NationStates Jolt Archive

A giant ice cap that existed for a while was melting. After an experiment by a mad scientist went wrong, the whole country was literally frozen. With the help of some moderators, the ice around Nanakaland melted, resurrecting it again from the darkness, returning it to the NationStates world. Nanakaland was REresurrected.

President Michael J. Smith, immortal and long time head of Nanakaland, announced he wouldn't be running for relection right before the day of elections. Now four candidates from different parties run against each other for control of the country. Former Vice President, Nalonis the Elf, ran for election under the Centrist party. With the Libertarians, John Williams promised to raise all freedoms and the economy while loosening government regulations. Under the Military party, a candidate named Richard Peterson wants to make Nanakaland more conservative and powerful around the world. Under the Green party, Laura Young promises more civil rights while restoring the national beauty of the country. The race for the Nanakan Senate is even closer.

With Nanakaland's return to the NationStates world, and one of the closest elections in the world about to start, anything could happen.

[OOC EDIT: This thread is RP for return of Nanakaland. Nanakaland was originally created in March 2003. Left game. Resurrected November 2003. Left game again in May-June. Came back yesterday.]

[OOC EDIT 2: Half of this thread is RPing the return of Nanakaland and the other half is RPing the lead up to and the election. The poll now attached counts foreign support, not the support of Nanakaland or how the Nanakans are going to vote. The actual election hasn't been held yet.]

Jeruselem submarine surfaces and the Captain gets out look outside. He checked his maps again and cursed "There's a huge frozen body of ice here but what the ... ". Around him a small arctic port with people being people. "I'm sure there was ice here somewhere, but a civilisation?" he thought.

We waved to one of the fisherman and tried to ask where on Earth he was. One local shouted "Welcome to Nanakaland!". He was still confused and checked with HQ. Nanakaland was rumoured to be destroyed like Atlantis and disappeared forever.

The Captain and two armed soldiers go onshore to visit the town. It was Nanakaland! He reported back to HQ "We found Atlantis, or actually Nanakaland"

The costal towns were the first to mealt. Port Nanaka was released from years under the ice. People were frozen going about their daily lives. There were people walking their dogs and going to work perfectly preserved in the ice. As it melted, people went on their daily lives as if nothing happened. However, they were to find out just how long they were under the ice.


Meanwhile, under a bomb shelter under the forest floor that was never frozen, several hundred people watched in horror as Nanakaland was defrosting. For years, they had ruled Nanakaland as it remained frozen. Now the surface world was regaining power. The group thought that because they were never frozen they had more of a right to rule the people. They thought and thought. They realized that right before Nanakaland was covered in ice an election without long time leader Michael Smith was being held. They had a chance to enter a candidate and win their power without force.

Soon, they developed a plan. The Military Party leader, Richard Peterson, had no Vice Presidential candidate. If they were to have the Military Party elected with one of their men as Vice President, then they could assassinate Peterson and bomb the Senate giving them power over all of Nanakaland. That plan might work if they are not exposed...


President Michael J. Smith was in an embassy in a foreign country when the freezing of Nanakaland happened. Michael had now recieved news that Nanakaland was reresurrected (no typo, Nanakaland was resurrected once before, thus reresurrected now) and flew his helicopter over to see it as it happened. Michael was not running for relection this election, so he would be prepared to endorse Nalonis and retire to a quiet life after the election.


Nanakaland was on the brink of a civil war. The great divide in Nanakaland's politics this election combined with the facts that there was an underground society planning to take over and Nanakaland was just returning to NationStates earth. What would happen next depends a lot on foreign nations that get involved...

[OOC: The underground scheme has not yet been discovered and few nations now that Nanakaland is back yet.]

A person walked over to the TV and watched the news. The NNNN reporters said that apparently Nanakaland was frozen for years. A political ad started playing right when the commercial break started.

"President Michael J. Smith was loyal President of Nanakaland since soon after it was first created," an announcer said. "Now, you can go to the polls and vote for Nalonis to continue the-"

The man changed the channel.

"I'm Richard Peterson and I approve this message," a man said on the TV. Then the ad cut to the announcer who said, "Do you really want someone like Nalonis in power? He's an elf. We need a powerful, conservative man in power like Richard Peterson. Richard Peterson has been in the Nanakan Senate for 12 years and now-"

Getting sick of political ads, the man changed the channel again.

"And remember," said a woman on a commercial, "if you want to preserve our natural wonders, vote Laura Young, candidate of the Green party on Election Day. One vote can-"

The man, frustrated, changed the channel again.

"I, John Williams," said a man on the TV, "will loosen government restrictions on-"

The man gave up because there were too many political ads on. He simply turned off the TV.

[OOC: BUMP]

"Sir! We received a transmission from Nanakaland."

"WHAT?!?!" replied the Comrade. "We lost all form of contact with Nanakaland many years ago! How is that possible?"

"It's unsure exactly what happened to their nation. We're still trying to figure that one out. Reports say that Nanakaland was covered in a sheet of ice, blocking them off from the rest of the world. It was as if they went into a period of complete isolation."

"Goodness...well it's good to have them back. Although they don't exactly know about the Communist Revolution here..."

"We'll have to have a regional conference or something to fill in Nanakaland on everything that has been happening."

"You're right." replied the Comrade.

Transmission to Nanakaland
"We are happy to see that your nation has returned to the international stage, and we wish to re-establish relations with our old allies, as well as updating them on the world news. We hope that some sort of regional conference can be planned to do so. We wish you luck on all of your endeavours."

5 hours later, President Smith arrived in the capital city of Nanakapolis. He was taken to the basement bunker underneath Government Castle (where the President lived and the Senate met). He was then briefed on the current situation by a general.

"With the magical powers of moderators, somehow Nanakaland was defrosted and resurrected," explained the general. "We have recently recieved news that a Jeruselem ship has sighted us and that Euroslavia has tried to establish contact."

"Did you reply to that message?" asked the President.

"No," the general replied. "I was waiting for you."

"Why?" Smith angrily asked. "Are you trying to ruin our international reputation?"

"Yes, actually," the General said as he pulled out a gun (with a silencer) and shot the President several times. "That way the Underground can take over easier." Michael fell to the ground. The General pulled out a radio and spoke into it, saying, "The President is down. Nalonis is next."

"Negative," said a voice on the other end. "Do NOT kill Nalonis unless he is elected President. We don't want any people getting suspicious." The General walked away, disappointed. Before he left the room, however, he tossed a lit match on the wooden planning table, lighting the bunker on fire.

A minute later, Michael Smith got up off of the ground saying to himself, "The assassin forgot about bullet proof vests." Smith had to pretend like he was dead, however, because he no longer knew who to trust. As long as people thought he died in the bunker fire, he would be safe. Now he would retire to a peaceful life - after he escaped from the burning bunker without being seen, of course....

Sarola Kasei, the intelligence directorate adviser to President Edward Jalakan was walking through the corridors of the incredibly vast Presidential Palace in the capital of Karouna. Despite the best efforts of her personal tailor to dress her officially, Sarola's feminine curves and body shape beckoned to passers by from beneath the dull grey suit she wore to hide her sexy figure. Her hair was black and silky like the southern Karou soils and her face was narrow and pretty. Her skin was a pale white.
Walking at a fast clip, the clap of her high heels against the marble floor surface echoed down the hall.
She burst through the oaken and ornate doors into the presidential office.

"My President."

Her voice was reverrent, rich and well enunciated.

"What is it, Sarola?"

