The Season Turns (Telegram for Entry please)

[Ghant]

Heshbon, Bara Province, New Edom

The villagers were carefully loaded into trucks, their possessions processed, and security provided all the while. Ion was actually surprised that nobody had gotten killed. He fully expected and anticipated an incident, and yet, even as the village was about to be fully evacuated, there hadn't been any. A pleasant surprise.

Once it had become the time to return to Heshbon, they did so similarly to how they departed it for Eshtoth. By way of convoys spaced 100 meters apart, four at a time to avoid ambushes. Again, interestingly enough, there were no incidents. No ambushes...yet. Although, that could have been because they were carrying the villagers in the trucks, and the ETC hurting the people that it undoubtedly wanted the support of would be counterproductive, to say the least.

The trucks pulled into the train station in Heshbon, and once there, the Ghantar began to facilitate the disembarking of the villagers from the vehicles, so that they could then get on the trains. Well, this isn't all that difficult, Ion mused to himself as he got out of a truck and stretched his back in the station, lighting up a cigarette to calm his weary nerves.

After a few minutes, Shobal emerged from another part of the station that Ion hadn't been paying attention to. He walked with a brisk pace and a smiling face towards where the Ghantish and Edomite bigwigs were at, presumably to speak.

Which he did. "Alright, look here. It seems we need to have a bit of a heads up on how to deal with these evacuations. We're supposed to be a bit more friendly and courteous...like airline stewardesses or something. Well. Any ideas about that would be appreciated, let's put our heads together briefly, just a few minutes, before we start out."

No shit, Ion thought with a very discreet headshake. Didn't I fucking tell you that in Eshtoth? "Well," Ion began to explain, "most of it boils down to attitude. I mean, the people we are trying to evacuate can't feel alright with what's happening, if the people evacuating them don't either. Take Noyeed and Ravin for instance. Noyeed was acting like a dick, and shooting his gun at the feet of that old woman. There was a better way to handle that," Ion pointed out. Pull a stunt like that where I am from, and you take a lance through the heart by somebody that gets offended.

"What Ravin did was also uncalled for, but at the same time, the culture of the mission was established by Noyeed. Makes me wonder if Ravin saw Noyeed act a certain way towards the villagers, he must have gotten the impression that it would have been alright to do it as well," Ion explained before taking another drag.

"It's about having a professional attitude. We are out here representing the Heir, guys. Do you really want half of fucking Bara province to associate the Heir with unprofessionalism? If the Regency is to prevail against the ETC, then it will have to do so on the streets, in the country and by example. We are all good little soldiers putting it all at risk for the Heir and Regent. So let's act like we give a damn," Ion finished as he put out his cigarette underfoot.

The other Ghantar, including Lords Aldapa, Anaba and Zama, nodded in agreement. Then the glanced at the Edomites.

[Jedoria]

Sixington, Gloria Regis

Pușcaș liked what he saw as he entered the bank. Not only was it's architectural design eye-pleasing, it appeared to be a modern building, made to withstand the environment, both natural and human. The pillars and interior looked solid, and well... like a bank, which Pușcaș guessed was to be expected. The accompanying Jedorians soon fleshed out, inspecting areas of the bank, including the upper floors for offices and meeting rooms. The more paper-pusher types identified locations for filing cabinets, folders, and record books. The more tech-savvy identified outlets and potential areas to begin setting up the LAN.

Some of the agents began redecorating immediately, and upon realizing just how heavy the furniture was, called to their comrades to assist. As they did so, Pușcaș conferred with Theodora. He nodded while she went over their publicity plans, it seemed good enough, now they just needed to find the right message. It wouldn't be easy. It had to appeal to all the different ethnicity and political groups that inhabited Gloria Regis. It wouldn't be easy, but it could be done.

When Theodora commented on their families left behind in Jedoria, it struck a chord with the district commander, though he dismissed her concerns. "We've got a job to do ma'am. Doesn't matter where, what time, we're gonna get it done. And I thank you for the hospitality. I'll be sure to make it to dinner tonight."

Once Theodora left, the Jedorians got busy setting up their stations. Most of their equipment wouldn't arrive for the next few days, but they could start planning out offices, phone lines, crew quarters, and such.

[Vyrsar]

Psalmist District
Harbourtown

Rikkers continued to film the whole scene, the vehicles, the Vyrsarian soldiers approaching, the street, anything he could use. Olsen had been just about to switch to German when the first soldier he had spoken to called over for his superior. Holly had been distracted trying to set up shots of everything until she saw the rather imposing Vyrsarian troops approaching. She backed away a little bit unwittingly, Rikkers was back a little ways filming still, and Chris was up front and center.

Olsen was about level with Voller, give or take a few centimeters, with a strong jaw, light stubble, short brown hair, and wearing a now somewhat dusty button down and slacks. Rikkers wore the same thing he always did, a t-shirt and jeans, circles under his eyes, and still sporting a full beard. Holly was wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts that showed off her toned, smooth legs in addition to accentuating her hips. She wore a somewhat apprehensive expression.

When Voller addressed the news crew, Rikkers focused on him. Olsen very directly, as though he was any other interviewee, said “Stabshauptmann, we caught some of what happened on film. Are you or one of your staff available for comment?”

Voller looked over each of them carefully. It was clear that he was thinking about his next words. He affixed his helmet suddenly, checking his weapon. He then looked back up at the reporters.

“I do not know if I am allowed to speak to reporters. If you want, you may follow me and I can direct you someone who I know can,” he said simply. His attention was then distracted by another soldier who walked up him. The patches on her left arm denoted that she was a medic, as did the latex gloves on her hands, which were currently stained red. Her sleeves were rolled up. Pulling down her shemagh scarf from over her face, she barely looked a day over sixteen.

“Wir haben drei Todesopfer. Mit Füßen getreten,” she said quickly, a stray lock of hair going over her face.

“Nichts, was wir tun können. Beweg Sie zur seite,” Voller said. The medic nodded, motioning and then walking past behind Voller. Behind him, two soldiers carried a stretcher with a covered body on it. Voller looked back at the reporters, unphased, awaiting their response.

Holly watched the medic with the bloodstained gloves walking by. “Who would that be, and where are they?” Olsen asked, taking a mental note of the medic’s comment. They might not know he understood what she’d said. Three dead, trampled.

Before Voller could answer, Holly blurted out “Did you shoot the crowd that was here?”

Looking out at the street, and the shell casings on the ground around his feet, Voller put on a fake pensive expression before looking back at Holly.

“I suppose you could say that technically, we did. Just not with real bullets,” he said, shrugging. He then looked back at Olsen and motioned. “Komm.”

“That’s not funny,” Holly admonished. Olsen shot a glance over at her before they followed him.

He checked his weapon once more before casually walking down the street, away from the rear of the formation. Vehicles were moving up still over cleared parts of the street, towards the NWP Office way down, where the roar of a crowd and the marching of boots could still be heard in the distance. Almost comically, Voller looked both ways before crossing the street, pausing a moment to allow a tank with the words ‘10.000 Grad’ written across its barrel to pass by. He led them into a building on the side, where he knew their company commander was with a few of the medical officers. A command vehicle was out front, the ramp dropped, along with another armoured vehicle.

As he walked inside, they were hit with a terrible, terrible stench.

“Jesus,” Voller said, pulling his shemagh over his mouth and nose. “Should have kept my mask on.”


Olsen and Rikkers winced a bit, exhaling sharply, Rikkers shaking his head a bit, but both of them pressing onwards. Holly, however, started coughing and backed right back out of the door. “What...what is that?” she asked, fighting for breath.

“Death,” Voller said rather ominously without a second thought as he walked further. Olsen encouraged her forward, she did so with some reluctance. Turning around, he held a hand out in front of the reporters. “Wait here.”

The building looked to be something of a store, or a pub. Tables were overturned, glass smashed, and the stench of death permeated the dusty and humid air. Two soldiers, with latex gloves and dust masks and goggles, came out of the backroom area that Voller had just disappeared into. They had cameras slung around their necks, and handed them off to other waiting soldiers who took them outside. Voller then came back with another, slightly shorter officer in tow.

This officer, also a Stabshauptmann (or Captain to the Adirans), was a woman this time. Blonde, with rich golden hair, and blue eyes concealed behind her goggles. She pulled down her dust mask and lifted her goggles off her eyes, revealing an older- most likely in her mid to late twenties- and attractive face. Her blonde hair was tied into a low bun under her helmet so as not to interfere with its wear. Voller motioned to the reporters as they approached, and the other Captain did not give off an air of overt friendliness, but rather one of professionalism.

“Stabshauptmann Krueger,” he introduced. Standing aside. Krueger looked over them, her eyes scanning the reporters just as Voller had done.

“Captain Voller tells me that you have some questions for us?” she said, her tone curving the words into a request for confirmation.

“Chris Olsen, ANBC,” he introduced himself, offering a handshake if it was accepted. Holly gave some direction to Rikkers, who fired up his camera and started filming, but she was struggling not to retch at the smell. “We’re looking for information on the riots here. First off what exactly happened in this riot? Does anybody know what triggered it?”

Krueger pulled a latex glove off her hand and shook Chris’ hand. “As to your first question, our immediate reports from unmanned aerial vehicle footage, witness accounts from helicopter crew, and our own searching here on the ground are showing the the riot caused widespread looting, destruction of property, and murder. Not that you need an investigation to see that.

“We do not know what triggered it, but as of right now our suspicions based on UAV feeds from after the riot, as well as information from other sectors of the city, lead us to believe that this riot was ideologically fueled, likely by factions such as the ETC which hold a lot of influence in the city.”

While Kruger was talking, Voller reached into a pouch on the back of his belt and pulled out a second, folded shemagh. He tapped Holly on the shoulder, handing her the scarf and motioning for her to wrap it around her face to cover the smell as best she could.

From the backroom, two medical officers came out not with a stretcher carrying a body, but rather holding multiple olive drab disposable bags. Their gloves- and some of the outside of the bags, were stained dark red and the medics made a beeline for the door where they deposited the bags on top of a tarp on the sidewalk.

Holly accepted the scarf with a look of considerable confusion, until the medics with the bags walked through. She gagged and rather quickly turned away, covering her nose with the scarf. Olsen looked at her, distracted for a moment, until he looked at Rikkers and told him to cut. He had a job to do, after all. “Apologies, Stabshauptmann Krueger, one second.”

He put a hand on Holly’s back. “You all right?” he asked quietly.

She shook her head quickly, but then tried to retract it. Taking a deep breath, she said “I’ll...I’ll be fine...keep going…” she said, a bit muffled, her face still buried in the scarf.

“You sure? I can ask if we can move,” Olsen said.

“No, don’t waste their time, I’ll...I can deal with it…” Holly said through the scarf.

Krueger looked at Voller, speaking very quickly, “Nimm ihr woanders.”

Nodding, Voller placed a hand on Holly’s shoulder and gently pushed her towards the door. He looked at Olsen. He returned the look a bit warily.

“I’m going to take her outside,” he explained.

“Wait!” Holly said. She pulled her phone out, showing Olsen something from her notes. She whispered a few things about the interview. She then said a few words to Travis, mostly about ideas for other shots, in case she didn’t come back in. “I’ll be back...just...maybe some fresh air, yeah…” she said.

Looking a bit concerned still, Olsen turned back to Krueger as Rikkers kept filming. “How exactly did your forces respond to the riots here? What is the CPO’s policy on violence like this?”

“My forces responded with the same level of force as authorised. When presented with lethal force by the rioters, specifically in the use of weapons such as Molotov cocktails, they responded with the use of CR gas and rubber ammunition to disperse the crowd. As for the CPO’s overall policy, that is a question for someone with a higher pay grade than myself.”

“What’s the extent of the damage? Are there estimates on wounded, deaths, property damage? Was it all contained to the Psalmist District?” Olsen asked.

“All currently unknown right now. We’re still securing parts of city. Currently, we know that it was centred in, but not completely contained within, the Psalmist District. Containment measures were taken before confronting the crowd that helped to keep the majority of the violence to the district, however.”

“We actually covered a test election in Carnmag last year. Electoral violence was common but generally contained and far less severe. Nothing like this. We also filmed what happened to the Leck Party HQ here in Harbourtown. Have there been any more attacks on polling stations, registration centers, or political offices today?”

