[NON-CANON] The Last Crusade

[Istkalen]

Pope Tabitha smiled to herself. She was a martyr, she was a prophet. She had seen God with her own eyes, heard Him with her own ears; her mission was simple. Death to her no longer really mattered; she would live forever in God.

She was sinless, immaculate; God acted through her. What words she spoke, what thoughts she thought, she felt, were directed by the hand of God, by the Holy Spirit.

She closed her eyes, and God, she thought, sent her now a vision of Vallejo, with a face like that of a serpent, Satan whispering in his ear. She was there before him; she looked down, and she had a knife. She ran forwards, screaming; Satan tried to attack her, but something - the hand of God, she saw it again! - protected her from that demon. She thrust her knife into the chest of Vallejo, and suddenly his skin peeled off to reveal scales, and he became a giant serpent, which began to burn. A great black hole opened beneath it, fumes of sulfur arising, and it fell, fell, fell.

And then she opened her eyes. That was the glory that was to await her, the glory which God had shown her.

They were nearing the Vatican now, where she, the prophet of God, His representative on Earth, would take her rightful place as the Bishop of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff.

"We shall all become martyrs for God," she whispered, smiling even more widely. She called to her an acolyte, who bowed before her, prostrating, sobbing with joy at merely seeing her.

"It begins," she said to her. "Tell them that it is to begin now."

The acolyte before her bowed again before leaving, whispering something to the captain of the plane.

The appointed time was now, God had told her this. If it did not happen now all would fail. She had to have faith, endless faith.

She looked out the window at the rolling hills surrounding the Vatican, sun shining brightly on them. God's wonderful creation, and she - she! - had been chosen to restore it in full.

25 planes would soon begin death-spirals into the city, crashing in an act of martyrhood. The city would be cleansed by Godsent flames, and she would enter it, surrounded by her cheering followers, the army of the faithful, entering the city on a donkey. These were her instructions from God.

She looked at the around her, carrying weapons, ammunition, (stable) explosives, so carefully.

She could just imagine it, the faithful following the voice of God, captains directing those planes down, down, down, in spirals into the city. Martyrs so devoted to the faith, through which the Holy Spirit acted to cleanse the Earth of the followers of Satan.

Then her descent from Heaven, guided by God; they would land, and her followers would close the way to the demons. The runway would go up in Godsent flames, and the Vatican would fall into HIs hands.

And then her royal procession to the city as the army of the faithful shot down all those who remained, burned and destroyed them; her triumphal procession which would end as her as Pope, as the intermediary for the ruler of all Earth.

[Spain]

The news did not take long to arrive to the ears of the Spanish Government, as the Military Base in Gibraltar had reported a "massive airplane crash at the Vatican, with airplanes descending fast and disappearing from the radar, then not seen ever again". The Gibraltar's base director informed the JEMAD, Miguel Villaroya, who called the Minister of Defence, Pedro Baños.

Baños was shocked. During his long experience as a member of the Spanish Army, he had never seen such a massive attack on a little country as the Vatican. Fifty retrofitted regional commercial airliners, according to the information Gibraltar gave, had crashed in the home of the European catholics. He asked for explanations, and called the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) to get some more extra information they could have by then. All they could affirm was that the threads were linked to the attacks, and that possibly Reszelport Jezebel-Swift, Pope Tabitha for their followers. The Spanish satellites were already tracking the situation, and the data would not take longer to arrive.

The Spanish Minister decided to summon Villaroya to the Ministerial building, where both could discuss what to do with this attacks to the Vatican. While the JEMAD was on his way, a statement signed by the Minister was released and both the King and the Spanish President were informed about the ongoing situation. Miguel finally arrived to the designated place, and the meeting could finally start:

MV: Good evening, Minister Baños. Have you got any recent updates on the situation?

PB: I have been able to speak to His Majesty the King and the President of Spain. Both have approved this meeting and given me their full trust and support to take whatever actions are needed. Any new updates from the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia or either the military bases that have already been alerted?

MV: Our satellite technology is already tracking the situation, Minister Baños, but the data will take some time to arrive. We suspect that the attacks are linked with the threads Ms. Jezebel-Swift has uttered against the Holy See this morning, at 07:11 hours, Spanish time. At 19:39 hours, Spanish time, fifty retrofitted regional commercial airliners have crashed into the Vatican City, causing unknown casualties. The radar has lost contact with all of them, and we still are uncertain if there are more coming down the way.

