This Day in Icarus [IC][ICARUS-ONLY]

[Zach America]

This Day in Icarus...

Welcome to the Icarus In Real Life Role Play!

The In Real Life Role Play, or IRL RP, is a real time in-character RP thread in which the nations of Icarus carry out diplomatic, political, and militaristic actions. The RP is set in current day Icarus and there is no set plot or objective in the RP, it is simply a thread for you to conduct the many actions that nations take everyday that NationStates does not allow you to conduct. There is no app or end point. Any nation of Icarus may enjoy the "free-world" thread that has no barriers!

There is a catch. In many of our other RPs, what happens in the RP, stays in the RP. No repercussions spill over into any other category of the region. In the IRL RP, Any choice made will effect your nation in the region of Icarus in any in-character scenario. For example, your nation and Zach America wage war and Zach America wins the war and takes a planet from your nation. That planet is then put under Zach American control on the map and is Zach American territory in future RPs. Perhaps that same war also completely devastated your people and wiped out cities. You then lose that many people in your RP population and must work to regain those cities, they will not just magically reappear.

While a fun way to let the creative minds go, this is a very serious RP with very serious consequences.

No limitations...

No boundaries...

No requirements...

No Applications...

Write the Story of Icarus with us, and may your nation stand the test of time.

Quick Links
IRL RP Factbook
Icarus RP Factbook
Icarus Interstellar Map

Rules and Regulations
1. Icarus members only
2. No Application Required
3. Claim of Land on Interstellar map is highly encouraged, but not required.
4. All rules established in the Icarus RP Factbook are in effect in this RP
5. Any action taken in this RP is subject to affect your nation in any of the following categories:
----------RP Population
----------Interstellar Map
----------Technological state
----------National Leader
6. Any question or infringement of the rules shall be handled by an Administrator

RP Status
Status: OPEN
Post Type: In-Character, OOC notes included via spoilers are permitted. OOC Only Posts are limited to Administrators only.

This is an example of how one should leave an OOC note

Administrators
Head Admin/Owner: Zach America
Assistant Admin: The Ancient World
Please consult either Admin if interested in becoming an admin.

[Zach America]

Multiple Threat Alert Center (MTAC)
Red House, Zach City, Governement District, Capital Planet
4/14/17, 1545 hours
The President's cabinet stood in anticipation as they stared at the screen. There was no sitting in the room, only people standing and pacing. Everyone in the room knew what was about to happen. It was simply a matter of time until it did happen. President Garrison stood in the front of the room, pacing back and forth with one arm across his chest, the other holding his chin in thought. He was ready for this to be over with and for the celebration to begin. They looked back to the screen as screams filled the room from the video feed. Garrison turned the screen and smiled.

"The celebration begins in Zach America, the 2017 Icarus American Football World Cup Champions!" Zach Goblisch shouted as the team stormed the field and the cabinet cheered in excitement. Many turned to high five the others around them, others hugged. Garrison clapped as he turned to his team and took his first high five from the newest Director of Zach America, Kaleb Bridgewater. Garrison turned to Skylar Bridges, an agent for the United Agency, and gave her a fist bump.

"Took ya long enough." She said with a tone of disgust in her voice, but Garrison simply shook his head and chuckled. Garrison went around the room, high fiving his cabinet and taking drinks in celebration of the victory. Garrison turned to the screen once again and noticed a notification on the bottom of the screen as Zach and Noah went through the postgame stats.

TUNE IN TO THE UNITED NEWS NETWORK
For urgent news in Zach America

"Fellas," Garrison said, silencing the celebration. "Duty calls." Everyone turned to the large screen ready to face the reality that was to come across the screen. Garrison turned and nodded to the aide in MTAC and she transitioned the channel to the United News Network. The headline was the first thing Garrison noticed. It was in big bold letters on the bottom of the screen:

HAPPENING NOW: MILITARY COUP IN KHAN REPUBLIC

"According to sources the coup began at roughly 3:15 PM Zach American District Time when multiple Republic troops occupied the Khanian capital of Ishman, and have begun claiming multiple smaller cities in the country such as Broul City and Rashad. After the takeover of the New Republic in 2016, resistance has been clear between Republic President Ridel Omar and General Neeran Chan, who is accused of having ties to the recently decimated Black Wolve Terror group. We now go to..."

Many looked to the screen in disgust, others in confusion. Garrison shook his head and felt the anger in his face building. Other than the whispers spread amongst the room, Garrison was the first to speak on the matter.

"God Dammit!" Garrison cursed and threw the pen he had in his pocket down on the floor. "We damn well know that the unusual activity on the Sheyland Islands is linked to this and we damn well know that Ni-Shen Chao and the Black Wolves are behind this!"

The small, stuggling nation located on Planet Y in Zach America, was about 60 miles east of the Sheyland Islands, a Territory left to the Natives of Planet Y. The Garrison Administration had done an excellent job up until this point of keeping the possible redevelopment of the Black Wolve resistance quiet. Cells were beginning to develop in the Ancient World, and Garrison notified them immediately. Within the past few days, routine BR-57 Hovercraft flights were picking up activity over the Sheyland islands that was highly unusual. Images were taken by the craft's cameras that showed the distribution of what looked to be large crates of weapons and ammunition, the origin of such being unknown. Garrison had prepared for some sort of action, but nothing like this.

"I can make the call and we can send a surveillence unit over the islands before sunset." Air Force Commander Greg Kasparov said to Garrison, stepping up from the ground.

"I'll send reinforcements in from the east so we can hopefully run the Wolves off the island." Naval Commander Robert Hinker said.

"We can get men there within the hour sir all we need is your..." Army Commander Alex Mallard began before Garrison interupted.

"No no hell no." He simply said. He turned to the group with an obvious look of frustration. "We will not send out a flight, we will not fire a shot, we will not put a boot on the ground until we notify the Ancient World officials and give them time to prepare because we know Chao's tempting us into this so they have reason to attack our ally. Let me contact Leaf in USAW and alert him of the situation, then we will go from there. No action is taken by any branch without my word, capeesh?"

Everyone in the room nodded their heads and left the room to head to their offices and handle the situation. Garrison turned to head to his office and followed Tyler out of the room and down the hallway. At this time he noticed her frame revealed greatly through the clothes she wore today. An act like this was something Garrison wouldn't be caught dead doing in public, but in the privacy of the most protected building in all of Icarus, Garrison couldn't help to stop and stare every once and awhile.

Upon entering his office, he quickly powered up the holographic computer screen and began typing his passwords. Garrison then quickly commanded the computer to send a video transmission to the Ancient World. As soon as President Leaf answered, Garrison began to speak.

"Mr. Leaf, I wish I was contacting you in better circumstances. We have already notified you of the possible Black Wolve cells developing in your country, and now we have been notified that the Khanian Military is currently attempting a coup. Details are slim at this time but I'd like to speak to you on a course of action as to how we handle this situation, because this is a situation that we need to handle together. I fear that if we take any action, they may release the wolves, pun intended, in your country."

[The Ancient World]

Government Headquarters Facility
Downtown Trinity, USAW

Heavy shoes connected to the marble floor and echoed through the massive hallways inside USAW's structure for housing all government activities. Everything from the president down to the regional officers could be found in the building, a one-stop shop for anything political in the country. During these relatively calm times, the building was quiet, which amplified the steps of the group as they continued moving.

Leading the charge was the current president, Matt Leaf. Since taking over from former president Guyette, Leaf had adopted much of the latest leader's policy as his own. Presiding over a population of over 85 billion, his emphasis on the economy, welfare, and military had not significantly changed in the past few years. Internationally, USAW continued to stay out of the way of conflict, preferring to use its military to keep the peace instead of breaking it. It was unusual that there was no international tension or the cloud of war hanging over anyone; it was a nice break from that stress for everyone.

At the current moment, president Leaf and his advisors were making their way to another meeting, this one about employment in North Point, when they were interrupted by a secretary coming towards them from an adjacent hallway.

"Mr. President, we have an incoming transmission from Zach America directly to your office from the Red House, it appears to be President Garrison."

"Santana, cancel the meeting with Roberts, I need to attend to this first," Leaf turned and said. One of the men behind him nodded and took off in the opposite direction. The group took a new course to the president's office.

USAW-Zach American relations had remained very friendly despite Guyette's stepping down, his relationship with Garrison continued as he served an advisory role for Leaf. Recently, the terrorist organization that called themselves the Black Wolves, which had a long history of suspicious activity in ZA, were confirmed to be congregating in small pockets inside USAW, definitely concerning for Leaf and the military heads around him. This message must be an update on that, Leaf thought.