“The NWP headquarters office, located far down the street, is currently in the process of being secured. As far as my own knowledge goes, that is the most prominent political centre that has been attacked. Other officers may have more information, but as far as my knowledge in this sector of the district goes, that’s the primary target.”

“Is there a plan in place to defend the HQ?” Olsen asked.

“Yes, we’re going to break the riot,” Krueger said with a shrug.

“How?” Olsen pressed.

“With the same process we did here. If they start using lethal force again, then we will have to resort to the same measures. Fortunately, if my updates from the actual officers I have there are correct, that does not seem to be the case. The crowd is dispersing slowly, and we haven’t had to fire gas yet.”

“We recently heard that Noviteran peacekeepers were ambushed up at Saint Joseph. Has your contingent taken any losses here in Harbourtown?” Olsen asked.

“No. The only damage sustained were some minor first degree burns and injuries from flying broken glass from the molotovs,” Kruger answered.

“In the past, this same sort of violence has been backed by heavily armed ETC paramilitary groups, operating completely independently of the Theocratic Republic and the Prophet. What if these rioters are the tip of the iceberg? Are your forces prepared to deal with militia armed with heavy weapons?”

“Our contingent is ready to deal with any threat, whether it be rioters and looters or regular soldiers.”

Looking back towards the door, Olsen said “What’s being done for the wounded out there?”

“Standard treatment. Bandaging open wounds so they don’t get infected, whatever painkillers we can spare. Unarmed people are being treated first. Anyone who was found on the ground with a weapon is being detained and their treatment postponed in favour of unarmed peoples,” Krueger answered.

“Thank you for your time, Captain,” he said, looking back at Travis. “By the way, what’s happening at NWP HQ, can we get there? Is the area relatively secure?”

Krueger only raised an eyebrow and murmured ‘Reporters’ before motioning for them to follow her.

Voller, meanwhile, had led Holly outside. Once they were out of the building the stench nearly disappeared. He lead her away from the bags on the sidewalk which were being loaded into a small truck, and towards the corner of the street. He lowered his scarf and removed his helmet, taking a deep breath. Inside of his helmet he had a picture of two small children tucked in, the photograph obviously worn. Holly lowered her scarf and gasped for clean air, bent over at the waist, coughing a bit. “What...what happened inside there? Do I want to know?”

“The riot happened,” he answered, motioning to a bloody machete that was laying on the street.

Holly shivered a bit, wrapping her arms around herself. Voller’s unflappable demeanor wasn’t helping. She tried to change the subject. “Are those your kids?” she asked.

“Siblings,” Voller answered, looking down at the picture in his helmet. Under the picture, in the fabric, scribbled in black marker, was the common phrase ‘Schutz der Heimat’, as though it was his own personal justification for what he did. He removed a water bottle from a pocket on his trousers, offering it to Holly.

“Oh, um, thanks,” she said, realizing she’d gone through hers already. “Did you really have to shoot all of them? I saw what those rubber bullets can do in Fineberg. Was that really the only way?”

“The only way? Perhaps, perhaps not. Politicians will be debating the decisions we made and the orders we were given. But it isn’t our purpose on the ground to question orders. We are given them, and we carry them out as we see fits the situation. And from the ground, when you’re having Molotovs thrown at your face, I can say that at that point it was the last thing we could do,” Voller answered. He didn’t seem pleased at the words, but rather tired. As though it was something he’d seen being done and had done himself multiple times before.

Holly seemed a bit confused by Voller’s philosophizing. It wasn’t making her feel better, that was for sure. “Did you get used to all this, at some point?” she asked, perhaps hoping that she wouldn’t see enough of it to become acclimated to it herself.

“Get used to it?” Voller thought about the question for a moment. “I don’t think you ever really get used to it, so to speak. More of just you become… what’s the word.... desensitised to it. It stops affecting you as much, and eventually it just becomes a part of your life.”

“I don’t want that to happen to me,” Holly said, before looking over at him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean... but, well, you know what I mean, right?”

“It’ll happen to anyone who stays in places like these for any time,” Voller said. He pointed at a soldier across the street, the young infantryman who Olsen had originally talked to. “Him? He’s 18. Already saw several months of combat in Nekulturnya.

“It only took him a week before he was like us old, bitter, grouchy veterans,” he continued, cracking a smile.

“I...want to help places like this. I see people here with nothing, or getting killed,” Holly said. “But at the same time I don’t know if I can take it…”

She suddenly shook her head. “Listen to me talking like I have problems. They’re shooting at your guys!”

“Well,” Voller said, looking down at Holly. “To be fair, part of our job description involves periodically getting shot at.”

“That sounds like something he would say,” she said, motioning inside.

“It’s nice that you want to help places like this, but there comes a point that you realise that there will always be places like this. Most of the time there is no way to change them besides destroying what already exists and building something else.”

“I think...I think I’m ready to go back inside. It was just those bags of...god knows what,” she said, a chill running up her spine. “People? Bits of people?”

Voller was about to reply when Krueger came outside, Olsen and Rikker in tow. She made a hand motion that signaled to Voller that they were moving, and Voller nodded. He fixed his helmet back.

Krueger led them to an armoured vehicle, the Iron Cross emblazoned on the side with the words ‘Schutz der Heimat’. She reached inside, pulling out a set of body armour and a helmet and handing it to Voller. She then pulled out two vests, handed them to Olsen and Rikker, and handed them two helmets to accompany the armour.

“You’ll need to put those on. Standard procedure, not my rules. Meet me outside the building in five,” she said, then departing for the building they had just been in.

Voller turned to Holly with the body armour and the helmet. “Need help?”

Olsen pulled his on rather quickly, making a couple of adjustments before turning to Holly. “We’re going to NWP HQ. This is kind of the thick of it, are you sure you’re all right?”

She smiled a bit weakly. “No, not really. Well, what are we waiting for?” she said, laughing lightly. Looking at Voller she said, “I think I’m all right, thanks.”

Travis, on the other hand, was wearing it way too loose, and trying to figure out how to get it fitted right. “Uh, little help? I know this isn’t right...”

Voller walked up to Travis, who was trying to fix an MIPT vest. Voller simply lifted up two velcro flaps at the front of the vest to reveal a cummerbund underneath- meant to stop the vest from bouncing when the wearer was running- and another large velcro strap. He simply lifted it up, pulled it tighter, and then reaffixed the velcro before closing the flap to cover it back up.

“Ready?” he asked, pulling the bolt back on his rifle a bit to check the chamber.

Travis nodded. “I’ve never worn this model before, is all.”

Turned out Holly wasn’t all right, and Chris helped her put her vest on. “You’re sure about this?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said, a little unconvincingly. The vest chafed a bit uncomfortably on her bare skin, and Chris thought the vest looked decidedly out of place on her. Even more out of place was the helmet she somewhat hesitantly put on after pulling her hair back.

Olsen then indicated to Voller they were ready to go.

Voller nodded, motioning for them to follow him. As they were walking, a voice called out loudly.

“Stefan!”

Voller reacted to the name, looking around before spotting a figure hanging off the side of a passing AFV. He hopped off, walking towards Voller. Voller took a second to realise who it was before he broke out with a smirk.

“Seine Königliche Hoheit ziert uns mit seiner Anwesenheit,” he chuckled, before clasping forearms with the other man. The two walked, conversing as they went with Olsen, Rikkers, and Holly following behind them.

“Warum zu Teufel bist du hier unten?” Voller questioned.

“Was dem Kanzlerin einige Augen und Ohren auf den Boden,” the other man replied. The nametape on the back of his helmet read ‘Vandenberg’, although his face was obscured by a shemagh. A patch on his left sleeve identified him- not that Olsen, Rikkers, or Holly would recognise- as being part of a reconnaissance and intelligence unit.

Olsen’s brow furrowed at noticing the name of the back of the helmet. Vandenberg? If that was the same Vandenberg he was thinking of, how did he wind up here? Voller even made a crack about “His Royal Highness” or some equivalent. Unfortunately Rikkers had put away his camera while they were getting situated. Holly for her part didn’t notice, not really looking for name tags.

As they rounded the corner, Krueger had a similar reaction to Voller.

“Markus?” she questioned in a questioning tone. Apparently, even with his face covered, he was recognisable to them.

“Ein und Einzige,” he replied with a hint of amusement in his tone.

“Reporters,” Krueger said in a matter of fact tone. At that, Markus paused. Krueger motioned with her head to behind him. He turned around, spotting the news crew behind him. His eyes conveyed a look of comical confusion, and he turned back around to face Krueger.

“Warum?”

“Ich weiß nicht.”

Nodding slowly, Markus turned back around. He pulled down his shemagh, giving a nod to Olsen, Holly, and Rikkers.

“Reporters,” he said simply before turning back around.

“Wohin du gehst, Ich werde,” he told Krueger. She nodded and explained what they were doing. Markus nodded, Voller nodded, and everyone seemed to get the point. She lead them to an AFV that was to the side, ramp dropped, compartment mostly empty save for two other troops.

She motioned to Holly. “Ladies without guns first.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile, still looking a bit worried. Olsen clarified “We’re here to get footage of both the riots and the CPO response. Within reason, of course. Unless things have…”

Olsen trailed off. Suddenly there was a voice over the public loudspeaker system. It was Elder Brother Malachi, calling for prayer and meditation for an hour. “What the hell does that mean?” Rikkers asked.

“I don’t know, but I think we’d better go see if anybody else is listening. Ready when you are,” he said to Voller.

Voller nodded, stepping inside the armoured vehicle with Markus after the others had boarded. Markus was sat across from Holly, Rikker, and Olsen. He removed his helmet and pulled down his shemagh, revealing a very handsome face, blond hair, and neatly trimmed facial hair. He leaned forward, looking Holly directly in the eye but addressing all of them when he spoke.

“So where are you people from?”

Holly briefly made eye contact with Markus, she had big, expressive, bright blue eyes. Her skin glowed from the heat and the day’s exertions.

“Not really anywhere,” Rikkers replied. “Army brat here. We went wherever Dad was stationed.”

“I’m from...well, it’s just a tiny little farm town really,” Holly said. “But I live in Puerto Rojas now. I love it. Where are you from?”

“A small place called Zürich,” Markus answered. He extended a hand across the vehicle. “Markus von Vandenberg, at your service sirs and madame.”

Holly shook his hand. Chris had been studying him. “You’re part of the royal family. Chris Olsen, ANBC,” he said, extending a handshake himself.

“Wait, what?” Holly asked.

“Vandenberg. The Vyrsarian royal family. We’re riding with a prince,” Chris pointed out.

“Really?” she asked, looking back at Markus.

“How long?” Markus asked, looking at Voller.

“About 30 seconds.”

“Yes really,” Markus said, looking at Holly. With her hand still in his, he brought her hand up and kissed it in the cliche royal gesture, before giving Chris a firm handshake. “Didn’t think us royals did anything but sit around all day and be rich?”

Holly blushed hotly, giving Markus a slightly intrigued look. “Depends on the country,” Olsen replied to him. “Here in New Edom the Queen gave up all her clothes, lives in a refugee center, and works all day in an aquaponics center on the other side of town. Then again, up north in Ghant the royals still actually live in castles.”

“Castles are overrated. To live in. They get creepy after a couple hundred years or so,” Markus said. He kept his eyes locked with Holly’s as he leaned back, his weapon resting across his lap.

“Can...we get a few shots of you?” Holly asked. Rikkers glanced over with an eyebrow cocked, as if to say ‘Define we.” Chris noticed Markus’ fixation on her by now, looking between the two.

“I do not see how that is important to your jobs here, but sure,” Markus, taking a moment to shift his gaze between Rikkers and Olsen as well as Holly. Krueger’s voice came up barely in the background, talking on the radio, and Voller was busy with some sort of military-grade touchscreen pad.

“Well, you want people know you’re not sitting around being rich, right?” Holly said with a wink. She took the camera from Travis. “Any words for people back home?” she asked, holding it up. Olsen rolled his eyes a bit.

“Sag Adenauer: mehr Bier senden,” Markus said with a chuckle. He even got a chuckle out of Voller and Krueger. Markus smiled, looking over at his two comrades and then back at Holly, his face and the interior of the vehicle illuminated by red light.

