First Great Powers Summit

The leaders of the two major alliances convene at the Colosseum for the First Great Powers Summit. Prime Minister George and King George V arrive in a 1920 Rolls Royce Phantom Limousine along with a fleet of other Rolls Royce vehicles carrying a full platoon of British Grenadiers and a council of British advisors, generals, and ministers after sailing to Italy aboard the HMS Hood. President Millerand arrives in port on the FS Bretagne along with several escort vessels. He is then transferred to a motorcade which heads to the Colosseum. President Jacob Featherstone travels across the Atlantic aboard the USS Tennessee and several escort ships. Once in Italy, he arrives at the conference in a motorcade of several vehicles, his personal vehicle being a 1921 Hudson Phaeton. President Bodecker arrives in the Italian peninsula at Anzio aboard the LÉ Grásta. Not to be outdone by his alliance members, Bodecker arrives at the Colosseum in a canvas-covered wooden wagon drawn by six donkeys with a half-dozen IRA members. The Kaiser and his daughter- Princess Viktoria Luis- come to Rome aboard the aircraft carrier Berlin and ride into the city on horseback with a platoon from the 2nd Totenkopf Hussars, flying the flag of the Kaiserreich. Tsarina Olga, Consul Zhukov, and the Russian Royal Cabinet travel to the Meditteranean aboard the General Alekseyev and commute to the meeting in a hot air balloon adorned with the colors of the Russian flag. President Narutowicz arrives with a squadron of German-built Fokker 122 aircraft, bringing four cavalry horses with them on the flight. The President lands at the airport and navigates his way to the Colosseum on horseback in full Winged Hussar uniform, flanked by three Winged Hussar veterans. President Arturo Alessandri takes the newly-acquired battleship José Miguel Carrera and flies the flags of Germany and Chile side-by-side atop his carriage on his way into Rome. Brazilian president Epitácio Pessoa arrives in Rome in the Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes. He then makes his way towards the Colosseum in a Ford Model T with his motorcade. The crowd convenes in the center of the Colosseum at midday at a large circular table. At the conference, Narutowicz opens with expressing the purpose for calling the summit; he is concerned and worried by the acts of his allies and his rivals, as they directly reflect the political state of Europe prior to the Great War and prove that the nations of the world have learned nothing from it. Hence, he has called this meeting with the resolve to prevent history from repeating itself. Zhukov is first to speak, complaining that the Trans-Atlantic Entente has taken strides to become an international hegemony and must be countered. Featherstone argues that the biggest reason the Entente was established was due to Russia’s aggressive naval actions. At this point in the meeting, Irish President Bodecker is excused from the table for a moment to escort a pair of his rowdy, drunken guards out of the Colosseum so that the convention may continue uninterrupted. President Millerand adds that Russia has been the country to start and escalate a conflict like the recent expansion of the alliances and also accuses the Russian government of recent acts of hostile espionage and theft of classified documents and state property of multiple nations as well as economic interference in European nations via artificial inflation, citing the captured Russian spy in New York. Chilean President Alessandri expresses his trust of the Kaiser’s judgement and believes that the Germans would never sign into an alliance with a corrupt nation which commits the acts stated. Millerand suggests that perhaps the Kaiser is oblivious to the acts obviously committed by their ally. The German diplomat Rudolf Von Hundwaffe states that the acts don’t affect Germany and are no issue to the nation. The French President points out if these actions start a global conflict, which they would be drawn into, it would have a negative effect on not just Germany, but the whole world. Narutowicz stands between and calms the two sides down and insists upon a compromise to reduce the likelihood of war, starting with reducing the power of international alliances and focusing on the rights of individual nations. The meeting is temporarily paused for several hours, as President Bodecker himself falls drunk and lobs an empty whiskey bottle into the forehead of President Millerand, knocking him unconscious. During this pause, Italian guards at the colosseum report that a gathering has begun outside the Colosseum, led by the political activist Benito Mussolini. The Italians recommend that the meeting be postponed to allow the riot to subside. The guard units present take up arms and prepare for hostilities, as the Tsarina draws her revolvers. Italian guards insist that the protestors are Italian citizens, and violence is not necessary. The Italians will escort the world leaders to a safe area near capitol hill, and negotiations can continue there. In the confusion, Italian snipers take position through the upper levels of the Colosseum, attempting to identify if the protests are turning violent, as well as possible escape routes. The IRA snipers greet the Italian snipers. The Russian leaders and diplomats present take their leave and board their hot air balloon, planning to return back to the Alekseyev. The Tsarina advises the rest of the leaders to find their own ways out and reschedule the meeting. However, the balloon fails to take off, leaving them stranded with the rest. Italian snipers report that Benito Mussolini is not currently in the crowd. The IRA snipers find a way out that leads away from the crowd the Colosseum and advise the members of the group to move that way, they say that they can only get a few out of a time. The Tsarina and Zhukov take the initiative to escape, packing up the balloon and demanding that the British drive them out. An English chauffeur follows them out with the Grenadier detachment and the British leaders- the Kind, Prime Minister, and six of the thirteen additional staff. They exit the Colosseum’s gate as Olga fires one of her revolvers into the air twice to force the crowd to clear. The group take to their vehicles, with other members of the conference following behind as the crowd cowers at a direct violent show of force by the Russians. Zhukov sticks with the leaders yet to leave, drawing his pistol and protecting Bodecker as he boards his wagon. Shortly after Bodecker escapes, an Italian sniper takes a shot into the crowd, for reasons unknown to the escaping leaders. Several shots are fired back towards the upper levels of the Colosseum, proving the suspicions that the protestors are armed. Zhukov and three of his guards fire submachine guns and pistols into the mostly unarmed crowd around them, killing nearly a dozen. The British Grenadiers open fire upon the rioters and the rest of the Entente leaders are escorted through the escape route at great haste to their vehicles. Several molotovs are hurled at the snipers in the Colosseum, falling rather short of their position. The small exchange of fire devolves into all-out combat. Italian snipers call in substantial reinforcement as hundreds of protestors flee. The German and Polish Hussars attack the protestors in an effort to keep their leaders safe. The American Secret Service and other Entente guards fend off the protesters as their leaders escape. The Chileans and Americans are rushed out just before a group of Italian rioters wheels a Maxim machine gun onto the scene. Millerand is taken out a separate route on a stretcher along with the German royalty, who ride off at speed. The American and Entente motorcades leave Rome at great speed. Italian protestors break through the Italian guards at the gates of the Colosseum. Shortly after, Italian reinforcements arrive with five armored cars. The military announces that they will be firing into the crowd, and any diplomats or civilians should take cover. In less than five seconds, the Italian troops and cars open a storm of lead on the crowd. After several minutes of this, the Italians are ordered to cease fire. The Colosseum stands eerily silent, without a single member of the crowd left standing. The only foreigners left on site are Narutowicz and his Hussars, Pessoa and his personal secretary, and Consul Zhukov, with only Zhukov being injured by a knife wound. The Italians sweep the Colosseum to ensure it is secure, and find that the protestors that infiltrated the site managed to escape, despite heavy fire from the snipers in the upper level. The USS Tennessee and the American escorting fleet, with the American delegation on board, leave Anzio, Italy and head for an allied port. The Bretagne and its escorts leave Anzio and head for Toulon. President Millerand is taken to a hospital in Toulon. The rest of the foreign delegations each evacuate soon after, with all making it out- luckily- with their lives. At the end of the violence, 167 Italian rioters lay dead, as well as 28 Italian soldiers.