NationStates Jolt Archive

Been reading a lot here, but never posted. Here's what's going on. I'm getting tired of playing, so I'm gonna go out with a bang. This will start out pretty much a private thing, but there'll prolly be chances for y'all to be involved later on.

This is gonna be background, out of character, just so everyone knows what's going on. If I label stuff secret, it'll be going on but no one will be able to do anything about it for a bit until I make it public.

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A bunch of recent tidal waves destroyed a lot of real estate along the southern coast. Thalerton, the capital city, was about half leveled. Most of the senior government people were killed. The ones that didn;t get killed did such a bad job getting relief to the coast that the people got even at the next election.

The party with the most votes turned out to be the Greens party, from the city of Real. They didn't have enough to form a government alone, but their coalition government was pretty much dominated by the Greeners.

(IN CHARACTER)
Marco Wilson smiled at the Party faithful. "My friends, we have been graced with a glorious opportunity. This beautiful continent was once a green and growing ecosystem, but unchecked capitalism and the short-sighted actions of humans have blighted the Earth. Thanks to the enlightenment of the voters, we finally have a chance to do something about it."

Corryn Mendoza, Minister for the Environment, nodded. "That's true, but most of the people aren't really believers. They voted for us because we were about the only party that still had some organization after the deluge."

Interior Minister Jurgen Flaherty jumped in. "That's still fine. As long as we go fairly slow, the weak-minded masses will continue to vote for us out of habit. The trick is to do as much as we can for the Mother without antagonizing the electorate."

Marco nodded his agreement. "That is the purpose of this meeting. You will all notice that only the Party elite are here. None of our coalition 'partners' will know about the decisions we make tonight. We must chart the course of the nation tonight to return the Mother to health."

Isuhiro Johansen turned away from the window and the view of the coast. "What must we do, Marco?" He was Minister of Communications, and he would carry out most of the preparations for the task ahead.

"As Jurgen and Corryn have said, we must build a nation of environmental activists. But we must act slowly, taking small steps. If we act in haste, the foolish people will fear the changes we bring." He paused for breath, then continued. "We should start with something that most people will agree with."

Jurgen interrupted, "Or, at the very least, they won't argue with much."

Margo smiled again, although he disliked being interrupted. "I realize that every delay in implementing the full policies of the Party means more suffering for the Mother, but this is the only way. We must take the long view, secure in the knowledge that the Mother will one day be restored to health and beauty. This is such a rare opportunity. We must not waste it by losing the next election."

Isuhiro spoke again. "What must we do?"

Marco met the eyes of the others and saw no doubt, no hesitation. What they were doing was right and true. No sacrifice was too great to restore the Mother to health. "We should start by introducing the following legislation ....."

This is your second post and you're tired of playing?

Huh?

The only thing I ever posted before was something about the UN. Since nobody paid attention, I just did the regular game stuff with the issues. That got boring, even when new ones showed up. None of thepeople in my region are in the UN, and they all sorta ignored me. I check the game maybe once a week.

That's why you should RP more often man...the game is boring...it's not meant to be fun and exciting. It's just a backdrop for the forums.

THALERTON- In the new government's first public statement, President Wilson announced today that This Oughta Do is destroying all of the nation's nuclear weapons.

"These horrible weapons are a threat- not only to the people of every nation- but to the Earth itself!" President Wilson declared. "I call on ALL nations to eliminate these dreadful creations before they eliminate us!"

The President went on to say that This Oughta Do was also dismantling all of the country's many nuclear power plants. Citing environmental concerns about handling the waste from these plants, President Wilson declared that the nation would become a living example of how to live a modern lifestyle with sustainable and renewable power.

Interestingly, nuclear power provides 46% of the country's power, and there aren't enough geothermal, hydroelectric, and solar power plants to take up the slack. This was the cause for a mildly humorous episode during the President's speech, as the power went on and off several times for nearly ten minutes.

When asked about making up the shortfall, President Wilson said that temporary arrangements to buy power from neighboring countries had already been put in place until new power sources could be brought online.

Military leaders are said to be profoundly unhappy with the new government's plans, particularly since This Oughta Do's military strength is far outweighed by the Dominion of the Evil Overlord and the Federation of Revalen. When asked about these concerns, the President hinted that new plans would address the issue, but they hadn't been finalized yet.