[New Edom]

Signs for All to See

Heshbon

The New Edomite officers looked at Ion silently a moment. In fact their response to Ion was rather cold, and they stared at him with some hostility a moment, though their demeanor was also polite.

"Thank you for your advice," said Shobal courteously. "We shall take that in consideration."

"I don't care for his tone," said one of the Marine platoon commanders to Shobal. "Good little soldiers indeed..."

"Alright," said Shobal curtly. "The Ranger has not been in our country. He hasn't seen our people blown up by IEDs, he's only seeing one side of it. He hasn't seen how they have mobbed people; he doesn't know that people like this cut people's heads off in places like Harbourtown just for disagreeing. He only sees women and children and old men. So it's hard for him to see that Noyeed is not just being a...dick. He's representing the anger and frustration of soldiers who in doing their duty find that they can barely sleep at night out on ambush in the marsh; he represents soldiers who resent having to do a damned dirty job like this. When the Ranger says 'unprofesional' he doesn't mean it as an insult." he smiled then. 'He means it as an encouragement, surely, which is how we shall take it. It's no different from getting a cow onto a truck when you think about it--you get it on quicker with clover than blows, eh? Alright, by tomorrow I want suggestions from all officers about how to go about this better on paper."

"We're done with school, Captain," protested another platoon commander.

"Not yet, it seems. Alright, let's get them onto the trains. Thank you gentlemen, carry on."

Shobal and Kiron spoke briefly as they walked away. "The Ghantish officers are not really that useful," Kiron said quietly. "Ion is the only one worth anything, and he's got a chip on his shoulder. He doesn't see that Noyeed is a good NCO--just not suited for this. None of us are, we werent' trained for this."

"No. Let me worry about Ion and the Ghantish. You keep track of signals and support," said Shobal, "Though I thank you for the advice."

The next phase of it was getting all the villagers and those items of goods and livestock that were being transferred with them onto the rail trucks and then have the train, with mounted guards on it, go rattling off eastward towards the lines around Salcah. Generally insurgents didn't go for passenger trains, which these were, admittedly nearly all third class cars but still--an effort was being made on that front at least.

Harbourtown

"Here is the deal," said the Vice-Ethnarch to Dr. Campion on the phone. "The moment the Vyrsarians are there, you will request an escort to the airport or rail station and leave at the earliest opportunity."

"I think that is very unfortunate of Your Excellency. If I am not here, where is my constituency?" Campion said sharply.

"Listen to me, Campion: you will be lucky to have any living constituency. The people are angry; they believe that your party wants to take away their rights, their traditions, their culture and faith and replace it with international capitalism. Are they wrong?" Vice-Ethnarch Gamaliel said.

"Of course they are! We're the conservative party..." Campion pinched his nose in frustration; he glanced up sharply at noises from outside; crowds of people were defintitely moving off, stopping to kneel in prayer. He hoped the Vyrsarians had the sense to not provoke them but just take advantage of the chance to position themselves.

"Alright what if I don't leave?" he said wearily.

"Then...I cannot answer for what the city militias will do. You do realize that it is a city, and that the CPO cannot control every street if every street contains outraged armed free citizenry..." Gamaliel was saying.

"Spare me," Campion said curtly. "It seems I have little choice in the matter." His mind was already turning rapidly. "Alright, I'll go. Straight to the airport then."

"A wise decision, Doctor Campion," said Vice-Ethnarch Gamaliel, who put the phone down and looked up at his advisers. Among them was a bony faced man with a face almost like a skull's--hollow eyes, small nose, thin lips, nearly bald, painted white and blue. "Commandant, order all Militia to resume standard patrols or go back to reserve status. Advise them that they have done their duty well, and that the people of Harbourtown owe them a debt of gratitude. Let the reservists go back to their jobs."

"Excellency." the man turned and left the room. Gamaliel realized he was incredibly thirsty and drank deeply from a glass of water.

[Ghant]

Heshbon, Bara Province, New Edom

...That can't be good. The New Edomite officers looked at Ion silently for a moment, as if processing what he said...not in a good way. Their response to him did seem rather cold, and they stared at him with some hostility a moment, though their demeanor also seemed polite, perhaps in recognition of him trying to be helpful.

"Thank you for your advice," said Shobal courteously. "We shall take that in consideration."

At that, Ion inclined his head and walked off to find something else to do. He expected it to be something pertaining to the mission, but instead he bumped into Lord Aldapa, who gave Ion a toothy grin. "Seems like everything is going well. That was a nice little speech you gave back there."

"Thanks," Ion told him as he went to step aside. He didn't like the vibes that he was getting at that particular time.

Aldapa stepped aside with him though, before he continued to speak. "I read the field reports, Ranger. I hear it through the grapevine that you are sympathetic towards the vermin we are attempting to deal with."

"...If I didn't know any better, I would think you are accusing me of harboring enemy sympathies," Ion told him point blank, with narrowed eyes fixated on his.

"I wouldn't go that far. You know how we deal with traitors this far away from Ghant," Aldapa smirked. "And besides, it was Lord Xerra himself who vouched for you, and I know you to be the Crippled Prince's pet. So it wouldn't be me you would have to worry about, but him. And you know what they say about what he does to his enemies."

Ion gave a suppressed laugh, and looked at Aldapa with a cocked head. "I can have a heart without being a traitor, my Lord." You should try it sometime." These are just regular people from the bottom trying to scratch out a living from nothing. It's bad enough that they are being asked to leave behind everything they know. Least we can all do is show them proper courtesy and respect. After all, I fully suspect that they don't want to get involved in either side, and are just wanting a bountiful harvest and good health."

"You shouldn't be so naive," Aldapa pointed out to him brusquely. "They are already ETC, mark my words. Doing what we are doing now might make them realize the futility of their allegiance, and return to the side of proper government once it becomes apparently why they should. Your empathy for the villagers is a weakness, and could get you killed, you know. This isn't Ghant...this is New Edom. Principles of ancient honor and conduct are not known here."

"Yeah, we shall see about that, my lord. Now if you will excuse me, I have some shit to check up on," Ion explained dryly as he once again went to step aside.

"...By all means," Aldapa said with a grin as he let Ion walk around him.

Shaking his head, Ion went to observe the next phase of the process. It consisted of getting all the villagers and their goods loaded onto the rail trucks. The train had mounted guards on it to see them to their destination, which lay eastward towards Salcah.

Apparently, the insurgents had not been attacking passenger trains, but a defense of them was being emphasized anyway. It made Ion remember an old saying he had once heard. It is better to have something when you don't need it, than to not have it when you do.

[Vyrsar]

Harbourtown

When the prayer began the officers on the ground, as they were trained to do, adapted to the situation. They began moving troops into buildings to overlook and gain positions over buildings that the helicopters and UAVs had identified as being occupied by armed unidentified personnel. They were more concerned now in ending this without a firefight. In the fast and efficient fashion that they were famed for in Nekulturnya, the troops wasted no time in setting up machine gun positions and marksmen for overwatch as vehicles and troops on the ground were arranged a distance away from occupied buildings in a defensive formation.

If one could see from above, they would notice that there was a pattern to the way that the troops oriented themselves in the area that was occupied by the militia. It was inherently defensive, and also cut off routes into and out of the areas that were being occupied by militia in buildings. They were containing the areas in their sector to prevent the Militia from physically moving to any areas they didn't want them should the militia decide to fight.

Once the prayer was over, they would present the Militia with the offer to peacefully negotiate and listen to the grievances that the Militia and the populace had, as well as offer medical treatment and aid to civilians that the Militia knew needed it.

At the NWP office, the rioters would be offered the same thing once the prayer ended over the loudspeaker. The riot line had stopped. A wall of shields in front of these people. The tanks had stopped, and it was quiet compared to before. A squad of troops took the opportunity- under cover from marksmen- to move through the praying people and secure a path to the office building itself.

[Novitera]

Cowboy Capitalist

San Crispiano, State of Jita, Novitera

Noviterans had a saying that there were three ways to make a lot of money, "Be first, be smarter or cheat." The richest were one of the first two or a combination of both. Those were the houses built to last. Many were rich off cheating as well but those houses always ended up crumbling down quickly. But for the men at Endeavor LLC, there was a new way of doing business and that was being brave. Their offices were located on the 11th floor of a San Crispiano high rise. Hardly spacious but it was clean, kept cool and did the job. Only two men of the small company received their own offices. The rest worked out of cubicles if they were in the office at all. A crew but, tall man of moderate attractiveness entered wearing jeans and a tucked in dress shirt. He wore ray ban style sun glasses and had a duffel bag. His coworkers sitting at the cubicles cheered as he entered.

"Good trip Randall?" Asked one of the women covering the receiver end of her phone.

"Wonderful! Arcologia is stunning this time of year." He responded.

Randall Hart, something of a legend in the small company. There were mostly two kinds of people who worked at Endeavor. First there what they called the Brokers who got the contracts and dealt with any financing needs before being paid. Endeavor was a young company that struggled with liquidity so loans had to be taken out often to float the business. Then there were the Venture Managers who made sure the contracts were carried out. That was the hard part about what they did which was anything and everything when it came to the underdeveloped war torn world. As long as of course, somebody was paying. Randall was a rainmaker who took the hardest contracts out of them all. Whether that was delivering much needed supplies or helping banks underwrite junk bonds by having an analyst on the ground floor.

He went straight to the office of Dave Santos, the President of the company. Closing the door behind him, Randall set the duffel bag down on his desk. Dave, excited stood up and started rubbing his hands together. "Oh boy oh boy!" He exclaimed. Randall wasted no time, grinning himself and opened up the bag to reveal plenty of Adiran dollars rubber banded together. "Yes! That's what I'm talking about." Dave said then took a stack of cash to flip through. Endeavor took its payment in any form. Check, card, wire transfer, it did not matter to them. For some of their customers cash was the only way.

"Penicillin is in short supply in Arcologia." Randall replied.

That's essentially what Endeavor did, deliver goods and materials to places that were hard to reach without asking much questions about where the money was coming from. No doubt in this case the Contras used their drug money but that was a don't ask don't tell situation. They did have rules on supplying arms however. That was against company policy. It was simply too risky to get caught by international powers and be condemned for it. But they could hardly be called devils for delivering medicine, generators, gasoline or other materials essential for living. Arcologia, Azurlavai, Nekulturnya...they would go anywhere. It was a difficult process. First the goods had to be subcontracted for from suppliers and in bulk so they could drive down costs. Cargo planes, ships and drivers had to be charted to move the goods which required finding people brave enough. There were certain tricks of the trade in that aspect to mitigate risks. Like if the goods were being moved by sea he would try to follow the path of a RON patrol that went ahead to avoid pirates. In the latest contract he hid the precious medicine inside olive jars. They also had some security contractors on the payroll as well to help on the muscle end.

"Oh man! I'm glad you're back! We got ourselves a big one." Dave stated then grabbed a packet off his desk, handing it to Randall. He flipped through it while pursuing his lips.

"That's a lot of fucking food. Where's it going?" He asked.

"New Edom my friend. This Civil War doesn't look like its gonna end anytime soon and that could be very lucrative for us in the long term. I've been trying to find a way to make some money off their situation since Perrin kicked the bucket and now I got something to show. This new contract with the Wiyrkomi Foundation will put us on the map!" Dave jabbed a finger in his chest.

Later

Determined, Randall got to work right away. He had to put in orders for the food. A lot were canned food orders. Then the rice, chicken, beef and vegetables. Chartering cargo planes was the next task. It seemed the government had an interest in this happening so they casually slid him some much needed intelligence. Going overland would be too dangerous with the ETC militia and whoever else was blockading the food shipments. This was also time sensitive so getting the permits with the Edomite government would take too long to make it past every roadblock. He considered bringing bribe money then decided against it not knowing how susceptible the police and soldiers there were. But the Noviterans controlled Saint Joseph where the food had to go and there was an airfield there. They would let him land and so Randall decided that the goods had to be landed directly. Using the well established business connections the company and himself already had, he was able to put everything together. Their planes would be landing in Saint Joseph soon.

[New Edom]

Start Again, I Heard Them Say

Harbourtown

Radio messages and phone calls flurried around the city, and gradually, bit by bit, as the prayers ended, militia units began to pack up. However the ones near the Vyrsarians, Valikans and Adirans waited, while a message was generally sent to the CPO.

