United States | Civis Romanus Sum (Breaching The Wall)

[Odinson]

Private

VATICAN CITY STATE
American Embassy, Palace of Saint Charles
Thursday, June 19, 2003
~10:00 A.M. CET

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United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Giovanni Romano, was sitting in his new offices in the Palace of Saint Charles as he enjoyed mid-morning cup of tea. He was halfway through reading a book on the crusaders. He had his feet up on his desk and he was starting to dose off because he had not slept well the night before. Giovanni's age was starting to feel his age, but it was not showing that much yet. Suddenly he heard a lard rumbling explosive noise, followed by a significant rumble that knocked him out of his chair. He fell onto the floor and dropped his book as his teacup shattered on the ground. The door to his office swung open. A young Diplomatic Security Service agent dressed in a black suit and tie rushed in.

"Ambassador, sir! Are you okay?" he asked as he ran up to Giovanni, who had hit his head on the ground. Giovanni was bleeding, but he seemed to otherwise be alright.

"An explosion within the walls of the Vatican," Giovanni said, thinking aloud.

"There must have been a gas leak, or maybe terrorists," the DSS agent said as he helped Giovanni up. The red emergency light in Giovanni's office started to flash, followed by an audible alarm throughout the embassy.

A call came through on the DSS agent's earpiece. "Ambassador, we're crashing the Embassy. We have to get you to the saferoom immediately," the agent said. Giovanni grabbed a notebook he used to keep track of contacts as well as a satellite phone that was always kept in a briefcase next to his desk in the event of something like this. The DSS agent unholstered his sidearm and escorted Giovanni outside. Several more well-dressed agents showed up, side-arms drawn and they escorted the Ambassador in formation down to the basement of the building. Giovanni could see several U.S. Marines, who were Embassy Guards, running by in their camouflage uniforms with automatic rifles and boxes of ammunition.

"We have to contact Washington immediately, and the Captain General. We need to know what's going on," Giovanni said as blood was now slowly tricking down the side of his balding head. A distress message was sent almost immediately once Giovanni was inside of the bunker. The Embassy didn't have much information to go on right now, but Washington needed to know that there was some kind of attack and that they would possibly need in-person assistance. It was about 4:00 A.M. in Washington D.C. when these events were occurring in Rome. All of the doors and windows to the embassy were locked and barricaded. The Marines took defensive positions inside of the building and were prepared to protect it like a fortress if necessary. Many of them stealthily placed themselves at certain corners of the building, looking out with their automatic rifles and scanning for any targets.

Ambassador Romano picked up his secure satellite phone and made a call to the Captain General of the Church & Papal Gonfalonier (the Church's de facto commander-in-chief second only to the Pope), Kilian MacNamara.

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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE HOLY SEE​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

TO: Jackson Fitzgerald, Secretary of State of The United States of America​

FROM: Giovanni Romano, United States Ambassador to The Holy See

Mister Secretary,

There have been multiple major explosions inside and around the Vatican. We believe that the Vatican is under attack. The Embassy is on lockdown and the Marines and DSS agents have secured the building. I am urgently requesting additional armed assistance to protect the Embassy. I am trying to contact any official in the Vatican to get a handle on the situation and see if there is some way that the United States can help.

We urgently require assistance.​

Sincerely,

Giovanni Romano
United States Ambassador to The Holy See
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WASHINGTON D.C.
The White House
Thursday, June 19, 2003
~4:30 A.M. EST​

President Gore, Vice President Sinclair, Secretary of State Jackson Fitzgerald, and Secretary of Defense John Glass were all either already awake or had been woken up early to assemble in the Situation Room at the White House. The others, along with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were already inside as President Gore stepped into the room. Everyone in the room stood up out of respect. This was the second day in a row that an international incident had woken up the President early in the morning, and it was getting old. Gore could immediately see that Sinclair was unsettled, which was unusual for the typically stoic man. The President was briefed and told that while they had no solid intelligence on who was attacking who, or what, in the Vatican, it was certain that the Holy See was under attack and that it was likely a plot from within. This was further complicated by the multiple agencies and protection groups within the Vatican, from the Swiss Guard, to the American Guard, to the Vatican Police.

Under advice from the Secretary of Defense, the President ordered multiple units from SEAL Team Six to prepare for immediate deployment to Gibraltar as a forward operating base in case they needed to be sent to Rome. While the SEALS could get to Europe quickly, a naval task force would take comparatively longer (and hopefully it would not be needed). The Pentagon prepared to contact the British to request clearance to land at Gibraltar.

 

[Ender]

Kilian was sitting in his office going over some requisitioning paperwork and absently sipping his coffee. The various sundry and disparate departments that made up the Armed Forces of the Holy See were woefully outdated when it came to equipment, and it fell to his office to modernize them. He raised an eyebrow as he started shifting through the papers again, he was certain that several months ago there was a request sent out to France about getting new vehicles for the Vatican Motor Pool, and yet he still hadn’t seen any report from that. He depressed his comms switch as he began to speak.



