We Didn't Start The Fire (AMW Only)

[Kyr Shorn]

Jakarta, the Commonwealth

Deep inside in the offices of the Presidential Palace, the current Justice Minister stood quaking in his polished black shoes as he finished giving the latest report on the Church Burnings to the President of the Commonwealth. Sutan Sjahrir had spoken for over an hour and at the end of he speech, he hadn't said anything that hadn't already been said before.

"I want results Sjahrir, not more excuses." Delem snapped when the Justice Minister had finished speaking.

Doing his best to ignore the sickening feeling in his stomach, Sutan continued, "But Your Excellency we have our best men working on the investigation however..."

"However what?" the President asked as the Justice Minister seemed to trail off from speaking.

"Now this is my own personal suspicion without any evidence but I think that the reason there has been little evidence to go on." he paused for breath and to collect his nerves, "Is that there are elements within the government that are connected with the bombings."

There was only stony silence from the third man to be elected President of the Commonwealth, and then he asked, "Do you have any suspects, anyone in the higher levels of the government who could pull off something like this?"

"None at this time." Sutan replied

"Then keep digging," Delem snapped back, "I will not allow anarchists to run amok within the Commonwealth, no matter who it is they are targeting."

With a large numbers of "Yes sir's" the Justice Minister departed in the fastest walk to the door.

As one of Delem's private guards closed the door, the President considered several thoughts about what he had been hearing, the most obvious thought was that Sutan was connected to the bombings.

"It would make perfect sense except for the problem of why he would bring up possible corrupt government officials to the bombings. It would draw undue attention to himself." Delem thought to himself. Despite his best attempts at stemming corruption within the nation, it still lurked over the Commonwealth like an unhappy ghost. It seemed that almost every other month there was another minor official being arrested for either accepting bribes, demanding bribes, or for conducting some sort of elaborate fraud for the sake of money.

Most of these cases did not see the light of day, instead of embarrassing the government by allowing for something like transparency. Most of the officials connected to such things were dealt with behind closed doors, the solutions were often quite permanent.

"Perhaps I should have the intelligence agency conduct their own review of the situation." Delem thought to himself before making a series of phone calls to the director of the Office of Special Services, a quiet name for the Commonwealth's major intelligence agency.

While they had already been conducting an investigation of the bombings separate from the Justice Department, now they were to also investigate the Justice Department itself, or more precisely it's handling of the investigation. Who knows what interesting things might turn up...

[Kyr Shorn]

Office of Special Affairs

After receiving his orders the Director of the OSS reviewed the situation once more to make sure that he had all the facts straight. Around six months ago over five churches across the island of Java were bombed, causing over 40 deaths and rendered the churches, one of which had existed for over a hundred years unusable.

The initial police investigation focused on a possible Aech Revolutionary Army splinter group, discontent with the tentative peace agreement with the government. This line of thought went nowhere fast and the case seemed to go cold when a mere two months later five more churches in Java were bombed, killing more people.

Once more possible suspects were rounded up and interrogated (tortured is what other countries call it) but no useful information came to light. The Christian minority across the Commonwealth grew fearful, barely leaving their houses and church attendance dropped to almost nothing for several months. Then as nothing else happened and the months went by, church attendance slowly went back to it's previous levels.

Then a third wave of bombings occurred, this time seven churches in Sumatra were targeted, three on Java. Now the death toll was somewhere around three hundred and climbing, the western media had long since pinned the blame on the Brahma Administration. Which was completely stupid, because if nothing else if Delem wanted the Christians dead he would simply have the army round them up and shoot them all in the back of their heads.

Now the President suspected that rogue elements of the government were involved, elements that needed to be dealt with as soon as possible.

The director thought for one more moment and then said to himself, "Where are my lists?" and started clicking away on his laptop. It was high time that there was a shake up in the middle and high rungs of government and the director knew that the most likely people involved in such a conspiracy would not be easy to get rid of. If there was going to be a purge, it would have to be a surgical one.

[Kyr Shorn]

Grand Lotus Temple, Old Jakarta

Raden Wijaya XX, the Divine Monarch of the Majapahit Empire and the Living God Who Turns the Wheel of Dharma finished reading the summary given to him by the High Priest of the temple and said in his soft, cracking voice. "This violence against fellow travelers towards the Divine saddens Us."

The 15 year old monarch to a fallen throne and religions icon to millions handed the summary back to the High Priest and said, "Advise Us on what Our policy towards this matter should be."

