Chapter 40 - Anti-Citizen One
By MasterSamson
"Ceeteezens of Actonia! Hear my words, so zat you might become aware of what ees happening!" Hikki threw back his arm in the direction of the boxes and boxes of weapons behind him, many gaping open, with the contents exposed. "Zese weapons behind me are weapons not of Actonian origin, but of Comedian origin. And ze story behind zem, and why zey are here now, ees a very eenteresting one zat I would like to share weez you tonight..."
"We all know of ze falling leeving standards, ze constant meeleetary presence, and ze way zese seengs have torn our beloved ceety and our country apart!"
The television set flashed a glare on Chief Q's glasses as she sat staring in the darkness, curled up in her pajamas on the couch in her apartment with a bowl of ice cream next to her. "What the hell is this...?" Her eyes fixed on the Comedian flag painted on one of the boxes behind the passionate Frenchman. "There's no way... the Blacken Syndicate..."
Quickly Q snatched her cell phone off of the coffee table next to her, not taking her eyes off the screen, and dialed a certain number she had become very familiar with...
"Jonas and Barnaby, Feathered Hat Hatters! This is Jonas, how can I help you?" a gleeful British man said on the other end of the phone.
"Let me speak with Hill."
"Oh, I'm afraid no one by that name works here," the voice pouted. "Though if you wish to speak with Barnaby it might be arranged."
Q's grip on her phone tightened. "Damn it 11! Let me speak with Hill right now, you idiot!"
"Alright, alright." November sighed. "No need to lose it."
Q wiped her forehead with her wrist. "This is pretty freaking important..." she thought.
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"Back under our former leader, R. Parsons, ze leeving condeetions were much better. Ze meeleetary stayed weezeen ze restreections eet was bound to; eet stayed out of our lives and deedn't eenterrupt us. Seengs have changed seence zen; zey've taken a turn for ze worse. Publeec beeldeengs, faceeleeties and schools - seengs we ze pepole of zees country need to leeve - are being drained of zeir funding, and eet's all being put eento ze meeleetary zat used to be devoted to protecting us. Now ze money zat ze meeleetary sucked up ees used to oppress us!"
Libra sat quietly behind the counter of her bookstore, watching the TV in front of her intently. Listening very carefully as the Frenchman spoke.
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Keith and Allen sat on a park bench in a small town square looking up at the large broadcast screen in the corner of the square.
"You think these people have any idea what's going on?" Keith remarked as he watched confused civilians stop and watch the screen that was normally reserved for private broadcasts from Ozzal.
Allen pulled his hat down onto his head. "I don't think they have a clue, but they will soon, it seems. Frenchy here seems pretty intent on blowing Ozzal's whole design."
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On the large screen, Hikki adjusted his glasses. "We must wonder to ourselves, just why does ze meeleetary oppress us so? Are zere reasons? Are zere some goals zat zey weesh to achieve?! Eet's obvious, eesn't eet? Ze reasons are right een front of us, plain as day!"
He paused for dramatic effect before continuing.
"I might as well confeerm ze conclusion zat's surely manifested eetself een your minds: Ozzal. Ozzal ees ze reason, ze one true reason zat our country ees een such pain right now," Hikki said simply.
"WHAT?!" Ozzal hissed at her television in her private quarters of Comdot Estate. Chewed pieces of Hot Pockets flew onto her television as she yelled. She shot her hand to the phone next to her.
"Yes, patch me through to the networking center right now! No, I don't feel like holding! ...Do you even know who I am!? No, I'm not that kid who keeps prank calling... IT'S OZZAL, DUMBASS." After a few moments of waiting she finally managed to get through to the TV station.
Ozzal scowled at the blond on her TV.
"David, I want you to stop this Blacken transmission right now."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Ozzal, but we've been trying ever since he patched into our system!"
"What do you mean? You can't stop it!?"
"Like I said, Ms. Ozzal. We've tried! But whenever we try to stop the transmission our system is disabled by some unknown hacker! I'm afraid they own the airwaves right now..."
"You're fired..." Ozzal growled, hanging up her phone lightly, still intently staring at her TV. The Blacken Syndicate would not normally do something like this just to say how bad a person she was. There must be something else to this transmission.
She thought about it for two seconds until she finally noticed the marked crates of weapons behind the Frenchman. Ozzal gasped. "Oh no..."
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"Fear ees anozzer reason!" Hikki flung his arm to the side in anger, his cape fluttering as he did so. "She's afraid of us all! What we might become eef we were to come togezzer against her! She has nossing but full power een mind! And to get zat power she weel do anyseeng eet takes! Even eef eet means sacrificing ze very ceeteezens she 'serves'!"
With every word he spoke Hikki poured more emotion into his voice. "Oui, sacrifice. But eenstead of a noble sacrifice, she plans to sacrifice us. What you see behind me on zees box should be very clear to you."
Hikki stepped to the side of one of the boxes behind him, revealing clearly visible RPG rounds. "Ze marking on zees crate here ees ze flag of Comedia, our neighbor country. All zese boxes behind us, zey're feelled weez zese weapons. We stole zem from a transport coming eento zees country. Comedia has been building a meeleetary line right to ze doorstep of our country, and Ozzal eentended to let zem een of her own accord. She was planning some kind of overall takeover of ze region weez Comedia, a fake coup eef you weel. She planned eet weez five Comedian senators who through zeir own talent of bending ze truth managed to persuade zeir greater government to send troops to our borders and prepare for attack. Zese senators' names are I. A. Coaster, Johnny Law, Phantom Limb, Georgie and Killface."
He paused again to prepare for his final entreaty.
"Eet's all een front of you now, my friends. Ze truth, ze conspiracy she tried to hide. We are ready to fight to ze end eef we must. We have ze materials we need to do eet. We seemply ask zat you join us een support. Know ze truth. Hold eet close. Do not be fooled. I weesh you all good luck, and may our country be free again one day."
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Ozzal stood, staring wide eyed at her TV set. How did they know so much? How was it even possible to gain so much intel on one specific event? It boggled her mind. This could be the end of her plans, it truly could. Her phone rang, jolting her back to reality. Reluctantly, she picked it up. "Hello?"