“Julia, Darling, could you follow up with the Diplomatic Office and see what happened to the request we sent to the French car companies? Oh and ensure my dress uniform is ready for the 1pm hand-over ceremony.” Killian released the key and went to his desk and began filling things out on his computer, after a moment it occurred to him that he hadn’t heard from Julia, his secretary was usually quite prompt. He got up form his desk and headed to the front office. He came into the room and stood astounded for a moment as Julia stood there with a printed piece of paper in each hand and a confused look on her face. She was crying and Killian, realizing she was in no state to say or do anything, stepped forward and took the sheets of paper. One was from the Commandry of the Swiss Guard the other was from the new American Guard headquarters. The first thing he noticed was that both were signed by the deputy commanders and not the commanders, then he began to read. Both informed him of the same thing, there had been an explosion at the Vatican, and that the Pope was missing likely dead as the center of the explosion was in the Papal Offices. The Swiss Guard were blaming the American Guard, and the American Guard were blaming the Swiss Guard. The American’s had dispatched their forces to secure the Pope at all costs, and the Swiss Guard was repelling them. They were both calling on him to order the other forces to back each in turn.

Killian looked over the letters again and was about to say something when the phone on the desk began to ring. He made his way to it and picked up the receiver and punched down hard on the line key.



“Yes! What is it now?!?”

[ Odinson ]

 

[Odinson]

"Captain General," Ambassador Romano said as a DSS agent with paramedic training cleaned and covered the wound on his head. "This is Ambassador Romano. I am in the American Embassy at the Palace of Saint Charles. We have put the embassy under lockdown and we are sheltering in place, there has been multiple explosions inside of the Vatican and some of the Marines have reported hearing gunfire coming from inside the walls of the Vatican. I have sent a distress message to Washington. Is there any news you can tell me, and is there anything that the United States can do to assist your office right now? Is His Holiness okay?" the Ambassador asked, rather urgently.

Ender

 

[Ender]

Kilian raised an eyebrow as he was greeted with the voice of the American Ambassador, despite the situation, the Pope had left orders that the American Ambassador was to be kept in the loop if he ever asked about subjects. Thus, Killian was free to offer information to the man.


“My Apologies Mr. Ambassador. I didn’t realise you were calling; I didn’t mean to snap. At the moment Mr. Ambassador, things are still fluid. I have reports from both the Swiss and American Guards that the Pope is missing likely dead. Though each is blaming the other. I was hoping you might have more information for me, as you are far closer to the situation than I am.”

[ Odinson ]

 

[Odinson]

"That... is awful news. I am sorry that I cannot be of more help, but we are locked down here in the Embassy. We have 13 U.S. Marines here, and dozen or so armed DSS agents. We are not sure who is behind this or what the motive is, but if there is any assistance that we can offer please let me know..... Our view is blocked by St. Peter's, but we can see smoke billowing up from what I assume is the Papal Apartments, or the area around it. Washington will send us reinforcements, but they're at least nine hours away.... I am sorry that I do not have more news for you. If there is anything that we can do to help, please let me know. His Holiness is an American, and we are obligated to protect him just as much as any other citizen," the Ambassador said.

Not wanting to waste the Captain General's time, the Ambassador would offer to end the phone call unless the Captain General had anything else to add.

Ender

 

[Ender]

Killian listened as he the man spoke, unfortunately he had no real information to add to his situation.

"Thank you sir, I do hope that this situation is resolved before the arrival of your nation's assistance. Especially since we do not yet know how Italy is taking this situation, as they may refuse the entry of your nation's forces into their airspace. I am certain that His Holiness, whom I am operating on the assumption he is still alive, for if he were dead I and anyone else around would have no authority at all, would like to avoid any intranational incidents on this matter. My office shall ensure we keep you informed. I must ask is there any direct threat to the Embassy at this time? From either party?"

[ Odinson ]

 

[Odinson]

"We currently do not appear to be under attack, but we are taking all measures necessary to ensure our protection. If this changes, I will be sure that a distress message is sent to your office so that you at least know if we are in trouble," the Ambassador said. If there was nothing else to add, out of courtesy for the Captain General, he would offer to end the call so that he could get back to dealing with the matter at hand.

Ender

 

[Ender]

"Excellent thank you, I shall endeavour to ensure your embassy is kept safe." Killian said as he ended the call, and turned back to his assistant.

 

[Odinson]

The National Military Command Center at the Pentagon would sent an encrypted, properly formatted Emergency Action Message with a CCEB precedence of "Priority." These types of messages were intended to be sent during critical times where diplomatic channels were either not fast enough, or not trusted, to send a message. Never had one been sent to the Holy See before:

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NATIONAL MILITARY COMMAND CENTER​

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ENCRYPTED MESSAGE​

** START MESSAGE ** START MESSAGE ** START MESSAGE **​

URGENCY: PRIORITY

CCEB PRECEDENCE: FLASH - IMMEDIATE - PRIORITY

TO: KILLIAN MACNAMARA, CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THE CHURCH AND PAPAL GONFALONIER ( Ender )
FROM: NATIONAL MILITARY COMMAND CENTER - THE PENTAGON

U.S. SPECIAL FORCES HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED TO REINFORCE THE AMERICAN EMBASSY INSIDE OF THE VATICAN. THESE SPECIAL FORCES WILL REACH THE EMBASSY VIA AIR SOME TIME IN THE NEXT TEN HOURS. CONTACT THE NMCC OR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR ASSISTANCE OR URGENT MATTERS.

** END MESSAGE ** END MESSAGE ** END MESSAGE **​

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