Ruin of Empire 2nd Department Foreign Office
The fire in the 2nd Department Foreign Office building has been extinguished. At this time, there was no attack on the area, so the people of the 2nd Department Foreign Office returned to the ruins to try to save the documents and other important items. The horse-drawn carriages were again lined up in front of the 2nd Department Foreign Office and were being loaded up as quickly as possible...
Ramille and Elto were currently in the courtyard of the 2nd Department Foreign Office, supervising the evacuation of the 2nd Department Foreign Office. The head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office was in the room, supervising the transportation of the remaining documents that were still intact.
"I think we can make it." Elto said. Already, more than 90% of the documents and items can be salvaged. Unnecessary staff have also been evacuated, many with their families." Elto said.
"Good, good. Tomorrow we will start working in our temporary office in another city." Ramille said. "The royal family will be taken to a city in the central part of the Palpadia Empire. But the destination is still a secret."
"According to reports, the Imperial Palace is also already empty. All important documents and items have been taken out of the city. They are currently removing non-essential items, such as expensive furniture and personal items, from the contents of the palace and the royal family." Elto said.
"They were able to empty the palace so quickly because the palace was never attacked, and the manpower to empty the palace was also much more. Almost a battalion of soldiers helped empty the palace." Ramille said.
"Even though Esthirant fell, tomorrow, the Palpadia Empire will be business as usual." Elto said.
"That's right. We will slowly evacuate Esthirant. The enemy will not attack civilian convoys." Ramille said.
Suddenly, the Myto Empire flying machines that had been circling above Esthirant suddenly all moved towards the sea.
"Look, what's going on? Why are the enemy flying machines retreating?" said a staff member who happened to be there.
"Are they retreating after they've done their damage on Esthirant?" asked Ramille.
"No way, there are still many golem soldiers in Esthirant." Elto said. "They will evacuate the golem before retreating."
"Then why did the Myto Empire's flying machines flee towards the sea? It's also impossible for them to all return to their bases. It's still daylight." Ramille said.
Everyone was silent as they watched the strange phenomenon. They also tossed around various theories about it.
"My good, look at that!!!" said someone, pointing to the sky.
Two balls of light that had done a lot of damage came back down. But this time the orbs did not head towards the outskirts of Esthirant City but instead headed straight towards the center City of Esthirant.
"Noooooooooooo." Ramille screamed as she saw the destination of the two balls of light.
They quickly descended and approached Emperor Ludius' Imperial Palace, Castle Paradis. The two orbs hit Castle Paradis simultaneously. There appeared to be no change in Castle Paradis for what seemed like an eternity, but that was short-lived when a sizable fireball began to cover the castle. Smoke that was soaring like mushrooms followed the fireball.It wasn't long before the loud sound of the explosion could be heard.
"Imperial Palace.... Emperor Ludius...." Said Elto who could not get any coherent words out.
Everyone there stared wide-eyed and in a state of shock as they saw the center of the Palpadia Empire destroyed in just one shot. They did not expect that the history of the Palpadia Empire would end at this moment. They ignored the thunderous sound and heat of the explosion.
The head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office, who had just come out of the building, first recovered from his shock.
"Quickly, order some people to look at the condition of the palace. See if the Palace bunker is still intact and immediately conduct an excavation to rescue those in the bunker. The Emperor might still be alive inside the bunker. But looking at the fire, if we don't help them, they could be buried alive or burned by the heat of the fire." ordered the head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office.
The people who were there immediately came out of shock and immediately carried out the orders from the head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office. The only one who still hadn't come out of shock was Ramille.
"Madam Ramille. You are the last possible royal family if the worst should happen. Immediately, you secure yourself in the bunker." The head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office said to wake Ramille up.
Ramille could only nod, and she was guided to the bunker.
---oOo---
Esthirant Command Center
When Castle Paradis was hit, the bunker containing the command center shook, some people lost their balance, and many items fell. The people inside the command center looked at each other and questioned why this was happening. The Command Center Bunker is one of the strongest bunkers ever built by the Palpadia Empire. For this bunker to sway, it required a very powerful explosion at ground level and at a short distance. They wondered how an explosion could be that powerful.
