2017 Eastern Realms Conference

REALM EXECUTIVES REPUDIATE SACURI TERRORISTS
Antonia Guidi

Messelia. Chief Executives from 17 realms signed today a joint statement repudiating the Sacuri terrorists who have carried out vicious attacks in Regù and Messelia over the past two days.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Chancellor Giacomo Alesia of Chiavere delivered a press conference where he confirmed that all 17 were "steadfast in our defence of democracy" and would offer any and all assistance that the Royal Government might need to fight any future threat by the Sacuri. This sentiment was independently confirmed by several other chief executives in statements of their own, either confirming the desire to assist the Government or announcing increased security efforts, meant to prevent terrorist attacks of the kind experienced in Tavoletro over the past semester.

This statement was well received at the Palazzo Malzo, where First Councillor Valerio thanked the chief executives and issued a statement of his own, expressing his willingness to work with all realms to ensure adequate security conditions. This comes amid rumours that the Senate will consider legislation to empower the intelligence community, particularly the Information Security Agency, and expand the jurisdiction of the Carabinieri to cover national security crimes across realms. This latter measure might prove to be the more controversial one, since the original restriction of said jurisdiction, following the end of the Third Sacuri War.

Sources close to the Royal Palace say Prince Patrizio may issue a statement of his own in the following hours. While he was originally willing to let the Government handle all public statements, the killing of 35 children at the Gallery of Modern Art in Regù is said to have convinced him of the need to rally public opinion in support of Government efforts to solve the crisis.

Transcript from RTN Tonight
21 June, 9:54PM

Antonio Piazza: We must interrupt this segment to provide details on a breaking news story. I repeat, this is a breaking story. There are unconfirmed reports that Carabinieri are conducting an operation to retake the Gallery of Modern Art in Regù. We will hear from our correspondent on the ground, Ileana Baggi.

Ileana Baggi: Antonio, I am a few blocks away from the Gallery. Approximately thirty minutes ago, we were asked to withdraw from the surrounding area, just as a large contingent of Carabinieri arrived in an armoured vehicle. A few minutes ago we saw from a distance how they removed the Sacuri flag that was hanging at the entrance. We are now hearing shots from inside the Gallery. I repeat, shots are being heard from inside the Gallery.

AP: Ileana, according to the latest reports, there are no more children in the Gallery. Is that correct?

IB: Yes, Antonio. Yesterday we were told by the Carabinieri that all children were believed to have been sacrificed by the Sacuri. If that remains true, what we are hearing is a battle between the Carabinieri and any Sacuri that remain in the Gallery.

39 SACURI KILLED AT ART GALLERY; POLICE PRESENCE INCREASED OUTSIDE HOTEL MOLLIERO
Antonia Guidi

Regù. 39 Sacuri were killed tonight by Carabinieri Special Forces at the Gallery of Modern Art, following the ritualistic slaughter of 35 children the prior day.

Called Operation Justice in a Carabinieri public statement, it started at 21:20, when reporters and bystanders were relocated blocks away, and a contingent from the Special Forces arrived in an armoured vehicle. They then took down and publicly burned the Sacuri flag that had been hanged by the terrorists immediately after the killing, and forcibly entered the Gallery.

As originally reported in RTN Tonight, the Carabinieri entered the Gallery at 21:54, almost immediately facing armed Sacuri. This battle extended for the next 20 minutes, until reporters were cleared to approach the outside of the Gallery. As told by sources close to the Carabinieri, the Sacuri were fierce fighters, but when it became apparent that they would lose the battle, the last dozen immolated themselves in the main hall, a traditional Sacuri ritual when facing defeat.

In response to the liberation of the Gallery, First Councillor Valerio ordered that Carabinieri presence outside the Hotel Molliero be increased. With mounting rumours that the Carabinieri are being advised by operatives from the intelligence and clandestine services, along with the uncertainty regarding the ultimate fate of the hostages, it is increasingly likely that the First Councillor might order an operation soon to retake the Hotel.

