Summoning Italy

Chapter 1: Addio, Italia

Via Plino, Milano, 11:40 PM, 17th of April 2023

As the stars shined and the moon casted its soft glow, the city of Milano was still bustling with activity. The city lights shined brightly under the sky and in one particular street, a man stepped out of an apartment building as he sighed.

"Oddio, what a night..." the man said in exhaustion. A birthday party on a Saturday night was a waste of a Saturday, he thought to himself. He reached his parked car as he hopped inside and after buckling up, the man drove off.

As he drove, the man eyed the clock. 11:57 PM. Such a late time to head back home, he thought. He continued to drive down the road as he stopped at an intersection while he eyed the stop light. However, he suddenly went wide eyed as the night sky which was supposed to be a continuous blanket of black and stars was suddenly overtaken by a bright Aurora Borealis.

Palermo

Down south in Palermo, the same Aurora Borealis could be seen over the whole island of Sicilia as late night bystanders started to take pictures and videos of the magnificent sight.

A young woman aimed her phone towards the sky, captivated by the amazing performance beyond her before she posted the video to her family's group chat.

'Look! There's northern lights here!' She typed before she looked up again. But then as she felt the vibration, her friends' group chat was now awake in activity. And as she read the messages, the young woman realised that her friends in Turino, Venezia, and Napoli could see the same Aurora Borealis as she did.

A13 Brenner Autobahn, Approaching the Italia-Österreich Border

An Austrian trucker drove down the A13 Autobahn in wide-eyed confusion. Up ahead, the Aurora Borealis shined exactly beyond the Italienisch border. He looked through the side mirror as he saw there wasn't even a light in Österreich.

But just as the clock struck midnight and the truck went beyond the border, a loud crashing sound occurred. The trucker went wide eyed as he stepped on the breaks harshly. A terrible scraping noise was evident before he got the truck to a stop.

The trucker then turned on the blinkers. He hopped out, shocked as he saw that his trailer was perfectly cut in half with its contents spilled onto the road. But as he looked to where the Italy-Austrian border was, his home nation was instead replaced by a long empty valley and fields.

Chigi Palace, Rome, 12:13 AM, Day 1

In the executive quarters of the Chigi Palace, Prime Minister of Italy Giovanni Canessa slept peacefully in his bed as he snored soundly. On his bedside table was a photo of him, his wife, and his two children. Despite his loneliness following the death of his wife, Giovanni had been a fairly popular prime minister for his nation since 2022.

Alas, barely a year into his work and Italy was now hit by a major crisis. An aide suddenly burst into his bedroom in a panic. Giovanni sat up in shock as he quickly adjusted his t-shirt, "Ando? What the-"

"Sir, we need to get you into the bunker, quickly!"

Those simple words were enough for Giovanni to toss himself out of his bed. After he grabbed some clothes, the man started to rush out of his room, "What's going on?"

Ando then looked to Giovanni with a grim look, "We've received reports of an Aurora Borealis all over Italy. Soon after we've lost contact with the outside world. It might be some sort of attack on our comms."

"What, like an EMP?" Giovanni said nervously.

"Could be, sir," Ando said as they rushed through the hallways of the palace. "We don't know if it's Russia, or whatever. We won't know until we make contact with our allies."