President Wilson isthe leader of the Greens Party, based in Real- a city near the northwestern corner of the country. His party won power in a lively election campaign follwoing the deaths of most of the previous ruling party, the Social Democrats, during a series of tidal waves. Large portions of the country's farmlands are still devastated from the waves, and all of the seacoast cities suffered major damage. Repair work is underway, but the government is spending far more money than it has available. Unnamed sources in Thalerton claim that banks in neighboring Zurich are lending the new government massive sums, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Brad Connors, Independent News Network, reporting from Thalerton

THALERTON-
Jober Ortega, Minister of Defense, announced today that This Oughta Do was starting a major overhaul of the military.

"For a lot of reasons, the country can no longer afford a massive standing army." The Minister spoke at a press conference outside the Ministry Offices, which still show signs of damage from the tidal waves. "After meeting with the President and Minister of the Interior, the Government has elected to change the military's structure from the traditional model to a near-copy of the Swiss militia system. This will free up valuable manpower for repair and reconstruction work, as well as saving billions of Things per year in procurement and maintenance costs."

Uniformed military officers are profoundly unhappy with this decision, coming so soon after the decision to destroy the nation's nuclear weapons. The Minister was quick to confront that issue.

"A cadre of professional soldiers will still be needed, for administrative duties and to lead the militias if the need arises. A universal Draft will be instituted to ensure that the available fighting strength of the country is propoerly trained. We will turn This Oughta Do into a nation of village strongholds, every man a soldier and every city a fortress."

Signs of the new policy going into effect were obvious in the countryside south of Thalerton. Thousands of former soldiers were hard at work repairing tidal wave damage to roads and bridges. The Minister said that work was also underway to sell surplus military equipment. "A militia-based Defense Force doesn't ned thousands of tanks and aircraft. We can realize a good profit in selling this equipment and purchasing huge stores of small arms and ammo."

General David Gorman, ex-Commander-in-Chief of the TODDF, was not as optimistic. "Too many of the new Government Ministers have no experience in military matters, but they're the ones making these sweping decisions. I'm just happy that I won't be here for the inevitable clamity."

The General was referring to the fact that he had resigned rather than agree to the Government's new military policy. The General also declared that he was leaving the country. "I love this country, but I refuse to watch while it goes down the toilet."

Brad Connors
Independednt News Network

THALERTON- In a move that is sure to be political suicide, the President today caved in to pressure from environmental extremists in the Greens party and signed a controversial land-reform bill into law.

The new law forces all companies or individuals who own more than 50 square kilometers of land to sell the excess to the Government at severely reduced prices. The Government plans to re-sell much of the land to individual citizens at bargain prices, provided the new landowner follows the strict new environmental regulations passed last week.

"This is part of our long-term environmental strategy." said Lucas Habilon, new Greens Party Chairman. "We plan to develop sustainable food production and encourage people to move out of the cities at the same time."

Harsh questions were being asked in Parliament by the opposition parties, but the President had the legislature firmly in hand. "Granted that we are upsetting the old order of things, but the Deluge has taught us that the old ways are no longer good enough. We have a mandate to act, and we have done so."

Curiously, President Wilson was originally one of the critics of the legislation, applauding its ideals but clearly unhappy with the timing.

Many former landowners were quick to file lawsuits and apply for temporary injunctions against enforcement of the new law, but few judges were willing to hear the cases. This is largely due to the wholesale replacements of jurists throughout the country in the last few months by new judges known to be friendly to the new Government's policies.

Food prices in Thalerton rose sharply at the news of the law's passage, and phone reports from other cities confirmed that the trend is national. Many large farming corporations simply closed operations and began transporting corporate assets out of the country.

"We can't make money under this new law." said Carol Shujin, CEO of AgriCorp, THis Oughta Do's largest farming corporation. "If the Government wants to feed the country with small farmsteads scattered across the landscape, they're welcome to try. I've been in this business for twenty-five years, and I don't think they can. The Board agrees with me, so we're closing up shop here and moving our headquarters to Revalen and Zurich."