"It's me..." a cold voiced called from the other end.
"Yeah, what?" Ozzal sniped back.
"Don't get catty with me, it's not as though I haven't been watching." The voiced sighed with dissatisfaction. "The revolutionaries have given out the names of our accomplices in the Senate. At this rate Comedia will find out about them one way or another. When the people there find out that the senators pushed their military to another country's border, preparing for all out war without even mentioning it to them... Well, it won't be pretty."
Ozzal thought for a moment. "I'm sure they can cover it up."
"Comedia is very distasteful towards war, or at least the people are. When they find out about this, the other senators and the president of the nation will be forced to take action. Your contacts won't have their jobs if this gets out of the country... and then you won't have a plan."
"I can take care of this. While I couldn't stop the broadcast, it shouldn't have reached any place outside of the country."
"Let's hope that little plan of yours worked then," the man said stiffly. "I'll contact you later." And with that, he hung up.
Ozzal slumped down on her plush leather chair. There was no way that broadcast had reached beyond Actonia. The system her minions had set up would have made sure of that. If the Comedian senators' names weren't revealed to their countrymen, then this would turn into a whole lot of nothing. She just had to make sure her country stayed isolated until her plan had finally unfolded.
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With the broadcast concluded, people scattered to disassemble the impromptu set that had been made for it. The boxes were pushed away to a safer place, the lights that had been borrowed from other rooms in the bunker were brought back to their rightful places, and gradually the Syndicate returned and gathered around.
Hikki delicately wiped his brow with a handkerchief. "Well, how deed I do?" he asked nervously, adjusting the cravat on his uniform.
"Better than I imagined you'd do," Samson laughed. "It's good the uniforms were finished when we made this broadcast. We looked organized, not like a bunch of rabble off the streets." Samson straightened his tie and suit proudly. "It makes a better impression in general."
"Well if what you did works, then we should have a nice little angry mob or riot or whatever in the streets soon enough right at Ozzal's door," Emiri called out from Kira's back. Emiri's uniform was based on the design used for all of the women, but the skirt was shorter and she wore shorts underneath it with boots.
Clarice stared at Emiri for a moment. "Why are you on his back...?"
"Because my legs hurt and I don't feel like being stuck in my freaking room," she said, grasping Kira and pulling herself up more.
Clarice blinked. "He looks pretty uncomfortable..."
"Ahh he'll deal with it, he's been through worse. Ain't that right, Kira?" she said, poking his cheek.
"Ah... yes..."
"You're such a trooper~"
"Hikki, an excellent speech on your part I should say," Sadar said as he walked into the room in a black suit.
Hikki stared at Sadar for a moment. "...Merci, but I deedn't seenk you'd be congratulating me on someseeng so forward like zees."
"Oh, don't think I haven't changed my opinion, but your courage is to be commended. Also... I'll find this information on the Comedian senators very useful." He grinned.
Hikki raised an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"
"Just give me a day. You'll see soon enough."
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The next day Killface waited anxiously in his office. "Why in blazes hasn't Ozzal called me?" he pondered, rapping his fingers against his desk. "Normally she calls in around this time to check up on the status of the invasion..." Suddenly there was a knock at his door.
"Senator Killface. May we please have a word with you?" the voice said from the other side.
Killface sighed. "Well if you absolutely must, I'm very busy right now however so make it quick..."
Before he could even realize what was going on, the door to his office was kicked open and a dozen Comedian troops stormed inside pointing rifles at him.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Killface yelled.
"By order of the President of Comedia, Senator Killface, you are to be declared a traitor to the country and are under arrest," an officer replied.
"A traitor?!" Killface jumped from his seat. "This is all a mistake! It has to be!"
"I'm afraid not. Come with us."
"Son of a whore..."
As Killface walked with his escort out of his office and made his way out of the capital building, confused and enraged, he noticed a television set turned on in an office he passed by. From the small glimpse he was able to take, he saw a person on the television set wearing a green cross around his neck. The shot frequently jumped from that person to shots of the Comedian army outside Actonia. It didn't take Killface long to realize what was going on.
"Surely you're not going to believe that Glass Order are you!?" he yelled. "Everyone knows they're nothing but freaks hiding in the shadows!"
"They might be freaks but the evidence they have is impossible to deny." The military officer pushed Killface forward. "This is on the President's command that you and your co-conspirators be arrested at once. You've already caused enough of a stir to make things hard for the government."
"We won't take this lying down," Killface mumbled.
"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about it in this case. Your co-conspirators have already been arrested, and your days of public service are over. I recommend you just stay quiet. Maybe then you won't spend as much time in prison."
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Ozzal looked at her ringing phone in anger. She had hoped that what happened last night would be over with by now. "Hello...?" she weakly asked.
"It's me. It's over. The entire plan has been aborted thanks to your screw up," the voice said angrily.
"My screw up!? I sealed the entire country to make sure this wouldn't leak!"
"Well it did. The Order of Glass released a statement interrupting a popular Comedian sports broadcast this afternoon. They essentially gave everything away. And after that the president of the country took immediate action due to pressure from the people and arrested every senator you had ties to in this. You apparently didn't take into account that the revolutionaries might have connections in other places. A stupid mistake from a stupid person," the voice mocked.
"We... we have to think of some way to get out of this mess."
"We? Who's we? YOU have to think of some way out of this mess. This is a complete disaster. I'm out. I'm cutting all ties."
Ozzal panicked. "What!? You can't just leave me like this!"
"I can, and I will." The line went dead.
Ozzal only stared forward with the phone to her ear listening to the tone. Anger swelled up inside her with every second. Suddenly she regretted having killed Dewey. All support she had from Comedia was gone.
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"We've succeeded, I suppose," Hikki mused.
Samson nodded. "Yes. We achieved what we wanted. They pulled their military back." He took a sip of tea, being careful not to move much so as not to disrupt his sister, who had fallen asleep with her head on his lap.
