NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: I've been away for a while, and so I thought I'd hop on and let anyone who wanted to, catch up and get a feel for how stuff works in my warped nation.

I'll post some basic stuff, and you can ask any questions you have. ("Why do you suck so much, K-stan?" is not a viable question.)

Oh, and am I a Black Hat or a White Hat? Well, that's up to your point of view... :p

On Power
Fools want the control. They want to hold all the answers, to make the people bow before them. True power is not in answers, but in questions. Give them the questions to ask, and help them find the answers. You will be a friend, a mentor, and a guide down their "freely chosen" path. You will own their very mind, and while you will not have "Control" in the mongoloid sense that many think, you will have true power over them. - Internal Security Agency Director Anderas Kerrik.

General "Feel" of Nation

The Veil of Illusion
Everything is as it should be. Prosperity has continued for decades, and crime is nonexistent. The cities shimmer in perfect crystalline lines, and nature itself bends to present only perfection. There is civility, wealth, and happiness.

The past twenty years have been a blessing, a blessing long earned. - Senator Wilhelm Steiner


The Test
Every citizen is given a test at the end of Secondary Education. This test determines aptitude in a wide range of topics, and allows the taker to choose a form of Service. This service will be civil or military, and will last for two years. This allows every citizen to feel that they've contributed to the nation, and to unify the social strata through several years (more if willing) of communal working and living. But, if a student is capable and willing, there is another choice, another service to give.

All citizens, natural born or naturalized, upon graduating from Secondary Education, or upon attaining a waiver for post-Secondary Education and completing this path, shall take the Public Service Exam, proctored by an official of the State. - Revised Education Code 37.86


The Veil Removed
Joining the Internal Security Agency is not a career, it is a lifestyle. You will give up everything, you will forsake all your possessions, all your ownerships. You will be a servant of the State and of the People. You live not for yourself. But, you will know the truth.

The Internal Security Agency has existed for centuries. It served as advisers to Dranem himself, and it will serve long after I am gone. You will serve as well, and it will survive you. - ISA Director Iams (Retired)


The Truth/The Agency
Everything the people have is a careful illusion. For this heaven, there will be hell in another land. The Agency protects this twisted karmic balance, this zero sum game. Any enemy, foreign, domestic, real or perceived, will be neutralized. It will happen in shadows and in darkness, in back alleys and in marble halls. And no one will know, except those inside. This is the Burden, the Duty, to serve and protect, to sin, to commit vileness to preserve the innocence of others.

I kill so you can live. I steal so you can eat. I conspire so you can pray. I take your sins upon myself, and redeem you with my fall. - Field Commander Riven


The Bargain
This is the silent deal between the People and the Agency: the People will turn a willing blind eye to the dealings of the ISA, and they will not question what happens behind closed doors. In return, the ISA will deliver them a dream state, a perfect world with “freedom”, prosperity, and peace. Some people have forgotten this deal, and have become blind to the perfect illusion, accepting the magician's cloak as truth. Others despise the ISA for their power. But few work against this reality, because they have everything they want.

Do you think this is real? Do you think this just happens? That life is fair and just? That you can help a policeman one day and win the lottery the next? This is fake, this is a lie, this is cheap! Look past what you want to see and find the truth! - Field Commander Darius Jensen (Discharged)


The Man
For twenty years, Director Anderas Kerrik has ruled through emergency fiat and popular consent, a power seized and offered back, but refused by the people. They want the illusion, and Kerrik is the master magician. A genius and mastermind, he cut his way through the ranks, and works day and night on a secret project, one he believes will save all humanity, and end the zero sum game of loss/gain. With one fell swoop, he will bring mankind into a bold new future. But is the puppet master dangling from his own strings? Is he sane or has he fallen to his own genius, driven into madness? He rarely emerges, and relies more and more heavily on a cabal within even the ISA, headed by the enigmatic, Commander Riven and the smooth snake skin salesman, Chief Ghast.

If they [the people] want the power I have taken, they can have it. I do not want it. If they ask, it is theirs. Until then, however, I will believe that I have their trust, and I will work to create a better world, one which I will hand over to them for all time. - Director Kerrik

Military Overview

Kaukolastan consists of four major islands, each equivalent in landmass to a large country. Corsis, in the center, and Valen, Terenaus, and Artems surrounding. Commerce was primarily by sea for thousands of years, and the ability to control the many rivers, seas, and channels in the shattered landmass was essential to the early city-states. This has necessitated a need for naval power, both blue water and littoral, throughout history, leaving Kaukolastan with a rich and ancient naval tradition.

