The Nespokoĭstvie Era (IC | Closed | Meillur Only)

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

It was started by a child.

Sofia, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063

The streets of Sofia were filled to the brim with protestors. At 12:00 they had had 4% of the entire city's population protesting holding up yellow and red posters and signs against the Royal Tribute Act. By 2:25pm that number had swelled up to 7% with 113,000 protestors. Now they had with them an overwhelming group of 242,000 protesters who were only getting more and more determined to stop the new laws. The protestors moved closer and closer to the Royal Palace, the former National Gallery, which had been moved two years ago in 2061 following Tsar Simeon IV taking over the country. They yelled and screamed, moved in an orderly fashion as they blocked the streets of the capital city. They chanted in Bulgarian "No Selfish Acts!" On the fact that the laws were made by the Tsar to profit himself.

Standing in front of the crowd were hundreds of police officers. They made a barrier of black clad men and women between the palace and the ever growing crowd. The police were ordered not to attack in fear of turning the protests into a riot. However they were heavily armed with semi-automatic guns and night sticks and tear gas. They had in front of them barriers made of wood and metal, as well as they were armed with heavy duty glass shields. With bullet proof armor and heavy guns and helmets, they looked menacing and rough like war soldiers.

As the protests continued on, one man was photographing it all with his camera, David Turkadi, originally from Hyrukian controlled Anatolia. David was a journalist and photographer for the Bulgarian Post and the news network Geopoli News. He had moved to Bulgarie-Rumelia with his wife and son in 2058, only 6 years ago. However his wife had divorced him two years ago and had moved to Denmark-Norway. This left David and his 7 year old son Matthew in Bulgarie-Rumelia with only each other. And now this would be Mr.Turkadi's big break. He would cover the Act Protests in Sofia and finally get ahead in life. As he snapped pictures, his son stayed close to him. He hadn't been able to get a babysitter and was willing to have his son with him amidst the protests. They were being peaceful anyway.

Matthew Turkadi was bored. He was tired of all the annoying tall and big people. For a awhile he had been interested and memerized by the color signs of the protests, made of various materials and various sizes. But eventually it became boring and now he knew not what to do to entertain himself. He wished that he was at home were he could have watched WTTD, Wrestle to the Death, it was like his favorite tv show. But instead he had been dragged into the downtown area, which was usually fun, but now he was annoyed, bored and wished he was somewhere else. His father, David was engrossed in taking pictures that Matthew could not even talk to him or tell him a story about one of his imaginary friends, all of whom he had regrettable left at home thinking they would have be back soon. Matthew stomped his foot on the ground, but it was drowned out by the sound of hundreds of thousands of the other people there chanting and talking and whatever. He looked around for something to entertain him.

There was nothing. Besides everyone was so tightly together what could he have possibly-Oh! A rock!

A little far away, Matthew could see a pink rock that shines unnaturally in the slightly fading light of the afternoon. He looked behind him and saw that his father's back was towards him, taking a picture of a woman in a yellow trench coat and black boots waving a picket sign with anger and vigor. It was a great shot, showing the anger of the people. Typical. Matthew looked back towards the rock and made a mad dash forward towards it. He bobbed and weaved through the crowd, startling those protesting, accidentally tripping a woman who fell into a man's arms. Matthew continued on, unaware of how close he was getting towards the police and the palace. He drove between a large man's legs, startling him and grabbed the pink rock. He picked it up and looked over it. It was really shining. Then, with the innocence of a small child, he tossed the rock up high into the air.

The rock sailed up higher and higher and then, as if hit by the hand of God, it shot sideways straight into a first floor window of the palace, shattering it.

The response was immediate. A police officer, looking back at the shattered window assumed that one of the protestors were getting violent. He pushed one back and hit a man with a night stick. The man screamed and fell down to the ground. Another man growled at the sight and attacked the police officer. He punched the man with all his might, knocking the officer down to the ground. As others saw this, everything well from a peaceful protest into a full blown riot. David Turkadi turned to film, video taping the riot as the protesters / rioters surged forward. The two groups clashed with a fury of a great street fight.

Then the shots fired. The police had pulled out their guns and were firing into the crowd. Bullets ripped through people like they were tissue paper. Screams and blood filled the air as people fell to the ground, staining the asphalt. Matthew watched, screaming in pure terror as bullets flew over his head, hitting taller people in the chest. David Turkadi looked up at the scream and looked around for his son, not seeing him. He gulped in horror at the fact that his son was loss and they were in the middle of a riot. As his looked around, his camera caught sight of the woman in the yellow coat. The young woman screamed as bullets hit her chest, ripping through her. She fell to the ground, her yellow coat turning red, David's camera focusing on her for a moment until he ran.

The riot moved forward running over the dead bodies of the others attacking the firing police officers, tackling them as they rushed forward closer to the palace. Mr. Turkadi ran forward as well, searching for his son. He found Matthew standing frozen in fear in a puddle of urine as the rioters hit the palace. Literally. The protestors hit the palace, smashing the windows and breaking down the doors, bursting into the palace. They were quickly overrunning the officers and grabbing their weapons. They had in mere moments turned into a bloodthirsty mob.

Inside the palace the servants screamed and ran as the mob attacked them, killing them. Everything was being a blood bath. A maid screamed in Spanish as she was gunned down. The riot spread across the city. Then suddenly the rioters were rushing out of the palace. The rioters had been so furious with the situation, they had grabbed the the fuel and the oil. They poured the liquid across the floors and the dead bodies that there were in the palace. Once they had soaked the place with the flammable liquids, they fled the building. And then they drew flaming cloth and lighters into the palace through the broken windows. Suddenly the palace was engulfed in flames. The Revolution had begun.