June 22

LaBuonaNotte con Antonio Pettinolla is a nightly talk show hosted by reputed journalist and television host Antonio Pettinolla. It premiered on 14 March 2007, and since then has become one of the most highly rated shows in the late night slot, and one of the most highly respected political and science interview shows. It has been lauded for addressing complex and relevant issues in a way that is accessible to the general public, earning the Giovanni Salucci Award for Science Education and multiple categories in the AST Awards, including Best Interview Show.

Opening Monologue
June 22

E siamo cui! Buonasera a tutti! I want to welcome you all to LaBuonaNotte, and thank you, as always, for taking the time to catch up on the daily news with me. I am your host, Antonio Pettinolla, and I come with plenty of developments on the ongoing Senate debate on educational reform, the recent photos from the Nexus IX satellite, and naturally, the ongoing hostage crisis in Regù. Before introducing the first guest of the night, I would like to update you all on the crisis, and recent developments that took place minutes before our show started, which I think will impact any discussions that we have later tonight, with our panel.

Approximately 5 minutes ago, reports came in from the Rete Trevescana di Notizie that the Carabinieri have forcibly entered the National Gallery of Modern Art, where, two days ago, terrorists killed 35 children as part of a Sacuri ritual. As reported by Ileana Baggi, from RTN Tonight, the block surrounding the Gallery was cordoned off approximately half an hour ago, and officers from the Carabinieri Special Forces arrived at the site, almost immediately facing fierce resistance from the Sacuri terrorists.

We still have no information on the ultimate result of the confrontation, whether there are any Carabinieri casualties, and whether any children survived. As far as we know, the battle is still ongoing, and reports are not allowed anywhere near the Gallery. However, there are already reports that security will be reinforced outside the Hotel Molliero, and I have it from a source close to the Palazzo Malzo that discussions are underway for a possible rescue operation there. There is mounting pressure in the Senate, led by Mario Salucci, for First Councillor Valerio to take responsibility for the death of the children, and to bring a swift end to the hostage crisis.

As usual, we will update you on any developments that take place during the show, and we will discuss them with our panel, and with our Random Guest of the Night, as appropriate. To know more about this, let me welcome our first guest, former Interior Councillor Giannina Moschella.

A&R Tower
June 23, 08:38AM

Mario Arcelli was sitting behind his desk, signing a few documents that needed to be sent to a client before the end of the morning. To his right was the Chiavian skyline, the skyscrapers standing tall and proud, while the sun shone on the hundreds of windows. It was a true privilege to have an office this high, to be able to admire the sunrise. He preferred it during winter, but summer was alright, at least for those with AC. He pitied those who had to work during summer, without air conditioning, during the increasingly hot Sartorian summer.

As he signed the documents, his mind went back to the conversation he had the night before, with his immediate supervisor in the association, just as reports were coming in on the battle between the Sacuri and the Carabinieri.

"I hear that all the Sacuri in the Gallery will be killed."

"That is of little consequence." replied his supervisor. "Our people already carried out the ritual, and Il Parlatore should be long gone by now."

"I would say he came through, did he not?"

"Il Parlatore? Quite. He certainly made up for his skirmish with the Security Service earlier this year. Are you sure he left the Gallery after the ritual?"

"I'm positive. He oversaw the killing of the children, and escaped through one of the underground passages, to a nearby museum. The Carabinieri never suspected a thing."

He smiled, thinking of how much had happened in the past few months, for him to be at this point. He had worked hard for all the piece to fall into place, and how they were. He had done unspeakable things, carried out heinous acts, committed crimes that were punishable by the death penalty, yet all was worth it, since there was little way that anything could be traced back to him. If they succeeded this week, and all pointed to that direction, their long term plan would come to fruition, and the association would be closest to its ultimate goal than ever before.

COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY
SENATE OF SARTORIA
----
Friday 23 June 2017

Hostage Crisis in Regù and Sacuri Activity in Sartoria
Closed Session

The Committee met, as scheduled, at 11:30 AM, in Room 346 of the Giacomo Mariollo Office Building. Presiding was the Hon. Fabio Basile, Chair of the Committee. Present were Senators Acciai, Amato, Capello, Giùgovaz, Landi, Parisi, Quirino, Rivas, Romagnoli, Salucci, Salvatici, Sparacello, Speziale, and Tiraboschi.

CHAIR BASILE: I want to thank all senators for attending this session of the Committee on Intelligence and National Security, despite its last minute nature. Given recent events in Regù, Senator Salucci and I deemed it necessary for us to meet and discuss the situation, particularly the actions that our intelligence and law enforcement communities are taking to ensure that this situation will not escalate towards a hypothetical Fourth Sacuri War. I will remind all honourable members that this is a closed session, and the material under discussion is highly classified. Thus, I urge all to exercise restraint in what you discuss publicly.

OPENING STATEMENT, HON. FABIO BASILE, SENATOR FROM TAVOLETRO, CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY

CHAIR BASILE: My opening statement will be brief, since I believe it is important for us to focus on the matter at hand as soon as possible. I just want to take this time to lay out the stakes in this.

As it stands today, the Second Councillor and all five Eastern Governors are being held hostage by terrorists associated with the White Hand Consortium. That is the Leader of the Senate, and nearly one fifth of all Realm Governors. By any standard, let alone that of a country that has experience in these matter, this is an unacceptable situation, one that could have been avoided, and one that will definitely be avoided moving forward.

I have read the report that the Royal Eastern Security Service submitted shortly before this session, and the figures here are, quite frankly, astonishing and terrifying. It says on page eleven that the White Hand Consortium could have as many as three hundred members. That is, three hundred Sartorians who have willingly decided to take arms against their Government, espousing an ideology that has led to the direct and indirect death of more than five hundred thousand Sartorians throughout the centuries. It also says, on page twenty four, that the Consortium has , and I quote, "a vast network that allowed it to operate, for the most part, undetected by the various law enforcement and intelligence services of any Realm", end of quote.

My honourable colleagues, this is an outrageous admission. I have the highest regard for our intelligence agencies. As a sitting member of this committee, I know first-hand just how hard they work to keep our country safe. However, truth must be said, and the truth is that there is a serious dysfunction in our intelligence community, if such a terrorist group is allowed to form and grow, recruit and carry out heinous acts, right from under our noses. My friends, this committee, and the Senate at large, need to work in tandem with the Government to ensure that our country will not be at any greater risk than it is today, and indeed, that the current threat will be contained and destroyed.

It is my hope that this session will help us clarify the facts from the fog, that Chief Rinaldi will be able to help us draw some useful conclusions, and that, moving forward, we will be more active and proactive in keeping the security of our country. With that, I will yield to the Vice Chair, the Honourable Senator from Bercolle.

OPENING STATEMENT, HON. MARIO SALUCCI, SENATOR FROM BERCOLLE, VICE CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY

SENATOR SALUCCI: I want to thank you, Mr Chairman, for your prompt response to my call for this session, and for your sound words on this matter. I cannot find fault in them, and I must highlight my steadfast agreement.

It is indeed outrageous that this group has been allowed to grow on our watch. We inherited a peaceful country, a prosperous country, from our predecessors. I remember the stories my father told me, his own experiences during the Third Sacuri War. Even though he was from Bercolle, and he was shielded from the worst of the War, there was plenty of uncertainty, and there were more than a few attacks by Sacuri offshoots, chapters of the Bloody Hand. My father, a teenager at the time, recalled the lengths to which the local governments went to ensure that the War would not extend, including extreme paranoia, the suspension of rights, the mobilisation of the Carabinieri beyond Messelia and Verale. These measures, unthinkable in our times, were very much the reality of the day.

