Once More Unto the Breach [Closed, Noctur only]

[Poldania]

Special Order to the Armed Forces



By command of His August Majesty the President

---

The self-proclaimed "Republic of Merrina", known to the government of the Union to be a rebel organization intent on the destruction of this Republic's lawful institutions in the Merrinan states, has so far been the subject of containment efforts by our armed forces, while preparations were made for their defeat.

Now, with the rebels' access to and use of nuclear weaponry, our hand is forced. The land and air forces of Poldania will restore order to our southern states.

ALL COMMANDS DEFCON 2

WAR PLAN WHITE

Unauthorized interference by an external force in this internal conflict will be taken as an act of war against this Union.

---

UNITEN ET ZURREGNEN

[signed]

Robert Cesare
President of Poldania

[Poldania]

The sound of drums rolled south across the White Mountains, echoing off cliffs and through valleys, shaking the walls of bunkers dug deep into the rock. Then came the whistling.
Now more drumming, from the south, and the whistles became screams.

It was 4 in the morning, pitch-black, and freezing as winter held on to the peaks.

The drums and screams blurred together, and the mountains erupted in fire. The foothills flashed with their own light, quickly, like firecrackers.

It was dawn when the artillery fell silent.

[Radiatia]

The sound of drums rolled south across Northbank City, echoing off skyscrapers and through suburbs, shaking the walls of middle class residents trying to sleep despite the rock music. Then came the guitars.
Now more drumming, from the south, and the singing became screams.

It was 4 in the morning, pitch-black, and freezing as winter held on in southern Alayenia.

The drums and screams blurred together, and the stage erupted in pyrotechnic fire. The streets near the stadium flashed with light and sound, quickly, the music like gunshots.

It was dawn when the popular heavy metal band finally fell silent.

Meanwhile on the other side of Radiatia, President Angela Pavlovic was in the middle of a press conference.

"I fully support the actions of our allies in Poldania," She said before journalists returned to asking her highly inappropriate and sexist questions about her personal life.

[Higgins and Brown]

The Codena, still located in Michaelstown but meeting in a conference room under the Department of Trade:

The President, Henrietta J.W., was chairing the meeting, which was almost full.

"Gentlemen, Ladies, please. I have come here to put a simple proposal. During a time of war, I am not willing to simply let this descend into continual talking. Poldania has made a pre-emptive strike against Merrina. Poldania is one of the wealthiest countries in Noctur, asserting its sovereignty in much the same way we have been forced to do. What do we have to say?"

It was Mary Clinton, the former Vice-President, who caught the President's eye first.

"Madam President, for us to take sides in a foreign conflict would be quite preposterous given that Athboi may fall any day now, and the floodgates of Death's own lakes opened upon us. Codenors must stop this nonsense once and for all, and say only to the President that all efforts must go into a military solution to our own problem!"

But not many shared the view. Clinton's successor, the current Vice-President, spoke next.

"All available resources ARE going to the defence of Athboi, and stopping the flatlands offensive, AND keeping the border in Mukon, AND disrupting their forces inside the Buffer forests. That does not mean we cannot lend our vocal support to Poldania, and increase the likelihood of major assistance from foreign powers."

Codenor Renauld immediately interrupted. In the dimly basement lecture hall, the usual rules of the Council for the Defence of the Nation were being routinely ignored.

"Excuse me, Vice-President Davenport, but how can you blame a lack of assistance? We have Radiatian planes and weapons, Nui-tan mercenaries, the soils-consumed debt alleviations? If we're going to lose this war, we should own up to our own failings, not our international partners. If I didn't believe the Concourt would throw it out immediately in the situation, I would call for the impeachment of President, the VP and the entire commission!"

The room erupted. Howls and screams echoed through the room as rowdy argument turned into pathetic fighting. The President had had enough. She banged the gavel and announced the meeting suspended. With a nod toward Presidential Guards standing by, she had the 12 floor leaders escorted from the chamber to a much smaller room - one full of photocopiers and dossiers on various industries in other countries. The entire floor had been cleared of its usual staff months ago, and so the messy desks and old computers were simply gathering dust now.

---

The "Council of 12" were brought in quickly enough, some less than voluntarily. They couldn't really complain though, she essentially had personal control over their whereabouts in times of war.

"Gentlemen - lady - the Codena sits suspended. This is a convened meeting of the Council of 12. We have 5 minutes before I am due to be escorted elsewhere. I'm asking for permission to side with Poldania so that we might take advantage of the situation, and gain more military aid. Nui-ta's change of heart proved that anything is possible. Now, we need something more - we need direct military intervention. Athboi doesn't look good, it might not last the week. Once it falls, there's a whole lot of UNCA firepower coming east. There are no more conveniences of geography to help us, and we're outnumbered heavily."

