shall be dealt with accordingly."

"Bring the heads of Doukas and Favero before me. They are the most dangerous of the senators and must be put down like the reactionary scum they are!"

"Yes, sir."

((Onboard one of the airships))

"They're storming the Senate," said Leonard, "Shouldn't we stop them?"

"How can we get down there without alerting the crew of this ship to our presence or falling to our deaths?" hissed Jonathan. "We must stay where we are and get ready to detonate our explosives at the right time."

"Silence," said Laskaris, "Captain Picardie is down on that commando ship. He'll take care of things. He'll make it so."
 
Nestorius and Hairini weren't close enough to be overtly affected by the shock wave, but they did feel its heat a little. The two grabbed one another tightly and ducked under a table, befuddled. Soon, they watched as the roof was blasted off, giving them a view of what was going on.

"Nestor, what's going on?!" she asked him, but he had no response. He looked at the airships, breathing heavily. He was reminded of when the cult attacked Constantinople - he was around 5 at the time, watching chaos erupt from a secluded rooftop, when he was supposed to visit his father for the week. He would have never imagined himself to live to see the city attacked like this once more. He was filled with unbridled fear.

Hairini slowly put 2 and 2 together. She quickly tried to shake him out of his state, but it was of no use. Hearing Ioannes, she grabbed Nestorius by the hand and the two ran like hell, Nestorius watching the airships as he was dragged out of there.
 
((Well, this is weird. I was expecting more interactivity. As such, I have posted the next part of the plot below ahead of schedule. Sorry for borrowing some characters.))

The senators ran through the wreckage of the Senate building. Voices and footsteps echoed in the hallways all around them, emanating both from their feet and from the commandos behind them. Theodora looked back and made sure that everybody was accounted for. When she found that some senators were missing, Favero and Nestorius among them, she went back to look for them, only to be greeted with a hail of bullets. Somehow they had been separated from the main group of senators.

"Blast," she muttered, "Where did they go?"

"We don't have time for this, Theo," said Ioannes, "They're senators. They know how to stay safe."

"Don't call me that," Theodora snapped back, "It's annoying."

The general managed a grin. "You haven't changed much, I repeat."

They continued running. "We have to find the entrance to the bunker!" repeated Theodora.

((somewhere else))

A group of senators huddled in the corner. They had been surrounded by fully-armed commandos. One had even began to mutter the Lord's Prayer under his breath.

"Shut up with your superstition!" shouted the lead commando. "Where is your 'God' now? He's not going to save you reactionaries from the will of the proletariat."

The senator continued chanting, his voice punctuated by fear.

"Foolish reactionary!" The commando pulled out a pistol and shot him in the head, the senator's blood splattering over the others. "There are no gods, only men!"

He turned towards the other senators. "Now, you will tell me where Favero is so that I may kill him."

When the senators all shook their heads, he shot another one in the head. "TELL ME!"

One pointed to a nearby closet.

"Finally, I can get my revenge at last..." said the commando, throwing open the closet.

((outside))

Nobody noticed a figure dropping out from the bottom of the airship before it was too late. The guards assigned to watch the ship were hit from behind by an unseen force and collapsed. John-Loukas Picardie picked up the guards' weapons and rushed silently into the Senate building.

((Paris))

"General Secretary, sir, the commandos are in position."

"Excellent. Have the Germans delivered the shipment yet?"

"Yes, sir, it is ready to be deployed."

"Order all units to commence Operation Sewer Rat at once."

"Yes, General Secretary, sir."

"And one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Have Favero and Doukas been found yet?"

"Favero has been found, but Doukas has not."

"Then your men have failed in their mission. Tell them that my apprentice is on his way. He shall make short work of Doukas and put her in her place."

"Yes, sir."

((Theodora))

Theodora walked ahead of the senators and peered around a corner. Spotting some rebel commandos standing around the entrance to the bunker, she motioned to the other senators. Some of them groaned.

"That's the last entrance," said Ioannes, "We checked them all, and they had all of them covered?"

"It appears so," said Theodora.

"Why would they do that?" asked Hairini.

"Good question," replied Theodora, "Obviously they would not do this just to capture us. They know the Emperor is down there with his family and senior officials."

