Nine Years Ago
“What do you think of this tie, Lorraine?” Kerman rolled his shoulders and let the suit set a bit better. In front of him, Lorraine Rubin, the CEO of Universal Petroleum, parched her lip. With gentle hands she tied a perfect double Windsor knot with the silky red tie, before feeling down the suit.
“Bright red. Either you're a communist, or a patriot.”
“Who says you can’t be both?”
“The fifty million dollars I donated to your campaign, that’s who. Besides,” she drew close to his ear. “I don’t date communists.”
With a soft kiss on the cheek, Lorraine departed, and Kerman took a deep breath. His campaign manager came up did a last minute mic check. “You're on in thirty seconds, sir. And may I say, congratulations,”
He smiled and shook his manager’s hand. She, like all the people of his campaign, had been instrumental in getting him elected. It didn’t hurt, of course, that his competition had become the subject of just about every internet meme in existence after asking in a debate what Chandler was the capital of. It also didn’t hurt that Universal Petroleum’s funding allowed him to outspend the Green Party by a factor of five times. But none of that mattered now. He was here, and it was official. He could hear his cue coming soon on the speakers.
He took a moment and looked around him. The Admiralty House, in Maracaibo City, the seat of the executive branch of the Republic’s government. It was almost surreal to think about! Who could have guessed that the son of a washed-out oilman would end up leading a hundred million people?
“...Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, the Prime Minister Elect of the Maracaibo, George Robert Kerman!”
The cheers and applause was legendary as ever. Putting on his best smile, Kerman walked onto the balcony, hand waving at the crowd that filled the lawn of the Admiralty House. About a mile ahead he could see the glowing blue waters of the Meridian Ocean. Between that and the House, however, the perfectly trimmed lawns, sectioned off by palm trees, was roughly ten thousand of his most fervent supporters. He took the stage, the applause still rolling.
He motioned for them to be silent, and after a few seconds, it died down. He went over the opening lines of the speech for a second, then began.
“Every nation in this region is known for something. Most of our potatoes come from Erquin. Chances are, if you're drinking wine, it was grown and bottled in Sylva’s Tuscany Coast. Likewise, the miles of tobacco plants in Valencia provide for most of the world's cigarettes. But we, the people of Maracaibo, have something beneath our jungles and seas that truly makes us special. Its a hydrocarbon based alkane compound to chemists; to our cars and homes it is fuel; but too our country, it is nothing short of raw, untapped power.
“For years, the misguided economic plans of the Green and Libertarian parties have ignored the most profitable of our nation’s resources. That ends today. With the economic plans that I will set in motion, I promise that we will double our petrol exports within five years. And I expect you, as a people, to hold me to that!”
There was some laughter, the charisma he was so well known for, before he continued anew.
“But what does that mean for the average Maracaiban citizen? That means a stable, profitable job for anyone who wants one. It means more trade with the rest of the world, more money flowing through our ports, which means more prosperity for small and large business owners alike. It means more revenue for our government, to invest in the future of the country. Infrastructure projects all over the country, general healthcare, and a rebuilt, rearmed, and remanned Armed Forces.
“For far too long, we have been considered second class by the nations of Casaterra, and I dare say, by those in Meridia as well. This troubles me deeply. The Commonwealth is a nation which commands respect. We will get the respect we deserve! Maracaibo won’t be just a continental power. We will be a world superpower!”
The applause broke out before he could continue. He tried to speak, only to be drowned out by the cheers and claps from crowd. He couldn’t help but to smile.
Maracaibo City, Commonwealth of Maracaibo
One Year Ago
The city was as still as a Menghean zen garden. A mild breeze flew in from the sea, flapping the many flags in the wind. Kerman shifted in his seat, and as the clock struck eleven forty four AM, speakers throughout the city broke the silence. “Attention. At this moment, sixty-two years ago, the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act was signed. In its accords, the unified Crown that had heretofore been the centre point of the Empire was replaced by multiple crowns worn by a shared monarch. This was the first step towards Maracaiban Home Rule, which was officialized two years later in the Statute of Chandler Act.”
A minute passed to observe a moment of silence before the speakers blared again.
“Call to attention, all forces, pres-ent arms!”
Moving in perfect unison, the soldiers assembled in Victory Square snapped to attention. From where Kerman was sitting, he could see how it could be divided - the square itself, three miles long and a mile wide, had one side where the spectators (by invitation only) sat, while a long, empty stretch of cobblestone divided the Army regiments from the populace. At the far end of the square a military marching band began walking forwards as they played the national anthem. All the spectators, silent, stood and watched as they played the song, making their way perfectly to the halfway point of the square. Then the announcer began anew: “Ladies and Gentlemen, here today, the 302nd Army Band, followed by the Fourteenth Regiment of Georgetown Volunteers.”