Entering his spacious office and taking a seat at the desk, he pulled up the Holo-Menu and activated the message. Garrison appeared on-screen and spoke.

"Mr. Leaf, I wish I was contacting you in better circumstances. We have already notified you of the possible Black Wolve cells developing in your country, and now we have been notified that the Khanian Military is currently attempting a coup. Details are slim at this time but I'd like to speak to you on a course of action as to how we handle this situation, because this is a situation that we need to handle together. I fear that if we take any action, they may release the wolves, pun intended, in your country."

Leaf took a second to digest this news, then smashed the TALK button on the desk panel and replied.

"That is not good to hear, Mr. President. Obviously, this need to be adressed as soon as possible. We have just kept an eye on the sites you told us the Wolves were hiding; that needs to become 24/7 surveillance. I feel that the safest action we can do is for us to surround the suspected hideouts, then attempt to quell this coup in Khan. If the Wolves here attempt an attack on us as a result, we'll have them surrounded. Is that something you would want to move forward with, or did you have something else in mind?"

[Skyberius]

Commodore System, Imperial Palace.

Solem Wiess leaned back in his chair, the last session of Parliament just ended for holidays, and the year had been extremely productive, Of course, the news of Parliaments budget and intentions had filled the news, Solem found bliss in reading the Galnet, the opinions of those across the Empire, seeing what people of all walks of life had to say, He scrolled down the Politics section, and it was filled with News, which most certainly was being broadcast to other Empires by now. Solem smiled as he read through the articles.

GALNET NEWS, THE GALAXYS BEST, AND OLDEST, SOURCE OF NEWS
HOME ENTERTAINMENT OPINIONS LOCAL GALACTIC POLITICS

IMPERIAL MILITARY EXPANSION PLANNED, CURRENT FLEET TO BE UPGRADED, FLEET SIZE TO BE INCREASED BY 2500, INCLUDING 29 DREADNOUGHTS AND 17 SUPERDREADNOUGHTS

The Imperial Parliament tabled their budget today, which include a dramatic increase to Military Spending. Minister of Defense Kurt Alexiv stated that the increase to spending was to "facilitate a desire to grow the Imperial Armed Forces in an attempt to counter increased levels of piracy, as well as provide additional support to allies of the Empire." The shipyards themselves are already at work pumping out new ships....


PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES PLANS OF IMPERIAL EXPANSION

Emperor Solem Wiess The First declared today for a desire to begin a new era of Manifest Destiny. Announcing that the Imperial Navy would begin securing former Imperial territories for future recolonization and expansion efforts, "We have reached a stage where we as a civilization can return to the days of old, and that begins today, The Empire will once more return to its origins, and we shall live strong once more." Galactic reaction to the announcement is...



PARLIAMENT RENEWS TIES OF FRIENDSHIP AND ALLIANCES WITH ALIEN EMPIRES.

Along with the new budget, Parliament also reaffirmed today it's friendships and alliances, The full list is as follows:
PRECUSOR: ALLIANCE AND FRIENDSHIP REDECLARED, CELEBRATING 300 YEARS OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY
ZACH AMERICA: ALLIANCE AND FRIENDSHIP
ARSTOZCAH: ALLIANCE AND FRIENDSHIP
UNITED STATES OF SPAIN: ALLIANCE AND FRIENDSHIP
LYRASONA: FRIENDSHIP
TALCHYON: FRIENDSHIP
RISEKYL: FRIENDSHIP, ALLIANCE NEGOTIATIONS.


Solem Wiess closed his data pad and looked out towards the city, He had to send a communication to the leadership of Risekyl, the negotiations were going swimmingly, and it would be interesting to see what the Empire could do with Dragons as allies. he yawned and sipped his tea, The day was just starting for him.

[Zach America]

To cover my ass, I would like to disclaim that I do not own any content related to the Grand Theft Auto Series mentioned in any of my posts

Presidential Office
Red House, Zach City, Government District, Capital Planet

Garrison listened intently as Leaf spoke. His ability to think of action on the fly always impressed Garrison. As a young President taking over the country after it's largest terror attack in history in the bombing of the Trinity Stock Exchange, Leaf not only regained economic stability in USAW, but improved their economy from what it was before the crash of 2015. Whenever Garrison looked for economic advice, Leaf was one of his first contacts. Today, however, the contact was much different.

"If you can protect yourself around those cells while we work with the Khan Resistance, we should be good. My only fear was we make some sort of move and they return fire by attacking our ally, and I was not about to let that happen." Garrison grabbed a pen from his desk and examined it carefully as he manuevered the pen between his fingers in smooth, clean motions. Garrison loved to fidget with things to maintain focus and relaxation during a time of stress. "We are closely monitoring the activity in Khan right now. Current status from our intel in Khan says only warning shots have been fired thus far. No shots have been fired at each other yet. We don't plan on militaristic action until we see aggressive actions by either side that put civilian lives at risk."

A knock at the door and Skylar came peering around the corner of her door. The first thing popping out from behind the door was her pistol, holstered at her side. Next her hand and then her head. She simply nodded at Garrison, suggesting his presense was required in another place. He simply nodded in return, stood up, and pulled out his cell phone. With a couple swipes and taps, President Leaf appeared on the screen so Garrison could walk and talk.

Tyler lead him down the confusing corridor of the Red House. When initially constructed, the Red House was created to be so confusingly mapped out that any intruder would get themselves lost and would give the anyone inside more time to react. This idea was thought up in the early 1600s, so it seemed more annoying than helpful at this point in time. Nonetheless, every staff member in the building knew the road map better than the back of their hand.

Skylar went to grab the door, but Garrison grabbed it first and opened it for her. A true gentlemen, as always. Skylar, being as close to Garrison as she is, simply rolled her eyes and Garrison's obviously sarcastic smile and walked into the situation room of the Red House. Here, every Commander, Director, and Field Operative of each respective branch met to discuss the possible course of action in Khan. Garrison propped the phone against a coffee mug on the table so Leaf could see the discussion occurring.

"Here's what I'm thinking." Garrison began, putting his hands on his hips as he prepared to explain. "USAW forces are going to prepare for the worse, however they choose to do that, in case we piss off the Wolves a little too much. Once we have the okay from Leaf, we are going to start action."

Garrison turned to Patton Plame, a.k.a. triple P, the most powerful man in all of Icarus if given a computer and internet connection. Garrison picked him up off the streets many years ago after he was caught helping an illegal crime fighting ring in Los Santos, a city on Planet Z of Zach America. Turned out that his hacking was too good to be true, Garrison gave him the Presidential Pardon if he swore to do his duty as the "Technical Assistant to the President," or Garrison's personal hacker.

"Patton, I need you to work your magic to set up a transmission to Chan. If we can negotiate Chan out of the coup, we will win this battle without risking a life." Garrison explained.

"With all do respect, Mr. President, this is a big risk. If we don't have any presense ready to strike we lose our leverage." Hinker commented.

"'Speak softly but carry a big stick,'" Garrison said. "I wasn't finished. I want the SS Corrigan and SS Trinity 500 miles out of Khan. If shit hits the fan, we send in BR-22's and take a few warning shots. At this time, you are not authorized to directly engage with either Khan Republic troops or Khan Military troops, is that clear gentlemen?"

Nods from all the military leaders around the room suggested understanding. Garrison turned to the phone, still propped up against the coffee mug. Garrison awaited Leaf's approval.

[The Ancient World]

Government Headquarters Facility
Downtown Trinity, USAW

President Matt Leaf followed as Garrison took the discussion outside his office, down the hallways, and into the situation room. After he and some advisors conversed about the position between the two nations and the Black Wolves, Leaf cleared his throat and adressed what had just been considered.

"I agree with your proposition, Mr. President-we'll be prepared to handle any Black Wolve retaliation here in USAW should it come to that. I will also make sure to monitor the ongoings in Khan so we are up to date. If there's anything USAW can do to help you out over there, let us know so we don't hang you out to dry."

As he was speaking, Leaf was punching buttons on the desk console, summoning his military advisors to his officer or a meeting once he ended the call with Garrison.

"Again, please let us know if you need assistance in Khan. I'll be watching the news feeds to be informed of what's going on. See you soon."

Ending the call, Leaf looked up to see Admirals Clayton Moreno, Wade MacGuire, and Special Forces General Hugh Ray make their way into the seats before the desk. Moreno and MacGuire were war heroes from the conflicts with Dvinglus and their allies years ago, having directed USAW's fleets through dangerous space and were now of the highest command in the USAW Navy. Ray, meanwhile, worked with the country's top scientists and engineers as they channeled their efforts towards the military, experimenting with the combination of science and warfare.

