The Italian Civil War

Forum member Odon noted that Padania had access to military-grade weapons like submarines, helicopters, cruise missiles (or at least their warheads) along with heavy weaponry. He posited that perhaps that elements of the Italian military (or a foreign military) were providing this support to Padania and what might have happened if this support allowed Padania to really push forward their agenda to divide Italy into five independent republics?

https://gunslinger-girl.forumotion.com/t3416-italian-civil-war

“It Was a Very Good Year”
A Gunslinger Girl Original Story by Chris Wallace
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When I was seventeen
It was a very good year
It was a very good year for small town girls
And soft summer nights
We’d hide from the lights
On the village green
When I was seventeen

As she listened to the “Chairman of the Board” croon to the accompaniment of Count Basie and his orchestra from the Coppa Room of the Sands Hotel in 1966, seventeen-year old Kara Michele Deleroux looked out the window across the Via Montevideo at the white Christmas lights adorning the trees of the Parco Don Giussani and admitted that it had indeed been a very good year for the Five Republics Faction.

A year prior Cristiano Savonarola launched his personal vendetta against Section Two of the Social Welfare Agency’s Special Operations group. Himself crippled in an assassination attempt by Section Two, he wielded his revenge through Giacomo Dante, an ex-mercenary turned terrorist who cared little for the goals of the Five Republics, just their money and the freedom to spread chaos they sanctioned.

And chaos he did spread, first bombing the bell-tower at St. Marks in Venice before following a few weeks later in a day of violence that included bombing Rome’s Leonardo di Vinci International Airport, holding the faculty and students at the Royal Spanish College at the University of Bologna hostage and attacking the Carabinieri provincial command center in Florence. 

While Cristiano’s actions were undertaken for personal reasons, the Five Republics Faction used them to advance their name and cause. Rather than bring the Republic together in condemnation, Dante’s attacks widened existing fracture lines and emboldened the various independence movements in the autonomous regions with special statute.

In the region of Trentino-Alto Adige, the South Tyrolean Freedom party came to power with a platform of seeking to rejoin with the Austrian states of North and East Tyrol, of which they’d been a part of as the Princely County of Tyrol under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before Italy had annexed them at the end of World War I. The Italian government resisted the attempt, however the Five Republics and the Padania nationalist movement provided overt and covert support to the separatists and terrorist acts under the banner of “Tyrol Bridge Builders” increased throughout the area against Italian government and military facilities. The government responded with force and the conflict climaxed with the infamous “Butchery of Bolzano” when elements of the 5th Alpine Regiment opened fire on protestors in the capital city of South Tyrol, killing 34 and wounding scores more. The domestic and international outcry forced Prime Minister Renato to accede to their wishes and not stand in the way of their reunification with Austria. 

In defining their five republics, the Five Republic Faction generally followed the guidelines laid down by Gianfranco Miglio, who’d divided Italy into three “macroregions”: Padania (composed of Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria and Emilia-Romagna); Etruria (Lazio, Marche, Tuscany, Umbria); and Mediterranea (Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Abruzzo and Molise). While Miglio had included Sardinia and Sicily in Mediterranea, they were left as independent republics under the FRF.

In March, elections were held in 13 of Italy’s now 19 regions, including most of the northern and central regions along with all of the southern regions. While the parties affiliated with the Five Republics Faction lost ground in central and southern Italy, they made significant ground in the northern regions thanks to financial support from northern industrialists and organized crime syndicates.

By early Fall the situation had turned surreal to Kara’s eyes. The pro-Padania parties had successfully put on the ballot resolutions seeking to create the Federal Republic of Padania, though these resolutions as of yet stopped short of calling for independence. Instead, they sought greater cooperation between the regions in terms of legislation, administration and finance. They also demanded to keep at least 50% of their levied taxes.

For Prime Minister Renato, losing Trentino-Alto Adige, while painful, was not a critical blow to the Republic. Losing Lombardy, Piedmonte or Tuscany would have a significant impact. The government therefore waged a vicious propaganda campaign against the referendums, the Prime Minister using his control over much of the media to do so. In response, the wealthy financial backers of the FRF spent money on an equally vicious campaign in favor of them.