"General Deaton's office, please," said Vice-Ethnarch Gamaliel. "Yes, this is the Vice-Ethnarch. I hope I am not troubling you unduly. I would like to advise that there has been a misunderstanding which my office has cleared up--militia deployed into the Psalmist District and other areas on active duty are standing down now. I would like to submit to you a list of names and radio codes to make sure that this is done smoothly."

The militia commander near Psalmist District meanwhile had a white flag extended out of the shop complex that had been occupied as his headquarters, and had someone shout through a bullhorn, "This is District Commander, City Militia Reserve! We have an urgent message for your senior officer!" Following this, the door opened and a dark tanned blue and white painted man emerged slowly, his hands kept visible and bare, his webbing empty of weapons, his head bare as well.

Meanwhile, at the Refugee Center, Queen Mara felt her heart jumping into her throat. She felt she had done it...but now what? It was as though she was sailing on dark unknown seas, had skirted obvious dangerous rocks but now faced a possible storm of unknowable proportions and no notion if she had the skill to face it. She had never in her life felt so alone...

One of the orderlies approached and bowed, which made her deeply sad. She had felt so free with them knowing her only as Abishag. Now...

"Yes?" she said politely.

"Majesty," he said, coughing to clear a nervous throat, "A telephone call: the Most Holy Elder Malachi."

Mara took a deep breath and rose from her prayer mat and said, "Yes. Thank you. I'm coming."

Heshbon

A break. Cigarettes smoked, some distilled water drunk, rations eaten. Marine Infantry talked amongst themselves, snatches possibly heard by Ion in his restless wanderings.

I told that dumb-ass we have to change the bearings in No. 2 or it's going to shit itself in the field. But he passed us on inspection anyway. God loves fools but who else does?

Trade me your peaches for my chicken loaf and rice, willya?

"How many Ghants does it take to screw in a light bulb?"
"What's a light bulb?" (said in an exaggerated Ghantish Latin accent)
General laugh.

"All you ass-holes can go fuck yourselves..."
"What's wrong with Stork?"
"Ahhh, he's still pissed we were all laughing because he had a leech up his dick."

The Marine Infantry puttered constantly. Every time they had a major rest stop if they could they cleaned weapons, checked their feet, made sure if they could they got to use a nice clean portable toilet. It was considered a punishment to get shit detail, to have to do the grunt work of cleaning them. Here and there medical personnel--mostly field orderlies--gave lectures, including to the Ghantish.

"History lesson: the number one killer in the salt marshes of Bara is disease! There are diseases in the water, in the food, in the animal life. That means skeeters and leeches too. So: take your meds when required. Keep clean. When it is shower time, you shower with the appropriate cleansing material...these little tubes of toothpaste, foot powder and soap could save your life...or your genitals..."

"The village of Culhar is next on the map," said Captain Shobal. "One more for today, then we knock off. Brains?"

Brains was the nickname of the Company Intelligence Officer, who was a short man with a neat moustache, a rather calm and confident manner of a man twice his age. "There have been two insurgent attacks on patrols in the direction of Tyrannis NAS earlier today. There were four wounded and one killed. IEDs were used followed by rocket propelled grenade and machinegun attacks following. B and C Companies are combing the area but Regimental intelligence staff say that it is possible that they are going to be probing into the heart of our territory."

"Thank you," said Shobal. "So: let's keep on our toes."

Culhar according to an earlier briefing was a larger village. A brewery was there and was the major business; apart from that it was largely typical--farmers and herdsmen mostly, some local crafts. Culhar had an ancient church that had once been the site of a foreign documentary on the spread of the early Cornellian Church.

"Alright, tidy up, girls, we leave in five!" shouted Sergeant Noyeed at Shobal's nod.

[Cacerta]

Praying Mantis
Private Military and Security Services

---

To: Dr. John Ballard, Director of the National Council for Refugees
From: Sarah Azzini, Director of Praying Mantis Corporation
Subject: Contractual Offer of Assistance
Encryption: Low

---

Dr. Ballard,

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Sarah Azzini and I am the Director and Founder of Praying Mantis Corporation -- a privately owned and operated military corporation based in Carrera, Cacerta.

Given the volatile situation currently ongoing in your nation of New Edom, I respectfully believe it would be worth it to extend an offer of our services to you in regards to the protection and security of refugees currently residing under your jurisdiction. As an organization unaffiliated with the Cacertian Crown, we will be capable of providing unbiased and neutral intervention.

I imagine our Queen, Anelyn, would love to offer her own troops for the same purpose -- however I foresee she has not done so due to her allegiance to the New Edomite Monarchy. I understand her caution, yet it is something my corporation need not worry about. We have a sparkling reputation for fulfilling our contracts and nothing more.

Please feel free to contact me if your are interested at all.

Respect and regards,
Sarah Azzini
Founder and Director

[New Edom]

Gloria Regis

JOIN THE GLORIA REGIS POLICE DEPARTMENT!

The National Gloria Regian Police Department is a diverse police force, reflecting the rich tapestry of the many communities and lifestyles that make up our islands.

UNIFORMED POSITIONS - We're Currently Hiring for 2015!

For all uniformed positions, attending one of the GRPD's monthly Information Sessions at the Ministry of Justice in Sixington is strongly recommended.

Police Officers
Experienced Police Officers (Foreign emigres welcome)
Community Safety Program
Traffic Authority
Jail Guards

POLICE OFFICERS

Are you ready for a career like no other?

As a police officer with the Gloria Regian Police Department, you'll be on the front line with will become one of the most innovative police agencies in Acheron.

Together we will be working on the goal of making cities like Sixington and Iphegenia as well as the countryside of Gloria Regis among the safest in the continental sub-region.

We're looking for individuals who reflect the diversity of our island communities. Individuals who have a passion for policing and a desire to make a difference every day.

Sixington is a world class city and it deserves world class police officers. People like you who can lead the department into the future.

Ready to learn more about The Job, Qualifications, and The Process?

NON-UNIFORMED POSITIONS

There are going to be positions for almost 400 civilian employees in the GRPD, working in partnership with their uniformed co-workers. We will also offer volunteer opportunities throughout the Department. This will include a variety of positions from information technology, administration, medical assistance, mechanical and motor pool work, veterinary work and many others!

Civilian Careers
Volunteer Opportunities

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

GRPD Cadet Program: training with the assistance of foreign friends from Jedoria will start off the program! Contact our website, mailing address, or phone number Q&A hotline to find out more, or come to our JOB FAIR to get a hands on experience! We will be holding job fairs every Friday and Saturday over the next two months to enable potential recruits to get to hear seminars, get a look at demonstrations, films and talk one on one two real experienced Jedorian police officers who have taken the time and effort to come and help us develop our own community police programs!

WHY NOT START TO PLAN A NEW CAREER TODAY?

[Hutanjia]

SALCAH, EARLIER, AMBUSH AFTERMATH

The HRAF gunships had returned to base. A job, if not well, at least done.
Colonel Hudagku stood on a low hill near where the action had happened. Nervous Rangers kept watch, along with counter sniper teams nearby and roving gunships that had arrived to relieve Yama Three. Hudagku kept running his hand through his short shorn hair, having taken his helmet off despite the danger still present in the area and being admonished by his aide.
"So, did we get them?"

Captain Roendorf winced.
"Well, Colonel, we got some. We recovered some bodies of the insurgents."

Hudagku continued to gaze at the white ethnically Neu Engollian subordinate officer, then shrugged.
"Well? That is bad?"

"We lost or have just as many of our own troops wounded, between the soldiers from the patrol, to the downed chopper. All of whom perished."

"They weren't able to save any of the crew?"
He had been there in the command center when they had received the last transmission from Yama Two.

Roendorf slowly shook his head.
"No...they, burned to a crisp, Sir. The fire had spread too quickly by the time the Ranger teams got there."

Hudagku hung his head.
"Did we capture any of the insurgents alive? At all?"

"No, Sir. None. We called off the pursuit."

"I know we weren't the only ones hit."

"That is correct, Sir. Other patrols, both Edomite and CPO were attacked by insurgents. The ETC and other rebel militia are continuing attacks, and the CPO is trying to contain it."

"Keep up the work, Captain. Well done. I need to contact Unwerth's HQ. Keep me updated via the command net from here on out."

"Thank you, Sir. I will do so."

"For now, we still need to stay out of the CPO's way."

"Yes, sir. We're doing the best we can to stay within the limits set and their regulations."

"Good...for now."

PALACE OF THE ETHNARCH
STERRY

Colonel Tawanga nodded, putting down his food in order to acknowledge General Augrim. Who had confirmed the orders they had already accepted via radio and memos. The new arrivals would be heading for the border with Deadora, to prepare for possible hostilities there.
"I understand, General. I think it is a sound plan and many of our troops are already loading up onto some of your trucks for the journey, as well as some of the Rangers and advance scouts flying ahead to prepare the way."

Vice Admiral Dofemka continued to chew busily, as he talked around the gourmet offerings rather than putting them aside.
"I think that my task force will be able to help as well to keep them in check. I know that General Fotona concurs and has already signed off on the order changes."

Tawanga waved his hand in a parallell motion over the table,
"Colonel Hudagku will continue to be in command of the forces still in and near Salcah, while I will be in charge of the deployments to the Deadoran border area. I look forward to reporting to you, General."
There would be some shuffling of troops between the fronts, FOBs and reserve bases further back in order to equalize out the forces, or rather, in order to send the appropriate amount of troops to strengthen the Deadoran border force, which would require the bulk of the troops of the Hutanjian RCTs.

The junior Army and Navy officers in attendance had begun to engage their Edomite counterparts in conversation over the table, having satiated most of their ravishing hunger from the journey. Some patois slipped out, but eventually they easily fell back on the King's English. A couple of the Edomites had served in Hutanjia and recognized the patois and acknowledged it. This brought them up in stature and helped to bridge the gap between the two groups of allies.

[New Edom]

New Edomite National News Report

Opening bars of Pictures at an Exhibition play as a globe spins with pins popping up on various points of the world. Split screen images of natural disasters, celebrations, military actions, elections, royal ceremonies, celebrity events are showin, occasionally with New Edomite news anchors talking about them, and then fades to a news desk.

A raven haired woman with olive skin, dark brown eyes with a rosebud mouth, a slim nose and a statuesque figure sat behind a news desk with the New Edomite flag imposed over a silhouette map of the Allied States of New Edom behind her. “Good evening,” she said, looking up with a smile. It was clear that above the waist at least she wore nothing but a gold cross on a chain, though her image was pixelated for those nations censoring such an appearance. “I’m Lavinia Tuller, and this is a NENN news report.

"This morning, Governor Benjamin Zeror of Peregrino announced his support for the self styled Theocratic Republic of New Edom, support for the Free Congress, for the Prophet Samuel Under and support for Sarah Carmel styling herself President of the Republic. With a majority of ETC supporters in the overseas dependency of Peregrino, this is considered by many political analysts as a serious setback for the Monarchy."

Images show naked painted ETC supporters in San Marco, Western Peregrino, celebrating, waving Free Congress blue and white flags, cheering, shooting rifles into the air. Trucks full of cheering militia, people dancing in circles in public squares are seen.

Cut to Governor Benjamin Zeror, in naval uniform, at a podium in the Palace of the Governor in San Marco, cameras flash around him and his aides. "The Popular Assembly of the people of Western Peregrino have spoken, and have urged me to declare what is in my heart: that the Theocratic Republic is righteous and represents the succession of government. As Governor, I not only support my own conscience but that of the people of Peregrino. If they had disagreed with me I would have resigned. I can with clear conscience dedicate our purpose to restoration of rightful Christian government."

Lavinia Tuller, looking grave, said, "Interior Minister Count had this to say in response."

Count Emil Sharra sitting at a desk, speaking gravely, wearing a three piece suit and a red carnation in the lapel. "We are naturally appalled by this betrayal. Governor Zeror was entrusted materiel and support by the national government. This is nothing short of an act of mutiny, a disgraceful act by a serving officer and official. It casts doubt about the legitimacy of negotiations, and the good faith of those who claim to represent the Free Congress at those upcoming negotiations is also in question..."