"Admirals. General. I've just talked with President Garrison about how we're handling the Black Wolves/Khan dilemma. ZA is going to attempted to settle the coup diplomatically, and at the same time, we will surround the suspected cells, especially the ones just outside North Point and the one in Axlebury Forest, with the most reported activity. You will not be engaging anyone without my express permission, just surveillance, understand?"

The two generals nodded in unison. "Of course, Mr. President. We'll be right on it," Moreno said firmly, as he and MacGuire stood up and exited the chamber, so just Ray and Leaf remained.

Leaf leaned in towards Ray after the door closed. "Hugh, is everything going according to plan over there?" He inquired.

"You bet, Mr. President. I just spoke with Carlisle and Lynn a few hours ago. Operation Silent Lightning is a complete go, sir. No problems so far."

"That is excellent to hear. I'll be getting a report on it later today, but I wanted to know a little sooner," he chuckled.

"Everything's fine. I really have to go now, sir. Busy schedule today with the new stock quarter starting," Ray spoke as he rose from the copper-colored seat.

"No problem, Hugh. Nice to see you, as well. Have a good rest of you day," Leaf said as Ray parted from the room and he turned to look out the window overlooking USAW's bustling capital, Trinity. He trusted the men and women of the USAW military to handle the situation well, and he dearly hoped Zach America could do their part and defuse the Khan coup.

It all came down to ZA negotiations with Chan. One wrong move and it could all go to hell.

Rockford Military Base

"We have a Code Cessa. Repeat, Code Cessa. All personnel to Hangar Eight. Repeat, all personnel to Hangar Eight."

Men dressed in navy blue USAW military uniforms with the flag of the nation emblazoned in the upper right corner scrambled to their respective shuttles and loaded onto them, leaving for the designated targets of North Points and Axlebury.

"Do not engage when we get there, you understand? DO NOT ENAGAGE!" Officers screamed at the soldiers as they streamed past, making sure they didn't make a mistake when there.

"We'll set up around the the perimeter of the area and await further orders. Group Six, you're going with Anderson here..."

The shuttle door closed and the remaining vessels lifted into the cool USAW night and headed for the Black Wolve cells, hiding in the darkness.

[Zach America]

M.T.A.C. Red House
Garrison listened intently to Leaf's words as he spoke. Absorbing everything that The Ancient World would do to prepare for the worst. As Leaf ended the conversation, he looked out to the team of commanders around him.

"Hinker, what's the ETA on the Corrigan and Trinity?" Garrison asked. Hinker pulled out his phone, swiped and tapped vigorously, and showed Garrison the screen. It portrayed a map with two red dots on the screen. One representing the SS Corrigan, one representing the SS Trinity. According to the analytics in the corner of the screen, both ships were 800 miles off the Khan Coast, meaning they had five hundred miles to go. Garrison cursed under his breath again.

"We don't have that kinda time." He said. "As soon as Patton has a connection with Chan I want contact with him before hell breaks loose. We need to..." Garrison was interupted by the immediate appearance of the holoscreen in the middle of the table. A transmission request was being recieved from President Omar of the Khan Republic. Garrison sighed deeply, preparing for the worst, and accepted the call.

"Look, Mr. President. I realize I'm under strict orders here on how to engage with such a threat, but I'm afraid we don't have much time. Chan's asking for my resignation within the next 72 hours or he will begin what he called an 'extensive military assault on the Khanian public.' You know that can't happen, commander."

"We're looking to set up a transmission with Chan as we speak, Mr. President." Garrison said calmly. "We will have contact within the hour, and if all else fails, we have a naval fleet 800 miles out prepared for launch. We are gonna save every life we can, Omar, and the best way to do that is by holding out until further notice."

"I got a connection, but we better make sure you got your ducks in a row before you make the call. The Wolves are well aware of what we're doing and it's led to heavy activity near North Point of USAW. I'm talking fifty armored vehicles being sent into a hangar for preparation." Patton said as he flew into the room on his wheelchair.

Garrison quickly sent a text transmission to Leaf.

Code: Select all

\\\PRESIDENTIAL TRANSMISSION///
***ALL CONTENTS ARE STRICTLY CLASSIFIED***

To: Leaf, Matthew
From: Garrison, Zachary Jr.

\\MSG BEGIN//

I need your word before we make contact. Wolves are making moves near North Point. They're onto us.

\\MSG END//

"Leaf will contact us when he's ready. I want that transmission prepared in my office, I will take it there." Garrison said. "Bridges, lead the way."

Garrison followed Bridges out the door once again and soon matched her pace so they were walking side by side. Through the winding corridors and confusing walkways again. Garrison turned the corner and was abruptly met by an all too familiar figure. Her straight brown hair, her dirt brown eyes, the smile that only set fires in hell. None other than Mikayla Reynolds.

The breakup between Reynolds and Garrison didn't go well. It was ugly in the media and it took months for Garrison to gain back the support he lost after allegations of assault and rape were brought about. Many nights Bridges would escort Garrison home and take paintball shots to the chest in the process. Zach Americans were both ruthless and incredible shots. She stood by his side through it all and for that Garrison greatly respected her. She took it upon her as a personal attack whenever Reynolds attacked Garrison in public.

The headline heading into the relationship was the breaking of party bounds. Garrison, a member of the United Party, and Reynolds, a member of the Conservative Party, gave hope to many that the end of political party walls. For a time it appeared it would occur. Conservative and United party members joined forces on many issues and even tied in a few of the Liberalists from the Liberal Party into the mix. The walls were slowly but surely getting knocked down. After the breakup, not only were the walls rebuilt, they were fortified with plasma cannons and nuclear weapons.

"Excuse us, Ms. Reynolds, but we have some diplomatic business to take of." Garrison tried to take the polite way out, but of course, Mikayla blocked the way with her possy of bitchy-smiling Conservatives.

"I was coming to find you, Mr. President." She said while holding a manilla envelope. "I was hoping to find you without her..." She pointed to Skylar and Garrison turned to see Bridges' teeth clench along with her fists. Garrison felt like reaching down and taking the gun out from under her belt, but he knew she would never take it to that extent.

"On behalf of the Conservative Party, I am here to tell you that by rule of the Zach American Constitution, Article 7, Section 5, Clause 3, you are hereby required to be at our hearing in the National Court of Zach America (Supreme Court of USZA) on Thursday, April 21, 2017." Reynolds said and held the manilla folder out in front of him. Garrison grabbed the folder and opened it gently. The words were large and bold on top of the page to make sure Garrison did not miss it.

INITIAL HEARING OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
Plaintiff: President Zachary Garrison Jr.
Defendant: Conservative Party of Zach America
Case Type: AA11
Charge: Sexual Assault of a Government Employee

"Alpha, Alpha, one, one via Sexual Assault of a Government Employee." Garrison recited out loud. He couldn't believe his eyes, but rest assured, Reynolds would confirm his worst fears were true.

"That's the Initial Hearing of Preposed impeachment of the President of the United States of Zach America, as stated in Article 4, Section..."

"I got that, I got that." Garrison said, he muttered under his breath "This is ridiculous." He looked up and closed the file. "What are the grounds in which you look to enforce my impeachment?"

"That is classified until the date of the hearing, Mr. President. You should know that seeming that was a law you put into effect." She said. All I can tell you is the evidence presented to the United Jury on March 11, 2017 was deemed sufficient for an initial hearing in front of the Conservative Party."

Skylar had lost it at this point. She stepped up in front of Garrison and walked right up in front of Reynolds face. She was so close she could hear the breathing of her archenemy.

"Listen hear, bitch. You have no right to come after and personally attack the President of the United States of Zach America, let alone my friend, in front of a United Jury without expecting me to stand between you and your precious ex that you lost because you were too phsycotic to see the real guy behind the mask you put on him. You better back the fuck off before there's a knock at your door and..."

Garrison sensed the escalation of the situation and calmly put his hands around the waist of Skylar a and pulled her back. He left his hands there for a moment and held her there to calm her down. "It's not worth it, Sky. Let's go." Garrison began to walk and kept Skylar in front of him, staying between her and Reynolds. As Skylar continued down the hallway, Garrison turned around to see Reynolds obviously shocked expression. Garrison looked her dead in the eyes, smirked and chuckled, before saying:

"See you in court."

[The Ancient World]

Government Headquarters Facility
Downton Trinity, USAW

The sun had set over Trinity as the lights of the night came on. Home to plenty of entertainment options, inlcuding several theme parks and two AWBL teams, USAW's teeming capital was one with a lively nightlife. High above the ground, however, the highest authority in the nation had different things on his mind.