"Your Majesty," the High Priest replied, the steps in the dance had to be performed, "The foul murder of Your Christian subjects is a blight upon the name of our Empire's natural born tolerance for the infinite paths of the Divine."

The God Boy gave a very slight head nod, a sign of formal acknowledgement towards the priest who had been his primary caregiver since father died and his conservative mother chose to follow Court Convention and allowed the priests to raise him.

The boy licked his lips nervously and then said in a high pitched voice, "It is Our decree that We shall give a public statement on this issue so that Our subjects might abandon the anger in their hearts and walk the path of Enlightenment once more."

The priests waiting off to the side began to murmur at this, the Divine Monarch hardly ever gave public statements and they NEVER covered political issues and this was most certainly a political issue.

The High Priest let them mutter for a while and then cut them off with an ugly glare. He then performed the proper Imperial Bow to acknowledge the Divine Monarch's decision, the Westeners would call it a kowtow. He then departed along with several priests, none showing their backs to the God who was now drumming his fingers on the replica of the lost Lotus Throne.

The High Priest was going to have to make some important phone calls.

C.I.I. OmniMedia.inc News Report

[In the background elaborate sitar music slowly plays as icons of various multi-armed Hindu deities fill the screen at a sedate pace before the images are replace with a live feed from the heart of the Grand Lotus Temple. A small 15 year old boy sits on a throne in the shape of a large pink lotus flower, his long black hair is decorated with flowers and small diamonds. He holds in his hands a small idol of Agni, the God of Fire]

English Subtitles follow his Indonesian Speech

"Greetings Subjects of the Majapahit Empire, It has come to Our Attention that there have been actions commited by unknown persons that have lead to the deaths and injury of at least three hundred of Our Subjects. The reason for these actions can be found in their targets, a religious minority known as the Christians."

The boy pauses and then continues, "We ask all of Our Subjects to not give into fear or rage at these events. We ask Our Subjects who may discover or already have information regarding these attacks to report the information to the authorities. The Majapahit Empire has always been know for it's traditions of religious tolerance for the many paths one can take to Enlightenment. We ask of all Our Subjects to always remember the cyclical nature of time and that hate only creates hate and that violence only violence. Good deeds however create more good deeds that lead one down the path of righteousness, let the Majapahit Empire always be known for it's goodness and devotion to the Divine."

"Now We shall borrow from the Christians their word to end prayers to close Our Message to the Subjects of Majapahit."

"Amen."

[Cuts to the news reporters who then spend half an hour explaining the religious reasons that Raden Wijaya XX refers to the Commonwealth by the name of the dead Majapahit Empire and the impact of him issuing a message with a political context to the nation. The first time the former royal family has dabbled in politics since the death of Raden Wijaya XVIII, the founder of the Commonwealth]

[Kyr Shorn]

Presidential Palace, Jakarta

Agung Brahma, the youngest son of the President stood quietly and waited outside of the altar room where his father was finishing his prayers to the family spirits and the Gods. Agung shifted position several times due to the large amount of files he had slung under one arm, all of which dealt with one issue or another. He didn't have to wait long, the door quietly opened within a few minutes of his arrival and the third man to rule over the Commonwealth stepped out. He had been a brash and bold figure in his day, Delem had been 27 when he overthrew the inept rule of his predecessor and now in his early 40's he was still in great shape.

"Yes Agung?" Delem asked, noticing his son almost immediately.

"Father I wish to discuss the telecast from the Grand Lotus Temple." Agung replied carefully, not sure what his father's reaction to the Boy God's first major break of unofficial taboo would be.

"There is nothing to discuss Agung," Delem replied as the two left the sacred area and strolled towards the palace's office space, "Raden Wijaya asked the public not to give in to their prejudice and to report any information to the authorities. Those priests have coached him well, this so-called "break" with the unspoken agreement is not a sign of things to come."

Noting the disbelieving look on Agung's face Delem added with a whisper, "Besides, if it was a sign of things to come my spies among the priests would be the first to know."

"Now son what else do you have for me." Delem said in a normal tone, the previous subject closed as far as the President was concerned.

"The Director of OSS sent this," Agung said once he sorted through his files, the message was in a private code known only to the Director and the President, Agung handed his father the file and the two moved on to other topics.