It would be disservice to our predecessors to allow their legacy to be destroyed, when the threat is right before our eyes. It would be a disservice to our predecessors to allow the threat to grow to the extent that the liberties, for which they so dearly fought, to be destroy. First Councillor Valerio was right to respond as decisively as he has, and I agree with his deployment of the Carabinieri to Chiavere and Regù, but let us not forget that this threat has grown under his watch. Our support during this crisis is important, but our oversight duties are paramount, and our hand must not waver, for the very fate of this country rests on our ability to take strong decisions, and demand good judgement from our Government.

I thank Chief Rinaldi for his presence today, and I hope he will be able to clarify, not only what the Security Service knows about the White Hand Consortium, but also what the Government has done, to his knowledge, to fight it. I also hope that, once this immediate threat is contained, we will invite the First Councillor, the Interior Councillor, and other officials, as appropriate, to account for their actions before this Committee. They owe it to the country to explain themselves, and we owe it to the present and future generations to ensure that their answers are satisfactory, and that all necessary measures are taken to guarantee that our hard-won peace remains.

CHAIR BASILE: Thank you, senator. I now invite Chief Uberto Rinaldi, of the Royal Eastern Security Service, to deliver his opening statement.

OPENING STATEMENT, HON. UBERTO RINALDI, PRIVY COUNCILLOR, CHIEF OF THE ROYAL EASTERN SECURITY SERVICE

CHIEF RINALDI: Thank you, Mr Chairman. Thank you as well to all members of this committee, for affording me the opportunity to deliver this brief opening statement, and answer any questions that any of you might have.

Senators, with your permission, I will refrain from discussing specifics from the report you have all received in my opening statement, since I believe you would be in a better position to judge what portions from it deserve clarification on my part. Instead, I would like to provide a short account of what the Royal Eastern Security Service knew before this crisis, and what our future actions, at least for the moment.

Indeed, as the report will tell you, we were aware of the White Hand Consortium as early as November 2016, but at the time, our knowledge was that of several scattered groups that sympathised with Sacuri ideals, certainly individuals to be monitored, but not as committed to their cause, or in possession of enough funds and resources, to pose a legitimate threat. This changed in late February 2017, when the Information Security Agency detected suspicious traffic on one of the websites it monitored, under the authority given to it by Royal Order 18193. Our operatives were able to connect this traffic to a specific group operating in the suburbs of various cities in Tavoletro, under the leadership of an individual known to us only as "Il Parlatore". We followed this individual, under the belief that he was operating as part of an individual cell, until March, when he disappeared without a trace, just as our operatives were prepared to take him into custody.

This event forced us to begin rethinking our initial theory that these were individual cells. In fact, this forced us to consider the possibility that the series of murders that had been carried out in Regù since December 2016, were more than just ordinary crimes. However, it was not until two days after, with the Basile School Massacre, that we agreed that a much larger conspiracy was afoot, a central organisation that was coordinating the actions of all these cells, providing them with funds and resources, but most importantly, directions that led towards a common goal.

Senators, their goal was being met with uncanny efficiency. These murders had been an attempt to test the waters, to see if they could initiate their open operations without raising any suspicioun from law enforcement or intelligence agencies. They succeeded, since these were treated like nothing more than ordinary crimes. Their actions online, while eventually careless, had been carried out for long before we discovered them, according to our analysts. Their initial large scale attacks, namely the Finestreri Headquarters Bombing and the Basile School Massacre, were initial tests, horrifying, but test nonetheless, to prove that we were still in the dark about them, and we indeed were. This ongoing attack is, according to our analysts, their first true attack, meant to strike fear in our people, rather than test our abilities.

In terms of what our future actions will be, initially that will depend on what course is determined at the next meeting of the Internal Security Committee. However, I can tell you that, based on discussions I have had with the Directors of the Carabinieri and the Information Security Agency, our policy will gravitate towards the formation of an inter-agency task force to coordinate the efforts to determine the ways in which the White Hand Consortium obtains its funds, and who exactly seats at the leadership table. We have received a preliminary approval from the First Councillor on this matter, and plan to request additional appropriations, when the time comes, to organise this task force and make sure it has all the necessary resources to carry out its mission.

