Emergency planning (Benjamin/Alexander/Kyros)

[alexanderthegreat]

((SAFETY MEETING VIPS ONLY HO HO HO.))

Unlike the last time he had come to the castle in Unda, Alexander made his appearance quick and to the point. He'd just had Zeke leave on a quest that he may very well never return from, there was a maniac on the loose destroying kingdoms at large apparently, and Alexander most of all felt like he was losing control of everything in his professional and personal life. He seriously thought he had finally gotten everything right...or was it only easy to handle because they'd had peace for as long as they did? Looking after everything was of course easier when you didn't have war to worry about!

He needed to do something, this he knew. But first he had to secure the safety of Santo-Luce before he could do more to help someone else. But if he could get a plan together with Benjamin and Kyros, it would solve his and someone else's problems as well, or so he hoped.

Alexander made previous arrangements to inform Kyros of the meeting in Unda, and as such was hoping to meet the prince here. Oddly enough the king approached the front gates alone, save for Foxy who trotted ahead of him and periodically turned off and circled around him.

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

For Alexander it must have been a terrible sight, the streets were basically empty and the air was thick with tension. Soldiers patrolled the streets in attempt to keep order and as Alexander approached the Castle there was some notable differences.

Instead of the lightly guarded walls it was heavily defended, not by the town's guard but by Undian Marines. This city was on the edge of Martial Law.

Speaking of Martial Law, that was currently being debated by the High Senate and the yelling from the Senators meant that it was going nowhere fast.

The gates were pulled open to let Alexander pass and he was met by a commander of the Marines, "Your Highness, the President is expecting you in his office. If you would please follow me, I'll bring you to him."

The Commander motioned for Alexander to follow, as improper as it may have been to have a military commander to great him all high ranking officials were busy doing a millions things at once.

[alexanderthegreat]

Everything did seem a lot more dreary to the king as he entered the highly-guarded area. He muttered a quick "thank you" to the commander with a nod of his head as he followed the man to Benjamin's office.

This worried him, though. Things were tense enough as it was in his own kingdom, he couldn't believe what all he was seeing here. Seeing it go from so bright and happy to this dismal appearance, something struck Alexander inside that made him think that if he could find a way to fix this, he was going to do it.

"Benjamin?"

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

Inside Benjamin's office was a pretty dark scenery, the curtains were pulled shut making the only source of illumination a fire in the fireplace and a candle on his desk. Benjamin himself looked like he had seen better days as he stared over a map that his generals had put out of all available forces ready to fight when asked.

The Generals that were in the room were packing up their materials when Alexander walked in, they quickly finished what they were doing and left out another door.

Benjamin looked up from the map and smiled, there wasn't much difference about that at least, he still retained a bright and sincere smile that Alexander was used to, "King Frexton, my friend," Benjamin quickly stepped over and shook Alexander's hand, "I apologize about the state of things, if it helps at all, we still have that gods awful wine from before if you wish to have something to drink."

[alexanderthegreat]

"Don't worry about it. Things have been less than pleasant recently so it's more than understandable," Alexander found Benjamin's smile coaxed one out of him as well, though he felt horrible. The darkness of the room didn't bother him so much as the pendant he wore around his neck let off a soft glow, it came in handy when he needed it most it seemed.

"How are you holding up?"

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

"I haven't slept in forever, my bones are killing me and I have a headache the size of the sun. But I'm alive, my country is alive and I hope it will remain that way." He walked over to the fire place and sat down on one of the many comfortable chairs that sat in front of it. He motioned for Alexander to sit down, "There is one other supposed to be joining us soon, I'm sure he'll be here any moment now. I doubt he'd appreciate it if we start without him."

[Kyros Forthe]

Prince Kyros Forthe was lead up to the office by the same commander that Alexander followed. Kyros had to go to Crepusculum and gather all of his soldiers to get ready, and prepare them. After he got the number of his soldiers together, he then was requested to Unda and is now here.
"Hello President Kirix-Unda." He said as gave a small bow, then he looked over, "Ah, King Frexton. Nice to see you again." He walked over to Alex and stuck his hand out for a handshake.