[United States of Conner]

Tagging to post later.

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

Map



Purple = Bulgaria
Pink = Rumelia

[Kingdom of Derita]

Bucharest, Romania

Cardinal Louis de Rémy, the ruler of Romania in all but name, presented the invitation of safe haven for the Tsar and Tsaritsa of Bulgarie-Rumelua to the King of Romania. Cardinal de Rémy had served as the official Régent of Romania since 2056 at the beginning of the King's reign, but now, the King, Ferdinand II of Romania was starting to get into his seat of power. However, Cardinal de Rémy could not be completely dismissed until April of 2065, so in the meantime he was carefully molding the young King Ferdinand II into a man who would follow his lead without complaint and with eagerness. Though 20 years old, by Deritain law he was not an adult and the King of Romania's father didn't want him fully in power until he was 22, which gave Cardinal de Rémy more time to solidify his hold on Romania.

Because Ferdinand II of Romania had spent so much of his reign over the kingdom not in the kingdom but in Derita at Fontainebleau, Cardinal de Rémy was practically King just without a crown. Because of this he wrote everything, approved everything, did everything. And he needed only the King's signature or the Royal stamp to do it.

As he handed the paper over to the young king, the 64 year old Cardinal thought over the situation in Bulgarie-Rumelia. His spies, he had a vast network of spies, working illegally in Romania's friends, foes and neighbors; told him that revolution was sparking in Sofia, the capital. They heard the Royal Palace of the Tsar had been burned down in a riot leaving hundreds of people dead. There were even some who said that Sofia itself was burning. Some said that the National Parliament was behind the chaos. That much did not matter much to Cardinal de Rémy. Bulgarie-Rumelia was a nation that was quiet and often forgotten, but it was placed right next to numerous nations and kingdoms, Grecsia, Serbia, Romania and Instaneau. It alas had prime property along the Black Sea.

Cardinal de Rémy was certain that he Prince Régent of Russlande would invade Bulgarie-Rumelia. He had done so in 2061, and he would do so again. The Prince Régent, as well as King of Naples and Sicily and Crown Prince of Derita, was not like his father. The Prince Régent had been made to be a general, a fighter, a warrior, a conqueror, just like his grandfather before him. So naturally he knew that the Russlandes were to be among the first to actually inter the situation. So, in hopes of getting on board with them, Cardinal de Rémy planned to have the Tsar and Tsaritsa take refugee in Romania, as well as allow Russlandain passage through the country to get to Bulgaria.

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

Sofia, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
7:22 pm

In Sofia, there was nothing but chaos as the riots continued on into the night time. The fires of the Royal Palace had spread, jumping into the nearby buildings and leaping into trees. Was it by nature or by human intervention, no one knew. But the heat baked the city and suffocated those not fast enough to get away. As the fires spread, the rioting got worse. They smashed cars and broke the windows of buildings, they looted and even killed.

The city of Sofia in mere hours had gone from a pea cup normal day, to having the city swell with protesters to now being on the brink of destruction at the hands of a very very angry mob. Blood ran hot, fast and with a lot of it. The rioters spread outwards from the center of the city. From far away the sky had turned red as night quickly fell over the nation. But there was no darkness. It was as bright as day, with fire and fury as horrible as what those with the Christian Church would say the horrors of hell.

No one was safe, it was ether join the mob of risk being destroyed by it. In one of the homes of a small family, a mother, a father and two daughters also with their dog, they did inside of their home, hoping that the mob would pass them by. They had been eating dinner when they heard the news reports following through Sofia, quick short reports and warning. They had close the windows, locked the doors and turned off the light and sat in silence in the kitchen. It had not been enough.

The front door to their house exploded as it was hit with a shotgun and the mob rushed into the house, trashing the place, the younger daughter, who was only nine years old opened her mouth to scream, but her father stopped her. They held their breath. But their dog was not so scared. He ran straight towards one of the rioters and bit his leg till there was blood. He screamed and chaos ran uncheck within the house as the riot fell, he shot the dog, sending the body flying and slamming into the wall. The mother screamed and attacked the man, ripping the gun from his hand and shooting him in the head in a fit of rage. She shot two more of the rioters before she was riddled with bullets. The father grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen attacked another, cutting his arm off, but he two was brought down, falling to the ground covered in his own blood.

The daughters ran, but they reached the back door before they were mowed down. The picture of Tsar Simeon IV, which hung by law in every house in the country, was ripped down and burned. And then they left, taking as many valuables as they could, leaving the eight bodies there to dry up in blood. This became the case all over the city as home invasion, murder, looting, rape, assault, all crime was suddenly common place. There was no direction for it, it went around randomly and without check. The SPD (Sofia Police Department) were getting calls from all k S the city and they had no where near the amount of forces left after the massacre at the Royal Palace. Over 2/3 of their 895 police officers had been killed or severely injured. The Police Department Headquarters had been abandoned as they went to protect the three hospitals in the city, fortifying them.

[United States of Conner]

Athens, Greece
Freedom Defense Coalition Staging Base
September 15th, 2063, 2100 hours

"Alright, listen up!"

Commander Preston Anderson Jr., the son of Connerian SWORD legend Preston Anderson, hopped up on some crates in order to speak to the assembled soldiers. Looking around him, he checked his holopad one last time before beginning to speak. As he did, two Lieutenant noticed him and barked out,

"Echo Group, Commander present, attention!"

The entire group snapped to attention.

Anderson nodded. "At ease."

The soldiers all relaxed as Anderson began to speak.

