Democracy By Any Means (MT) [SEMI-CLOSED]

[The Democratic Army]

A radical pro-democracy terrorist organisation threatens all the autocratic governments in the region of Escapikickass. Calling themselves the Democratic Army, they promise to bomb any country which refuses to conform to democracy and form an elected government.

MAP

The Region of Escapakickass


The Federal Union of Barrettstia

FACTIONS
Coalition
The Federal Union of Barrettstia
The United Coalition of Castleclose
The Constitutional Monarchy of Makakoo (Ceased to Exist)
The Empire of New Chalcedon
The Constitutional Arch Duchy of Norheimir
The Armed Republic of Salzland
The Most Holy Avatist Empire of Saurea

Axis
The Imperial Republic of Archonis-Thay
The Grand Chorus of Berethond
The Glorious Nation of Brachyuria
The Federation of Fasdia
The Broken Lucidarchy of Revolvisia and Salene
The Kingdom of Vexaria

Terrorists
The Terrorist Organisation of The Democratic Army of Escapikickass


DEVELOPMENTS
A terrorist organisation calling themselves The Democratic Army of Escapikickass (DemArm) broadcasted a threat against autocratic governments. The video was shown on every TV screen in the region, however none of the threatened governments made any indication of giving into the demands. Instead, the Supreme Oppressor of the Oppressed Peoples of Berethond proposed the formation of an alliance of "tyrants, autocrats, oligarchs, dictators, kings, and etc." to seek out and destroy the organisation.

Meanwhile, the Federal Union of Barrettstia's Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) launched an investigation into the way that DemArm was funded, discovering that much of its funding was coming from a rogue operator in the nation's own Ministry of Defence.

DemArm eventually carried out their threat when a group of six men attacked the Lucid Tower in Revolvisia with small arms and a truck full of high explosives. The attack resulted in the deaths of a hundred-and-thirty-four government employees and policement as well as causing significant damage to the building's structure. Within days the whole nation was on the brink of anarchy with thousands of civilians fleeing into neighbouring states.

While other nations conducted investigations into DemArm's activities within their own borders, the Barrettstian Minister of Defence, James Baltimore, was arrested when he was found to be illegally funding DemArm out of his department budget. The demands of the Revolvisian Lucidarch, Johannson Ignaseous, to have Baltimore deported to Revolvisia for execution without trial were denied. In response, Ignaseous denounces the Barrettstian government as a terrorist organisation and requests other countries to aid Revolvisia in an invasion. Many of Barrettstia's allies, including Salzland, New Chalcedon and Castleclose take the opposite approach and flock to their banner.

This position of uneasy peace changes after DemArm destroy a Fasdian LNG transport in its harbour. Fasdia lay the blame for the attack on Barrettstia's doorstep and relations between the two become stretched. On the same day, the assassination of a Berethite legislator prompts Berethond to mobilise its forces. In spite of diplomatic efforts by New Chalcedon, Fasdia, Vexaria and Brachyuria join their fellow dictatorship.

The following evening Premier Chris B Chikin of Barrettstia announced a state of war while the Saurean ruler, Anessa Rhae, fought off an attempt on her life by DemArm soldiers. Barrettstian, Closian, and Salz troops filled the city of Pederton, supported by their own navies. A second line of defence was formed in Chekmouth with support from Norheimir.

The attack came two days later as Revolvisia's allies struck at Pederton and the southern coast of Castleclose. With the first shots fired old rivals Saurea and Archonis-Thay made their allegiances known as half the region was plunged into all-out war. While Castleclose was able to fight off its own Axis invasion force troops were able to make landfall in Pederton in spite of catastrophic losses by the Fasdian navy.

[The Democratic Army]

16 Salthill Road,
Seadragon, Barrettstia

While her TV chatted away in the background, Lorna sat in the office chair perched precariously in the midst of the piles of belongings that formed the near permanent carpet of any teenager's bedroom. Not really paying attention to the show, she tapped away at her keyboard, preparing a post for the NationStates Forums. Her nation, the United States of America, along with The United Kingdom of Great Britain, one of her allies, was involved in a war with a couple of nations in a region called the Middle East and the situation was starting to turn a bit messy.

Her attention was brought back to the television when she saw the screen flicker for a moment. The it returned to normal. Slightly confused, Lorna kept watching the cartoon figures to see if it would happen again.

"Oh my god! They killed Kenny!"

"You basta-sschrrrrsch"

Lorna jumped and did a double take. Though she didn't know it, people all around the region were doing the same. On every TV screen, in every home, in every town, in every city, in every nation, the multitude of channels had simultaneously flicked to show a single picture.

The picture was of a man, dressed in black and seated at a table with his hands clasped, gloved fingers interlocked neatly in front of him. The figure also wore a mask, it's white surface a stark contrast to the figure's otherwise black attire. The mask was fixed in a sort of smug grin with rosy cheeks almost like a clown mask.