"It was all thanks to the Order of Glass in Comedia, though. Sadar's old contacts," Clarice added.
The four of them sat in one of the bunker's control rooms, where Sadar had just briefed them on his latest conversation with his colleagues from the Comedian Order of Glass. Their impromptu broadcast, while not directly tying Ozzal to the planned invasion, had succeeded in exposing the corrupt senators and spurring enough public outcry to force the withdrawal of Comedia's troops from the Actonian border.
"Thanks to all this we have Ozzal in the hottest water she's ever experienced. I'm not too sure what she'll do next, but whatever it is we have to assume it'll be huge." Samson sighed.
"We have not won yet," Hikki interjected.
Samson rubbed his glasses. "A worst case scenario would be... well, the Actonian military."
"I'm not sure how possible it is, though - Ozzal only has a fraction of her force here stationed at Comdot Estate. The rest of the regular army is located in Rantonia at the moment. They've been stuck in a conflict with the local tribes over there for over four years now," Clarice stated. "Pulling out of that just to attack us would be a strange move. She's wanted that territory for years."
Sadar laughed on a couch at the other side of the room. "We must assume that she's very desperate at this moment. Desperate people make desperate decisions."
After Sadar spoke, the room fell silent. Maybe because no one knew how to respond, or maybe they were all too busy thinking on their own. But despite the blinking screens that were set up to monitor the outside of the bunker and the very un-cozy looking control panels against the wall, the room was reminiscent of a living room or lounge in an ordinary house. There were some couches, a table in the center and even a coffee maker in the corner that reminded them of the smell back in the café. It was surprisingly peaceful.
Finally, a voice broke the silence. "Oh my god, you people are so unbelievably boring," Emiri groaned over the coffee she'd poured for herself. "You've just massively messed up Ozzal's shit and you're sitting around like a bunch of 80-year-olds taking about cafés and dogs?! Seriously?! That's how you celebrate?!"
"It's still too early to celebrate," Sadar noted.
"Oh, whatever. I'm going out," Emiri grumbled before gulping down the rest of her drink. "Kira! We're going out!" she barked loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the wall before leaving.
"Feisty as ever, I see," Sadar chuckled.
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"I can't believe how boring their celebration is," Emiri sighed. "I mean, I know they didn't technically win or anything, I'm not stupid. But it's still a major accomplishment, you know?"
Kira followed Emiri through the halls of the bunker to the main exit as she continued to rant about how unexciting everything was.
Soon she entered a large storage area lit only by the lights on the wall and ceiling. Inside of the room was Mustang and what would soon become some of the revolution's newest soldiers. She stopped for a moment and observed them do push up after push up while Mustang walked in between their lines yelling at them.
"You're all weak! You think you can stand up to a military with pathetic strength like that?! You all make me laugh!" Mustang yelled with his hands behind his back as he marched between the exhausted soldiers. He turned and noticed Emiri watching. "Emiri! Look at these pathetic soldiers. I'm sure you could easily take them all down in a second right now," he said for everyone to hear. The soldiers worriedly looked at Emiri from down on the floor, making sure not to stop their actions.
"Probably..." Emiri laughed. "They all look pretty wet behind the ears if you ask me."
Mustang nodded. "Yes. But give me a week with these recruits and we'll have a skilled fighting force better than any regular soldier Ozzal or Comedia might have." He straightened his new uniform's hat. "I have training that no one else has. Perhaps you could even teach them a thing or two sometime."
"Maybe when they actually prove to me that I should even care about them." Emiri grinned. "I gotta go. Cya."
"So long, Emiri." Mustang nodded. "DID I INFORM YOU ALL THAT YOU COULD SLOW DOWN!?"
Emiri laughed as she walked back into the hallway at the other side of the room and heard Mustang continuing to shout at the new soldiers. Perhaps they seemed worthless now, but with a week or two of training from "General" Mustang (as Hikki had proclaimed him), they'd be ready for anything. And with even more training from the other leaders in the group, like Kamina and Kaia, they could very well be unstoppable.
"Yo."
"Eh?" Emiri stopped and looked down the other hallway she was crossing through and saw Elizabeth leaning against a wall. "Oh, hey Elizabeth."
"We're finally doing it, Emiri, gettin' back at those bastards in the government," Elizabeth grinned as she cocked her head back.
"Yeah I suppose we are." Emiri thought for a moment. "I can't wait to hold Ozzal in my arms and snap her in half for what she did to me. I'ma like that a lot..."
"Hah, I bet you will." Elizabeth laughed.
"Well, cya later. I'm going out on the town." Emiri waved goodbye.
"Cya later, and stay safe," Elizabeth said, taking drag from her cigarette.
Emiri started walking forward again. "Anyway, you and me are gonna have fun, Kira. 'Cause you're taking me shoppi-" She was cut off when she suddenly collided with a man carrying a box big enough to house a sizable refrigerator.
"What the hell?" She glared at the box as she got to her feet. Now that the box was on the ground as well as the person carrying it, she could see it was Lloyd.
"What the heck is in that thing?" she asked.
"Aha... This is a part from one of the Knightmare frames I'd asked to have sent here. The delivery of the rest of the parts should be soon as well, and we're also making good progress with the ones that are being built in house! It shouldn't be too long before they're completed! Congratulations! Isn't it wonderful?!" the man exclaimed, seemingly unfazed by the fall.
"...Right. Well, uh... good work," she responded, already back on her way out.
"So anyway, as I was saying. We're going to have fun, you know, Kira? Because you're taking me shopping," Emiri finished.
"I see," Kira answered, opening the door for her.
The sun was already low in the sky. It was late afternoon, and it would be dark soon. Kira sighed. It was so hard to tell what time of day it was in that bunker... no windows or anything...
"So where are we going first?" he asked.
"Hrm, I'd kind of like to buy a hat..." she said with a grin.
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"I was seenking," Hikki sighed to himself. "When zees ees all over, let's go back to Café del'Argeno..."
