NationStates Jolt Archive

The room was so thick with cigar smoke that Alaric was beginning to get a headache. But that could also have come from all the booze.

The card game in The Tower had started off innocuously enough. The evening was balmy, a soft breeze coming through the windows of the Tower. It started out as a "gentlemen's game", but when the Duchess showed up, it got cut-throat.

Here in Ariette, capitol of the region of Avignon, people took card playing seriously. In just over an hour, several of the players were wondering what hit them.

The Duchess was winning......big time.

Sethanis of Black Shadows, Ricala of Auralinia, Senator du Jaisen of Alsace-Lorain, Tribune Blackstone of St. Germain, Vlad of the Grey Phoenix and the Emperor of Xeraph were awestruck at the Duchess' prowess at card playing. She was raking it in.

" So, m'lords, are you going to ante-up? Or have you had enough for one night?", asked the Duchess.

Bitch, Alaric thought. I should never have allowed her to play. But, it's her country, so...........

" Gentlemen, what say you? One more round...winner take all?"

One by one, each nodded glumly. What the hell, they had lost most everything anyway.

"OK, good. M'lady, would you deal?"

" Of course, m'lord Emperor."

Priscilla shuffled the cards like she'd been doing it all her life....which was probably very nearly true, if her grandfather, Eric Valtane of the Old Confederated nation of Verboten Luftewaffe, had anything to do with it.

As she shuffled, a single card flew out of the deck and floated to the floor. She bent over to pick it up........which saved her life.

All hell broke loose as an explosion splintered the oaken door leading into the hall. Eight black-clad ninjas smashed through the windows of the Tower, guns blazing, swords drawn.

Except for the Senator, the men in the room were battle-hardened veterans of numerous wars. Their reactions were immediate.

Sethanis pulled his Glock 9mm and began firing at anything in black.. Two ninja were hit....one kept coming, slashing at The Shadow King.

Vlad had both swords out and was weaving a path of death and destruction from one end of the room to the other. One ninja lay dead, hacked to pieces, several others bleeding from gashes to their upper chest and arms. Vlad had been shot twice, but they were superficial wounds to the leg and thigh.

The Senator was dead, run through by a ninja sword, then hurled out the window to the cobblestone courtyard 120 feet below.

Tribune Blackstone was giving as good as he got. Two ninja were bearing down on him, but he thrust and parried like the champion swordsman he was.

Ricala had a pistol in each hand. Two ninja were shot dead, another lay on the floor, blood gushing from a neck-shot.

The battle went on for another few seconds......then all was quiet.

All the ninja but one were dead. The one that was alive wasn't going to last long.

All the poker players had minor wounds: sword cuts, flesh wounds from the bullets of the ninja.

Sethanis was the first to speak. " M'lady...where are you? Are you alright?"

From underneath the overturned table came a muffled sound. Ricala and Blackstone rushed over and pulled the table off of the Duchess. She regained her feet, swayed a little, and then promptly passed out. Sethanis caught her as she fell, and placed her gently on the floor.

"Anyone seen Alaric?, Vlad yelled. They all began looking around for the Emperor..........and froze when they found him.

Alaric was lying in a doorway on the other side of the room. He had been shot six times, numerous sword-cuts on his body, a knife still sticking out of his shoulder. He was laying on his side in a slowly spreading pool of blood.

The men rushed over and rolled him onto his back. Vlad felt for a pulse. "He's alive, but barely." He tapped his commpin. " Captain Collins! The Emperor is down! Beam him, these coordinates, directly to the ER on his Flagship. STAT!"

The Emperor shimmered for an instant, then was gone.

Ricala walked over to the one ninja left alive, stepped on his face, and barked," Who are you and who sent you? Tell me now!" The ninja glared at him insolently. Ricala applied pressure to the ninja's face and heard bone break. Blood spurted from the ninja's nose and his neck wound started bleeding again. "Gonna talk now, you son-of-a-bitch? Say something before I get really mad!"

The ninja gurgled, unable to speak because of all the blood clogging his throat. He gave a last gasp, and died.

"Bastard. Now we'll never know who they were."

"Vlad, with the Emperor's condition unknown at this point, your'e in charge.
Get hold of Strickland, let him know what has happened, have him put the military on High Alert", Sethanis said.

Vlad spoke up. "OK, guys, let's get to the Flagship. Pray that Alaric is still alive...."

Dr. Pierce came through the door of the observation room. Assembled in the room were Lord Sethanis of Black Shadows, Prince Vlad of The Grey Phoenix, currently the acting head of government, and the Duchess Priscilla d'Avignon-Elyrie of Elyria-Lorain.

" Gentlemen, m'lady, the Emperor is in critical condition. Six bullet wounds, three sword cuts, and a knife wound have left him all but dead. He is comatose. But he is alive, and where is life, there is always hope. I will keep you up to date with any changes in his condition and treatment. Right now, he must regain some strength before we can implement much in the way of repairing him."

Vlad was the first to speak. " Here's the plan. Your Grace, if you would prepare a statement for the press, it will go a long way to dispelling the rumors flying around the Empire. Sethanis, you are in charge with the task of protecting the Emperor. I want you to personally make sure no further harm comes to him. I understand that Ricala has implemented the scanning of all movement of military forces around the world via OSS-1 and 2. I believe Gen. Strickland is attempting to defuse the situation with Mondoth. Let's hope he succeeds. I will be at the capitol. Update me as the need arises."

He turned to leave, hesitated for a second, turned back. "My friends, there has never been a crisis of this proportion to hit Xeraph. We must be ready for all........eventualities."

The Briefing Room at the Palace was abuzz with excitement. Rumors were rampant: the Emperor was dead, the Emperor was wounded and three others were dead, the Tower in Elyria-Lorain had been demolished by a terrorist bomb, etc. All were waiting for some facts......

" Hello, this is Terry McSherry for XNN News coming to you from the Briefing Room of the Emperor's Palace. In a minute, the Duchess of Elyria-Lorain will give us the news we have been waiting for for over two days. All we know for a fact is that, during the course of a poker game, the Emperor and his friends were attacked. We know that all of the attackers were killed. One Senator from EL was killed, also. All were wounded. We do not know the extent of the Emperor's condition. Wait....OK....here comes the Duchess, approaching the podium. We turn you over now to the Duchess of Elyria-Lorain."

Priscilla looked pale and drawn. It had been a long two days, waiting to hear of Alaric's condition. She straightened up, and began speaking.

" People of the Xeraphian Empire, I bring you dire news. Two days ago, while enjoying the company of some close friends, your Emperor, along with several others, was severely wounded in an apparent assassination attempt by a group of ninja-like attackers. They all were killed, but not before creating much devastation. The Emperor's condition is currently critical. He is in a coma. he had received six gunshot wounds, sword cuts, and a knife wound. He has lost much blood, and there is damage to his internal organs. He is in a secure place, safe from any further harm. Prince Vlad has taken over the reigns of the government un til Emperor is fit to do so himself. I'm sure we all hope and pray that that time will come. That is all for now. Thank you."

She exited with a number of the press shouting questions. The one most often heard was 'who do you think the attackers were?' At this point, no one knew.....but they would find out.......

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