Thinking his tiring workday was finally over, President Matt Leaf was about to exit his office after finishing up his meeting with his military advisors when he turned sharply back, hearing the ping of a recieved message.

Awkwardly scurrying back to his desk, Leaf called up the trasncript and read it quickly. This is no good, Leaf thought. We'll have to be on high alert at all the cells immediately. He began typing a response.

Code: Select all

* * * MSG #4932 * * *

COMPOSER: LEAF, M
DIRECTIVE: GARRISON, Z

Go ahead and contact Chan. We've got things taken care of over here regarding the BWs.

END * * * MSG #4932 * * *

After sending his response off to Zach America, Leaf began to set up a connection to the camp outside the Black Wolf zone in North Point.

Operation Circle Wolf, Military Order #766
11 miles outside North Point, USAW

The starry USAW night sky looked down upon the military encampments surrounding a several square mile radius, much lighter than the area inside them. Some steady, some flickering, lights betrayed the presence of troops mere miles from civilian centers in USAW's third largest metropolis, North Point. Spotlights on the ground veered back and forth through the darkness in the air, making sure no enemy aircraft would go undetected.

Meanwhile on the ground, soldiers were milling about, having been planted there for several days now. Anything moving inside the perimeter got everyone to their battle stations. A small wall constructed of advanced concrete was still being built around the marked coordinates of the suspected Black Wolf cell and the others across the country.

During a changing of the night watch, a transmission inturrupted Colonel Malcom Murray from overseeing the exchange. Frustrated, his mood changed when the face of the president appeared.

"Colonel, I have just spoke to President Garrison of Zach America. They are going to make contact with the rebellious group in Khan, and, according to him, the Wolves are increasing activity near you."

"Mr. President, with all due respect, we have everything under control he-"

"That doesn't matter. I want 24/7 active readiness over there. Nothing goes unnoticed. And this time, if you see something and suspect it is Black Wolf activity, you have permission to engage."

Murray swallowed. "Understood, sir. We'll do our best."

Leaf nodded on-screen. "I trust you, Colonel. And the billions in North Point do too."

The message quickly vanished as Murray felt the weight of protecting the country from the terrorists on his shoulders. Taking a deep breath, he turned and began to alert his men to prepare for the worst.

Homes & Buisnesses across USAW
The Next Morning

As the billions of USAW citizens rose to their daily lives the next morning, they fired up their Newspads to shocking news coming out of Zach America.

In political circles, these rumors were discussed with scrutiny as different affiliations clashed, taking this as a chance to prove their view was the best.

It was while eating his morning breakfast that President Matt Leaf recieved the news via an alert on his desk console.

President Garrison to appear in ZA court, possibly impeached

Well, Leaf thought, things just went from bad to worse.

[Zach America]

Red House of Zach America
Tuesday, April 18, 2017, 2100 hours

Garrison paced the hallways of Zach America with a speed only to be caused by nerves. He led the charge of himself followed by Special Agent Bridges and Patton Plame. Trailing them was Kaleb Bridgewater, the newly appointed Director of Zach America, and Director Vance. The wave behind them consisted of the Armed Forces Committee, the Commander's of the eight major organized branches of the United Military of Zach America. The Branches included the United Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, Space Navy, National Guard and Border Line Defense along with the newly juristicted Extreme Situational Combat Organization, or XCOM and the United Agency. Garrison listened to the newsfeed that played from the tablet connected to Patton's wheelchair.

"We are now on day three of what is being called the Khanian Crisis as Khanian Resistance and Republic troops remain in a standstill just outside the Khanian Capital. Negotiations have been underway but have appeared to be insufficient. According to a report from the United Agency, the Khanian Military has began shipping in mass quantities of XR-422 plasma in preparation of invasion of the capital. Zach American Authorities continue to leave no comment on the confidential affair other than they are prepared to intervene when necessary."

"We are following breaking news out of the Red House this week as President Garrison is under fire for a possible sexual assault case between himself and ex-girlfriend and current head representative of the Conservative Party, Mikayla Reynolds. The hearing will be held Thursday at 4:00 PM in the imfamous Waltwester Courtroom in Zach City. According to preliminary reports, the punishment being pushed by the defendant is impeachment. Garrison, whom has been dealing with the Khanian crisis, has not yet commented on the matter."

"Damn right I've been busy." Garrison said, which lightened the mood slightly amongst the fast moving possey. Garrison turned one final corner which led him down the final corridor to his office. His strides became bigger and faster, almost to the point that the Armed Forces Committee had to jog to keep up with the pack. Patton began to explain how the transmission would work, as protocol states.

"The skematics of the transmission are simple." He began. "A basic Class A security transmission that is directly between you, and Commander Chan. No one will be able to intercept the transmission and if an attempt is made, I will be able to infect their device with a virus that allows us to track their every move until we find them. Understood so far?"

Garrison nodded as they entered the office. Two couches sat in the middle of the office and some members of the committee sat down, others were too nervous and continued to pace in the office. Bridges took her position on the inside of the office, at the door.

"This is a standard audio transmission, same software you used to contact President Leaf. By law, I am required to make you aware that you will not be able to see General Chan and General Chan will not be able to see you. Do you understand?"

Garrison nodded once again.

"You must hold the speak button, which will display via the holographic keyboard once the transmission begins, to speak to General Chan. Anything you say while you are not holding down said button will not be transmitted to Chan, thus giving you the opportunity to speak to your associates. Still with me?"

Garrison nodded one last time, took a deep breath, and looked up to see Skylar looking into his eyes. She could see the fear in his eyes, Garrison could tell she could. She simply whispered so quietly it was unaudible, but enough for Garrison to be able to read lips.

"I'm right here. You will do great."

"If there are no further questions, I have completed my briefing, and you may hit the call button on the holographic keyboard whenever you are ready." Patton rolled away from the desk and moved off to the side where he began typing on his tablet, monitoring the transmission on there. Garrison looked to his committee.

"To be clear, the goal of this transmission is to strike a deal with the Military. They retreat and return to Republic control and we withdraw our surrounding forces around both Khan and the Sheyland Islands?" A united nod came from the committee. It was the only question Garrison had, and before he could second guess himself. He hit the call button. He waited for what felt like an eternity before his call was picked up on the other end. Patton looked to Garrison to confirm he had picked up, and it didn't take long for Chan to speak first.

"Don't have lot of time, Mr. President. Make quick." His English was worse than his military strategy, Garrison thought. It was his only way to keep himself sane during his high-stress situations. Garrison pressed down on the SPEAK button and heard a click. A red pop-up appeared on screen:

AUDIO TRANSMISSION IS LIVE

"Mr. Chan, it is obvious we are here to speak to you about the current situation in Khan, as it has us in Zach America greatly concerned."

"We are not your problem, sir." Chan shot back quickly.

"Under the United Khan Pact signed in 1997, it is our concern. We have the right of containment on your country in the time of diplomatic or militaristic conflict."

"Yes, yes, I know pact."

"Look, I'm not here to waste time either. I have plenty of other issues to tend to."

"Yes yes, how's the wife. Mikayla, yes?"

Garrison cursed inside his head. He knew about the trial and what was happening, and Garrison knew he would look to use that as an upper hand. Garrison wasn't going to let him.

"We are here to strike a deal. We are willing to withdraw our naval fleets and return to base if you do the same with the military coup. An eye for an eye, Mr. Chan, what do you say?"

"Accepted." Chan simply said. Garrison was shocked. So easy? Without effort? The committee smiled and fist bumps were exchanged throughout the room, but Chan wasn't done.

"This isn't the battle we want to focus on anyway." He said now, and for some reason, his english appeared to be much more fluent. Garrison was puzzled. Out of nowhere, a large popup appeared on the holographic screen. A simple text box, consisting a list.

• Zach America
• The Ancient World
• Skyberius
• Risekyl
• Precusor
• Bheria
• Partricia
• Lyrasona
• United States of Spain

His next words he spoke fluently. With a thick accent fitting the language he was about to speak. The words that would forever live in the brain of President Garrison.

"vindicta ignavum nominare"

The transmission ended, Garrison's teeth clenched, his face tightened, his hands turned into fists. He stood up and slammed his fist into the table so hard the table shook and everyone around him shook too. Garrison stormed across the office and went over to a cabinet. He pulled open a drawer and in it he grabbed a book. The book was empty, except for two pages found in the middle of the book. Garrison flipped to the first, page 51. The words on the page cut through the guts of every soul in the room.

Vindicta ignavum nominare

Garrison then flipped fifteen pages ahead. A signature was found there, a simple four letter signature that connected the scattered pieces into one terrifying puzzle.