But as they discussed the latest attempts to halt illegal logging in Sumatra, Delem's thoughts turned towards the unwritten message. Then his train of thought was interrupted by Agung saying.

"Now there is the "Special Envoy" from the Vatican to contend with."

"Oh yes the Cardinal de Artzia." Delem said with a sigh, "I believe his flight will arrive soon and the Minister of Religious Affairs has scheduled a meeting with him."

"The Mancha?" Agung asked with eyebrow raised.

"Yes Agung, the Mancha." Delem replied with a smile, wondering how the Catholic would deal with the Manichaean Minister.

Most likely not very well since the Catholic Church had done it's damm best to wipe out their religion and had mostly succeeded, except for the Majapahit Empire where Manichaean missionaries had come at the height of the religion's power and intermarried with several Sumatran tribes, overtime they became the Mancha ethnicity. In the Commonwealth there were more Manichaean’s than Christians.

After they reached the President's Office and spent another thirty minutes discussing various issues relevant to the Commonwealth, Agung departed, no doubt to flaunt to his brothers the level of importance given to him and not them by their father.

Delem then turned to the message from the Director of OSS and began to read, he was right, the investigation of the investigation was interesting reading.

[Chrinthanium]

To: President Dalem
From: Emperor Nathaniel IV

Dear Mr. President

I am writing you today on behalf of the Chrinthanian Christian missionaries currently in the Commonwealth. Due to the recent bombings of Christian churches within your nation, we are asking you to bring those responsible to justice. While your government investigates the spate of bombings, we're asking--and frankly insisting--that you allow any Christians within your nation who wish to leave the ability so to do. We can send the IFS Walshington aircraft carrier, Hospital Ship IFS Recovery, and merchant ships to assist in evacuating. If you need assistance with your investigation, we are more than willing to send some people down to the Commonwealth to assist.

I cannot stress to you the graveness of this situation. We're receiving reports that Chrinthani nationals may have been killed in these attacks. I am deeply shocked and saddened by the events transpiring within your nation. I am hoping, and praying, that you quickly bring these terrorists to justice.

Sincerely

Nathaniel IV

[Europe - Prussia]

Jakarta, Commonwealth of Indonesia

After hours of travel, and getting accustomed to the time of the sutheast Asia and the climate of the Southern Hemisphere, the Cardinal de Artzia along his staff finally arrived to Jakarta, capital of the Commonwealth of Indonesia.
Although the weather was much more warmer than the empire of Europe-Prussia in that time of the year, the Cardinal wasn't there for pleasure, he was there as an envoy of the Vatican, to investigate who was behind the bombings, and offer help to the faithful catholics who were passing such direful situation.
Without wasting time, the cardinal decided to go directly to the Presidential Palace, to present himself as the envoy of the Holy See, and to know what information had the goverment regarding the bombings to the churches.

[Kyr Shorn]

Presidential Palace

Along his quick drive from the airport the good Cardinal would have seen a quick glimpse of the bustling metropolis that was the capital of the Commonwealth. The economic boom of the 90's resulted in the construction of very tall skyscrapers that turned the low-slung city into a glittering jewel of the east. The colorful flashes of statues and images of various Hindu deities, lingams, and the occasional image of Raden Wijaya XX would have been visible until one got closer to 86 Revolution Square, the epicenter of the Commonwealth government.

The sqaure was surrounded by massive buildings, all of which contained different government offices and functions, the car would of pulled before a particularly large building surrounded by massive gardens and decorated with more Hindu icons. While the casual observer would suspect it of being a temple it was in fact the Presidential Palace.

Very quickly the Cardinal would of been escorted through the building, under the watchful eye of the President's heavy security, the Palace was designed with a mix of classical Majapahit architecture and Western styles into a harmonious mix.

The minor government flunky who had been assigned to escort the Cardinal to the President's office quietly said in English thick with an Indonesian ascent as they neared the doors, "Just remember that the President is referred to as "His Excellency" or "Your Excellency unless he invites you to use his name. Oh and the Minister of Religious Affairs wishes to schedule a meeting at your earliest convenience."

One of the armed guards at the door noted their approach and opened the door, they had been expected.

The Presidential Office was shockingly simple in apperance, almost utilitarian with it's bare hardwood floors, the white walls which only had the occasional painting of scenes from the Ramayana. Delem Brahma himself had just turned off his cellphone as the guard who had opened the door announced in a booming voice the arrival of the Vatican's Special Envoy.