Having said this, I will conclude my opening statement, and remain at your disposal for any questions regarding the report, or any matter related to the White Hand Consortium.

CHAIR BASILE: Thank you, Chief Rinaldi. Having read the report, and having listened now to your opening statement, I cannot help but notice that this Committee was kept in the dark on most issues regarding the White Hand Consortium. In fact, the recent meeting of the Internal Security Committee was the first time that I heard the name, yet this group is supposed to have been operating for years, and actively for the entirety of this year. Could you tell us what was the reasoning behind that?

CHIEF RINALDI: Senator, our initial tracking of the Sacuri cells was duly reported to this committee in our mandatory report. Our expanded operation, once we discovered the existence of Il Parlatore, was classified White Brief, under the Intelligence Act. I understand your concern, but my responsibility, under the law, was to ensure that neither you nor any other individual outside the authorised list knew of our operations.

CHAIR BASILE: Alright, Chief. That is fair enough on your part, although I must say that I am most unsettled about the willingness that was displayed to keep the Senate, particularly its Intelligence Committee, in a position where it was difficult for us to discharge our oversight and security maintenance duties. I will discuss with the Vice Chair regarding possible steps to be taken, to clarify what was the reasoning behind this decision.

You implied in your opening statement that the intelligence community has no idea as to who leads the White Hand Consortium. Should I understand that to mean that the Security Service is still unclear as to the identities of those leading the efforts to attack our country?

CHIEF RINALDI: That not entirely correct, senator. We have various working theories on the identities of those leading the Consortium, which we hoped to verify once we apprehended Il Parlatore. That obviously was impossible, once he was likely extracted. As of today, our primary working theory is that the Consortium is led by a variety of figures, most of which would be highly positioned in society, or possessing highly specialised skills. We are talking about lobbyists, political consultants, bankers, partners at financial firms, former military and intelligence officers. This theory still needs more support, I must stress that, but it is our strongest lead to explain the abundance of funds and ability to evade detection that the Consortium has displayed.

That is not to say that we lack any evidence whatsoever, otherwise this would not qualify to the level of working theory. Thanks to our cooperation with the Information Security Agency, we know that Il Parlatore spoke on the phone with a high ranking member of the Consortium either shortly before or after his extraction. We were unable to discover the identity of either party to the call, but we could trace the caller to the financial district in Chiavere. This is, admittedly, quite limited, given the stakes of the situation, but this was as much as we could do, given the short duration of the call, and the level of encryption that it had. I'm afraid that the technology at their disposal is quite sophisticated, though, again, not unbreakable.

CHAIR BASILE: That is a very serious accusation, Chief. You are telling me that the Consortium has basically infiltrated our political and financial classes, with help from former members of the intelligence community. I hope you have something more substantial to prove this theory.

CHIEF RINALDI: I do indeed. As I explained in my earlier answer, the detection of the call to Il Parlatore was an important lead, but by no means the only one. If you can turn to Annex M12 of the report, you will see a series of depositions of suspected Sacuri affiliates, along with interviews to individuals contacted by either Il Parlatore or his equivalents in similar cells. These testimonies point to a well-funded leadership, with inside knowledge of the workings of Royal Order 18193. If you read the second paragraph in page seventy eight, it details the encounter of a Regulani accountant with Il Parlatore, where he mentioned a section of the Royal Order that remains, to this day, classified. That, along with various details in the other interviews and depositions, has led us to believe that those who supply resources, directives and information to the individual cells, are well positioned in key sectors of our society.

CHAIR BASILE: Thank you, Chief. Senator Salucci, you have the floor.

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Palazzo Malzo
June 24, 18:38PM

Valerio sat back, sighing heavily as he considered what he had just read. He briefly looked at Rinaldi, before turning his gaze at the white brief that was lying on his desk, closed as if it was still waiting to be read. Even a mere couple of seconds after, he finally understood, at least in broad strokes, why the Consortium was carrying out its attack, and he understood the potentially devastating implications, should he play into their hands. This had the potential to be disastrous, not only for his government, but most importantly, for the country itself.