"In other news," Lavinia said, "Regarding this matter, not all personnel and officials in Western Peregrino agree with the governor. There is some question as to the loyaly of the military forces stationed in Peregrino to the rebel leadership. Monarchist, NWP and Feminist Collective political leaders, business persons and commercial travelers from the mainland have not yet been threatened, but there is a question as to what their fate will be. Governor Zeror has stated that he intends to work in a friendly relationship with the Republic of Peregrino that forms the eastern half of the island, and to more firmly establish good trade and cooperative relations with them."

Governor Zeror looks up. He is a balding, blunt headed heavy jawed man with a ponderous appearance at odds with a high tenor type voice. "We have no quarrel with the Republic of Peregrino. We welcome cooperation with Imeprator Geta and a meeting between officials on both sides is planned. We consider past quarrels to have been stirred up by imperalist ambitions which divided a people who while different can surely live as friendly neighbors...

"In other news," said Lavinia Tuller, "We'll be talking with Coach Daniel Imlah of the National Football Team, the Griffons, on coming so close but not close enough in the Cornellian Cup, after these messages..."

Aquila

"I've never actually been out of the country except to Novitera and Jedoria, did you know that? And I was nobody when I did," said Geta to his secretary.

"Well, you're hardly nobody now," his secretary said with a smile.

Geta laughed. "I'm a big rooster on a very small dunghill."

"Yes, Imperator. Your 2:30 is here, sir."

A young woman in a professional looking tan skirt and jacket, cream blouse and pumps came in; she has a rather athletic sturdy sort of feminine body, her eyes alert and intelligent, nose straight, lips and chin rather delicate. He noted with approval the very full bosom, modesty couldn't hide the prominent roundness.

"Ah there you are--it's Miss--?" he said curiously.

"Er...Ms. Daphne Clodius, Your Excellency," she said with a demure yet confident manner somehow.

"Oh. Please sit down. Water, tea? You must keep your fluids up eh?" he said.

"Oh...um..." she seemed a bit surprised. Was she dim? Well didn't matter given what she'd be doing. "Yes, thanks sir."

He nodded to the secretary. "Murmilo will get you what you need, then he'll leave us to talk." Murmilo, his secretary got her a glass of ice water and she drank.

"Well, I can see that you are eminently qualified for the position..." Geta said, nodding to her. "And I'm going on an important trip--Murmilo, make sure you send off that confirmation of the trip to Aragon, will you?"

"of course sir, will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you," said Geta. "So you'd be accompanying me on that. Do you think you'll be up to it? It's a long jaunt, across a continent, and then to one of the biggest most important cities in Belisaria, rather heady."

"Oh," said Ms. Clodius, "Yes, i'm quite excited actually," she said with a rather refined cool smile. This was intriguing to him--usually the women who applied for this position were really down on their luck, but she seemed well edicated, and went on to say, "You see I did my BA in Jedoria, I enjoyed experiencing the different culture, it was challenging at first, and it's surprising how just a difference of dialect of Latin can almost be like learning another language, but I found that i have a gift for adaptability and hard work."

Geta nodded, bemused. What did this have to do with anything? "Well, that's grand..." but she was continuing to talk. Chatty thing, she was.

"So I am grateful for the personal interview, sir, I was not expecting it to be honest, that I'd be working with you so closely..." she said with a shy and pleasant smile.

"Oh...well of course! Well you might as well pop them out, let me have a look, a bit of a feel and taste." he said with a friendly smile.

The blood drained from her face. "What?" she said.

"Well there's no point in being modest. Pop your mammaries out, let me examine what I'm going to be feasting on, you aren't shy are you?" Geta said, perplexed.

"Imperator!" she cried, going from pale to scarlet. "Are you...what are you saying? I'm no Edenist pervert, I'm...I can't believe..."

"Who is talking Edenism?" he said in exasperation. "I'm not asking you to talk around the Palace naked, I'm just asking you to do what you were hired for, to let me drink your milk!"

"Why...I...how dare you!" she cried. "My...oh I can't believe this, I've never been so insulted in myh life, I thought you were an admirable man, an egalitarian equal rights and liberal leader, and now I see you're just like some--" she was storming to her feet, fumbling for her purse.

"Murmilo!" shouted Geta, outraged. "Sit down, woman! Murmilo, get in here!"

The secretary came in like a startled rabbit. "Imperator?"

"What the hell is this? Is this woman insane?" Geta was saying.

"You can't keep me here!" she was nearly in tears of fury, refusing to sit down. "I can't believe that you'd treat your PA this way!"

"Uh..." Murmilo looked from one to the other. "I think there may be some confusion..."

"What confusion?" Geta said, narrowing his eyes, breathing with growing anger.

"Miss Clodius is here for the PA position." Murmilo stammered.

Geta blinked. "PA position...oh..."

"What did you think?" she almost shouted.

Geta took a deep breath. "I have a medical condition. It requires me to consume human breast milk. I thought you were a wet nurse. I'm sorry."

She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my...really? You aren't playing a cruel joke on me?"

He gestured at the chair. "Really. Truly. I apologize. I honestly thought...by the way you aren't by any chance..."

"What?" she asked, nostrils flaring, eyes narrowing at him.

"Oh, nothing, never mind...er PA! Yes, and you know you seem to have the confidence for the position, to be sure, and have been already vetted..." he decided he had to give his elder son another job. He had put the order of business in the wrong order, he now saw, on his desk. He sat down and put hsi hands under the desk at first to hide their shaking. Then thought that might look bad under the circumstances and just steepled his fingers and then laced them together. Damn, he was fidgeting. "So...you've always wanted to travel...?"

Daphne Clodius took a deep breath. Murmilo made some murmurs and began to close the door. Geta glared at him coldly and he did hastily. "Yes...well...yes...a totally understandable...um...misunderstanding...actually sir I have to admire when I think about it your overturning the standard stereotypical Cornellian male gender norm in accepting what might otherwise seem infatilizing and regressive and diminishing of your traditoinal masculnity."

"Um..." Geta was at a loss for words. "Thanks." he struggled to regain control. "My um...needs...well requirements...er the functions of the PA in my office are..."

Murmilo sent the assent to a meeting in Aragon with Phelps and discreetly went to the bathroom, lit a cigarette and then got the giggles so badly he nearly choked...

[Novitera]

Avantine, State of Soletrek, Novitera

"Trask will not have it. The ETC right on Novitera's doorstep. It's unthinkable." Parker said while looking at one of the sports posters. They were at Harvey's apartment, a nice suite in an Avantine high rise. Comfortable, high class and elegant, the place was tasteful yet did not scream opulence. Both were still in their suits, their work days having just ended. Yet it was night time outside already. The sound of rain clattering against the windows was the only other sound in the room.

"The FDP is with the administration. But our hands as a nation are tied. We have forces in both New Edom and Peregrino as part of the CPO. We are pledged to the international community as a neutral force." Harvey stated.

Parker lifted a finger and looked at his colleague. "We were neutral in regards to Peregrino when the government of New Edom was under the Perrin Regime. The situation has changed."

Harvey shook his head. "We don't even know if the base is for the TR or the Regency. It's time to do our homework with the Regency. Contact Constantinople and Strana Mechty as well. Probe how they feel about this. If they're with us. I'm sure Rome will be with us on this."

"In the mean time Zhao is going to move a few of our destroyers in range and ready the air force to get our troops out. He's also calling back one of the subs deployed with 1st Fleet." Parker added.

To: Duchess Luminita Vianu
From: Eric Douglas
Subject: Peregrino
Encryption: High

Dear Ma'am,

The government here is very concerned about current developments in Peregrino. Novitera has never been keen on this Theocratic Republic and we find them to be a danger to regional security. We are both in a delicate position as we both have CPO peacekeeping forces on the island. I have been instructed now to inquire as to Jedoria's stance on a Theocratic Republic government there. Right now, I can tell you Novitera is opposed. Especially if the Edomite military forces are with the Theocratic Republic as well. We would like to be informed so our government can start formulating a solution that will not offend and perhaps involve the Confederation.

Sincerely,
Eric Douglas
Executor of State

To: Emperor Valerianus Augustus
From: Eric Douglas
Subject: Peregrino
Encryption: High

Dear Sir,

Development in Peregrino have the United Federation worried and I think with Rome's current involvement in New Edom, our interests are aligned. A Theocratic Republic in Peregrino is something the United Federation government will not accept. If the Edomite base there is for the Theocratic Republic, I should think this threatens Rome's national security heavily given your nation's recent military engagements against them before the ceasefire. Although our hands are tied right now as to what we can do in terms of a military option (given our CPO deployments), our government would like to inquire as to Rome's general stance on Peregrino. The Trask Administration wants to work on a plan Rome can find agreeable.

Sincerely,
Eric Douglas
Executor of State

To: Regent Prince Elijah Shalmaneser
From: Eric Douglas
Subject: Peregrino
Encryption: High

Dear Sir,

The United Federation is very concerned about the new developments happening in the Peregrino. Our government, while neutral has always been far more accepting of the Regency. The Edomite base, in such close proximity to Novitera has me coming to you now for an inquiry. At first we were ambivalent about the base but accepted it given it was under the control of the government of the late Perrin Pahath-Moab. This is no longer the case though would still find it acceptable if it were under your government's control. Do Edomite military forces in Peregrino remain neutral or loyal to the Regency government?

Sincerely
Eric Douglas
Executor of State

[Ghant]

Heshbon, Bara Province, New Edom

Seemed like everyone was taking breaks, sitting around smoking, eating, and telling jokes and laughing at them. Must be nice, Ion thought as he walked past a group of northern Ghantar enjoying their own self-generated amusement.

...Why can't Jesus play hockey?...He keeps getting nailed to the boards...

...The Edomites are against homosexuality because it's unnatural...Yeah, and walking on fucking water isn't?...

...Jesus died for our sins...so we might as well get our money's worth...

Ion suspected that the frequency with which he was hearing Edomite and Christian jokes was due to the fact that they were in New Edom, and fighting the ETC, as it were. He didn't find that sort of humor amusing, because of its crass nature. Telling jokes like that over and over could get a man believing them, and in the course of believing them, well...bad things could happen, for Patu was a mean, spiteful bitch.

The Dakmoorans, Odolargians and the Arrautsans were not as restive as the Izotzans, Thular and Eskurans. They examined their bodies for wounds, ticks and leeches, cleaned their weapons, or were looking for productive things to do, like receiving lectures from medical personnel about safe habits, knowing full well that being dirty and having shitty hygiene could fuck over many people.

The Marine Infantry puttered constantly. Every time they had a major rest stop if they could they cleaned weapons, checked their feet, made sure if they could they got to use a nice clean portable toilet. It was considered a punishment to get shit detail, to have to do the grunt work of cleaning them. Here and there medical personnel--mostly field orderlies--gave lectures, including to the Ghantish.

Culhar was the next village in their mission, and Ion took some time to eat again before he departed for it. If he was able, he wanted to go to every village that was being evacuated, so he could observe and learn what was needed to be known. That was his main purpose, after all.

So it was that when the time came, Ion once again crawled into a truck and lit up a cigarette, wondering what was next in store. He knew that Culhar had an ancient church, which was its most famous feature. I wonder if that means anything, he thought. Would the ETC attack, using the presence of the church there as some kind of rallying point, a symbol of their struggle against foreign heathens and oppressors? Maybe...just maybe, he thought as he touched the rifle around his back. New Edom is just full of surprises, and all it takes is fucking up one time to get screwed over. But then again, that was true in most places...

[New Edom]

For people who are interested in getting involved in Peregrino, here is the thread Shalum and I started about it.

https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=337918

[Brellach]

Breaking news from the elusive and mysterious Holy Queendom

Home | News | Analysis | Opinion | Forum

---

DIVINE INSPIRATION IN NEW EDOM MONARCHY

---

AS REPORTED by the New Edomite National News Agency (NENN) a couple of weeks ago, the New Edomite Queen, Mara I, has gone back to basics as part of her efforts to restore peace to the country, claiming Divine Queen Lyta as her inspiration.

New Edom has been embroiled in a civil war for some time now, as the country has split into rival factions after the Fineberg Olympic Stadium disaster claimed the lives of the entire Interim Government cabinet earlier this year.

With the civil war claiming countless innocent lives on all fronts, Queen Mara explained in her interview with NENN how she sought to help her people, and bring about peace, by discarding her monarchical privileges and emulating Divine Queen Lyta's uniquely spiritual - and spartan - life.