"All units, we're deploying into Sofia, Bulgarie-Rumelia. Our objective is to quell the rioting. We're hoping that it will quiet down a bit seeing as its getting late. That being said, we don't know that yet - Satcom will brief us when we're en route. These are civilians, so we don't fire lethals. I want everyone to grab three tranq clips, and store your printer mags in your armor."

The soldiers obeyed as Anderson pulled up a holographic projection of the city.

"Our objective is not to worry about the Rumelian government. That's SWORD's job. Our only mission is to restore order to the streets. We have riot control gear with us, and we'll be using that. We're locking down the 7th sector, grid Alpha-Niner-Bravo. We're first going to insert near a hospital that the Sofia PD have locked down. All clear?"

The soldiers nodded their affirmative.

Anderson nodded. "Then move out!"

Anderson led his detachment to their dropship. As the dropship, one of many taking off from the FDC base, lifted off and began its brief flight to Sofia, one of the soldiers sitting next to Anderson asked, his voice coming clearly through Anderson's helmet, "Sir, what about the Tsarist government?"

Anderson chuckled under his mask. "The Sofia PD will be thrilled to see us, I think. The higher-ups? That's SWORD's job."

Conner City, United States of Conner
Anderson Hall
September 15th, 2063, 2200 hours

FDC Secretary-General Thomas Harris waited patiently for the story to switch. As the CNN anchor listened to her earpiece, she turned to the camera and said, right on schedule, "We have a breaking development in Athens. Freedom Defense Coalition dropships have department an FDC staging base there and are currently en route to Sofia, where riots have struck the city. We now go live to Anderson Hall where FDC Sec Gen Thomas Harris will discuss the matter."

That was his cue.

Harris got up from his chair behind stage, button and smoothed down his suit, and walked on stage. Waiting for the applause and camera flashes to die down, Harris went to the podium and began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'll keep this short. About an hour ago, Freedom Defense Coalition dropships departed a staging base in Athens, Greece and are en route to Sofia. I'll take questions."

The first question a reporter sent in via holo was an obvious one, and Harris read it out loud.

"Which side will the troops be taking? Well, neither side is innocent. Both sides, the government and the protesters, are currently engaged in violence. FDC troops will be aiming to establish peace and begin negotiations between the two sides to bring peace to the nation."

Another question.

"Is the Bulgarian government aware of this intervention? As the situation was rapidly deteriorating, we felt that it was our responsibility to send forces in immediately. We hope they will cooperate as we move to restore peace in the nation."

This would be the last question he answered.

"What will happen to the Tsar and his government? To preserve operational secrecy, I cannot divulge any plans that the Freedom Defense Coalition may or may not have for the aftermath of the crisis. Our primary goal is maintaining peace. Now, if you all will excuse me, I must be going. Representative Livingston will be on hand to answer any more questions you may have."

Harris nodded to Livingston as he walked off stage. As soon as he was off the stage, he checked his phone and breathed a deep sigh of relief. He had just gotten a text which read:

"SWORD dropships away from Athens. Moving to capture Tsar. Nonlethal confirmed. T-5 hours until probable completion."

Harris then nodded

[Russlande]

1Russlande

Bucharest, Romania
September 15, 2063
7:38 pm

King Ferdinand II of Romania briefly glanced at the letter of invitation that Cardinal de Rémy had handed him. He trusted almost everything that Cardinal de Rémy did, after all, the good Cardinal was a man of God and had practically ruled the country since Ferdinand II had been a boy. The Cardinal and the King were in the later's office in Bucharest. Ferdinand II had just come back to Romania after visiting his sister and nephew, the Queen of Finland and King of Denmark-Norway. He did not approve of the situation going on in Bulgarie-Rumelia, naturally as a monarch and son of the two most powerful monarchs in the world. He signed the invitation and handed it back to the Cardinal de Rémy.

"Get them here within the hour."

[Kingdom of Derita]

Saint Petersburg, Russlande
September 15, 2063
7:40 pm

Prince Régent André, the future Tsar of Russlande and King-Emperor of Derita paced the floor of his war room that was hidden in a underground complex in Saint Petersburghe. As the Prince Régent, he held almost all the power of a Tsar, after all his mother and to some extent his father could both intervene and make orders. Empress Alara-Élisabeth, while technically she had her son as Régent, she refused to leave politics completely and was well informed with everything that the Prince Régent did. And it did at times get annoying to the Prince Régent, but it was his mother after all. But for now, he had to focus on what was going on.

Bulgarie-Rumelia, two nations united into one state. André had dealt with them before in 2061 when had invaded and ended the revolution of the Rumelians. The villainous slavers had been on the wrong side of the Prince Régent's sword and gun. Now, a mere two years later, he was having to deal with them again. Though he was not yet the ruler of a great empire like his parents (though he jointly ruled Naples and Sicily with his wife, Queen Thérèsa) and he was only a mere 28 years old, he was a skilled political figure and diplomat, as well as a well able military commander and tactician like his father.

He had seen Rumelia and Bulgaria reunite in the end if 2061, and had seen Tsar Simeon IV, who has been hiding in exile in Russlande for several years before hand, take over the nation and get himself crowned. And now his people were revolting against him. It reminded him hauntingly of what it was called in Fontainebleau as the Borbón Situation. In Communist Espana, King Charles II rules but on a very insecure throne. But he survives, perhaps unknowingly to himself and the rest of the world, because the Prince Régent's father, the King-Emperor wanted him alive long enough to die so that André's youngest sister would be Queen of Espana.