PB: We need a No Fly Zone to be put in place as soon as we are avilable to. Apart from that, I want some paratroopers to be alarted in case we need to conduct a ground operation on the area. We will designate Almería and Antequera as inspecting ports, in case somebody decides to enter the No Fly Zone and we consider they should enter it. That will be done under my orders, and no foreign nation is expected to be invited to join the "party". Apart from this, I want to hear your thoughts, Mr. Villaroya.

MV: A terrestrial operation is far from being considered by the Spanish Army. I believe the Spanish Air Force, the Ejército del Aire, should be in charge of repealing the invaders. We will send ten Eurofighters Typhoons to the area to force the accomplishment of the NFZ, and four Panavia Tornado IDS to recognise how many rebels or insurgents are left after the attacks. I also request authorisation to activate RQ-1 / MQ-1 Predator drones in order to use our Hellfire missiles to anihilate any insurgencies.

PB: You have my authorisation, and therefore the President's and the King's one too. We will direct the operation from here. Also let's use our satellital technology to get a more exact number and some images of the area as soon as it is viably possible.

MV: Alright, Minister. Thank you very much, I will summon the team and we will be on the operations room.

Once exiting the meeting, Villaroya gave the orders and Pedro Baños reported them. One by one, the jets started to took off and headed towards the Vatican, where an unknown situation was awaiting for them...

[Istkalen]

Their planes had landed, albeit violently. God had directed them to the correct place, just outside of the smouldering Vatican. She remembered looking happily out the window onto the burning remains of what the heretics had built.

Her thousand soldiers, the army of God, surrounded her. His Hand had guided them here; He would guide them to the final victory, His victory. The Holy Spirit would fill them, and it would all be finished, and the Vatican would be His.

"Advance!" she screamed. "Advance into the City of God, to retake it from the heretics! Strike them down with the force of the Holy Spirit!"

They cheered, again, screaming, screaming, screaming the praises of God. He heard, she knew; He heard, and He was delighted. Their faith was great; their lives no longer mattered, only the ability to sacrifice themselves for Him.

"Kill all that moves!" she screamed again. "Find Vallejo; cut him into pieces!"

They ran off to the city, carrying their arms and explosives, to kill all living. The city would be purged; a river of blood would carry from it all of its impurities, just as God had shown her.

Her work was simpler. Carrying two tarpaulins, saltine crackers, grape juice, a cigarette lighter, and a satellite phone, she walked to a beach. The task ahead of her was difficult; but necessary.

Her shoes sank into the warm sand beneath her feet. She sighed, and began with her work. She set down the tarpaulins, the lighter, the phone, the crackers, and the juice on the ground, and wandered, guided by God himself.

Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead as the heat of the sun beat down on her; but Satan would not stop her. The Holy Spirit filled her, God had compelled her; and thus she had to do.

He guided her to several pieces of driftwood, smooth, light, with time, long enough for their purposes. Taking them under the crook of her arm, she stumbled back to her tarpaulins. She felt about to collapse; but no, she had to go on.

Two simple tents erected, now; to the right, the new Apostolic Palace; to the right, the new cathedral of Rome.

She entered what was to be the cathedral. WIth her bare hands, she moulded sand into an altar, a true altar of God. The sand was coarse; it scratched at her palms, but she went on. It took her thirty minutes of work, bent down in this new cathedral, to finish the base of the altar.

Above it, she now pressed the remaining pieces of driftwood.

Now for consencration. She whispered the prayers of the true Faith, the words of God which were conveyed to her, walking, chanting around the tent, before the altar.

It was done. Now only for the first Mass.

[The Holy See]

Palace of the Governorate, Vatican Gardens
Cardinal Medina and other members of the congregation and the Vatican Pontifical Commission were leaving through the underground bunkers that were first conceived when the threat of invasion from the country surrounding the Vatican were high. Medina was packing the important documents and his clothes at his room when he went to the balcony to gaze at the sky. At that time, kamikaze planes were already closing in to the Vatican without them knowing. The planes started to look bigger and bigger in the eyes of those who saw them, and at that time they knew something wrong was happening. Planes crashed, into the Vatican Gardens and at St. Peter's Basilica damaging some of the infrastructure. Medina, as he looks to the sky from the balcony of his room, kneels and prays before then shouting "Gloria Excelsis Deo!". A plane crashes directly into his room, killing him and the assistants helping him pack up. The North wing of the Palace is heavily damaged, some parts collapsed from the impact of the crash killing more of the guards and cardinals left at the building. Other members of the governorate were able to get down to the underground chambers escorted by some of the Gendarmerie, including the Secretary General. Once everyone was down, the entrances are secured.

