Alexias
21-11-2004, 05:22
The Emerald Revolution
By
Alexander Thompson
The at north end of the emperial palace, the part that, in the stead of being protected by the massive wall topped with guns and artillery, jutts out into a wide public courtyard, a massive crowd swelled, muttering anxiously. Soldiers stood everywhere, their bayonets of gray steel matching the grey concrete of the surrounding buildings. They seemed nervous, as though this task of protecting such an important man had been sprung upon them without ample warning, as though they were not sure they could do it. But the more experienced officers ordered the new recruits well and calmly, knowing that this would not be a difficult operation. This speech had been scheduled at extremely short notice, only several hours in advance, and many more would have come, had they had the time to get time off work and plan around their responsibilities. Despite this, television cameras and recorders stood at the ready, and would surely broadcast this speaking nationwide. It was as though that had been the plan.
The emperor had never spoken to a live public before. His inspirational words had become know from his talks on the radio and in the newspapers, but in his short reign he had never addressed his people in person, and so the crowd was not only anxious too hear what their most enlightened leader had to say, but too have seen him in the flesh, before all of their neighbors and relatives who could not attend the speech, so that they could gloat and brag.
The figure of the young monarch strode, without warning, onto the balcony. His flaming red hair was short and neat, and he wore a most beautiful business suit of light blue snakeskin, that conveyed wealth and importance. He was tall and white, and rather muscular, although by no means a bahamoth. Several steps behind him too his right, stood a black man with short curly black hair, who was slightly taller than the emperor, and likely the same age, dressed in a jet black suit, the kind worn by officials and men of power universally. Several feet behind the emperor to the left was a brown haired white man, wearing a suit much the same. He too was about the same face as the emperor, and could have been approximately the same height, although it was hard to tell, as he sat in a sturdy wheelchair, meant for use, and which showed no sign of having been changed to improve it’s appearance. On each end of the balcony stood a fully armed soldier in their jet-black uniforms, their faces expressionless, and with their hands behind their backs in a militant looking manner. The crowd fell silent almost instantly, watching their leader intently, waiting for him to speak as if they were unsure if he were real. The emperor broke into a small grin, and nodded quickly too the men behind him, an army officer on the ground and a media crew, and stepped forward too the microphone.
“Noble citizens of the empire” his words rang out through the speakers strategically placed so that all could hear.” I thank you for making time too come and hear me speak on such short notice. I understand how the hardships you face, and how difficult it is for you too get away from your work.” the crowd was struck dumb for a minute, then, taking in the compliment, erupted into loud cheers and clapping, although they had not planned to be doing any such things before they arrived. They had not large signs or small paper flags, but their outburst was sincere, and with a few happily muttered but humble and flattered sounding thank you’s from the smiling emperor soon brought calm again, although now the crowd was smiling, knowing that they would enjoy this speech, whatever it would be about.
“Thank you, thank…That is of course, those of you who are fortunate enough to have work in these troubled times. That is in fact, what I have come too talk too you, the people, about. We have made great progress. We have re-united the empire after more than a hundred years after it’s collapse, and we have expelled malicious invaders from our sovereign land.” the crowd became somber at this point, and looks of approval went through it like a wave, the citizens now going into reflection.” But a great deal remains too be done. Still the people struggle every day, still the government goes deeper into dept, still there are imperfections and things we lack. We have come too a limbo, our great empire. Neither changing for the worse or the better. People simply live their lives, and all remains the same, unchanged by time. Our nation stands still. This” he said, the crowds interest now rising” is something that MUST change. We may not allow our beloved nation to remain motionless while others advance! We may not wallow in beauracracy, inefficiency and laziness while other countries move forward! The time has come for change!” he gestured dramatically as he spoke.” The Alexian people must overcome this slumped we have dropped into! We must pick ourselves up and regain inertia!” he paused, and from the shocked citizenry, slowly coming out of their trances of surprise, rose a large and deafening roar.” No longer shall our people be second to others! ” The emperor trumpeted, louder now” No longer shall we be an insignificant force in the world!” and then, pausing again, he but becoming no less enthusiastic “My friends” he bellowed over the microphone” Today is a dawning of a new age! Today Alexia will commence its triumphant and valorous charge into the future! My friends, today is the beginning of The Emerald Revolution!!!!!!”with these words a cheer louder and more animated than all the others rose, and lasted for twice as long as the others put together. The emperor smiled contentedly.
After the cheering finally died down, the emperor spoke again.” People of Alexia,” putting his charisma too it’s fullest extent” the days ahead will not be easy. By no means will this be without hardship. But, fellow people of the empire, rest assured, you will be creating a better future for generations to come, you will be improving the life of your children, and their children, and you will be the ones remembered, the ones who plunged Alexia headfirst into the future, the ones who excuted, the great and noble, emerald revolution!!!”Another great cheer rose from the crowd. For a short moment, the emperor stepped back, smiling broadly and listening, closing his eyes, almost in a state of intoxication, too the roar of his subjects below. It had finally begun.
The officials behind the emperor proceeded to explain a few little things, but the crowd had already come and heard what they came for, and payed little interest.
The goals and projects of the revolution were soon broadcast over public radio (and television) and were appearing in the newspapers and every form of media imaginable, along with support for the government, and more notably, the emperor. It seemed that a massive propaganda campaign was underway, and the unsuspecting populace was to be subject to the wrath of image consultants and spin doctors on an alarming level.
The sun shone beautifully of the concrete maze that was Alex City. The next speech was much highly publicized in advance, and people came all over the country too the capital too hear there beloved emperor, and perhaps (if they were lucky) for a chance to see him with their own eyes. Rooms filled up in the local hotels and hostels, and things went on hold, preparing for the speech.
The emperor stood on a huge stage of wood, erected in the middle of a market square. Police and soldiers were scattered everywhere, and radio crews and even a handful TV crews were there. The crowd stretched for kilometers, blocking the streets and clogging the city. The great Metropolis that was the capital had near completely shut down, in preparation for the event. The emperor stepped forward to a small podium, taking hold of a microphone and signaling for silence. He was wearing the snakeskin business suit that was his trademark. Again, the crowd fell into a dead silence. The emperor, smiling, began. “Fellow citizens, my brothers and sisters, I am glad too see that the people of this great empire are patriotic enough to be active in completing the revolution. It touches me too see that the people of this great nation have not been corrupted by greed and sin, even after all they’ve been through.” the crowd took this well. The emperor continued” But now, we must act, my people. For so long, you have faced injustice and hardship. For much to long. We must now work, to build a prosperous and happy future for the generations to come. That is the ultimate goal of this revolution. We do not want our children and there children to live through what we have. We must work together, brothers and sisters, too restore our empire, too the glory of the days before the split, and more.” he paused, and a great cheer came from the crowd.” This can be accomplished” he went on” through hard work, through the pursuit of revolutionary ideals. As I have said, it will not be easy, but my people, once it is complete, we shall have created paradise.” Another roar came from the crowd. The emperor continued on to explain many technical things, which the crowd listened to intently, but most of which were not understood (nor were they meant to be) but they did wow the crowd, who had become even more convinced of the greatness of the emperor, and even more determined to “practice revolutionary ideals,” if this were possible.