He was tired, as always. An inevitability to the end of every day. The President spoke with a deep and gravelly voice. An almost paternalistic quality to the man struck Sarola.

"My apologies for disturbing you while you were alone. But our agents in Euroslavia and Jeruselem have revealed some startling news to us. The new information presented to us reveals that Nanakaland has reemerged into the world. The ice surrounding the nation has finally broken. It is also worth noting that an electoral campaign is also underway in the country"

She seemed pleased, and a smile also crossed the face of Edward. He began to speak.

"This is good news, Sarola. As you may or may not be aware, we have been trying to get our agents into Nanakaland for years. No success, not an ounce! Hell, our success is so limited, I doubt they even know of the existence of Karou. Give orders to our agents to deploy to Nanakaland immediately, perhaps we can subtlely turn the election to our advantage."

The President walked over to a cabinet and poured some whiskey into two glasses, one he offered to Sarona. They toasted the future.

Bump. This might be interesting.

Elisa looked over the latest intelligence briefing blinking a few times. "Moderators? What the hell is their press secretary talking about?" She shrugged and sent out a brief missive.

Begin Text

Encryption: None
TO: Whomever
FR:The Most Glorious Hack
RE: Welcome

Welcome back. We're thrilled to see that none of your citizens died, despite aparently being frozen in ice for who knows how long. We hope that the tissue damage is minimal, and that nobody was electrocuted when the ice-melt contacted power sources.

Perhaps it would be wise to have more stringent screening processes when handing out research grants.

- Elisa Day, Speaker for the Oligarchy
The Semi-Autonomous Technocratic Oligarchy of the Most Glorious Hack

End Text

Unencrypted Telegram
TO: All
FROM: Nanakaland Foreign Minister
RE: RE: Welcome

Thank you for your warm welcome back to NationStates. Some of our citizens are in the hospital for electricution and hyperthermia. We are currently in the process of rebuilding Nanakaland, but life must go on, so we are having a Presidential election (where the centrist party may not win in a landslide, like when war hero Michael Smith was running).

We have currently tracked down and arrested the scientist. He faces the first death penalty case since the last Nanakaland civil war.

We are currently gradually regaining contact with the NationStates world, so we might not be as active on the international scale as we used to be until later on.

[OOC: Currently, I am only RPing in this thread. Once it is over, I will be much more active again.]

The General left the burning bunker, thinking his job was done. He had this all planned, so all of the security cameras were off and most of the loyal, nonbribed guards were off duty. All he needed to do was stroll straight out the front door of Fort Nanaka (across the street of Government Castle, connected by the bunkers) and get into a limo of the Underground that was there, waiting for him.

The limo pulled off when the General came in. After a few silent minutes, a person sitting next to him asked, "Is it done?"

"Yes," replied the General. "Michael Smith is dead. There is nothing to worry about once we take over Nanakaland. Without their figurehead, we can easilly cripple the centrist party."

"Good," the man said. "We have our puppet in as Vice Presidential candidate of the military party. They're ours."

"What about Laura Young?" the General asked.

"The green party, despite its foreign support, is weak," explained the man. "Even if they win, those pacifist scum can easily be wiped out by the Underground. And if anyone other than the military party is elected, I have a plan for a civil war that will put the Underground in power, anyways. We just need to make sure that there's not much foreign interference. We also need to make sure that Smith is dead."

"Trust me," said the General, "he is dead."


Michael Smith didn't have it as easy to escape the bunker. He had to get through the hall, which was burning by now. He went past the burned sections with some burns and continued down the long hall, which ended in a brick wall. The President pulled out a loose brick from the wall, revealing a control pannel which only a few people knew about. He entered in a code, put the loose brick back where it was, and then the wall literally slid down below the floor.

Smith walked past the wall. As soon as sensors in the floor detected he passed where the wall was, the wall went back up. He then walked to a locked door. He slid a keycard through a slot and a computer then analyzed a hair sample and scanned his fingerprints and retina against the database. Once it all checked out, Smith said, "Hello." The computer scanned the voice sample and then unlocked the door. Michael walked down a long tunnel until he entered a bunker deep in the Nanakan Highlands. There was enough food and water there to last a month, but Michael was just there for the night until he would take a backdoor out into the mountains and disappear from public sight for a while.

In a living room, somewhere in Nanakapolis, a man, named George Brown - who would become more important later on - was watching a program on a serial killer who was recently caught. Suddenly, the NNNN logo flashed.

"Hello," an anchorman said behind the desk on NNNN (National Nanakaland News Network). "We interrupt this program with breaking news. It is reported by one of our sources that a fire in a bunker underneath Government Castle has killed Michael J. Smith, war hero and long time President. The full details have not come in yet, but we are almost certain that the President died in the fire. Rescue workers are still trying, in vain, to put out the fire in the remote hope that Smith might still be alive. If the President is dead, Vice President, Nalonis, who also happens to be running for President this year, will take over as Acting President until the next elections. We will get more on this as it comes. And now back to our regular programing."

"And I really think that that mass murderer should get the death sentence," said a man on TV. "Really, think of all of the people that-"

The TV was turned off. The news about the President was far more important. Brown picked up his phone and started calling everyone he knew. In a matter of hours, hundreds of millions of people all over Nanakaland, who were watching the news or heard about the news from someone else, thought that the President was dead - including those in the Underground. Now, Michael Smith would be able to hide without his enemies looking.

--------------------------------------------------------
The Imperial Palace
Tokawa, Patoxia
--------------------------------------------------------
"Toya! I have some urgent news!" Lev Golbalcheov, the head of the Okhrana, stated as he walked into Toya Tokugawa Nicoli's office and bowed.

"What is it?" The Toya asked as he looked over reports on the progress of restoring order in the country.

"Toya, The ice covering Nanakaland has melted recently and it's President Michael J. Smith seems to have died in a fire at their Government Castle."

The Toya leaned back in his royal blue padded chair, "Nanakaland... Nanakaland... isn't that where former Speaker Dermont went for some sort of party and almost lost the Tashito Patoxuk (OOC: Aka 'The Sword of the Confederacy') in his stupidity by handing it to someone during a terrorist attack?"

Golbalcheov looked in the file on Nanakaland he was holding for a few moments, "Aa, Toya." He responded affirmatively.

"Well see if you can make contact with whoever is in charge," Toya Tokugawa remarked, "we need to reconnect with the outside world again, starting with nations we had relations in past with... Oh and send them a sympathy card or some flowers or something for their fallen leader..."

Golbalcheov turned on his heels and walked out of the Toya's office, as Toya Tokugawa looked down at the reports. After a few minutes a bemused look came over the Toya's face and he sat the papers down. "I thought that Smith bastard was immortal...," he said to himself, "I hope this isn't some trick to get sympathy... flowers are expensive..."

OOC: Nanaka, I'm kinda in the same situation, my nation didn't die out, but I stopped RPing around June due to work and haven't been able to really get back into it until now. My excuse is anarchy and civil conflicts. Anyways, nice to see that you have returned.

Unencrypted Message
TO: Patoxia
FROM: Nanakaland Foreign Minister
RE: Hello

Thank you for welcoming us back to Nanakaland. We hope to restablish relations with all friendly countries still existing from the Second Age of Nanakaland.

We understand that Smith was part-elven and immortal. However, because he was not 100% elven, he was apparantly not entirely immortal. He couldn't die of any sickness or disease or old age, he was over 100, but looked 30, and he lived dozens of close calls as a military officer and later President, but apparantly he was killable.

