Chapter 679 …The Storm
Imperial Palace
Capital City Askal
Great Eastern Empire
June 15th
Year 1053
The time was 12 am.
Normally, the city of Askal would be asleep as it was midnight, but today, the city was wide awake.
Men, women and children, young and old; people from all categories were awake.
The Imperial Palace in the centre of Askal was crowded by hundreds of journalists and news reporters from various radio stations and newspapers across the country and even foreign news agencies.
The reason was simple, their Emperor; His Imperial Majesty, Isaac Tarron Wilson, wished to address not only the nation but the entire Alpha Continent and the world at large.
The stage of the Imperial Castle's press conference hall lit up at exactly 12 am, and the Emperor made his entrance, with all those present bowing their heads to pay their respects.
After he sat down, the journalists and reporters sat down, before quickly picking up their pens, notepads, cameras and recording devices.
Radio Stations were broadcasting everything happening live while newspaper agencies had their cameras ready to take photos for the morning print.
It was the consensus that the front page headlines of all newspapers were going to have whatever the Emperor was about to say.
Emperor Isaac sat with two of the Seven Star Generals standing on his sides, Kieran the Second and Lierin the Fifth.
He was dressed in his ceremonial uniform, bearing the emblem of the Imperial family on his left side and the Flag of the GEE on his right side.
When the technicians finished setting up the magical projectors, he opened the file in front of him and began speaking.
"Good morning all.
Today is the 15th day of June in the Year 1053, and the time is currently 12:04 am.
I'd like to thank you all for being present for this Special Press Conference."
Isaac took a deep breath, flipping the file in front of him before raising his head to face the hundreds of cameras on him and beginning his speech.
"Sometime a Millenia ago, our world was beset with an Invasion from another, and the 'Seven Heroes of Legend', along with millions of other unsung heroes in the form of the soldiers who fought tooth and nail against the Invaders were able to repel them and seal away the path which they came from.
It was the first 'Special Class Global Threat' in our current History, and this great war caused Aidos to lose a lot.
Among the things lost, were valuable pieces of Information, ranging from the correct chronology of events in the war to the races and characteristics of these 'Invaders', as well as various details about how they had been repelled."
The sounds of camera shutters filled the room, along with the scribbling of dozens of journalists and the low-volume statics from various radios.
Over the Night Sky of Askal, there were multiple light projections shining in the sky, showing the city the image of the Emperor as he continued his speech.
"In the Year 1030, the GEE's National Defence Research Agency discovered a trail of Intact Structures that dated back to over a thousand years ago.
After some further Research, they were confirmed to indeed be Structures that Survived the War of 1000 years ago.
This made our researchers leap for joy as if we could access these ruins, there was the high possibility of us gaining information about the Special Class Global Threat."
Murmurs filled the Press Conference Hall when Isaac spoke. Different opinions were voiced out; some wanted the GEE to let sleeping dogs lie, with many agreeing and stating that since the war had passed over a thousand years ago, the country should not waste Resources on this.
Isaac, with his superhuman hearing as a Superior Master Level Existence, heard all of this, but he ignored it all and continued speaking.
"With this, we could discover more about the Invaders who once came to our world, and also prepare for the possibility that they may return through some other means."
The room turned silent when Isaac spoke about the possibility of another Invasion from another world, so silent that one could hear a pen drop.
*CLACK!
And that was exactly what happened when a stunned journalist dropped her pen. Without batting an eye, Isaac continued speaking in a clear voice.
"Following the discovered trail, we were led to a structure that appeared to be a Military Base of some sort from 1000 years ago, located in the neighbouring Republic of Wolfen.
The GEE made an official request to Wolfen every single year since then, asking for permission for our Researchers to access this 'War Remnant Structure'. Under heavy Wolfen Military Supervision, of course, considering that the location was quite close to the Country's capital city of Agla."
Isaac glanced to the side for a moment and the technicians activated the magic projectors, displaying images of all the official requests stamped with the Emperor's Seal that had been sent to Wolfen, as well as the Rejection letters stamped with the President of Wolfen's own official Seal.