Harold sat in his market stall, exhausted from the walk he’d just done, his cigarettes and gum lay out on the mat in front of him as he waited eagerly for passer by’s to purchase some. He’d just come back from a government office, 8 km away. He’d been there to pay his rent and taxes. All of the street merchants payed taxes now, in fact, everyone did. Not that they minded much. The emperor had explained to the whole country the importance of paying your taxes. “To advance the revolution, we need to work together. Money is essential for the continuation of this glorious campaign. Without money, we can do nothing. No trains, no water pipes, no armed forces or police. Without the money collected from the new tax system, nothing could happen. That is why, noble citizens, it is your patriotic duty too pay your taxes.” The emperor had said. Harold, as did almost everyone else, paid his taxes eagerly; glad to be doing his part. And it was not as though the money disappeared. The government was indeed doing many great things. Helping business start, building apartments, improving infrastructure and public services. The government also created jobs, and employed many people themselves. Beaurocrats, janitors for government buildings and whatnot. The emperor also employed armies of formerly people all over the country builders, constructing government run apartments and housing, hospitals, prisons, whatever needed too be built. Businesses were doing wonderfully as well. The government-helped business big and small start and become profitable. Massive scale agricultural projects were expanded with government money, making the rich farmers that the government had already brought to wealth even richer. Half of these projects were owned by the government as well, creating more jobs and setting up communities around them. Small, independent farmers were also he helped, and if they became productive and worked well, they could apply for free land and money from the government to help them expand. As for the rent Harold payed, well, many people paid rent to the government. About half the of the urban populations lived in the massive housing projects built by the emperor, and many street vendors such as himself now rented their stalls from them. Harold used to pay a powerful gang leader for the space for his stall. Now, the gang had been dissolved, and the government rented it too him. In addition, soldiers, police officers and Green Protectors roamed the streets, protecting him from robbery and harm. The Green Protectors were paramilitaries, young men, volunteers, joined this government-endorsed organization, protecting the citizens and dealing with those that would do wrong. They wore bright green bandanas, and often-carried weapons, sometimes even guns, which were illegal without government permission, which was very, very hard to obtain. Of course, those with the guns did have government permission. They were sometimes a bit rowdy, but Harold was happy to see that those who would try to stop the revolution were punished. Harold looked around hopefully for a potential customer, calling out “Fine cigarettes for sale! Gum here! Wonderful trinkets for sale!” he was a little annoyed. Usually, he could count on children coming to his stall during the day to buy a pack of gum or a thing of cigarettes, but now the children went to the government schools three days a week for almost 5 hours! It annoyed him, but then again, he thought, had I got the chance for an education, I probably wouldn’t be a street vendor.
Sam weaved quickly through the streets, dodging pedestrians and passing other bicycles. He finally pulled in near the government building, and locked his bicycle up to the rack provided, making a mental note were it was among the at least hundred other bicycles locked up, hoping no one would steal his. He rushed through the doors of the building, passing the guard at the door with a quick wave. He went to the secretary, a youth like him, and said” I’m here too get my card. I was told to come today.”
“Name?” she asked, not attempting to hide the boredom in her voice. She must have been doing this for days, thought Sam.
“Sam Spence” he replied, and he watched her try to figure out something with the computer that sat in front of her. Computers baffled Sam, as they did most people. They were very rare, and only really used in business and government offices, or by the extremely rich. She seemed to be as baffled by it as he was. Finally, she figured out what she was doing and with a sigh of relief, she said too him” Right over there, sir.” Pointing to a long line. Sam thanked her, and walked reluctantly to the line. The foreman at the bubble wrap factory at which he worked had doubled his break time just for today, so that he could get this thing done and get back on time. Now it looked like it might take even longer than that. Sam cursed silently. His pay would be docked, he thought. But he might as well get this out of the way. He was getting his C.I.S card. C.I.S, or Central Identification System was a project taken upon by the government too make the existence of every citizen official, to make tax collection, property ownership and such easier, and so you could go to court, deal with the police, whatever you might need it for. It was sort of like a combination of a birth certificate, driver’s license and social security number in one. The people would take your picture, date of birth, fingerprints etc and give you a card that you would keep around with you. They’d also create a file on you, were you lived, criminal record, and so on. This was too be updated every year. What most people did not know is that this was not just something to identify, officially and streamline you, nor to ensure you got justice, although it was in part that. All this information was readily available to the newly created secret police, a powerful, omnipresent and highly funded institution created by the emperor himself for his own devices. The Alexian Secret Police, or ASP as it was called, had almost limitless resources. As many funds as it needed, buildings and property, prison space and spy equipment, soldiers and police, all at it’s disposal for whatever purpose. This institution was run by a number of the “emperor’s ruthless, personal friends, who had also fought alongside him during his rise to power. These men were deathly loyal to him, and allowed no decent among the ranks, so there was no chance of the monarch’s creation turning on him. The ASP, or asp, would come to play an important part in Alexian society, and it’s actions, whatever they would be, were not forgotten for at least decades to come.
Sam, at long last, was let into the room by an armed guard. A handful of middle-aged men asked him a bunch of questions. “Where do you live? Were do you work?” and then confirming it. They measured him and fingerprinted him and took a photograph. Sam had never had his picture taken before, and he jumped at the flash, making them take it again.
In a couple of minutes, they were finished with Sam, and sent him out the door, taking the next person. Sam went to the desk he’d been directed to, and a secretary handed him a shiny plastic card, with his picture on hit, among other things. Sam studied it for a second, looking it over, until he was pushed out of the way by the next man getting his card.