When the votes were tallied, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria and Veneto all passed the resolution. The resolution failed in Piedmonte, Lombardy and Tuscany, though the vote in Lombardy had been very close and polls showed support growing within the population on joining the Federal Republic. This resulted in demonstrations for and against a new vote and both sides often clashed violently in Milan, Bergamo and Brescia. 

To restore order, the government sent in the Army to support the Carabinieri and Polizia di Stato and they never left. Originally viewed by many as an occupation force, over the months they became as normal a feature as the statues and fountains. Earlier that day she’d walked past Milan Cathedral and had seen a Centauro tank destroyer parked in the piazza, festooned with blue flowers representing the Republic of Padania and the crew of four focused on flirting with pretty girls rather than possible threats to public safety.

For the moment, the quiet and peace of the Christmas and New Years Holidays continued, but Kara wondered how long it would remain so. Perhaps her assassination of the two brothers who ran the ‘Ndrangheta group in the commune of Corsico that morning would extend the peace a bit longer, but she knew that soon enough one of the neighboring cosche would step in and fill the void and the cycle of violence would rear it's head once again.

She saw the reflection of her handler appear in the window as he came up behind her. 

“Are you ready to go?” Michele Pagani asked. 

Kara nodded and they headed for the garage.

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The End

“Byōsoku 300 Meter”
A Gunslinger Girl Original Story by Chris Wallace
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From his bell tower perch some 50 meters above the church, Brigadiere Gino Barbazza scanned the roofs of the city below through the Hensoldt ZF6x42PSG1 scope on his Heckler & Koch PSG1 sniper rifle. A light drizzle fell from low, scudded clouds; though the weather report stated it should be dry and partially clear for a speech by the Secretary of the separatist Veneto State at the Piazza XX Septembre that ran in front of the church. Long just a fringe nationalist party that never advanced beyond a handful of seats in municipal councils, they’d won two seats on the Padua Provincial Council and were supporting the efforts of one of their own to ascend to the Rovigo Provincial Council in the upcoming election.

“I’d pay 20 Euro for a bowl of ribollita,” the voice of Vice Brigadiere Umberto Merzario stated over Barbazza’s headset, referring to the heavy Tuscan soup made with leftover bread, cannellini beans and vegetables such as carrot, cabbage and onion. The Mauser 86SR marksman sat near the other end of the Piazza in the bell tower of the Church of St. Francis and St. Giustina.

“I’d take anything warm,” Appuntato Sceito Alex Baghetti retorted. “This cold rain is really starting to grate.” As the junior member of the section, the second Mauser marksman sat exposed to the elements atop the Town Hall.

“Whiners. It’s not like Livorno is any warmer this time of year and it rains even harder,” Barbazza chuckled.

“Why are we out here, anyway?” Baghetti asked.

“Because our esteemed colleagues in the NOCS haven’t been able to run this ‘Rico’ fellow to ground,” Barbazza replied.

“It sounds like this Rico fellow is doing us a favor by popping off these separatists.”

“Focus, gentlemen,” Tenente Alfonso Nannini barked over the headsets to the three men under his command. He’d set up his command post in the offices of the Church of St. Francis and St. Giustina.

“Whoever he is, this assassin is targeting elected officials of the Republic and it is our mission to stop him,” Nannini added.

One of the more effective ways to neutralize a sniper was to employ another sniper against them and the objective of Lieutenant Nannini’s section was to engage and terminate the assassin who had brazenly killed the President of the Regional Government of Veneto during the official re-opening of the clock tower in the Piazza San Marco. This same assassin, known only by their codename of “Rico”, also killed the President of the Province of Padua, who’d played a major role in the passing of the Republic referendum. The previous afternoon an attempt had been made on the Mayor of Rovigo and while he was expected to survive, he’d be lucky if he walked again. The pressure was therefore on Nannini’s section to bring the assassin to ground.

Complicating this was the fact they had little to go on in identifying who “Rico” was. Eyewitness reports agreed that the shooter was a male with blond hair, though they disagreed on him being a child in his early teens or a man in his late twenties. All of the recovered bullets were 7.62x54mmR, a rifle and machine gun round in use for over a century by the Russians. Based on ballistics data from the local police forces, they believed “Rico” employed a semi-automatic sniper rifle like the Soviet SVD or Romanian PSL and likely smuggled in from Albania or another former Warsaw Pact state from old Soviet stocks.