"I'm going to live among the people until this is resolved," Queen Mara told NENN. "I refuse to have any special privileges except the one of not being touched without my consent. I will work here in the refugee center. I will not take a side no matter what. I will pray and hope for the best for everyone. I will not wear any clothes except to protect my body from danger."

The Queen went on to cite Divine Queen Lyta as an inspiration for her decision. "There's a queen of a country called Brellach that really inspired me. She lives without clothing or possessions, all the time, because she belongs to the very land. Of course she's not a Christian, and she is believed to be a goddess, and I'm not a goddess. But I am going to do what i can to make a point of my own."

Her Court had not heard about this change in Queen Mara's lifestyle, or her inspiration for doing so, until BrellachWatch pressed them for comment. They have since obtained footage of the interview, and the Most Devout Advisor, Fellis Jessina, issued us a statement on behalf of Divine Queen Lyta:

"It is my honour to relay to you, and through you the international community, the wise words of the Magnificent and Beautiful, Wise and Powerful, Perfect and Almighty, Avatar of the Divine Glory, Queen Lyta of Brellach, Her horses swift and Her blade true.

"It saddens Her to watch from afar the turmoil that has ripped New Edom asunder, as pointless slaughter claims so many of Her children. She offers Her blessings, that they might find peace in the Times Yet to Come.

"But She is heartened that Queen Mara of New Edom has walked into the Light and placed Her children before selfish privilege or mortal power struggles. It greatly pleases Her that Her own example should be followed by one so far from the shores of Her Favoured Lands.

"While Queen Mara follows gods of Other Places, Her Glorious Majesty wishes for her to know that the Divine Glory steps with her, and embraces both her and her people, with love and Light, and by honouring Her Divine Glory, She shall guide them from the darkness that has shrouded them."

Although seemingly touched by the recognition, and presumably surprised by the fact that such recognition exists, it is seen as unlikely that the Holy Queendom's official foreign policies will be significantly impacted by the revelation in the short term.

However, Brellach's mostly-inactive foreign embassy programme saw a flurry of activity shortly after Queen Mara's interview, believed by some to have been a side-effect of the Edomite Queen's 'shout out'.

News piece by Jamie Conner

Comments Order by: Latest First | Highest Rated | Lowest Rated Post a reply

3. xxGiselleXX -6 JUST NOW Like | Dislike OMG! cant believe there own queen lives that way! let alone some other queen wanting to copy her! 2. THE-MAN +5 7 MINUTES AGO Like | Dislike They were probably more surprised that somebody had heard of them at all. 1. l337sp34k3r-4 -125 15 MINUTES AGO Like | Dislike u cant ban the best!!1

{Reposting here, as sanctioned by New Edom!}

[New Edom]

Culhar, Bara Province, New Edom

"It's crazy," Ramona had muttered to Eliza as she watched the convoy moving out, standing in the resumed drizzle in just her rain cape and straw hat. She ignored leering Ghantish troops as best she could. "They're going to evacuate all the villages, evacuate Culhar? It's going to ruin everything."

"How?" said Eliza.

"Don't you see? The brewery is there. All the ale and cider is now going to have to come from Harbourtown. It'll be more expensive."

"Isn't that good for us?" Eliza asked.

Ramona sighed. "I don't know. What do I know? I wish they'd all just die or something."

"Bye sweetheart! Keep the home fires burning!" called a New Edomite Marine as he grinning waved to her and climbed into his Pseudonja. She forced a smile and waved.

"I hope his cock rots and falls off," she muttered.

At Culhar, Shobal's company and the Ghantish moved forward as before. They could see the brewery buildings, the larger population of this village, tin and cinderblock shacks, a larger stream moving through and a dock where fishing skiffs and launches were tied. Capybaras fled at the approach of the vehicles and helicopters. At a group of small reed and wood huts near the edge of town, several young women lingered. One of them held a dirty baby wrapped partly in ragged cloth to a huge breast where it busied itself, stroking the infant's damp back,w atching the Ghantish with wary dark eyes. Another couple however waved to them; one with long dark hair, a girlish but curvy figure, a friendly face and nearly more hair below than on her head, wriggled her hips and grinning waved at them, offering them untold pleasures in her hut for just a few coppers. Another, not so vocal, a bit on the thin side but with a pretty face, did an obscene bump and grind.

"Whores. outcasts," said Lieutenant Kiron as he climbed out of his vehicle, remarking to Ion. "You find them in places run by the churches sometimes, they have protection."

"Maybe this isn't an ETC village then, Your Honour," offered his RTO.

"Don't be naive," said Kiron. He felt deeply unhappy inside but covered it with his cynicism. "Monitor the channels, stay frosty."

"Yes Your Honour," said the RTO, touching his headset, getting to work.

Shobal once again read the proclamation. The brewery owner, Remegius Varagine, a man past middle age but still country burly, with his family and servants around him at the small villa he lived in, protested vehemently. He pointed out that he had beer still being prepared, that it was an ancient process, a family one. He asked to be allowed to have a minimal staff remain behind to look after things. "I have been a taxpaying citizen since I became a man," he said, thumping his chest. "I am not ETC! I am a loyal subject of Her Majesty and will vote NWP in the election! God save the Heir, but leave me my business, Captain. You are a young man and a soldier, and free from such concerns, but I am not!"

Captain Shobal listened to him politely. "I will inquire, but I am afraid the answer is likely to be no," he told Varagine.

At a carpentry shop in the village it was a similar thing. The Master Carpenter there, Thomas Etien, a lean balding friendly faced man, said, "My wife Brana is having a baby any day now; in fact the midwife is with her now. Can't we go in a few days when she's had it?" In fact Brana, her sister and the midwife could be glimpsed through a window, before the sister drew it with an indignant expression, a glimpse of a vast belly being rubbed with oil.

Shobal and the other officers and NCOs did their best to explain that this was not a punishment. "It is not we who wish this to happen, not the Heir or the Regent," Shobal would say. "We fear though for the people here. The End Times Church will steal from you, use your village as a base of operations, forcibly recruit your boys. We have to protect people from the insurgency. Your people will be safe in the East. Receipts will be given for property you had to leave behind. We will do our best to protect it but if we cannot you will be compensated fully...please cooperate...the sick and near to giving birth will be transported by ambulance to Heshbon and the hospital there will really be better for giving birth in, the staff there are very experienced..."

The Church seemed to stand indifferent and aloof from it all. The austere grey stone building stood alone in a sense, indifferent to the ebb and flow of life within and without it. Sparse trees bent and warped from relentless winds scarcely reached the bottom of the second floor windows. A twisted rutted road, muddied from the recent rains stopped abruptly at two massive iron gates blackened with age. From the church emerged an old man, bent and wrinkled and nearly bald, with black robes. He and other ancient priests and servants guarded the church and its relics.

"We have never abandoned this church," said the old man. "Even in the days of the Great Rebellion, even in the days of the First and Second Civil Wars we did not. We will not go. The ETC will not dare harm us. We are, as they are, of the Council of Five Churches. The Archbishop''s dispensation is our protection; he is the Patriarch of all the Council."

Captain Shobal sighed. "I have no orders to evacuate Church property Father, but I wish you would leave with us. How will you be cared for if all the villagers are gone?"

The old priest smiled at him gently. "God has always provided, my son, even where it is not apparent. Go in peace, and be blessed."

Shobal hesitated, then bowed his head to receive the wrinkled old palm upon his head and knelt on the muddy road. "Thank you, Father."

[Ghant]

"The Burned Stones"
Culhar, Bara Province, New Edom

The approach to Culhar wasn't that much different from the approach to Eshtoth...same principles applied. Culhar seemed a bit bigger though, more than just some wayward village in the swamp. There were brewery buildings, a dock upon a stream, tin and cinderblock buildings, and of course the old church that the Ghantar seemed to be admiring as they disembarked.

On the edge of town stood some small reed and wood huts near the edge of town, several young women lingered, and the Ghantar turned their heads to look and see...Ion merely observed them turning their heads...it was almost comical. Aside from some women with children, there were a few others who waved at the Ghantar, many of whom waved back. Oh boy.

One girl had long dark hair, a girlish but curvy figure, a friendly face and nearly more hair below than on her head. She wriggled her hips and grinned at them as she waved. Another, not so vocal, a bit on the thin side but with a pretty face, did an obscene bump and grind. That caused some commotion among the Ghantar.

"Whores. outcasts," said Lieutenant Kiron as he climbed out of his vehicle, remarking to Ion. "You find them in places run by the churches sometimes, they have protection."

"Maybe this isn't an ETC village then, Your Honour," offered his RTO.

"Don't be naive," said Kiron. "Monitor the channels, stay frosty."

"Yes Your Honour," said the RTO, touching his headset.

"They have protection, you say? Best news I have heard all day," replied a thin, strapping young man with strong arms and broad shoulders. He had a mop of short black hair, with stubble on his face and gold eyes. "I don't think anyone will mind if I have a lil fun," he said with a smile revealing white, but crooked teeth as he pulled a sack of coin from his belt.

Ion looked at the man and at both the rank on his shoulder and the sigil on his jacket. ...A fucking Antziga... "Name, lieutenant," Ion asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Prince Olyvar of Thule, at your service...sixteenth son of King Urtzi of Thule by way of Alastia Thar," he explained as he skipped his way through the other Ghantish soldiers. "Go on now and do your dirtywork, my boys...I will hold down this fort for you for a while, and gather some intel on the locals," he jeered.

"Lieutenant," Ion began again with narrowed eyes, "need I remind you of our task at hand..."

"Nah, I have a pretty good idea of how it goes, ranger. You will know where to find me if you need me, of course," Olyvar laughed as he drew in closer to the two Edomite girls. "Hello ladies," he said as he leaned against a nearby structure. "As it happens, I am a Ghantish Prince with great and urgent needs, and a sack of gold coin that I don't know what to do with...any chance you ladies have a solution? Oh and don't worry...there is plenty for everyone to enjoy...at the same time..."

For fucksake, Ion thought with a facepalm. I hate Antzigas...nothing but trouble that lot. With that, Ion and the other Ghantar walked away, for none would dare be cross with a Prince of Thule where a woman might be concerned. In fact, there was a story that he had heard about one of the King's other sons...an older one he believed. This son of the King professed that he was gay. In any other part of Ghant that would be acceptable, but amongst the infamous Antzigas of Thule, this would not do. So the King of Thule had his other sons chain him in an ice cave with a Jendebasa woman, and told him that he wouldn't be able to come out until he fucked her, and then afterwards he could tell his father if he was still gay or not. As the story went, he did have sex with the girl, and as promised was let free, and then he returned to Torhal and told his father that he was merely confused, and must be straight after all. Yet no one could be sure if he was telling the truth, for he failed to take a bride, ohaide or a bedwarmer afterwards...

In any event, just as he had done in Estoth, Shobal once again read the proclamation. As was to be expected, some people protested for one reason or another. Ion had faith that Shobal could handle the situation as he did previously. For what it was worth, Ion decided to go check out the church in all of its ancient glory. Alas, the same situation unfolded in there that it did elsewhere outside.

"We have never abandoned this church," said the old man. "Even in the days of the Great Rebellion, even in the days of the First and Second Civil Wars we did not. We will not go. The ETC will not dare harm us. We are, as they are, of the Council of Five Churches. The Archbishop''s dispensation is our protection; he is the Patriarch of all the Council."

Captain Shobal sighed. "I have no orders to evacuate Church property Father, but I wish you would leave with us. How will you be cared for if all the villagers are gone?"

The old priest smiled at him gently. "God has always provided, my son, even where it is not apparent. Go in peace, and be blessed."

Shobal hesitated, then bowed his head to receive the wrinkled old palm upon his head and knelt on the muddy road. "Thank you, Father."

"This is an impressive structure," Ion remarked to the father. "It reminds me of churches in parts of northern Ghant...some a thousand years old, all stone and covered in ivy. There is a certain peace to be found there, even for those who do not claim to be Christians." Ion explained this as he recalled a story, which he then told. "During the Ghantish Civil War, Charles Mazadar persecuted Christians...and in the north, they were not safe. There is church in a small village south of Dorreherri where people flocked to during the war, for it was said the stone with which it was built was magic. When the Mazadar's forces passed through the village, he demanded that the people come out of the church, or they would perish. When they refused, he had it set to flame, and then rode off as it burned. Yet, the inside of the church didn't burn, and the people were unharmed. The church exterior was burned though, and ever since, they took to calling it Erreharriakeliza, or the Church of the Burned Stones."