On land, the flatlands and plateaus allowed for vast movement of cavalry. This mobile warfare, combined with the crosscutting waters, led to a history of warfare built around rapid motion and slashing attacks, with “holding” ground necessary only for vital junctions. This style of warfare, combined with early violence as groups sought to unify the nations, lead to a centralization of population into fortified cities. Thus, seige warfare in cities, and wars of maneuver in the field, moved the emphasis of warfare onto intelligence, spies and deception. To counter this, the city states decided the battles would take place in open fields, then, away from the civilian populations, reducing the ease of spies.

In modern times, this has lead to a theory of combat unique to Kaukolastan. Seiges are long and bloody, and should be avoided. Battles are meant to take place in open fields with sweeping maneuver. Most importantly, information superiority must be attained before forces should be committed at all.

TRADOC holds then, that battles should be:
Win before you begin. Far more important than firepower is information. Know your enemy and yourself.
Battles are not slugging matches. The victor is not the hardest to damage, but the hardest to hit.
Fixed defenses should not be countered with seige, but with lightning strikes that capitalize on instability.
Seize the tempo of engagement and overwhelm the enemy with precision and rapidity and volume of fire.


Accordingly, the Army is oriented around rapid deployment and high firepower. Units can deal high amounts of damage, but cannot sustain what they can deal, relying instead on rapid fire hit and fade attacks that dwindle and push the enemy force. It has been described as “two steps forward, one step back, repeat” by several journalists throughout history.

With the advent of Computers to Command, Control, Communications (C3, now C4), this strategy has grown further. Kaukolastani land units move in intricate and staggered combined-arms swarm attacks, with five allied units “spontaneously” confronting a single enemy unit, then scattering before OpFor reinforcements can arrive. Through this method, much larger, but slower enemy forces can be quickly “whittled” into little more than toothpicks.

Range, accuracy, control, intelligence, surprise, and speed are the focal points. This neglect of traditional “stand and fight” mentality has rarely faltered, and left Kaukolastan with a perfect military record (never lost an RP war!). Fixed defenses, with their lack of flexibility, are quickly overrun like a rock trying to weather the tide. It cannot win.

On defensive, several massive counter-seige pieces, such as MADAE, are utilized, though swarm tactics still remain the focus. Instead of forming a rigid “line”, forces are traditionally deployed into a “fog screen” of mobile assets. Any enemy entering into the screen will be converged upon, destroyed, and abandoned, the fog only congealing long enough to deal with the threat. “If you can't be pinned, you cannot be defeated.” - General Cross.

Obviously, these tactics come at a cost. Operational intelligence, in real time, is an absolute necessity. Logistics, especially communications and intel logistics, is a focal point, as Kaukolastani tactics are dependent upon informational superiority in the field. As such, the BattleNet System is defended by another unique twist on combat, the Slicer, or Combat Hacker, charged with protecting allied datanets and destroying enemy C4 assets.

The Navy, then, as mentioned, supports the Army by wresting control of the seas for logistical lines. The Fleets are designed to project power in deep or littoral waters, and orient around the massive Dominator Super Dreadnoughts, whose railgun batteries and unique thermo-optic countermeasures allow the tremendous ships to actually “hide” in battle, a truly idiosyncratic “stealth” SD.

The Air Force, however, is of less import. Cavalry tradition, combined with powerful Surface to Air weaponry, has traditionally proved air power a waste of resources. In every experience, Ground Units, armed with powerful SA weaponry, have mauled air power, resulting in a unique, “Dominate Up” philosophy, with air power coming in only with ground units, or in strategic pre-emptive strikes.

Thusly, the airborne units revolve around multirole VTOL gunships, fast, stealthy and lethal, capable of staying over a battlefield for far longer than traditional jets. Transports haul vast amounts of units for shock attacks, and create rotating supply lines, but no enemy confronted has been able to deter with airpower, resulting in a de-emphasis of Air to Air Combat. Air is to support ground, and Ground will sweep the skies.

Speed and shock will carry the day over prepared defenses. Information will trump firepower. Control the tempo, never relent the offense. These principles have guided the Kaukolastani military to victory throughout history.

Question #1 is fielded from the Libertarian Concordance of Czardas.

The Concordance asks, "Kaukolastan, you have chosen the path of darkness; but it is a darkness shrouded in light. You have chosen to have power over your own people, by helping them. We are curious to know how you, over time, managed to exert this power—if you can call it that—over your citizens. Can you explain it to us, how this historically came to be?"

The shadowy figure leans back in its chair, awaiting what may prove to be a most interesting answer.