"You say this has already passed through all the usual vetting?"

"Yes, First Councillor. All our best analysits agree that the information in this report is as accurate as it possible."

He didn't answer, not immediately at least. He was considering possible alternatives, courses of action he could take, but all seemed futile.

"What do you suggest should be done, Chief Rinaldi?"

"Sir, it would be out of place for me to..."

"I asked you a question, Chief. I want to know what is your suggested course of action. If you were sitting on this chair, what would you do about this report?"

Rinaldi hesitated, hiding his unease at providing such specific policy advice, but he answered in the end. "Sir, I believe it's about time our people were liberated. We just need to make sure that nobody gets...lost, during any such operation."

Valerio nodded, after spending a few seconds starting at Rinaldi, yet not really paying attention to any particular faction of his. "Thank you, Chief. That would be all."

Buongiorno Gialla (BGG) is a morning news show that has been broadcast by STG since 1987. Its anchors since 2011 have been Tania Machetti and Giacomo Vacca. Based from Città Gialla, it reports on events from all around Sartoria, with a focus on Giaroni and the Northern Realms. It is consistently the highest rated morning news show in the Northern Realms. It is well known for its investigative journalism, having received multiple accolades through the years, and its crew has won the AST Award in the category of Best Investigative Journalism, consecutively since 2013.

It has broadcast live every day, since the hostage crisis began.

Transcript from the Segment on the Hostage Crisis
June 25, 09:25AM

Giacomo Vacca: "We enter Day 7 of the Hostage Crisis, with little sign that it is any closer to its conclusion. Early this morning, Press Secretary Nicolò Gabrielli said that Carabinieri presence is indeed being reinforced in Chiavere and Regù, following a sharp increase in reports of suspicious behaviour. Yesterday evening, the D'Onofrio Theatre in Chiavere was evacuated when those in attendance became convinced that there was a bomb in the premises. After extensive searches, the Chiavere State Police concluded that there was no bomb, and attributed the incident to an instance of mass panic. This is the third such incident since the Hotel Molliero was taken.

Tania Machetti: While there has been no official response from the Chavian Chancellor, sources close to the Government House say that he is growing increasingly uncomfortable with the deployment of Carabinieri within Chiavere. While legal under the Internal Security Act, deployment of Carabinieri for active law enforcement outside of Messelia and Verale is very uncommon, and has not been seen in such numbers since the immediate aftermath of the Third Sacuri War. This sentiment was shared by a number of state legislators, who have posted on Upper their discomfort with the deployment of external forces in contravention of common practice, instead of empowering the local State Police.

Vacca: Here to discuss this situation is Matteo Ruggeri, Professor of Political History at Chierana University and Political Analyst for BGG.

Matteo Ruggeri: Always glad to be here.

Vacca: Matteo, perhaps you can start by giving us some context on why this matters so much. As I understand it, any deployment of Carabinieri outside Messelia and Verale is very unusual. Am I right?

Ruggeri: To an extent. According to the Internal Security Act, the Carabinieri are only authorised to conduct ordinary law enforcement activities within Messelia and Verale. They may be deployed to assist with investigations, in an advisory capacity, at the request of local law enforcement. This is actually quite common, since the Carabinieri tend to have more advanced forensic facilities. However, they can only engage in active law enforcement at the request of the Realm Executive or by joint agreement of the First Councillor and the Internal Security Committee.

To be clear, there is nothing illegal about this. First Councillor Valerio is well within his legal rights to deploy the Carabinieri. What happens is that the Carabinieri are very rarely deployed for active law enforcement, to the point that these agencies have developed a very territorial attitude. Aside from that, there is an association of such deployments to situations of national emergency, the most prominent case being the Third Sacuri War.