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

Benjamin sat up from his chair and gave a nod to the Prince and after a moment of standing he motioned for the other chair and sat down, "I think we all know why we're here. So I think I should just come out and say it so we're not side stepping the situation."

Benjamin leaned away from his chair and looked at the two men before speaking, "Duo is back. So now what?"

[alexanderthegreat]

Alexander nodded and shook the prince's hand.

"Prince Kyros, I'm glad you could make it," Alexander greeted quickly and stared at Benjamin for a moment as he took in the question 'so now what?'

Because really, that was Alexander's thoughts in a nutshell. Or it least it had been until he got this little idea, but even then it was just an idea, not a full plan. If it had been his father in his place, there would have already been a plan in full production.

Alexander raised his hand, anyway.

"Duo is 'back'. If you're like me you know not much of what all he's capable of doing aside from destroying everything we have and love. I'm not proud that I know so little but I'm not ashamed to say that it's not going to be stopping me," Alexander's eyes drifted from Kyros to Benjamin, "my question to you both is how are you prepared for an impending attack, if at all? What are your countries greatest advantages, geographically speaking and not just in resources or military?

Santo-Luce's military isn't well-known for its strength. We have numbers, we have well-trained and competent soldiers. They do a fantastic job ensuring the safety of our citizens, and securing the transportation of resources across the world. We have not just a great number of spiritual temples, but one of the largest in the world only minutes away from my own castle that has more than enough space to house people for any amount of time.
We have an abundance of people who conduct light magic and under me in temple can we provide protection and medics. We have some of the world's best-known plants with healing properties and look to employ any and all apothecaries to create and ship these supplies where they are needed most.

Gentlemen, what are your strengths and weaknesses? What can you offer? I think this is a time where we need to put our pools together and strategize."

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

Under normal circumstances Benjamin would never give foreign leaders a list of all his resources and military strength, but really, what other option did they have? What if a month from now they would be forced to fight under one unified flag? Everything needed to be put on the table.

"Our ground forces are strong enough, our Marines do not consist of the majority of the armed forces but they're the best trained. The Army is good for smaller campaigns and our Town's Guard, or militia, would be more useful dead than in a battle... best to use them for evacuation. Our Navy is our strong suit, as you know, we have Fleets currently stationed off Santo-Luce, Vuoto and one returning from Roccia. At this point if any country comes under attack our Navy will be able to supply artillery quicker than any other nation. Domestically, we have two more fleets stationed here along with four other smaller, less equipped militia fleets... the ships may be outdated by they're still useful, they consist of Man-O-Wars from the previous Navy."

Navy was their strong suit by far, in fact, the entire defense policy was halting any attackers on the sea and using a smaller force to insight anarchy and chaos in the enemy kingdom, as shown in the Roccian civil-war.

"Geographically our islands fall under four classifications, Central Unda, South Unda, East Unda and Wild Unda. Our many islands make it difficult for an enemy to sweep our entire country, it gives plenty of places to hide if they were to take one section. Also, Unda holds some of the largest fishing grounds so it puts us in a great position to feed any army that needs it."

He sat back and crossed his legs, "Here's where is get's a little difficult: our people are very patriotic, any invading army would have to face a wrath of angry Undians, they won't accept a flag of anything but their own. The problem is that our enemy is Undian, and can easily pose as a reformer... while we believe our people are loyal to the current Republic they could be swayed back to the old Empire. There are certainly small groups in Unda that would like to see Duo back in power but that number changes within the four regions."

"To put it simply, our biggest fault and strength are the people."

[Kyros Forthe]

Kyros nodded and then he was about to tell his military, but he saw the uncomfortable in Benjamin's face revealing his army information. He sat forward to look at the two rulers with a more friendly demeanor.
"Benjamin, and Alex, both of you. Thank you for this information. Sometimes we must sacrifice secrets for the greater good." Kyros said, "I will promise that this information will be only used for a time when we need it."