The figure spoke. Until that moment Lorna had been unsure whether it was a man or a woman, but now it was clear the figure was male, with a warm yet passionate voice. The voice was angry.

"Good evening Escapikickass." the figure said,

"For too long the many have suffered under the tyrannical reign of the few. They have been unheard, unheeded, unrepresented. The people have had no voice, until now.

"We are the Democratic Army of Escapikickass, and we are that voice. The illegitemate rule of unelected governments will be permitted to continue no longer. Monarchs, emperors, dictators! These autocrats are a scourge on our region and for the good of the people they claim to rule we will eliminate them.

"Here are our demands. Within one month of this day, every single autocratic government in Escapikickass will announce free and open elections for all its populace. Those that do not will become subject to our retaliation for the years of their tyrannical rule. In one month's time, if our orders have not been carried out, we will detonate a bomb in one of the non-compliant nations. To those tyrants who might scoff at us, know that the less regard you hold for your people, the closer to you we will strike.

"We are the Democratic Army!"

"sschrrrrsch-not fat, I'm big boned!"

[TroisMots]

The Duke watched the recording in silence. He had not been watching television at the time of the original broadcast, but he has called an urgent meeting, and the tape is shown. As the masked figure finished his demands, and the video ended, the Duke leaned back and steepled his fingers.

"OK" he said, a layer of contempt evident in his voice, "Just who are these people? Are they even on the map?"

From a corner of the table, Jon Skellington, who was supposed to be at the Castleclose festivities, and was definitely not master of spies, produced a folder, and looked through it. "As it stands, sir, they don't seem to be, but this is only because they are so tiny as to insignificant. They have a population of around 10 million, and according to reports, spend nothing on military hardware. Even if they do have weaponry, they cannot possibly have anything like the fire-power to threaten us. How they plan to pull this off is beyond me."

"What of nuclear weapons? They could be planning some kind of first strike to cripple us"

"Not even a chance, sir. We spend almost a hundred times their full budget on our defence alone, so there's no way they could hope to effectively nuke even one country, let alone half the region."

"Well then, I wonder what they're planning to do..." mused the Duke, "Until we know, tighten security and set some agents on the job of finding out more"

Skellington nods, and retreats into the shadows, departing by his own means, leaving the guards outside the door entirely ignorant of his visit

Disclaimer: These statistics are pulled from the NS Tracker (http://nstracker.org), and not just form my arse

[Berethond]

From the Supreme Oppressor:

We will not be caving into some terrorist group's demands.

That is all.

- The Supreme Oppressor Of Berethond

[Archonis-Thay]

Ralon Praytor turned to the Noble on his left and asked "That was not the news was it?", to which the Duke denied.

Turning to his left Ralon asked the Imperium councilor on his right, "Would anybody from our nation be involved in this?"

"No" came her reply, "Well its possible but very unlikely, there was some negative feedback about the state of the economy after the tax cuts and reduced spending, but the lift produced by the beginning of work on the Great ocean road, the new connection between the oceans, and that has made that go away. And even if there was a chance it wouldn't matter Skyfall, Lightsbridge and Katarr have sensors that could detect such a weapon, and they are being installed at Port Legan."

Ralon looked just beyond the councilor to a man holding a mop and bucket.
"She said no your highness".

"See that’s why I let cleaners into the media room, anyway get the Rangers onto this, these people have the power to launch to total overide of all stations, we should find them. Too bad the Nyx is still out of commision, it might have been able to detect the signal origin!"

[Revolvisia]

"Jo...? Jo? Are you okay?" Johannson continued to stare dumbfounded into the flickering television screen, even through his brother's hand waving in front of his face. However that had happened, he wanted to know. And whoever that was, he wanted them found. He turned to his brother. "Michaes... Answer me one question... Did I just see what I thought I saw on this television?"

"I think so..."

"Did someone just tell me that they'll bomb Revolvisian buildings unless we convert to democracy?"

"Apparently."

"Did some terrorist organisation just barge their way into QI's spot in the television schedule?"

"It did, yes."

Within minutes Johannson and his brother had made their way down to meet several of Revolvisia's security analysts. Despite being able to track most signals, the televisual interruption was much too short to get anything better than "Somewhere in Escapikickass". No action could be taken, short of barging into every house in Escapikickass and blowing anyone stupid enough to stand in his way to shreds, but now was not the time for that.

"What can we do? There's nothing to go on. And the chances they'll strike at Revolvisia is low anyway. We have to leave them until they've made their location known." Michaes reasoning did not put the Lucidarch's worries to rest. But he was right. The organisation was best forgotten until later.

[Castleclose]

Clasdon Diet Hall. PM office.