"Little too soon to be thinking ahead like that, don't you think? And besides, there's no real reason for everyone to have to live there again. If everything goes as planned, Samson should be able to move back into his old house with his sister again, and for myself -" Clarice responded.
"Well, eet was just a thought," Hikki cut her off. "Eet was nice, even zough zere was a lot steel going on zen. Eet would be nice een peaceful times too, maybe I could get a dog..." he trailed off.
"Peaceful times, huh?" Samson looked down at Anne's sleeping face and brushed her bangs to the side. "Anne might like a dog," he remarked.
Suddenly, the large reinforced door to the lounge area slid open, revealing an exasperated Larry. "Guys, you gotta take a look at this, Ozzal's finally making a public statement," he announced.
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Kira and Emiri stood outside the store of Jonas and Barnaby, Feathered Hat Hatters.
"Here?" Kira asked.
"Of course. Feathered hats are nice, don't you agree?"
"Ah. Sure," Kira sighed.
"Excuse us, please," a voice said towards Emiri.
"Oh, sorry," Emiri said, slightly agitated. A woman with dark hair and glasses brushed past her as she walked out of the store and to the curb, with a man with shaggy hair and a vest close behind her. Emiri watched as the two got into a sports car parked at the side of the road and drove off.
As Emiri and Kira entered, they saw that the store was surprisingly small and didn't have as many hats as one would expect from a store specializing in hats. A man with blond hair, an immaculate white suit, maroon tie and purplish blue shirt sat behind the counter smiling. "Welcome to our store!" he exclaimed with a British accent before going back to watching the small television flickering in front of him.
Emiri waved her hand a little at him to return his greeting and began trying on hats. She admired herself in the mirror as she pulled a red fedora with a feather on the side over her left eye.
"I'd like to take the time to address some concerns of the general populace of the city of Orly."
Emiri listened intently. This voice... She whirled around and approached the counter, spinning the television completely around.
As she had expected, Ozzal.
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"You keep your radio off?" Hill asked as he stared at the dashboard of Q's car. They were driving towards a place where they believed the Order of Glass had formerly resided.
Q sighed. "Please don't touch, there's nothing really worth listening to on the thing these days."
"Oh come on. You should bloody loosen up sometimes. Let your hair down, rock out."
"Whatever you say, McCartney," Q laughed.
"That's the spirit! Now let's crank this up!" Hill said as he turned the volume dial as high as it could go in an instant.
"MY OVERALL INTEGRITY IS CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK. AND I DO NOT INTEND TO SIMPLY LET THESE TERRORISTS CALL ME A TRAITOR," the radio blared as the soundwaves shook the very windows inside the car.
"OH GOD HILL, TURN IT DOWN!" Q screamed, nearly swerving off the road while trying to cover her ears against the loud noise that was obviously not music.
"WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!? THIS IS THE CLASSIC ROCK STATION!" Hill yelled as he quickly turned down the radio.
Q slowly came to a stop at a red light and they started focusing on what was being broadcast over the radio. "Oh I see, a PSA..." she said looking ahead at the road.
Hill was suddenly serious. "I guess it's only natural for Ozzal to come biting back after the broadcast that was made last night."
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"Last night a separate faction called me a traitor to the country. I can assure you that this is false. I am not a traitor, I only think of my great country in my work and I assure you that I did not intend to give our country away as this riff raff in the streets accused me of," Ozzal stated coldly, sitting behind a desk.
"Ever since this group emerged they have done nothing but spread packs of lies about me. They hate me and the progress I represent. I am moving forward! While they blow everything up and then accuse me of causing it! They contradict everything they say with their actions. They're not for a new form of government! They're for ANARCHY. Chaos! Nothing they do is organized; they're just a pack of rebels without a real cause." Ozzal was slowly losing her cool on camera. But suddenly she recomposed herself.
"The leader of this pack is known as Hikki Follet. He and other individuals from that group were once in our custody. We were unable to identify his companions at the time but one of our agents successfully... examined... Follet to gain a positive ID. He is approximately 6 feet tall, with blond hair and a French accent. Our agent also discovered that he likes scarves and long walks on the beach -" Ozzal stared at the report she had been reading and her eyes widened slightly. "T- that is all the information we have on him currently. If you have any idea of this man's whereabouts or any information at all about him that might be relevant in our search then please inform the authorities with this information. Being a good citizen, being a loyal citizen... will not go unrewarded. This man is Anti-Citizen One. Remember all those associated with this so-called "Blacken Syndicate" are considered to be very dangerous. Do not confront them if you see them. Be safe... and be... aware." And with that her broadcast ended.
"It figures she'd make a counter statement against us," Clarice said.
Samson laughed. "That's politics."
Hikki's eyes shot open wide and his hands started to shake. "No way, she's targeting me! She's trying to get ze whole city... maybe even ze whole country against me! She's... I'm going to die, aren't I?! And ze eenformation came from..." He stopped himself mid-sentence to avoid becoming overly upset about it. "...What... what ze hell do I do now?" he cried, hunched over in a panic.
"Well first off, you need to calm down," Clarice said as gently as she could manage. "And we need to keep it together. For the most part, the area of the city in which our café is, and which we sometimes reside in, is safe for us. The community is very supportive of us now. I think we can trust them not to give us away. We should be okay as long as we're careful."
"This bunker is also unregistered and was created before Ozzal was the leader. So she has no idea it exists," Samson stated. "We should be safe for the time being."
Sadar stared at the TV. "She's too confident right now. Something is happening..."
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"Hello? General Bartley, this is Ozzal. Pull out of Rantonia immediately," Ozzal said quietly into her phone.
"I want the army back in Actonia immediately... we have a homeland security problem that needs to be dealt with right away. It's of the utmost importance. Yes... thank you. Don't worry about Rantonia. Those pathetic tribes can fight themselves while we're gone from the region. We'll return soon enough." Ozzal hung up, and then got up from her chair and slowly walked to the window and looked out at the city.
"Well... looks like I have a rebellion to crush. If you want my attention so badly, I'll just give it to you," she said with a wicked smile.
