Kavik is Dead

Chapter One

The Hadako is a huge, golden, gleaming skyscraper positioned at the very heart of the Kavik States' capitol, Uja. The building was originally a gift from Samus, constructed by their expert craftsmen. Each allied country had an almost identical skyscraper made for them (the Samus' being diamond, the Western Democratic Territories' being silver, the Northern Enlightened States' being bronze, Lindesia's being cobalt and so on and so on). It is a staggering two-hundred-twenty stories high and within it is every government office imaginable. Defense, intelligence, military, and most importantly, leadership. All the way at the two-hundred-twentieth floor is President Hasa Nabare's office.

Her office is immaculate, with everything being in its own proper place. She is quietly examining documents and maps detailing Lotus and the Koja Denassja's movements. By the looks of it, it appears Lotus has developed a fascination with the West, drawing all her military might into the once powerful country.

Nahana Jabitz enters the room, lovely brown hair messied and deep red eyes worried. She was carrying a thick stack of papers with her and another woman trailed in behind her. This second woman was stocky, with dark blond hair cut extremely short and glittering hazel eyes. She looked human from what Hasa could tell.

"I have more news about the war, Raku*-Hasa," Nahana announced, bowing her head slightly.

Hasa doesn't look up from her documents, instead just extending an expectant hand to the assistant. "Bring it here."

Nahana complied, giving Hasa the reports dutifully. "The West is doing terribly. Daegon has fallen and so has Energy City, one after the other," She said, biting her lip.

At this Hasa looks her in the eye. "Daegon? I thought they had the strongest police presence second to the Capitol."

"Apparently one of those policemen smuggled a few Death Bringers in. All that history..." She looked close to tears. Nahana was an absolute history fanatic, so to know that Daegon's wondrous museums and historical sites were most likely no more crushed her.

"What about Mira? Wasn't he staying there?" Hasa presses, already fearing the answer.

Nahana focuses her gaze on her feet, admiring the wonderful red hue of her high heels. "We don't know," She lets that digest for a minute before continuing, pulling a crisply folded report from her jacket pocket. Urgent is scrawled across it in red pen. "There's also this."

Hasa snatches up the notice, hastily unfolding it. Her eyes scan the page, greedy for any information at all. She falters when she realizes what exactly is going on. "So the NES is the next on the list?"

Nahana nods solemnly. "Yes, Raku. I'm afraid they won't be able to properly defend themselves. It'll most likely be a catastrophe. I really do fear for the West..." She trails off, not knowing what else to say.

The woman who entered with Nahana clears her throat.

Nahana's eyes widen as she remembers she brought a guest with her. Her hands make arching movements, gesturing to the visitor. "Oh, sea**, this is Lauren Carrien. She's from the West."

Lauren wastes no time in stepping forward, smiling widely at the President. She extends her hand, radiating friendliness. "I'm a rebel leader, one of the most prominent, and I have a proposal for you."

Hasa stares expectantly at the other woman before realizing she should shake her hand. She isn't used to Western customs, especially when they're being performed in her country. "What exactly is this proposal?"

"I believe that I have a plan to end this war before it can get uglier than it already is," Lauren proclaims.

"Oh? Do you not think that hundreds of people before you have come to me saying the same thing and had, in fact, not had a plan at all?"

Lauren smirks. Nahana casts her eyes back down at the floor, ashamed for having brought in such a rude foreigner. "Nobody has thought of things the way I have," Lauren says breezily.

"We'll see. You may tell me this plan," Hasa only says this to be polite. She honestly does not expect much from this woman.

"Do you know anything about American history, Ms. Nabare?" Ms. Nabare. No one addresses someone, much less the President, in that manner.

"Seeing as this isn't America, and I have never stepped foot in America, no I don't."

Her eyes light up. "Well America had one timed been ruled by another country, Britain. Britain didn't treat the Americans right so they rebelled and launched themselves into a nasty war. Now, America didn't have a standing army, but they did have good citizens that wanted to fight. These citizens became known as the Minute Men, ready to fight invading British in a minute. And they didn't even ask for a salary."

"Your point?"

"What the West needs, what every country needs, is some Minute Men. We get a group of them and we put them in every major city, and quite naturally out of patriotism, all the smaller towns will follow suit. Lotus will just think of them as unimportant civilians but if we could, I don't know, train them a bit, give them some decent weapons, we could have a force to be reckoned with."

Hasa sighs. "I see. You've come to the Kavik States due to our enormous wealth and record of generosity. You've proposed to me a solid idea and now seek my financial backing. You are just missing one thing."

Lauren's enthusiasm and confidence falter. "And what is that, Ms. Nabare?"

"Proof that this won't crash and burn. I am essentially going to be handing you money so you can run off to a country across the ocean and enlist innocent civilians into a ramshackle 'army' and pray that if you give them big enough guns they can scare off Lotus. Do you see how flawed this is?"

Lauren lets out a shaky laugh. "You sure have a sense of humor, Ms. Nabare. I wasn't intending on running off with your money. The thing is I also require some people to help guide these Minuet Men, Sponsors if you will. These Sponsors can be whoever you like and they will technically have full control of these military groups. And you could even pick out who you want to put in these groups! You can have as much control over our program as you want!" Her words had been steadily speeding up and have now come to a jittering halt. She takes a moment to assess the situation. When she speaks again all of her arrogance is gone. Her voice is soft and pleading. "Please. No one else is willing to fund us. You are the last option we have."

Hasa considers this. "I get as much control as I wish?"

Lauren nods.

Hasa turns to Nahana. "Write up a contract. And let's just make this much clear, we are not calling them 'Minute Men'."

Lauren nods again. "Whatever you want, Ms. Nabare."

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*Raku is the equivalent to Ms or M'am in their language

**Sea is the equivalent to uh or um and is pronounce say-uh