As said in previous message, we are currently gradually regaining contact with the NationStates world, so we might not be as active on the international scale as we used to be until later on.

[OOC: Yeah. Some things that happened to me in RL made my nation kind of expire, but I'm back. To explain my sudden leaving and coming back (and the lack of population growth while deleted), I decided to come up with the mad scientist freezing Nanakaland story.]

.::BUMP::.
[OOC: Come on. I need more people to join before I can advance the plot.]

Sarren sprawled out on a plastic blow-up chair that floated in an olympic size pool. She was taking in all the sun she could get after an assignment that left dark and errie feelings engrained in her. She sipped a Long Island Tea and closed her eyes. It feels good to just be on vacation. Yeah, I didn't leave home, but no responsibilities feels great. She stretched her slim, fit, tan arms above her head and tehn pulled at a few black strands that were unruly. She opened her violet eyes and quickly closed them. Ouch, the sun was bright today.

There was a distant ringtone, "Change in the house of flies" by Deftones floated to her ears. I don't want to answer it. It blaired on, calling to her to get it. One of her helpers answered the phone. A shadow blocked her sunlight and she sighed. What could it be now?

"Excuse me, Miss Sarren, but it is important."

Grumbling, "What does it have to deal with?"

"Your job."

"Hold on."

A splash of clear liquid and several moments later, a dripping wet Sarren exited the pool. Beads of water glistened over her tan exposed skin and her black bikini clung to her like a second skin. Soon a fluffy towel wrapped around her shoulders, hiding the obvious curves of the woman. She shook her long black head, sending drops of water in ever direction. She grabbed her cell-phone and answered.

"Hello, this had better be important."

A old and familar crackly voice sounded on the other line, it was her assistant of now three years, since she had been in the position and since he had recieved the orders to be her help. "It is Miss Fiffen. I assure you this. I do apologize about the inconvience."

Interrupting, "It is fine and I knew my vacation would be short-lived. Do tell me the details."

"Well, we just recieved information on this so that is why we are reacting quite quickly and I do regret to inform you on this at such a short notice and no time to research this."

Roll of violet eyes. There was never enough time to prepare and that was why she needed to be flexible. "Go on."

He cleared his scratchy throat, "Umm...we just got word that Nanakaland has just resurfaced literally. Nanakaland for some reason was iced over and just melted. Also, their president mysteriously died today."

"The point being..." she asked even though she knew.

"Well, we decided or were informed that we send you there to establish a relationship with their government."

Anger boiled inside of her, "Are you kidding me? I am not competent to take on this assignment. I know nothing of this government and why send me when they are mourning the loss and in a state of unbalanced equilibrium."

"We choose you because our government doesn't really know anything about this nation and for the reason to expand our knowledge base by setting up a relationship with the government. We sent out a telegram of your arrival and asking if you could assist them in anyway. You are a diplomat and we intend to use that."

She sighed, no preparation for this, they were crazy. She was an organized worker and this was chaos. She would take it though because she had to and she did like a challenge.

"When do I leave?"

"We have already packed you up. Just change and get to the headquarters as soon as possible. You leave as soon as we get word back from their officials, which should be anytime soon."

"Okay, thank you."

"See you soon."

"Bye."

Click. The sun had dried her skin and left a bland taste in her mouth. I need something to drink. She went inside and got ready. A quick shower was only what she was allowed. No time to think, no time at all. She quickly settled on a two piece suit that was black. The skirt went halfway between her knees and her hips, a respectible, but sexy length. She slipped on black pumps that were comfortable and grabbed her briefcase. She stood in the mirror before she left. Her soft violet eyes wondering what she was getting into now. Then she was gone and to the headquarters to await word. This was the worse time, the waiting. She busied herself on the internet looking any information at all on this nation.

President Michael J. Smith sat in the bunker with a dim light on, watching NNNN on a small television. It was 11:00 PM Nanakaland Standard Time (NST) and the top-of-the-hour news was about to come on. He turned up the volume.

"Hello," an anchorman said. "This is Bill Edwards with the top news stories." He paused for a moment. The screen flashed to a picture of firefighters trying to put out a fire. "The fire that was in the bunker continues to spread as firemen battle to put out the blazes. They have managed to save Government Castle and some of the underground bunker system, but Fort Nanaka is in flames."

The screen flashed to a picture of the President. "President Michael Smith, longtime war hero and President of Nanakaland, is believed to be dead in that fire," the anchorman said in a somber voice. "It is thought to be an accident, but police have not yet ruled out arson."

"It was arson," Michael said to himself, "but I'm not dead." He couldn't do anything, though, because he knew that if anyone - even his own son - knew that he was alive, the General might try to kill him again. He had to stay in the fireproof, sealed, fail-safe bunker for the night and then flee to the forest the next morning.

The picture on the TV changed to show a clip of Nalonis walking out of the Senate chamber in Government Castle. Bill explained when the screen flashed back to the newsroom, "Vice President Nalonis has agreed to act as Interim President until the next elections, later this month. This will make him the first elvin leader of Nanakaland."

A picture appeared in the upper-left corner of the screen showing the Military candidate, Richard Peterson. The anchorman continued, "Many critics, including Richard Peterson, claim that an elf shouldn't rule our country. He calls on people to vote for him this election day or that elf will ruin our country and its reputation. Supporters of Nalonis claim that Peterson is racist and shouldn't have any power in Nanakaland."

Smith turned off the television, laid down on a bench on the bunker, and fell asleep. Thus was the end of the first day since Nanakaland was reresurrected. However, even more events were to come the next day....

"I told you that was a bad idea, Simmias." Hesche frowns, folding his arms as he leans against the wall in one of many Bunkers in an Undisclosed Location. "First Milantos, now this?"

"Hey--you know as well as I do that Milantos was useful... and an experiment, but a useful one." Agent Simmias frowns from his desk. "This was just... ah... another experiment."

"Did it have to be Lichtenstein?"

"Um..." Simmias frowns. "Yes. They asked and we didn't have any reason not to."

"Dammit," Magnus grumbles. "Stupid rule."

The sun was soon going to rise on Nanakaland, the first morning since the reresurrection. However, Michael Smith has already risen. While there was still darkness in the sky, he put on a dark cloak and left out the back entrance into the Nanakan Highlands. The President had only one place to go.


His father, a human, was long dead. His son was in the Senate and had Secret Service. His bodyguards couldn't be trusted. There were spies everywhere. The President's wife was too much in public. Michael wanted to remain dead to the public so the Underground couldn't get him. That pretty much eliminated everyone except one person - his mother.

He hadn't seen his mother in decades. His mother was an elf, part of a minority in Nanakaland left over from the days of the Nanakan Empire thousands of years ago. It was because of her that Michael was immortal. His mother could only be in one place, which happened to be the safest place for him now that he was trying to stay out of public view.

Ostotaure was a elvin great city in the trees in the Nanakan Forest, full of issolationist elves, separate from the rest of Nanakaland and separate from the modern world. Smith's mother was definately living in that city. That would be the safest place for the President to be until the threat passed.


Michael went to the edge of the highway, pulling his hood down to make sure that he could not be recognized by anyone. He then put his thumb out. Because he had no vehicle, he'd have to hitch-hike.

After a half a dozen vehicles drove by, a truck pulled over. George Brown, a trucker, looked at the stranger on the side of the road and asked, "Where are you going?"

"The Nanakan Forest," Smith replied.

"Hop in," the trucker said. Smith got in the truck (Brown didn't know that he was the President) and drove off down the highway.