Delem looked up from his desk and invited the Cardinal to sit in one of the oak and red satin chairs in front of his desk and inquired as to if the Cardinal wished for something to drink.


Reply Sent to Nathaniel IV

To: Nathaniel IV
From: President Delem Brahma of the C.I.I.

I share your deep concerns about the recent rash of Anti-Christian bombings that have occured in the Commonwealth as of late. They are a blight on our nation's commitment to religious tolerance that has existed in an unbroken chain since the rise of the Majapahit Empire in the 1600's.

The Commonwealth Government has not and will not restrict the travel of any Chrinthanian citizens to and from the C.I.I. so long as they obey our laws during their stay. We cannot however accept the concept of mass evacuation of 1.5% of our nation's population enmass due to criminal activity. Activity that is being investigated and will be dealt with when the perpetrator(s) are apprehended.

Sadly the various Christian sects have always had some form of tension within the nation as a whole due to historical reasons, the brutal attempt by the Yashima to conquer our nation during WWII and the cruel rule of Suharto and his failed attempts to impose Catholism at the barrel of a gun upon the population. The Commonwealth Government has done much to improve the status of the Christians, along with other minority groups within the state but these things do take time.

The Government and I appreciate your concerns and we do hope that our two nations will always be able to speak frankly to each other.

May the Gods Bless You,

Delem Brahma


OOC: I hope it didn't seem too godmoddy E-P, I just wanted us to get to the good parts fast.

[Chrinthanium]

Emperor Nathaniel read the response from the President of the Commonwealth. It wasn't quite the answer he was looking for, but on the other hand, it was reassuring. It was a delicate situation for the young Emperor. He had to balance out the extreme dissatisfaction at the way their government seemed to be handling the situation with the fact that he had no real power to do much about it.

While enroute from Omaha to Constantinople, he phoned his Foreign Minister Jon Latham.

"It would appear we have a situation that requires us to act in some way. I am issuing a travel ban between the Empire and the Commonwealth. Furthermore, I am recalling our citizens back to the Empire. While I have their word that they will not prevent our citizens from returning home." The Emperor said

"Your Majesty, that's about all you can do at this time. What about a diplomatic envoy?" responded Latham

"I think is a good idea. We need to keep the dialogue open between us. However, let's what this Cardinal de Artiz finds out. Send a message to the Vatican. Ask them if they would be willing to keep us informed of any news contrary to what their President has already told us. Also ask them if they could find out about the status of Chrinthani citizens within the Commonwealth. Inform them of our decision to recall our citizens and restrict travel between them and us. See if they have any other ideas that we can institute." said Nathaniel

"Your Majesty, I hate to venture this possibility, but maybe you should place the Walshington on alert status. And if they interfer with the peaceful travel of Chrinthani citizens back to the Empire, we can send her group to their International waters." interjected Latham.

"Jon, that's a bit much, in my honest opinion. While I understand your reasoning, I think that would hinder, not help, the diplomatic process. Besides, any type of naval activity is bound to upset the Spyrans." Nathaniel thought for a moment, "Contact Sithin, inform them of our current position on the matter and let them know that if Jakarta should balk, we'll have a need to send the IFS Walshington battle group into the Pacific. As Emperor I will never leave my citizens to die in a foreign nation without a fight if it absolutely comes down to it."

[Spyr]

Goings-on in the Commonwealth have brought little attention from Spyr... the Spyran public's attitude towards Catholics ranged from cold ambivalence (for those in communion with Rome) to outright hostility (for those in communion with Takamatsu), and violence in Indonesia was to be expected given the nature of the state and its rejection of socialism in decades long past. So long as the Malacca Strait remained open to international shipping, there was little reason for concern, and the British Royal Navy out of Singapore was already positioned to take care of such issues.

The possibility of Omaha deploying naval forces elicits far more concern, and the Chrinthani are urged to follow all other possible avenues before undertaking such an action, lest a foreign military presence serve to further enflame Indonesian anti-Christian nationalism and isolate remaining Catholics within the population. Should there be no other option, Sithin suggests that Chrinthani ships might be accompanied in their west-Pacific activities by a Spyran patrol group, to ease regional concerns and give the effort a more international character.

[Kyr Shorn]

Raden Wijaya XVIII International Airport, Jakarta

When the Chrinthani Emperor issued his travel ban between the Commonwealth and his Empire and request that all Chrinthani citizens leave the Commonwealth until further notice there was a wave of mixed emotions in various officials of the Commonwealth Government. The main opinion that emerged was that Nathaniel IV had taken a leave of his senses.