Chao

Garrison spoke the words everyone in the room knew, but didn't want to think about.

"General Chan is Ni-Shen Chao."

[The Ancient World]

Mitchell SpecOps Base
Northern USAW

With heightened activity within the known Black Wolve cells across the country, increased defensive measures were being taken to combat the threat. Extra personnel were now on the cell border patrol, and wouldn't hesitate to open fire. Before this had all unfolded, the military was on its lowest level of readiness in years. That was not the case now.

Now, president Matt Leaf was en route to a top-secret construction facility at an undisclosed location for an up close and personal look at USAW's biggest project in history.

Exiting the presidential shuttle and flaked by guards and other personnel, Leaf shook the hand of the man overlooking the operation at Mitchell. "Mr. Hessler, nice to see you. Any problem employee-wise before we get started?"

The two made their way into the dark facility, the air filled with the sound of grinding machinery.

"No, everything's been quite fine. No complaints from any of the workers; they get paid handsomely for what they do, after all."

"Ain't that the truth. It's that room over there, correct"? Leaf asked, pointing to a sealed door ahead.

"Yep, let me grab that." Hessler punched a passcode into a keypad and the door opened onto a sleek conference room where several high ranking military officials already sat. They rose to greet the president.

"Have a seat, gentlemen." As Leaf and his entourage became seated around the grey, metallic table, General Chris Brukkard made his way to the front of the room. "If you don't mind, sir, I'll start the presentation now."

Leaf rubbed his hands together and made himself comfortable. "Go ahead, General."

The screen adjacent to Brukkard lit up, marked by the words OPERATION SILENT LIGHTNING and the symbol for the project.

"Since you last saw us, major progress has been made on on OSL. The Anti-Fighter weaponry has been completed, and is just waiting for Phase Five to be installed. The framework has been shipped up there for about a week now, and those guys have gotten a head start on putting that together.

"The reactor that'll run the whole darn thing is behind schedule, ETA a couple weeks to orbit. All in all though, Mr. President, I don't see any reason why we'll miss your deadline."

Leaf rose to shake the man's hand as the others prepared to move on to other inspections. "Thanks again, General. As always, keep up the good work."

Brukkard smiled during the exchange. "With something this important, we won't let you down."

[Zach America]

Highway 7
Zach City of The Government District
Wednesday, April 25, 2017, 9:45 AM

The rain pattered on the windows of the large vehicle as it putted down the highway at a miraculously low speed. Garrison hated events where he was required to take Government Transportation. It required a whole lot of man power to escort one guy five miles down the road, it never seemed necessary in his mind. Today, it just made him more frustrated than he already was.

Due to scheduling constraints, the trial was pushed back to a Friday, which was much to Garrison's disliking. While he did believe a long time Black Wolve affiliate needed justice, he also needed to clear his name, and the more time they waited, the farther the media could take it.

Garrison was not nervous in any way for this trial, because Garrison knew the truth in his mind and he knew there was no evidence to prove the case brought forth by the plantiff. To Garrison, it was plain and simple, black and white: he had not had sexual intercourse with Ms. Reynolds.

Had they engaged in "extracurricular affairs?" Sure, what couple hasn't nowadays, but never was it the real thing and never was there any point in time where the danger of pregnancy was imminent. Garrison knew that no scientific evidence could be possible presented to put him in any sort of harm.

The only feeling Garrison had was anger and frustration. The public did not know the grounds of the trial, all they knew is the young President Garrison faces impeachment based off the grounds of sexual assault. There was no evidence presented other than the fact that many Conservatives considered Garrison a young and immature man that was unworthy of running a country. His statistics in the past had countered such a thought, but a case like that would make numbers as good as his name if somehow found guilty.

Garrison shook his head at the thought of it, as if to shake it out of his head and let the thought tumble onto the floor of the limo. Guilty. It was impossible, but the court had ruled this a valid trial based on evidence presented. What evidence? Garrison was baffled by this, and was intrigued to see which evidence would be brought to him in court.

It was obvious who had volunteered to be Garrison's personal escort from the vehicle into the courthouse. Ms. Bridges wore dark polarized sunglasses equipped with military grade GUI software for proper analyzation of any situation that may unfold. Presidential security protocol stated for a strict uniform to be worn, and Bridges had followed orders. She wore a black skin tight kevlar shirt with the "Leaping Deer" found on the Zach American flag embroidered on her left breast. Her hair straightened and pulled back into a pony tail. Her makeup done modestly enough so her true characteristics shined. Skylar wasn't one to go all out when it came to public appearances, she made sure she looked her best. Her black skinny jeans were her own touch, as black pants was the official requirement of the escort. Her pistol firmly holstered at her side with the newest technology from XM weapon mechanics. The newest holster for the XM-122 pistol had a finger identification on the trigger of the gun so only specified people programmed into the weapon could pull the weapon from the holster and fire it. Zach America's laser-detailed technology assured that the technology would not fail on the identified shooter in a life or death situation.

Bridges' gaze left the passing buildings of downtown Zach City and fell upon Garrison. While he couldn't see her eyes through the glasses, he could feel her eye contact. He could tell that she felt the fear he felt. Had the pain he had. Knew the truth like he knew it. At this point, she broke protocol, and climbed across the small cabin and sat down next to Garrison. She pulled her sunglasses down off her face and held them in her right hand, her left side brushing against Garrison.

"You're nervous." She said as she felt him shaking slightly. The car made a right turn off the 7 and onto Ontario Avenue in downtown Zach City. Garrison had mapped the trip out during his sleep-deprived night before. There was five minutes to arrival.

"More nervous than I was election day." He said admittedly. Skylar simply pushed closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. Garrison felt his breathing regulate and his heart rate decrease as he felt the comfort of her head on his shoulder, her hair pressing against his face, lightly caressing it. Garrison took a deep breath through his nose and could smell the fresh and fruity shampoo she had used the night before to wash it before the big day today. Garrison slipped his right arm around Skylar's waist and rested his head on top of hers.

"Remember the last time we sat like this?" Garrison asked with a smirk on his face.

"Eighth grade in the gym," She replied, then chuckled at the memory. "Right after Brandon McBride dumped me."

They both laughed fondly at the memory, smiling in each other's presense once again. Garrison held tight because he knew what was coming as they made the final turn onto Rockchester Avenue. Garrison thought back to that moment they shared so innocently on the playground that day. He had no idea what would come mere months after. He had no idea that would be the last time he would see her until she was 30 years old. He didn't want this to be the last time they were together like this. With her, he felt complete, like there was nowhere else in the world he would rather be than in her arms in that moment.

"I'm gonna get through this." He said and leaned in to gently kiss her on the forehead. She looked up at him, sat up, and held his hand.

"We're gonna get through this."

Webster National Courthouse of Zach America

If Garrison didn't know any better, he would think he was seeing the light from the second coming of Christ. Cameras were flashing everywhere, right in his face. Questions being fired a mile a minute. Garrison wasn't even comprehending them. He couldn't focus on one comment, one screech, one question. All he heard was a jumbled up moshpit of miscellaneous sounds that made his ears hurt. Skylar pushed the way through the crowd of media and protestors, many of which too close for Garrison's comfort. Garrison could here the frustrated yells of her.

"Come on now, let's part the red sea here people. President coming through here! Come on! The story's gonna be what's said in there!" Garrison followed closely behind her as they walked up the steps of the courthouse. Garrison looked around and saw the signs that people held, many of praise.

"I STAND WITH GARRISON."

"THIS IS AN ACT OF TREASON"

And of course, the imfamous:

"JOHN 3:16"

Garrison smiled for the first time since he had stepped out of the car. It's not a protest, sporting event, or public gathering without the John 3:16 sign. He thought to himself. As he got closer to the courthouse, the truly impactful signs began to slice through him like a blade.

"IMMATURITY STRIKES AGAIN"

"HOW COULD YOU?"

"I TOLD YOU SO"

Garrison turned away from the signs, he needed to hold his head up. Better yet, he needed to show the public he was going to hold his head up through thick and thin of this election. He approached the door of the courthouse, and turned to the crowd one last time. As he did so, he simply smiled and gave a thumbs up, before abruptly disappearing through the doors of the courthouse. One lucky photographer had just captured the image of their lifetime. Either that, or they were all too busy pushing each other out of the way to get the shot.

Garrison darted for a side door in the hallway and finally they all disappeared into complete silence for the first time in what seemed like hours.

"That was ridiculous." Skylar said as they made their way towards the defendant's office.

"What?" Garrison said sarcastically and they both chuckled in unison.