"Laura Young has the most foreign support, according to a recent poll of foreign national leaders," the General, reviewing his notes, told a group of leaders in the Underground. "However, a poll of likely voters in Nanakaland has Nalonis in the lead, followed by Richard Peterson. Laura Young is in a close third, with John Williams in last. We need to find a way to discredit Laura Young and Nalonis. How?"

"Let's create an advertizing group," suggested a man. "We can use an obscure law to have hundreds of political ads cutting up the candidates. It may work."

"No," replied the General. "That's not a good idea. We need something that will for sure work."

"I got another idea," said a different man. "Let's blackmail all candidates except Peterson. Let's uncover something bad they did in their past and perhaps we can get them to stop running or we would unleash the details and ruin their reputation."

"It might just work."

The trucker, George Brown, looked over at the passenger and asked, "So what's your name?"

The stranger thought for a few seconds and then replied, "John." He hesitated and paused for another moment. "John Thompson."

"So, Mr. John Thompson," said George not quite sure that it was the man's real name, "where in the Nanakan Forest are you planning to go?"

"Ostotaure," the man said.

"Ostotaure?" George asked, puzzled. "That's an issolationist elf city. What business do humans have there?"

"My business, not yours."

"Take off your hood. It is warm in this truck." The stranger did so. George then said, "You look familiar. Where have I seen you before?"

"I gaurentee that we have never met."

"Oh well." The lighting wasn't good enough to see the strange man's true identity. George took another look at the stranger. He could have sworn that he saw that person before.


One hour later, as the sun started to rise high in the sky, the truck arrived at the forest. The cloaked man put his hood on again, so it would cover his face.

"So I guess this is your stop, John Thompson," George Brown said. "I'll let you off at this gas station. Can you find your way to Ostotaure by foot?"

"Yes," replied the man. He left, but Brown was puzzled. There was something about that hitch-hiker that was different. As soon as the stranger took a hiking path into the forest, the trucker parked his vehicle and followed at a distance. This man, he reasoned to himself, might be a criminal and should be followed. In truth, though, the only reason Brown was following the man was pure curiosity.

"President Nalonis," an aide said to him, "your pollitical opponents are gaining influence, especially in foreign support."

"I'm not President yet," replied the elf. "Only Interim President until the next elections."

"Still," the aide commented, "I think that you-"

"No."

"But I've got an idea. One of the reasons you, part of the Centrist Party of Nanakaland, are not winning by too much in polls of likely voters is that you're an elf - but you can use that to your advantage. These polls are on likely voters and many elves in the Nanakan Forest do not vote. If we can convince them to vote for the one elven candidate, you may win a surprise victory."

"That's an idea that may work, but how will we get them to vote?" asked Nalonis. "They're issolationists, not very patriotic!"

Similar reports were coming in to Menelmacar-based pollsters. Menelmacar tended to closely follow elections involving Elven candidates. The Ostotauri overwhelmingly supported Nalonis... they just weren't likely to actually vote. Eventually, this realization made its way up to the top tiers of power in Vinyatírion.

"So... what do we do about Nanakaland?"

"Endorse Nalonis, milady," Serendis said quickly.

Sirithil shook her head. "I can't just outright endorse a candidate in a foreign election. That's part of the problem we have - a lot of other nations think we've been putting our fingers in too many pies. Trying to... influence the internal affairs of other realms."

Túrelio grinned. "Then endorse Nalonis... without endorsing Nalonis."

Sirithil arched an eyebrow. "Huh?"

The Prefect of State leaned back in his chair and smiled. "We leak something to the press that you want Nalonis to win. Then you respond to the inevitable firestorm by making a statement that you're not officially endorsing any candidate, but hope that the Nanakan population, both Elves and humans alike, make the right choice. It's subtle, and you don't stamp it with the officialness that would let our enemies jump all over it with anything but conspiracy theories."

Sirithil pondered this. "I like it. Let's do it."

Michael J. Smith had been walking for hours without even seeing a hint Ostotaure. Recently, it seemed like he was walking around in circles. Just when he was about to give up, an elf walked up to him and asked, "What are you doing this deep in the woods? Are you lost?"

"Yes I'm lost," Smith replied, taking off his hood. "I'm trying to find Ostotaure."

"What is the purpose of your quest?" the elf asked.

"So I can find my mother," said the traveler. "She is an elf living in this city."

"What is her name?"

"Nasseliel." After Michael said the name, the elf had a different look on his face.

"Ostotaure is found when Ostotaure wants to," the elf explained. "Look up." Michael looked up and saw a city at the top of the tall, ancient trees.

"But how do I get there?" asked Michael Smith, looking back down at ground level, but the elf was gone.

"I thought I knew who you were!" George Brown shouted, leaping out from behind a bush. "You're not John Thompson, you're President Smith!"

"Shhh!" Michael said. "Someone may have heard that! I'm supposed to be dead. Someone is trying to kill me."

"That explains everything," said Brown. "I thought you were familiar, and you just explained everything to me."

"Go," Smith replied. "I need to find a way up to Ostotaure."

"I know how to get up to the city."

"But how could you?"

"I'm a trucker. I once had to deliever a shipment up to the city," explained George. "You just walk up to this giant tree that looks dead, press this knot, and a door opens."

"Thank you," the President said. "Now go so I can go up that ladder in the hallow tree."

"No," said Brown. "I helped you this far. Now I want to help you on your quest."

"Fine." They both climbed up the ladder in the tree and went up to the hidden city high up in the forest.

was my post just ignored???

[OOC: No. You didn't contact in your post. You only researched. Develop your plot more and you won't be ignored.]

"The national elections are just a week away, and this day is ticking by," the leader of the Underground said to the General. "There is a tie in foreign support, but Nalonis is still ahead in the national polls. Apparantly Lady Siri of Menelmacar may or may not have endorsed the elvin candidate."

"How can one may or may not endorse a candidate?" asked the General. "Did she or not?"

"It's a long story," explained the Leader. "Apparantly a message was leaked and... oh well. That's not the point. The point is the Ostotauri are now starting to register. That's not good."

"What shall we do?"

"I heard that Smith might be alive."

"Impossible."

"Spies have sighted a hooded figure," said the Leader. "The face was covered in shadows, but it is the same build and basic face as Smith. He was heading toward Ostotaure."

"Then I must go there and eliminate Ostotaure," the General replied.

"No!" the Leader shouted angrilly. "We cannot wipe out an entire city... unless..." He paused to think and then continued, "we should infiltrate inside the Elvin city to look for the President. If you are spot, get out of there and burn the forested city to the ground. The entrance will be hidden and guarded so tell your team to take helicopters. Start your mission tomorrow night."

"Should I get the SNAH IVs* ready?"

"No. Take the ANAH IIs**. They're designed for stealth. Leave tomorrow evening and infiltrate the city at the nighttime." And with that, the General left the room.

*SNAH IV stands for Standard Nanakan Army Helicopter IV (new version).
**ANAH II stands for Advanced Nanakan Army Helicopter II (another new version since last war RP).
SNAH is used for firepower. ANAH is used for stealth and manouverbility. Generally, the ANAH is a better helicopter.

[OOC: Welcome back...sorry I can't get involved at this time. My Empire is kinda in chaos. Lol...hate when that happens.]