After all the Commonwealth had always had a good reputation with tourists, it's sandy white beaches and ancient monuments were big draws, and the cities where gambling was legal (in certain areas) were always big honey traps for the tourist dollar.

The only time problems emerged were when missionaries broke the official ban on public proselytizing for the Christian and Muslim religions. A law that had been created to protect the preachers since there had been incidents of riots being set off when the missionary did something to insult the crowds that always seem to throng in the major cities of the Commonwealth.

But now with the bombings had come a large wave of Chrinthani citizens to the nation's biggest airport, cutting their vacations short trying to get home.

The government was doing nothing to hinder them, but the sudden rush of people trying to leave the nation had overwhelmed the airports staff and security, causing several delays as people tried to get their hands on tickets to outgoing flights on very short notice.

Many would have to wait a couple of days for new flights.


OSS Office, Outskirts of Jakarta

In a very rundown looking office building in an area of the metropolis of Jakarta that had clearly seen better days there was activity of the most unusual kind. Deep inside the building in a windowless room, a group of seven people had sat down around a conference table going over massive reams of paper, all of which contained information gathered by the various spies the OSS had in every agency and department of the government, information that had been collected over the last decade and a half.

Right now the team was emersed in it.

One agent in particular, who operated under the codename, Number Eight was going through shipment reports for a little subsection of the Justice Department called the "Little Buddha Office".

He had been tracking the numbers and things listed on the reports for the last two days and things were starting to come together when compared to various finance reports from the office. A still unknown group within the Justice Department had been skimming from the top in very small increments over a period of eight years. The reasons behind this were still murky and no one had noticed the money was gone because only a few cents at a time were taken from different purchases and budget requests, but they had added up and now it seemed as if in the last year the "Little Buddha Office" had turned into a hotbed of some sort.

"Just follow the money." Eight thought to himself as he skimmed another report, "Just follow the money and everything will come apart like a shadow puppet."

[Jatriqya and Hoya]

"Imperial Majesty, a bomb destroyed and Orthodox Church in the commonwealth. There have been repeated bombings of other churches."

The Emperor looked back at his secretary. "Well," he thought, "I'm going to have to do something about this."

"How bad is the violence against Christians in the Commonwealth?"

"Very bad. The violence hasn't stopped and our people are fearful to leave their houses."

"How many Orthodox and Byzantines live in the Commonwealth?"

"We estimate in the low 5000s."

"Five-THOUSAND? That many? In that case, we must assist Byzantine National Airways in the evacuation of Christians in the Commonwealth."

"Evacuation?"

"Yes, obviously their government isn't taking enough steps to protect the Byzantines and Orthodox and most likely won't enjoy having our troops marching all around them. So we must take the Byzantines out of the Commonwealth."

"Very well your Majesty, we shall issue a statement."

Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
December 22nd, 2009

Center of Byzantine Foreign Relations

It is our regret that we must inform our citizens and any member of the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth that they are heavily recommended to leave the Commonwealth.

Byzantine Nationals will not be allowed to travel to the Commonwealth for the duration of this ban.

In order for the evacuation to proceed as quickly as possible, two Byzantine Airways Kievan Il-96s will travel along with four Byzantine Government Il-86s. The government expects to be able to evacuate 2000 people per day with these 6 aircraft to Constantinople. We estimate that by Saturday less than three to four hundred Byzantine Nationals will still be in the Commonwealth.


Byzantine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[Kyr Shorn]

OOC: Note: The total percentage of Christians in the Commonwealth is 1.5%, out of a population of 175 Million that is roughly 26 Million people. I'm thinking of making either a Protestant Church or an independent Eastern Orthodox sect the largest church in the Commonwealth. The smallest numbers of Christians in the state are Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox in communion with the Byzantine Empire.

EDIT: 2.625 million, sorry my math sucks. Plus I have the Christian page up in my factbook, the sects in order largest to smallest are the following. The Majapahit Eastern Orthodox Church, Protestants (various), Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine).

[Jatriqya and Hoya]

OOC: Note: The total percentage of Christians in the Commonwealth is 1.5%, out of a population of 175 Million that is roughly 26 Million people. I'm thinking of making either a Protestant Church or an independent Eastern Orthodox sect the largest church in the Commonwealth. The smallest numbers of Christians in the state are Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox in communion with the Byzantine Empire.