"But why aren't they going down there?" asked Hairini.

"The bunkers are large and heavily defended," said Ioannes, "I went down there once. They would be repelled immediately. But that brings up the question on why they would be standing at the entrance..."

They watched as another rebel walked up, pushing a cart filled with small metal canisters that had German writing on them.

"Ioannes, you said that the Germans were doing research into chemical weapons, right?" asked Theodora.

"Yeah. Why?"

The rebels, after putting on gas masks, pulled open the hatch to the bunker and dumped in the canisters.

"Run. Now!" she hissed.

The senators took off again as clouds of yellow-green gas emanated from the bunker entrance.

This is not happening, thought Theodora, Why do the Doukai have to be cursed like this?

Gunshots rang out through the deserted corridor, and Ioannes screamed in pain and tumbled to the ground, clutching at the wound in his leg where a bullet had embedded itself deeply in his flesh.

She scanned her surroundings for the shooter while the senators scrambled to hide or pull Ioannes to safety. Her eyes soon found the man responsible.

Wait, were her eyes tricking her?

She squinted at the rebel in front of her, who made no attempt to hide or even claim innocence. She recognized him. She recognized his tall stature, his long black hair and light almost Middle Eastern complexion (from being in the sun too much), his deep blue eyes. His face was the same as she last remembered it, only there was a scar on his left cheek. She recognized the tattered remains of the Imperial uniform he wore, with the imperial eagles torn off and replaced with a hammer and sickle. She recognized the sword strapped to his side, having seen it before.

"Hello, sister," said Niketas Doukas, "It's been a while since we last met. Why don't we have a one-on-one chat to catch up, shall we?"
 
With the clouds of gas emanating and the sounds of gunshots ringing out, Hairini scrambled as fast as possible, with Nestorius in hand. Dragging the fear struck Senator around proved to be harder than she originally thought. It didn't help how all this running has left her short of breath and fatigued. Having found a place to hide, she tried once more to get through to Thaddas.

"Nestor, can you hear me?!" she quietly yelled out to him. No response. She tried to think of something, before remembering how he had told her about the time the cult attacked the capital.

"Do you remember what your father did back when the cultists attacked? Did he tell you about it?!" she asked.

"H-h-h-he t-t-told me that he g-g-g-grabbed a sword and fought the cultists b-b-back," he struggled to tell her, "and h-he helped the o-other senators."

"Then why can't we do the same?!" she asked. Nestorius just looked at her sickly. Unlike his father, he wasn't as skilled in the field of swordsmanship, or any sort of combat.

"I-I'm sorry, Cyrene."

"Nestor, sometimes you just give me a headache..... augh," she said, as she felt dizzy. Nestorius held onto her, keeping her steady. The two moved from their place to somewhere safer, as they wondered how everyone back at the pseudo Aeteorean HQ was doing.

----

Meanwhile, at the Thaddai residence and makeshift HQ of the Aeteorean provisional governorship.

As obvious as it is to state this, everyone there was surprised by the attack. Two bombs hit the residence - one at the entrance, while the other was slightly farther away, but still close enough to have made an impact. Everyone got together for an impromptu meeting. Michail Lykidis stepped forth to start it.

"Now, as you all know, all hell is raining loose on this city! The attack, according to what Kojo here saw through one of the windows, is apparently concentrated at the building where the senators are located. It is pretty obvious that they are after them. But, we must be always ready," he said, as Onobanjo stepped forth.

"As Nestorius has told us, he had a secret stash of guns and swords hidden in this building, passed down from his father, from his grandfather, and so on. If we see that they are approaching this place specifically, we break them out and start fighting back. We will show them that we aren't fucking around."

"But what of Nestorius and Hairini? Are they not at the senator building?" Dhaaniel Kurien asked. Everyone scratched their heads, before coming to an agreeance that they are, in fact, there.

"Well, shit. What do we do then?" Botros Damji yelled out.

"We shall pray for them. Hopefully, our belief in their survival will ensure their..... survival," Savvas Epimonopoulos said, as he crossed himself before beginning a prayer.

"Oh, like that is going to help," Sudarto Wanggai lashed out in a frustrated manner.

"Please, let's not get into such topics now!" Nicolaos Alexidas stepped in.