The small office was empty upon their arrival. Garrison had chosen to defend himself in trial. Thanks to his bachelor's degree in Zach American law, he was a licensed lawyer in the Zach American and the Ancient World. He had this as his backup plan in case the political field fell through. He knew Reynolds would represent herself with her respective batchelor's degree in Zach American Law. There was no reason hiring a lawyer for their outrageous wage for a case that could be won by a second grader.

Two security officers knocked and entered the office. They stood at attention at the door and in entered the representative of the court. In Zach American court, each side, the defendant and the plantiff, was briefed by the court rep so they were aware of the protocol and etiquette. Garrison had rewritten the briefing in his first month in office.

Garrison went through protocol clearly and smoothly. He knew each line that was coming before the representative said it and each question before he asked it. Garrison knew the protocol and was ready to just get the trial over with, head back to the Red House, and prepare his actual team of lawyers for a lawsuit against Ms. Reynolds for fraudulence. Finally, Mr. Bradley asked Garrison if he had any questions, Garrison said no, and Mr. Bradley spoke his imfamous, off-script line known as almost an inside joke in Zach America.

"Mr. President, the defense awaits." Bradley said and awaited for me to exit with Skylar. He was moments away from showing his face on media for the first time since the news of the trial had broken. He knew Leaf and Guyette would be watching. He imagined Guyette leaned forward in his recliner, nervously shoveling popcorn into his mouth as he watched his friend go on trial for what could be the most monumental case in Zach American history. Of course, Garrison was in contact with him and had assured him he was innocent, but Garrison knew that there had to be sufficient evidence to go in front of the Grand Jury.

In Protocol and Etiquette set for the Highest Court in Zach America, Garrison feels his ancestors must have either A) seen this coming or B) wanted to be funny. In the original document, it was said that the order of importance would enter the courtroom. The plantiff and their team first, the defendant, then the Grand Jury. However, the rule specifically stated that the one exception would be a trial that included the President of Zach America. In this case, the President would enter last. The founders must have felt that if the President was going to court, he should get the royal treatment of embarassment on the way in.

The corridor heading into the courtroom was long and quiet. The clip clop of everyone's shoes echoed in the hallway and pounded inside Garrison's head. His emotions jumping back and forth from a sense of security to a sense of fear. He knew he was innocent, but evidence was presented. Evidence was presented, but he knew he was innocent. The thoughts made Garrison dizzy and he shook his head to get them out of it.

"The last left of freedom." A saying used by many in the court of law in Zach America. It was well known that the hallway from the defendant's office to the courtroom consisted of a long and daunting hallway with one sharp left at the end. No more than fifteen feet passed the turn was the door to the courtroom. Garrison made this turn and stopped. The two security guards stood with their hands on the handles, ready to open the doors on the command of the court representative. The representative nodded, the doors swung open in unison with the gasp of the crowd. All of sudden, there was dead silence.

Mr. Bradley stepped three steps out onto the courtroom floor as all stood. Garrison noticed that Ms. Reynolds sat staring at her notes, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, refusing to stand for the President of Zach America. Mr. Bradley's voice abruptly ended Garrison's thoughts.

"Now presenting the defendant and President of the United States of Zach America: Zachary David Garrison Junior." He stepped forward with the guards. Garrison stepped out onto the courtroom and more gasps ensued. It was as if until that moment, the packed courtroom didn't believe it. Garrison, their immortal President, could never be taken to court. Now, here he was, walking in with his head held high, ready for the trial.

He stepped in along with Ms. Bridges at his side, they approached the table of the defendant's where he set down his folders and tablet. He looked over to her and then back over to Ms. Reynolds. Garrison remembered that proper protocol before a court case was for the lawyers of both sides to shake hands and wish each other good luck. A simple gesture to show that despite the seperation, there was still unity in the courtroom. In a case where there were two self-represented clients, they would shake hands the same as always. Garrison walked over to the table and held out his hand.

"Good luck, Mikayla." He said as he held his hand out for her to shake. Garrison didn't know why he expected a handshake in return, because he should have known that he wouldn't get one. She simply looked up at him, rolled his eyes, and looked back down at her notes.

"Let's get on with this." She said, then looked up. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can alert the candidates of the emergency election."

Garrison felt his heart sink as he walked back over to the defendant's table. Ms. Bridges stood there with her hands on the back of the chair he would sit in and pulled it out. Protocol for the escort was to pull out and push in the chair for the client. In a special situation where the escort was a girl, a girl Garrison knew and cared about, he refused to let it happen this way. Instead, he motioned her to her seat behind him and pulled her chair out for her. She smiled and before she sat down, she extended a fist and Garrison bumped it lightly. It was a small gesture, but Garrison knew what it meant. He pushed in her chair before finding his seat. The Grand Judge of the United States of Zach America, Jacob Larson sat in his seat and began the session.

"You all may be seated as I now call court into session. We are observing case 114499 today between Ms. Mikayla Reynolds and Mister President Zachary Garrison. The charges presented to the court are sexual assault of a government official and rape. Today we will hold opening statements and presentation of preliminary evidence from both sides." Larson explained as he muffled through papers on his desk. "Ms. Reynolds, you may rise and present your case."

She simply rose, stood as tall as her 5'6 frame would let her, and spoke confidently and arrogantly.

"Grand jury of Zach America. This is not your ordinary case with any ordinary defendant. This is the President of The United States of Zach America, one of the most well recognized nations in the Icarus Minicluster. I want you to keep in mind today that the defendant is the sole representative of this entire country. The crime is horrible in itself, but for this to be representing our country, should most definitely sway your opinion on the severity of the punishment for the proven sexual assault and rape charges placed against him. I turn the table to the defendant your honor."

Garrison stood: "Grand Jury of Zach America, let me clear when I say that the relationship that Ms. Reynolds and I had was shaky at times, but never would I ever intend to hurt, injure or sexually assault any girl in any way. I do realize that I represent this nation and the accusation of this kind of crime is a crime in itself. In fact, I don't want to wait any longer. I wish to proceed with the hearing and have the plantiff present her evidence."

Ms. Reynolds smiled as if she thought Garrison's arrogance was false. She felt he had backed himself into the corner and she could turn the tides for the entire country in a minutes time. The judge allowed the proceedings to continue with the presentation of the evidence. She simply stood from her seat, stepped out into the main isle in the middle of court, looked over her shoulder, and shouted:

"Bring forth the evidence!"

The door to the plantiff's office swung open with a loud screech and one young lady stepped into the room. Garrison did not recognize the lady, but he knew that she brought trouble the second the door opened. Garrison knew from that moment on that something had happened. Something terrible had happened. He wanted to run out of the courtroom and into the streets and right into the mid-day traffic of the seven so he would not have to live this nightmare. He knew he hadn't had sex with her, he did. His minds fluttered in his head, he felt dizzy, but he stayed cool and collected as he watched.

The lady pushed a stroller into the middle of the room, paused for dramatic effect, and then lifted the blanket, covering the evidence. Garrison's worst fears had come true. The unmistakeable evidence was revealed, and looked as innocent and adoreable as ever.

A small baby.

Gasps around the room, people began to whisper to people next to each other. They all knew what it could be, but didn't want to believe it. They all felt the same as Garrison did. Garrison didn't want to, but he turned to see Skylar behind him. Her hands over her mouth, tears beginning to fill her eyes. She didn't want to believe it, Garrison didn't want to believe because he knew it couldn't be. He decided to break the silence.

"Sir, permission to approach the evidence?"

"Please refrain from physical contact, but yes you may."

Garrison approached the baby, it's head still smooth and soft. The little seed of life, wrapped in a blue blanket, turned and opened his eyes. They were bright blue. In the presense of a newborn child Garrison couldn't help but smile. He wanted to reach out and touch it, hold it, squeeze and pray that this was all a lie, not really happening. He knew it wasn't, and the sharp voice of Ms. Reynolds in the background reminded him of it.

"Meet Jackson Riley Reynolds." She said. "Your son."

Silence.

"Bu...but...but how?" Garrison sputtered it out.

"Man I don't even know. For being the President, your DNA is incredibly difficult to find. Luckily, I was cleaning out my guest bedroom where you had spent many of nights and found a pudding cup. Luckily the spoon you used scraped the side and gave me enough DNA to send in for testing." She pushed a few buttons on the computer set up in the front of the room and the holographic screen displayed the results of a DNA test between President Garrison and the baby. A perfect match.

"As you can see, the proof was literally in the pudding." She said.

Silence.

"YOU TRAITOR!"

"ROT IN HELL YOU PIECE OF USELESS SHIT!"