[OOC: I know what you mean. Soon, my nation will erupt in civil war (shortly after the elections, actually). This RP is done in Modern Tech mainly, but once the civil war starts, there will be a parallel involving the Future Tech Nanakaland (mainly some ships in the fleet turn against some others, big space battle). The fantasy element of Nanakaland has alreay been dragged in by using the Elven city of Ostotaure. This return RP involves all three aspects of NS RP that my nation is involved in (as of now it is mainly a character RP, but the civil war will be war).]

Ostotaure was an ancient city, one of the only remaining from the days of the Nanakan Empire. It was once a small platform between several trees, which grew and grew. Eventually, structures were built. As the Nanakan Forest's trees grew taller, the structers were higher - and more hidden - and the city was enabled to tower. Soon, the city became a prosperous Elven city. As the elves started getting more accepted into Nanakan society, they started living in Nanakaland's other cities. However, issolationists, traditionalists, and elves who want to live in a primarilly-elven city still lived in Ostotaure.

Michael Smith looked around the grand city. At first, he enjoyed the sights, but soon he got exhausted, tired of walking. As the sun was setting, Smith was giving up. He asked Brown, "How am I supposed to find my mother in this crowd?"

"Ask someone?" suggested the trucker. "I don't know. Let's find a place to stay for the night. Then ask someone in the morning."

"Good idea," said Michael, looking for an excuse to ditch Brown. "Let's split up, looking for a place to stay. I'll go one way and I'll go the other. We'll meet up by this fountain tomorrow morning."

"Okay."

Michael Smith had found a nice hotel and stayed the night there. George Brown, however, couldn't find any place to stay, so he had ended up sleeping on the floor of the city. As soon as George got up, he went to the fountain to wait for the President. Several hours later, he said to himself, "Of course he wouldn't come. I was stupid to think he'd even want to associate with me."

He walked away just as Smith was coming. Michael didn't notice George, who was walking away, so he sat at that fountain until noon. After a while, he gave up on waiting and starting asking random people if they had seen Nasseliel. After some time, someone answered, saying, "Yes. I am Nasseliel."

"You are?" asked Smith. "I'm Michael. Michael Smith."

"That is a common name among humans. Are you my son?"

"Yes. Why did you leave?" Just as his mother was about to answer, the sound of helicopters was heard. Suddenly, five stolen ANAH IIs, painted black, flew up to the elevation of Ostotaure.

"I've found the city," said the General.

"Is Smith there?" asked the Leader.

"Using thermal goggles, now." He looked around. "Too many heat signals. Can't find anyone hidden." The General took off the goggles. "There's too much of a crowd in the city. Can't see anyone."

"Then torch the city."

"Torch the city?"

"Yes. That's what I said. It's all forest, isn't it? If we can't find Smith, we might as well destroy the whole city just to make sure."

"Yessir." The General gave the command to the other ANAH IIs and then hit the missile fire button. Normally, ANAHs have two missile buttons, but these ANAHs were specially equipped with flamethrowers. The General held the button and the wooden platforms were alight. Elves were catching on fire and leaping off the platforms trying to escape the flames. Mounted guns started firing at the crowds. Leaving Ostotaure in ruins, the ANAH IIs flew away.

Michael Smith had jumped into the fountain when the flamethrowers started being used. It was no help when the foundations of the city started burning, however. The thick, ancient, wooden platforms that had lasted the city so long started to catch on fire and crumble into ash. A forest lake became a place where elves, who caught on fire, leaped in.

The city started to collapse. The fires were put out, but not before severe damage was done. Hundreds were dead. Nasseliel had disappeared from Smith's life, again. George Brown ran from Ostotaure, and the forest in general, back to his truck. Smith found a way down from the charred platform, and sat on the forest flood.

This incident would deepen the tensions as Nanakaland inched closer toward civil war, for no one except a few knew about the Underground...

[OOC: Civil war going to start soon. Would be more interesting if some nations starting getting involved now...]

"Sir," said an aide, "Ostotaure has been attacked. Hundreds of elves dead. Thousands wounded. The ancient city lies in ruins. Intelligence points that an unknown group, linked to the military party, may have done this."

"They destroyed Ostotaure?" asked Nalonis. "No, this couldn't be the military party. It would be politcal suicide. I think it was a setup. With elections just a few days away, the military party would lose support. I think that another group did this. What did you say about a group linked to the military party?"

"They own an organization," explained the aide. "An organization which the government is currently investigating. Rumor has it that the organization is called the Underground. It's members are all older than they should be, some of them aren't on records. Another rumor is that they hid under a bunker when Nanakaland froze over, so they lasted, living underground for years, aging, having their own society, ruling Nanakaland. When Nanakaland defrosted, they thought that they were the rightful rulers of the nation.

"It's a big conspiracy theory. A man who claimed to be with them has a whole website about it. He claims that the Underground has a puppet in for VP. If elected, he says they'll assasinate the President and put him in power, giving the Underground power. He also says they'll try to eliminate the Senate. It's just a conspiracy theory.

"Really, all they are is a shadowy organization no one knows about. Big funder of Richard Peterson's campaign, one of the reasons Peterson has big foreign support. However, one of our spies says that that organization was somehow responsible for that attack on Ostotaure."

"What is the name of this organization?" asked Nalonis.

"Dnuorgrednu," replied the aide. "The name is foreign. Don't quite know what it means."

"How is it spelled?" the Interim President asked.

"D-N-U-O-R-G-R-E-D-N-U is the spelling," said the aide. I know it's hard to spell.

"Write it down," Nalonis ordered.

"Okay."

DNUORGREDNU

"Where have I seen that before?"

"I don't know," the aide said. "I have codebreakers working on it. I have linguists trying to find what langauge it's in." Nalonis then saw the reflection of the written words and realized what it was.

"Write it backwords," ordered the Interim President.

"Backwords?"

"Just write it."

UNDERGROUND

"Of course," commented the aide. "The underground has been hiding in plain sight! I will send a team to secretly investigate their HQ."

"Get my limo ready," Nalonis said. "I need to go to this conspiracy theory guy. He may be more right than we think."

"Early exit polls show that Laura Young is in the lead," said an aide in the limo to Nalonis. "However, I wouldn't trust exit polls. With John Williams factored in, she's expected to get in third. All we need to worry about is Richard Peterson. Of course, both of those mentioned have strong foreign support."

"It will turn against them," said Nalonis. "Some people who would vote for Peterson won't. Peterson is very nationalistic, but has much foreign support. His conservative base will hate him for that, and vote for me."

"Still, we have much to worry about."

"Don't worry," replied Nalonis. "Once I reach this conspiracy theorist, I may find some concrete evidence to disqualify the military party."


Meanwhile, in the Nanakan Forest, Smith regained conciousness. He was out for almost a day. When he woke up, most of the elves from Ostotaure had either fled or were rebuilding the city. However, Michael Smith couldn't go back to the city. The Underground knew about that location and could be back before the day's end.

Smith decided to walk in the opposite direction of Nanakaland. He decided to walk toward the Wasteland. The Wasteland was a few mile long strip of landmine-filled, barren land that surrounded Nanakaland on all sides except the south (where there was water and Port Nanaka). The Wasteland was hazerdous and even the Underground wouldn't anticipate the fleeing President to go in that direction.

After several miles of walking, he saw where the forest started to end. The green and brown of the forest stopped and the gray of swamp and dead trees began. After this swamp, the forest turned to wasteland and the Nanakan border could be reached. However, Smith knew of the dangers in the Wasteland. Radation and landmines in the area would make it nearly impossible to travel - except by helicopter.