"Yes, we should figure out what to do. Just sitting here on our asses and arguing won't help in the long run," Antiochos Heraklides joined in.

"But what can we do? They are quite a ways away from here and we'd have to deal with the raining bombs," Stefanos Antecheirinidis asked them all.

Out of nowhere, someone threw a map onto the table nearby and opened it up. It was a map of the city. They looked up and saw that it was Miro Taior, another one of the subordinates.

"Now, if you are all done bickering, we should probably see if these flying ships have some sort of pattern with help of this map."
 
Senator Raphael Favero wandered through the hallways of the senate building, all alone and walking with a slight limp. No one had seen him leave the Senate, and in fact he couldn't even remember leaving the room himself. He couldn't remember a lot of things. All he could focus on was his strange hunger for toast, and for that he needed to find his toaster. It should be in his quarters, but he couldn't recall where those were. In fact, where was he? Who was he?

Raphael looked down, spotting a slice of toast in his hand. With wide smile, he raised it to his lips, ready to take a bite. Then he noticed the glass shards in it and dropped his hand down in disgust. This was the fifth time he had repeated the motion, not that he could recall that. Instead he just continued wandering through the halls, oblivious to the trail of blood he was leaving in his wake. He was as equally oblivious to the giant shard of glass sticking out of the back of his head, but he had long ago lost the sense to notice such things.

Eventually he stumbled upon a pair of guards, although in his simple-minded state he did not consider who they were working for. He waddled up to them, holding the piece of toast up before him. They turned to him, their guns pointed at him. He took no notice of the weapons and said, "Toast?"

One of the guard shot at him, the bullet shooting right through the piece of toast and knocking it from Raphael's hands. The senator let out a gasp. What kind of monster would harm an innocent piece of toast? With unparalleled savagery, Raphael launched himself at the guards, ripping and tearing at flesh with his fingers. The first guard had not expected the attack and fell before the senator. Blood sprayed everywhere as Raphael's fingernails cut lines across his arms and chest. When his fingernails proved less effective, he started using his teeth. With a feral snarl, he ripped out the man's throat. The other guard fired a shot at him and then started to run away, but Raphael jumped upon him wrapping his hands around the man's neck. With a sharp jerk, he snapped the man's spine. With the guards dead, he let out a loud battle cry. "TOAST!"

Raphael stumbled down the halls, his balance becoming more and more precarious. Eventually he tumbled to the floor, unable to remain upright. He tried to move his legs, but he had lost all feeling down there. The giant hole blown through him by the last guard's shot had most likely crippled him, but he could not comprehend that, nor even notice the gaping wound in his midsection. How was he going to find any toast without his legs? Undeterred, he started to crawl, dragging himself along the floor with his arms. He was hungry, so hungry. He ended up crawling back the way he had came and came across the piece of toast he had lost. It had a bullet hole through the middle, but he was even more far gone than before and eagerly grabbed at it. This time he did not make notice of the glass shards embedded in the bread. The senator eagerly shoved it in his mouth and swallowed. Having lost the ability to feel pain, he did not notice the glass shards shredding his throat until it was too late. Raphael tried to cough it back up, but just ended up regurgitating blood. Within a few minutes, Senator Raphael Favero had choked to death on his own blood. But in the end, he had gotten his toast, and that was all that mattered.


((I don't know why I've taken the toast thing so far, but it was amusing to say the least. :p Bonus points to whoever can guess my next character's name. :D))
 
(( I didn't even notice what you had been doing until just now. It's clearly going to be Donatello Favero. ))
 
  • 3
Reactions:
((Theodora))

Theodora turned to the senators behind her. "Run," she said.

Without another word, the senators rushed away, down the hallway, though Hairini and Nestorius (how did she think he had fallen behind?) trailed behind. She had to stall long enough for them to get away.

Once they were far away enough, Theodora turned to her brother.

"What have they done to you?" she demanded.

"They showed me the truth," said Niketas, grinning, "The whole truth. The Empire is rotten and unable to change. It is a relic of the feudal past. It seeks to hold back human progress so that a few men might remain in power forever!"

"No," said Theodora, "That is not true."