"Monarchs? Hmm" Larkin picked up the phone that dialled straight to the CIB HQ. "John? Larkin. I need two things from you regarding the broadcast. 1 Step up security on the King I know they said authoritarian governments but they also said monarchs. 2 Get a contact into them if they are seeking to create democracy in other countries we may be able to help unless they count us as being un-democratic in which case I want you to add them to the list"

[Barrettstia]

...In response to the broadcast, which suspended all television across Escapikickass, Conservative Party leader Senator Michael Jamison today urged the citizens of Barrettstia to remain calm, reminding them that, as a democracy, Barrettstia would not be one of the Democratic Army's potential targets while at the same time urging the government to investigate the possibility of terrorist activity within Barrettstia. In other news...

Tsar's Palace,
Anburgh, Barrettstia

"What the hell was he thinking saying that?" fumed Premier Chris B Chikin from behind the desk in his office, "Oh, don't worry Barrettstia, it won't be us that gets bombed. Let's just ignore these terrorists shall we?"

Opposite him sat Natalia Sevrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Connor Ivanovic, Justice Minister, and Lydia Darren, Executive Spokesperson. All were looking distinctly tired as they sipped their cups of coffee. The Broadcast by the so called "Democratic Army" had been aired in Barrettstia just after seven o'clock, when the majority of the population were settling down to watch TV. The four people now occupying the Premier's office had been among them, but the Premier had requested their presence immediately after the broadcast was made.Outside it was after dark, and everyone was wishing they could be back at home with their families right now. Such was a life in politics.

"It's not that bad," Lydia replied, "Jamison's leader of the opposition. It can't hurt us if he says stupid things."

Chris sighed, "I know, but it still makes it look like the politicians don't give a damn, and that's not helpful to anyone," he folded his hands, "Who are these guys anyway?"

Connor cleared his throat, "DemArm is a relatively new terrorist cell that our intelligence advisors have recently become aware of. From what we know so far, they're a new but well organised pro-democratic terrorist organisation. As we've all seen, they aim to target autocratic governments to encourage them to go democratic. The scale of its membership can only really be guessed at but they think we're looking at about seven thousand operatives spread out in cells all over the region. As for assets, we know they're getting a lot of funding from somewhere - would have to be to pull off that stunt with the TVs - but we don't know where..."

"Are they serious about what they say?"

"They've not been terribly active until now, but we think they're capable of carrying out their threat at least somewhere - it's not really that difficult to build and place a bomb."

Chris sighed, "Right. So, what is our reaction?"

"It wasn't the best way to say it," Natalia said, "but Jamison was right. If the Democratic Army are only targeting dictatorships then we're probably right at the bottom of their hitlist. We're safe, which means we should tell everyone to stay calm. In the meantime, I recommend we try to find out more about DemArm. We might not be a target, but some of our allies might be. Look at Castleclose; a regional superpower with a newly crowned king might look pretty appetising."

"Agreed. Lydia, tomorrow I want you to release a statement to the press. Basically say what Jamison said, but don't be such an idiot about it. Connor, I want you to propose to the senate that we increase the police budget and have counter-terrorism operations look into DemArm. I want to find out where they get their funding from and whether or not there's anything that we can do to cut it off."

With that the meeting adjourned, and all four went back to their homes and their television sets.

[Fasdia]

"You're on in three minutes, Mr. Thorn."

"Fine, fine." Gregory Thorn, the dictator of Fasdia, replied, as various aides hovered over him and his surroundings, making small adjustments to make sure everthing would look perfect for the cameras. Thorn sat behind his massive desk in his even more massive, elegant office. Behind him was the huge, two-story window that made up the western wall of his office. Outside the window was an awe-inspiring view of Fasdia City, as the main government building was also one of the city's largest skyscrapers.

"Thirty seconds, Mr. Thorn."

The aides scurried away, the dictator shuffled the papers in front of him and assumed his solemn speech-making face. The camera director counted down the last ten seconds and pointed to the dictator, and Gregory Thorn began speaking in a clear and serious voice.

"Good evening, Fasdia. I am addressing you tonight in response to the unfortunate incident of this morning, when a terrorist organization hijacked all of Fasdia's television stations and aired a speech in which they violently threatened all autocratic governments. We do not know who these people are or how they managed this disruption of our lives.

However, I can assure you that there is no reason to be afraid. As always, Fasdian intelligence, military, and law enforcement agencies are doing their best to protect us from terrorist organizations such as these. If found within our borders, these terrorists will be arrested and punished for threatening Fasdia and for the crimes they have already committed. But for now, I urge you all to remain calm, and think nothing of the threats against your safety and happiness. Thank you, and goodnight."

A few seconds passed, and then the word "Clear!" was cried out. People began talking and bustling around, some clapped. Roman Gadlon, Thorn's Minister of Internal Affairs, was the first to walk over to him. "Very good job, sir. Now what exactly are we going to do about these Democratic Army figures?"

"What are we going to do? What need we do?" Thorn replied with a slightly uninterested tone to his voice. "The people have been prevented from panicking, or so we hope, and that's all that matters. Have some intelligence agents look into the group if you wish, but there's nothing distinguishing these people from any other terrorist organization. I doubt they'll ever even actually launch an attack.