"What happened?" a general asked.
"Find out what happened on the surface immediately." another general ordered his staff.
"It's likely that the Myto Empire started bombarding the city. It looks like our assumption that the Myto Empire cared about civilian safety was incorrect." Alde said.
"We must vacate the city immediately, especially the Palace. Contact the Palace for immediate evacuation." An admiral said.
A staff member suddenly came and reported, "Sir, the palace suddenly stopped transmitting manacomm signals in the middle of a conversation. We tried to contact them, but they did not answer."
"That can't be the case. There are more than 10 manacomms in the palace; if one breaks down, then the others should still be working. Have you contacted the emergency manacomm located in the palace bunker?" asked Alde.
"I have, sir. No response either." The staff replied.
Cold sweat broke out on Alde's forehead, and the same was true for almost all of the Palpadia Empire's military officers. The breakdown of communication could only indicate the destruction of Castle Paradis, which meant the absolute defeat of the Palpadia Empire. Without Emperor Ludius, there would be no Palpadia Empire, let alone all the royal families currently there.
"Immediately confirm what happened to the palace!" ordered Alde.
"Yes, sir." The staff said this and rushed out of the room.
"If the worst happens, how will we, the military, respond?" Alde asked everyone present.
"There's no way that would happen! There might be damage there. Or even if the palace is destroyed by the enemy, Emperor Ludius has been inside the palace bunker since this afternoon. Because of the explosion, the equipment in the bunker must have been damaged as well." An admiral said.
"It could be; dispatch a number of soldiers there immediately!" Alde ordered a staff.
"Yes, sir," said the staff, who immediately ran outside the room to relay the order.
Suddenly, the first staff member that entered earlier entered the command center with a pale face, as pale as paper.
"Gentlemen, it is official that two balls of light that appeared from the sky completely destroyed Castle Paradis." the staff stammered.
Everyone became silent instantly. No one dared to speak.
"Emperor Ludius is confirmed to have been in his study when the castle was hit." The staff spoke in a very low and stammering voice.
"What!!! The Emperor wasn't in the bunker?" asked the admiral, who had believed there was damaged equipment.
"No, admiral. Emperor Ludius is still in his study as he is dictating orders using the manacomm next to his study." The staff said. "His Majesty Emperor Ludius was meeting with the prime minister and other senior ministers at the time of the incident."
"What about the rest of the royal family?" Alde asked.
"According to reports from the army command post closest to Castle Paradis, the destruction of Castle Paradis was total, even forming a crater deep enough that the bunkers under the palace must have been destroyed as well." The staff said. "But this news is being confirmed."
All the military officers present fell silent. The Palpadia Empire had not only lost its head of state, Emperor Ludius and his entire successor family, but also the highest officials of the government. There were no more senior civilian officials who could hold the government.
"How is this? Who leads the government under these circumstances?" said a general in panic.
"The military cannot hold the government because it will definitely not be supported by the public and local officials. Moreover, our military is in a weak condition to be able to control the country." another general said.
"Take a look at the succession diagram at Palpadia central command!" Alde ordered a staff member.
"Yes, sir," said one of the staff members, who hurried out of the room.
"For now, the leadership of the Palpadia Empire is temporarily in our hands until an authorized succession official can be found." Alde said. "What are our options?"
"In this way, it is possible that in the next 1 minute this place will also be destroyed. If this place is destroyed, then the military command in Palpadia is destroyed. I propose that some of us evacuate immediately so that in case of emergency, we can hold the military."
"Alright," said Alde, who thought for a while and ordered three generals and two admirals to immediately leave the central command to evacuate.
After the people who were told to evacuate left, the staff who were asked to find a successor official who could hold the government came into the room.
"Gentlemen, the highest senior official available is Elto of the 1st Department Foreign Office. She is currently still in the 2nd Department Foreign Office bunker." The staff said. "But we also know that there is still a royal family left, Ramille who is currently also in the 2nd Department Foreign Office."
Everyone there became noisy because they knew that this war happened because of Ramille's carelessness.