"It is," said Niketas, "Think about it. What has the Emperor ever done for you? What have you ever done as a senator? Have you ever wondered why you were the only woman in the Senate? Huh? No? Well, news flash for you, the Emperor wants to keep women where they are, as currency and objects!"

"That is not true!" she screamed. "You're not my brother!"

"I am you brother," Niketas replied coolly, "The rebels showed me what true freedom was. Freedom to choose my own destiny. No longer do I have to live in Father's shadow, serving an absent emperor who only serves to oppress the common people. No longer do I have to fight a war that I don't gain from. The people of Rome shall decide their own fate!"

"This is not you, Niketas," said Theodora. "You were the loyal soldier before all of this. You wanted to be a senator. You wanted to serve the Empire!"

"Lies, lies, lies!" replied Niketas. "Why do you serve the Emperor, huh? Why? What has he ever done for you? Those victories in war? The people did it. Your wealth? Hundreds of citizens toiled in the factories to enrich you! Your education? The people! Not the emperor, and not a god in the sky!"

"NO!" screamed Theodora. "Break out of it! You're not you! You're in there somewhere, and you can fight the communists!"

"I can't fight myself anymore than you can fight the inevitable flow of social progress," said Niketas, "The revolution is inevitable. The proletariat shall depose their oppressors and seize the means of production! The Rebel Alliance shall overthrow the evil Empire! And I shall be their sword!"

"Even if your sister serves the Empire?" asked Theodora.

Niketas glared at her. "You're not my sister anymore. You're no better than the pigs who roll around in pools of money, prospering off the sweat and blood of the common people. You don't deserve to be my sister. You're reactionary scum, and your purpose in life is to die."

"You were the chosen one!" shouted Theodora. "It was said that you would destroy the rebels, not join them! Bring balance to the Empire, not leave it in darkness!"

"I HATE YOU!!!" screamed Niketas.

"You were my brother, Niketas," said Theodora, biting back tears, "I loved you."

She drew her father's sword. "I have no choice."

Niketas threw away his pistol and drew his own sword. "Neither do I."

The two siblings lunged at each other, blades drawn.

((outside))

The senators, including Hairini and Nestorius, rushed down the hallway as they heard steel strike steel behind them and Theodora shout at Niketas. Ahead of them was an open doorway leading to a street outside. They stepped over the bodies of both rebels and senators, and Hairini recognized Favero's body lying in a pool of blood.

"Come on, we're almost there," said Nestorius.

Two rebels appeared in the doorway, guns raised. It was a trap. Hairini closed her eyes as the rebels advanced towards the senators.

Two gunshots rang out, and there was silence.

She opened her eyes, wondering why she was still alive. She saw a bald middle-aged man standing there, a smoking gun in his hand.

"I am Captain John-Loukas Picardie of the Imperial airship Empress Veronica," said the man, "I'm here to save all of you."

((Paris))

"Sir, Operation Sewer Rat has completed. All entrances and exits have been accounted for and taken care of. Enough gas has been pumped into the bunker system to cover each part of it with a lethal amount."

"Have you confirmed the death of the emperor and his family yet?"

"No, sir. We are still waiting for the gas to clear. But nobody could have possibly survived the attack."

"An end that the vile reactionaries fully deserve like the rats they are. How about the senators?"

"Favero is dead. We have confirmed that. Palaiologos is also dead. Our champion is handling Doukas as we speak. The other senators will be hunted down soon enough."

"Good. How goes the occupation of the city?"

"The Hagia Sophia is secured, and the teams there await your orders to demolish it. All bombs are ready to detonate on your command. The Patriarch has been publicly executed. The universities have been secured, and their faculty and students have been fully purged. Everything is ready for the final solution."

"Excellent. Tell the troops to carry out the final solution."

((central Constantinople))

Hundreds of citizens, bloodied and beaten, filed silently into the main square of the city. Behind them, explosions boomed as the domes of Hagia Sophia came crashing down. Ahead of them, several dozen rebel soldiers, carrying the flags of the Workers' Commonwealth and the French Commune, guarded a stage on which more soldiers stood. A general stepped up to the podium in the middle of the stage and began to speak.

