The Nightmare over Mokov |Semi-Open | TWI Only

[Mokov]

Ever since 1950, Mokov has been governed by the autocratic rule of the Tsars. The current Tsar, Zvonomir VI, is an incompetent racist. Thanks to his failures as a leader, tensions within the people are higher than ever, and a rebellion seems imminent. The leader of the most rebellious citizens, one Pavel Markeviç, grandson of Igor Markeviç, the Regimentalist founder and leader of the Grey Legion during the civil war, has recreated his grandfather's movement. Under the flag of the Black Sun, the people march for freedom!

[Mokov]

The Revolution has begun! For two weeks, the nation was locked in a state of terrified silence, as both sides of the conflict prepared to make their move. The first to strike are the militias and paramilitaries of the Gvārdyy Zelenzyy Revolutyonyy, under the command of Pavel Markeviç. Using stolen arms, they launched a daring attack on the Gold Palace, in Ivanozavodsk, the home of the Tsar. Despite their overwhelming numerical superiority, the rebel forces found themselves unable to advance past the palace gates.

The troops holding the rebels back were the Gvārdyy Impēriyya Zolōtskyy, or the Gold Imperial Guard, an elite division of the Tsarist Military. Their sole duty is to defend the Tsar from all enemies, and they receive extensive training and the best equipment in Mokov. Responding immediately to the GZR attack, they set up impromptu barricades in the front courtyard of the palace, mounting machine guns on said barricades. Snipers placed on the palace walls eliminated officers from the rebel ranks, and grenadiers unleashed high explosive rounds against the main bulk of the rebel forces. Within minutes, the rebel advance had been halted, and a brutal stalemate took hold.

The battle looked to be lost for the GZR, as a protracted conflict such as this would give the Imperial Army time to react. Drastic measures had to be taken, and so, two pieces of stolen Civil War-era artillery were brought up. Incendiary shells smashed through the windows of the Gold Palace, setting the building alight. The palace interior was made mostly of wood, with gold plating concealing it. It did not take long for a massive fire to break out, forcing the GIZ to split their forces to try and contain the blaze. Using the distraction provided, the GZR charged once more, breaking the GIZ lines in the courtyard, and forcing them back into the palace itself.

The Gold Palace was a massive complex, with nearly two hundred rooms in total. At three stories high, it easily towered over any other building near it. As such, the fight to take the palace was slow and difficult. Regimentalist Stormtroopers launched assault after assault on the beleaguered defenders, dealing heavy casualties every time. Slowly, but surely, the GIZ began to fall even further back into the palace, unable to hold the line with their ever diminishing numbers and ammunition.

Nearly two hours into the battle, a GZR attack managed to smash through the center defenses of the GIZ, rampaging all the way to the Tsar's quarters on the third floor. Within, a squad personally lead by Pavel Markeviç discovered Tsar Zvonimir IV, cowering in his study with his wife and son. When the GIZ saw their Tsar being marched out at gunpoint, they threw down their arms and surrendered. Dragged out into the courtyard, and broadcast to all of Mokov by a shoddy camera, Tsar Zvonimir IV officially surrendered to the Gvārdyy Zelenzyy Revolutyonyy, and abdicated his throne. Seconds after the camera feed cut off, the former Tsar was shot in the back of the head by Pavel Markeviç, and his body burned.

In less than two hours, the Tsardom was no more, and in its place, the Regimentalist State of Greater Mokov was born. A new dawn has risen over Mokov, and with it, a black sun.

[Shanzie]

Novy Litkov

The room was silent save for Kveta’s shallow, panicked breaths. Paintings on the wall blurred as the room began to spin. Through the haze, she saw her husband putting his head in his hands. The floor gave way beneath her as she sank into the leather, through it, and through the floors even as her head began to float. Her arms felt like bricks sinking in water.

“How-How... “ she choked the tears welling up in her eyes. “The Tsar…”

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, then an arm wrap around her. She stopped falling.

“It’ll be ok,” his voice said confidently. “We can go home. It’s ok.”

Her head stopped floating. Her arms found movement as she embraced him.

“How?!” She sobbed. “They’ll close the airports! And who will take us? Where do we go!?”