Sharina sat nervously in the lobby of her local government funded family planning clinic, looking around at the other young women with their husbands anxiously. She glanced quickly at the two soldiers who sat on chairs in the lobby(there seemed to be soldiers everywhere nowadays). They were nothing more than young men, younger than her, who had probably joined the army without knowing anything about it, but with there imposing uniforms and their machine guns slung over there shoulders, they still made her a little uneasy. Her husband, who’d been looking around the room as well, saw she was nervous, and put his hand on her lap and smiled lovingly at her, trying to comfort her. She smiled weakly back at him, although she felt no better. Everything was happening terribly fast. She’d barely know this man who now her husband, only seeing him periodically while she was growing up. She remembered when she was a little girl, and their parent’s had introduced them. They had both looked at each other shyly as their parents talked, two children of eight years of age, having only a vague idea of what was happening. Then when they’d gotten older, their meetings became a little less conservative, being allowed to see each other alone. In her early teens, she remembered this shy young boy, trying to romance her, even though he didn’t have too. She had thought that sweet of him. And now, their destiny had taken its course. The marriage that had been planned when they were so young had gone through without a hitch or hindrance, to this man she barely knew. The emperor had throw together a patchwork a marriage laws and other such things, but unlike his attempt to control every other aspect of life, he left this rather untouched, leaving it mostly up to the family and community to sort out. He did not seem to want to tamper with cultural affairs all that much. And, in short, what Sharina knew was that women were protected by law, but their rights were still considerably less than that of men, and the emperor seemed to be afraid at the backlash it would create if he tried to make any major change. Her husband had been so happy, happy that they would spend there lives together, and she was thankful for that, for at least she knew he loved her. She could have gotten much worse. She knew he wanted her to be happy as well, and she supposed it could not have turned out much better than it did. He would take care of her. But it was still quite a lot too handle. This man who she had only met sporadically throughout her life was now practically her owner, and she was pregnant with his child. She tried to remind herself that it could have been much worse.
They were finally called in to see the consultant, and lead by her husband, they stepped into the office to meet a black haired white woman in her early forties. Must be from a non-orthodox Christian community, she thought.
“Come in, sit down, sit down.” She said animatedly from her cheap wooden desk. She did not offer them any of the tea she had brewing in the back of the small room, as everyone knew it was the month of fasting.
“Now, it’s Hakim and Sharina, am I right?”
Her husband answered” Yes, yes.” And the women turned too Sharina, as though waiting for a reply. Sharina nodded, and the women smiled warmly.” Right then. Now, first things first. Hakim, before we begin, I have a suggestion to make. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to run your household, but I recommend that you do allow your wife to give her input, as this is a rather big thing, and it is rather important you hear what she has to say. It usually makes things a lot easier, you know.”
Hakim nodded in understandingly, and stroked Sharina’s hand. “Now, let’s first look at your current situation, your job, assets, whatnot. I see you already have one on the way, that is a great start. “ They woman and Hakim proceeded to have a long conversation. Sharina was a bit confused by the talk of money, but on the whole she understood what they were saying.” Some people feel that it is best to have all four right away, so that you can put that aside and continue to serve the revolution.” Said the family planner” But sometimes people cannot afford……..” Sharina again felt almost sick. The Emperial government, as an “Important reform to further the revolution.” Had declared that every couple, married or no, must have a minimum of four children, over a “reasonable period of time,” or face severe civil penalties until they did. There were of course, acceptions. Those who were infertile, homosexual couples, ect, but these people were encouraged to adopt orphans, and had to pay a special tax. Sharina dwelled on how stupid this was. What about those not fit to raise children? The government had thought of this, and had created a giant child welfare system, pumping tons of hard cash into it, but of course, Sharina did not know this. She thought of the man in the hall, who was there with his two wives. He would have to have eight children, the government had decreed, thus making having more than one partner even more expensive than before. She then thought of herself. Once she had children, there was no chance she’d ever be able to leave Hakim, never be able to go to high school. She would be dependant on him for the rest of her life. This distressed her, but soon she calmed herself down, resolving that the joy of having children would be worth much more than her education, and soon she was calm again, listening to her husband and the family planner as they droned on about things of little interest, Hakim struggling to follow.
“…………and so, in early 2002, increasingly frustrated with the outside dominance of the region, Thompson and his comrades founded the Emperialist Movement, aiming to re-unify the once great empire. It was set up in all the former territories, and its support base steadily grew, the ranks being fed with patriotic young citizens, hoping to restore the rightful order. Thompson refused to have his movement labeled as a party, as he was trying to restore the true monarchy, and not some group of beaurocrats………”
The teacher droned on and on. Miles slouched in his chair at the back of the class. He was in Social Studies, learning recent history, the re-unification of the empire, and the glorious exploits of the emperor and his revolution. He was jaded and bored, but the rest of his class of, 67 young students, were taking this in veraciously. He couldn’t believe it. These people were such idiots. How could they let this happen to them? It was blatantly obvious that this was just more propaganda, and anyone with half a mind could piece together that the emperor was nothing more than a despot and a hypocrite of epic proportions. There wasn’t even a royal family, the guy had just overthrow a bunch of governments and just declared himself the new emperor. It was outrageous. Miles hated it. He hated the “emperor”, he hated this revolution, he hated this new country and he hated that he could do nothing about it. Anyone who so much as questioned the revolution or the monarch would be a hated social outcast, and that’s if you’re lucky. Hadn’t these people ever read about Chairman Mao? The emperor had even publicly called that man his idol, and he was mimicking his ways almost exactly. “These idiots.” he muttered. The bell rang, and the teacher dismissed the class. Off to engineering now, where they were learning how to work in an assembly line. “A bright future the revolution has brought us.” Thought Miles.
“I love factories.” said the emperor to his friend as they sat on a couch watching a basketball game.
“So do I.” said his friend.
“Let’s build thousands of farms and factories.” said the emperor
“We did.” said his friend.
“Oh.” Said the emperor, and they both laughed at the joke. Although it was a stupid and unfunny joke, it made them laugh, and, they thought, if they thought it was funny, what was the harm in it?
Leon stood in the massive crowd, moving slowly forward to get to the booth. The other young men in the crowd chatted loudly, and the banter was deafening. “The army is a noble institution, a magnificent and powerful dragon. To be part of this creature is a great honor. People of the empire, it is time to heal this creature, to help it regain its strength so that it will once again be a predator to be reckoned with.” The emperor had said. From that time on, the army was made to be not only patriotic, but cool and a good career. The pay was pretty decent, and there were a number of benefits that went along with it. If you served long enough, it was possible to earn a pension, and maybe even move up the ranks. In addition to that, you had tax cuts, subsidized housing, and a string of other little things. All this, combined with the feeling of power being a soldier would give you, hoards of young Alexians were now clamoring to join. You would see the new soldiers patrolling the city together, in their uniforms, looking intimidating yet noble, like a tiger, and with their extra money to blow, picking up women, buying new trinkets like shiny new radios with tape decks, and it was hard for young people not to want to be there to. That is what happened to Leon. Once he was in the army, he thought, he could get a new apartment, one he wouldn’t have to share, buy music tapes, all kinds of things. Maybe Nitaya would even notice him, and her family would surely never object to their daughter being with a fine young soldier.