"Madam President, we should ask for terms." - the comment came, somewhat predictably, from one of 2 liberal floor leaders.

"B60 does not think that they would give us anything that does not involve them inflicting their own buffer on us - which would include the town of Athboi, and likely the entire isthmus of Mukon. That's Tabertra, our chief trading port to the south, gone."

"I'll support you." - this time it was her own Vice-President, who was quite unusually also a member of this council.

"I think we are walking into a trap on this one. Poldania and Merrina are completely different. We will be supporting the forced colonisation of a small state by their larger cousin. Nui-ta might pull support. Heck, we should ask Nui-ta. We shouldn't act before they do."

"No. we should stop relying on these partners in crime. Abandon the ban on full conscription, and put a weapon in the hand of every man, woman and teenager in-between here and Algrabad. We can draw on more Radiatian rifles than we currently are. They will airdrop them here in a matter of days. This issue with Poldania is a trifle, and one we should not speak out on. If Segland thinks we are going to support military activity against their interests on their borders, they will release the Algrabadi hounds. Right now, we should be looking to them to reign this campaign in, to declare a UNCA victory and take only the Buffer Zone." - this time, it was the fair-right floor leader, Vern Darcy. The darling of the Front for a United Nation, he was universally popular within, and also held on a tight leash by the current leader, Todd Morde. His junior floor leader concurred, unsurprisingly. Whatever came before these meetings, the F.U.N. always had a united position.

The maths was simple, she wasn't going to get the support except from her own grouping, which only had one seat on the Council of 12. The liberals wanted to surrender, the social democrats wanted to follow Nui-ta's lead, and the far-right wanted to appeal to Segland. She could pull only one favourable outcome out of this.

"Might I have this council's support for my position after a Nui-tan declaration of support of Poldania? Don't answer, just raise hands." - Six of them raised their hands. 6 of them did not.

"Oh, for soil's sake. I'm not going to surrender, so this is the least aggressive thing I'm going to ask for." - The most junior of the liberal floor leaders (there were 3 of them), visibly tired and obviously having not washed for days, raised his hand, muttering something supportive

---

Support for a weak position gained, she didn't stand on ceremony, and left for her military escort to Fort Wercole.

She had reached the stairs when Darcy called after her.

"Madam President, I urge you to ignore that vote. Segland is our only hope. We should listen to what they have to say on this."

She was above him on the stairs, meaning she could press her face close to his. The stench of port on her breath was palpable to him.

"Mr. Darcy. I couldn't give a sh-t about your treasonous allegiances to Segland. Say that to me again, and I will have you interned."

Her dramatic departure only took her as far as the 1st basement level, when air raid sirens rang out. The very Seglanders Mr. Darcy had been talking about were paying them another visit from the skies.

[Nui-ta]

Official Declaration of the Monarchy of Nui-ta

---

ACKNOWLEDGING the escalation of tensions between the nation of Poldania and the rogue territory of Merrina,

EXPRESSING DISMAY at the acquirement by Merrina of Poldanian nuclear weaponry, and flirtations with the international threat known as UNCA

FURTHERMORE RECOGNIZING the agreement between the states of Nui-ta and Poldania to cooperate in the realms of economics and defense ---

--- but ALSO ADDING that the terms of the "PoldaNui" agreement only require military intervention in the event of a defensive war, and that Poldania's declaration of war is an offensive act of war

The MONARCHY OF NUI-TA HEREBY DECLARES

that it STANDS BEHIND the actions of Poldania against Merrina,

that it AGREES to SUSPEND ALL DEBTS owed to Nui-ta by Poldania during the course of the war,

and that it AGREES TO SUPPLY Poldania with full non-military aid, including an allowance of equipment, non-combatant forces (border-guard/medical/logistical), and ideological support.

---

[Poldania]

Throughout the north, families were sitting down to breakfast, keeping an eye on the news with growing anxiety. The TV crews weren't being allowed anywhere near the border; most of what the media had to show was shakey, blurred, vertical videos shot from small towns in the south. The clearest one was actually a professional video, but it had only incidentally captured the artillery barrage -- in the background of a nature documentary, starring "Poldania's smartest moose", who had been working his way through a pile of fermented apples when the explosions scared him into a tree.

That clip was being replayed for the seventeenth time when a presidential broadcast interrupted every station in Poldania.

The nation saw Robert Cesare, sitting at his desk, looking like he was about to either kill someone or give them a comforting hug. Then the president spoke:

My fellow citizens, good morning.