[New Edom]

The Flames Climb High

Betharan Palace, Fineberg

"There is no point in dissembling," said Prince Elijah. "I shall inform Eric Douglas that most of our forces in Peregrino have gone over to the Theocratic Republic."

Somber faces greeted this, men and women sitting in a semi-circle of elegant chairs in a sitting room in the palace. Count Lalery smirked and shook his head. "Things just keep getting better and better...oh God there isn't more is there?"

"There's Damoclea. We have to face the fact that a majority of our forces there are in fact Damoclean, that the commander and his personal staff are former Free Congress, that we have perhaps one division and some senior staff on our side. The same general situation as in Peregrino," said General Ashdod, trying to hide his worry. "So it's really teetering..."

"What can we possibly do about it?" wondered Dr. Aphek. "Can we have Nicanor removed from the situation with his staff? How much about it is loyalty to him, how much to the Free Congress directly? Or would that provoke them further?"

"The Damoclean forces there are very very Edenist. It was part of the cultural plan for ending their former system of government and culture..." explained Ashdod.

"Oh wonderful," said Lalery with a mirthless laugh. "So in other words Nicanor has an entire corps of Dam-Dammies who love the ETC. Is the 4th Armoured loyal, or the Air Force Base or anything?"

"We're sure that General Hamilcar and the 4th Armoured are loyal. But the rebellion going on in our province, the support of the Imperium and Lyscania for the Monarchy hedge them in," insisted General Ashdod. "For now at least..."

"Traitors." said Princess Jocasta. She was flushed, her eyes blazing. "Traitors. Zeror, Nicanor, the lot. General Ashdod, I want a purge of all officers of suspect loyalty! And cousin Elijah, I want Bara to be swept of all ETC, NOW."

Prince Elijah frowned and closed his eyes a moment. Then he looked at her. "I have considered this matter. The Theocratic Republic have not acted in good faith. They have been intimidating voters, persuading provincial governors to side with them, constantly spreading poison, refusing to abide by our agreements. They are fanatics. It grieves me to say, but only their defeat will result in peace."

Jocasta said quietly, "You have a good honourable heart. You are too good for this wicked world. will you remain as my regent and lead our country to victory?"

"Only you can do this and command the loyalty of us all at this time," said Count Sharra, leaning forward earnestly.

"Let's kick the living shit out of them," growled Lalery.

Prince Elijah stood up, drew his sword from its sheath and put it on the table. "I will not sheath this blade until the rebels are humbled and brought to heel, so help me God."

OPORD 35014 2015 ARCHANGEL
Office of the Chief of the General Military Staff
Most Secret, Eyes Only

1. SITUATION.
Thursday, 0930 Hours, Governor Benjamin Zeror declared himself and the military garrison in San Marco Peregrino to be loyal to the rebels of the Free Congress. By this action, the Theocratic Republic has broken the cease fire. The Queen is currently held by rebel militia forces. Therefore it is necessary that the larger concentration of rebel forces and their resources in Bara Province be defeated. The main focus of this operation shall be the capture of Harbourtown.

a. Enemy Forces.

7,000 motorized light infantry; current location is 5 km south of Saint Joseph in a field camp.
- 5 infantry battalions
- 1 artillery (towed 105mm howitzer) battalion
- 1 air defense artillery (ZSU-23-4) battalion
- 1 combat engineer battalion

4,500 combat infantry
2 x Light Infantry Battalions
1 x Motorized Light Infantry Battalions
1 x Mechanized Infantry Battalions (BTR-60)
1 x Artillery Battalion (105mm howizer, towed, 2 batteries only)
1 x Air Defense Battery (ZSU-23-4)

Southern Brigade
Troop Strength: 5,000 combat troops. Currently spread in a cordon controlling approaches to Harbourtown with one battalion defending Tyrannis Naval Air Station
- 5 motorized light infantry battalions
- 1 artillery (towed 105mm howitzer, BM-21) battalion
- 1 air defense artillery battalion (ZSU-23-4)
- 1 combat engineer battalion

Tyrannis Naval Air Station
3 x A565 AWACS
10 x Terrier VTOL multi role fighter
12 x Sparrowhawk Multi Role Fighter
6 x Shadowhawk Stealth Air Superiority Fighter
15 x TH-300 Lakota Utility Helicopter
9 CFHQN-1 Kite Rotodyne Drones
1 x Marine Infantry Security Company (motorized infantry)
6 motorized open patrol vessels

City of Harbourtown Militia
8,000 Light Infantry
3,000 City Militia (police)
Note that these forces have improvised vehicles of number varying from week to week, light small arms, some machineguns and RPGs.

b. Friendly Forces.

1st Rover Team Group (Special Forces, urban counterterrorism and counterinsurgency)
3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment
42nd Heavy Artillery Regiment
4th Cavalry Brigade
1st, and 2nd Squadrons, Royal Cavalry Guards (Armoured Regiment, M8 Li Toneur Main Battle Tank, M20 Hamsher APC, M28 Vigilo Armoured Recon Vehicle)
21st Lancers (Air Cavalry; TH-300 Lakota Transport, AH-77 Cannondale Stealth Attack, AH-90 Incursor Heavy Attack)

2nd Bn, 1st HAR (Rangers) (1st Wave - Initial Training Deployment)
- 1st Bn, 1st HAR (Rangers) (2nd Wave - Airlift Reinforcements)
1st Bn, 28th Mechanized Brigade (1st Wave - Initial Training Deployment)
- A & B Co, 2nd Bn, 28th Mechanized Brigade (2nd Wave - Airlift Reinforcements)
A Co., 3rd Bn, 18th Artillery Regiment (1st Wave - Initial Training Deployment)
3rd Pltn, B Co., 144th Medical Battalion (1st Wave - Initial Training Deployment)
- The Rest of B Co. + C Co., 144th Medical Battalion (2nd Wave - Airlift Reinforcements)
1st Bn, 46th Logistical Regiment (1st Wave - Initial Training Deployment)
1st Bn, 10th Infantry Regiment (2nd Wave - Airlift Reinforcements)
A & B Co., 148th Military Police Battalion (2nd Wave - Airlift Reinforcements)

Ghantish Brigade (3,000 motorized light infantry)
9th (New Edomite) Marine Infantry Regiment (Mechanized; M20 Hamsher APC, M28 Vigilo Armoured Recon Vehicle)
- 6 companies of mechanized infantry
- 1 self propelled mortar company (120mm)
- 1 battery of 155mm SPH
- 1 battery of King Shepherd Air Defense Artillery
- Engineer Company (seconded from the 60th)
- 1 Attack Helicopter Company seconded from the 18th Mounted Light Infantry(AH-77 Cannondale)

Roman "Barebones Legion", Brigade Strength unit of mechanized infantry; Rottweiler MBT battalion, Mechanized Infantry, SPH battalion, ADA battalion, combat engineer btn, aviation company. (location 5km north of St. Joseph)

Monarchist Special Forces unit known as Rover Team Group B--also known as the Sugar Rats)

c. Attachments and Detachments.
Carrier Task Force Boa
Cruisers Queen Adah and Deborah
Destroyers Samson and Abraham
Frigates Halberd and Guisarme

2. MISSION. General Felicity Romain has been given overall command of operations intended to capture the city of Harbourtown and in so doing destroy the rebel capacity to make war in the province of Bara.

3. EXECUTION.

a. IX Army Corps units supported by Air Force tactical and strategic units from Padan and Fineberg Air Force Bases as well as by naval support by Carrier Task Force Boa will advance on and capture the city of Harbourtown.

b. Concept of operations.

(1) Roman forces will begin advance from their position north of Saint Joseph, maneuvering around via the roads west of the main highway.

Hutanjian forces will begin an advance towards Jabbok, wheeling around the CPO position west of Salcah and attacking Jabbok from the north.

4th Cavalry Brigade forces will advance south of Highway 2 and then swing back onto it south of Jabbok advancing towards Harbourtown.

9th Marine Infantry and supporting forces will advance towards Tyrannis Naval Air Station from the south.

(2) All orders to engage will be as follows:
a) CPO forces not to be fired upon until or if using live ammunition against Monarchist units.
b) All rebel forces will be open for engagement at unit commander's discretion once O hour is up.
c) Strategic weapon uses (long range missile artillery, ARES support, strategic bomber support) will be under the discretion of Corps command.
d) Field artillery support shall be given out at the discretion of regimental commanders. 42nd Field Artillery Regiment shall be at discretion of Corps Commander's HQ.

(3) AWACs and CFHQN-1 drones out of Padan AFB will provide aerial reconnaissance supported by 5th Tactical Fighter Squadron for security.

NENS Boa will provide a flight of CFHQN-1 drones to provide coastal surveillance supported by a flight of Sea-Terrier VTOL fighters to support 9th Marine Infantry Rgt.

Rover Team units from Salcah and the Roman position will provide ground operational intelligence as long range recon patrols and advance Forward Observers.

(4) Intelligence: Military Intelligence indicates increased insurgency activity likely. IEDs and other mines and traps to be expected particularly flanking main roads in rebel held territory. Likelihood of espionage by civilian ETC likely. It is believed that this is an optimum time to attack as rebel forces of the Northern, Eastern and Southern Brigades are exhausted and replenished with green troops, and poorly armed by comparison.

(5) Engineer: 60th Combat Engineer Regiment (to provide de-mining, armoured recovery, bridging support for the forces advancing from Salcah)
Roman Engineer Cohort for forces advancing N. of Saint Joseph
Combat Engineer Company for 9th Marine Infantry Regiment

(6) Air Defense: 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 5th Tactical Fighter Group air patrols, NENS Quieen Adah (Tactical Missile Cruiser)

(7) Information Operations: Council Police tactical units in Bara.

c. Tasks to Maneuver Units:

- Hutanjian Task Force: destroy, capture or hold off Eastern Brigade forces at Jabbok and prevent them from outflanking or delaying 4th Cavalry Brigade.

- Roman Legion: destroy, capture or hold off the Northern Brigade and prevent them from outflanking or delaying the 4th Cavalry Brigade.

- 9th Marine Infantry Regiment and Ghantish Brigade: capture Tyrannis Naval Air Station

d. Tasks to Combat Support.

(1) Intelligence: Focus on distraction and confusion of enemy forces in and around Harbourtown; false information uploads to SATCOM, false leaks of maneuvers and plans.

(2) Engineer. De-mining, bridging, armoured recovery to the fore to support advance from Salcah.

(3) Fire Support: initial provision of fire support: focus 42nd and Hutanjian artillery on support against Eastern Brigade forces at Jabbok; Roman fire support against Northern Brigade. Fleet fire support to concentrate on leveling all buildings at Tyrannis Naval Air Staiton.

(4) Air Defense: 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment focus on probable tactical air attacks from Tyrannis NAS.

(5) Signal: (all signals coordination and coding up to date) 60th Combat Engineer Regiment11th Signals Regiment

(6) CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosive weapons) Strategic Engineer units to be on standby for transport to the front at Military District of Fineberg.

(7) Provost Marshal: Colonel Othniel Cabbon, 10th Military Police Regiment

(8) Council Police Military Support Detachment: Colonel Ruthan Demetrios, CP


e. Coordinating Instructions.

(1) Saturday, 25 April 2015 6 AM. Barring heavy rain. Fog optimal.

(2) (Commander's Critical Information Requirements): Green light previously from MoD.


4. SUSTAINMENT.

a. Support Concept: Corps will coordinate supplies which will be provided by Support Command at MDF and will be provided by Transport and Logistics Regiments supported by the Air Force and Navy detachments involved with mission. 1st Logistics Regiment, 3rd Transport Regiment will provide on the ground coordination and delivery of supplies to subordinate units.

b. Materiel and Services. Field rations, medical pack, battery and electronics support, ammunition support, clothing and materials support, field kitchen support, mechanical and motor pool support.

c. Medical Support. 29th Field Ambulance Regiment and subordinate units.

d. Personnel. Adjutant-General Colonel Jael Kenaz will provide personnel support and direction.

e. Civil Military. Civil Affairs Office will coordinate rules and direction of civilian contact and involvement, including subordinate Public Information Office for media affairs.