Finally, Leon got to one of the small booths, and began signing the registration form quickly flashing his C.I.S card at the bored looking man who sat in the booth. When he was done, the man snatched his paper, as he’d done with hundreds of others, and put it in a cardboard box on top of others. He wordlessly waved Leon away, and moved on to the next person.
Leon began his walk home slowly, hoping he’d get in, and eager to talk with his roommates about how much better life would be if they were in the army.
The streetlights glared down on the grey concrete of the newly paved streets.
Ivan looked out his office window out to the city below. From the third floor, he could see people walking around in the streets, some going home, some laughing and drinking.
He could even see the nightclub he was going to shut down, young un-orthodox Christian people streaming into it. Ivan had just been made assistant sub commissioner of the sub commissioner of the ethics bureau on the eastside of Alex City. It was a pretty big thing for him; he had some pretty important work sometimes. Recently, he’d been put in charge of execution of the directives for several city blocs. It was part of the emperor’s revolution. The ethics bureau had been recently created to help restore “Morality and good values” to Alexia, which had “been lost during the long years of separation and civil war”. Basically, it shut down sleazy bars and nightclubs, mostly the ones that had strippers and where criminals met. And so Ivan was to do this for several city blocs. He did not necessarily agree with all of the things that were done, but he thought himself lucky to have this post at all. He was lucky he hadn’t ended up working as a builder for the emperor’s railroad. That guy was crazy, he thought, he pumps money into that railroad as though it’s a hobby or something. But anyway. He’d recently had to talk to the nightclub owner in person, telling him he would have to shut down his club, and that, if needed, the ethics bureau had the police at there disposal, so it would be better to act now. The poor man was distraught. Even though he owned a pretty bad club, he was a family man, and had worked on making this club successful for years. Ivan felt terrible, even more so when he had to tell the man that the government would get the land and the building in exchange for a rather meager compensation package.
And so it seemed that the owner was keeping it open until the very last night, probably to try and get a little brass put aside before his source of income was taken.
Ivan looked at his watch, and realizing that he’d wasted ten minutes, quickly left the window and got back to work.
“Alex, I can no longer allow this madness to continue!” yelled Alain-Philipe, storming into the office which the emperor was currently occupying.
“What the hell is it now, Alain?” asked the emperor in a friendly manner
“Listen, Alex, I’ll be to the point. You promised me and tons of others that you were to create a society to help higher education, and your using MY school system as a propaganda tool. You’re teaching the children to love YOU, to help YOU, and your keeping the masses in the dark. Where are the subsidized universities, the laboratories? Alex, me and a large faction of the emperial government or ready to oppose you. This situation has to be remedied NOW. We will no longer further your totalitarian agenda.”
“Totalitarian agenda……”said the emperor absently” That’s a good way of putting it. I wouldn’t have thought of that…if I weren’t king, I would have called the party-“
“Alex, goddamn I’m serious! Alex-“
“Right, Alain, I hear your point, but see, I have changed the education system from the traditional “set you up for a big disappointment” method to the “things you will actually need to know in real life.” System. Better, no? And what do you mean no higher education? I’ve granted almost a million scholarships this months, out of my own pocket I might add.”
“You granted scholarships to people blindly loyal to you and “your own pocket” is pilfered public funds!” screamed Alain-Philipe in ever mounting rage.
“Listen Alain, I had enough of this shit here. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I have a feeling you strayed from the true path of the revolution. As of now, consider your post as minister of education suspended, and you are now under house arrest.”
Before Alain could protest, a group of soldiers who had been standing guard moved in on him, and handcuffed his hands behind his back, and proceeded too drag him away.
“People of Alexia” said the emperor over the radio and TV. “I will be blunt. In order to advance the empire into the future, we must become even more involved on the international front. So, good citizens, I am very proud, to announce the new diplomatic push. Even now, we are making room for many many embassies to be built, and will be contacting foreign governments to establish beneficial relations. It is truly a new era, good people of Alexia. Long live the revolution!”
Governments of the world, the emperial government of the Alexian empire is happy to announce our new campaign to establish new, beneficial international relations. We are preparing many plots of land for embassies in and near our capital, and encourage you to apply for one. It is very likely you will be accepted.
Here is the deal. The plots will be the seize of a normal embassy (only about as big as say, a community center), they will be officially your sovereign land, your laws will apply and all that. We will provide you with some help in constructing it if necessary. Your diplomats will be granted diplomatic immunity (within reason of course, ask for details if you like.) Now, you can do whatever you like, it is your sovereign land, but we want you to build an embassy, k? You can have whatever you like in it, however many guards and whatever (of course, within reason. I.e., if you fill it with spy equipment, nuclear bombs, whatever, we will bring it up.) Your embassy staff and officials and such will be allowed to come and go as they please, but all flights and stuff must be told to us ahead of time.
In return, we must receive an embassy at least that seize near your capital, with the exact same deal.
To apply, just give us a bit of info on your country, your intentions, and so on.
“Hello people of Alex city, you are tuned into SLUM fm, the official central radio station. This is DJ Glock, live from the broadcasting station. We got some kickass jams coming at yah in just a minute, but first, the news. Ok.
A revolt in the central east region was crushed today. Last week, some workers seized several government and privately owned agricultural projects, demanding that they be turned into “worker owned co-operatives.” After weeks of negotiation yielding nothing, the emperial and revolutionary army was sent in to restore order. Shootout last night between members of the infamous Blade gang and police forces in the Southside of Alex City left 17 dead. Among them, several gang members, officers and innocent bystanders. The local police have stepped up the campaign against the unpatriotic and counter-revolutionary crime gangs. The famous Alexian band, “The Industrial North” has announced that it is returning from (some country) to go back to their homeland of the Alexian Empire. The band says it is happy that the Empire is re-united, and that they fully support the actions of our emperor. They say they are glad to finally be able to return home now that Emperor Alexander has restored order and deposed of the corrupt governments that kept us separated. And that’s the major news; we’ll keep you posted.
Right, now for some toons. Here’s “You Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer……….
Leak: Some information was leaked from Alexian military files recently, causing a ripple of concern among the armies officials. The documents are extremely vague and incomplete, but show a massive boost in military expenditures this year. The army has supposedly clamped down and stopped any more information from being distributed.