To give you an example, the Carabinieri were deployed to Chiavere on 1931, following three years of failed attempts by the State Royal Guard to contain the Sacuri. Shortly after, the fighting became very brutal in the city itself, and hugely worse in the rural areas, and food shortages started replicating those in the Eastern Realms. Less than a year after, following the bombing of the Carabinieri Headquarters in Chiavere, the Sartorian Army was deployed. This coincided with the time when the Bloody Hand was at its maximum territorial extent, so the collective consciousness makes a very clear association between the Carabinieri and what might follow.

Vacca: Is it possible then that the deployment might continue, even after the hostage crisis comes to a close?

Ruggeri: I would say it is almost certain that it will. Obviously they will have to be recalled eventually, but given the state of things, particularly the recent cases of mass panic, I think we can safely assume that the First Councillor will want to keep the Carabinieri deployed for at least a few days after the hostage crisis finishes. That might, admittedly, become more difficult if the Chancellor of Chiavere and the Governor of Tavoletro request an early withdrawal.

Vacca: What would happen then?

Ruggeri: Well, we would be on untested waters. Carabinieri have been deployed in this way only twice since the Third Sacuri War: during the 1976 Laminia Riots and the 1983 Earthquake, both times at the request of the Realm Executive, and in both cases they were recalled less than a week after, when local agencies were in a position to handle the situation. A confrontation between the First Councillor and Realm Executives would likely lead to a fierce debate in the Senate, where the Green Coalition would find itself in a very difficult position, having to decide whether Mr Valerio is worthy of their support.

Machetti: What about the hostage crisis? Is it likely it will end anytime soon?

Ruggeri: That would depend on what the Sacuri hope to obtain, and what the Government is willing to tolerate. To be perfectly honest, and this is shared by most of my colleagues, I am very confused about the objective of this hostage situation. I can understand the sacrifice in the Art Gallery, since Sacuri kill children. It's horrifying, but we all know that's what the Sacuri do. Yet holding adults hostage, I know of no Sacuri group that has ever done that.

We know that the Government is willing to confront the Sacuri, we saw it when they engaged the ones in the Art Gallery. It's likely they will want to avoid that result, in the sense that they waited for so long that the children were executed. If it was my call, I would order a rescue operation as soon as possible, surely no later than next week. Each day the crisis is ongoing is one where the Sacuri remain in control, and that is a very dangerous situation for the Government.

Vacca: We have to take a break, but when we get back, Matteo, I would like to talk for a while more about the domestic policy effects of this crisis in the short term, particularly for the Valerio Government. So stay tuned, we'll be right back.

Hotel Molliero
June 25, 8:17PM

Antonio held his breath, pretending to be asleep as the Sacuri exited the room. He was in one of the meeting rooms of the floor, adjacent to the large ballroom where the Conference had taken place, and this was where he and others had been spent their time for the past week. He knew they were listening even from outside the room, so he pretended to sleep for a few more minutes, until he heard the steps getting away from the door.

Even then, he kept on pretending for what felt like hours, until he felt safe enough to carry on with what he was going to do. He sat up and used the flashlight on his phone to signal the others to approach. It was dumb luck that Antonio had managed to keep his phone, so he knew who the captors were and what they had done over in the Art Gallery, though cell reception had been blocked by the Carabinieri shortly after, so he was as ignorant of what was happening on the outside as the rest of them. They were nineteen in total, including the Governor of Roccia dell'Est. An older man, he had pretended to have a severe nervous breakdown, to avoid being taken someplace else, whether it was that the Sacuri had taken the Second Councillor and the other Eastern Governors. In reality, he was the exact opposite, and his sharp mind would be very useful in this next stage of the plan.

Sitting in a circle, and speaking in hushed voices, they started discussing what each was supposed to do, going over the various details of their plan, and suggesting possible solutions, so that everything would go perfect. They only had one shot, and failure would probably mean a painful death at the hands of their captors. None of them had any intention of letting that happen. After about an hour, they settled on their plan, and all went to their assigned positions, ready to act as soon as Antonio, their informal leader, gave the signal.

A few seconds after, the screaming began.