Besides, did you see that guy's mask? He looked ridiculous."

[Saurea]

E Wing; The Medical Wards,
The Citadel
Saurea Prime, Saurea

"These bastards violated my station?!" That outburst, as warranted and possibly over dramatic as it may have been, came from Stephen Ramsey, the Minister of Media Broadcasting and the overseer of the station that, as he said, was just "violated" scant hours earlier.

Ramsey was walking with a group of three others. The first was Dorian Strattmen, the Minister of Defense, who was acting as the leader of the Covenant as long as Rollins was still in Castleclose. With him was both Lazarus Caine, the Headmaster of the Templar, and Adriana Bishop, the Marshal of the Saurean 1st who had finally returned home from Khedive Rex only hours before. The group of four strode through the sterile white corridors of the Citadel's private medical wards, talking the entire way.

"How did they even do it, Ramsey," Strattmen began to ask. "These people cut into every feed in the region, but how did they cut into ours?"

"Somehow they hacked into the emergency broadcast system. It was set up under Covenant orders. Every TV, every channel feed in Saurea! We might as well have handed them everything on a silver platter!"

"It sounds like we did," Adriana cut in. "How did they even manage to use our own system against us?"

"The only way I can think of off the top of my head is that they must have hacked directly into the ISB mainframe. I swear, if those bastards were inside my broadcast building I'll-"

"This doesn't even matter anyway," Adriana proclaimed. "If you want to get into semantics Lucius Rollins is the elected leader of the Saurean Empire. These people have no reason to even touch us. Right?" Both Lazarus and Strattmen stopped walking. Neither of them answered. With a nervous look on her face Adriana meekly said "right?"

Strattmen sighed and opened the door that the group had arrived at. It was a medium-sized observation room that was looking on at a quarantined patient's room. Taking notes at a console looking out into the room was a redhead with short hair. Adriana recognized her as Vincent Chass's assistant, Marla something-or-other. Beyond her in the room was Chass himself, sitting at a table talking to someone she didn't recognize.

"That anomaly that touched down in The Narrows a few days ago," Strattmen began to explain, "Chass and a few others went down to investigate. They found her." Strattmen gestured to the mystery woman on the other side of the glass, clothed in head-to-toe in a sterile white that matched the room perfectly. "She's identified herself as Anessa Rhae. She's the Avatar."

Ramsey lost his grip on the files that he had been holding, which proceeded to drift to the floor. Adriana only starred, what should have been the happiest moment in her life spoiled by a somber realization. "They're going to come for her, aren't they?"

The powerful and commanding voice of Lazarus Caine was finally heard as he spoke up for the first time. "The Covenant, The Praetor, since Rin's War that has always been intended as an interim government. It's all meant to be temporary until she arrived. That woman there, Anessa, she's the leader of Saurea now. The only reason that we haven't announced her presence is because both Rollins and the leader of the church are overseas in Castleclose. We can't make that kind of regime change without them. Besides, now that this DemArms group has made their threat..."

"I am not afraid."

The entire assembled group turned to look into the room. Anessa was standing there, looking out at them from the other side of the glass. "I am not afraid of the likes of them," she reiterated. "These individuals will be turning their attention to the nation of Castleclose first, of this much I am sure. We need to divert their attention towards us. Towards me. Announcing my presence and the shift in Saurea after they announced their ultimatum will be too much for them to ignore."

"My Lady... you honestly want to use yourself as bait?"

"If I wasn't willing to risk myself for the sake of others, how deserving of the title of Avatar would I be?"

There was a moment of silence before Strattmen reluctantly spoke up. "... then it's settled. We inform the Covenant, and then we inform the world..."

OOC: At this point I'm completely speeding past the thread I made in II to introduce Anessa Rhae so she'll be available now. Let's face it, Saurea's messiah is too much of a tempting target to not let DemArms tr to take a crack at her.

[The Democratic Army]

"That'll be ninety-seven posts eighty-eight. Have a nice day"

Dmitri thanked the cashier and wheeled his barrow with it's load of fertiliser and other gardening chemicals out of the garden store towards the battered and muddy red pickup in the parking lot.

After loading his purchases into the back Dmitri climbed into the driver's seat, taking a moment to check that the other items he had just bought from a hardware store were still there. Inside several shopping bags were three sets of walky-talkies, an electric stove and other apparatus that wouldn't have looked out of place in a chemistry classroom. All paid for in cash. Dmitri put the vehicle in gear and drove off.

The allotment was situated in the "Lesser" part of the town, a sprawling slum at the edge of the city inhabited by the second class citizens of the nation. The "Pures" who occupied the luxurious high-rise apartments in the city centre barely knew of the shanty town's existence. None of the major roadways went anywhere near it, and all the ways in were along dirt tracks that the authorities had tucked away as discretely as possible behind signs warning of building or excavation works.