"If Ramille becomes Empress, then there will be no peace between Palpadia Empire and Myto Empire. They will crush us to the ground." An admiral said.
"Right, we can't let Ramille become Empress, or it's the end of Palpadia." Another general said.
"Then we all agree not to make Ramille Empress?" Alde said.
Everyone in the room nodded their heads in agreement.
"Then what is our current attitude towards the Myto Empire?" asked Alde.
"We consult with the new government leaders first. After that, we will have a discussion." A very senior general said.
"Well, I and some staff will go to the bunker in the 2nd Department Foreign Office immediately. You will temporarily take over the leadership of Centra Command. Maintain the status quo for now, only defend, do not attack." Alde said. "Tell the other heads of offices and the country's top officials to also gather at the 2nd Department Foreign Office bunker."
After that Alde quickly together with a general and an admiral rushed to the bunker under the 2nd Department Foreign Office.
.
.
.
Ruins of Esthirant Military Port.
The fire in the ruins of the former military port in Esthirant had long been extinguished. Today, there are only ruins that still smoke occasionally. There was no one there, as the Myto Empire airspeeder that was always circling above caused all the personnel to flee. There was only silence broken by the crashing waves on the pier and the occasional sound of something collapsing.
Suddenly, many machines could be seen above the surface of the water. It was the Myto Empire's tanks and APCs approaching the harbor. They were followed by several airspeeders that rapidly approached the harbor and began to take out the dark troopers in the harbor.
The dark troopers that disembarked from the airspeeders immediately split up to secure the entire harbor before the main force arrived. Since there were no people at all in the ruins of the harbor, the dark troopers quickly took control of the entire harbor.
Within minutes, all of Myto Empire's tanks and APCs landed in the rubble of the harbor. Out of the APCs came the dark troopers and a few stormtroopers and officers from the Myto Empire. The officers immediately occupied a relatively intact building to serve as a command center. From the command center, they led the battle that was currently taking place in many areas of Esthirant.
Most of the Myto Empire's tanks and APCs began to move out of the port area. The remaining tanks and APCs were placed at strategic points to defend the port area. A relatively open field in the harbor was used as an airspeeder landing site. Utility-type airspeeders began shuttling back and forth from Task Force A's armada that were still at sea to the Esthirant military port area, carrying various goods and personnel needed for the invasion. Task Force A ships also began to approach the city of Palpadia without any resistance. This was due to the order for Palpadia Empire ships to flee, avoiding unnecessary fighting.
The Myto Empire's tanks and APCs that started moving outside the harbor area were met with stiff resistance from the Palpadia Empire troops. The Palpadia Empire troops were not only armed with muskets, but they had also placed a large number of magic cannons around the former Esthirant military harbor.
However, the shield system on the Myto Empire tanks and APCs prevented any damage from the magic cannon fire. The dark troopers immediately ran quickly towards the magic canon's position. They easily dodged the magic canon fire, while the musket fire meant nothing to the dark troopers.
When the dark troopers were close to the position of the magic cannon, the crew of the cannon, who saw that the dark trooper was not affected by musket fire, immediately ran away from the cannon. The dark trooper immediately destroyed the magic cannon with blaster fire.
On the other hand, the main guns of the tanks and APCs did not remain silent either. There were explosions due to fire from the Myto Empire's tanks. The large-caliber coil gun fire from the APCs also killed many Palpadia Empire soldiers. Even though they were hiding behind the ruins, the large-caliber coil gun was able to penetrate the concrete, which was the largest part of the ruins, so there was no safe place for the Palpadia Empire soldiers.
The Palpadia Empire troops started to retreat from their original position after the dark troopers destroyed many of the magic cannons. But they still put up fierce resistance while retreating. But the resistance was useless. They couldn't even damage one Dark Trooper. On the other hand, the casualties on the Palpadia Empire's side continued to increase.
The civilians were also running for their lives. They left their homes and ran away from the battlefield. The Myto Empire troops did not shoot at the civilians, so civilian casualties were not high. But because of the large number of people running, they hindered the movement of the Palpadia Empire troops, who were about to confront the Myto Empire.
Slowly but surely, the area in Esthirant controlled by the Myto Empire is getting wider...
