The Warzone Inquirer

[Crisisies]

Love it.

[The Notorious Mad Jack]

Happy to take part in getting rid of Amestria or whatever it's called from Warzone Australia

[Neo Domais]

Amestr's op was over, they were done. A little late to the party.

[King Bradley]

You guys did a good job, Mad Jack. XD

[Liberated American Provinces]

These are absolutely wonderful.

[The Warzone Inquirer]

Issue IV - Phoenix Arisen

30th December 2019

---

Foreword by Apulita

The Warzone community is, in my experience, a magical thing. It can take beating after beating, sometimes self-inflicted, but it never truly dies. The resilience and determination of this community is why I myself keep coming back for more, I hunger for the sheer energy. We are helped, of course, by the fact that our forgotten GCRs, while difficult to hold, are impossible to truly lose. Warzones cannot be refounded, or locked out with passwords. It makes our job more difficult, but in times of crisis it is a fact that we greatly rely on.

The recent history of the Warzones, in my opinion, is a tragedy. The Warzone Federation, an interregional government uniting the Warzone Native movements for (to my knowledge) the first time, ended in collapse after disagreements about the legitimacy of a presidential election spiraled into a civil war, and further disagreements saw numerous declarations of secession. The Federation hobbled on for a while, a legal ghost, but it would not recover. It is a deep regret of mine that I was not present at the time of the downfall, but I doubt my intervention could have saved my child project either way.

With the effective death of the Warzone Federation, the Warzone Native movements were scattered to the winds, torn apart by grudges and significantly damaged by loss of activity. The Warzone Communities were heavily crippled, to be blunt. But as can be guaranteed to happen, the life-cycle of the Warzones continued and the bust would gradually shift into a boom. Over the past several months, with little fanfare or celebration, the Warzone communities have picked up the pieces and pulled themselves back together.

All six Warzones have native governments claiming legitimacy, and two (Sandbox and Europe) have ten or more local endorsements. The signing of the Warzone Treaty was a significant step in moving on from the damages of the Federation, a sign that the Warzone communities were ready and willing to cooperate again. Constitutions have been drafted, governments elected, and just like that, the Phoenix that is the Warzones arises once more.

---

Lazarus is a big fish, in the small Warzone pond
Author: Apulita
Lazarus, under the authority of LazCorp, has recently become the most significant foreign influence flexing their muscles within the Warzone regions. In their war with the New Pacific Order, they have committed themselves to targeting regions associated, even loosely, with the Pacific, and this eventually led LazCorp to target regions which have embassies with the Pacific, a category including both Warzone Europe and Warzone Asia.

On the 18th of December, forces from Lazarus took control of Warzone Asia, with the stated intent to close the embassy with the Pacific. While the occupiers held for some time, on the 20th native forces managed to reclaim their region with the help of a number of outside allies. After attempts on Warzone Africa and Warzone Airspace were bested, Lazarus found their mark on the 22nd in a quick assault which took Warzone Europe, while the region's infant government had yet to organize a military or security force. Embassy closures soon followed.

A back-and-forth over the next few days saw failed attempts to liberate Warzone Europe, and further the fall of Warzone Asia back to occupation, culminating in an operation on the 24th of December including operatives from the NPO, IJN, TMO, WZEU, and WZAS. The Christmas Eve Operation successfully liberated both Warzone Europe and Warzone Asia, and native government was immediately restored to both regions.

Following the Christmas Eve liberations, forces from both sides settled in for the holiday proper, agreeing to an informal Christmas truce and enjoying time in the Real World^TM. The truce would not hold permanently, however, as on the 29th, forces from Lazarus were successful in an operation to take Warzone Airspace, though they have avoided stepping on most toes, surprisingly preserving much of the pre-existing World Factbook Entry among other actions to make their occupation less onerous.