(Read the Whole thing or don't post.)
By
Alexander Thompson
The at north end of the emperial palace, the part that, in the stead of being protected by the massive wall topped with guns and artillery, jutts out into a wide public courtyard, a massive crowd swelled, muttering anxiously. Soldiers stood everywhere, their bayonets of gray steel matching the grey concrete of the surrounding buildings. They seemed nervous, as though this task of protecting such an important man had been sprung upon them without ample warning, as though they were not sure they could do it. But the more experienced officers ordered the new recruits well and calmly, knowing that this would not be a difficult operation. This speech had been scheduled at extremely short notice, only several hours in advance, and many more would have come, had they had the time to get time off work and plan around their responsibilities. Despite this, television cameras and recorders stood at the ready, and would surely broadcast this speaking nationwide. It was as though that had been the plan.
The emperor had never spoken to a live public before. His inspirational words had become know from his talks on the radio and in the newspapers, but in his short reign he had never addressed his people in person, and so the crowd was not only anxious too hear what their most enlightened leader had to say, but too have seen him in the flesh, before all of their neighbors and relatives who could not attend the speech, so that they could gloat and brag.
The figure of the young monarch strode, without warning, onto the balcony. His flaming red hair was short and neat, and he wore a most beautiful business suit of light blue snakeskin, that conveyed wealth and importance. He was tall and white, and rather muscular, although by no means a bahamoth. Several steps behind him too his right, stood a black man with short curly black hair, who was slightly taller than the emperor, and likely the same age, dressed in a jet black suit, the kind worn by officials and men of power universally. Several feet behind the emperor to the left was a brown haired white man, wearing a suit much the same. He too was about the same face as the emperor, and could have been approximately the same height, although it was hard to tell, as he sat in a sturdy wheelchair, meant for use, and which showed no sign of having been changed to improve it’s appearance. On each end of the balcony stood a fully armed soldier in their jet-black uniforms, their faces expressionless, and with their hands behind their backs in a militant looking manner. The crowd fell silent almost instantly, watching their leader intently, waiting for him to speak as if they were unsure if he were real. The emperor broke into a small grin, and nodded quickly too the men behind him, an army officer on the ground and a media crew, and stepped forward too the microphone.
“Noble citizens of the empire” his words rang out through the speakers strategically placed so that all could hear.” I thank you for making time too come and hear me speak on such short notice. I understand how the hardships you face, and how difficult it is for you too get away from your work.” the crowd was struck dumb for a minute, then, taking in the compliment, erupted into loud cheers and clapping, although they had not planned to be doing any such things before they arrived. They had not large signs or small paper flags, but their outburst was sincere, and with a few happily muttered but humble and flattered sounding thank you’s from the smiling emperor soon brought calm again, although now the crowd was smiling, knowing that they would enjoy this speech, whatever it would be about.
“Thank you, thank…That is of course, those of you who are fortunate enough to have work in these troubled times. That is in fact, what I have come too talk too you, the people, about. We have made great progress. We have re-united the empire after more than a hundred years after it’s collapse, and we have expelled malicious invaders from our sovereign land.” the crowd became somber at this point, and looks of approval went through it like a wave, the citizens now going into reflection.” But a great deal remains too be done. Still the people struggle every day, still the government goes deeper into dept, still there are imperfections and things we lack. We have come too a limbo, our great empire. Neither changing for the worse or the better. People simply live their lives, and all remains the same, unchanged by time. Our nation stands still. This” he said, the crowds interest now rising” is something that MUST change. We may not allow our beloved nation to remain motionless while others advance! We may not wallow in beauracracy, inefficiency and laziness while other countries move forward! The time has come for change!” he gestured dramatically as he spoke.” The Alexian people must overcome this slumped we have dropped into! We must pick ourselves up and regain inertia!” he paused, and from the shocked citizenry, slowly coming out of their trances of surprise, rose a large and deafening roar.” No longer shall our people be second to others! ” The emperor trumpeted, louder now” No longer shall we be an insignificant force in the world!” and then, pausing again, he but becoming no less enthusiastic “My friends” he bellowed over the microphone” Today is a dawning of a new age! Today Alexia will commence its triumphant and valorous charge into the future! My friends, today is the beginning of The Emerald Revolution!!!!!!”with these words a cheer louder and more animated than all the others rose, and lasted for twice as long as the others put together. The emperor smiled contentedly.
After the cheering finally died down, the emperor spoke again.” People of Alexia,” putting his charisma too it’s fullest extent” the days ahead will not be easy. By no means will this be without hardship. But, fellow people of the empire, rest assured, you will be creating a better future for generations to come, you will be improving the life of your children, and their children, and you will be the ones remembered, the ones who plunged Alexia headfirst into the future, the ones who excuted, the great and noble, emerald revolution!!!”Another great cheer rose from the crowd. For a short moment, the emperor stepped back, smiling broadly and listening, closing his eyes, almost in a state of intoxication, too the roar of his subjects below. It had finally begun.
The officials behind the emperor proceeded to explain a few little things, but the crowd had already come and heard what they came for, and payed little interest.
The goals and projects of the revolution were soon broadcast over public radio (and television) and were appearing in the newspapers and every form of media imaginable, along with support for the government, and more notably, the emperor. It seemed that a massive propaganda campaign was underway, and the unsuspecting populace was to be subject to the wrath of image consultants and spin doctors on an alarming level.
The sun shone beautifully of the concrete maze that was Alex City. The next speech was much highly publicized in advance, and people came all over the country too the capital too hear there beloved emperor, and perhaps (if they were lucky) for a chance to see him with their own eyes. Rooms filled up in the local hotels and hostels, and things went on hold, preparing for the speech.
The emperor stood on a huge stage of wood, erected in the middle of a market square. Police and soldiers were scattered everywhere, and radio crews and even a handful TV crews were there. The crowd stretched for kilometers, blocking the streets and clogging the city. The great Metropolis that was the capital had near completely shut down, in preparation for the event. The emperor stepped forward to a small podium, taking hold of a microphone and signaling for silence. He was wearing the snakeskin business suit that was his trademark. Again, the crowd fell into a dead silence. The emperor, smiling, began. “Fellow citizens, my brothers and sisters, I am glad too see that the people of this great empire are patriotic enough to be active in completing the revolution. It touches me too see that the people of this great nation have not been corrupted by greed and sin, even after all they’ve been through.” the crowd took this well. The emperor continued” But now, we must act, my people. For so long, you have faced injustice and hardship. For much to long. We must now work, to build a prosperous and happy future for the generations to come. That is the ultimate goal of this revolution. We do not want our children and there children to live through what we have. We must work together, brothers and sisters, too restore our empire, too the glory of the days before the split, and more.” he paused, and a great cheer came from the crowd.” This can be accomplished” he went on” through hard work, through the pursuit of revolutionary ideals. As I have said, it will not be easy, but my people, once it is complete, we shall have created paradise.” Another roar came from the crowd. The emperor continued on to explain many technical things, which the crowd listened to intently, but most of which were not understood (nor were they meant to be) but they did wow the crowd, who had become even more convinced of the greatness of the emperor, and even more determined to “practice revolutionary ideals,” if this were possible.