The band picked up a marching tune, and the Fourteenth Regiment, dressed in their perfectly ironed dress uniforms and carrying their ceremonial rifles marched in good order across the square. Behind the Regiment, mechanized vehicles followed.
“The Fourteenth Regiment is six thousand men strong, and one of thirty-one new Regiments in the Army. As you can see, following Alpha and Bravo companies of the Regiment, are a platoon of its new VCI-3 infantry fighting vehicles. More than three hundred of these have been delivered to our Armed Forces since mass production started two years ago following a Sylvan production license.”
Everyone’s attention was diverted to overhead, where a group of jets flew in perfect formation, spewing flares.
“Above you can see the 156th Independent Fighter Squadron and their new jet fighters…”
Kerman gave a visible yawn and Erwin Myers, the Army Chief of Staff, turned to face him. “Bored, sir?”
“What? Oh, no, Erwin, of course not. I just never cared too much for parades, you know that.” He drifted into thought.
Eight years had passed since Kerman was elected and the Republic had changed dramatically. He had lived up to his campaign promise about oil - and more. Maracaibo had tripled its oil production, and now sat just above the mark for producing 40% of the region’s entire petroleum supply in what was becoming known around the world as the “Maracaiban Economic Miracle”. With the revenue from this, public health care had become a reality, as well as Kerman’s demand of a revamped military. The Commonwealth of Maracaibo Armed Forces (COMMAF) had grown from a 500,000 man defense force to one-point-four million man active duty soldiers, with an equal number of reservists. The Army was larger than every single Meridian nation’s armed forces, combined.
But Kerman still felt as if he was being spurned by the bloc nations. His ambassadors still failed to carry any sort of weight within the Septentrion League and Kerman’s offers for coventures were largely ignored by anyone outside of Sylva. He had, however, successfully been able to convince his mother country to support him. Maracaibo exported the petroleum that Sylva so desperately needed, and in return, Sylvan military advisors, production licenses for equipment, and even a base for Sylva’s Eastern Fleet. But aside from the support of a country who shared a common head of state, Maracaibo’s military buildup, economic prowess, and expansionist agenda had put it on edge with most of the continent, and world as a whole.
But if Kerman couldn’t get their attention diplomatically, well, he would get it other ways.
SYLVA TO DEPLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN MERIDIA
Permanent bases and temporary mobile launchers
The T-3 missile has the capacity to carry a nuclear warhead up to 80 kt, as well as a combination of chemical, biological, and conventional warheads.
CHANDLER - Parliament, in a 631 - 294 vote, removed Sylva’s Meridian enclaves "Nuclear Weapon Free Status" clearing the way for the Ministry of War to go ahead with plans to station an unknown number of T-3 Émancipateur theatre ballistic missiles on the Maraciaban Peninsula and Valencian Islands. Rumours have circulated that the Sylvan military has repeatedly stationed units with easy access to nuclear weapons in Valencia since 1971, however, several investigations by the Parliament Oversight Committe demonstrated that the Ministry of War did follow through on the removal of major missile installations across the department after tensions had passed. Following the rise of tensions between MEDA, the GA, and Menghe against Sylva, her allies, and their interests in the past few years, the Ministry of War announced it would be exploring the possibility of returning nuclear missiles to the islands early this year to "insure the continued security of Sylvan jurisdiction in the Eastern hemisphere."
Several members of the Syndicalist Party who voted against the measure, against the wishes of their party leadership, noted that such a move was unnecessarily provocative. Supporters of the action justified their actions as "necessary in the face of an increasingly unstable world." The newly created Committee for the Security of Liberal Septentrion announced that it would like to seek the removal of the nuclear free weapon status of the Sylvan bases in other foreign holdings as the next step toward "the continued stability and security of liberal regimes across our world." However, many observers, both foreign and domestic, sense that the new change in policy mirrors Sylva's increased military and economic commitments towards the Commonwealth of Maracaibo, who's plans for territorial expansion across Meridia have been made well-known by its charismatic leader, Prime Minister George Robert Kerman. Despite these actions and words, His Majesty’s government has refused to comment at this time.
Parliament is expected to pass a resolution calling for the Ministry of War to begin immediate implementation of any plans to restore the decommissioned missile facilities in the Valencian Islands and for the implementation of plans to build new missiles silos and control facilities on the Maracaiban Peninsula within the next two years. A spokesperson for the Ministry of War confirmed that "mobile nuclear weapons" would likely be deployed in the coming weeks and months while preparations were made to construct more permanent homes for the T-3 missiles. The spokesperson refused to comment on the exact form the "mobile nuclear weapons" would take or under whose control they would be placed. Stated Sylvan nuclear weapon doctrine requires the express permission of His Majesty to be released and used by military commanders, though some members of the Parliament are now discussing the possibility of revising the nuclear doctrine in order to place the weapons under the direct control and discretion of local commanders.
Ignacio Velasquez contributed to this article.
