NationStates Jolt Archive

Taishita, Marimaia

"Damn it!"

Kahn ducked behind a dumpster as the security personnel shone their torches.

"Nothing. Maybe he went that way."

As they headed off, Kahn slowly stood and checked his pocket. Still got it. During his time in the Civil Service, he'd seen some questionable things; all in the name of the people, that was how it was justified. Now though...

He looked at the CD with disbelief. He had somehow blundered onto a secret, one which he cursed with every passing second. Anyone who looked at the information he'd burnt onto it would reach the same conclusion as he had; former Premier Mikada Suun had been murdered, rather than dying of pneumonia. It was likely that if Chiisu Suun hadn't actually performed the murder, then he would have known about it. Kahn needed to get out of the country....

He made his way through the various backstreets of the capital, avoiding police patrols and crowded areas. His life in the Civil Service did not serve him well in this regard; he had always stuck to the more high-class areas of the city, and soon found himself lost. However, he was not alone.

"Kahn Chamkatri, you have defied the will of His Excellency. There is only one penalty."

Kahn turned to see the large figure approaching; he suddenly found some courage.

"Look at my evidence! He's a murderer!"

The approaching man smirked. "His Excellency's affairs are none of my concern, unless I am conducting them for him. As I am now."

The deed was quickly done; Raksmei snapped the CD and shook his head.

"Misguided fool." He activated his earpiece radio. "Mission complete. This is Tiger's Claw Beta, ready for retraction."

"This is Tiger's Claw Alpha; message received."

A few minutes later, a helicopter picked both Raksmei and the body up from a quiet industrial area. The helicopter was piloted by Arun and Vichet, Raksmei's fellow Tiger's Claws. As they flew out of the city, Raksmei casually tossed Kahn's body into the river beneath them; the security forces had been notifed to take care of the rest.

tag

Ayutthaya Palace, Marimaia

Arun, Raksmei and Vichet calmly walked into the palace's massive antiquities repository, where Chiisu Suun was inspecting the latest additions to his growing collection. The government's contacts with the Kamisori Gumi and the Sky Dragon Triad often meant that war-torn regions lost several valuable relics, not to rebel forces or bombardment but to smugglers who shipped them to Marimaia. The three knelt and bowed their heads; Raksmei addressed their leader.

"We've completed the mission, Excellency. The threat has been neutralised."

Chiisu snorted. "Oh really? So this one civil servant only had one copy of the information? I sincerely doubt that."

Tian Yao stepped forward from behind some paintings. "There'll be more copies, and he's probably told his wife at the least."

Chiisu smiled at Tian as he took his place at Chiisu's side. "He's right. The first phase of your mission is over. Get his home address from the Security Ministry and pay his family a discreet visit. Unless they know anything, I want them alive. Understood?"

The three Claws nodded. "Yes master."

Central Taishita

"Alright officer, thank you."

Sumalee Chamkatri put the phone down and dialed her husband's office again. It was unlike him to be late; if he had overtime to work, he'd always call. As if things weren't bad enough, the baby was teething, so she had to constantly put the phone down in order to attend to their young son. She was just getting him to sleep when the doorbell rang.

She was surprised to see a strikingly handsome young man leaning against the doorframe.

"Good evening madame, may I come in?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Niran. I'm a friend of your husband from work. You must be Sumalee; I see you're even more lovely than Kahn lets on."

Sumalee smiled. "Well thank you. Kahn never mentioned you though."

"Ah well, I've only just moved to his department. Listen, I'm a little concerned about him; is he here?"

"No, he....why are you concerned?"

'Niran' made a quick gesture behind his back as he entered the house; Arun chuckled at the whole situation.

"Vichet's certainly smooth, I'll give him that. Makes you wonder if that's how he impressed His Excellency so much."

Raksmei frowned. "Arun, don't say things like that. His Excellency is above reproach; besides, he's happily married to Tian. If Vichet did try it, Tian wouldn't be impressed. That's one man you don't mess with. Come on, it's time."

Ayutthaya, Marimaia

"She knew nothing, Excellency. She did express some concern over her husband's recent behaviour though."

Chiisu smirked. "Well, since his death will be reported as suicide, we have no problems there. What about further copies of the information?"

Arun chuckled. "We have it on good authority that his home will be searched by the Security Ministry. Standard practise when a civil servant commits suicide; just in case their death was due to shame over betraying the nation."