OOC: I take it you mean 2.625 million. My government is only addressing the 5000 Byzantine Nationals and those in communion with the Byzantine Church. That's pretty small.

[Europe - Prussia]

((OOC: no prob Kyr, in fact is more easy for me))

The cardinal made a movement to decline the offer for a drink. He wanted to go direct to the matter, in that way he could get the information that he wanted and then go to the bombed churches.

" Im very honored to meet you your Exellency. Im the special envoy of the Vatican Rodrigo de Artzia. I came here to oversee and investigate the situation regarding the bombings to the churches. Please, if you have some information it could be very useful to start my investigation. Also if you could tell me where the bombings started it could be useful to start my investigation." Said the Cardinal with a serious tone. He just wanted to start his travel towards the towns were the churches were bombed, and give some relief to the faithful.

[Kyr Shorn]

Presidential Palace

As the Cardinal politely declined a drink, Delem recalled the dossier he had read on this man of the Catholic Church, "Spends more of his time in political in-fighting than he does with his religious duties. Good, good, that means he can be easily distracted if he starts to play power games." he thought of de Artiza.

The President of the Commonwealth nodded at the Cardinal's request and said, "Of course the Commonwealth would be more than happy to give reasonable assistance to you in this most terrible of deeds. One of my aides will send a copy of the all the information we have on the bombings to wherever you plan to base your offices."

The report would contain all the collected forensic information from the bombings, the fact that ll the materials came from suspected local sources near each church, that each church bombed belonged to wildly different Christian sects. The report will contain the government's initial suspicions of Aceh involvement and then a sense of confusion when that lead turned out to be a red herring. It would contain nothing about the interrogations or the techniques used during the interrogations. Nor would it mention the OSS in any manner.

"We will also provide a map locating all the bombing sites, they are quite scattered across the Commonwealth, some in isolated tribal areas that hardly see a soul." the President finished as his hard, unblinking gaze stared back at the Cardinal like one of the statues of the Gods.

[Chrinthanium]

Emperor Nathaniel took a moment to respond to Sithins communication. He explained that he was willing to expend all diplomatic resources at his disposal before he would deploy any military vessels into the Pacific. He stressed that if the government of the Commonwealth did not fix the problem, he'd be forced to place a trade embargo against the Commonwealth, stopping shipments of corn, wheat and textiles to the Island nation from the Empire.

He reassured Sithin that he would not act alone. He would wish a coalition of nations if the last resort of military power became necessary. While he prayed it wasn't going to be necessary, he was prepared to act if required.

After speaking to Sithin, he turned his attention to Jakarta. He wrote the Commonwealth President requesting to be allowed to send his own diplomatic envoy to help assist in the investigation. He informed them that he was prepared to cut off Chrinthani wheat, grain and textiles if they couldn't gain control of the situation. He stated finally that he was willing to be diplomatic as long as Jakarta could continue to prove their innocence.

[Kyr Shorn]

Presidential Palace

After his meeting with the Cardinal, the President received a call from his Foreign Affairs Minister, they had received another communication from the Chrinthani Emperor. This time he was threatening to cut off trade too and from the Commonwealth.

"What is wrong with that worthless fucking playboy?!" Delem exclaimed in barely controlled rage as he went into one of his desk drawers for a stress ball to squeeze. The trade in textiles was a minor concern, no doubt that the local capacity for such things could pick up the slack. It was the threat of cutting off wheat and grain that was the problem.

Due to extensive overpopulation and environmental damage the Commonwealth barely had the capacity to feed itself, the government had launched a wide range of population control measures and was working repairing the damage to the environment in the rural areas that were harmed by the failed policies of the Communists and Suharto.

"Maybe we should let the Christians all die." Delem thought in anger, "Two million less people would mean less mouths to feed." He then began to grip the stress ball, by taking out on the ball it spared the first person he saw from taking the brunt of his anger.

Eventually Delem managed to reign in his temper enough to think about the second travel ban issued, this time from the Byzantines who were at the moment evacuating their nationals from the Commonwealth. Their planes were being heavily watched by the Commonwealth military, no one felt like hiding their distrust.

Delem then ordered his foreign minister to contact the Chrinthani government and inform them that the bombings were an internal matter already under investigation and that further foreign interference was not wanted or needed.