Brad Connors
Independent News Network
Reporting from Thalerton

THALERTON- Parents and teachers across the country are upset over the Government's new scholastic policies. "They've eliminated many primary education courses and substituted the Greens Party's ecological agenda!" says Iris Kipeci, head of This Oughta Do's powerful Teacher's Union.

She was referring to the new scholastic standards that were approved for the new school year starting at the 1st Grade level. Many science courses were completely dropped for older students, while younger ones receive intensive environmental awareness training. Basic mathematics and reading are still taught, but this traditional education accounts for less than 10% of the school day. The bulk of the days are filled with long field trips to parks and woodlands, followed by outdoor training in ecology and environmental awareness.

Many parents are unhappy with this change. "They're turning our kids into little eco-fascists!" shouted Angela Giambeti, a working mother of three from Kroner. "Have you heard the latest? Kids get rewarded for reporting environmentally unsound practices. I had to pay 300 Things in fines last week after my oldest girl reported me for using laundry detergent!"

Other parents are less vocal, but equally concerned. "Heaven knows our kids aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, but now they'll be even more handicapped in the intellectual arena when they compete for jobs with foreign students." said Ian Santerra, a stay-at-home father in Real. "My son can't even do basic algebra, but he's getting great marks in school for his 'ecological empathy'- whatever that is."

"My Rene is getting even more remote than usual." sobs Jordan Carmichael. "She spends all her spare time at Youth Ecology Camp, and never tells me what she does there. Teenage girls often argue with their mothers, but now she treats me like a criminal in my own home because I used the dryer to get ready for work."

All attempts by Teacher's Unions to slow down the pace of the changes to the school system are blocked by the Greener-controlled judiciary. Many teachers are under intense pressure to follow the new eco-friendly education standards. Teachers who fail to comply are frequently transferred to unpleasant hardship posts. This is part of the Government's long-term reconstruction of This Oughta Do's entire society.

Many political analysts are shaking their heads at the Government's naive blundering. Commentator Maria Espinoza from 'Thalerton Today' had this to say. "Traditionally, post-catastrophe Governments are only good for one or two by-elections before the average citizen gets tired of changes and votes them out of office. This focus on long-term benefit by the Government is laudable, but unrealistic. The Ministers and President will be gone and most of these changes reversed long before they begin to bear fruit."

Indeed, many people across the country are upset with the Government's actions. Mass demonstrations appeared in the cities of Drachma, Guilder, and Bezant. Only Thalerton and Real were unaffected by the protests. The protestors were from a wide variety of once mutually-exclusive political backgrounds. Their only pointg of agreement in most cases was dissatisfaction with the Government.

With general elections coming up in a few months, this does not bode well for the Government. The Green Experiment in This Oughta Do promises to be a fairly short-lived phenomenon.

Giles Harcourt
Independent News Network
Thalerton

Tag for monitoring

"Marco, we may have a problem."

The President smiled at his Chief of Staff. "Worried about the elections? I'm not."

Henry Forsythe did not smile in return. "You ought to be worried, Marco. I think we're going to get slaughtered.'

Marco Wilson sat down and gave Henry his complete attention. "I've been busy with the latest legislation package, Henry. What have I been missing?"

Henry sighed. "Marco, the public are not Green Party partisans. They elected this government because we had the best organized political machine after the Deluge. All the recent legislation has a lot of people up in arms."

The President shook his head. "I'd heard that there were some minor demonstrations. If that is all you're worried about ..."

"You haven't heard?" Henry opened his briefcase and handed the President a thick report. "There was a major demonstration in Bezant last week. When police tried to disperse the crowds, they were fired on. After the shooting was over, there were more than 400 dead- half of them police officers. It took several major miracles in a row to keep it out of the media, and there are ugly rumors all over the country."

Wilson looked through the pictures and read the report as Henry continued. "There is widespread unhappiness over the high unemployment, high food prices, rolling brownouts, and skyrocketing energy prices. I don't think the Party will hang on to a tenth of the current seats in Parliament."

Marco set the report aside. "Is it really that bad?"

"It might even be worse than the picture I'm painting, Marco. Most of the professional military officers have been forcibly retired for political incompatibility. A lot of them have left the country or managed to blend in with the general population, but Jasmine over at Law Enforcement says that most of the anti-government violence is coming from former military personnel."