"Ceeteezens of Actonia! Hear my words, so zat you might become aware of what ees happening!" Hikki threw back his arm in the direction of the boxes and boxes of weapons behind him, many gaping open, with the contents exposed. "Zese weapons behind me are weapons not of Actonian origin, but of Comedian origin. And ze story behind zem, and why zey are here now, ees a very eenteresting one zat I would like to share weez you tonight..."
"We all know of ze falling leeving standards, ze constant meeleetary presence, and ze way zese seengs have torn our beloved ceety and our country apart!"
The television set flashed a glare on Chief Q's glasses as she sat staring in the darkness, curled up in her pajamas on the couch in her apartment with a bowl of ice cream next to her. "What the hell is this...?" Her eyes fixed on the Comedian flag painted on one of the boxes behind the passionate Frenchman. "There's no way... the Blacken Syndicate..."
Quickly Q snatched her cell phone off of the coffee table next to her, not taking her eyes off the screen, and dialed a certain number she had become very familiar with...
"Jonas and Barnaby, Feathered Hat Hatters! This is Jonas, how can I help you?" a gleeful British man said on the other end of the phone.
"Let me speak with Hill."
"Oh, I'm afraid no one by that name works here," the voice pouted. "Though if you wish to speak with Barnaby it might be arranged."
Q's grip on her phone tightened. "Damn it 11! Let me speak with Hill right now, you idiot!"
"Alright, alright." November sighed. "No need to lose it."
Q wiped her forehead with her wrist. "This is pretty freaking important..." she thought.
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"Back under our former leader, R. Parsons, ze leeving condeetions were much better. Ze meeleetary stayed weezeen ze restreections eet was bound to; eet stayed out of our lives and deedn't eenterrupt us. Seengs have changed seence zen; zey've taken a turn for ze worse. Publeec beeldeengs, faceeleeties and schools - seengs we ze pepole of zees country need to leeve - are being drained of zeir funding, and eet's all being put eento ze meeleetary zat used to be devoted to protecting us. Now ze money zat ze meeleetary sucked up ees used to oppress us!"
Libra sat quietly behind the counter of her bookstore, watching the TV in front of her intently. Listening very carefully as the Frenchman spoke.
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Keith and Allen sat on a park bench in a small town square looking up at the large broadcast screen in the corner of the square.
"You think these people have any idea what's going on?" Keith remarked as he watched confused civilians stop and watch the screen that was normally reserved for private broadcasts from Ozzal.
Allen pulled his hat down onto his head. "I don't think they have a clue, but they will soon, it seems. Frenchy here seems pretty intent on blowing Ozzal's whole design."
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On the large screen, Hikki adjusted his glasses. "We must wonder to ourselves, just why does ze meeleetary oppress us so? Are zere reasons? Are zere some goals zat zey weesh to achieve?! Eet's obvious, eesn't eet? Ze reasons are right een front of us, plain as day!"
He paused for dramatic effect before continuing.
"I might as well confeerm ze conclusion zat's surely manifested eetself een your minds: Ozzal. Ozzal ees ze reason, ze one true reason zat our country ees een such pain right now," Hikki said simply.
"WHAT?!" Ozzal hissed at her television in her private quarters of Comdot Estate. Chewed pieces of Hot Pockets flew onto her television as she yelled. She shot her hand to the phone next to her.
"Yes, patch me through to the networking center right now! No, I don't feel like holding! ...Do you even know who I am!? No, I'm not that kid who keeps prank calling... IT'S OZZAL, DUMBASS." After a few moments of waiting she finally managed to get through to the TV station.
Ozzal scowled at the blond on her TV.
"David, I want you to stop this Blacken transmission right now."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Ozzal, but we've been trying ever since he patched into our system!"
"What do you mean? You can't stop it!?"
"Like I said, Ms. Ozzal. We've tried! But whenever we try to stop the transmission our system is disabled by some unknown hacker! I'm afraid they own the airwaves right now..."
"You're fired..." Ozzal growled, hanging up her phone lightly, still intently staring at her TV. The Blacken Syndicate would not normally do something like this just to say how bad a person she was. There must be something else to this transmission.
She thought about it for two seconds until she finally noticed the marked crates of weapons behind the Frenchman. Ozzal gasped. "Oh no..."
_____________
"Fear ees anozzer reason!" Hikki flung his arm to the side in anger, his cape fluttering as he did so. "She's afraid of us all! What we might become eef we were to come togezzer against her! She has nossing but full power een mind! And to get zat power she weel do anyseeng eet takes! Even eef eet means sacrificing ze very ceeteezens she 'serves'!"
With every word he spoke Hikki poured more emotion into his voice. "Oui, sacrifice. But eenstead of a noble sacrifice, she plans to sacrifice us. What you see behind me on zees box should be very clear to you."
Hikki stepped to the side of one of the boxes behind him, revealing clearly visible RPG rounds. "Ze marking on zees crate here ees ze flag of Comedia, our neighbor country. All zese boxes behind us, zey're feelled weez zese weapons. We stole zem from a transport coming eento zees country. Comedia has been building a meeleetary line right to ze doorstep of our country, and Ozzal eentended to let zem een of her own accord. She was planning some kind of overall takeover of ze region weez Comedia, a fake coup eef you weel. She planned eet weez five Comedian senators who through zeir own talent of bending ze truth managed to persuade zeir greater government to send troops to our borders and prepare for attack. Zese senators' names are I. A. Coaster, Johnny Law, Phantom Limb, Georgie and Killface."
He paused again to prepare for his final entreaty.
"Eet's all een front of you now, my friends. Ze truth, ze conspiracy she tried to hide. We are ready to fight to ze end eef we must. We have ze materials we need to do eet. We seemply ask zat you join us een support. Know ze truth. Hold eet close. Do not be fooled. I weesh you all good luck, and may our country be free again one day."
_____________
Ozzal stood, staring wide eyed at her TV set. How did they know so much? How was it even possible to gain so much intel on one specific event? It boggled her mind. This could be the end of her plans, it truly could. Her phone rang, jolting her back to reality. Reluctantly, she picked it up. "Hello?"