The minister instead called Delem's son Agung who then in turn left a session of the Commonwealth Senate to talk to his father about the situation. After 33 minutes of what amounted to a therapy session, the youngest son of the Brahma family managed to convince the President that it would be better for the image of the government to accept the Chrinthani offer of a diplomatic envoy. It was to show the world that the legitimate government of Indonesia had nothing to hide.

The Foreign Minister, Maya Kapilvastu was then ordered to contact the Chrinthani government that the Commonwealth would be pleased to accept their offer of a diplomatic envoy to help with the investigation. Delem had no intention of letting the envoy anywhere near the OSS team investigating the investigation, the fewer people in the loop, the better.

[Nilosahara]

The Nilosaharan embassy in the Commonwealth was largely ambivalent towards the whole situation. Christians in Nilosahara were carefully watched and only permitted to join state-approved churches. But with the country now in deep financial strife and running out of friends, this was an opportunity the nation did not want to miss.

Hearing of the threat of an embargo the ambassador makes a brief phone call to his counterpart in the foreign affairs department of the Commonwealth government.

"Good morning, this is Mukanda here calling from the Nilosaharan embassy. Just wanted to let you know that we are able to help you out with food supplies if the embargo comes into effect. We could also give you a hand with locating certain groups which are linked to the church bombings and which are considered too politically sensitive for a government response to deal with."

"Again, the name is Mukanda from the Nilosaharan embassy."

There was no-one there so he left a message on the phone instead.

[Chrinthanium]

The Emperor received the communication from Jakarta. He was pleased about the government allowing the Empire to send an envoy to assist in the investigation. Nathaniel had just the man for the job: Nick Logan. Logan was a personal friend of the Emperor as well as a detective of the Detroit Police Department. His loyalty to the Emperor was unquestionable and he would make an honesty assesment that Nathaniel could trust implicity.

He replied to Jakarta and informed them of the man who would be sent to represent the Empire. The Emperor thanked the government for allowing the envoy. He added that Nick was given implicit instruction to be friendly, courteous, and above all, impartial. He was sent to not prove Jakarta was dishonest, but to confirm their honesty.

He went on to say that despite being so pushy, he only had the welfare of his citizens on his mind. He also explained that, since the government was so cooperative, that all shipsment to and from the Commonwealth were to remain active.

Finally, as he closed, he stated that he prayed the government would be able to capture these terrorists before they struck again.

[Kyr Shorn]

Offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta

In the Offices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the official offices of the various Ministries, not the extra office space in the administrative areas of the Presidential Palace. The Minister Maya Kapilvastu was having a very busy day, the recently appointed Madurese minister whose predecessor had been on board since the start of the Brahma Administration was having a sort of trial by fire as it were.

She was forced to let the Nilosaharan message to go to voice mail while she dealt with the Chrinthani reply, in that she sent requests to the OSS to compile a dossier on this "Nick Logan" and have the information sent to her office and the President's desk as soon as possible. She also updated them on the situation (not that they needed it, all of Maya's phones were tapped).

When that was done she called the Trade Minister and they had a conference call with the President and several other advisers on the message sent from Nilosahara. Within a few minutes a consensus was reached, the Commonwealth was surrounded by enemies in the form of the Yashima and had tenuous relations with Spyr and now the growing Christian problem in the nation had gotten the Papal States and Chrinthanium to hint at threats of violence.

They needed new allies, and fast.

The Minister of Trade made the call to the Nilosahara ambassador a few minutes after the conference call, requesting a meeting at his earliest convenience.

[Europe - Prussia]

Jakarta, Commonwealth of Indonesia

The Cardinal was taking a walk near the hotel were he along his staff were. Although the president pleased him every one of his requests, he was hiding something. It was very obvious for him, a cardinal of the Church that been in the clergy since al long time.
He was returning to his hotel when someone put a hand in his shoulder to stop him. When the cardinal turned to see who stopped him, however, his face of anger turned one of surprise when he saw that the one that stopped him was his former student.

" Hey hey, how is the investigation? Also i have to say that is very nice return to Jakarta. It changed a lot since the Cmmonwealth was created" the former cardinal said with wide smile crossing his face

"Antonio!!!what are you doing here? You must be in the Empire!!!" the cardinal de Artzia said with a very surprised tone.

" You don't know? the entire clergy renounced. In other words the church is over" Antonio said,now with a not very ahppy face.