"Good. That's one problem sorted; Dianyun has instituted a purge of data that may provide similar evidence to the data we already eliminated. We also have a contingency plan just in case this rears its ugly head again somehow; anyway, on to more important matters. Paradeus is ready for implementation; you three will be instrumental in keeping my involvement as quiet as possible."

tag

PRS Embassy, Marimaia

Ambassador Wakana sat drinking her morning tea and reading a local newspaper, while her political attache paced the room muttering about the hypocricy of revolutionary monarchies.

"Hmm... looks like a civil servant committed suicide yesterday."

The attache turned, looking quite excited.

"Was he secretly murdered as part of a fascistic conspiracy to conceal damning state secrets?"

"No. He threw himself in a river."

"Oh. Nevermind, then."

[TAG]

OOC: I admit, Spyr's tag made me smile :)

IC:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The building was a new addition to the ever-growing skyline, and gleamed like no other. One of the tallest buildings in the city, the corporate building featured all of the latest technology from the world's leading nations. Above the automated entranceway to the plush lobby was emblazoned the name of the owning corporation. Paradeus Investments was a fairly new entrant into the realms of investment banking and financial consultancy, but thanks to some successful Eastern and South American clients Paradeus was starting to find its own feet.

However, Paradeus was not all it appeared to be (OOC: now you all knew that was coming). One of the more 'outside-the-box' ideas from the NeoSuunist Party, Paradeus was effectively a joint venture between the NeoSuunists, the Kamisori Gumi and the Sky Dragon Triad, with consultants from the Russian Mafia helping to keep certain corporate activities from various authorities. Paradeus's primary use was as a laundering method for drug profits in Latin and South America; it had recently been decided that Paradeus would try its hand at something new.

Any paper trail leading back to Marimaia was constantly being buried by the Records Division with assistance from the Security Department, both of which were staffed entirely by members of the Marimaian External Security Force. The Chairman and CEO of Paradeus was Mr. Arildo da Silva, described as a self-made man who regularly gave money to charity; da Silva was actually a retired smuggler, formerly a distributor for Marimaia but now being employed in a safer and more lucrative position. However, the vast majority of Paradeus employees had no idea exactly what they were working for.

A Private Estate in Colombia

"They're here, padrone."

Alejandro Guerrera nodded. "Good. Show them in, and check that they're not too heavily armed. I'm still not sure about this."

He sipped at his drink as two of his heavies escorted a smartly-dressed young Asian man into his office; the man's two attendants were similarly dressed, and were slightly older. Alejandro smiled as they were ushered in.

"Forgive my men, they are simply a little unsure of you. To tell you the truth, so am I. It's not often that we receive such dignified visitors from the Orient; it's even rarer for me to see them."

The younger Asian nodded. "I completely understand. I would like to thank you for seeing me, as this represents a rare opportunity for international cooperation. My name is Kazui Hayashibara."

Alejandro snorted. "Enough with the fancy talk. You're here on business, let's talk business. You Kamisori have caused me problems in my Asian operations, so why should I do business with you now?"

Kazui sat down. "Simple. I am here on behalf of a potential friend of yours; if you agree with their proposal, then you have the potential to become even wealthier."

"There's no such thing as too much money. Go on, tell me about this proposal."

"The Kamisori have friends in high places, who keep us out of harms way. They wish to expand their friendship network into the Americas, and after extensive research they have decided to approach you."

"So you have friends. Big deal, I do as well. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for foreigners to get an extradition on me? The first attempt is still being tangled in red tape."

Kazui smirked. "However, that means that your enemies may send people in to remove you forcibly. There are plenty of governments that could force their way into this nation and obtain you. What you need are friends who have experience in protecting businessmen such as ourselves. The friends I have mentioned are currently competitors in your business, but if you were team up with them then the possibilities are endless."

Alejandro frowned. "These friends sound most interesting. Tell me, are they by any chance a big cat in our business world?"

Kazui laughed. "Ah yes, you know of whom I speak. You should therefore see the possibilities that would arise from their friendship. They have proven themselves to be an excellent patron for several of our peers; why not accept their patronage?"

"Tell you what; you stay here for a couple of days, enjoy my hospitality. I'll think it over, and give you an answer in due time."

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Jamil was becoming worried. Since he came to power, he'd been regularly funneling a small percentage of government revenues into a Swiss bank account; his personal fortune now stood at about $80 million. Unfortunately, an overzealous member of Parti Islam Se Malaysia had discovered a few accounting irregularities which had not been hidden well enough; as a result, there were growing calls in both legislative houses for a review of the national financial status.

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Ayutthaya, Marimaia

"I don't believe it."

Hengren frowned at Suun's response. "I apologise for bringing bad news, but this can't be ignored."