The occupation of Warzone Airspace, which had no embassy with the Pacific to begin with, is prime evidence of the real rationale behind LazCorp's recent invasions throughout the Warzones. This rationale was confirmed when I spoke with Imaginary/Sylven, Vice-Director and currently the commander of Lazarus's military. Confirming that the Warzones serve as a "cool context to practice doing ops", the supposed ideological nature of the operations can be discarded.

One should not assume, however, that Lazarus coldly views the Warzones as target practice to drill up their troops. As confirmed by Imaginary/Sylven, "the main reason is to have a great time". This view is shared by the author, who can speak only to the fair and reasonable conduct of Lazarus's forces at every point in the recent conflicts, and who could ask for few occupiers more enjoyable.

NOTE: Readers should be made aware that everything is not as it seems in Warzone Australia.

---

The First Warzone Awards
Author: Apulita
Organized by Alnorud, the delegate of Warzone Asia (who is the subject of this edition's Faces from the Warzones!), the Warzone Awards is a new take on the trend of yearly awards ceremonies in NS Gameplay, this time with a Warzone spin!

While the Warzone Awards have not been met with much fanfare or excitement (the title of the first awards being "Why Not" is indicative), there is certainly much to cover, for the events of this year include everything from the downfall of the Warzone Federation to the new conflict between Lazarus and the once-again cooperating Warzones.

Time will tell whether this experiment will stand the test of time, but either way this author is happy to have a space to recognize the contributions to these oft-forgotten communities.

---

The Warzone-o-meter
In this regular column, the current situation in each of the six Game Created Warzones will be summarized for your viewing pleasure. Here is the state of the Warzones!

Warzone Europe: Endorsements: 11, Activity: Significant, Notes: New Government, Verdict: Waxing
Warzone Australia: Endorsements: 5, Activity: Significant, Notes: Fake Occupation, Verdict: Stable
Warzone Africa: Endorsements: 3, Activity: Significant, Notes: Long-running native government, Verdict: Stable
Warzone Sandbox: Endorsements: 15, Activity: Quiet, Notes: Longest-running current delegacy, Verdict: Waxing
Warzone Airspace: Endorsements: 8, Activity: Significant, Notes: OCCUPATION: LAZARUS, Verdict: Trouble
Warzone Asia: Endorsements: 7, Activity: Quiet, Notes: Recently recovered native government, Verdict: Stable

---

Faces from the Warzones
In this regular column, we sit down with an important face in the Warzones and get to know a little more about them. This week, I spoke to Alnorud, the delegate of Warzone Asia and a notably hard-working member of the Warzone Native community.

Alnorud, thank you very much for joining me for the rebirth of the Warzone Inquirer. Before we begin, is there anything you'd like to say to our readers?

Alnorud: Well, first I would like to thank you for inviting me, I'm glad to attend the rebirth of the Warzone Inquirer and I hope readers will have an interesting read.

I appreciate that, thank you. We generally start around here by establishing the background. What is your general history with Nationstates?

Alnorud: I started Nationstates in 2015, however communication wasn't easy as I was pretty young and not a native English speaker. After maybe three months as an hermit, I was invited to a region named Auralia in late 2015. This is the region where I first interacted with a Nationstates community, participated to some Roleplay and military occupations. However I left after some time as there had been problems between the Roleplay and Military branches, then I spent some time on and off from 2016 to 2018 in small French speaking regions.

My first interaction with Warzones was actually pretty late, I was founder of the Alliance du Lys which switched from a French speaking region to an English speaking one and my first action here was in December 2018 when I became Delegate of Warzone Asia as an ally of the Warzone Federation.

I became officially a citizen of the Federation in February 2019, and member of the New Pacific Order in April of the same year.
Then I served various positions under the Federation, and I'm now Lord Amyral of Warzone Asia.

Thank you. I'd like to explore a little deeper into your early history with the Warzones. What was your initial motivation for getting involved, and how did you feel it went at first?