St. Peter's Square
People scrambled as planes crashed into the square, some hitting the front of the Basilica. Yet miraculously, the giant church was not heavily damaged. The Gendarmerie Corps began to assemble after alarms rang around the city-state. The borders and the entrance to the small country were closed, and the tourists are escorted to secure areas. Embassies started to close one by one, while helicopters evacuate the diplomatic personnel out of the area. Other than what was happening, the only thing people wanted to know was the location and security of the pope.

Apostolic Palace
As the pope was alerted of what was happening, his assistants immediately bring him through the underground passages and to a secure bunker connected to those at the Vatican Gardens. He told one of the assistants to lockdown the entire Vatican and cancel all religious activities while the emergency situation was just being cleared. However, he did not know that his close friend and the head of government of the Vatican had just died.

Vatican Gardens
Journalists at the Radio Station stayed and kept on communicating the situation at the Vatican whilst chaos erupts outside. From the window, they can see how the plane that took the lives of Cardinal Medina and his other assistants crashed into the Palace of the Governorate. The mass were alerted of the suspension and lockdown notice from the pope as soon as the commands were received. Only a few journalists chose to leave, but many stayed without fear.

Chaos ensued everywhere, and everyone was caught offguard. No one knew that the oncoming invaders had such plans beforehand. The Governorate already reached out to both the Reitzmic and Spanish Governments, yet it was too late and all they could do must wait and resist until the assistances arrive.

The Gendarmerie had spread around in their modern battlegear, something that was barely seen by the public. However, the near 200-strong military was no match to the might of the invading machines and armed personnel. But there was no choice, they had to defend efficiently whilst waiting for the foreign contingents to arrive and liberate the city-state.

[Istkalen]

St. Peter's Square

Tabitha's army of one thousand marched, shooting at everything in their way. A moving hand beneath rubble - shot. Fleeing pedestrians - shot. Blood streamed across the square as Tabitha's army continued to advance, carrying hundreds of explosive charges and incendiary devices.

Their clothing stained with blood, they forced their way into the cathedral, the object of their combined hate. To them, it was a temple of Satan, a temple erected by heathens and heretics. What good was it? For the Church to be restored, it had to be destroyed.

They immediately began to throw the incendiary devices at everything they could see, running throughout the cathedral to see where they could do so. Flames lapped their way across the floors and walls of that sacred building, smoke billowing through its chambers. Many coughed, but continued on. It was their holy duty, was it not?

They began to lay explosives amid the smoke, tens, hundreds, throughout the cathedral. Down with it, they cried, down with this Satan-worship, each set to go off but five minutes later.

As the flames spread inexorably, smoke billowing out the openings of the Cathedral, her army began to run out, guns blazing, to watch as that symbol of heathenry came down.

[The Holy See]

Vatican Gardens
The invaders have arrived and landed throughout the city-state. And the journalists are preparing for the worst. Some guards were accompanying them in case they need armed defence against the aggressors. The doors were closed, and someone was thumping hard trying to break in. Emergency communication lines between the secret underground bunker were made, but it was no use. The invaders broke through the door and open fired to everyone in the building, they then quickly proceeded to take over the building and studio. All the guards died, it was a massacre. Some journalists were taken hostage, others killed in front of them.

St. Peter's Square
The Gendarmerie began to open fire against the arriving invaders, the tourists were kept in good condition at a special underground bunker not connected to the ones where the pope is. However, the defence was not enough to keep them away. But it was enough to give time for the evacuation to be done and the bunkers' entrances closed. Some were wondering, others traumatized and scared, but the common question remains on whether the pope was safe.

While all the guards at the square were killed, tents were erected by the invaders. Some of the civilians and soldiers who managed to escape took pictures and videos of what was happening.

Vatican Underground Bunkers
The Pope was notified, with video evidence, of what happened to Cardinal Medina. Immediately he order the appointment of Cardinal Vincent Nichols as the new President of the Governorate, with tears from his eyes. All they could do was pray, and that was what they did. The ground shook so much, as if an earthquake happened. They did not know, it was the Basilica, all gone and collapsed.

St. Peter's Basilica
As bombs explode at the columns, the heavy roof and dome did the job of completing the demolition. It all collapsed, to ruble. Some artifacts and religious relics were saved, but some did not survive or had to stay. Rebuilding the entire building would take so much time, and so it was hard to say whether it would still be rebuilt the same way. Only the obelisk remains dominating the square, aside from the ruble of the now destroyed basilica