October 1, 1896. At the Senate Chamber, Washington D.C.
The Senate floor was in chaos.
The grand hall, usually a place of measured debate and political maneuvering, had transformed into a battlefield of words. The galleries above were packed with spectators, citizens eager to see the fate of their nation unfold before them. The booming voices of senators echoed off the marble walls, clashing in a war of rhetoric that threatened to spiral out of control.
At the center of it all stood Senator James Macias, one of the loudest and most fervent voices for war. A tall, imposing man with a graying beard, Macias gripped the podium with both hands as he delivered his speech with the force of a hammer.