The sounds of cameras shuttering filled the room as everyone wanted to get a picture of each of the requests and the rejections, and Isaac gave them a minute to do as they pleased before he had the projections removed.
"We requested the government of Wolfen, to collaborate with us to explore this location as much as we could, to unearth as much information as possible.
The main reason was to prepare ourselves against Alien Threats. 'Special Class Global Threats'.
As much as I hate to say this, the Invaders from a millennium ago may not be the only ones our World may ever have to face.
We do not know how many Worlds are out there, and if they have the means to attempt an Invasion of our World, with the intent to conquer or plunder our World's Natural resources.
We may have another Invasion on our hands so it'd be best if we knew how our Ancient Heroes had repelled the Invaders of their Era, so this era and eras after us can build on that to develop more means of protecting our World as a whole.
The Current Heroes of this Era are in agreement with this sentiment as well as the decision to investigate the 'War Remnant Structures'.
Unfortunately, the government of Wolfen has repeatedly rejected our requests, both verbally and in writing as you have seen."
Isaac's expression suddenly turned dark as he pulled out a brown sheet of paper and took a moment of silence.
"One of such rejections; a very recent one, If I might add; had a Wolfen Minister whose name I would not state, vocalize these words to us;"
The Emperor looked down to read the contents of the brown paper in his hands.
"I quote:
[We would never let any filthy Great Eastern Imperial Operations ever happen on Wolfen Soil!]"
The man then proceeded to squeeze the brown paper and toss it into a trash bin that was right in front of the stage, while the entire hall went wild. If what the Emperor had just claimed was true, then a Minister of Wolfen had disrespected the GEE.
Isaac looked up from the table, gazing into the cameras taking photos and spoke.
"The Great Eastern Empire took that statement very personally.
And that brings me to the main agenda of this Conference today."
The man pulled out a few black sheets of paper from the file in front of him, flipping through them as he continued speaking.
"I am announcing the Great Eastern Empire's intention to carry out a 'Military Operation on Wolfen Soil'.
The aim is to Secure the 'War Remnant Structure' which is situated right outside the Capital, Agla.
As securing that location alone would put our Researchers at risk, the final decision we arrived at, was to annex the nation of Wolfen and make it a vassal of the Great Eastern Empire.
Since Wolfen refused to Listen to Diplomacy for over 20 years, we decided to use a different means to get the information the people of Aidos need to know out there.
I would also like to add, that just as with the decision to investigate this War Remnant Structure for the reasons I stated before, members of this Era's Heroes also stand with this decision."
Silence.
The hall was filled with silence due to the shared feeling of shock from all its inhabitants. Even the cameramen forgot to press their shutters as they were surprised.
Outside, the GEE citizens who were annoyed upon hearing the alleged remarks of a Wolfen Minister and wanted the GEE to strike back, were also surprised at the fact that the Emperor had just stated his intent to wage war.
Isaac cared not for any of these and continued speaking like he had not just dropped a bombshell of a statement.
"To the Republic of Wolfen; this is our 'Declaration of War'.
To the other Nations of the Alpha Continent; this is our 'Warning Request' to NOT Interfere.
To the Brave Soldiers of the Great Eastern Empire; March Forward."
After those three concluding lines, Isaac closed the file in front of him and got up from his seat. This snapped the hundreds of journalists present out of their stupor and they suddenly started scrambling towards the stage with their recording devices to ask questions.
A line of knights stopped them from getting too close but this did not stop the 'crazed' journalists from screaming their questions out.
Everyone knew that GEE and Wolfen had had tensions for a while now, but the Declaration of War was too sudden.
They then thought about the last line Isaac had spoken. The words he said to the GEE soldiers.
'March Forward'
Everyone had the same realisation, that those words were an order to attack!
Almost immediately, many of them began trying to get hold of their Wolfen Contacts and ask them about the situation there.
The Press Conference Began at 12 am and ended by 12:30 am.
By 6 am, the five states of Wolfen that bordered the Great Eastern Empire, had fallen.
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