"It's me..." a cold voiced called from the other end.
"Yeah, what?" Ozzal sniped back.
"Don't get catty with me, it's not as though I haven't been watching." The voiced sighed with dissatisfaction. "The revolutionaries have given out the names of our accomplices in the Senate. At this rate Comedia will find out about them one way or another. When the people there find out that the senators pushed their military to another country's border, preparing for all out war without even mentioning it to them... Well, it won't be pretty."
Ozzal thought for a moment. "I'm sure they can cover it up."
"Comedia is very distasteful towards war, or at least the people are. When they find out about this, the other senators and the president of the nation will be forced to take action. Your contacts won't have their jobs if this gets out of the country... and then you won't have a plan."
"I can take care of this. While I couldn't stop the broadcast, it shouldn't have reached any place outside of the country."
"Let's hope that little plan of yours worked then," the man said stiffly. "I'll contact you later." And with that, he hung up.
Ozzal slumped down on her plush leather chair. There was no way that broadcast had reached beyond Actonia. The system her minions had set up would have made sure of that. If the Comedian senators' names weren't revealed to their countrymen, then this would turn into a whole lot of nothing. She just had to make sure her country stayed isolated until her plan had finally unfolded.
______________
With the broadcast concluded, people scattered to disassemble the impromptu set that had been made for it. The boxes were pushed away to a safer place, the lights that had been borrowed from other rooms in the bunker were brought back to their rightful places, and gradually the Syndicate returned and gathered around.
Hikki delicately wiped his brow with a handkerchief. "Well, how deed I do?" he asked nervously, adjusting the cravat on his uniform.
"Better than I imagined you'd do," Samson laughed. "It's good the uniforms were finished when we made this broadcast. We looked organized, not like a bunch of rabble off the streets." Samson straightened his tie and suit proudly. "It makes a better impression in general."
"Well if what you did works, then we should have a nice little angry mob or riot or whatever in the streets soon enough right at Ozzal's door," Emiri called out from Kira's back. Emiri's uniform was based on the design used for all of the women, but the skirt was shorter and she wore shorts underneath it with boots.
Clarice stared at Emiri for a moment. "Why are you on his back...?"
"Because my legs hurt and I don't feel like being stuck in my freaking room," she said, grasping Kira and pulling herself up more.
Clarice blinked. "He looks pretty uncomfortable..."
"Ahh he'll deal with it, he's been through worse. Ain't that right, Kira?" she said, poking his cheek.
"Ah... yes..."
"You're such a trooper~"
"Hikki, an excellent speech on your part I should say," Sadar said as he walked into the room in a black suit.
Hikki stared at Sadar for a moment. "...Merci, but I deedn't seenk you'd be congratulating me on someseeng so forward like zees."
"Oh, don't think I haven't changed my opinion, but your courage is to be commended. Also... I'll find this information on the Comedian senators very useful." He grinned.
Hikki raised an eyebrow. "What are you up to?"
"Just give me a day. You'll see soon enough."
____________________________
The next day Killface waited anxiously in his office. "Why in blazes hasn't Ozzal called me?" he pondered, rapping his fingers against his desk. "Normally she calls in around this time to check up on the status of the invasion..." Suddenly there was a knock at his door.
"Senator Killface. May we please have a word with you?" the voice said from the other side.
Killface sighed. "Well if you absolutely must, I'm very busy right now however so make it quick..."
Before he could even realize what was going on, the door to his office was kicked open and a dozen Comedian troops stormed inside pointing rifles at him.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Killface yelled.
"By order of the President of Comedia, Senator Killface, you are to be declared a traitor to the country and are under arrest," an officer replied.
"A traitor?!" Killface jumped from his seat. "This is all a mistake! It has to be!"
"I'm afraid not. Come with us."
"Son of a whore..."
As Killface walked with his escort out of his office and made his way out of the capital building, confused and enraged, he noticed a television set turned on in an office he passed by. From the small glimpse he was able to take, he saw a person on the television set wearing a green cross around his neck. The shot frequently jumped from that person to shots of the Comedian army outside Actonia. It didn't take Killface long to realize what was going on.
"Surely you're not going to believe that Glass Order are you!?" he yelled. "Everyone knows they're nothing but freaks hiding in the shadows!"
"They might be freaks but the evidence they have is impossible to deny." The military officer pushed Killface forward. "This is on the President's command that you and your co-conspirators be arrested at once. You've already caused enough of a stir to make things hard for the government."
"We won't take this lying down," Killface mumbled.
"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do about it in this case. Your co-conspirators have already been arrested, and your days of public service are over. I recommend you just stay quiet. Maybe then you won't spend as much time in prison."
___________________________
Ozzal looked at her ringing phone in anger. She had hoped that what happened last night would be over with by now. "Hello...?" she weakly asked.
"It's me. It's over. The entire plan has been aborted thanks to your screw up," the voice said angrily.
"My screw up!? I sealed the entire country to make sure this wouldn't leak!"
"Well it did. The Order of Glass released a statement interrupting a popular Comedian sports broadcast this afternoon. They essentially gave everything away. And after that the president of the country took immediate action due to pressure from the people and arrested every senator you had ties to in this. You apparently didn't take into account that the revolutionaries might have connections in other places. A stupid mistake from a stupid person," the voice mocked.
"We... we have to think of some way to get out of this mess."
"We? Who's we? YOU have to think of some way out of this mess. This is a complete disaster. I'm out. I'm cutting all ties."
Ozzal panicked. "What!? You can't just leave me like this!"
"I can, and I will." The line went dead.
Ozzal only stared forward with the phone to her ear listening to the tone. Anger swelled up inside her with every second. Suddenly she regretted having killed Dewey. All support she had from Comedia was gone.
_____________________
"We've succeeded, I suppose," Hikki mused.
Samson nodded. "Yes. We achieved what we wanted. They pulled their military back." He took a sip of tea, being careful not to move much so as not to disrupt his sister, who had fallen asleep with her head on his lap.