"BRING IN BRIDGEWATER!"

"LET THE GARRISON ADMINISTRATION FALL AND BURN IN HELL!"

The court room exploded into chaos. Garrison stood in shock as the courtroom became a blur. His thoughts blurred, his sight blurred, everything was nothing.

He looked over to Skylar, she was still clear in his sight, now standing and holding back the crowd that Garrison couldn't seem to hear anymore. She turned to look over her shoulder and their eyes made contact. Garrison felt tears stroll down his cheaks as he barely could mouth the words "I didn't do it." Bridges did not mouth anything back, but gave one small gesture that said it all.

She shook her head and turned away.

Garrison doesn't remember what happened next. He was grabbed by security guards who looked to haul him out of the court, but he doesn't remember leaving the courtroom. The last thing he remembers is his eyes rolling into the back of his head, his irratic thoughts succumbing to the panic attack that left him unconcious on the courtroom floor.

[Risekyl]

Kihlek, Risekyl

The rotation in the council had been a..hectic one. It had been the first rotation since the new council was elected, and as tradition had it, there was a leader of every species of Risekyl: A sea dragon, Rhigenth, who had just finished her term as adviser and was now part of the regular council, a sky dragon, Nostyen, and the youngest of the bunch, a coastal dragon, Rhenn.

And then there Sykcha, the current leader, was. Horribly, horribly hungover. It was his bondmates birthday the day previous, and he swore that he would only drink a small amount. Fuck. Really, where the hell had his aides been? He couldn’t really hear anything, no kidding. But boy, he could smell and see and everything about that was completely wild. Any thoughts about Risekyl’s troubles had been thrown approximately 700 dragonlengths out the window, it was just Sykcha, his bondmate, and his aides that were worriedly signaling that he should best calm down before something went haywire. Well, he thought defiantly, he had survived at least 10 duels in the past 10 years or so, maybe. Life in Haruhidol had not been easy, and most of Sykcha’s life was a fight just to survive. He was constantly checking over his shoulder when he was a child, and this spilled over into his life now. Damn fringe groups kept trying to kill him. He would have really appreciated some aides in his early life, because he couldn’t hear a damn thing. He was better off in a group, he really was. It would have saved him from the pain, both physical, mental, and emotional, that he had to suffer through for almost his entire adult life. And now he had those same people using him as some kind of model. “Look at what he can do despite what he went through!” Sykcha mused, he wasn’t supposed to be used as an object of inspiration. He was a perfectly normal dragon. Yeah he was Risekyl’s leader, who happened to be the first white volcanic dragon, for the next couple of years, but it would be nice for some civilians, mostly harulese, to stop romanticising them. They weren’t helping the issue. White dragons were still being slaughtered and no amount of legislation really changed much. You would think that, after 200 years, something would change. Sykcha sighed as he lowered himself off of his couch, stretching out his wings.

At least the tensions had noticeably decreased. Had he been alive 200 years ago, he would have been killed before he got out of flight school. Instead, his parents, mostly his father, kept tabs on him, taught him how to fight, made him go through therapy, which was sometimes physical. He wasn’t the only one who was completely white. He had two sisters that looked nearly just like him. Key word? Had. Sykcha was somewhat glad that he wasn’t there to see them killed in the fight.

He still had to visit Haruhidol sometimes. That was hell for his emotions. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like to drink after those episodes. All his effort to become a politician had him elected as the adviser of Haruhidol, though. The adviser of some civilians that thought he’d be better off dead like some kind of trophy hunt.

He always thought too much when he was hungover. The drinking was nice, but the aftermath was horrendous. Still, work was work. It had to be done. Sykcha cast his blue-eyed gaze over to his bondmate’s sleeping form, and he managed to smile. At least there was nothing controversial about their relationship. He, Liyz, was a fellow volcanic dragon, and luckily he had no white on him. He was just this nice steel color. Sometimes he wished they could switch jobs. He’d love to teach small children how to fly. But duty calls. He nodded to his aides and guards who waited for him outside his chamber doors, and made his way to his place of work. The volcanic dragon frowned as his aides briefed him on what had happened last night, and what work he would probably do (or should do, anyway).

He would have to deal with addressing the recent homicides committed during the ongoing Spring festival in Haruhidol later today, and then he would have to deal with the press about more pressing issues:

He had to continue negotiations with Skyberius. It had certainly been a while and still nothing concrete was formed. Sykcha desperately wanted to blame Risekyl’s legislature for being so hesitant, but could he really blame an isolationist behavior when it had gotten them this far? It took enough pushing just to get Risekyl into space exploration, and now they were so close to colonizing outside the original star system. The citizens got to name the rock too: Mavorpen. How...original. Then again, the main star was named ‘Itmen’ so who was he to judge? With the new planet hopefully on the road to being colonized, there were plans to increase the size of the military.

Part of him wanted to visit one of Skyberius’ systems sometime. Which would take...too long. Their civilization was also older than any of Risekyl’s states, so there was that incredibly large gap of power. Why did Skyberius want them as allies? They had been out in the ‘public’ for long enough, that surely any one of the civilizations in Icarus could have just wiped them all out. He wasn’t complaining. It gave civilians hope, actually. One of the main concerns was, “what if they’ll kill us?” at least after this they might have an ally behind them.

The meeting room was one of the largest in the council building, and it was a mixture of the cultures around Risekyl, yet not enough to seem so..out of place. There was enough flora, mostly citrus-bearing trees, around so that the humidifier and heater were hidden effectively. Portraits of famous Risekylian leaders, including the founder(especially the founder) were prominently displayed. A large glass table was centered around a statue of a coastal dragon and the ship RIS Sanipkur. He wished he had the ability to meet her, but she died before he was even born. It amused him, how she was the captain of that ship, yet because of her insubordination she was removed from her post. Instead of giving up, she went on to become Risekyl’s president. The statue was placed here after her death.

So he sat down at the round glass table in the center, considering the projections in front of him. Verbal communication was difficult at best and impossible at worst because he’d learned Risekylian sign language as a hatchling, and didn’t choose to speak most of the time. Risekyl had made it this far. A deaf leader wasn’t going to lead them to die. If he was to lead them to failure, well, at least he had three fairly competent dragons to lean on. But he didn’t have to rely on verbal communication today. It would be sent. Sykcha nodded to the other leaders, who either nodded or smiled at him.

He stared at the communications tab above all of the other projections, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. It was a bit difficult to think of a possible message to an empire when your colleagues were constantly trying to give you advice. Sykcha considered sending a visual transmission, but decided against it when he realised that Skyberius’ leader likely did not understand Risekylian sign language. Instead, He sent the following transmission after entering the passwords:

Code: Select all


To: Solem Wiess
From: Sykcha

Greetings:

Since my rotation into being the adviser of The Allied States of Risekyl, it has been a great concern to continue communications between our two nations. If you are able to find the time, please do respond with haste. It has been far too long, and proper relations have not yet been set.



[Zach America]

The Red House of Zach America
Zach City, Government District, Planet Earth
Friday, October 12, 2018
2:00 PM

"To one year of Freedom, happiness, and success, for the United States of Zach America!"

Cheers and smiles were found across the room as President Garrison looked on to his fellow associates, the clinking of glass bottles and glasses spread around the room. He found himself smiling uncontrollably as he took a sip of his beer as everyone else took a sip of their assorted drinks. President Garrison first turned to Doctor Tygan, the newest addition to the XCOM science team. Doctor Tygan was the reason Garrison walked as a free man today.

Doctor Tygan was a professor of biological research and development at the University Denware when he developed a biological technology that allowed a person to transfer DNA from one person and infuse it into the sperm of another by using DNA sequencing. The scientific discovery was documented specifically in a scholarly article to be published just a few days after the trial; however, the article was stolen off of an encrypted computer and then used by that scientist to transfer Garrison's DNA into the sperm stolen out of the Xavier Medical Memorial Hospital in Xavier of Delta. Tygan was the first to bring the news to President Garrison, which opened the investigation. The United Agency began their investigation and after days of breaking encryption wall after encryption wall, the stolen articles were traced back to a specific location on a specific computer in Zach America:

The XCOM Scientific Laboratories.

Dr. Moira Vahlen was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on counts of Felony Grand Theft, Grand Cyber Theft, and Treason. Her body was found four months later, beaten and battered in the Lawson Penitentiary Courtyard in Grayson of Austin.

Today was the one year anniversary that President Garrison was found not guilty by reason of tampering by the defendant on October 12, 2017, exactly one year ago today. Since then, President Garrison has moved the nation forward and continued his progressive movements as the United Party continued to thrive in office. Now, the executive team along with many featured guests celebrated the victory on its one-year anniversary.