The President sighed. "Okay, Henry. What's your recommendation?"

"Postpone the election."

"Can't be done. This isn't a by-election, it's the General Election."

"In that case, Marco, I'd start looking for a post-political career. Unless we get a miracle, the Party will lose the election."

Marco Wilson shook his head and sighed again. "I don't believe in miracles, Henry. I'll talk to the Cabinet and see if we can come up with some ideas."

As he got to the door, the President called his name. "Henry? Thanks for telling me the truth. Stick close for the next couple of days, will you? I'll be needing your advice."

"That's why I'm here, Marco. Good afternoon."

The door slid noiselessly open and Lt. ben Mehdi walked in. He stopped precisely 1 meter in front of the Warlord's Command Console and saluted.

"Sir, I have the report you requested."

The Warlord keyed his computers to 'standby' and arched an eyebrow at his subordinate. "Our friends across the river? Just hit the high points."

"Sir, our best data suggests a 63% chance of major civil/military unrest in This Oughta Do before the end of the year. With the standard plus or minus 4 percentage points, of course."

The Warlord steepled his hands before his face and stared over them at the Lieutenant. "And what do the gloom-and-doom boyos over at External Security suggest we do about this?"

Ben Mehdi considered his words carefully before replying. "Assuming major upheavals in TOD, the chances that the Dominion will be drawn into the mess are nearly 50-50. ES has not yet discovered any useful means of averting a regional military catastrophe if the current trends continue."

"So you're telling me that there's even odds that we'll be at war with the idiots across the river by this time next year. Is that what you're telling me, Lieutenant?"

Lt. Ben Mehdi swallowed hard and placed the disc with his report on the Warlord's desk. "Yes, sir. There are several military options appended in the report."

The Warlord's face was unreadable as he slotted the disc into the console. "Very well, Lieutenant. That will be all."

Sweating profusely under his uniform, Ben Mehdi gave an unanswered salute, pivoted on his heel, and strode out of the room. Once the door had sealed behind the Lieutenant, the Warlord called up the highlights of the report he'd already scanned and scrolled through them idly as he pondered the situation. He called up a different report on another screen and compared the two carefully, then shut the system down. A finger touched a button, and the videolink on the console flashed to life. A hard-faced blond woman in the black uniform of the Ministry stared out of the screen.

"Colonel Ybarra, I have a job for you."

The woman nodded curtly. "The problem we discussed yesterday, sir?"

"Right in one." The Warlord re-checked to make sure the signal was on a secure, encrypted frequency before continuing. "Chances are good that we'll be at war within 6 months to a year. Our ability to win that war is beyond question, but the political and economic consequences will not make His Omniferocity happy. It may be possible to prevent the seeds of that war from being sown, if we act now. I am authorizing you to use extraordinary measures to forestall this war, along the lines of the plans we discussed yesterday. I have full confidence in you, Colonel."

The Colonel's impassive face softened slightly in what might possibly be mistaken for a smile. "I understand completely, sir."

Colonel Ybarra cleared the screen and stalked out of her office to the Operations Office. Major Umbotu looked up from his perusal of the continental map projected onto the office wall as she entered. "I take it the Warlord gave us the green light, sir?"

The Colonel nodded as she called up and executed the orders Umbotu had already prepared in anticipation of this moment. "That's affirmative, Gregor. Get everybody into kit and on the road within the hour. Make sure you tell the Team Leaders that they are supposed to be deep cover operators. No cowboys."

Her task complete, Colonel Ybarra turned her dark eyes to her Executive Officer. "The risks are too great for amateur night. Make sure everyone gets the word; No Cowboys! I will personally skin anyone who pulls a dumb stunt that compromises this operation."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

Ybarra nodded. "Yes. Tell Team Four to stay clear of Thalerton after Phase Nine gets rolling."

The Major saluted and left his CO staring at the map projection. He grinned broadly after the door to Ops closed and the Colonel couldn't see him. After all the black ops and wetwork over the last fifteen years, he thought to himself, this has got to be the weirdest operation yet: A covert operation with hundreds of personnel working undercover to stabilize a foreign government. I'll never be able to show my face at The Western Eating Parlor again!"

The Warlord read the latest projections and swore. Savagely hitting the intercom, he barked, "Get Major Green in here!"