As the pickup splashed through puddle after fetid, stinking puddle Dmitri spotted a group of children playing football with a cluster of bin liners tied up with string. As he drove past him the children stopped their game and chased after him, hooting and yelling with delight. This was probably the only vehicle any of them would see this week. No-one in Lesser-Krystania could afford a car which hadn't either been stolen or liberated from the impound lot prior to being crushed. Even then, how many could afford the petrol? A car was a sign of great wealth to the Lessers, and the children who followed Dmitri did so in the hope of a few pennies from a kind driver.

While Dmitri weaved the pickup between the maze of improvised shelters that sprouted out of the mud he pondered the Lessers' plight. It was just one more symptom of the cancer that infected the nation's government. Dmitri couldn't give these children his money. Doing that would be less than a sticking plaster over this gargantuan tumour. But, with the supplies he now carried in the pickup, he could offer them something so much more.

The "allotment", had been christened for the fact that that was what it resembled, though it was nothing more than a shed with a small patch of mud outside that supposedly passed for a garden. In the slums though, such a claim was a mansion with extensive grounds. Andre had tried to grow vegetables there when they had first arrived, only to find that the green shots were pulled up by some enterprising but malnourished thief as soon as they had erupted. After that it had just become somewhere to park the pickup.

Grabbing the shopping bags from the passenger seat, Dmitri pushed open the shed door, which opened with a loud squeal on the rust hinges. Inside two workbenches had been set up along with shelving units and two triple bunk-beds. Most of the shelves were empty apart from one, which was stacked with a selection of firearms and ammunition. Various pistols and even six Barrettstian AR-96s, with rounds for the underslung grenade launchers. Their supplier had been generous.

Around one of the benches sat the rest of Dmitri's team, eating a meagre dinner of baked beans and tinned carrots out of metal dixies - a banquet in these parts. Andre was ex-military. In fact, he and Dmitri had defected together during the Khedive crisis. The other four, Jurgen, Oscar, Hans and Dieter were all locals, easily recruited from the disgruntled masses that inhabited the slums.

"You brought everything?" Andre asked, pushing his plate to one side.

Dmitri nodded, and instantly the other four abandoned their meals and went out to unload the truck, arriving presently with the other items and stowing them neatly away on the shelves. Andre inspected everything as it was brought in, making sure it fitted their requirements. Finally giving his approval, the group finished off their meal and cleared the table.

After that they started working on the bombs that would bring the Revolvisian dictatorship to its knees.

[Germanskia]

"What!" shouted King Wilhelm IV, spraying saliva over his Butler.
"Errr" Gulped Wilkins. "He wants all non-elected leaders out of power within the month." The King's face turned a dark red.
"I'm not going to abdicate at the whimsical orders of a tree-hugging pansy!" He roared. The tray in Wilkins' hands started to rattle.
"I thought as much sir." The King undid the top button of his white ceremonial General's suit and sat down. A sigh was let loose. Wilkins set the tray down on the table. "Drink up sir, it will calm you down." The King nodded, but handed the cup to his manservant.
"You try first." Wilkins heart began to beat, but he was loyal and he took a sip.
"It's fine si-" Wilkins fell on the floor and convulsed, foam leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Finally it stopped, and the King's friend and butler of 22 years lay dead on the floor.
"Guards!" Two Royal Germanskian Elite Guards Brigade came in with Laz-Swords drawn.
"Yes Sir!"
"Move this body."
"At once sir." They turned off the blades and grabbed the corpse by the arms and legs. The King was deep in thought. Some part of him suspected that that wasn't an ordinary assassination attempt. He shrugged, and got back to work, he had a telegram to write to Fasdia.

[Barrettstia]

"And you're quite sure of this, Connor?"

"Reasonably Mr Premier," came the Justice Minister's reply over the phone, "Certainly, the contact's convinced that DemArm's definitely receiving a significant portion of its funding from some source over here. Even allowing for the possibility that he's slightly mistaken about the level of the funding, the only people with access to this sort of cash are big businesses and the government."

"Bugger, " Chris breathed, feeling nauseous at the thought that someone within his own government, a friend, even could be funding terrorism, "So what do we do now?"

"You do nothing," Connor replied, "The BIS continuing with continuing with its enquiries, but the investigation is off the record and until we have something solid on this guy there is no reason to even let on that we're looking for him. Don't tell the public anything yet. It might be best if you don't even tell anyone about this phone call."

At the other end of the phone Chris nodded. What Connor was saying made sense. It would be best if no-one knew about the investigation that didn't need to. It was difficult, but if any person he talked to could be the sympathiser then it was far better that he didn't take that risk. "Thanks Connor," he said at last, "Keep me posted."

"Willdo" said Connor, and Chris heard the phone click off.

[Berethond]

From: The Supreme Oppressor
To: All non-Democratic governments in Escapikickass.
Re: DemArm

Greetings, fellow tyrants, autocrats, oligarchs, dictators, kings, and etc. As you are all no doubt aware, a terrorist organization wants us all to switch to democracy. As you all have undoubtedly decided that you will not be converting government types anytime soon, I have a proposal.