He held her tight as Kveta cried. “It’ll be ok. It won’t be so bad. You’ll see. It’s ok.”

Minutes seemed like hours as she finally returned fully to the dark room. Her breathing slowed as she regained her composure.

“It won’t be. Not at first. They’ll take a week or so to shut everything down. I can go home, but Shanzie…”

He nodded. “I know. Don’t worry about it right now. It’s too late to worry about it. All we can do is see what will happen, ok?” He smiled down at her, his green eyes brightening up as he did. “No matter what, you and I have each other. It’ll be fine.”

She sat back on the couch, withdrawing from his touch. “I… I’m just worried, Mikhail. I can’t shake it.” She stared off in the direction of the kids rooms. “You know Olga wouldn’t let us eat in the cafe last week?!”

“What?” Mikhail’s smile disappeared. “You’ve been going there for years!”

“Yes! And she’s scared! The environment right now… it’s horrible. She gets threats for letting anyone who looks non-Mokovi eat there, now.”

“But you’ve been going there for years!” He nearly yelled as his face tightened in anger. “I helped her start that place!”

“It’s not her fault, Mikhail! You should have seen it! There were men hovering around her shop like wolves, ready to pounce.”

He stopped and sat down, putting his head in his hands again. “Damn,” he muttered. “Look, I’ll make some calls upstairs tomorrow. See if I can’t get posted back to Shanzie. I’ll call up the Shanzian Foreign Ministry too. See what we can do.”

“And if they can’t do anything?”

He frowned. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we just need to sleep.”

She nodded slowly. “I’m not sending Ionnes to school tomorrow. I just don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

“You won’t be the only one.”

[Mokov]

As they speak, shouting can be heard a couple doors down. The words are indistinguishable, but their meaning is obvious. The GZR's thugs found someone they didn't like. The shouting raised in intensity, until something happened that had not occurred since the Siege of the Gold Palace: gunshots. A series of about twelve shots rang out, followed by horrible screaming, and the sounds of cruel laughter. Breaking glass, and two more gunshots signals the end of whoever dared to anger the GZR.

Soon after that, more shouting can be heard, just one door over. This time, the words can be made out. "GET OUT HERE YOU PIECE OF TRASH! KIRATI MONGRELS DON'T DESERVE TO LIVE!" The sound of a boot meeting a door can be heard, followed by screaming and more gunshots. Silence reigns for a solid minute before the unthinkable happens: three hard knocks against the door of Kveta and Mikhail's home. "OPEN UP! WE WANT TO SEE IF YOU'RE CONTAMINATED BY KIRATI BLOOD!"

[Shanzie]

"Shit!"

Mikhail ran to Ionnes's room as Kveta followed, panic coursing through her veins. She turned sharply into the twins' room.

"Girls!" She whispered as she entered. They were sitting up, wide eyed, confused. Scared. "Grab your shoes, hurry. Be quiet!"

The little girls quickly put their shoes on as they sobbed. The yelling outside was loud, a boot kicked in a door next door. Kveta took their hands and pulled them into the living room. Mikhail and Ionnes were there already.

"What do we do?" Kveta whispered.

"Go. To the back of the house. We can go through the back gate and follow the drainage ditch for a bit if we have to leave."

She nodded, grabbing up all the kids as they sobbed. She huddled in the back room with them on the cold tile as Mikhail turned off the lights.

"Shhh," she said as she bounced Andreeva in her lap, wiping away her tears. "It'll be ok."

Gunshots. A scream from next door. Katerin cried softly behind Kveta. Mikhail came around the corner, his handgun in his pants. "We have to go! They're coming here!" He grabbed Katerin up in his arms and opened the back door slowly, checking the yard. "Let's go!"

The couple ran out of the house silently, the parents holding their hands over the twins mouths as Ionnes walked between them. Silently, they slipped out of the gate and into the ditch, then ran along the fence line until they found a pipe under a bridge. Together, they hunkered as the sounds of boots and shots rang sporadically throughout the night.

