"Your Eminence, the remnants of the enemy have been almost entirely cleaned up. However, according to the reports of the landing forces, there are no members of AX among the dead."
Half an hour later, Arnold di Cambio had received a transmission from the parachute unit. A bead of sweat formed on his tense brow. He was standing in front of the command desk on the bridge of the Jahoel. His voice was reverent. "According to the prisoners that we took, they were headed with the Tallinn residents to a cave about one and a half miles from here. Shall we pursue them?"
"Of course," the young man who sat behind the command desk replied immediately. He scratched at his black hair. He then turned his attention to the monitor and smiled. "Pursuing AX is our sacred duty. Defeating New Vatican is just a happy bonus. Captain Cambio, start battle preparations."
"Bu-but, Brother Matthaios..." Cambio timidly looked at the Inquisition officer, who was playing with a staff in his hand. Cambio usually cut a strict figure and could strike fear in all his subordinates, but compared to the man he was now facing, he may as well have been the Madonna herself. "They are currently hiding among the residents of Tallinn. If we attack now, there will be a great loss of life to the citizens."
"That's just too bad. We don't want to leave witnesses; I think we need to annihilate everything."
"What?" Cambio was astonished. Was Matthaios telling him that it would be better to kill them all?
Matthaios then opened a thin file and started talking about something totally unrelated. "Did you know about this, Captain? It looks like this country had oil. Look, the cave they've hidden in is probably where they mine the Oilshell. This is really something. Oil is a precious resource that not even the Vatican has much access to. But this little out-of-the-way country has been quietly mining away. It's amazing, isn't it?"
"Um... yes?" Cambio managed a half-hearted reply. He couldn't stop the feelings that were swirling round inside him now. Cambio couldn't understand this Inquisition officer, but he had a bad feeling about all of this. And a veteran captain's instinct was always right.
The Inquisition officer closed the file and in a calm voice asked, "Captain, just as a thought... If the citizens of Tallinn were to get caught up in the fighting with AX and were, unfortunately, slaughtered, then who would this mountain belong to?
"The mountain...?" Cambio was really puzzled. What was he talking about?
However, it didn't seem like Matthaios was really looking for Cambio's input. He immediately started answering his own question: "Oil is a gem of the people. If the owners were to be annihilated, then we couldn't let it lie neglected. It would need an honest and prudent organization to oversee its continued mining. Don't you agree?"
Finally Cambio was realizing what the Inquisition officer was talking about. He wanted to take the precious oil for the Vatican as spoils of war. And to get those resources, he was prepared to perpetuate something really terrible.
"Your Eminence, you can't really—"
"Anything that happens here will be the responsibility of Duchess of Milan and AX. We were only doing our duty as we pursued the heretics. Sometimes, terrible things happen. We can't take the blame for that," Matthaios said.
Matthaios handed Cambio the file and quietly stood up. He gently tapped the cane in his hand as he added another order: "I want you to have the Uriel prepared. I will take command of the battle. Raise the altitude of the Jahoel and be on standby. I want you to patrol and provide air support."
When he had finished giving out his orders, Matthaios walked away from the command desk. He left the captain alone as he headed for the hanger.
If he only wanted to murder all of AX and the townsfolk, it would be simple. It would only require a few cannon shots and bombs to the mountain for it to be all over. But he was thinking of the future, and he wanted to try and safeguard the pipeline. Therefore, he had decided to launch a ground attack to prevent unnecessary damage.
"Then we will wipe out three thousand townspeople. How many years has it been since such a purification?"
Matthaios raised his hands as the elevator descended down to the hanger. His face was flushed. He was exhilarated. He reached up and rubbed his finger down an old scar. He smiled faintly.
"This will be the biggest task since Tangier. I hope I'm not disappointed."