"AX have acted." Paula's image on the monitor was calm. She looked more like a librarian than the feared and shrewd second-in-command of the Department of Inquisition.
"They diverted the attention of our decoy, Phillippo, and Crusnik and Gunslinger headed to the airport to hoard the Iron Maiden. They are probably trying to escape Rome."
"Escape Rome? Humph. This was unexpected." The young officer only narrowed his eyes. He was sitting six-thousand and five-hundred feet in the skies above Rome, on the bridge of the military airship Jahoel. Nevertheless, his quiet face was clouded with dissatisfaction.
"We thought that they would attempt to rescue their leader from the Lateral) Palace. We were taken off guard."
"Yes. We had not anticipated that they would head for the airport. Jacob and Andrew are hurrying to there as we speak, hut it won't be possible for them to stop the Iron Maiden from departing. Is there anything the Jahoel could do, Brother Matthaios?"
"We will try our best, but I am not sure. At least ensure that you are ready to give chase. Humph, this is not what we wanted."
Paula's feed was cut from the screen. Matthaios quickly stood up and turned to the staff onboard.
The Jahoel was a new and awesome power within the Vatican's fleet, but its main duty was delivering land troops to violent battlefields and then conducting airborne warfare. It was suited as an assault ship. It didn't have much capability as an anti-ship machine.
"Do you think we can win, Captain Cambio? Honestly?"
"Difficult to say," Cambio answered Matthaios' question with a grim look on his face. Commander Arnold d'Cambio assessed the RADAR. "If the specifications we've received of the enemy ship are correct, then we are at a disadvantage. I would say that it would be very difficult for us to win a battle if we were to meet them head-on."
"Even if there is an altitude difference?" Matthaios indicated a monitor that displayed an altitude graph.
The Iron Mai Jen had only just departed. The Jahoel on the other hand was now at an altitude of six-thousand feet. It could be expected that if they were to battle now, then the Jahoel would be victorious. However, Cambio still looked grim.
"Unfortunately, if were to attack from our current position, then the city would most definitely take damage. We would have to wait for the enemy to leave the city area, but then it would be too late," Cambio said.
As he spoke, a blue line appeared on the graph. The steep line indicated that the ship would be at a higher altitude than the Jahoel by the time it had left the suburban area.
"The greatest altitude that the enemy can reach is nine thousand. Three-thousand feet higher than the Jahoel. In other words, by the time the enemy has left the city area and we are able to attack, they will already be above us."
"In that case, it makes the problem simple. I want you to open fire straight away," Matthaios said without hesitation.
"Sorry?!" Cambio didn't believe that he had heard Matthaios correctly. Perhaps Matthaios hadn't understood his explanation.
Cambio started to repeat himself. "The problem is, Your Honor, that Rome would be —"
"I understand. Do not worry about ground casualties. Please open fire now. If we do not down that ship soon, then they will escape us. Our best chance is when we are above them, correct?" Matthaios remained unchanged.
There were no signs of insanity in the Inquisition officer's expression. However, what he was asking them to do was madness. All the faces of the staff on the bridge of the ship went deathly pale.
He was asking them to get the citizens of Rome involved!
"Oh, yes. Before you fire at the enemy ship, make sure you fire a shot into the city area first." Matthaios' orders were becoming more insane.
"What?! You want us to fire into the city?! On purpose?!"
"Of course. Do you not understand? If we shoot down the enemy ship and there are massive Roman casualties, we will take responsibility." Matthaios spoke as if he were a patient lecturer, slowly explaining to a pupil who had misunderstood. "However, if they fire first, then it's a different story. We would have had to engage the enemy above the city to quickly squash the threat and reduce casualties. That is the story we will give."
"What?!" Cambio choked.
While the staff was lost for words, staring at this monster who had boarded their ship, Matthiaos unrolled the map of Rome. He deliberated over the details on the map. "But I want you to avoid historical buildings and churches. Public buildings would work. I think the residential area around the Tiber." "But, civilian casualties. . . "
"Unavoidable. Anyway, I've been thinking that the city population has been getting too high lately. This is a good opportunity to address that. Try and make a good show of it." Matthaios smiled. He looked more like a new teacher, fresh out of university, than a man of the cloth. In his narrow eyes, there was an ominous glint akin to a bubbling lunacy.
"In the name of our Lord, the dead will find ecstasy. They will surely go to heaven upon their death. That can only be an enviable thing," Matthaios said, as if to comfort them.
Cambio opened and closed his mouth, looking for the words to refuse Matthaios' orders. But he couldn't find the strength, so he resigned himself to his plight.
"Ready cannon three. Angle is seventy-nine degrees." "Ca-captain?!"
"It doesn't matter. I'll take responsibility!" Cambio shouted down the voices of dissent. "Gunners! What are you doing? Ready the cannon!"
"Please, Captain. There's a communication coming in from the enemy ship!" one of the poor subordinates cried.