[Mokov]

The chaos and violence continued throughout the night, and several times, the family was forced to dive down into the ditch to avoid being seen. The night was lit up by the scores of burning houses, and horrifically, this also allowed the family to see corpses strung up on the lampposts. As they neared the embassy district, they heard a truck approaching them, with the inhabitants screaming obscenities at random. Just as the truck was about to be upon them, the door to a nearby home shot open, and a voice came out of it. "Get in! Now, before they see you!"

[Shanzie]

Tired, terrified, the wide eyed family crashed through the door and nearly fell onto the floor, their soaked shoes and nightgowns torn and muddied.

"My god, thank you," Kveta breathed out. "My God! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She cried as she said it.

Mikhail slumped against the wall. His eyes wide, his face hollow and expressionless. He'd lost his weapon when he tripped earlier.

"Are you ok?" the woman who opened the door asked. "Are you hurt?" Mikhail and Kveta shook their heads. "Follow me."

She led them through the house and into a laundry room with no windows. Only candles lit the house. She pulled a few towels out and handed each one of them. "Get dry, stay quiet."

[Mokov]

The rest of the night passes by, with a constant dull roar of gunfire and screaming. When the morning sun rises, the family is woken up by their saviors. "Sleep well? You're going to need the energy in the following days, because the GZR's goons are most certainly hunting you down as we speak. If you can get to any of the still open embassies, you can escape. Do you understand?"

[Shanzie]

The kids still sobbed even as they were wrapped up in the towels. Ionnes stared solemnly at the candle. It was clear he couldn't get the images of the night out of his head.

"We understand," Kveta said quietly. "I'm a Shanzian citizen. They're friendly with most nations. We could try for the Littolyo embassy, if they have one? Or the Roendevarian one, if not."

"Good," the woman said. She turned to walk away.

"Can I get your name?" Mikhail called out.

"No. It's too dangerous now. And I don't want to know yours, either. You will leave tomorrow."

Mikhail shut his mouth as his face turned to stone. As the woman walked away, he sat down on the floor, his head in his hands again. Beside him, he felt Andreeva shaking like a leaf. "Shhh, it's ok." He looked around and saw the terror in his children's' faces. "Let me tell you all a story..."

And so the minutes droned by as Mikhail recited the Buddhist parables of comfort until each child and Kveta had fallen asleep from exhaustion. Though he was also exhausted, he could not sleep. Alone, unarmed, surviving just one night in the beginning of a long nightmare, Mikhail couldn't turn off his brain or stop his heart from pounding. All he could focus on now was keeping his family alive.

How he would do that, he didn't know.

[Aizcona]

Ganiz Velarrinaga involuntarily covered his ears for a moment as he stepped out of the car onto the tarmac due to the roar of the C-17's engines. They were on a tight time schedule and the last of the plane's cargo was being loaded up, including him. This was the one flight from Aizcona to Mokov that was being allowed right now and Eneko Lubiain Air Force Base was abuzz with two fighter jets finishing getting fueled up on the adjacent runway. Just five hours ago Ganiz was still in Estra in his office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In those five hours he was basically packed and shipped by the ministry. He was to be the Diplomatic Attaché for the new regime in Mokov from Aizcona.

He grabbed his hastily packed luggage that the ministry had brought him and grabbed his suitcase that contained a large amount of notes he had taken during the hours of briefings and conference calls he had had on the plane flight over. Immediately an airman was near him leading him into the back of the C-17 making sure to dodge the loadmasters that were strapping down a LATFV (Light All Terrain Fighting Vehicle). As the airman led him to his seat he passed by a number of burly men that did not seem like soldiers. While he was thinking about that though the airman saluted a man in front of him before being dismissed and hastily making an exit. Still sort of dazed it wasn't until the booming voice was addressed towards him over the din of the engines that he came to and realized the outstretched hand towards him. "Welcome aboard my plane! I assume you're Ganiz?"

Quickly and firmly shaking the man's hand he quickly realized that it was a general and he could read the nametag as Zuazobizcar, "That is correct General! I am Ganiz Velarrinaga, recently appointed to be Attaché to the new Mokov government. I'm sorry but I was not told a general would be coming as well."