Suun slammed his hands down on the desk. "The NeoSuunist Party lost control of several counties to Cambodian independent candidates. How the hell were they even allowed on the ballot?!"

"Popular demand, Excellency. With the economic slowdown due to all these damn wars that erupt every few weeks, we're finding it harder to convince the people that everything's alright. There are also some local issues that we are having problems with, and those are leading to calls for local candidates."

"The elections in Laos region are in the next few days; how many local candidates have made it onto the ballots there?"

Hengren turned pale. "As you know, the county authorities would decide things like that; we may not be able to contact all of them in time to find out."

"Then get started!"

Epilogue:

The NeoSuunist hold on power had slipped away faster than they had expected. The Laotian counties had followed the Cambodian example; government officials had been greeted with indifference where before they had been greeted with respect.

The economic slowdown had revealed some unwelcome truths; several of the largest Concerns were found to have deceived the government about their profits; the resulting bankruptcies led to a sudden increase in unemployment which the government couldn't handle. For the first time in years, demonstrations took place against the government; the armed forces had over-reacted and opened fire.

The public outcry had been catastrophic for the NeoSuunists. In Burma, Suu Kyi expelled Vidura Dabaransi and requested the removal of all Marimaian forces. Across Southeast Asia, those associated with the NeoSuunist regime suffered. Laos and Cambodia declared their independence as the idea of 'Marimaian identity' was exposed as the artificial construct that it was. Nationalist movements began to replace the NeoSuunists as the leading force in the region; Thailand's declaration of independence signalled the final fall of Marimaia.

The regime wasted little time in evacuating the area. Chiisu Suun gathered his most trusted loyalists in Ayutthaya, protected by the NeoSuun Guard while they loaded as much as possible onto Suun's collection of aircraft. The Suun loyalists transferred as much money as possible to various foreign accounts, leaving the national coffers almost completely empty. In Suun's mind the nation had betrayed him, so anything he did to them was justified. After they had taken everything they could, the former regime departed by air.

In Malaysia, Jamil bin Hasan saw which way the wind was blowing, and bolted with Sakda Theeravit. They met up with members of the Kamisori Gumi, who were also fleeing the chaos in the former Marimaian state; together they made their way to join up with Suun and the Sky Dragon Triad in South America.

OOC:

So ends the NeoSuunist regime in Southeast Asia. This means that the negotiations between Marimaia and the Chinas are off, but it also opens up some new possibilities for Asia. Here's the rundown on the situation:

Burma is a fully-fledged democracy under Aung San Suu Kyi;

Malaysia is an Islamic democracy which has just suffered the departure of their monarch, and their government may fall as well;

Laos and Cambodia have come out pretty well, as they confiscated a lot of Marimaian hardware and financial assets when they broke away;

Thailand has probably come out worst. A lot of Thailand's wealth was transferred elsewhere by the escaping regime, and the Thais may now face retaliation for being the central part of the Marimaian state.

Some of you may wonder why I had the regime fall this quickly. The fact is that I thought a Soviet-style collapse would be more plausible; I've stated previously that the NeoSuunists focused a lot of energy in trying to keep the country together. A combination of economic slowdown coupled with sudden unemployment and a surge of nationalism would be something to break that sort of state apart.

The Spyran reaction to the fall of the NeoSuunists is certainly not jubilant... but it is surprisingly positive. Over the recent past, there had been growing concerns over association with Marimaia, as their particular brand of revolution had been increasingly revealed as 'national socialist', more fascist than true to the spirit of socialism as evisioned in Spyr's own Strainist ideology. Marimaian links to organized crime, and the lavish lifestyle lived by its young leader, had been seen as connecting the regime furher to acts of exploitation. Amongst the idealistic majority, then, few tears were shed.

Amongst the more hawkish Strainists, however, the fall was seen as a blow which increased international threats to Spyr. Marimaia, ideology aside, had been a potent military ally, lending strength to the defence of SSRC, and which had assisted in keeping the islamic empire of Kalla at bay (allowing the more socialist-leaning and Spyr-friendly Sujavans to establish themselves securely). Marimaia had also been the SSRC's central link, connecting the Indian sub-continent with the twin peninsulas of East Asia. As it seemed the only common link between the feudal-capitalist rulers of North America and China was a hatred of socialism, the loss of Marimaia potentially left Spyr nearly alone between a rock and a hard place. This new vulnerability would almost certainly result in a push, led by hawkish 'realist' Knowledge Minister Feeyatamo, towards even closer ties with the nearby CPRD.