5. Command and Control.

a. Command: IX Corps Commander Lieutenant-General Felicity Romain.

b. Control. [Michaelangelo-6]

Looking over the orders later, Prince Elijah frownedm, folding his arms, staring down at them. General Unwerth raised his eyebrows. "What's troubling you, sir?"

"Just the old saying, General," replied Elijah wearily. He suppressed a yawn into his fist. "Alright, send it out. I think that's as good as we can conceive on such short notice." Everyone in the staff planning room was yawning and stretching, lighting cigarettes. It had that closed in smell, the room, of sweat, soggy uniforms, stale tobacco, alcohol and leather, a sort of locker room smell that also, to most of them, smelled like hard work.

[New Edom]

Heshbon, Bara Province

While great plans were established in Fineberg, in the meantime soldiers of New Edom and Ghant, unaware, went on with the evacuation. The long haired woman at the hut on the edge of town was indeed eager for gold; in fact his mention of it redoubled the efforts of the other women, winking, smiling, teasingly playing with their hair, turning and smacking bottoms to show firmness and ripeness, lifting and jiggling breasts in hands, while the first one (whose name was Clarissa) led the young Thulish lord into the hut to a ragged though clean little bed made of rope and rough mattress, and with her marsh woman's accented Latin gave him some encouragement to enjoy the engagement of his masculinity to her femininity.

While this was going on the old priest spoke to Ion. "Ah, yes, you have old churches in your country of Ghant of course," the old man said in a friendly way. "We have books that were written in ages past that are about the history of the church here, as well as an old Bible which is carefully preserved--so difficult in this damp! And was written for the first Abbot in 1645! It was beautifully written and illuminated in the old way, but even at that time such a thing was very unfashionable.." he coughed and said, "I beg your pardon...the damp..."

"Father are you sure it would not be better to come with us?" Captain Shobal said, getting up and brushing his knees and legs off. "We can lock the church up. I'm sure no one would rob it while you were gone."

"It is a matter of duty, Captain," said the priest sadly. "Surely you understand that?"

Captain Shobal said, bowing, "Yes, I do. It has been an honour. Ion, we need to get back to work," he told the ranger. "Thank you for your blessing, father..."

Varagine, meanwhile, was trying to bribe or distract soldiers of both nations with free cider and beer; Lieutenant Kiron was getting exasperated. "Sir, you have to close up shop now," he insisted, "Sergeant Noyeed, get the troops back and on parade at the double!"

"Yes, Your Honour!" roared Noyeed. "Alright, you mob of ass licking school girls, fall in on the road at the double!" he and his junior sergeants and corporals bullied the soldiers at the brewery--regardless of nationality--into line.

"Mr. Varagine!" said Kiron insistently. "If you do not sign the papers about your property and make a full claim, the government will not be liable for any damages that take place, and you will get no recompense at all. And I will not be responsible myself for anything that happens today." he looked coldly at the man. He invoked everything of his father's parade ground manner in the moment.

Varagine had seen tougher men than Kiron, but Kiron was not just Kiron. He was the Heir's promise of money. He sighed and said, "You should take up business Lieutenant, you'd be a good negotiator."

"Somehow I doubt it," said Kiron. A naked young woman with short curly hair inside the tavern part of the brewery seemed to suddenly realize she didn't need to scrub tables anymore...and she suddenly threw her rag down and reached into her apron to pull out a package of cigarettes and lit one. How nice it must be, he thought, to be a servant. No real responsibility, no authority, just to do what was told. It must be a great comfort.

[Hittanryan]

Harbourtown Streets

Shi waited until the militia were ready to leave until she made an announcement. "Members of the militia: we understand that you feel threatened. We understand that you have grievances. We want to hear them. We will be opening offices throughout the city where you can report concerns directly to the CPO and the city government. The CPO will establish offices where individuals can voice their concerns anonymously. We will be holding meetings where grievances can be aired publicly."

"Remember, our ultimate goal is elections for all of New Edom. You will have your say. Where draw the line is violence," She concluded. Other messages to the militia were delivered as well. The MPs maintained their barricades until after the ETC left. There were a few wounded being moved to the field hospital at the FOB.

Once the militia were out of sight and they were packing up, Shi collapsed into her vehicle. She realized suddenly that she was absolutely drenched in sweat, combination of the heat and the nature of her work. Would the riots start up again tomorrow? What about the next day? Would the elections even come? The enormity of what they had to do, the deep-seated mistrust and hatred they had to overcome, really hit home today.

[Novitera]

To: Brigadier General Kerry Larkin; Rear Admiral Kip Nakano
From: Federation Armed Services Command
Encryption: Top Secret Eyes Only
Subject: No Challenge

Dear Sirs,

You are hereby ordered to no longer challenge the incursion of Regency forces or its allies into your AO unless directly and imminently threatened. You will allow them to engage and take military action against forces from the Theocratic Republic. These orders are eyes only and you are not to explain yourself for failure to act. Instead, redirect any protests from the CPO or Theocratic Republic to the United Federation State Department.

Sincerely,
General Jackson Akkilien

[Free Garza]

To: Dr. Paul Aphek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Allied States of New Edom
From: Dr. Armando Sanjuro, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Restored Kingdom of Free Garza
CC: Garzan Volunteers
Encryption: High

Senor Minister,

A plan has been presented to key members of the cabinet by His Catholic Majesty the King himself. It is a simple plan. A force of "volunteers" from Free Garza can be dispatched in a hurry to New Edom and placed under the command of ex-Colonel Mauricio Coronado. It is a force of 1,360 volunteers, though they are all composed of inmates in military prison, including Coronado himself. They have been offered full royal pardons in time in exchange for military services that do not necessarily follow mainstream or conventional regulations. As they have been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, they are therefore not technically Garzan regulars and thus their participation would not breach any kind of Constitutional restrictions. Their function will be as light infantry, recon, special operations, and covert operations. If accepted, they must be officially listed as Edomite nationals for the interim. Discipline will be needed at times, as these include known rapists, murderers, and other assorted vermin, but we believe that in this context they may be of service to God and country, yours as well as ours. God will absolve their old crimes, we believe, if they now aid in bringing the enemies of law and order to heel.

Sincerely,
Dr. Armando Sanjuro, Foreign Minister of Free Garza

[Novitera]

Avantine, State of Soletrek, Novitera
Liberty Center, Headquarters of the Federation Directorate Panel


On the outskirts of the city, close to the Executive Center, sat the headquarters to the FDP. It was a small campus holding many offices for each National Director and their staff. Each one employed many. Experts, aides, managers of all sorts to help them maneuver through Noviteran politics. Committees led by Directors oversaw all functions of government to look for misappropriation of funds or to approve large projects. They called it Liberty Center. Sure, it stood for Liberty as much as it did for the deceitful power games of the government. The assembly room for the FDP was packed with all 23 National Directors at this time. It was on the ground floor of the main building. At the front stood Director Chairman Lucas North who was responsible for leading the official meetings through its rounds. Behind him was a large Noviteran flag that hung from the ceiling. He sat at a high podium, next to him a woman who sat lower. She was was the official Secretary of the FDP. A old woman who had been at her position for years. All around facing the podium were the three levels of stadium seating for the National Directors of Novitera. They sat silently or texting away on their phones wearing the finest suits on the market. Some of them eyed each other threateningly or doing their best to return dismissive smirks. There were no friends here. Only allies and enemies.

Lucas banged his gavel against the podium three times. "All Rise!" He stated sternly. Everyone in the room stood up. "This session of the Federation Directorate Panel is now in session. Fate save the United Federation and this honorable Panel."

"So say we all of us." Said all the Directors mechanically. It was a ritual they had gone through dozens of times.

"Secretary, please call the roll." Lucas ordered.

The woman opened a large book and began to read out each name. "Director Sinead....Director Tash...Director Bryson...Director Gentry..." The process went on with each one declaring their presence. "All members of the Panel present Mister Chairman. Quorum is established."

"Floor is open to new business." Lucas stated.

Mary Takeshi stood up from the front. A short haired woman in her mid 50s. She was rich, having a major bank named after her family name. "Motion to vote on Directive 1356 effectuating a Directorate Override on the Department of Defense. Control of which shall be transferred to this institution under the Armed Services Committee of Director Silas Clayton." Mary stated then sat back down.

"Do we have a second?" Lucas asked.

Anders Lorena stood up. A man with a full head of gray hair wearing a three piece suit. "I second the motion."

"Motion passes. Floor is open to comments." He said. It was all ritual. In times past this allowed for vibrant debates. But nowadays everything was settled outside the meetings. Directors schemed with each other behind closed doors courting the votes that they wanted for favors or what not. It was futile to try and win people over by now. The room remained silent for the next ten minutes. Legally, if nobody spoke the Chairman had to still wait 10 minutes. The time passed in silence.

"Secretary of the Panel, proceed with the count." He ordered.

The kindly old woman began to read off each name again allowing for the Directors to cast their votes. They replied with "Yays" or "Nays". Making the vote public allowed for everyone to see who was not towing the party line. When it was all over, the two-thirds vote that were needed for an Override were had.

"Directive 1356 passes." Lucas was signing a piece of paper. "Secretary, send this Writ of Override to the Office of the Prime Executor. Prime Executor James Trask is hereby ordered to relieve Executor Barry Zhao of his post and surrender the Department of Defense, all its assets, agencies and personnel to the authority of this Panel or be branded an enemy of the state on the charge of high treason. Director Clayton, your Constitutional time limit of 75 days on this override begins now." He stated plainly.

Just like that, the Department of Defense and with it, the entire military of Novitera was stripped from the hands of the executive.

[Hittanryan]

To: Regent Elijah Shalmaneser, President Sarah Carmel
From: Ambassador David Redstone
Subject: CPO
Encryption: Hand-delivered in sealed pouch through diplomatic courier

My government has asked that I give the Republic's views on the mission so far. I was informed, as I'm sure you were as well, that the peacekeepers are generally in place and are carrying out their duties to the best of their ability. This was not, however, without difficulty. Sporadic fighting has been encountered by Regency, Theocratic Republic, and CPO forces alike. Mission Commander Deaton reported a number of violations along the ceasefire line, and a number of CPO troops have been wounded or killed in action already. The heaviest CPO casualties were sustained by the Noviterans around Saint Joseph.

In terms of political violence, a riot targeted the largely NWP Psalmist District in Harbourtown including NWP HQ. CPO peacekeepers working to disperse the riot and reinforce NWP HQ's security cordon were attacked with lethal force and responded with nonlethal riot control measures. Apparently this was enough to provoke ETC militia into mobilizing in the rioters' support. When halted by peacekeeping forces, these militia apparently opened fire on them. Only direct intervention by Elder Brother Malachi, apparently in the Queen's name, ended the violence before the CPO was forced to using live ammunition.

The Theocratic Republic while cooperative seems to lack control over irregular military forces claiming loyalty to the Prophet. Part of the difficulty in implementing the ceasefire stemmed not only from poor communication but also spontaneous attacks by irregular militias acting independently. These types of forces made up both guerrillas on the demarcation line as well as the militias who attacked peacekeepers in Harbourtown. Firsthand reports from our peacekeepers, who were able to question some of these guerrillas, indicate that the ETC has turned the evacuation of villagers from its territories into a rallying cry against the Regency.

As the first week of peacekeeping comes to a close, my government is eager to begin mediation and continue moving towards elections. It is our belief that further delay risks missing the window of opportunity to negotiate, especially in light of recent revelations. Since the riot, some ETC elements have started to view the CPO simply as an arm of the Regency, not accepting the body's neutrality. Should the situation deteriorate further, we are concerned that the Theocratic Republic may be forced by public opinion to adopt this position generally.

Although things are not perfect in Bara, it is the Secretary of State's view that if the CPO waits too long it may be too far gone. The Noviterans have echoed this viewpoint, no doubt more insistent given the losses they have sustained so far. All security preparations and accommodations for delegations have been completed in Puerto Rojas. The CPO will continue to protect all election officials, candidates, and offices.

Sincerely,
David Redstone