"Today is a glorious day. Today, I am honored to be the one declaring a new age for humanity. Rejoice, for your chains have been shattered for good. This is a momentous occasion far greater than the Mending of the superstitious Schism and the restoration of the Empire. Today, you will no longer have to cater to the whims of the reactionaries. Today, we set you free! Free to choose your own fate! No longer will you be kept under the heel of the reactionaries and remain chained to a superstition. Today, I declare the birth of the Union of Rome! Long live the people of Rome! Workers of the world, unite!"
 
Nestorius and Hairini, after hiding somewhere safe, decided to rejoin the other senators once a opening through the rebels appeared. They rushed down the halls, as they heard the sounds of siblings fighting one another. Ahead of the group was an open doorway leading to a street outside. As they stepped over the bodies of both rebels and senators, Hairini recognized Favero's body lying in a pool of blood. What did they do to the toast lovin' man, she thought.

"Come on, we're almost there," Nestorius said to her. Out of nowhere, two rebels appeared in the doorway, guns raised. They should've realized that such an easy opening was a trap. Hairini closed her eyes as the rebels advanced towards the senators.

Two gunshots rang out, and there was silence. She opened her eyes, wondering why she was still alive. She and the rest of the group saw a bald middle-aged man standing there, a smoking gun in his hand.

"I am Captain John-Loukas Picardie of the Imperial airship Empress Veronica," said the man, "I'm here to save all of you."

"Thank god!" Hairini replied, as both she and Nestorius nervously laughed to calm themselves down.

---

Meanwhile, at the Thaddai residence and makeshift HQ of the Aeteorean provisional governorship.

As the front of the building had collapsed as a result of the bombing, no one could get in or out conventionally. One would have to climb up to the roof, or break a window, or something of the sort. The people inside used this to their advantage, as they carefully watched the rebels passing by the residence, who generally assume it to be empty.

While they couldn't really see it, they managed to barely hear the general speaking in the center of the capital. Alexidas reported back to the group, who were watching the skies for patterns.

"Jeez, from one terrible government to another," Wanggai quipped, leading to a few suppressed laughs.

"If what that guy said is true, then we might have ourselves a situation here. Nicolaos, tell us, how is everything on your watch?" Taior asked.

"For now, the rebels have chosen to largely ignore this building, mostly because of the collapsed front. But some of them are giving it a second look, so we might not be completely safe."

The room was silent, as they all nodded to one another over what had to be done next.

"Break out Nestorius' weapon stash, JoJo," Lykidis told him.

Kojo smiled back at him, as he got up and got the stash. Everyone at the building, about 20-25 people, got a sword and a gun, ready to fight back if anyone chooses to try and get in.
 
Last edited:
((Outside Thaddai residence))

"Play 'The Internationale'!" ordered the general.

As the communist anthem blared and the Roman hammer and sickle insignia was raised on flagpoles all over the city, a squad of soldiers marched down the street in front of the residence, which was a few blocks away from the square where the Union of Rome had been declared.

"Listen up," said the general to the men, "The houses in this neighborhood are the residences of prominent capitalists and reactionaries. Your orders are to search each residence. You are to kill any reactionary you encounter with extreme prejudice."

"Sir, what about the house over there with the collapsed front?" a soldier asked. "I believe I saw armed reactionaries hiding inside."

"Gas them," ordered the general, "If we can't get in, they can't get out. They will all perish like the cancerous rats they are."

"Yes, sir." The soldier motioned to his men, who strapped on large flamethrower-like devices.

The rebels surrounded the Thaddai estate, pointed their weapons at the ruined house, and sprayed the house with clouds of chlorine gas...
 
With the death of Raphael "Toast Lover" Favero, the title of head of the Favero family passed to his son, Donatello Favero. Born on 21 May 1890 to the rich upper class Favero family in Venezia, Donatello followed in the footsteps of his father and joined the Patrikioi after the Empire's neighbours showed their aggressive expansionist nature and several national groups rebelled within the Empire. His loyalty to the imperial family is without question. Having received the best education available to a young man, Donatello joined the foreign ministry at the young age of 20. The timing was not perfect, for this coincided with the Time of Troubles. Donatello has thus spent the last year or two running around the Empire trying to negotiate with the rebel states and the Empire's neighbours. At the moment he is in the now neutral Italy trying to maintain peace until such a time as the Empire can reclaim the region. He has also been trying to negotiate with the locals to gain access to his family's estate and property, but has met with little success. News of his father's death has not yet reached him.