Many of you, especially in the south, already know why I am addressing our nation so early today:

This morning, in the hours before dawn, I ordered the military to begin operations to retake Merrina. The brave soldiers of our army began the attack at 4 AM, and now advance southward under the protection of our air force. The rebel forces are being pushed back to Mer.

Our forces have had a decade to prepare. We have set against Merrina the greatest land and air force this land has ever known. For ten years, we have waited. For ten years, we have planned. For ten years, we have built tanks and planes. We have revitalized our industries. In these ten years, we have grown stronger and more prosperous than ever.

But for those same ten years, Gervas Hitzig has played king in Merrina. His purpose? The complete destruction of our sovereignty over those states. Under his leadership, the Merrinans have rejected our laws, which they are bound to obey. They have refused to send represenatives to our Parliament, where their grievances might be meaningfully addressed. Instead, they have assembled their own Congress, and elevated a deranged man to a false office. They have severed all ties with our common government. They have rejected, for a decade, all our offers of reconciliation -- all our pleas for the restoration of sanity. They have endeavored to ruin our economy, by obstructing our trade and threatening our businesses. They have taken up arms against us without provocation. They have killed our brothers and sisters.

The Merrinans have forgotten their place. Hitzig has purged their minds of the lessons of history. Merrina must be reminded of Poldanian sovereignty.

And so now we must do what our people have always done: We go will south. We are at war.

A century ago, our ancestors did the same. Fifty years before then, the Last Emperor forged this Republic in the fires of the bloodiest war in all our history. Untold legions of our people have died for this very cause: that it is Poldanians, not Merrinans, who rule this Eternal Union.

To all those Merrinans who remain loyal to the Union, I say to you: Poldania welcomes your allegiance with open arms. Surrender yourselves to our forces, and you will be treated well.

And to those who still choose to fight: You have chosen... poorly.

Citizens of Poldania: This war is ours to win. Remember, always, what our nation stands for: Uniten et zurregnen.

[Poldania]

From Segland east to Crata, those still alive on either side of the Merrinan border -- unfortunate enough to be there for the attack, lucky enough to survive -- crawled out from their hiding holes to evaluate the night's work. On the Poldanian side, the 360 thousand soldiers of Grand Army North packed together at morning assemblies to watch the drone feeds, and civilians sat entranced in front of televisions and computers. Even in the heart of Livreta, the ever-present crowd of busy people in suits stood still and silent in the streets, watching the giant screen the Empire District was known for.

The news stations were still milking Cesare's speech with panelists and phone interviews with "experts", biding their time the military released... anything, really. No media vehicles were being allowed remotely near the warzone.

One professor of political science was tiredly reassuring a VNN anchor, for the third time -- "No, we are not all going to die in nuclear fire" -- when a breaking news screen put him out of his misery.

"This is VNN," being a stereotypically steady male voice. "New developments in the story on all our minds: the war in Merrina. The Department of Defense has released drone surveillance footage of the border area..."

On-screen, a grainy image showed the once-green border foothills had been reduced to a brown mush, topped with rubble and burnt plants, and with more craters than hills.

The narration continued. "What you're seeing is the Cerman side of the border. We don't expect to have any images of the south side for a while, but VNN will continue to bring you all the latest information as the war progresses. Now, just before the video ends, we can see a few vehicles at the very edge of the frame..."

---

Contrary to media speculation, the convoys moving into the area were not the main invasion force, but the forward units of Grand Army North, looking to secure a base of operations behind the advancing Grand Armies South and West. They would proceed like this all the way to the Seglandic border: South and West would push back Merrinan forces, and North would see to occupational duties and supply lines.

Once they got to the border? Rumors were already spreading among the troops that they would be taking up permanent positions to preempt any UNCA adventures in the post-war south.

Lieutenant Jean Cesare -- callsign Ham, no relation to Robert -- was arguing exactly that rumor with his wingmate when the cockpit radio crackled. "All planes, blackbirds coming out of Silberstrom. Looks like one squadron. Radar shows many more scrambling in the south, 20 minutes out."

Can't they just roll over and accept it? Jean sighed and tilted the controls. His brand new S-9 banked beautifully -- how it would perform in actual combat, gods only knew, let alone what kind of shape it would be in by the end of the war -- along with the rest of the air wing. The pilot silently shook his head at the near-fifty fighters breaking off to meet just one squadron. This was overkill by any standard. If it was up to him, they'd make it a fair fight and send the other 4 squadrons in the wing to intercept the southerly reinforcements. But then it wasn't up to him, and the badgers^* had decide they would open with overwhelming force, mostly because the last war had stalled when Poldania couldn't manage to hold on to air superiority in the mountains. This is going to be painfully easy...

---

*Badger: high-ranking military officer, so-called for the copious/excessive honors worn on their uniforms.