Alnorud: I had at first the interests of my own region in mind but then I realized the existence of the Federation. I decided to support Warzoners by providing pilers and serving as Delegate, I think it went pretty well at first and I ended considering Warzone Asia as my home as well after some time, hence why I applied to citizenship.

Your political tenure in the Warzone Federation was controversial to some. Could you summarize your involvement in the government of the Federation, and your perspective on the Federation's collapse?

Alnorud: Indeed, I was citizen during the second government and then became candidate to the Senate of the third government. These elections happened during a period of inactivity which extended the election period from April to May, this was also due to a legislative problem as potential candidates to the Presidency were not able to serve as Delegate of Warzone Europe as it was suggested by the Constitution. So in early May I spent a few days to gather elected officials, write and ratify a new law and elect a new President with the Senate.

I suppose this and my military cooperation with the Federation participated to the choice of President Crisisies to appoint me as Secretary of Defense during their term. My involvement as Secretary involved rewriting the law about the Military system, ending the chaos in Warzone Airspace by looking for external support and such.

Finally, the most controversial period is likely to be my terms as President. I actually already started the decentralization process supported by my opponents during the Civil War but Constitution writing seems to have been too slow for a part of the citizens. I must say it's saddening for a reformist like me who spent time to reform the laws during the inactivity periods to be criticized in the name of politics that I would have supported.

As for my perspective on the Federation's collapse, I think almost everyone won the war because many had no longer interests in the survival of the Federation, I also consider that miscommunication is the main reason of why it happened.

Thank you for your thoughts on that. What have you been doing in the Warzones since the independence of Warzone Asia from the Federation?

Alnorud: Since Warzone Asia became independent, I have been working in Warzone Asia in order to organize the government, recruitment, culture and bilingual policies. As for the Warzones as a whole, I actively participated to discussions between government officials or with other Warzone citizens, I also became the informal organizer of the Warzone Military cooperation server.

You've also been noted as a big advocate for the relevancy of the Warzones on the larger stage, with such moves as the creation of an independent Warzone Awards for 2019. What is your goal in these measures?

Alnorud: I think that the Warzones are a unique kind of experience in Nationstates, just like being citizen of a Feeder or a Sinker is not the same as being citizen of a UCR or Founderless region, being citizen of a Warzone is different. But it's not wrong, only different.
I rightly expected some eyebrows raised about the Warzone Awards, but I don't think this should prevent anyone from doing things for the good of the Warzones on a larger stage. Warzoners seemed to like the idea of Warzone Awards and I don't think external skepticism is a good reason enough to prevent them from enjoying Nationstates.

You've certainly made your mark on the Warzones so far, what plans do you have for the future?

Alnorud: This is a tough question, Warzones are an unpredictable place to say the least.

I'm hoping for the best for Warzone Asia and my regional community, I'm also looking forward to successful cooperation between Warzoners, I think we ready to learn from our past.

With that, our interview comes to an end. Any closing remarks?

Alnorud: This year have been very interesting in the Warzones, I'm hoping to enjoy the incoming year.

I'm also wishing you good luck with the revival of the Warzone Inquirer, it's been a pleasure to answer your questions!

---

What's on?
There are always an abundance of fun and interesting activities going on in the Warzones. Below for your convenience, we've listed a few happenings this week!
-Warzone Awards 2019
-Warzone Europe's Crown Recruitment Drive

Want us to link your activities in this column? Get in touch with this account via telegram.

---

This draws to a close the fourth issue of the Warzone Inquirer. Expect more to follow, touching on news both within and without the Warzone regions. Our telegram box is always open to those looking to contribute a foreword or column, or sit for an interview.

Staff at the Warzone Inquirer apologize for the full year gap between editions of this paper, but make no promise to do better.

[Your Imaginary Friend]

Yay for news! It's nice to see people noticing the Guard as we zip around tying everyone's hair in knots. :) Gotta keep y'all on your toes!

[Indo-Malaysia]

Top notch