The General laughed and sat down, patting the seat next to him. "Yes! This has all been rather hasty, but I at least have been given a bit more details than you. I am General Lando Zuazobizcar, it is fine to call me Zuazobizcar, no need for the formalities when it is just us. I will be the military attaché in Mokov. As you should know we need to keep this situation in control and thus we will be working together quite heavily. I've read up on you a bit, this is your first assignment like this, but it does pay to know Mokovī doesn't it? You seem to have some good experience but don't hesitate to come to me if you need help. We'll be fairly autonomous on the ground."

Ganiz nodded, "I appreciate that alot. It'll be good to know I'm not alone. You can trust me though, knowing their crappy language isn't the only thing I'm good for." They both laughed, "I am a bit nervous though, this will be one of my more dangerous assignments, but that does make it a bit more exciting."

The general clapped him on the back, "That's the spirit! And don't you worry, the bad men around you will protect you and so will I. Estrans stick together don't we?"

Ganiz turned his head to the general, "I did want to ask. Who are all of these men and what is with all of the cargo? I did not receive any information on this."

Zuazobizcar furrowed his brow, "Just like the Ministry not to rope you in on this. Nonetheless, this is EMI-2, along with operatives from other sections. I'm sure you're familiar with the name. They will also be working with us and expanding EMI's operations in Mokov. With the recent regime change its unlikely that Mokov's intelligence services are working at full strength. They'll be assisting them in operations, especially in stabilizing the nation. They will be doing their own operations as well but it's unlikely that you or even I will be in the know on those. You should have an inkling of how EMI operates. I'd steer clear of them if I were you though. They'll have liasons in contact."

Ganiz nodded and the two settled in for their journey to Mokov as the plane roared and took off.

[Mokov]

The flight was relatively uneventful. As the plane came into view of the island, a call reached Ganiz, apparently from the Regiment Diplomatic, specifically Regimental Officer Ionnes Schmidt.

[Shanzie]

It was still dark when they left the Good Samaritan's home. Much of the raw violence had quieted down, but the signs of it were everywhere as the small family rode in a taxi they had paid far too much for. The kids were kept low and quiet, Kveta didn't dare show her face to the window. She covered the girls' eyes when they passed through neighborhoods they once visited friends in. The shock of the still smoldering ruins of homes was only outmatched by the bodies lying in the street or hanging from polls. No matter what she did, though, the fumes of smoke and decaying flesh still made their way through the crevices of the taxi doors and vents. They continued on in this fashion for some time, hiding their faces from the reality and the police. The girls seemed to be nodding off as Ionnes, wide eyed, simply stared off into the distance. Then the Taxi came to a slow halt before it reached the main highway out of town.

"What's wrong?" Mikhail asked as he sat up. "Why are we stopping?"

"This is as far as I can go." The driver simply stared straight ahead as he said it.

"But I paid you for a trip to Ivanozavodsk!" Mikhail seethed in anger, gritting his teeth as he said it.

"Yes, but that was before I knew there were roadblocks out of town."

"What?! And when did you learn this?"

The driver simply held up his phone with a text to a group. "They've locked down all the main highways and I'm not registered to be off the main highways."

"'Registered'? There's no highway registry limiting taxi cab routes!" Mikhail sighed and slumped back in his seat. "Do you know a way around it?"

"Just stick to the side roads and alleys. You'll be fine." He unlocked the doors. "But it's time for you to leave."

"We'll die out there. It's at least 300 Kilometers to Ivanozavodsk!" Mikhail's hand curled into fist beside him.

The driver simply stared at him, his eyes hidden by the dark as the dash light went out, showing only his grizzled, gray beard. "Not my problem."

Without thinking, Mikhail swung hard only for his fist to be caught by the man and the cold barrel of a gun to be shoved against his chest. Kveta let out a small scream. "Get. Out."

"Ok," Mikhails heart beat through his chest and in his ears. "Ok. We'll get out." He reached around slowly behind him and opened the door. "See?"

"Now."

The driver kept the gun trained on him as Mikhail beckoned to his family. Slowly, they each got out and shut the door. As Mikhail closed his, the driver sped off, tires screeching as he disappeared around the bend. Mikhail stood there for a long moment, his fists closed, shaking as the adrenalin pumped through him. Finally, he looked back at his shivering, cold children and wife, all shaking from both the cold and the fear.

