Ashes Of The Throne | Part I

Chapter 7 | Peace Was Now A Dream

The Headmaster, appearing frazzled, walked back and forth in his office. Despite the late hour, he was still dressed in his usual attire, complete with a burgundy vest, white collared shirt, and green tie. He appeared to be nervous, as evidenced by the way he kept tugging at his vest.

The black shoes echoed against the marble floor as he paced. The nightlife from below in the Academy of Allegiant radiated up from the forty-three levels below and illuminated through the large glass panels of his office.

When Matthew, Jesse, Toni, and Richie entered the room, they found the Headmaster in a state of agitation and the ten soldiers already dressed for battle. The four warriors, in their black training gear, were in stark contrast to the crisp and pressed uniforms of the soldiers.

"Dani," the Headmaster called out, his blue eyes locking onto the door of his office. His brown hair was dishevelled and wild, adding to the air of unease in the room.

The older woman, who appeared in her late fifties, bustled in with a tablet, ready to take orders from the man. Cid pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, clearing his throat. "Alert medical across the board for an influx of casualties."

"Casualties?" Matthew cocked his head as he stepped in front of the ensembled soldiers and his own that entered the office.

"Yes, the palace signalled a distress beacon from the moon moments ago."

"What form of distress?" Jesse moved forward on Matthew's heel, just as nervous as the rest of the room had been with that statement.

"Mayday was received." Cid elucidated.

"Wait, we told them to use Mayday as the code if they were under attack," Richie angled his head, watching as Matthew assessed that critical piece of information for himself.

Disbelief was a core factor, and the room watched as the Commander headed straight to the Headmaster's table. He pushed the chair to the side, leaned into the table, hit the illumined keyboard, and began to type away at the screens that appeared before him.

"That is correct," Cid exhaled and removing his glasses, he wiped them clean, a nervous sign evident, before he resumed. "The death toll is currently rising, but we expect that there was more than eighty per cent of the loss of life. The Elders are currently there as we assemble support. Our teams will be on the ground in the next twenty minutes."

"Why are the Elders there? This isn't their jurisdiction?" Matthew didn't bother to raise his head, but his voice demanded an explanation.

"The palace was attacked; it affects them all."

The soldiers in the room felt their hearts drop into the pit of their stomachs. Bile forced its way into their throats at the reality of their world.

"Dani, alert the soldiers, Alpha Prime and Alpha Beta teams, to be on board and ready to go in seven minutes," Matthew commanded, fingers faster than before at the keyboard.

"I want Zulu one through to fifteen on board, along with the Ceres and Dune teams dispatched out to the eastern border to line up with Archer and his academy. Get them to report back to me ASAP."

Dani's sandy hair swayed, nodding to the instructions that she relayed on her tablet, activating the orders immediately to those instructed.

"Skarsgard, I want my surgeons transferred out to Horizon Grace. It would be best to send the trauma victims there first. Redirect noncritical to Hopedale and level three trauma to Rosewood." The head of medical and trauma began her plan for casualties.

Matthew agreed.

The room had then watched with the last command on the keyboard; what Matthew had been inspecting on the screen before him had now been blared before them on a large hologram displayed in the room.