King-Emperor Christopher II was famous and infamous for his waiting games. He would create a long and elaborate plan that could take half a decade or more to be completed, that is after all how he had been able to crush Polonge and Rhine-East Berlin in the Northern War. Few but the King-Emperor could see the end result, but it always worked perfectly. Perhaps that was why he liked the Dutch so much lately, they thought similarly. But André was not so patient. He wanted things done when he wanted then done and there was no time for patience. And so he had no intention of playing the games of his father with the Tsar of Bulgarie-Rumelia. The Tsar had failed and deserved to be ousted.

The Prince Régent stopped pacing and looked to the council before him. The commanders of the Imperial White Army of Russlande, as well as two Admirals of the Imperial White Fleet of the Black Sea.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have made a decision. We shall not be assisting in the maintaining nor the possible restoration of the Tsar, Simeon IV. He has proven to be arrogant, weak and ineffective as a ruler and so he must be dethrone; forcibly if needed. I want two messages sent."

He paused for a few seconds as he collected himself, ready to do this.

"First, inform the National Parliament of our support in the dethroning of the Tsar and his oppressive regime, as well as more than willingly to send in troops against any possible loyalist to the Tsar."

The Prince Régent once again paused, this time to let it sink into he heads of the commanders. The idea in Russlande of being ready to send in troops into a situation would mean the mobilization of the entire army of one area, in this case the south. But the Kingdom of Romania was in the way of the Russlandains and the Bulgarie-Rumelia. They would have to get permission from André's brother, the King of Romania and Cardinal de Rémy. But someone far more important had to be notified first.

"Then, send a letter to Fontainebleau, inform the Glorious King-Emperor of our plan and have him send Sir Allen. He will know what it means. Hurry."

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

En Route to Zimnicea, Romania
September 15, 2063
7:58 pm

Tsar Simeon IV and his wife, Tsaritsa Giacinta were being rushed out of the country as fast as possible. As the SPD informed the national government of the chaos and danger, the riots had read eastward from Sofia. While in other cities it was not as bad, there was no murder, no rape, there was will the terrors of riots, with the mass destruction of property and looting of shops and houses. The Tsar had ordered the army to be mobilized in order to handle the situation, but it would be 7 more hours before they were fully prepared to do that.

In Smokavograd, the vacation home of the Tsar and his wife, as well as to were they had retired to after the birth of their beautiful little daughter, Princess Kalina. The palace at Smokavograd was far to the north, only a 48 minute drive to the border of Romania.

Everything has started off as a normal day as Tsar Simeon and Tsaritsa Giacinta had relaxed as they they doted their precious daughter. There had been complaints by the international community, especially those in Connuriste and Great Hyruke were women ruled. Never before had Tsar Simeon IV heard of two countries were the men were so inferior and submissive to the women. If his great-great-great grandfather had let his eldest child, a daughter, take the throne, then he would not be the Tsar today. He loved his daughter who was only days old, but she would never be Tsaritsa of Bulgarie-Rumelia.

The Tsar and the Tsaritsa hand been watching television while the later feed the princess Kalina milk from her bosom when the news had come on, interrupting their regularly scheduled program to inform people of the chaos in Sofia. Soon the Tsar was having the army gather up and get prepared. Then the invitation of safe haven from the King of Romania had arrived and the Tsar panicked.

Was the situation so desperate that other countries were already offering a place to live in exile? It made him nervous. Had he been another monarch, the King of Sweden or the King of Portugal, he might have said no. He might have been convinced that he needed to stay in his country and make sure that his people were safe. That his throne was secure. He would have become a strong leader in this time of crisis. But he was not. He wanted to flee. And so that is what he did.

The Royal Family packed up their things and were soon heading straight towards Zimnicea, Romania. The Tsar nervously held his wife as the armoured car they were in speed towards the city.

Tsar Simeon IV was a old looking man. Despite the face that he was only 21 years old, he looked close to 38. He had a full beard and wrinkles under his eyes. He looked old. Far too old. His hair was even graying from stress. He was dressed in casual clothes, dress pants, boots and a white collar shirt. He also wore a long brown trench coat and brown gloves.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Zimnicea, Romania
September 15, 2063
8:37 pm

Cardinal de Rémy himself waited on the midpoint of the Fahrad Bridge were Romanian territory began. The Cardinal's Personal Guard, Swiss trained men waited around him ready to protect the arriving Tsar and Tsaritsa of Bulgarie-Rumelia. The elderly Cardinal de Rémy stood in all his holy and expensive red and gold robes of a Cardinal. He was waiting on the bridge for the fleeing royals of Bulgarie-Rumelia. He wanted to see them himself and transport them to Bucharest safely. To leave it to the hands of his Swiss Guard would have been simple, but Cardinal de Rémy wanted to make an impression. He loved when royals were humbled by someone like him, a man of humble beginnings and background having made a life for himself as a Cardinal and Puppet Master of a king.,

[Royal Genes]

Tsaritsa Giacinta was a nervous wreck as she held onto her baby girl. Her dear little baby Kalina. Giacinta, Génoise by birth had married Tsar Simeon IV shortly after he had been crowned as Tsar of Bulgarie-Rumelia. She had thought herself to be like a princess from a story book. A middle class girl like herself being whisked out of college to become the Queen of a foreign nation with a handsome young King. But now that was all a distant memory. She was a mother of a beautiful daughter, which was wonderful, but her daughter was not allowed to succeed her father. There was a revolution that had caused hundreds, if not thousands of death and was aimed against her and her husband. Now she was fleeing the country for her life to another country and who knew how that might end. As Simeon held her and she held Kalina, she whispered a small pray asking God to save them. She stopped and looked at her husband, his aged face startling, but she could see past it.

"Do you think we will safe in Romania? Oh, this is awful. Just awful. Oh my dear, I pray we will be safe."