"What do we do now, Mikhail?"

Andreeva shivered hard in her nightgown, the only one of the kids who hadn't grabbed a coat from the laundry room on the way out. Mikhail softened, now feeling the pain of gritted teeth. As he regained composure, he took off his coat and put it around the girl's tiny body. As he tied the arms of the coat around her tightly, he looked up at Kveta.

"We walk," he said solemnly. "Until we get out of town. Our accounts aren't locked or anything, we can still buy a car once we get out of town just to make it to the embassy in Ivanozavodsk. Then we will be able to get out of here and back to Shanzie."

Kveta opened her mouth to let out a protest, then stopped and sighed. "Ok. Ok.. We will walk."

[Mokov]

The night was dark and cold, as was common in Southern Mokov. The sheer level of the audible chaos has dropped considerably, and now only the occasional gunshot or bloodcurdling scream can be heard. The occasional vehicle drives past the family, giving them no mind. After several hours of walking, the family reaches a small town, relatively untouched by the revolutionary fury that gripped the family's hometown. The only real sign that the town even registered the Regime as existing was a large Regimentalist flag on a large building that must be the town hall. Hastily covered symbols showed the old heraldry of the Tsardom, and the now illegal Tsarist flag embossed above the front door.

By now, the morning sun had lit up Mokov, and in this morning light, Kveta and her family saw the last thing they ever wanted to see: a Black-shirted man with a armband bearing the Black Sun marching towards them, brandishing an AVO-98 assault rifle. "You, citizens! Stop! I need to speak with you!"

[Mokov]

For the past two weeks, the city of Nový Litkov has been under siege. From three directions, artillery shells fall upon the buildings and streets. From the skies, bombes drop onto the factories, and from the seas, the supplies of food and water are totally cut off. Owing to a fire, sparked by a loose shell in the first days of the bombardment, annihilated most of Nový Litkov's food stores, and what was left was quickly taken by the members of Kamerov's Clique. Starvation has already begun to set in, leaving the streets of the Nový Litkov ghetto crowded with the dead and dying.

By this point, it had become increasingly clear just how futile this rebellion was, as evidenced by the relocation of Kamerov's office from the City Hall to a fortified bunker. From this bunker, new orders constantly flowed, restricting the lives of the people of Nový Litkov even further, and calling for ever more sacrifices in defense of the revolution. In the early morning hours of December 21st, troops of the GZR Second Army entered Nový Litkov from the south, moving towards the strategically important Nový Litkov International Airport. Intense fighting broke out almost immediately, primarily in the urban areas directly before the Airport.

While the defenders put up a fierce resistance, they quickly found themselves badly outgunned, and following orders from Colonel Thadeusz Markodrov, retreated into the NLIA, taking heavy casualties. As the fighting outside the NVIA was taking place, an armored column, comprised of GT-96 MBTs, entered from the western side of the city. The advance managed to reach the now abandoned City Hall, before being halted by anti-tank mines and unfavorable terrain. In the captured parts of the city, fighting continues, at a diminished level.

[Mokov]

It had been two days since Józef had last slept, thanks to a combination of constant mortar fire, amphetamines, and adrenaline. What made this situation even worse was that he was totally unprepared for his duties. During the initial GZR offensive, Józef's direct superior had been killed by a mortar shell while trying to organize the defense of the neighborhoods directly in front of the Nový Litkov International Airport, leaving Józef in charge of his squad. That was two days ago, and the aging corporal was beginning to come apart at the seams, as a result of the stress of command. Luckily, there had been no further assaults from the GZR, ever since their first push stalled out.

The 108th Nationalist Rifle Brigade, the squad now commanded by Józef, had taken shelter in the bombed out remains of a corner store. The front window of this store had a perfect view of the NVIA entrance, and offered decent cover from enemy fire. The 108th had at one point been a true brigade, but had taken such terrible casualties that the entirety of the unit consisted of thirty-two soldiers. Those thirty-two were now gathered around a small camp stove, eating their meagre rations and drinking plundered alcohol. Józef had finished his small meal early, and was at the shattered front window, smoking a cigarette, when a bullet whizzed past his head, striking a shelf behind him.