"It was all thanks to the Order of Glass in Comedia, though. Sadar's old contacts," Clarice added.
The four of them sat in one of the bunker's control rooms, where Sadar had just briefed them on his latest conversation with his colleagues from the Comedian Order of Glass. Their impromptu broadcast, while not directly tying Ozzal to the planned invasion, had succeeded in exposing the corrupt senators and spurring enough public outcry to force the withdrawal of Comedia's troops from the Actonian border.
"Thanks to all this we have Ozzal in the hottest water she's ever experienced. I'm not too sure what she'll do next, but whatever it is we have to assume it'll be huge." Samson sighed.
"We have not won yet," Hikki interjected.
Samson rubbed his glasses. "A worst case scenario would be... well, the Actonian military."
"I'm not sure how possible it is, though - Ozzal only has a fraction of her force here stationed at Comdot Estate. The rest of the regular army is located in Rantonia at the moment. They've been stuck in a conflict with the local tribes over there for over four years now," Clarice stated. "Pulling out of that just to attack us would be a strange move. She's wanted that territory for years."
Sadar laughed on a couch at the other side of the room. "We must assume that she's very desperate at this moment. Desperate people make desperate decisions."
After Sadar spoke, the room fell silent. Maybe because no one knew how to respond, or maybe they were all too busy thinking on their own. But despite the blinking screens that were set up to monitor the outside of the bunker and the very un-cozy looking control panels against the wall, the room was reminiscent of a living room or lounge in an ordinary house. There were some couches, a table in the center and even a coffee maker in the corner that reminded them of the smell back in the café. It was surprisingly peaceful.
Finally, a voice broke the silence. "Oh my god, you people are so unbelievably boring," Emiri groaned over the coffee she'd poured for herself. "You've just massively messed up Ozzal's shit and you're sitting around like a bunch of 80-year-olds taking about cafés and dogs?! Seriously?! That's how you celebrate?!"
"It's still too early to celebrate," Sadar noted.
"Oh, whatever. I'm going out," Emiri grumbled before gulping down the rest of her drink. "Kira! We're going out!" she barked loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the wall before leaving.
"Feisty as ever, I see," Sadar chuckled.
__________________________________________
"I can't believe how boring their celebration is," Emiri sighed. "I mean, I know they didn't technically win or anything, I'm not stupid. But it's still a major accomplishment, you know?"
Kira followed Emiri through the halls of the bunker to the main exit as she continued to rant about how unexciting everything was.
Soon she entered a large storage area lit only by the lights on the wall and ceiling. Inside of the room was Mustang and what would soon become some of the revolution's newest soldiers. She stopped for a moment and observed them do push up after push up while Mustang walked in between their lines yelling at them.
"You're all weak! You think you can stand up to a military with pathetic strength like that?! You all make me laugh!" Mustang yelled with his hands behind his back as he marched between the exhausted soldiers. He turned and noticed Emiri watching. "Emiri! Look at these pathetic soldiers. I'm sure you could easily take them all down in a second right now," he said for everyone to hear. The soldiers worriedly looked at Emiri from down on the floor, making sure not to stop their actions.
"Probably..." Emiri laughed. "They all look pretty wet behind the ears if you ask me."
Mustang nodded. "Yes. But give me a week with these recruits and we'll have a skilled fighting force better than any regular soldier Ozzal or Comedia might have." He straightened his new uniform's hat. "I have training that no one else has. Perhaps you could even teach them a thing or two sometime."
"Maybe when they actually prove to me that I should even care about them." Emiri grinned. "I gotta go. Cya."
"So long, Emiri." Mustang nodded. "DID I INFORM YOU ALL THAT YOU COULD SLOW DOWN!?"
Emiri laughed as she walked back into the hallway at the other side of the room and heard Mustang continuing to shout at the new soldiers. Perhaps they seemed worthless now, but with a week or two of training from "General" Mustang (as Hikki had proclaimed him), they'd be ready for anything. And with even more training from the other leaders in the group, like Kamina and Kaia, they could very well be unstoppable.
"Yo."
"Eh?" Emiri stopped and looked down the other hallway she was crossing through and saw Elizabeth leaning against a wall. "Oh, hey Elizabeth."
"We're finally doing it, Emiri, gettin' back at those bastards in the government," Elizabeth grinned as she cocked her head back.
"Yeah I suppose we are." Emiri thought for a moment. "I can't wait to hold Ozzal in my arms and snap her in half for what she did to me. I'ma like that a lot..."
"Hah, I bet you will." Elizabeth laughed.
"Well, cya later. I'm going out on the town." Emiri waved goodbye.
"Cya later, and stay safe," Elizabeth said, taking drag from her cigarette.
Emiri started walking forward again. "Anyway, you and me are gonna have fun, Kira. 'Cause you're taking me shoppi-" She was cut off when she suddenly collided with a man carrying a box big enough to house a sizable refrigerator.
"What the hell?" She glared at the box as she got to her feet. Now that the box was on the ground as well as the person carrying it, she could see it was Lloyd.
"What the heck is in that thing?" she asked.
"Aha... This is a part from one of the Knightmare frames I'd asked to have sent here. The delivery of the rest of the parts should be soon as well, and we're also making good progress with the ones that are being built in house! It shouldn't be too long before they're completed! Congratulations! Isn't it wonderful?!" the man exclaimed, seemingly unfazed by the fall.
"...Right. Well, uh... good work," she responded, already back on her way out.
"So anyway, as I was saying. We're going to have fun, you know, Kira? Because you're taking me shopping," Emiri finished.
"I see," Kira answered, opening the door for her.
The sun was already low in the sky. It was late afternoon, and it would be dark soon. Kira sighed. It was so hard to tell what time of day it was in that bunker... no windows or anything...
"So where are we going first?" he asked.
"Hrm, I'd kind of like to buy a hat..." she said with a grin.
_____________________________________________
"I was seenking," Hikki sighed to himself. "When zees ees all over, let's go back to Café del'Argeno..."