((Thus the holy foursome of Renaissance artists/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is complete. :p))
 
Alexidas continued his watch, before noticing the squad of soldiers marching down the street in front of the residence. He listened in closely, but as soon as he heard the words 'Gas them', he quickly rushed back to the others. Everyone turned towards him, as he put his finger over his lips before speaking.

"THEY ARE GONNA GAS US! EVERYONE, TO THE BASEMENT!" he quietly yelled out to them. Everyone was visibly distraught by what they had just heard.

They quickly rushed downwards to the rather small basement, hopefully unnoticed. Closing the door, they grabbed anything they could to cover their faces. Unfortunately, all they could find in that basement was wet clothing. Apparently, Nestorius keeps his wet clothes here. Nevertheless, they all grabbed the damp articles and covered their faces.
 
Henry Palaiologos laughs wickedly. The corrupt, decadent, reactionary Empire cannot even defend its capital nor its leaders! Britannia is fully independent now and yet the Romans were too foolish to realize that they had no chance of victory. Their continued oppression of the proletariat had resulted in this yet they still exploited the workers. He had just received a message from Alan Gael, the just and fair ruler of the Communist nations, that his parent "branch" of the Palaiologos family had died out. For the better. They were scum, not even deserving of the respect of a mean beggar. Some of them were even following the "Third Way" or reactionary ideologies!
 
((Thaddai estate))

The soldiers stepped back from the house, from which gas was leaking out from the cracks and crevices.

"Sir, the gassing has been completed," said a rebel, "What are you new orders?"

"There is no way that anybody could have survived that," said the general, "But just in case, bomb this house until nothing remains, and then send in a team to deal with any bodies."

"Yes, sir." The rebel motioned to some other rebels, who raised semaphore flags towards one of the nearest airships and waved them around. The crew on the airship noticed the signal and piloted the craft in the direction of the house, releasing several bombs on top of the house. The entire neighborhood was leveled in an instant, at no cost to the rebels.

"That'll teach them for bombing the innocent proletariat of Paris," said the general.

((outside the Senate palace))

"I am Captain John-Loukas Picardie of the Imperial airship Empress Veronica," said John-Loukas to the senators, "I'm here to save all of you."

"Thank god!" Hairini replied, as both she and Nestorius nervously laughed to calm themselves down.

There was the click of several rifles from behind him, and he cursed.

"Don't move, or we will fire," said the leader of the rebel squad.

"It's a trap," John-Loukas muttered, "I hate it when this happens."

"Yeah, the two guards here were just a trap within a trap for all of you," said the rebel, "Now come with us. We have some important business to attend to."

((Paris))

"Are you sure the emperor is dead?"

"I'm very sure, sir! I have a photograph of his body!"

"Really? Because it looks to me like it could be a decoy..."

"Fine, sir, I'll send men down into the bunkers to investigate!"
 
At the Thaddai residence and makeshift HQ of the Aeteorean provisional governorship.

The group was nervously waiting in the basement that was slowly becoming uncomfortable, as they accidentally covered their faces with the best countermeasure an ordinary person could have, as chlorine gas was water-soluble. They waited for quite a few minutes, before one of them began peaking through the cracks of the door, to see if anyone has entered to check for bodies...... but then, all they heard was explosions.

Unbeknownst to them, the entire neighborhood was leveled in an instant. While all the relevant documents for the governorship were safe in several vaults, everything else in the residence was completely destroyed.... except for the basement. After the shock of the explosions had passed away, everyone remained quiet for a moment. No one was sure what had just happened. Out of nowhere, Kojo tried to open the door of the basement - he couldn't. It was blocked by debris, though they wouldn't know. He slowly turned to the others and looked at them with sickly eyes. They all realized what was going on - they were stuck. Panic ensued. Were they going to just starve down here?!

((You seem to be very intent on killing the Aeteorea crew off, zen.))

---

Outside of the Senate palace

Hairini gasped at the sound of the rifle clicks. They had just been smeckledorfed. Nestorius and Hairini, like the others, complied with the demands of the rebels and followed them.