Just seconds after Józef leapt to the ground, a hail of lead ripped through the space he had just been. Unfortunately, eight of his men weren't as lucky, and found themselves filled with holes, with one man losing most of his lower jaw. The survivors grabbed their battered weapons and returned fire, but only managed to get a few rounds off before being cut down. All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and in the blink of an eye, Józef found himself the only surviving member of the 108th Nationalist Rifle Brigade. As he slowly crawled towards the exit, keeping as low as possible to avoid being seen, a metallic thud caught his attention. Looking towards the noise, Józef found himself not four feet away from a grenade.

---

The advance towards the NVIA had so far been extremely successful, with the first GZR units entering the perimeter of the complex within fifteen minutes of the operation's start, taking the fuel depot with little resistance. Upon attempting to advance into the main terminal, however, it was discovered that the rebel soldiers had heavily fortified the building, and forced the vanguard units to retreat. Infiltration units confirmed the large rebel presence in the main terminal, and relayed this information back to command, who determined that taking the terminal via an assault would be far too costly. The solution, then, was to totally level the building through a combination of artillery and mortar fire, and tactical bombing runs.

While this was underway, the forward base at the City Hall found itself under heavy attack from rebel forces armed with anti-tank weapons and heavy machine guns. Around an hour of brutal, room-to-room fighting followed, with the GZR forces being pushed back. The retreat was finally sounded when a stray rocket destroyed one of the building's support pillars, causing the already heavily damaged City Hall to collapse, leaving the forward units without any sort of cover.

The retaking of the City Hall left an opening on the Nový Litkov docks, an opening quickly capitalized on by the GZR. Supported by naval bombardment and aerial recon, four squads of marines landed on the docks two hours into the fighting, overwhelming the undermanned defenses in twenty-five minutes. They pushed further into the city, before being halted outside of a former Tsarist fortress, decommissioned following the November Coup. Judging by the defenses placed in and around this fort, and by triangulating the source of Kamerov's broadcasts, this fort was determined to be the location of his bunker. Eighteen squads of infantry, equipped with heavy weapons have been landed on the beachhead, and deployed in the forward positions secured by the marines, in preparation for an assault on the fort and the bunker.

After three solid hours of fighting, all GZR advances ceased, and mortar and artillery fire resumed, at greater intensity than ever before. Vozhd Pavel Markeviç, the officer in command of all GZR forces involved in the siege, has released a statement to the Mokovī public declaring the imminent victory over the rebel forces.

[Mokov]

The siege, once projected to only last a few weeks at most, has now been raging for two months. The main issue preventing either side from breaking the stalemate was a plain lack of supplies. The GZR forces had more secure supply lines, but a series of terrorist attacks left several major factories unable to meet production demands. The rebels, now calling themselves the Litkov Order-State, have been totally cut off from any potential outside assistance by the GZR forces, only keeping their troops supplied by putting the civilian populace of Nový Litkov to work in makeshift factories.

Inside the command bunker, constructed by GZR engineers in the early days of the siege, Pavel Markeviç and his top commanders view a map of the city. Markeviç speaks first, using a pointer to move wooden facsimiles of soldiers as he does. "The referendum is soon, and I need to gather support for the dictatorship soon. This damnable siege has to end, so we can put Kamerov's little revolt down. I suggest having four squads of marines, supported by two armored divisions brought in by ship, assault Fortress Krōndar. Once the fortress has been taken, we can use it as a staging point to capture Kamerov's bunker, and hopefully take the traitor with it."

Knowing the pointlessness of arguing with their Vozhd, the commanders simply nod, and send out the orders to their subordinates. Eighteen tanks are transported on armored rafts to the captured docks, and deploy to the front alongside the marines. At the strike of 4AM, the assault begins. The first phase of the assault, a saturation barrage from the siege guns surrounding Nový Litkov, manages to severely damage the walls of Fortress Krōndar.

The barrage lasts for two hours, and only ends when the supply of artillery shells runs dry. Once the artillery barrage ends, the tanks advance through the crumbling fortress walls, and Krōndar is taken without any resistance, the defenders either dead or too badly injured to fight. The commander of the 81st Revolutionary Tank Division, taking the initiative from his superiors, leads his tanks further forward, capitalizing on the collapsing LOS lines.