I propose that we create an alliance, not only to utterly destroy these filthy terrorists, but to protect ourselves from any other so-called "liberators" that may come along in the future.

We can increase each other's wealth with trade agreements, we can increase each other's power with military agreements.

It is a necessary step. Even us, the outcasts of the international community, will require assistance at one time or another. If we were to ally with each other, we would be able to render it.

Please give my proposal some thought.

*************************************************

"Send this to all non-democratic governments in the region." a deep voice said through the intercom as an em-mail landed in the secretary's account.

"Certainly, sir." said the secretary. The country may be in trouble this time.

[Norheimir]

The Prime Minister watched the recording in silence, seemingly taking it a lot better than his aide had first thought.
He closed his eyes and breathed out in relief as the recording finished and Rolf turned to him, making him flinch when he suddenly started speaking.
"Gerhard... Do we have any intel at all on this so-called terrorist organization?" He looked a mighty bit more serious than usual, and Gerhard skimmed through the report from the NSIS.
"Uhm... According to this report we know that the terrorist organization styling themselves the "Democratic Army" has well over 5000 operatives in this region, maybe as many as 7-8000 even."
Rolf folded his hands in front of his face and supported his elbows on his polished redwood desk, "And?"
"Well... It also mentions their technical expertise, as they reportedly managed to hack, or break into, every broadcasting firm in the region. And also that there may be several of their operatives within our borders."
The PM seemed slightly disturbed by these news, and folded away his hands again. "So you're telling me that there might be terrorists operating in, or from, Norheimir?"
"I'm afraid that that is a distinct possibility, they are currently investigating several suspects, but nothing of note has turned up so far."

The chair made a creaking noise as Rolf sat back in it, "Withdraw everybody serving their national service standing guard around the Grand Duke's palace, and the royal mansion, give them a more exiting service, it's far to easy to infiltrate the guards ranks as a conscript."
Gerhard hurriedly flipped open a notebook and began scribbling down the PM's words, "I also want the guard to be strengthened by another 50%, and tell them to be extra alert."
"Of course... But is that the only measures we're going to be taking? What about the rest of the populace, the parliament, or yourself?"
"There is no need, we're a democratic nation so they probably won't go for our government or civilians, but the head of state, although popular among the people, hasn't been elected in a few hundred years."
He sighed, "Sadly, that leaves him and his family as prime targets."
"I see..."

Silence echoed through the office as the Prime Minister opened his drawer and procured a folder from within, opening it he quickly read the numbers and turned, once again, to Gerhard.
"Strengthen the nations crisis response teams, and make ready for them to be used in other nations."
"Sir?" He seemed quite taken aback at this, "But sir, most of our allies are democracies, why should we be increasing our crisis response to aid them when they aren't even targets of these terrorists?"
"Simple, we're not just going to watch the destruction from afar, not while I'm Prime Minister. I don't care who needs help, we're ready to give it to them if they accept it, because if we don't, the populace will suffer far more then the government..."

[Revolvisia]

Johannson had finally gotten himself someone to read his telegrams for him. A slave girl, whom he had tried his best to dress appropriately as a worker in his home, but maintained her Lesser marks. He called her "Kathrin" but due to being a Lesser had only a number assigned before that. "Sir? I believe you asked for all matters concerning DemArm to be brought to your attention immediately." She dropped to one knee in the usual manner before standing and placing the telegram on his desk.

"Yes. I believe I did." He shooed her away before picking up the telegram and skimming through it with some interest. He hadn't expected DemArm to turn up again but it seemed to have paid off to be safe this time. He snatched some pre-signed paper from his desk, slightly disgruntled from seeing that it still had the words "High Dictator" penned across the top, and began writing his reply.

From the desk of Johannson Ignaseous, High Dictator of Revolvisia and Salene.
^{Grand Lucidarch}

To: The Supreme Oppressor of Berethond

You seem too worried by these terrorists. I doubt they will actually achieve anything. Even if they do bomb somewhere, do you really think that they'll stay hidden for long or change any dictator's actions? They'll be found by some government and killed for crimes against the region. At the very best for them they'll be imprisoned for life.

But if you feel that an alliance is necessary for the safety of the region's dictatorships, I'll join with you. I hope this alliance for the dictatorships of Escapikickass works out for the best.

Signed, Johannson Ignaseous

[Barrettstia]

Tsar's Palace
Anburgh, Barrettstia

Wearily, Chris B Chikin picked up the ringing telephone. It was Connor again.

"Hey Chris,"

"Hey," the Premier replied, "You have something?"

"Ah...yeah" came the reply. Connor sounded worried. Whatever he was about to say could not be good news, "Listen, the FIS have had their forensic accountants go through the Defence Department's covert operations budget. It seemed as good a place to start as any..." he took a deep breath, "There're some irregularities. An amount of cash roughly equal to what we think is funding DemArm. Whoever's supplying these guys, they're ours, and working in Defence."