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

South Zimnicea, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
8:37pm

Tsar Simeon IV kissed the forehead of his dear wife.

"Do not worry my dear. We will be fine. We will be safe. All three of us."

The convoy reached the village of South Zimnicea and were heading straight towards the bridge. As they reach the bridge, they were stopped. It was a protest. It was dark and the lights of the protesters light up the street. The tsar pushed his head down away from the window as the convoy pushed it's way through the protesters who were soon surrounding the car. The convoy tried to move through, by the crowd of people, perhaps 200 or so people.

Then there was a yell from the crowd.

"It is the tsar! It is the tsar! Get him!"

This caused a panic. The protesters turned vicious as they attacked the convoy, hitting the cars and rocking them. The tsar's guards pressed their feet down on the gas, revving the engines. The protesters, not as vicious as those in Sofia or in the other major of big cities. They screamed and dived out of the way as the cars raced fields are straight for the bridge. They moved too fast, speeding straight across the bridge, smashing through the toll booth and passport check station.

The bumper of the armored car carrying the tsar and the Tsaritsa and the princess hit the asphalt sparks flying. The fires screeched as the driver turned the car to it's side trying to slow it down. The car moved tilting almost as if we're to flip onto it's side. The car screeched across the bridge until it stopped, the car rocking as they stopped. The car's engine was steaming and the protesters, the traitors of the Tsar were rushing forward, armed with basic weapons, rocks, bats and such. Waiting at the center of the bridge was the Cardinal de Rémy.

The tsar's opened the door and pulled the Tsaritsa and princess out of the car.

"Go, run now! Run your Majesty!"

Meanwhile the Tsar was struggling to get out of his seat belt, it must have jammed when they hit the bridge. As he tried to pull himself free, another car of the convoy was trying to stop, but it could not stop fast enough. The second car crashed into the armoured vechicle. Behind the crash the guards were opening fire against the advancing protesters.

[Royal Genes]

The Tsaritsa ran. She grabbed her baby girl and ran as fast as she could across the bridge straight towards the Cardinal. She could see the red and gold of his robes in the darkness of the early night. She identified it as freedom, as safety. She pressed baby Kalina to her chest as she ran, holding up the skirts of her dress. Then she heard the crash of a car into another one. She screamed as she turned around looked back at the armoured car and tears fell from her eyes. She stopped for only a brief moment. Then she heard the sounds of bullets ripping through the night air. Her love for her husband was overwhelming, but not more than the love of Kalina. She turned and ran to the Cardinal.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Cardinal de Rémy caught the running Tsaritsa. The Cardinal was a tall man at 6'5" tall and he quickly took the Tsaritsa and her daughter into his arms and quickly moved towards the cars that were waiting for them. They were safe now.

"There, there my dear children. The hands of God have brought you here because he loves you both, now you shall be safe, that I promise. Come, quickly now."

He couldn't let them be harmed by the guards firing their bullets into the crowd on the other end of the bridge, but he also needed to get the Tsar. Otherwise this will have been the worse attempt of a royal family escaping a revolution since Veronica and her son's in Madrid in 2023 during the terrible Siege of Madrid.

The old Cardinal had been a young man when that had happen and he remembered the news of the event. Horrible, horrible news. But this time he would be the savor of a monarchy, he will gain recognition across the world.

As he made sure that the two were in the car, he rushed quickly over to the rest of his Swiss guard to see if there was any sight of the Tsar of Bulgarie-Rumelia. Hopefully he had not gone and died. That would certainly be bad.

[The Royally United Provinces]

Tag for future post

[United States of Conner]

Sofia, Bulgaria
September 15th, 2063, 2300 hours
Out of the darkness of the sky, the drop pods emerged.

To the untrained eye, they would look like streaks of light, flashing in the sky like meteors. However, they were not sent from the heavens but from 90,000 feet by an FDC dropship which had dropped its pods before streaking off back towards Greece to refill and refuel.

These streaks of light were pods, about six meters in length and width and four meters in height. Each of them held five soldiers and their gear. These drop pods also had thrusters located on the bottom of the pod that were designed to guide the pod to its designated location. When the pod was about five kilometers above the ground, the pod would begin to slow itself, until by the time it landed, it made no more than a slight impact. These pods were designed to land on buildings or elevated areas where no people would be crushed by the landing.

As the first pods began to land, a communication was sent over open radio channels to the Sofia PD.

Sofia Law Enforcement officials, you are fighting valiantly to restore peace to this city. The drop pods you see in the sky are those of the Freedom Defense Coalition. FDC peacekeepers are arriving in the city and aim to restore peace and protect civilians against the violence currently occurring. We will be clearly designated by the FDC insignia on our black body armor. We are armed with both tranquilizer rounds and lethal rounds as well as VTOLs and riot control gear. If you could connect us with high-ranking officers over this frequency, we could lock down certain areas and turn them into safe zones for civilians."

The first drop pods had just landed. As they landed, they would wait for the five soldiers inside to clear out before boosting back up to waiting dropships which would collect them and refill them with more FDC soldiers. As FDC boots hit the ground, the soldiers used their exosuits and grappling hooks to move from building to building until they reached the hospitals the SPD were attempting to lock down.

There, FDC VTOLs were in the process of dropping riot control gear and crowd control equipment onto the roof of the building. As FDC logistics experts directed the movement of the gear, FDC Commander Preston Anderson, whose Echo Group was tasked with defending and resupplying the northernmost hospital in the city, walked up to a SPD officer who looked like he had some place in the chain of command, removed his helmet, and extended his hand.

"Officer, my name is Preston Anderson, FDC Commander. We're here to help you reinforce this hospital and turn it into a safe place for refugees. May I speak to your superior, if he is still around? FDC VTOLs are going to begin conducting rescue missions, and although we have holomaps of the city, we would like someone to coordinate our efforts with."