"The Crepusculum army has one of the largest land forces on Allorum, and all of them are strong in different style of combat, ranging from close combat to long distance magic. We also have a lot of land for us to use for refugee, and for farming."

He then sat back and crossed leg over his lap, and put his hand to his chin. He took a deep breath and continued his speech.

"However transportation is one of our problem. Our army isn't one for invading. We could only send only one forth of your entire army to one area at a time. Also, since our army is so large getting all of them together takes a massive amount of time. Even now, when I sent my message to gather all troop, and it has yet to reach all of important people. Lastly, since I have just taken the throne, there is still some power struggle as my citizen barely know of me, and I am not fully knowledgeable of my army full strength."

Kyros shook his head as he grinned at them, "Gentlemen, I must say with all of our strength of countries, the Heroes, and Kishu on our side. Well, let's just say Duo better have his affairs in order."

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

Benjamin didn't doubt the Prince's words and his assurances were well taken, "The Saints staged a final defense on the lands of Crepusculum using armies from three different nations. If Duo manages to field an army like last time than as optimistic as I'd like to be, the three of us wouldn't stand a chance." Benjamin reached into one of the small cabinets by his chair and pulled out three glasses and a bottle of incredibly strong whiskey. Certainly not the refined drink as wine was, but right now it seemed like the only plausible thing to drink.

He poured it into the three glasses and took one, just sipping it lightly before looking at the two men again, "Kyros, from the sounds of it your power struggle will end once conflict appears. Your people will be afraid and will rally behind someone with power, just remember to make yourself visible to the public when the time comes. Your troops will be of use and I will order construction of transports for your nation to borrow, just give me a number and I'll hand them down to the factories... If you can move that army around swiftly than that will be a huge asset."

[alexanderthegreat]

Alexander nodded as he listened to Benjamin. Of course he wasn't surprised that Unda had heavier weapons and artillery than what Santo-Luce had. He took one of the glasses Benjamin had poured and lightly sniffed it--he wasn't much of a whiskey drinker but after everything that had happened in Roccia and what was going on in his own home, this was welcoming. Very welcoming.

"Our weapon selection isn't very colourful as yours, but..." Alexander said aloud, thinking back to watching Alex fight, a man who was highly skilled with a sword but also heightened his attacks with magic.

"...I wonder just how many people are magically articulate..." he seemed to zone out for a moment. There were millions who lived in Santo-Luce, and at least a good couple thousand attended sermons and engaged in temple activities. The clergy was incredibly adept in magic usage for the most part, it was like an unwritten rule that the preachers had to be as so much of their job revolved around the connection to the divine--and the people associated that with spiritual cleansing and the ability to fight off demons--if you didn't have the magic connected with that it was like you weren't 'certified' or something.

If it was one thing he had never been fully aware of, it was how much attention was paid to the parts of his military that could actually perform magic. Santo-Luce banned heavy weapons and more advanced technology for peoples' safety, and they also were heavy against allowing anyone who could perform heavy amounts of dark magic or were specifically aligned under a dark seal of magic over the border--it was enough to classify on as a "witch" and witches weren't welcome in a holy land.

"My father mentioned once before that Santo-Luce has a lot of magically-inclined people and that's something we should take pride in, we don't need weapons to fight or win a war. It's what helped us whenever we did battle with Nerezza," Alexander stared at Benjamin as he ran his fingers through his hair, "it occurs to me now that he once employed a faction of our military, on land a group of people who used magic like my own, granted from our lord Felios to fight off back then what we considered 'demons' from Nerezza. They were great warriors, no weapons but mages they were, highly skilled in defensive and offensive magic to ward off attackers and still provide protection to those in need.

If I can, I'd like to get them or something like them into this. It would boost us all tremendously, and maybe if your people are what could bring you down as well as keep you up, it wouldn't hurt to have a member of my clergy or two to station themselves on your islands. They're inconspicuous enough, just preachers to the normal eye. And should something go wrong, they're magically skilled to assist or even take on a fight themselves should they need to."