Chris swallowed hard. "You're sure?" he said, "It couldn't have been lost somewhere else? Wasted spending?" He was clutching at straws and he knew it, but denial was preferable right now to the alternative.

"Chris, you know as well as I do that this sort of money doesn't just disappear. Even if it was just careless departmental spending - and it would need to be very careless spending - there'd still be a paper trail. This money's just been swallowed whole. It went into the budget and there's no record of it coming out, but now it's not there any more..."

Chris sighed, "I should tell James." he said, referring to James Baltimore, the Minister of Defence and head of the department now under investigation by the Federal Intelligence Service.

There was no reply for a few seconds, when Connor's voice came again it sounded strained, "...No Chris. You shouldn't..."

Another pause. Eventually Chris said, "You don't really think-"

"I'm sorry, Chris, but right now everyone with control over Defense spending is under investigation, up to and including the Minister..."

"Oh come on Connor!" Chris scolded, "Do you really think James could be funding terrorism?"

"It doesn't matter what I think," Connor replied coolly, "It's FIS's investigation. I'm just being kept in the loop and I'm keeping you in the loop. For Everyone's sake, including James', this has to be done by the book otherwise all sorts of hell will break loose. You know that."

Chris dropped his head in resignation, "You're right; I do. Goodbye Connor"

"Bye"

Chris put the phone down then hit switch for the PA to contact his secretary, "Louise, hold my calls for the next half hour while I go outside. I really need a cigarrette."

[Castleclose]

OOC: This does have baring on this topic. It will become clear later.

PM's Office. Clasdon Diet Hall.

Fleet Admiral Jim Nimitz walked into the office. Larkin was beaming from ear to ear. "You called for me Lark?" "Yeah Jim take a seat what Im about to give you will make you a very happy man." Larkin handed him a piece of paper. Nimitz read the paper, looked up at Larkin, and read the paper again. "Is this true Lark? All five of them FINISHED AHEAD OF TIME AND ON BUDGET??" His voice was quivering with excitement by the end of the sentence. "Yes Jim its true, UCNS King Edmund, Orion, Desert Sun, Mountain Home and Shannow are all finished refurbishment and are ready to deploy." Jim Nimitz was a very happy man. Those 5 ships had been the left over Battleships of AE86. With a little Closian ingenuity however they had been modernised for modern naval warfare. Gone were the coal steam turbines. In were a combination of Synth Fuel and Nuclear powered engines. Out was the old hydrophone and basic radar. In was sonar and modern Radar and AEGIS systems. "Jim that is only one of three pieces of good news I have for you." Larkin handed him another piece of paper. Jim looked up with the same expression as a young child at Christmas "It is here?" his voice was awed. "Yes Jim as soon as it docks in at Londunium it will be handed over to us and will become the UCNS Thunderchild, It will be here in two days." Jim Nimitz was smiling from ear to ear at this point. The UCNS Thunderchild. The soon-to-be Flagship of the Closian Navy was almost here. Larkin silently handed him the last piece of paper. "We are to put to sea? And deploy carrier group Epsilon at Fort Endurance?" Nimitz asked. Larkin nodded "As soon as you can Jim. We owe this to our Norheimer colleagues to get there soon."

[Brachyuria]

THE GLORIOUS NATION OF BRACHYURIA

To the Supreme Oppressor of Berethond.

Foreword:

As always sir, please note that the following is dictated by King Irvine Ronald Niederhaus, leader of the glorious nation of Brachyuria.
And also note that the words he uses at times do have a tendency to not be a part of the official English language. We have been attempting to get him to cease this habit of his, and there has been a decent level of improvement, but the problem persists.

Yours in a sense
Admiral Charles Wimperton Oakenbroth.
Temporary transcriber of things for the glorious leader while the usual fellow is on holiday.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My dearest Supreme Oppressor.

Conforming to the already present alliance of our two nations, we will be aiding you in the current Democratic Army situation.
However, considering the congerable differences, disagreements and begrudgements between many of the Dictatorial nations in our region, I believe an alliance encompassing all of us would simply be too fraught with internal conflict to act effectively even against this common enemy.

We will be keeping in touch with you if we come across any developments in the situation, and hope that you will do the same.

Yours omnibrigiously.
Irvine Ronald Niederhaus
Leader of the Glorious Nation of Brachyuria

[The Democratic Army]

With Hans' help, Dmitri hefted the last sack into the pickup trailer. By extracting the ammonia from the fertiliser chemicals and mixing it with petroleum they had succeeded in making a form of cheap ANFO. It wouldn't be as effective as the sort used in mining operations, but it would be good enough for the task it was intended for.

In addition to the twenty or so sacks of explosive, the pickup was also loaded with several drums of petrol. Anything that wasn't killed in the blast would surely be burned to death. With the final sack loaded, Jurgen and Dieter tugged a large tarpaulin over the back to hide the contents from prying eyes.

