OSADKI: THE LION'S LAST BREATHS
1830 Hours, Konetsveta Bunker System, Nokai Range, Southeastern Emperica
Darkness. This place had not seen light in eight years. It hadn't fallen into disrepair, though - it was designed to function with little to no maintenance for several decades. All around, computer screens light up the darkness as the huge lights overhead flicker on one by one, dimly lighting the huge room. A single, huge screen dominates much of the room's front wall, casting eerie shadows off of the huge concrete desks that house the computers which curve around the room, almost like a lecture hall. It was almost like something straight out of a movie; a war room, if you will. The screen turned a dark green color, the seal of the Union of Emperican Socialist Republics appearing in the center, revolving slowly as the words 'ACTIVATING EUREKA PROTOCOL' appeared underneath it.
The only door leading into the massive room, swung open, striking the wall with a startling 'thwang'. A young woman strode in, glancing around the room for less than a second before approaching the massive screen itself, followed by several other official looking individuals. The woman's hair was dyed a light blue color, and reached just above her shoulders. Her eyes, a startling lavender color, were filled with what one could only call determination.
"Ma'me, I really don't think-" one of the followers began.
"I don't care, Lieutenant. Eureka Protocol dictates that in the event of the death of the General Secretary or an event in which he cannot be accounted for in a in a doomsday scenario, the highest ranking military official accounted for shall become leader of the Union of Emperican Socialist Republics. Since General Asimov hasn't been accounted for, that automatically makes me General Secretary for the time being."
"Well, ma'me, I was just thinking; survivors could think that this was planned, what with your name-"
"being Eureka? So what. This plan was set in place when I was in the eighth grade. Only an idiot would get worked up over something like this, or think the government did this on purpose."
"But Brigadier General ma'me, didn't General Secretary Kashikoi order the neutron bomb-"
"My brother panicked. It wasn't on purpose. He's too kind to allow something like that to happen deliberately."
"But ma'me, over eight hundred million people dead from the neutron strikes..."
"Like I said, he panicked. Panic and Eriya-sama aren't a very safe mixture."
"Brigadier, what-"
"Have you forgotten what I just said, Lieutenant?"
"No, Briga-...General Secretary Kashikoi."
"It doesn't matter that my older brother is dead. It doesn't matter that control of the nation has passed from one Kashikoi to another. I refuse to let Eriya's dream die with him; the Union of Emperican Socialist Republics will live on."
"What does that entail, Comrade General Secretary?"
The woman, probably no older than twenty-five, sat down on the chair nearest to the screen, which was now displaying a map of the Nokai Mountain Range and the various Zhiz'levgrad, or Cities of the Living Lion, throughout it. Various boxes were floating around the locations, displaying statistics such as how many citizens had arrived to the bunker compared to it's total capacity, the number of troops stationed there, whether there was proper power and running water working, that sort of thing. Eureka's snow white military uniform reflected the screen's bluish-green glow in an eerie manner. She gracefully retrieved a headset with microphone from the nearest computer and affixed it to her head.
"Display national map." she said in a clear, loud voice.
The screen responded, zooming out of the range and displaying nationwide map of the Union of Emperican Socialist Republics, or what was left of it, anyway. Various blue dots around the map displayed the largest cities - Vhestok, Tonichi, Velosky, and so on. Boxes floated above these two, displaying population and troops station. All of them flashed with a red outline, indicating that local military bases had not reported to EMCOM in forty-eight hours. Eureka looked over her shoulder at the nearest officer, with a cloudy, almost sad look in her eyes.
"Update it." she said quietly in a monotone voice.
"What?" the man replied, confused.
"I said, update it. We all know that Vhestok no longer had sixty-three million inhabitants."