Harold sat in his market stall, exhausted from the walk he’d just done, his cigarettes and gum lay out on the mat in front of him as he waited eagerly for passer by’s to purchase some. He’d just come back from a government office, 8 km away. He’d been there to pay his rent and taxes. All of the street merchants payed taxes now, in fact, everyone did. Not that they minded much. The emperor had explained to the whole country the importance of paying your taxes. “To advance the revolution, we need to work together. Money is essential for the continuation of this glorious campaign. Without money, we can do nothing. No trains, no water pipes, no armed forces or police. Without the money collected from the new tax system, nothing could happen. That is why, noble citizens, it is your patriotic duty too pay your taxes.” The emperor had said. Harold, as did almost everyone else, paid his taxes eagerly; glad to be doing his part. And it was not as though the money disappeared. The government was indeed doing many great things. Helping business start, building apartments, improving infrastructure and public services. The government also created jobs, and employed many people themselves. Beaurocrats, janitors for government buildings and whatnot. The emperor also employed armies of formerly people all over the country builders, constructing government run apartments and housing, hospitals, prisons, whatever needed too be built. Businesses were doing wonderfully as well. The government-helped business big and small start and become profitable. Massive scale agricultural projects were expanded with government money, making the rich farmers that the government had already brought to wealth even richer. Half of these projects were owned by the government as well, creating more jobs and setting up communities around them. Small, independent farmers were also he helped, and if they became productive and worked well, they could apply for free land and money from the government to help them expand. As for the rent Harold payed, well, many people paid rent to the government. About half the of the urban populations lived in the massive housing projects built by the emperor, and many street vendors such as himself now rented their stalls from them. Harold used to pay a powerful gang leader for the space for his stall. Now, the gang had been dissolved, and the government rented it too him. In addition, soldiers, police officers and Green Protectors roamed the streets, protecting him from robbery and harm. The Green Protectors were paramilitaries, young men, volunteers, joined this government-endorsed organization, protecting the citizens and dealing with those that would do wrong. They wore bright green bandanas, and often-carried weapons, sometimes even guns, which were illegal without government permission, which was very, very hard to obtain. Of course, those with the guns did have government permission. They were sometimes a bit rowdy, but Harold was happy to see that those who would try to stop the revolution were punished. Harold looked around hopefully for a potential customer, calling out “Fine cigarettes for sale! Gum here! Wonderful trinkets for sale!” he was a little annoyed. Usually, he could count on children coming to his stall during the day to buy a pack of gum or a thing of cigarettes, but now the children went to the government schools three days a week for almost 5 hours! It annoyed him, but then again, he thought, had I got the chance for an education, I probably wouldn’t be a street vendor.
Sam weaved quickly through the streets, dodging pedestrians and passing other bicycles. He finally pulled in near the government building, and locked his bicycle up to the rack provided, making a mental note were it was among the at least hundred other bicycles locked up, hoping no one would steal his. He rushed through the doors of the building, passing the guard at the door with a quick wave. He went to the secretary, a youth like him, and said” I’m here too get my card. I was told to come today.”
“Name?” she asked, not attempting to hide the boredom in her voice. She must have been doing this for days, thought Sam.
“Sam Spence” he replied, and he watched her try to figure out something with the computer that sat in front of her. Computers baffled Sam, as they did most people. They were very rare, and only really used in business and government offices, or by the extremely rich. She seemed to be as baffled by it as he was. Finally, she figured out what she was doing and with a sigh of relief, she said too him” Right over there, sir.” Pointing to a long line. Sam thanked her, and walked reluctantly to the line. The foreman at the bubble wrap factory at which he worked had doubled his break time just for today, so that he could get this thing done and get back on time. Now it looked like it might take even longer than that. Sam cursed silently. His pay would be docked, he thought. But he might as well get this out of the way. He was getting his C.I.S card. C.I.S, or Central Identification System was a project taken upon by the government too make the existence of every citizen official, to make tax collection, property ownership and such easier, and so you could go to court, deal with the police, whatever you might need it for. It was sort of like a combination of a birth certificate, driver’s license and social security number in one. The people would take your picture, date of birth, fingerprints etc and give you a card that you would keep around with you. They’d also create a file on you, were you lived, criminal record, and so on. This was too be updated every year. What most people did not know is that this was not just something to identify, officially and streamline you, nor to ensure you got justice, although it was in part that. All this information was readily available to the newly created secret police, a powerful, omnipresent and highly funded institution created by the emperor himself for his own devices. The Alexian Secret Police, or ASP as it was called, had almost limitless resources. As many funds as it needed, buildings and property, prison space and spy equipment, soldiers and police, all at it’s disposal for whatever purpose. This institution was run by a number of the “emperor’s ruthless, personal friends, who had also fought alongside him during his rise to power. These men were deathly loyal to him, and allowed no decent among the ranks, so there was no chance of the monarch’s creation turning on him. The ASP, or asp, would come to play an important part in Alexian society, and it’s actions, whatever they would be, were not forgotten for at least decades to come.
Sam, at long last, was let into the room by an armed guard. A handful of middle-aged men asked him a bunch of questions. “Where do you live? Were do you work?” and then confirming it. They measured him and fingerprinted him and took a photograph. Sam had never had his picture taken before, and he jumped at the flash, making them take it again.
In a couple of minutes, they were finished with Sam, and sent him out the door, taking the next person. Sam went to the desk he’d been directed to, and a secretary handed him a shiny plastic card, with his picture on hit, among other things. Sam studied it for a second, looking it over, until he was pushed out of the way by the next man getting his card.