A few minutes later, a short, muscular man in nondescript military uniform without insignia stepped into the office and stopped in front of the Warlord's desk. If the Major's Supreme Commander noted the lack of a salute, he failed to mention it.

"Major, what's your opinion of the UN?"

Green's poker face revealed nothing to the Warlord's eye as he answered. "I gather that is a somewhat rhetorical question, sir."

"More or less. I'm not too fond of it, myself, but that's neither here nor there as the Dominion refuses to become a member. Our neighbors across the river are members, and they've been hit especially hard by the global recession brought about by the UN's continued ignorance of the Law of Unintended Consequences."

"What is my unit's mission then, sir?"

"I have to give you a little background, first, Major. External Security estimates a better than even chance that we'll be at war with TOD before summer. I haven't seen a projection that even gives us odds that good since the recession hit.

The outcome of that war is not in any doubt- the Dominion would win. However, His Omniferocity would be unhappy with the political aftermath. I have therefore dispatched several undercover teams across the river to try and shore things up. Their job is to stabilize the government- if possible- in an attempt to prevent or delay a war."

"My people are not trained in that sort of work, sir."

"Relax, Major. The other teams have been in-country for several weeks, working their asses off. I'm going to send your team in to work the other side of the street."

Major Green nodded. "We're to prepare for war in the event that the other teams fail."

"Right in one. I want nothing overt, mind you. Just the usual covert preparation in the event of war. If we do end up fighting our way through one and a half billion people, I want to have as many advantages as possible."

"We'll get it done, sir."

"See to it you do. Good hunting."

After the Major left, the Warlord checked the projections again and sighed. As if their boneheaded fiscal and political policies weren't already driving their economy into the toilet, he thought savagely. the bloody UN has to throw more fuel on the fire by causing a global recession. What did I do, desecrate a shrine, or something?

The Sergeant at the podium quited the room by yelling, "Attention!". The forty or so police officers jumped out of their seats and stood stock still until the Post Commandant nodded, and the Sergeant called, "As you were."

The Commandant got right to the point. "I know that there's been a lot of grumbling about the political orders that have been coming in from Thalerton. We've been able to get most of that sort of work turned over to the Interior Ministry recently, which means we've been able to get back to doing our jobs- enforcing the laws.

That job got a lot tougher last month, when the UN managed to piss our whole economy down the toilet. Even without the Greener's thick-headed ideology, that would have been tough to deal with. Combine the two ... well ... you all know the results.

Millions of people are out of work. The Government's trying to invent jobs for some of them, but there are more men than jobs. Money's tight, and isn't worth much anymore even if anyone had any. A lot of people are getting desperate out there. Worse still, a lot of those folks who are getting desperate are ex-military.

So we've seen a lot of well-organized raids on warehouses, banks, and other businesses. Several police stations were overrun and looted. Heavily armed and well-organized bands of privateers are buying bulk foods across the river in the Dominion and over the mountains in the Federation and setting up black-market food stores. These gangs all seem to hate each other, so they've never been a huge threat- just a persistent one. They've spent most of their energies shooting and raiding each other.

Not anymore. Several informants have tipped us off that these gangs of freebooters are beginning to work together. You boys have managed to keep them under the radar for the most part, but the gangs are just as well-armed and organized as we are, and soon we'll be outnumbered by the bad guys."

There was a lot of whispering after the Commandant said this. Many of the officers had thought that things were getting worse, but hearing it from the Post Commandant made it seem real.

"The President called the National Commandant last night." The Post COmmandant continued. "A military station outside Thalerton was raided yesterday evening. The bandits didn't get all the way into the armory, but several dozen troops were killed and wounded in the attack.

So now, the gloves come off. The President has signed a declaration of a State of Emergency, which gives us broader powers to enforce order. All standard crime will still be the jurisdiction of the local police forces. The locals can call on us for large demonstrations and similar major events, but our new job is to put the organized bandits out of business."

A Corporal in the back of the room raised his hand. "Sir, what about these rumors of foreign agents we've been hearing?"

The Commandant nodded. "I was just getting to that. Government Intelligence groups say that they've seen signs that several foreign powers have planted agents throughout the country. No one's actually caught any of them, and there's no real eveidence that this is more than some paranoid spook seeing things in his sleep. The President is taking the possibility seriously, however."