The Piazza was surrounded by residential and office buildings and Lieutenant Nannini felt that the two bell towers provided them with complete coverage of those building’s roofs. Additional uniformed and plains-clothed security units would scan the windows from the ground.

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People wearing the blue of the Republic of Padania made their way onto the piazza and the two marksmen in the bell towers continued to scan the roofs while Baghetti kept an eye on the area around the Town Hall in case “Rico” tried to shoot them as they headed for the Fiat Ideas that would transport them to the rally.

“The dignitaries are in their vehicles and are en route to the site,” Baghetti reported. 

“Everyone stay sharp,” Nannini ordered. “If you see the target, report in before you engage.” 

“Acknowledged,” Baghetti responded.

“Acknowledged,” Merzario added.

“Barbazza. Acknowledge,” Nannini ordered.

There was no reply.

“Brigadiere Barbazza, acknowledge my last transmission,” Nannini repeated, but still there was no reply.

“Merzario, do you have a visual on Barbazza?”

“Negative, Lieutenant. I can’t see beyond the belfry’s windows with the angle of the sun.”

“Baghetti, high-tail it over to the bell tower.”

“Yes, Lieutenant.”

“Do you see anything, Merzario?”

“The roofs look clear, Lieutenant.”

A few minutes later, Baghetti reported.

“Brigadiere Barbazza is dead sir. Looks like he took a rifle round through the skull. Based on the wound pattern, I’m guessing 7.62mm.”

“What? Did anyone hear a rifle report?” Nannini exclaimed. Both snipers reported negative.

“Sir, I have movement bordering the Viale Trieste,” Merzario reported.

“Is it ‘Rico’?” 

“I didn’t get a read before they went into hiding. Wait…they’re moving. It’s a boy and he has a long bag strapped across his back. Holy shit!”

“Report!”

“The kid just jumped between two buildings at least three meters apart. Damn he’s fast. He’s ducked behind one of the structures.”

“Baghetti, reinforce Merzario. Merzario, give me a location and I’ll relay it to the security detail.”

“Uhh…hello? Anyone there?” a hushed voice hesitantly stated over the channel less than a minute later.

“Identify yourself!” Nannini barked.

“Carabiniere Scelto Ignazio Boffa, sir. I drove Appuntato Sceito Baghetti to the church—”

“Put Baghetti on!”

“He’s dead sir! He was shot as he looked out the window. I didn’t hear anything, sir. He just craned his body out and then his head…his head…”

“Get ahold of yourself, Carabiniere Boffa! Contact your commanding officer and order him to evacuate the dignitaries immediately to safety in one of the surrounding buildings! Do you understand?”

“Si, capisco!”

“Where the hell is he, Merzario?”

“I don’t see him, Lieutenant. He’s holed himself up.”

“Can he get a shot from his position?”

“Negative, sir. There is a large apartment complex between him and the stage.”

“Understood, I have police units headed for the Via Trieste.”

“Target’s on the move. Permission to en—.”

“Permission granted,” Nannini said. “Did you hear me, Merzario? Gino? Respond, Merzario!”

The lieutenant slammed down his radio in frustration and headed for the back door that opened onto a walkway that led to the adjoining bell tower.

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In the cupola of a building on the corner of the Via Trieste and Via Sylvestri that offered a clear view of both bell towers, Kara broke down her DSR-1 Subsonic sniper rifle and prepared to extricate herself. She wore her private school uniform and the rifle fit neatly in her backpack.

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As Nannini stepped outside, he caught in his peripheral vision a tall man in a suit with an outstretched arm, followed by a flash and then blackness.

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Michele Pagani leaned down to recover the ejected casing from his suppressed FN Five-seveN and walked down an alley towards a grey Fiat Bravo 5-door. Starting the car, he swung out onto the Piazzale San Francisco and proceeded east. He first picked up Kara, then Rico (who had a tube golf club bag across her back) before turning onto one of the main roads that led out of the commune.

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The End

Good to see some new material from you, Kisk. And a revival of this excellent thread.