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

Tsar Simeon IV wiped his mouth, there was a little bit of blood in his mouth, but other than that and the ringing in his ears, he was fine. His seat belt buckle has unlatched itself in the jolt of the crash, that was probably a safety concern and in the case of a car crash very dangerous, but the Tsar was not concerned about whither or not his seat belt was up to date and the safest it could be. Instead his mind was filled with making sure that he didn't die. Because that could be bad. It would be the worst thing in the world actually. He climbed over the other seats and out of the car, falling down onto his hands and knees as he caught his breathe.

He stumbled up to his feet and ran towards the Cardinal and his Swiss Guard. He ran as fast as he could, fearful of the bullets and angry people who might want to butch him alive. As he ran over to the Cardinal and the Swiss Guard, the Tsar's own guards fired on the protesters, pushing them back off the bridge. They fell down by the dozens, the dead stacking On top of each other, the guards moved forward, walking on top of the corpses. The protesters were falling back as Tsar Simeon reach the Romanians. He had reached Safety.

For now.

[United States of Conner]

South Zimnicea, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
20:37 hours
They were neither audible or visible, but 2500 meters above the ground, the three Connerian Panther stealth VTOLs could see everything via thermal cameras.

In the middle VTOL, Sergeant Anita Stevens turned to the eight-man team of SWORD operators sitting in the cargo bay of the VTOL. Pulling up projections of the bridge, Stevens turned to her team and said, "Op is off the books. We have an eight-minute time frame. Tranq rounds. We clear the crowd and then move in - if they come willingly, good. If not, Tranq 'em and move back to VTOL One for exfil. Assume offensive formation on landing. All go?"

After getting eight nods, Stevens nodded. "Let's roll."

Stevens and her team were about to hook up and move out when the pilot barked back to them. "Sarge, the convoy has reached the Romanians!"

Stevens swore, thought for a second, and then continued.

"Follow them. Remain in stealth mode. We'll make our move when we can. Have guns prepped, and I need snipers on standby."

[The Atmoran Diplomat]

Sofia, Bulgaria
15 September, 2063, 2300 hours

Eight infantry regiments from each nation from the Atmoran Empire each in different drop pods were descending towards the surface and to Sofia, Queen Katherine II stated that eight infantry regiments each from different corners of the Empire would assist their FDC allies in Bulgaria as part of the FDC Peacekeeping operation. Each regiment was approved by their nation's respective Parliament.

General Lancelot Vance of the United Atmoran Army and subsequently Commander of the Atmoran Forces sent to Bulgaria, as the Atmoran led forces landed in Sofia, Princess Winter's Light Infantry and Princess Agathe's Albanian Light Infantry along with the other infantry units sent into Bulgaria made contact with the other FDC units in the city along with contacting the SPD. However Major-General Octavia Fullmore the commander of Princess Winter's Light Infantry contacted the United Atmoran Air Force and Royal Albanian Air Force on sending UAVs into Bulgaria as surveillance.

All the infantry sent into Bulgaria were wearing the signature M51B body armour the armour is extremely resilient towards traditional ballistic weaponry and could take fire from energy based weaponry. The M51B body armour could save a soldier's life if shrapnel was flying at them and or from explosives, to make the armour more comfortable for the soldier was instillation of temperature-regulation units into the armour, not only does this eliminate the need to change depending on the environment but it also reduces the chances of an enemies ability to track the trooper via thermal energy.

General Lancelot Vance sternly through the comms network for all eight regiments

"All units I repeat all units regroup and secure the Sofia International Airport so our Timerian brethren can come join the party!"

After that the Atmoran led forces started making way towards the airport with their weapons lowered however if at anytime they were ready to fire and defend themselves.

Soon the navy would land Marines on the coast and secure the coast and the Air Force would bring in the tanks and other armoured vehicles into the nation to help the infantry units.

[Kingdom of Derita]

Cardinal de Rémy ushered the Tsar into the car and soon they were off. The car was heavily armoured, it's side windows tiny and bullet proof, but even then the foreign royal family was ordered to keep their heads down. The motorcade moved quickly. As they rolled off of the bridge, small but well designed and placed explosives on the Romanian side of the bridge went off, destroying half of bridge in order that no one on the road could follow them. The motorcade moved through the small Romanian town till they reached the northern outskirts of the city. A short tunnel cut through a hill. The motorcade when straight into the tunnel. And then it reappeared on the others life, though it no longer contain as many guards as it had had before. Nor were the Bulgarian Royals and the Cardinal in the motorcade.

Cardinal de Rémy had secret tunnels built throughout the Kingdom of Romania, as well as Russlande, Serbia, Montenegro and Ireland. Why Ireland? Only Cardinal de Rémy knew. The tunnels were designed to be undetectable, so deep that once inside of it was unable to pick up hear signatures, they were sound proofed and strong enough to withstand a full on nuclear assault. In the 19 seconds that it took to go through the tunnel, the guards had jumped out of the cards while the armoured one slowly just enough to get the foursome out and replace them with doubles. Cardinal de Rémy was prepared for any and everything.

While the motorcade continued northwards on the rode, the Cardinal de Rémy and his Swiss Guards lead the Tsar and his wife and daughter down into the Rémy Tunnels, traveling down a classified number of levels till they reach an area that looked similar to a small fancy but functional subway. After waiting 3 minutes and 14 seconds a small rail car arrived and Cardinal de Rémy and the group boarded. Then they were off. The rail car took them in multiple directions, making sharp left and right, then going long periods of time in one direction turns till it was impossible for some not trained or having designed the tunnels to tell were they were in relation to anything.