Sharina sat nervously in the lobby of her local government funded family planning clinic, looking around at the other young women with their husbands anxiously. She glanced quickly at the two soldiers who sat on chairs in the lobby(there seemed to be soldiers everywhere nowadays). They were nothing more than young men, younger than her, who had probably joined the army without knowing anything about it, but with there imposing uniforms and their machine guns slung over there shoulders, they still made her a little uneasy. Her husband, who’d been looking around the room as well, saw she was nervous, and put his hand on her lap and smiled lovingly at her, trying to comfort her. She smiled weakly back at him, although she felt no better. Everything was happening terribly fast. She’d barely know this man who now her husband, only seeing him periodically while she was growing up. She remembered when she was a little girl, and their parent’s had introduced them. They had both looked at each other shyly as their parents talked, two children of eight years of age, having only a vague idea of what was happening. Then when they’d gotten older, their meetings became a little less conservative, being allowed to see each other alone. In her early teens, she remembered this shy young boy, trying to romance her, even though he didn’t have too. She had thought that sweet of him. And now, their destiny had taken its course. The marriage that had been planned when they were so young had gone through without a hitch or hindrance, to this man she barely knew. The emperor had throw together a patchwork a marriage laws and other such things, but unlike his attempt to control every other aspect of life, he left this rather untouched, leaving it mostly up to the family and community to sort out. He did not seem to want to tamper with cultural affairs all that much. And, in short, what Sharina knew was that women were protected by law, but their rights were still considerably less than that of men, and the emperor seemed to be afraid at the backlash it would create if he tried to make any major change. Her husband had been so happy, happy that they would spend there lives together, and she was thankful for that, for at least she knew he loved her. She could have gotten much worse. She knew he wanted her to be happy as well, and she supposed it could not have turned out much better than it did. He would take care of her. But it was still quite a lot too handle. This man who she had only met sporadically throughout her life was now practically her owner, and she was pregnant with his child. She tried to remind herself that it could have been much worse.
They were finally called in to see the consultant, and lead by her husband, they stepped into the office to meet a black haired white woman in her early forties. Must be from a non-orthodox Christian community, she thought.
“Come in, sit down, sit down.” She said animatedly from her cheap wooden desk. She did not offer them any of the tea she had brewing in the back of the small room, as everyone knew it was the month of fasting.
“Now, it’s Hakim and Sharina, am I right?”
Her husband answered” Yes, yes.” And the women turned too Sharina, as though waiting for a reply. Sharina nodded, and the women smiled warmly.” Right then. Now, first things first. Hakim, before we begin, I have a suggestion to make. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to run your household, but I recommend that you do allow your wife to give her input, as this is a rather big thing, and it is rather important you hear what she has to say. It usually makes things a lot easier, you know.”
Hakim nodded in understandingly, and stroked Sharina’s hand. “Now, let’s first look at your current situation, your job, assets, whatnot. I see you already have one on the way, that is a great start. “ They woman and Hakim proceeded to have a long conversation. Sharina was a bit confused by the talk of money, but on the whole she understood what they were saying.” Some people feel that it is best to have all four right away, so that you can put that aside and continue to serve the revolution.” Said the family planner” But sometimes people cannot afford……..” Sharina again felt almost sick. The Emperial government, as an “Important reform to further the revolution.” Had declared that every couple, married or no, must have a minimum of four children, over a “reasonable period of time,” or face severe civil penalties until they did. There were of course, acceptions. Those who were infertile, homosexual couples, ect, but these people were encouraged to adopt orphans, and had to pay a special tax. Sharina dwelled on how stupid this was. What about those not fit to raise children? The government had thought of this, and had created a giant child welfare system, pumping tons of hard cash into it, but of course, Sharina did not know this. She thought of the man in the hall, who was there with his two wives. He would have to have eight children, the government had decreed, thus making having more than one partner even more expensive than before. She then thought of herself. Once she had children, there was no chance she’d ever be able to leave Hakim, never be able to go to high school. She would be dependant on him for the rest of her life. This distressed her, but soon she calmed herself down, resolving that the joy of having children would be worth much more than her education, and soon she was calm again, listening to her husband and the family planner as they droned on about things of little interest, Hakim struggling to follow.
“…………and so, in early 2002, increasingly frustrated with the outside dominance of the region, Thompson and his comrades founded the Emperialist Movement, aiming to re-unify the once great empire. It was set up in all the former territories, and its support base steadily grew, the ranks being fed with patriotic young citizens, hoping to restore the rightful order. Thompson refused to have his movement labeled as a party, as he was trying to restore the true monarchy, and not some group of beaurocrats………”
The teacher droned on and on. Miles slouched in his chair at the back of the class. He was in Social Studies, learning recent history, the re-unification of the empire, and the glorious exploits of the emperor and his revolution. He was jaded and bored, but the rest of his class of, 67 young students, were taking this in veraciously. He couldn’t believe it. These people were such idiots. How could they let this happen to them? It was blatantly obvious that this was just more propaganda, and anyone with half a mind could piece together that the emperor was nothing more than a despot and a hypocrite of epic proportions. There wasn’t even a royal family, the guy had just overthrow a bunch of governments and just declared himself the new emperor. It was outrageous. Miles hated it. He hated the “emperor”, he hated this revolution, he hated this new country and he hated that he could do nothing about it. Anyone who so much as questioned the revolution or the monarch would be a hated social outcast, and that’s if you’re lucky. Hadn’t these people ever read about Chairman Mao? The emperor had even publicly called that man his idol, and he was mimicking his ways almost exactly. “These idiots.” he muttered. The bell rang, and the teacher dismissed the class. Off to engineering now, where they were learning how to work in an assembly line. “A bright future the revolution has brought us.” Thought Miles.
“I love factories.” said the emperor to his friend as they sat on a couch watching a basketball game.
“So do I.” said his friend.
“Let’s build thousands of farms and factories.” said the emperor
“We did.” said his friend.
“Oh.” Said the emperor, and they both laughed at the joke. Although it was a stupid and unfunny joke, it made them laugh, and, they thought, if they thought it was funny, what was the harm in it?
Leon stood in the massive crowd, moving slowly forward to get to the booth. The other young men in the crowd chatted loudly, and the banter was deafening. “The army is a noble institution, a magnificent and powerful dragon. To be part of this creature is a great honor. People of the empire, it is time to heal this creature, to help it regain its strength so that it will once again be a predator to be reckoned with.” The emperor had said. From that time on, the army was made to be not only patriotic, but cool and a good career. The pay was pretty decent, and there were a number of benefits that went along with it. If you served long enough, it was possible to earn a pension, and maybe even move up the ranks. In addition to that, you had tax cuts, subsidized housing, and a string of other little things. All this, combined with the feeling of power being a soldier would give you, hoards of young Alexians were now clamoring to join. You would see the new soldiers patrolling the city together, in their uniforms, looking intimidating yet noble, like a tiger, and with their extra money to blow, picking up women, buying new trinkets like shiny new radios with tape decks, and it was hard for young people not to want to be there to. That is what happened to Leon. Once he was in the army, he thought, he could get a new apartment, one he wouldn’t have to share, buy music tapes, all kinds of things. Maybe Nitaya would even notice him, and her family would surely never object to their daughter being with a fine young soldier.