Back in the shed Andre was still seated at one of the benches. A walky-talky lay in pieces on the work surface as the former artillery gunner wired a makeshift detonator to the radio receiver. Once embedded in the explosives the team would have themselves a very large radio controlled bomb.

And they had their target square in their sights, though Dmitri as he looked at the poster of the Krystanian skyline taped to a wall. The high slender profile of the Lucid Tower was plainly visible.

[Berethond]

To Revolvsia:

While it is true I may be overly concerned about this Democratic Army, I have been intending to propose this alliance for some time.
I am sure that no matter how the current issue resolves itself, there will be need for this alliance in the future.

To Brachyuria:

You raise good points.
We will, of course, keep you "in the loop", so to speak, of any developments in the current situation.

[Castleclose]

UCNTV Six-One News.

"Tonights Top Story: Closian Troops enter their deployment in Ft Endurance off the Norheimer coast. We now go live to Sandra Tapping at Ft Endurance."

"Thanks Tom. Im standing here at the town of Korensburg just outside Ft Endurance were you can see behind me the ships of the Closian Navy entering the port. Each ship will be firing a volley in salute of the Norheimerian citizens on the island before docking. Also soon to join them are the forces of the 12th bomber squadron who will also be taking up residence on the island. Earlier today I toured the island asking people their opinions on Closian troops being stationed on the island. 89% of the people I asked were enthusiastic while the other 11% were undecided."

[The Democratic Army]

Dmitri's heart was racing as he pulled the pickup over at the top of the hill overlooking the Lucid tower. Before his was the great glass fronted entrance with its several squads of armed guards. Puppets to the Revolvisian tyranny and a monument to its sickness.

Andre and the others had already gone on ahead and now were in the streets around the tower. Dressed in business suits with large nondescript overcoats, they looked every bit a part of the Pure Revolvisian business class. What the cameras on the street corners wouldn't see was the automatic weapons concealed under their coats.

Dmitri attached a lock to the steering wheel as though he was about to leave the pickup by the roadside. Like any other rich salaryman, he took out a mobile and placed a call. "Hey Andre!" he said, his voice nic and cheerful, "I'm just at the top of the hill now, are you all in that cafe yet?"

"Yup," came the equally cheerful reply from his accomplice, "We're all here, just waiting for you to show up with the birthday cake."

"Gotcha. Be there in about thirty secs. Seeyah!"

Dmitri folded the phone shut and placed it in his pocket. The others were all in position. Opening the glove compartment, Dmitri pulled out a block of wood and braced it against the pickup's accelerator. Hanging slightly out of the door, he turned the ignition and jumped clear as the "birthday cake" roared down the hill towards the government building.

[Revolvisia]

The guards were going about their usual business. Which wasn't much. Staring out from the tower, making sure that any Lessers nearby were coming for work. Not one of the guards could say it wasn't boring, but it was much better than being a slave. No-one ever attacks the Lucid Tower anyway. There's about as much reason to protect a mineshaft from planes.

One guard was standing with a view of the hill, noticing the pickup truck parked there. He also took note of the man stepping out and beginning a phone call. "Hey. Three? Does that look a bit odd to you?"

The guard he had been referring to looked in the truck's direction before shrugging, "You're being paranoid. It's a truck, mate."

"But pickup's are more of a Lesser make aren't they? What's a suit doing in one?" Four and Three turned their attention to each other, rather than the hill.

Three raised an eyebrow. "You're really going to raise the alarm over a guy in a suit getting out of a pickup truck?"

"Uh... No. I guess..."

Three hit Four with the end of his gun, "Then stop being so stupid and get back t..."

Two was the first to give a cry as the pickup, previously on the hill, had careened through the glass entrance to the tower and collided explosively with the receptionist's desk at the front. The scene had changed instantly, from the boring patrol that the guards usually went through to something resembling a war zone with screaming civilians running from the building's destroyed entrance. The eight guards on patrol had been reduced to seven by the explosion.

[The Democratic Army]

The push of a button on Dmitri's walky-talky, and the truck exploded in the Tower's foyer, sending burning petroleum in all directions while the concussive force of the blast blew the tower's glass front to pieces, showering the area around it with razor shards of glass. People were running screaming from the building, some of them on fire as they tried to get away from the destruction.

There would be no escape though. With the explosion Andre and the others had revealed themselves. With their faces hidden behind masks identical to the one worn by the figure in the video warning, they opened up on the guards and the politicians with their weapons. Pulling on his own mask and shouldering his rifle, Dmitri started sprinting down the street to join his comrades as Oscar fired a grenade into the crowd of fleeing citizens.

Black smoke was pouring from the entrance and the burnt out skeleton of the pickup, better than any smokescreen the "terrorists" would have needed. The pawns of the Revolvisian tyrant had no idea where to run as the soldiers of the Democratic army cut them down in the name of the citizens who's rights they fought for.