If any Neo-Suunists thought to try and seek escape through the PRS embassy, they would find themslves detained while it was ascertained if they had attempted to remove government resources as they fled.

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The PRS was quick to seek out the new governments of the region and formally open relations. Officials spread out to try and maintain trade arrangements as had existed with Marimaia... the disadvantaged Thai especially might find a little bit of solace in Spyran eagerness to stabilize trade of such commodities as rice, pineapple, and rubber.
Along with trade come Spyran ideological efforts, through exploration of the viability of establishing Strainist Party branches in the new states... while the likelihood of one revolutionary ideology displacing another so quickly was low, it was hoped that Strainist market socialism might lessen the suffering that would emerge from renewed ethnic and religious divisions in the short term.

The fall of the NeoSunnists came as a brutal shock to the Taipei. Aside from being a strategically placed ally, several billions of Taiwanese investment in assets of national importance were now up in the lurch.

A phone call to the neighbour across the Taiwan straits took place to discuss the situation.

TAG

IC:

It came as an expected shock for the Military Junta. Marimaia's collapse had been predicted, since liberalism, corruption and immoralities are recipes for dire disaster in views of Gen. Liu.

Secretly IC:

Gen. Liu has made suggestions to his ROCA counterparts for the need to secure a new Marimaian regime that is friendly to China for reasons of national security. The status of the canal is far too important.

OOC: So, this may be a silly question, but what of Vietnam? I'm not sure where things were going with a leadership change, but if pro-Suunist elements now find themselves suddenly without support and anti-Marimaian sentiment brewing in the fractured region, I would suppose it'd be easy enough for the old guard to just get rid of the challenge? In all honesty, BG doesn't really care either way, since both are agreeable to some extent.
The Igovians will be right back in after the collapse of Marimaian influence, to make sure that Vietnam knows it still has allies.
Igovians will also likely try to encourage Laos to follow the right path, if you follow my meaning, but don't have clear plans to guide anybody else's development.

The Xiannese government halted funding for the canal, and firther assets were on hold. The Xiannese government expressed shock of the decline of the Neo-Suunists Government.

OOC: Just to clear up Vietnam; the 'pro-Marimaians' were reformists who believed more in diplomacy than isolationism. Marimaia helped them because they knew they had a better chance of allying with reformist Vietnam than old guard Vietnam.

However, the reformists have also been finalising a military alliance with Xiaguo. I think it's probably best to keep the reformists in power, otherwise Vietnam would probably close up again.

If you guys need any further info or whatever, just ask.

Before I forget, if anyone wants to know what Suun's up to now and hasn't found the link:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=395983

tag

OOC: So, what exactly does Marimaia consist of now? Is it Thailand, or has it just outright ceased to exist?

OOC: I'm off the forum for a few weeks and the neo-Suunists lose ALL of south east asia. Wow.

The Yamani response follows the Spyran position and political ties are attempted with the emerging states. Spearguard forces on Bali continue to train the emerging Strainist forces in the region, while struggling to improve the quality of life in the impoverished island.

OOC: I'm off the forum for a few weeks and the neo-Suunists lose ALL of south east asia. Wow.

OOC: Yep. They're in Peru now, living the high life and running an international crime syndicate.

(( Gotta admit...although Chiisu will also be a close friend of Louis, HMCM kinda knew that Chiisu didnt have the "Reactionary Belly" needed to remain on the Tiger Throne. You cant be a king and give your people rights dude! Ah well, the Lotus should swing by France, pick up some pate!))

PRS representatives continue to warm relations between Spyr and the new governments in Southeast Asia.

"... while other nations sit back and plot to carve you into 'spheres of influence', we hope to build a spirit of mutual friendship and cooperation..."

Politically, Spyr extends proposed treaties based upon the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existance. Where the local democratic process has been maintained, and where permission is obtained, Spyr seeks to assist local socialists in establishing Strainist Party branches, adding market socialism to the political landscape.

Economically, cooperation and trade are key. The states of former Marimaia did not lose their high levels of modern infrastructure when their parent state collapsed, and so avenues to end recession and promote a return to earlier prosperity are explored.

Given Chinese tensions, Russian hopes for spheres of influence in Southeast Asia, and larger powers looming about here and there, Sujava steps up its efforts to entice Malaysia into the Republic... after all, it is said, why can two moderate democratic islamic-leaning states not become one, in the intrest of economic and political progress? A return to the 'good' of Bonstock, without the imperialism and international ill-feelings that the FRB had embodied.
It is also billed as a check both against foreign domination of the region, and the theocratic extremism of Kalla.