The Cardinal spoke softly to the royals.

"Rest my children. We shall reach our destination in a few hours."

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

Sofia, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
8:40 pm

The police officer that greeted the Connerian commander, his name was Ivakoy Gerhanel. He was covered in blood, thought it was not his own blood, it was probably that of the 17 people he murdered trying to get out of the riot. Officer Gerhanel shook the man hand, then wiped off some the blood on the FDC Commander's shoulder.

"Come oh boy, let's get you to the Chief. You all better hope your asses are ready for this shit going down in this city."

The Chief of Police, Reed Zhachiry was in the Ehtnioffe Hospital, located on the northern end of the city of Sofia looked at Officer Gerhanel and the man he had with him.

"Officer! Who is this!?"

The chief yelled his sentences, which he did often, and with the crisis going on, it appeared to have become a permit thing. Officer Gerhanel pointed to the FDC Commander.

"Sir! This man claims to be a commander of the Freedom Defense Coalition sir! He said his name is Presslon Anderspoon!"

The Chief crossed his arms looking Anderspoon up and down. He did look FDC. And the SPD did need their help: that was for sure. It had been hoped that the rioting would die down in the night, but it seem to have gotten worse in face. Much of the city was in flames, it made a ring with in the middle being the areas already burned out and the outside being were the fire had not yet reached it. The SFP was working to halting the flames.

"Well listen up Anderspoon! I don't know you and you do t know me. But we have a shit load of people out there who are angry and have lost their minds! We also have many who have not lost their minds and need our protection! We need to separate the Badies from the goodies, you got that Anderspoon?!"

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

Aynthnia, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
9:00 pm

With the city of Sofia completely unsafe, the National Parliament had moved to safety to a place 23 miles to the south, southeast of the capital to the town of Aynhnia. Here they were having an emergency meeting.

Prime Minister Konstantinos Khursanhov was leading the debate. Khursanhov was a 76 year old man, but easily the most capable politician that the nation had. At 5'10", he was a man of average height and sported shoulder length gray frizzy hair, although it was balding on the top, and a full gray and frizzy beard and mustache. He wore a black suit, tailored to fit. Prime Minister Khursanhov, the natural enemy of the Tsar, who had unknown to Khursanhov and the rest if the world save a select few, had fled the nation; was excited like he had not been in years as his page of the message from Saint Petersburg.

The makeshift National Parliament room at the Federal Building Post Office in Aynhina was set up to attempt to mimic the real one in Sofia. Spilt down the middle was a walk way, with the 9 Councilmen, Borus Boriskanya, Sandro Nazadhayanov, Nicholas Dailnovez, Sandro Laundret, Tiedov Maniliez, Sergio Sergevtov, Jorge Putister, Liandthowa Irmanov, and Steven Manlinov; and 1 Councilwoman, Accra Endinov, the Deputy Prime Minister, Lukas Glazionly who was a tall and thin man with small circular glasses on his face and a gray suit on, the Chairman of the Council and Prime Minister, who in this case were the same person, Khursanhov were seated on a slightly higher area at a table.

The 105 out of 167 present members of the National Parliament there were speaking to themselves in quiet and hushed tones, they spoke to one another exchanging their own ideas on the situation. They gossiped and spread rumors in the way that politicians did. Some claimed that their informants said that the rioters had burned all of Sofia down to the ground. Another group were trying to calculate how many had died in Sofia. Another man spoke to a woman over the idea that the Russlandains had invaded. Some were semi true, saying that the FDC had invaded the western part of the country and were shooting up people. Others said they were helping. Some said that the Tsar had fled and left his wife and daughter behind.

With all the confusion going on in the nation, both Khursanhov and Glazionly agreed that news stations were to be watched and census any thing that was unclear as a fact or not. They did not to have people jumping the gun and causing even more of a panic. It might prove disastrous and Khursanhov could not, would not have that. As Prime Minister it was his duty to his people. Then the Russlandian Ambassador arrived.

Russlande and Bulgarie-Rumelia were neighbors, with only the kingdom of Romania between them. When the kingdom had been reformed in 2056, when Khursanhov had been 69, already the beginnings of Russo-Bulgarian Politics had been opened up. The Empress of Russlande, a devilish like woman who was the stuff of nightmares in Bulgaria and fearfully respected in Rumelia, had her son on the throne of Romania, which meant, at least to Khursanhov that they bordered the Empress's realm.

When in 2061 when the Prince Régent of Russlande, whom the Bulgarians for more favorable rather than his evil mother, and whom the Rumelians hated with a passion for being the major person who crushed their dreams of a Rumelian Empire, an empire built on the back of slaves nonetheless; had invaded, the two nations opened embassies and relations grew. But many feared the Russlandains and did not trust them. They said they planned to make the Tsar a puppet with strings going back to Moscow. But that did not mean they didn't need their relations to be good and steady.

[Russlande]

Aynhina, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
9:01 pm

Ambassador Nikita Stefano Sambonvi brushed into the temporary home of the Bulgarian and Rumelian National Parliament In Aynhina. Ambassador Sambonvi, a 47 year old Russlandain who had spent most of his life in Gênes (2024-2057) but had become the Empress and Prince Régent's Ambassador to Bulgarie-Rumelia in 2061. Ambassador Sambonvi was a man who looked somewhere between the mean and cruel looking Cossack that he was, and the pleasure seeking courtier of Genes that his mimicked. He wore the clothes of a Génoise aristocrat, but the colors of the Empire of Russlande, black, gold and white. His Celeste style suit was stiff and formal, yet shiny and stylish with a personal flare.

