incredible staff, has been extremely busy organizing your requests and we ask your patience. Even with our magic, where construction is shortened from several months to just one minute each – not even one minute – it takes a lot of planning to figure out where the need’s the greatest.”
Justica then placed her papers down, looking expectantly at Indie.
Amanda took the cue. “We’ll take a fifteen minute break and continue the debates. Next up, Demus will talk about our relations with our colleagues from the four other continents, and summarize international affairs.”
Regi hammed it up for the cameras. “You call this tea party a debate? But seriously, once real choices confront us, you’ll see fireworks here!”
Amanda sighed and pressed the button. The screen went blank. She needed a strong coffee to soothe her nerves for the next round.
Chapter Fourteen
As promised, three days after Debate Day, on all five continents around the world, the Patriots struck back, along with “motley crews” of assorted counter-revolution bands and anarchists.
Throngs of chanting supporters, in every country, converged upon their capitals, holding giant placards bearing the words in the home language of their country, “Liberators Out!” A few signs blared, “Liberators ≠ Freedom!”
In Beijing, China, Wei hovered into the air with his fellow Chinese wizards, looking worried. He, along with three other Liberators (one Russian, one Indian, and one Australian), governed the AJI continent. The national police force, now facing desertions and an uncertain funding future due to the two-week old seizure of the national money supply, could only put up feeble resistance to the angry crowds. Bonfires raged around the capital.
“Look at the Presidential Palace!” one fellow wizard yelled to Wei in Mandarin.
Wei saw a huge ball of fire about ten kilometres away, eating away at the south wing of the Presidential Palace. He quickly zapped himself about two hundred metres above the raging fire, and instantly felt the overbearing heat. Moving his hands around, he brought several tons of water cascading down from the heavens, snuffing the inferno out.
“Keep an eye out!” he yelled in Mandarin to his companions, all of who could clearly hear him kilometres away.
In Paris, France, hundreds of anarchists chanting “Révolution, maintenant!” and “Liberté, égalité, et fraternité!” surrounded the Louvre. Throwing cobblestones, bricks, pipe bombs, and whatever they could get their hands on, they started breaking the windows of the famed art institution. Sounds of shattering and cries emanated from inside as the stunned national police force, equipped with riot shields, helmets, batons, tear gas canisters, and stun grenades, looked on helplessly.
“Le Louvre!” Martine, one of the four Liberators governing the EURO region, cried out. “Nous ne pouvons pas leur permettre d’endommager!” [We can’t let them damage it!]
With a flick of her wrist, she conjured up a formidable, Plexiglas-coated enclosure around the entire art institution. The fire bombs, rocks, and other scraps bounced harmlessly off the barrier, greatly frustrating the raucous crowd.
“C’est fait!” Martine roared, as she sped through the air, looking around for more signs of unrest.
Half a world away, in Washington, D.C., Indie and Demus lingered about in the air, monitoring the defiant crowds below. Suddenly, they heard a loud boom, and, acting upon instinct, they disappeared, and then materialized hundreds of feet elsewhere. Indie gasped with horror as a projectile whistled right by where she had last been seen.
“They’ve found some land-based missiles!” Demus yelled to her, full of rage.
“How did they get hold of them?” Indie spat out. She was vastly infuriated, and ready for revenge. But she’d resolve to minimize her response. Spotting the crude missile launchers, Indie pointed her fingers, causing the projectiles to blow up
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