"Little too soon to be thinking ahead like that, don't you think? And besides, there's no real reason for everyone to have to live there again. If everything goes as planned, Samson should be able to move back into his old house with his sister again, and for myself -" Clarice responded.
"Well, eet was just a thought," Hikki cut her off. "Eet was nice, even zough zere was a lot steel going on zen. Eet would be nice een peaceful times too, maybe I could get a dog..." he trailed off.
"Peaceful times, huh?" Samson looked down at Anne's sleeping face and brushed her bangs to the side. "Anne might like a dog," he remarked.
Suddenly, the large reinforced door to the lounge area slid open, revealing an exasperated Larry. "Guys, you gotta take a look at this, Ozzal's finally making a public statement," he announced.
_____________________
Kira and Emiri stood outside the store of Jonas and Barnaby, Feathered Hat Hatters.
"Here?" Kira asked.
"Of course. Feathered hats are nice, don't you agree?"
"Ah. Sure," Kira sighed.
"Excuse us, please," a voice said towards Emiri.
"Oh, sorry," Emiri said, slightly agitated. A woman with dark hair and glasses brushed past her as she walked out of the store and to the curb, with a man with shaggy hair and a vest close behind her. Emiri watched as the two got into a sports car parked at the side of the road and drove off.
As Emiri and Kira entered, they saw that the store was surprisingly small and didn't have as many hats as one would expect from a store specializing in hats. A man with blond hair, an immaculate white suit, maroon tie and purplish blue shirt sat behind the counter smiling. "Welcome to our store!" he exclaimed with a British accent before going back to watching the small television flickering in front of him.
Emiri waved her hand a little at him to return his greeting and began trying on hats. She admired herself in the mirror as she pulled a red fedora with a feather on the side over her left eye.
"I'd like to take the time to address some concerns of the general populace of the city of Orly."
Emiri listened intently. This voice... She whirled around and approached the counter, spinning the television completely around.
As she had expected, Ozzal.
______________________________
"You keep your radio off?" Hill asked as he stared at the dashboard of Q's car. They were driving towards a place where they believed the Order of Glass had formerly resided.
Q sighed. "Please don't touch, there's nothing really worth listening to on the thing these days."
"Oh come on. You should bloody loosen up sometimes. Let your hair down, rock out."
"Whatever you say, McCartney," Q laughed.
"That's the spirit! Now let's crank this up!" Hill said as he turned the volume dial as high as it could go in an instant.
"MY OVERALL INTEGRITY IS CURRENTLY UNDER ATTACK. AND I DO NOT INTEND TO SIMPLY LET THESE TERRORISTS CALL ME A TRAITOR," the radio blared as the soundwaves shook the very windows inside the car.
"OH GOD HILL, TURN IT DOWN!" Q screamed, nearly swerving off the road while trying to cover her ears against the loud noise that was obviously not music.
"WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!? THIS IS THE CLASSIC ROCK STATION!" Hill yelled as he quickly turned down the radio.
Q slowly came to a stop at a red light and they started focusing on what was being broadcast over the radio. "Oh I see, a PSA..." she said looking ahead at the road.
Hill was suddenly serious. "I guess it's only natural for Ozzal to come biting back after the broadcast that was made last night."
_____________________________
"Last night a separate faction called me a traitor to the country. I can assure you that this is false. I am not a traitor, I only think of my great country in my work and I assure you that I did not intend to give our country away as this riff raff in the streets accused me of," Ozzal stated coldly, sitting behind a desk.
"Ever since this group emerged they have done nothing but spread packs of lies about me. They hate me and the progress I represent. I am moving forward! While they blow everything up and then accuse me of causing it! They contradict everything they say with their actions. They're not for a new form of government! They're for ANARCHY. Chaos! Nothing they do is organized; they're just a pack of rebels without a real cause." Ozzal was slowly losing her cool on camera. But suddenly she recomposed herself.
"The leader of this pack is known as Hikki Follet. He and other individuals from that group were once in our custody. We were unable to identify his companions at the time but one of our agents successfully... examined... Follet to gain a positive ID. He is approximately 6 feet tall, with blond hair and a French accent. Our agent also discovered that he likes scarves and long walks on the beach -" Ozzal stared at the report she had been reading and her eyes widened slightly. "T- that is all the information we have on him currently. If you have any idea of this man's whereabouts or any information at all about him that might be relevant in our search then please inform the authorities with this information. Being a good citizen, being a loyal citizen... will not go unrewarded. This man is Anti-Citizen One. Remember all those associated with this so-called "Blacken Syndicate" are considered to be very dangerous. Do not confront them if you see them. Be safe... and be... aware." And with that her broadcast ended.
"It figures she'd make a counter statement against us," Clarice said.
Samson laughed. "That's politics."
Hikki's eyes shot open wide and his hands started to shake. "No way, she's targeting me! She's trying to get ze whole city... maybe even ze whole country against me! She's... I'm going to die, aren't I?! And ze eenformation came from..." He stopped himself mid-sentence to avoid becoming overly upset about it. "...What... what ze hell do I do now?" he cried, hunched over in a panic.
"Well first off, you need to calm down," Clarice said as gently as she could manage. "And we need to keep it together. For the most part, the area of the city in which our café is, and which we sometimes reside in, is safe for us. The community is very supportive of us now. I think we can trust them not to give us away. We should be okay as long as we're careful."
"This bunker is also unregistered and was created before Ozzal was the leader. So she has no idea it exists," Samson stated. "We should be safe for the time being."
Sadar stared at the TV. "She's too confident right now. Something is happening..."
____________________
"Hello? General Bartley, this is Ozzal. Pull out of Rantonia immediately," Ozzal said quietly into her phone.
"I want the army back in Actonia immediately... we have a homeland security problem that needs to be dealt with right away. It's of the utmost importance. Yes... thank you. Don't worry about Rantonia. Those pathetic tribes can fight themselves while we're gone from the region. We'll return soon enough." Ozzal hung up, and then got up from her chair and slowly walked to the window and looked out at the city.
"Well... looks like I have a rebellion to crush. If you want my attention so badly, I'll just give it to you," she said with a wicked smile.