As his tanks, supported by the 42nd Revolutionary Tank Division, and the 22nd, 84th, 12th, and 38th Marine Assault Squads, come within sight of Kamerov's bunker, a group of four bedraggled officers exit, waving a ragged white flag. Coinciding with this, rebel soldiers across Nový Litkov surrender to GZR forces en masse. As the marines enter the inner chamber of the bunker, they discover a burned corpse, laying just beside Kamerov's desk.
---------------------------------------
As the GZR's soldiers celebrate the end of the siege, and the death of Boris Kamerov, the man himself is sneaking out of the ruined city, disguised as a civilian. Hidden just outside of Nový Litkov is a small, two person helicopter. Kamerov, knowing how to pilot a helicopter from his days in the Mokovī military, climbs in and takes off, taking special care to avoid notice from the still present GZR air force. As Mokov grows small behind him, Kamerov concocts a plea for asylum for any nation that would take him.

[Mokov]

Vasily awoke to the sounds of bustle and commotion. A look out of his window revealed that the voting station, set up back in December, was occupied for the first time since its construction. Grey-shirted guards kept the peace with modern rifles, and a steady stream of people, of all types, flowed in and out of the ten voting booths in the station. Pulling on a coat, Vasily stepped out of his apartment and walked over to the reception table to register himself. After a period of around an hour and a half of waiting in a cramped, sweaty line, Vasily reached a voting booth. Stepping inside, he was surprised at the modernity of it all, and at the lack of cameras. He quickly inserted the small punchcard he had been given, and voted in favor of maintaining the GZR dictatorship. Stepping out of the voting booth, one of the guards directed him towards an exit behind the booths, and Vasily went on with his day.
-------------------------------------------
All across Mokov, even in the badly devastated streets of Nový Litkov, scenes like this take place. In every major city, and several smaller towns, massive crowds showed up to vote in the referendum that was to decide their immediate future. Throughout the entire process, details of every voting station, and the way in which the referendum was conducted, were transmitted to the League. At the end of the voting day, the results were tallied. 82% of votes were in favor of the dictatorship, while 18% were in favor of transitioning to a democracy. With a voter turnout of 89.4%, this outcome represents a clear majority in favor of maintaining the dictatorship.

With his position secured, Vozhd Markeviç enters his office for the first time in two months, and lights up a celebratory cigar.

[Mokov]

Markeviç sat in his finely crafted chair, in front of a gold-encrusted desk, with an ebony pen clutched in one, gnarled hand. With it, he signed his name on a stack of papers two inches thick. The top page of this stack had a title printed on it in large, bolded letters. "Khas-Kirati Detainment and Deportation Act". Penned by Pavel Markeviç and Boris Kamerov back in the first days following the deposition of the Tsar, the bill intended to legalize the Regime's extreme anti Khas-Kirati racism, and provide a basis for the expulsions and arrests of Khas-Kirati inhabitants of Mokov.

The rebellion of his former protege forced Markeviç to shelve the bill while he put Kamerov down, but now that the revolt has been crushed, and Markeviç secured indefinitely, the bill has been revived. This new version was far less oppressive and murderous than the original, owing to the removal of all sections created by Kamerov, as well as the additions of Ioannes Makhnov-Knecht, the leader of the GZR-Lefist faction within the Regime, and the Deputy Vozhd, coming in to replace Kamerov.

Markeviç hated that he was being forced to restrain his hatred towards the Khas-Kirati, and that this new version of the KKDDA only allowed for the deportation and temporary detainment of the Khas-Kirati. Writing down a note to have the SKVD investigate Makhnov-Knecht for an excuse to remove him, Markeviç fell into a nasty coughing fit. Doubled over, and barely able to breathe, the aging dictator slams his hand onto the emergency aid button installed on his desk, before falling out of his chair, blood dripping out of his mouth. His guards burst in to find their Vozhd gasping for air, and clutching at his chest.

Before the guards can reach Markeviç, he waves them away, and shakily stands back up, wiping his mouth with the back of his arm. "I'm fine! Get back to work!"