Once, years ago, there was a battle in the Nanakan Forest border, which involved a cult leader brainwashing and almost succeeding to overthrow Smith. The President, one of the only people still surviving from that era, remembered that several helicopters were left behind because after the losses, there was not enough manpower to use them. An ANAH (yes, earlier model than today's ANAH II) was hidden behind several boulders. Michael simply entered the helicopter and took off over the Wastelands....


Over in Port Nanaka, several ANAH IIs were flying toward a building - the headquarters of Dnuorgrednu. Police had surrounded the building and sirens blared. Several strike forces had attempted to enter the building the previous night, but it was sealed. It was an idea of Lieutenant Eric Gates to send the military in several helicopters and storm the building from above. Because of this, he had the honors of heading the elite team.

Sixty Elite Special Forces in total had been sent on this mission. When the three helicopters landed on the roof, twenty stayed behind to guard the roof. The landing was fairly easy. There were five helipads, only two of which were occupied, leaving the ANAH IIs easy access to the building's roof. The soldiers defending the roof securred the two non-Nanakan Army helicopters, of course.

The team busted down the door that lead to the top floor. They threw smoke canisters in to enter without being seen and went down steps. The first door was locked and blast proof, so they went down to the 34th floor (second from top). To their surprise, the building was diserted. Lieutenant Gates gave the signal to split up and search the building. Within fifteen minutes, the doors to the front were unlocked by the team and nearly a hundred cops in a SWAT team entered from the bottom.

An hour passed. The entire building was searched and found empty. However, the top floor was still inaccessible and the teams didn't know that there was a bunker underneath....

[OOC: The poll is closed. The election has started, so no more nations declaring support.]

Somewhere in Nanakaland (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Nanakaland), Richard Peterson awaited the results. "Some say I might win, Ed," he said to his VP candidate. "I can almost taste victory."

"Here," Edward Andrews said, handing him a glass of wine. "Have a drink. Victory is almost ours."

"No," he said, pushing back the wine he was being handed. "You have that glass. I'll have the other. I fear that there may be plots on my life."

"You don't trust your own running-mate?"

"I don't know who to trust anymore."

"Oh well," Andrews replied, handing Peterson the other glass of wine. "You better take a nap. It's going to be a long night ahead."

"I suppose," said the military party candidate, who then left the room.

"It is done," Edward said into a transmitter after Richard was out of ear-shot. "He fell right into the trap. Both wine glasses were poisoned. He's about to take a nap, one he won't wake up of."

"Yes," replied the General into his ear via a hidden earpiece. "According to Nanakaland protocol, if a candidate dies on election day and then is elected, the VP takes over. You can then point your own VP, another member of the Underground. Then we will have total control of the nation!

"The first act you should do if elected is make sure every member of the Senate dies in 'accidents'. I have already sent assasins to take out Senator Thomas Smith, the former president's son because if reelected, he'd be the new Senate Majority Leader for sure.

"Make sure Peterson really dies. And make it look like an accident. If you mess this up, you will be..." He paused. "Eliminated." The way he said the word and the dramatic pause freightened Andrews. Even important members of the Underground were scared of the high command.

[OOC: The Nanakaland map and its description can be a helpful visual aid for the advancement of the plot involving the helicopter. (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/Nanakaland_%28map%29)]

One thing Michael Smith wasn't expecting was the lack of fuel. The wasteland simply reached out too long. He had to turn around. However, the navigational instruments in the old ANAH were messed up. He flew for hours of wastland, not knowing that he was actually heading north instead of east. He ended up crash-landing in the middle of the Northern Desert on its sothwesternmost border to the Wastlands, out of fuel.


As Smith was wandering, Lieutenant Gates' entire Elite Special Forces team and the police SWAT team figured out that there was a bunker underneath the Dnuorgrednu HQ that the staff probably evacuated to. However, they also found out that the bunker could only be accessed by the locked top floor via a private elevator. However, because the top floor was locked, the normal elevator needed a keycard to go up that high and the stair door was locked.

"So this guy lives in the suburbs," commented Nalonis as the limo he was riding in appoached the house of the mysterious conspiracy theorist who supposedly knew about the Underground. "I thought that that parinoid person would have been elsewhere - like in the middle of the country or something."

"Well, this is the address I was told," the limo driver replied as he pulled up in front of a house. Nalonis got out of the limo and several Elite Special Forces members went with him (special forces have often been used as Secret Service agents in Nanakaland). The Acting President walked up to the house and rang the doorbell. A man opened the door.

"Wow," he said. "You're the President, aren't you."

"Not yet," Nalonis replied. "Not yet. Interim President."

"Sure," said the man. "Feel free to come in. Why are you here?"

"The Underground," explained Nalonis. The man's facial expression changed.

"Oh," he said in a low tone. "You want to know about them?"

"Yes. That's what I said."

"Why'd you come here?"

"I came here because you are the only one who knows about the Underground."

"Sit down," he said when they walked over to the living room. "More than me know of the Underground, but few like me have lived. I think that they let me live because so many people think I'm crazy, many people just ignore what I say. In fact, although I try not to, I tend to make people think I'm crazy. You don't think I'm crazy, do you?"

"No," replied Nalonis. "I think the Underground exists, hiding in plain sight Under the Dnuorgrednu Corp. We are raiding their headquarters now."

"NO!" shouted the conspiracy theorist. "No! They'll know you're coming. They'll lock off their building and hide in their bunkers. If you try to take their bunkers, many will die."


Meanwhile, in the heart of Port Nanaka,in the Dnuorgrednu headquarters, Lieutenant Gates' team had found a key card and used it, with the SWAT team, to get to the top floor. When they reached there, they found a hall. Splitting up, they found some offices and a board room. All empty. Then they went down the private elevator to the bunker, guns drawn.


Back in his house, the conspiracy theorist continued to explain, "They have spies everywhere. They know the team is in there and, using security cameras will know exactly when they enter the top floor. When they take the elevator, there'll be at least 50 people waiting in the hall. I know that your teams probably can use the large elevator and has about 100 people total, but they will suffer heavy losses. I know. I was once a member of the Underground. I quit when they went too far."


The elevator door opened to the Underground's bunker. About sixty Underground members, willing to fight to the death starting firing upon the door as soon as it opened. In the confusion, someone through a smoke grenade.


"The Underground members are willing to fight to the death and will fight to the death. Especially the lower ranking ones," the conspiracy theorist continued to explain to Nalonis. "The first guards probably will be massicred, but there's at least several dozen more guarding the Leader."


When the smoke cleared, all of the Underground guards in the hall were dead. However, over sixty of the Nanakan forces were killed or wounded. The survivors of the SWAT team pulled back with the wounded and dead of the Nanakan forces and went back up the elevator. Twenty-three Elite Special Forces, including Lieutenant Gates, moved on.


"The hall is rigged. Several troops will die on the search for the leader's room. Once the Leader's room is found, there'll be at least a dozen other Underground members. There'll be probably two dozen members out abroad, including the General, the number two man, whose name is not known. Even if the Leader is killed, losses will be heavy on Nanakaland's side, the General will take over as head of the Underground. Chances are, the Underground will take control of the Military Party and will be more powerful than ever. You have not crippled them."


Lieutenant Gates kicked open the last door at the end of the hall. It had a small room in which there were twenty Underground members. The Elite Special Forces were fired upon, killing several. Gates then quickly closed the door. When the Underground members opened the door, several grenades were thrown in the room and the door was promptly closed again (Lieutenant Gates took a gunshot in the arm at this time). There was a roar of an explosion.

