The Red Sun Rises

0700
August 23, 2024
Birškelis, Zemeprievadai

It was a brisk morning, fog was rising from the sea and covered the streets of the bustling city. The residents of Birškelis were starting to begin their day. Coffee shops were opening, cars were honking on the roads, and people lined the sidewalks. Then came a loud roaring noise, stopping everyone in their tracks. Overhead a fighter jet soared through the air, and though the people could not see it, the symbol of a lily was plastered on the wing.

Moments after the jet was seen overhead, sirens blared, further interrupting the peaceful morning. In the blink of an eye, millions began rushing towards emergency shelters, chaos ruling people’s minds. The authorities attempted to calm down the crowds, but nothing could calm the terror in the masses.

Eventually, the streets of Birškelis lay empty, but the sound of the sirens remained, broadcasting to deaf ears. Cars lay empty on the streets, no one there to drive them, the hum of their engines absent. Lights in buildings remained on, even though there was no one there to give their light to. It remained this way until the sirens ended, leaving nothing but the sound of the breeze blowing past the buildings.

After a few hours, more jets flew overhead, the thunderous roar reaching the ears of those inside the emergency shelters. The sirens began to blare again, even though no one was outside of the shelters to hear it. The ringing of sirens seemed to never end, as everyone lay still in the shelters, believing the worst.

After another few hours, the sirens ended, and the people were let out of the shelters, but many were too shaken to restart their days. Most of the residents of Birškelis went home, leaving the streets once again barren. The city was quiet the rest of the day, many worried about the sirens turning on again and ruining the peace.


1300
August 23, 2024
Red Palace
Šiaulme, Zemeprievadai

Gustas IV sat on the throne inside the Red Palace, and in front of him stood the premier and chancellor of Zemeprievadai, Agota Juskaityte and Titas Nagrodskis. The silence in the room was deafening, the three staring at each other, waiting for one to begin the conversation. Eventually, the king spoke:

“What was the meaning of all the chaos in Birškelis this morning,” his voice echoed in the large chamber.

Agota stepped forward, “Multiple foreign jets were spotted over the city in our airspace, so the army raised the alarms.”

“Does that not seem like an overreaction to you, Premier?” The king said accusatorily.

After this question, Titas stepped forward and began, “My king, the jets were Korćettan in origin, and with Korćetta being overly hostile to us, it was cause for worry.”

Gustas froze for a second, leaning back on the throne. Many thoughts raced through his head, too many to decipher in the little time he was given, instead, he spoke once again “What do you suggest we do then?”.

Titas began to speak, but Agota put an arm in front of him and stepped forward herself. “We suggest building up forces on the border with Korćetta, showing them that we aren’t afraid.”

The king stared at Agota, contemplating the plan, if they built up forces, wouldn’t Korćetta do the same? And Korćetta had a much larger army than Zemeprievadai ever had. Gustas sighed, “Okay, we’ll put forces on the border, but be careful not to escalate tensions. You two are dismissed,”.

It seemed as if Titas wanted to say something else to the king, but Agota placed her hand on his shoulder, and they exited the palace. After the palace doors closed, Gustas leaned forward and held his head in his hands. After a few minutes, Gustas sat up and pulled out his phone, typing in a number.

Riiiiiing Riiiiiing Riiiiiing

“Hello? What is your business” the voice on the other end said.

“This is King Gustas, I need to speak to the prime minister, now,” Gustas said, running his hand through his hair.

“One moment please sir,” the voice said, before connecting Gustas to another caller.

“Is this something important? I have a very tight schedule” the voice said, sounding very annoyed.

“It’s very important, it’s…” Gustas whispered something into the phone.

“Okay, I understand, you and the premier can come over right away,” the voice said, now sounding very concerned.

“Thank you, we will depart immediately,” Gustas said, ending the call before getting up and heading towards the door exiting the palace.


1330
August 23, 2024
Red Palace
Šiaulme, Zemeprievadai

Agota and Titas climbed into a black SUV waiting outside of the Red Palace. Agota sighed as the car began driving back to the capital building. Titas began to flip through pages of reports he held in his trembling hands. Agota looked over and placed a hand on Titas’ shoulder. “It’s okay,” she said, attempting to comfort him, “Everything will be okay.”

Titas didn’t say a word, instead, he nodded and went back to flipping through the pages of his folder. Agota turned her attention away from her coworker and looked out the window. The skyline of Šiaulme passed by as they went further out of town.

Finally, the car reached its destination. Situated outside of the urban area of Šiaulme was a large, ornate building. The SUV stopped, and two men let Agota and Titas out of the car. The two walked towards the front door of the building as the car pulled away.

Before Agota’s hand could reach for the knob of the door, her phone rang, making her jump from the noise. After calming herself down, she answered the call, “Hello?”

“Agota, a helicopter will be at your location in 30 minutes,” the voice on the other end said, in a rushed tone.

“We just left the palace, what could have happened in the time that we have been gone?” Agota said, annoyed by the situation.

“I got a meeting with the prime minister of Auravas, and I need you to attend,” the voice said, urgency in their voice.

“I understand, me and Titas will be awaiting the helicopter,” Agota said, not awaiting an answer.

“Wait, you ca—" Agota ended the call before the caller could finish their final sentence. She then turned to Titas and told him about the new situation. He nodded silently and sat down on the steps of the building, clutching the folder to his chest.

Eventually, the helicopter arrived, with a deafening thwack thwack thwack noise. The two climbed onto the vehicle and situated themselves. Soon after, the helicopter took off towards Uravin, the capital of Auravas.


(This next section was directly transcribed from the black box of the Korćettan fighter.)

Utopia, you are way off track, get back into formation.

Negative sir.

What do you mean by “Negative”? May I remind you flying over foreign airspace without notice is a sign of aggression?

Negative sir.

You better say something else than “Negative sir” or I will forcibly ground you.

Sir, I am just performing a routine air maneuver.

Without proper orders, I should remind you.
You will be permanently grounded if you do not get back into formation soon.
Respond god damn it.
I’m sending planes to your current position, do not resist.

(No further interactions were recorded)