The officer was left speechless for a moment before scurrying over to a computer and beginning his work. Thirty seconds later, the various boxes blinked once and displayed 'POPULATION: 0 ; ALL CONTACT LOST' as their dots turned a dark red. This was the result of idiocy and incompetence. This is what happened when man tried to play God. All holy Hell broke loose; half of the Emperican biological arsenal, easily the most deadly in the Coalition of Steel, unleashed upon the populace. Disease and pathogens, especially that damned White Fever, spread like wildfire across the continent. In a desperate attempt to reverse the catastrophe, the government completely censored the media and began using 'sever and unjust tactics' to contain the insanity. Mass slaughters of men, woman and children who may be infected with any of a plethora of hellish diseases, neutron bombings of the nation's largest cities where there was no hope. The Empericans had been pushing their luck for years, genetically engineering monsters from hell itself for military use, creating viruses that would give you nightmares just from hearing snippets of an off-handed conversation about them, and now it was all crashing down. No, it was crashed down. Everything! Over a billion people dead!
"General Secretary ma'me, you never answered me." the same lieutenant said. "How do we keep Comrade Kashikoi's dream alive? Do we send word to the Coalition for help?"
"We've considered that." Eureka said, her voice sounding as if she had just swallowed a particularly nasty medicine. "The Altarian Empire has announced that because of the neutron bombings, the Emperican government is no longer legitimate, the Union's sovereignty invalid. They intend to occupy the Motherland, clean it up, and make it their own. I doubt we'll be getting any help from the mighty Coalition of Steel."
"What about the European Alliance? Surely they'll agree to aide us in some way."
"No word from them yet. They're a wild card, at the moment."
"The Mykmacians? They've been our ally for centuries, how could they not help us?"
"I thought it was common knowledge among government and military officials that Mykmacians are incompetent at everything but eating, sleeping, and partying. Even if we were to send them a message, who is to say they themselves wouldn't take advantage of the situation, the Emperor being the sneaky little bastard that he is."
"So...we're alone?"
"Indeed. It's in our best interests to stay quiet for now and see what happens. We don't need the Altarians banging down our front door, or the Mykmacians making an even bigger mess."
Silence enveloped the room for several long, tense moments as soldiers slowly filled the room, taking position at the desks for what was now Emperican Military Command, the ruling force in Emperica for the time being. The giant screen returned to a view of the bunkers as they finished filling up. Almost all of the remaining populace of Emperica, nearly eight-hundred-million citizens, living within a massive bunker system deep within the mountains. Eureka knew she had to play her cards right.
"Comrade Briga-...General Secretary?" a corporal piped up.
"What is it?" Eureka asked, back to that expressionless way of speaking.
"What exactly is Eureka Protocol?"
"The beginning after the end." she said. "All able-bodied woman sixteen and older are to begin re-population immediately, all men over forty-five to begin factory or farm work. All males fifteen through forty-five begin basic military training and re-education for a career better suited for a doomsday scenario. The Union of Emperican Socialist Republics basically transforms into one massive machine, focused only on the continuity of her people and the reclamation of the Motherland, however long it may take. however difficult it may be."
The corporal was stunned into silence, and merely retook his seat at a computer, leaving Eureka to her thoughts. This was nothing like the Emperica she was used to, the one her big brother envisioned. It was a military state, dedicated to warfare and production. This new nation was hardly a 'union'. It was barely even worthy of the title 'commonwealth'. For an hour or so, she thought deeply about this matter. Of course, she didn't intend to run this temporary nation as a police state, either. This transitional state didn't deserve the honor of being called the 'Union of Emperican Socialist Republics' tough. Pen in hand, a large stack of government stationary in her lap, the woman set about changing this.
"Lieutenant Kitsurubami!" she said loudly, causing a young Saracen woman to rush to her side. Saracens were odd people, with their blonde hair and chestnut skin, their inquisitive red eyes.
"Yes, ma'me?" the lieutenant asked.
She was met with a large stack of papers, which Eureka handed to her without another word. The whole packet was simply titled 'Re-titling of the Emperican Transitional State'.
"What...is this, Comrade General Secretary?"
"Oh, a little something I whipped together. Lieutenant, let me personally welcome you to the Democratic Emperican Commonwealth."
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