Finally, Leon got to one of the small booths, and began signing the registration form quickly flashing his C.I.S card at the bored looking man who sat in the booth. When he was done, the man snatched his paper, as he’d done with hundreds of others, and put it in a cardboard box on top of others. He wordlessly waved Leon away, and moved on to the next person.
Leon began his walk home slowly, hoping he’d get in, and eager to talk with his roommates about how much better life would be if they were in the army.
The streetlights glared down on the grey concrete of the newly paved streets.
Ivan looked out his office window out to the city below. From the third floor, he could see people walking around in the streets, some going home, some laughing and drinking.
He could even see the nightclub he was going to shut down, young un-orthodox Christian people streaming into it. Ivan had just been made assistant sub commissioner of the sub commissioner of the ethics bureau on the eastside of Alex City. It was a pretty big thing for him; he had some pretty important work sometimes. Recently, he’d been put in charge of execution of the directives for several city blocs. It was part of the emperor’s revolution. The ethics bureau had been recently created to help restore “Morality and good values” to Alexia, which had “been lost during the long years of separation and civil war”. Basically, it shut down sleazy bars and nightclubs, mostly the ones that had strippers and where criminals met. And so Ivan was to do this for several city blocs. He did not necessarily agree with all of the things that were done, but he thought himself lucky to have this post at all. He was lucky he hadn’t ended up working as a builder for the emperor’s railroad. That guy was crazy, he thought, he pumps money into that railroad as though it’s a hobby or something. But anyway. He’d recently had to talk to the nightclub owner in person, telling him he would have to shut down his club, and that, if needed, the ethics bureau had the police at there disposal, so it would be better to act now. The poor man was distraught. Even though he owned a pretty bad club, he was a family man, and had worked on making this club successful for years. Ivan felt terrible, even more so when he had to tell the man that the government would get the land and the building in exchange for a rather meager compensation package.
And so it seemed that the owner was keeping it open until the very last night, probably to try and get a little brass put aside before his source of income was taken.
Ivan looked at his watch, and realizing that he’d wasted ten minutes, quickly left the window and got back to work.
“Alex, I can no longer allow this madness to continue!” yelled Alain-Philipe, storming into the office which the emperor was currently occupying.
“What the hell is it now, Alain?” asked the emperor in a friendly manner
“Listen, Alex, I’ll be to the point. You promised me and tons of others that you were to create a society to help higher education, and your using MY school system as a propaganda tool. You’re teaching the children to love YOU, to help YOU, and your keeping the masses in the dark. Where are the subsidized universities, the laboratories? Alex, me and a large faction of the emperial government or ready to oppose you. This situation has to be remedied NOW. We will no longer further your totalitarian agenda.”
“Totalitarian agenda……”said the emperor absently” That’s a good way of putting it. I wouldn’t have thought of that…if I weren’t king, I would have called the party-“
“Alex, goddamn I’m serious! Alex-“
“Right, Alain, I hear your point, but see, I have changed the education system from the traditional “set you up for a big disappointment” method to the “things you will actually need to know in real life.” System. Better, no? And what do you mean no higher education? I’ve granted almost a million scholarships this months, out of my own pocket I might add.”
“You granted scholarships to people blindly loyal to you and “your own pocket” is pilfered public funds!” screamed Alain-Philipe in ever mounting rage.
“Listen Alain, I had enough of this shit here. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but I have a feeling you strayed from the true path of the revolution. As of now, consider your post as minister of education suspended, and you are now under house arrest.”
Before Alain could protest, a group of soldiers who had been standing guard moved in on him, and handcuffed his hands behind his back, and proceeded too drag him away.
“People of Alexia” said the emperor over the radio and TV. “I will be blunt. In order to advance the empire into the future, we must become even more involved on the international front. So, good citizens, I am very proud, to announce the new diplomatic push. Even now, we are making room for many many embassies to be built, and will be contacting foreign governments to establish beneficial relations. It is truly a new era, good people of Alexia. Long live the revolution!”
Governments of the world, the emperial government of the Alexian empire is happy to announce our new campaign to establish new, beneficial international relations. We are preparing many plots of land for embassies in and near our capital, and encourage you to apply for one. It is very likely you will be accepted.
Here is the deal. The plots will be the seize of a normal embassy (only about as big as say, a community center), they will be officially your sovereign land, your laws will apply and all that. We will provide you with some help in constructing it if necessary. Your diplomats will be granted diplomatic immunity (within reason of course, ask for details if you like.) Now, you can do whatever you like, it is your sovereign land, but we want you to build an embassy, k? You can have whatever you like in it, however many guards and whatever (of course, within reason. I.e., if you fill it with spy equipment, nuclear bombs, whatever, we will bring it up.) Your embassy staff and officials and such will be allowed to come and go as they please, but all flights and stuff must be told to us ahead of time.
In return, we must receive an embassy at least that seize near your capital, with the exact same deal.
To apply, just give us a bit of info on your country, your intentions, and so on.
“Hello people of Alex city, you are tuned into SLUM fm, the official central radio station. This is DJ Glock, live from the broadcasting station. We got some kickass jams coming at yah in just a minute, but first, the news. Ok.
A revolt in the central east region was crushed today. Last week, some workers seized several government and privately owned agricultural projects, demanding that they be turned into “worker owned co-operatives.” After weeks of negotiation yielding nothing, the emperial and revolutionary army was sent in to restore order. Shootout last night between members of the infamous Blade gang and police forces in the Southside of Alex City left 17 dead. Among them, several gang members, officers and innocent bystanders. The local police have stepped up the campaign against the unpatriotic and counter-revolutionary crime gangs. The famous Alexian band, “The Industrial North” has announced that it is returning from (some country) to go back to their homeland of the Alexian Empire. The band says it is happy that the Empire is re-united, and that they fully support the actions of our emperor. They say they are glad to finally be able to return home now that Emperor Alexander has restored order and deposed of the corrupt governments that kept us separated. And that’s the major news; we’ll keep you posted.
Right, now for some toons. Here’s “You Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer……….
Leak: Some information was leaked from Alexian military files recently, causing a ripple of concern among the armies officials. The documents are extremely vague and incomplete, but show a massive boost in military expenditures this year. The army has supposedly clamped down and stopped any more information from being distributed.
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