Berengar was sitting in his office with a stern expression on his handsome visage. Standing across from him was his wife, Linde, who was dressed in her intelligence uniform. The busty redheaded beauty was his director of intelligence, and she had received a radiotelegraph from the Byzantine Empire. She handed the communication over to her husband before summarizing its contents.
"Emperor Vetranis requests further military aid in the form of material support. He has lost control over large swaths of the Holy Land. His armies that can be deployed to the region have suffered heavy losses, and the Timurids are in a worse position.
He is afraid that the Crusaders will march south and attack our little project in Egypt. Egypt, as you know, is a considerable source of income for the Eastern Empire, and they are afraid of losing it. Thus, they are using our canal as a means to inspire us to help them."