They were ideas he was throwing about but they were ideas all the same. It had just seemed that Alexander had a bit of a revelation, things that he should have known and remembered a long time ago but hadn't. But dammit, it was helpful.

Kyros on the other hand he raised an eyebrow to. He hadn't really gotten to speak too personally to the prince until now, and even now they were discussing business instead of how their lives were going, but he almost seemed like he was missing something in this meeting. He looked young, like himself, and listening to Kyros talk about how he'd just taken charge of the throne and how he's unsure of what there is for him to command and trying to gain respect amongst the people...
Well, that just hit too close to home. Alexander was that guy almost two years ago.

"I'm afraid it's not as simple as that, my friend," Alexander spoke softly, though gravely as he turned his stare to Kyros, "to me it sounds like this Duo does have his affairs in order. Roccia is the largest country in Allorum and that went down in a flaming mess in less than a day and I've heard he has no plans to stop there.

I feel for you, having just taken the throne and your first order of business is to help stop a mad man and save your own skin but that's exactly why I asked you to join us, because I've been there before--"

He nodded his head to Benjamin.

"He's been there before, too. We're all part of the same, we all need a hand. We can't sit here and say our armies and navy are good to go and then leave it at that--what will you do for me if you hear tomorrow morning Lux Lucis was ransacked? Even better, what can you do to prevent that from happening?"

Alexander sat back in his chair as he continued to Kyros, "this is why our weaknesses and strengths shared are important here. A vulnerable topic, yes, but that itself is what should make us stronger, isn't it? If I know your weaknesses, I can offer a remedy, as my own you give to me. And with all of us tied together in this, it wouldn't do a traitor any good because to me it seems we're all neck-deep in it together that the moment one betrays there's already someone there to put an end to him."

It wasn't a normal thing for Alexander to vaguely imply he'd kill someone...but he would if he had to.

[Kyros Forthe]

"Thank you Benjamin. You offering is most helpful. As for the power struggle, I believe this is what I need to show them that I am the right choice for the throne." Kyros said, then he listened to what Alex was saying, then thought for a moment. Then he looked at Alex stating his response.

"You two are honorable men, and I do not seeing you two doing something like that. You two have the same goal as I do: to make this world better. To get rid of the corrupt and make life better for the citizens of our great kingdoms. I am not out to make Crepusculum any bigger. If Lux Lucis were to be ransacked or even to be rumored to be ransacked, I can send some of my troops to support your men, and protect your kingdom. We are allies now, so your problems I will see to it within my powers to help you, as you would do the same for me."

Kyros sat up and put his hands on his knees, "Yes Duo managed to overthrow Roccia, but that is because he had the element of surprise. He has lost that element and foolishly left us time to unite the kingdoms. Duo fell before, and he will fall again. It might not be simple, but we cannot let it be seem hard. If we make this seem hard, he will use that to his advantage and break us apart. Yes, this isn't something wants to be your first political move is something that threaten your very kingdom, but the world isn't going to wait for me because I am not ready. You two managed to keep the kingdom together after have extreme times, and I can only follow in example, and with us three at each other side, we will be a force to be reckoned with."

[Benjamin Kírix-Unda]

Benjamin finished off his glass of whiskey, putting his glass down his rubbed his chin in thought before looking over at Kyros, "If he's lost the element of surprise than where do we point our weapons?" Benjamin asked with a hint of frustration in his voice, "If he's fielding an army than what country is he taking citizens from? Is from Unda, is it from Santo-Luce or perhaps it's from Crepusculum? We have no more information on him than we did before the attack."

Benjamin gave an annoyed sigh, he seemed he's been asking these questions to himself for awhile now, "If anything he's more powerful than when he started. One little attack and he's got tension surging throughout the entire world."

He tapped his foot against the flooring, giving it a little more thought before looking back at the two leaders, "Right now we need to calm the citizens... I'm supposed to deliver a speech to the High Senate in a little bit, perhaps if you both were to come with me it'll help calm the people's fears?"