The Elite Special Forces opened the door, the last of the Underground's guards dead. They opened one more door, in which the Leader of the Underground was found dead. He commited suicide by posioning himself when he knew the Nanakan forces were coming in. Lieutenant Gates was about to check the identity of the man (his face was down on the desk and wasn't at the time visable) when a beeping sound was heard.

"It's going to explode!" shouted the Lieutenant. The forces quickly ran back out into the hall. The explosion kept the Leader's identity a secret forever.


"Unless you can hunt down and kill all of the remaining Underground members," concluded the conspiracy theorist, "you will not be able to wipe them out. They will rebuild. The General will take command. They will try to take the Military Party and will be more powerful than ever."

"Thank you," said Nalonis who then walked out of the house back to his limo. As he did this, he tossed a check on the floor for over a million Nanakaland Nanakans (the national currency). He then drove away, back to Nanakapolis.

The ANAH was useless now. The old relic was out of fuel and there was no sign of life in the Northern Desert. Michael Smith had to abandon the helicopter and go by foot. He didn't know how deep in the desert he was, but he did know that the Nanakan Highlands and civilization was somewhere to the south.

He knew that it was about 1:00 PM and that the sun was slightly to his left, and that the sun sets in the west. Thus, he knew that left was west. If his left was west, then his right was east and he was facing south. Thus, he reasoned, if he kept walking in a straight line, he would be walking south toward probably the Nanakan Highlands. In there, were mountains, and in the mountains there is always fresh spring water. So Michael kept walking south.

Unknown to Smith, 23 of the 24 remaining Underground members were going to meet in a secret mansion on the border of the Northern Desert and the Nanakan Highlands. When Michael saw that mansion after about one hour of walking in the hot desert, he immediately walked up to that mansion when he saw it. He figured that mansions had people and people had food and water.

No one was there, but the gate and the doors were unlocked, so he walked straight in. Shortly after that, he heard a noise coming from the front door. He quickly hid and overheard two voices.

"So these government officials think that they've destroyed the Underground," Voice #1 said.

"Yeah," said Voice #2. "Little do they know that we've got 24 members left. What a surprise when we make a come back." Smith, who was hiding behind a desk in the Study, fingered his gun which was in his pocket. He was ready to fire his handgun if one of them spotted him. He still couldn't see either of the Underground members who were talking.

"Why can't all 24 meet here?" asked Voice #1.

"Well," said Voice #2, "for one reason, he's our one way to conrol the military party. For another, if something happens here, the Underground will live on."

"Yeah," said Voice #1. "I heard rumors that there was a ghost in this mansion. A ghost of a soldier from a war long past." Just then, an idea came to Michael. He could pretend to be the ghost and take out the Underground members.

"It's just a stupid legend," Voice #2 said. Smith put on a silencer. He was going to shoot these two Underground members when he realized that he should wait and take out each Underground member one by one, using his silencer, making them think that it was the ghost.

It was just over 2:00 PM. The country Nanakaland was about half way through their elections. At the moment, Nalonis was in the lead, followed by Peterson (who was actually dead), followed by Young, followed by Williams. At the mansion, Smith didn't know any of these results, though.

Michael Smith had gotten out from behind the desk (when no one was looking, of course) and climbed into the ventilation shaft (which was big enough for a person to crawl through). He crawled over on top of a big room in which all of the meeting Underground members were. Smith overheard the meeting.

"Our Leader is dead," the General said. "We are all that are left, with the exception of one called Edward Andrews. He is the new military party candidate after the secret assasination of Richard Peterson. We are about to gain many followers to take over Nanakaland. A civil war, in which we are going to win will start unless Andrews wins. If Andrews wins, we will still rule Nanakaland, but by secret."

"Yes," said a member of the Underground. "But what if we fail? Our leader was great, but you would not make a good successor. We will fail if you take over." The General pulled out his gun and shot the member who asked that question in his head.

"Anyone else?" the General asked. "I am the new Leader. If you doubt my rule, you will end up like him." He pointed to the dead body on the floor.

The meeting was drawing to a close, Michael Smith was still in the vents, looking for the perfect opportunity to attack. Finally, the General started to speak. Smith strained to hear.

"And now our meeting is drawing to its close," the General said. "You may not leave the grounds of the mansion because then you may compromise our location. Feel free to talk and eat dinner. You will spend the night in this mansion and leave in the morning individually so that no Nanakan forces may be alerted." The Underground members started slowly leaving the room. One of them went upstairs to find a room.

Smith jumped out of the vents and in the shadows stealthilly followed. Michael, over a century ago, was in the Nanakaland Special Forces - and one of the best. Stealthilly, he aimed his silenced pistol and shot the member in the back of the head, kiling the enemy. Suddenly, another Underground member was coming up the stairs. Smith didn't have time to climb back up the vents, so he hid in an empty room.


Meanwhile, over in Nanakapolis, a briefing was being done. "Many of Dnuorgrednu Corp.'s employees didn't even know about the Underground," Lieutenant Gates told Interim President Nalonis. "Going through some of their databases, it is clear that they had a whole surface opertation to draw away suspicion. We have narrowed down the list of suspected Underground members to 24. Two of them aren't known.

"One is called 'the General' and the other unknown is refered to as the 'Mole.' We believe that the General is in the Nanakan army. There are five generals that haven't reported for duty lately, though one is thought to be killed in the same accident that killed President Michael Smith. The Mole is probably an agent they have in the Nanakaland government or the military party.

"Of the 22 suspected Underground members that we know the names of, all of them have gone missing within the past few days. Some have been seen going to the Nanakan Highlands, but they could easilly lose our trail there. We have to hunt them down and try to find any trace of those."

"Congradulations, major," replied Nalonis.

"Major?" asked the confused soldier. "But I'm only a lieutenant!"

"Not any more," the Interim President said. "You've been promoted several ranks. You have the most knowledge of the Underground of any soldier in the Nanakaland military. It's one of the last acts I'll do if I'm not elected today."

"You have my vote, sir," said Major Gates. "You have my vote."

Smith peaked through the slightly opened door. The Underground member didn't see Smith, but did see the corpse on the hall floor. That was all the better, for Michael Smith that is, because when the Underground member saw the corpse, the member went down to the dining room to tell the others, giving Michael the opportunity to climb back safely in the vents.

"It's the ghost," the surviving Underground member from the hall told the others. "One of us is dead with a bullethole in the back of his head. Someone did this silently. No one knows but us. There's either a traitor among us or the ghost of the soldier. Watch out." The Underground members laughed and didn't believe. Smith needed to put more fear into his enemies...

A man left the dinning room to go to one of the mansion's many bathrooms. That was one of the many mistakes that man made in his life, but it would be the last. That Underground member walked over to the bathroom down the hall alone. Smith, however, was looking for a new victim of his enemy. The Underground member was ambushed from behind and strangled.

The number of surviving Underground members now totaled 22. Two were wandering in the hall. They too were ambushed by the former President. One by one, Underground members were picked off when they were alone or with only one other person.

20 members left... 19 members left... 17... 16... 14... 13 left...

Soon they could no longer ignore the fact that something was happening. The General called all of the survivors of the Underground together in the main room in which they were meeting before. No one could leave under any circumstances until the meeting was over.

"I told you," said one Underground member. "It's the ghost! He's picking us off one by one. We must leave immediately!"

"Thirteen people leaving at once from a mysterious mansion?" asked another Underground member. "That's absurd. They'll catch us on our way to civilization and arrest us. It's life behind bars - if we're lucky."