Sambonvi: "Monsieurs! And Madames!"

Yes, the Russlandain Ambassador spoke French, he even sported a thick French accent, though that was something that most of those of aristocratic society in Russlande had. French was a Deritain thing and so it was considered high society. To meet one in Russlande with a French accent meant they were of high birth, of political importance, or very very wealthy. Not to mention that Ambassador Sambonvi had lived in a French speaking country for over three decades.

Sambonvi: "I am ever so sorry to barge in to thez meeting, but I have an urgent message from His Imperial Highness, the Prince Régent of Russlande."

[Bulgarie-Rumelia]

Aynhnia, Bulgarie-Rumelia

De Prime Minister Khursanhov raised a bushy eyebrow at Ambassador Sambonvi. The Russlandain ambassador had always seem a bit elaborate to him, too elaborate. He was a good courtier and ambassador, but annoying still. The National Parliament exploded into a choir of talking and whispers. Prime Minister Khursanhov grabbed a gavel and slammed it down onto the table he was seated at. As the sound echoed and moved across the room, the National Parliament members grew silent.

"Ambassador Sambonvi, tell us, what is this message from our dear friendly neighbors to the north. What does the Prince Régent say in this time of crisis?"

[United States of Conner]

South Zimnicea, Bulgarie-Rumelia
September 15, 2063
20:38 hours
"Sarge!"

Anita Stevens turned to her pilot as he put a thermal image on a screen in the back of the Panther VTOL. "What's up? We've tailed them long enough, we should be good to hit them, right?"

"Negative. The thermal signature has changed in the vehicles, and the Tsar is no longer in any of the vehicles."

"When the fuck could they have gotten out?"

"Sarge, they passed under a tunnel. It's conceivable they could have gotten out there."

"Shit. Put us down there. Call for backup - a ten man team isn't going to be able to mount a full assault. Team, go lethal. We're roping in."

With that, Stevens moved her team to the back of the VTOL. Weapons and armor were checked, thermal and infrared HUD cams were activated, and then the ten-man team slid silently into the night. As the three VTOLs hovered around, watching for incoming threats, the team moved silently in the night into the tunnel.

It was completely empty, but after pinging with their gear for a while, they found a secret entrance to some sort of a tunnel system. The rest of the team stood watch as two of the Operators took torch cutters and cut a hole open in the wall, revealing a tunnel entrance. Stevens motioned for her team to prepare to go in, but one of her Operators said, "Sarge, let me send in a recon drone."

Stevens nodded and motioned for the man to go ahead. The man got down on one knee and configured the small drone to explore the tunnel system. The other nine SWORD soldiers stood, weapons ready, by the door while the man used his tablet to guide the small drone through the tunnels. After a bit of tapping, the man used thermal saturation to track the path of the fleeing Tsar.
Within a few minutes, the man stood back up.

"They took a train of some sort to get out of here. I've used a sonar reader to map the tunnel path - I have their path down pretty well. Our best bet would be to either get into the tunnel somehow via drilling or get into the endpoint somehow."

Stevens thought for a minute.

"I'll let the reinforcements know to bring drilling equipment. Back on the VTOL, we'll meet the others somewhere and set up an ambush."

2104 hours
Undisclosed Location, Kingdom of Romania

"All teams, you have execute authority. Move, move, move!"

Stevens, now the commander of thirty men and a drill team, signaled for her team to disembark the VTOL as it touched down. Based on the sonar scan the recon drone had gotten, they were above a long straightaway the train was going to come through in about five minutes. There were no other turns that could be made - it was just a solid straightaway, and that would work to SWORD's advantage.

"Sarge, run me through our plan again, why don't ya."

Stevens turned to the commander of the drill team. "You guys are going to drill a hole through the tunnel where we instruct you to. We'll use the big chuck of stone we carve out to derail the train. My team moves in and grabs the Tsar and gets back out."

The commander nodded and motioned for his team to get set up. The man who had operated the recon drone was still looking at a sonar map of the tunnels as he motioned to where the men were to set up their equipment. When it was all set up, the team began to drill. With a minute or so left before the train came through, the drilling was 99% complete.

Stevens motioned for them to cut the lasers off. "Good work. When the train is about five or ten seconds out, we drop that. The train hits a piece of stone that big, it's going off the track. That's when Alpha moves in," she said, gesturing to eight Operators to her right, "while Bravo covers us. As soon as we have the Tsar, we exfil. Understood?"

The soldiers, all unidentifiable in their black body armor and submachine guns and shotguns, nodded.

Stevens clapped her hands and barked, "Let's roll! Alpha, clip up. I want us ready to rope in when that stone drops - we have two minutes once we get down there."

The man with the sonar map spoke up. "Thirty seconds until train at optimal position."

Stevens bellowed, "Check one!"

The soldiers responded with, "Check!"

"Twenty seconds!"

"Check two!"

"Check!"

"Ten seconds!"

Stevens flicked off her safety. The rest of the Operators did the same. Stevens slid her helmet down, obscuring her face, and said over closed comm channels, "Standby."

"Five ... four ... three ... two ... one!"

Stevens barked out, "Execute!"

The laser tech flicked a switch, the lasers came back one, and a large cylinder of stone, weighing somewhere between fifteen and twenty tons, dropped into the train's path - a slab large enough to stop a plane, but not enough to cause the train to lethally crumple like an accordion. Stevens motioned for disorientation (grenades that emitted a pulse of light that would render anyone in the vicinity blind for a few minutes and a noise that would cause ears to ring deafeningly) grenades to be thrown in, but waited for the crashing sound to physically move in - wouldn't want to be hit by the train they were trying to raid, after all.