President Garrison wrapped his arms around the beautiful and attractive Skylar Bridges, whom he had begun dating on November 1 of 2017, after the waters of the case had settled. She smiled and looked back at him as he then turned to his very special guests.

"Somehow, some way, we are here today. It's been an honor to be with you both on this fantastic day." President Garrison said as he reached his glass out towards the people. "President Leaf, Former President Guyette, cheers."

[Cyprix]

The Red House of Zach America
Zach City, Government District, Planet Earth
Friday, October 12, 2018
2:00 PM

As the Cyprix Defense Force AUV-50 Lands on the Helipad of the the Red House, Ten men dressed in Black Suits with the seal of Cyprix come out of the VTOL, Following these men is the Prime Minister of Cyprix, Storm Thurmond. The men in Black are known as the Red Order a group Founded in 2015 to Protect the Prime Minister and are under his direct control. Due to this being a foreign visit and to respect Zach America Prime Minister Thurmond ordered his men come unarmed so that he can meet his old friend. The Hopes of this meeting are to get Foreign Relations back on track between Zach America and Cyprix. However they are now waiting for a escort to lead them into the building so that he can meet with President Garrison

[The Ancient World]

The Red House
Zach City, Government District
October 12, 2018

A year is a long time. Short in the grand timescale of the universe, but long when you're experiencing it yourself. For Guyette and President Leaf, the latter was true.

The trial and subsequent release of President Garrison had taken a toll on everybody - facing the possibility of one of the most important leaders in the world jailed was scary. Luckily, Dr. Tygan had saved the day with his incredible discovery. President Leaf had personally congratulated him following Garrison's freedom.

USAW was not alone is turmoil in 2017-18. Controversial legislation passed by President Leaf authorizing vast diversions of funds to the military enraged the public. USAW citizens are notoriously in favor of scaling back the military in conjunction with Guyette's policies. Mass protests and marching in the capital city of Trinity forced Leaf to go back on some of his plans, but it wasn't enough in the eyes of the public. This had taken a big hit on Leaf's standing in the polls prior to the November presidential election. Leaf, going for his second term, was opposed by Robert Sax, a former senator who pounced on Leaf's military debacle to gain standing in the polls. Leaf currently held the lead, but experts predicted a close race.

Leaf had installed these policies against Guyette's advice, which had damaged their relationship Though still personal friends, working together in a political climate could be awkward.

This was not such a climate. Both had readily accepted their invitation to this one-year anniversary party. Despite the dark overshadow of Vahlen's death, it had been an entertaining and engaging evening so far. Both raised they classes and spoke in unison: "Cheers!"

It was Guyette who spoke first afterward. "I know we've been celebrating the past year here, but what do you guys have planned for the next?"

[Zach America]

The Red House

"Currently our focus falls in the Primaries as we prepare to vote this coming December for those to take office in January." Garrison explained professionally. "Ever since the allegations were proven false, the Conservative Party found themselves losing their ground in the Government Official's Office. This a huge opportunity for the United Party to gain control of the "GO" Office for the first time in the young party's history. Once we have that, we have many..."

"Mr. President!" Immediately, the newly hired Red House Director of Security, Dwayne Pride, entered the room, wearing his usual long-sleeved cotton shirt, jeans and boots, with his service pistol and badge holstered on his waist. "We have an incoming landing request from the Cyprixi Government on Lima Sam One."

President Garrison and Former President Guyette stared at each other wide-eyed. Matt Leaf turned with a look of concern as well.

"Never thought I'd hear that name again." Director Bridgewater said.

"Nor did I," President Garrison said, looking over to Pride. "Grant permission, but initiate Blackout Protocol."

"10-4, Mr. President."

Landing Station One (Lima Sam One)
Redhouse landing docks, Zach City, Government District
Heavily armed guards surrounded the perimeter of the landing dock as the large aircraft with the Cyprixi flag painted on the side of it. An uninvited visit of the Government that had gone AWOL many years ago was something the United Security Detail was not going to take lightly. They aimed their high powered, XM-361 Assault Rifles towards the ships. Many Police cruisers formed a perimeter around the Landing Docks as well, prepared for the worst to occur.

Up in the towers, Dwayne Pride, President Garrison, and President Leaf stood watching out the window. Pride grabbed the microphone and spoke directly to the radio transmission of the unidentified aircraft.

"This is the Government of the United States of Zach America. Please identify yourself for safety and security purposes."

[Cyprix]

Landing Station One (Lima Sam One)
Redhouse landing docks, Zach City, Government District

"Prime Minister it seems we should have called first" Said Agent In Charge Phil Dentworth "It Seems we are at this time Surrounded and our Friendlies are not looking so friendly right about now."

"Don't get so nervous Phil, I didn't put you in charge so you could be nervous." Said Storm Thurmond "Now What are they asking of us?"

At this time the Pilot of the AUV-50 says "Well Mr. Prime Minister it seems they would like us to identify ourselves"

"What the hell? they couldnt tell who it is based off of the flag on this thing?" says Storm Thurmond "Well then hand me the damn loud speaker"

"Attention Government of Zach America, This Is Storm Thurmond, The Current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Cyprix. Be Advised we are Un Armed. And we are Requesting permission to enter."

[Zach America]

Landing Station One, Red House

President Garrison turned to Director Bridgewater, who nodded as he pushed his hand through his hair.

"Yep," He stated. "That's him."

"But where the hell has he been?" President Garrison asked.

"I suppose you're going to find out, Mr. President, as long as I am granted clear permission to allow them to proceed." Pride said as he leaned over the microphone.

"Permission granted, we'll meet him out there." Garrison stated as he turned around. Pride pushed to talk on the microphone and spoke clearly.

"Permission has been granted. Please land your aircraft with caution."

On the ground, President Garrison stood with Bridgewater. An armed guard stood on either side of them. President Garrison adjusted his tie as he awaited the sighting of Storm Thurmond for what would be the first time in well over a year.

[Cyprix]

Landing Station One, Red House

As the Go Ahead to Land was given the Pilot of AUV-50 informed Storm Thurmond. "Sir they have given us permission to land"

"Excellent" Says Storm Thurmond "Now i can go Greet my old Friends and hopefully there wont be too many questions"

"Sir I have to re iterate that i don't quite agree with this course of action." Says Phil Dentworth Special Agent in Charge. " I still believe it is too early to announce yourself to the world again after the passing of the King. And Technically since he had no heirs you are the highest ranking member of the government."

"Relax Phil, I've seen the guys you've trained to protect me and even if something does happen to me there is a line of Succession in place." Says Storm Thurmond. "And Plus I am doing this so we can come back to the world we once abandoned. And if we can do this peacefully then I am all for it."

"Pilot take us Down, Nice and Gently" Says Phil Dentworth "And try to not upset anyone this time"

"Copy that sir, Now taking us down" Says AUV-50 Pilot.


After Landing the AUV-50, Storm Thurmonds Security Detail dismounted first making sure the area was secure after it was confirmed Storm Thurmond himself Accompanied by Phil Dentworth then dismounted the vehicle to see Presidents Garrison, Former President Guyette and President Leaf standing by the landing pad to greet him.

[Zach America]

Landing Station One, Red House
President Garrison reached a hand forward and looked Mr. Thurmond in the eyes.

"Mr. Thurmond," He greeted. "A pleasure to see you, as always; however, it has been quite some time, hasn't it?"

[Cyprix]

Landing Station One, Red House
Grabbing President Garrison's hand, Prime Minister Thurmond meets his gaze.

"President Garrison, my old friend it's been too long. Sadly there are plenty of things we have to discuss aside from the resurgence of the United Kingdom of Cyprix, And I'm afraid I'm going to need some help and friendly advice."

[Zach America]

Red House
President Garrison personally escorted the leader of the Kingdom into the Red House and quickly through the maze of corridors and vestibules to his Official Office. Garrison sat down on a couch that was in his office, a soft cloth imported from Icarus' good friend from across the Galaxy, Hayabusa. He politely asked for Thurmond to sit and as he did he quickly remembered what was happening.

"If you would excuse me for a few moments. I have some guests down in my living quarters that are slightly unaware of the situation at hand, including President Leaf and former President Guyette. Is this okay with you?" Garrison asked as he grabbed his key card off of his desk.

[Cyprix]

Red House, President Garrison's Office

After President Garrison leads Prime Minister to his office and explains his situation he agrees to sit and wait politely

"Of course my friend, and if you wish to bring anyone in I wont complain, just as long as it's not the press" Storm Thurmond says.