"Oh, come on," said a third member. "There's a traitor among us. We must find and kill him-"

"Or her," a female member of the Underground said. Everyone looked at her. "Not like I'm the one."

"Don't you see?" asked a fifth member. "We're being torn apart!"

"What do you mean we're being torn apart?" asked the second member. "I don't think we're being torn apart!"

"Yes we are!" said the fifth member. "You just proved my point by arguing with me."

"It's the ghost that's tearing us apart," said the first one.

"There is no ghost," said the fourth member of the Underground.

"No ghost, just a traitor," said the third member. "A traitor that's tearing us apart."

"There is no traitor," said a sixth member.

"SILENCE!" shouted the General. "Quit arguing. There's only thirteen of us left. Stop your meaningless quarrels and let's start talking some reason."

"I'm leaving," said a member who hadn't spoken until then.

"Don't leave this room right now!" the General shouted.

"No," said the seventh member. "I mean that I'm leaving the Underground. It's too dangerous."

"You agreed to join it," said the General who promptly pulled out a gun and shot the member who wanted to leave. He turned to the eleven other survivors and told them, "See what happened to that man? Don't even think about leaving the Underground. We're in this 'till the end." One member ran out of the meeting room. "Stop him!" the General shouted. Two of the Underground members ran out to catch that member. Smith, from the ventalation shaft, threw a grenade and took out all three members in an explosion.

"So we shouldn't leave," said one member. "If we leave the room, we explode. It is a ghost."

"Agreed," the others (except the General) replied.

"Let's all leave together," said the female member.

"Wait a minute," said the General. "We're not quite sure yet. There's nine of us. There's one thing out there. If everywhere we go, we go in groups, we'll be safe. We're not going to sleep in this mansion, though. We leave at 0200 hours tomorrow."

"The sun's just starting to set," said an Underground member, looking out the window. "The election is going to end soon. Perhaps we should watch TV?"

"No," said the General. "Don't worry. One of us is running for office. There may be nine of us in total, but there are only eight here. No matter what happens, the Underground will live on."

Smith fingered two pistols (he had stolen one off of a dead body). They were going to leave. It's now or never, he thought. Michael Smith dove down from the ventalation shaft and shot dead 4 of the 8 Underground members there, wounding 3 (including the General). However, Michael was shot in the arm and surrounded by the four survivors that were present.

The General raised his gun (Smith dropped both of his) and said, "Tell me why you think I shouldn't kill you." Just then, a blare of sirens came. All Underground members turned to face the windows. The cops were coming. When their backs were turned to Smith, he ran down to the basement to be sure not to be seen.

There was a brief firefight. In the end, the General was the only surviving Underground member left in the mansion. He was forced to surrender. He was arrested and was later tried for a life sentence. Paul Brown, the trucker, had figured out the location of the Underground's meeting and had called the Nanakan police.

He knew that Smith was there because he had run into Michael (without him knowing). He didn't want to scare Smith, so he hid in the bushes of the mansion. Brown saw the Underground members coming and called the cops on his cell phone. The police had just arrived (the location was remote).

Brown had stayed long after the police had left the scene. He went down to the basement and almost expected to see Smith there. Paul said, "Don't worry. I called the cops. It's all over. The Underground is dead except for their leader, who's going behind bars for a very long time - probably in a maximum security prison, too. Don't worry. I didn't tell anyone about you."

"Good," replied Smith. "Came just in time. I managed to have some time to vanish before the police came."

"What do you plan on doing now that it's all over?"

"Oh. I plan on living the quiet life in the Nanakan Forest - maybe in the rebuilding Ostotaure. If no one except you knows I'm alive, it's all the better. Then I can retire in peace."

"I see."

"Oh, but there's one left."

"What do you mean?" asked Brown"

"They have someone as VP candidate in the Military Party," explained Smith. "I must stop them before I retire. Think you can get me to Nanakapolis and out in your truck?"

"Sure."

Edward Andrews was cellebrating. He had beaten Nalonis by 1% (which was probably the ammount slaughtered by the Underground in Ostotaure) of the voters. He was going to be inaugerated. Just then, he noticed an open window. He walked over and closed it, but when he turned around, he saw someone standing there.

"President Smith," he said. "But I thought you were..."

"Dead?" replied Michael J. Smith. "Apparantly not. Next time, tell your boss to do a better job." He paused. "Oh wait! I forgot to tell you - your boss has been arrested. The only survivor of the Underground, except you of course."

"But I won fair and square!" shouted Andrews. "I'm now President-Elect."

"Or are you?" aked Smith. "Recent evidence has unearthed that the Underground, now linked to the military party, destroyed Ostotaure and was involved with thousands, if not millions, of cases of voter intimidation against those who would have been likely to vote for Nalonis. Your party has been disqualified. Another election will be shortly."

"Yeah, but they don't know I'm a member of the Underground," Andrews said. "I can slip away and run again next time."

"Not if you're dead."

"You can't kill me. They'll trace it to your gun."

"You forgot, one thing," Smith told Andrews. "Dead men can't kill." He pulled the trigger and killed the Underground member. "And now you can't." Smith climbed out of the window and jumped on top of Paul Brown's truck. He climbed in and sped away to the Nanakan Forest....

The elections were held again. Even though the military party ran another candidate, the candidate was an unknown and wasn't trusted - he got less than 1% of the vote. Laura Young was intimidated by the few Military Party members that still were loyal. They threatened her life and almost killed her. She was forced to join the witness protection program and changed her name. She is now living a different life in an undisclosed location. Voters were told that the Underground would come back and attack if Nalonis was elected. Thus, Nalonis lost the elections. He was told that there was always another election.

John Williams, the minor candidate, was the only candidate without a problem of some sort. Even though less than 10% voted for him the first time, he won in a landslide. He was far from a popular president, however. He promised reform, but couldn't do a single thing. The Senate was Centrist-dominated and refused to lean Libertarian. Everything the president proposed wasn't voted for unless it complied with the Centrist Party's ideology. Many Centrist bills were passed in the Senate. Even when the president tried to veto, 2/3 of the Senate approved to keep the vetoed bills, meaning that the Senate had the real power. The president tried to appeal to the Supreme Court, but they were all appointed by Centrist presidents (and none of them near death or retirement in the time of Williams' term), so they always favored the Senate's cause. The man with the true power was Senate Majority Leader Thomas Smith (who was the son of the former president).

The General was the only survivor of the Underground, or so many thought. There was one loyal supporter of the Underground that one may never have thought. The conspiracy theorist that Nalonis used to help find out about the Underground never really left the Underground, he just pretended to. Anyone who really left the Underground would be dead or out of Nanakaland. Only the Leader (now dead) of the Underground and the General knew about this secret member. The General was behind bars in a maximum security prison, but could be busted out.

As for the country that was on the brink of a civil war, Nanakaland, all seemed resolved. Smith, thought dead was really retired in the Nanakan Forest. The elections were done. The General was arrested, the Underground gone. Civil war was thought diverted. However, the General lived, ready to resurrect the Underground and maybe make it international. The new president was powerless to the Senate and Supreme Court of Nanakaland. And a civil war may yet happen.

To Be Continued...

[OOC: Now, back to welcome back messages, greetings of Nanakaland, OOC posts, etc. The bulk of the RP plot is done, the elections are over with a twist, but the welcome back thread is still here. RP meetings with Nanakaland, OOC comments, etc. This is still the thread to welcome back Nanakaland.]