---oOo---
Bunker under the 2nd Department Foreign Office
The condition of the bunker under the 2nd Department Foreign Office became very chaotic due to the destruction of Castle Paradis. It has been confirmed that both Emperor Ludius and the royal family were killed in the attack. Also killed were all senior civilian officials, including the highest civilian leader, the Prime Minister.
"What about Ramille's condition?" asked Elto.
"She is still in shock and is still in the rest room," said a staff member.
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the room. Elto and the head of the Foreign Office's 2nd Department rushed outside to see what was happening. When they arrived outside, they saw military leader Alde, along with several other military dignitaries, enter the bunker.
"Good afternoon, Alde. How can I help you?" asked the head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office. "How are we going to deal with this?"
"I've come to resolve the most important issue at the moment." Alde said as he walked to Elto.
In front of Elto and surrounded by the head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office and several other 1st and 2nd Department Foreign Office staff, Alde said, "Madam Elto, based on the order of government succession, you are now the head of the Palpadia Empire. Long live the Palpadia Empire."
Alde and the Palpadia Empire's military leaders then kneeled before Elto. It shocked the others around him, but then the head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office also knelt down and was followed by other staff.
The shocked Elto said, "Are you telling the truth? Aren't there other officials who are older than me, and you who are more senior?"
"That is true, but in terms of seniority, Madam Elto is the most senior of the remaining central government officials. The military is temporarily in control, but it is impossible for the military to hold the government. Therefore, from now on, the Palpadia Empire is under your rule." Alde said while still kneeling.
"Don't keep kneeling, stand up!" said Elto. "What about Ramille? Isn't she a member of the royal family?"
"Thank you, madam." Elto said as he stood up, followed by the others. "We from the military don't want Ramille to become Empress because this war happened because of her actions. If Ramille becomes Empress, then there will never be peace between the Palpadia Empire and the Myto Empire. I have ordered the soldiers to guard Ramille, who is temporarily not allowed to leave the room."
Everyone in the room agreed with that logic.
"I think you deserve to take on that role," said the head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office
"You are also more senior than me."
"The military fully supports you becoming the leader of the Palpadia Empire. We are bringing backup from the royal symbol. We will hand it over to you." Alde said as he handed over a gold box containing the royal seal and scepter.
"What does this mean? Why are you giving it to me?" asked Elto. "Isn't this the symbol of the country, which is the symbol of the Emperor?"
"That's right, this is the symbol of the Emperor of the Palpadia Empire," Alde replied.
"Why was it given to me?" said Elto, who was starting to break out in a cold sweat because she knew what the Palpadia Empire military wanted.
"We support you as a civilian leader as well as a state leader. You are now, de facto, Empress Elto. Long live the Palpadia Empire, long live Empress Elto," Alde said.
"I cannot accept this. I am not the royal family." Elto said.
"Back when the Palpadia Empire was formed, the first king was also not from a royal family. That's why it's common when there are change of dynasties." Alde said.
"Yes, with this, there will be a dynastic change in Palpadia." The head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office continued. "I will immediately announce this through manacomm."
He ordered some staff to immediately draft an announcement and inform the relevant parties verbally through manacomm for the time being.
Elto could only remain silent while standing and holding the royal symbol. Her mind was still in a state of shock and could not process this.
"What about your decision regarding this war?" asked Alde.
"According to the Palpadia Empire's military leadership, what is our condition?" asked Elto again.
"We see that there is no way we can fight the Myto Empire at this time. Until now, we have not been able to destroy a single golem, let alone injure a single person from the Myto Empire. Our side has already lost close to 400,000 people." Alde said. "Right now the enemy is making a full invasion of Esthirant through Esthirant's former military port. We don't have much time."
"What about the 2nd Department Foreign Office?" asked Elto.
"If what Alde said is true, then a sustained war will destroy us." The head of the 2nd Department Foreign Office said.
"As the head of the 1st Department Foreign Office, I feel the same way. Let's try to contact the Myto Empire to negotiate a truce. I will speak for myself." Elto said. "Also call the head of the 3rd Department Foreign Office."
They all rushed to the manacomm room...