"I......see. " was the only thing that the cardinal replied.

" c'mon, c'mon. Do not worry about that now. Solve this problem first and then you can go to Rome. Also im here to help you. I passed my vacations here in the past so i know a thing or two of this country" Antonio said

" ok. you can come with me" the cardinal said, letting out a sigh of defeat.

Finally, after an hour of organization and some problems with the Management of the hotel, the cardinal accompanied by his staff and with the former cardinal Antonio Borgia went towards the village were the bombings started.

[Kyr Shorn]

Betu, the Commonwealth

The tiny village of Betu, laying just on the outskirts of the official borders of the Jakarta City District was one of the few areas of the Commonwealth where Christians made up a majority of the population. That was mainly due to so many native Hindus having moved to the big cities in search of a better life. The Christians of the town by and large stayed behind, mostly due to the 86 Revolution which had stripped away their elite status, making them no worse or better than their non-christian neighbours.

In reality the pendulum of treating people like crap had swung the otherway after the fall of Suharto and not in their favor. It was much easier to stay behind, lost to the boom of the Commonwealth in terms of wealth and power. It was much better to be forgotten than abused by their victorious fellow citizens.

There had been three Christian Churches in Betu, one Lutheran, one Orthodox (Majapahit Rite), and one Catholic. When the first bombings occured it was the Catholic Church that was destroyed, the second waved spared the town, the third destroyed the Lutheran and the Orthodox Church.

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches could be rebuilt, the Lutheran one would have to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.

This was the first place in the Commonwealth where the first bombings were reported (or at least the earliest to reach official ears), it didn't take too long to discover the connections between the bombings due to their timing and the materials used.

Virutually everything else about them was a mystery.

It was too this place that the Cardinal's entourage was taken by a driver and a couple of armed military police to protect them, Delem himself had order that all three of them be Non-Hindu, less chance of them having a grudge against Christians that way.

The driver was a Catholic named Mathew, the two guards were Manichaean (lapsed).

The arrivial of their convey was the most interesting thing to happen in the town since the bombings, which the townsfolk had long since grown fearful of.

Interesting things.

The convoy was taken to the temporary building that the three Christian sects were using as a makeshift Church until other arraignments could be made. The person that greeted them was an older Javanese man with a long flowing beard and the priestly robes of the Majapahit Rite.

This was Father David.

He greeted the Catholic Cardinal and his companions and polietly asked them why they had come, doing his best to ignore the armed Commonwealth Soldiers.

OOC: Note on naming conventions, in Indonesia (especially the rural areas) it is traditional that people only have one name. Surnames were a concept imported from the West and most are only used in the urban areas or for record keeping. I've decided to keep this convention for the Commonwealth. Some of course choose not to use a last name out of personal habit.

[Berzerkirs]

And now a Brodcast from Berzerkirs National Radio...

We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel

"Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu and "Rock Around the Clock"

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, "Peter Pan", Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez

CHORUS

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, "Ben-Hur", space monkey, Mafia
hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo

CHORUS

Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs Invasion

"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

CHORUS

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollolah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

"Wheel of Fortune" , Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller Cola Wars, I can't take it anymore

CHORUS

We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on..."



Sorriez

[WWII History Geeks]

And now a Brodcast from Berzerkirs National Radio...

We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel

"Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu and "Rock Around the Clock"

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, "Peter Pan", Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez

CHORUS

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, "Ben-Hur", space monkey, Mafia
hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo

CHORUS

Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs Invasion

"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

CHORUS

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollolah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

"Wheel of Fortune" , Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller Cola Wars, I can't take it anymore

CHORUS

We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on..."



Sorriez

You win on that one. Sorry about that guys...

[Nilosahara]

The Minister of Trade made the call to the Nilosahara ambassador a few minutes after the conference call, requesting a meeting at his earliest convenience.

"So these Christian nations, they seem to want to meddle, even though the number of nationals involved appear to be minimal at worst?"

Mukanda's assistant nodded. He had just finished preparing a dossier on the other nations involved, Chrinthanium and the Papal states.

"We are dealing with an emperor not much older than your son. Naturally he wants to play with his new toys."

Mukanda smiled. "Well as long as we have our notes in order, we can say whatever jokes we want. Are they ok with a lunchtime meeting?"

"They said it was absolutely fine and even offered us champagne. They sounded quite keen I thought."

Mukanda and his assistant soon arrived at the Ministry's offices.