The Commandant waved a hand at four men who had entered the room behind him. "These folks are from the Interior Ministry. They will serve as liaison officers here at the Post at a new communications center. They have a direct line to the Ministry, and if we get evidence of foreign involvement, the word will likely be piped straight to the President himself. Several Interior Ministry officers will accompany our units when we make raids, to evaluate evidence and crime scenes. Remember, they aren't trained for police work, so keep them safe. They are trained in evidence handling, collection, and analysis, so they aren't going to be dead weight, either. Any questions?"

After a few questions about the new procedures, the Commandant dismissed his men. "We've received word that a couple of bandit groups are meeting tonight or tomorrow to discuss cooperation. Once our informant gets us specific target data, we'll go in and stomp on 'em. Get back to your teams and fill them in on the new rules. Dismissed."

"... Team traced Agent back to Primary Cell. Four days' surveillance determined (prob 85%) identity of Primary Cell leadership and most members of Cell.

Observation of rigid Cell scheduling permitted extraction of three low-ranking members of Primary Cell. Interrogation confirmed previous observations and identifications. Subjects TWEP. Local Law Enforcement given 'anonymous tip' about presence of Primary Cell. Police raid successfully, resulting in approx. 75% capture of Primary Cell. Remaining active membership captured within 72 hours.

Sheer numbers of prospective rebel groups in Target Nation make Team efforts problematic. New antigovernment movements appear daily, and the arrests and trials of previous groups does not appear to deter potential revolutionaries. Recommend ..."

The Warlord shut off the viewer and checked the latest projections from External Security. All the trends were heading downward despite all the Action Teams could do. He gave orders to scale back the Stability Teams to a small group in each major city. Shaking his head, the Warlord called up the report from the Incursion Teams.

"... several reports (CATEGORY TWO) indicating a splinter movement within Target Nation government working to create ideologically-motivated strike force. Primary collection methods indicate high probablility that Target Nation government may employ strike force to create international incident to divert public dissatisfaction with external 'threat'.

Extraction and interrogation of several Target Nation government personnel believed associated with splinter group confirms existence of environmental extremist splinter group within Target Nation government forming Environmental Action Teams. Rough description and identifications appended. Subjects TWEP.

Further investigation into ..."

The Warlord shook his head sadly and cleared the screen. This Oughta Do was on the verge of violent self-destruction in spite of the Stability Teams he'd ordered into the country to prevent just that. Worse, certain members of TOD's government seemed bound and determined to drag the Dominion into the quicksand with them.

Hitting the comm button, he said, "Inform Marshall LeClerc that he and his primary staff will be in my office at 0330. I want ES to have full Trinity briefing materials available by 0300. Inform Ambassador Conway that she is to close all consulates and reduce Embassy staff to absolute bare minimum."

"Recorded, sir. On the way."

Disconnecting the circuit, the Warlord sat back and rubbed his eyes. Hitting a different key, he gathered his data and left the office. He reminded himself that Rule #32 was rarely broken. That was all he could count on, since the news he was bringing to His Omniferocity was particulalry bad.

"I regret being the bearer of bad news, but there it is, folks. We will definitely lose control of Parliament after the election."

Josh Everard raised a hand. "Sir? Who will win?"

Manuel Boyd grimaced. "The latest polls indicate that the PC will have a solid majority if the election were held today."

Angry murmurs swept the room. One of the new team members, a young firebrand from the farming region outside Guilder raised her voice. "Those reactionary Progressive Capitalists will undo everything the Party has accomplished! We can't let that happen!"

There was a shocked silence as the Environmental Action Unit regsitered the young woman's words. Manuel stared at her for a moment, then nodded. "Much as it hurts to admit it, we cannot trust the uneducated masses to do what is best for the Mother."

The rest of the team thought that over for a few moments. "What can we do about it?" asked a young man from Drachma. "I mean, the President has already postponed the elections three times. The Constitution requires a General Election this year."

Manuel winked at the team. "I have received our orders from the Party leadership. Up till now, we've been targeting factory owners and other enemies of the Mother. During the elcetion, each EAU will target a different polling station. Once our people are infiltrated to the polling stations ..."