"The Agency has long protected the people, originally being formed by Lord Dranem, who unified Corsis and Terenaus and set the stage for the growth of Empire. While his Empire came apart, the Agency remained. Throughout the Dark Times, only the Lightholders, as the Agency was then known, clung to visions of learning and greatness. They orchestrated the return to glory under Chancellor Giral, and by backing his rise, secured their place. They are validated by each Chancellor in turn, but they are the ones who rolled that Chancellor's ball to election, so he in turn aids the Agency.

"The trick to the Agency's power is knowing when to act, and when to observe. All is observed, but only in dire cases does the Agency move directly. In this manner, it is rarely seen by the people, but its effects: prosperity and stability, are seen. It is a Guardian Angel, albeit a twisted one.

"The true rise of the Agency to power only came two decades ago. Then-Chancellor Fenris, duly elected (elections are for life or until successful Vote of No Confidence in Kaukolastan) had grown senile. Paranoid and hungry for a legacy, he launched a foolish war. When Director Kerrik attempted to reason, he was relieved. Kerrik became a hero, and after a Geridanian [a backwater island near Kaukolastan] terrorist killed Fenris, Kerrik was quickly appointed by the people, and his glorious "emergency" rule has continued ever since, a tribute to his genius."

-August Early, State Historian.

"Geridanian terrorist? My foot... that was a professional job, an inside job. My guess is, Kerrik's predecessor, Iams, moved Fenris to power with the knowledge that the man would break. When the elected government failed, the ISA would save the day. Kerrik would be there to take the Chancellorship, and the next phase of that mysterious Transcendence would begin."

-Back alley whisper in foreign port from Geridanian national.

OOC: A link to the thread where the ISA took power:
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=333913

The Concordance smiles, catlike. Whatever mysterious delegate the nation has sent stretches slightly as he begins to speak. "I see. Like the strange relationship between the government and our own National Intelligence Agency; but that is for a different time." He turns towards the source and continues. "And what are the Agency's plans for the future? When, in a decade, or two the current leadership has left office? Will the people be given power? Will the old system be restored? Will Kerrik simply appoint or select a successor from among his closest advisors?"

The Concordance, Czardas, watches closely, still with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Kerrik has long been grooming a successor, although he remains fully willing to return power to the people if they but ask. (The odds of this are insubstantial.) However, should current objectives be fulfilled, this system will become self sustaining, and no leadership would be needed. A perfect balanced system, one unlike any ever seen." His eyes alight. "We are approaching the point of no return, of utopia born, but I cannot speak more, for I do not know, and do not wish to. The Director would tell me if I was capable of understanding."

Military Overview

Kaukolastan consists of four major islands, each equivalent in landmass to a large country. Corsis, in the center, and Valen, Terenaus, and Artems surrounding. Commerce was primarily by sea for thousands of years, and the ability to control the many rivers, seas, and channels in the shattered landmass was essential to the early city-states. This has necessitated a need for naval power, both blue water and littoral, throughout history, leaving Kaukolastan with a rich and ancient naval tradition.

On land, the flatlands and plateaus allowed for vast movement of cavalry. This mobile warfare, combined with the crosscutting waters, led to a history of warfare built around rapid motion and slashing attacks, with “holding” ground necessary only for vital junctions. This style of warfare, combined with early violence as groups sought to unify the nations, lead to a centralization of population into fortified cities. Thus, seige warfare in cities, and wars of maneuver in the field, moved the emphasis of warfare onto intelligence, spies and deception. To counter this, the city states decided the battles would take place in open fields, then, away from the civilian populations, reducing the ease of spies.

In modern times, this has lead to a theory of combat unique to Kaukolastan. Seiges are long and bloody, and should be avoided. Battles are meant to take place in open fields with sweeping maneuver. Most importantly, information superiority must be attained before forces should be committed at all.

TRADOC holds then, that battles should be:
Win before you begin. Far more important than firepower is information. Know your enemy and yourself.
Battles are not slugging matches. The victor is not the hardest to damage, but the hardest to hit.
Fixed defenses should not be countered with seige, but with lightning strikes that capitalize on instability.
Seize the tempo of engagement and overwhelm the enemy with precision and rapidity and volume of fire.


Accordingly, the Army is oriented around rapid deployment and high firepower. Units can deal high amounts of damage, but cannot sustain what they can deal, relying instead on rapid fire hit and fade attacks that dwindle and push the enemy force. It has been described as “two steps forward, one step back, repeat” by several journalists throughout history.

With the advent of Computers to Command, Control, Communications (C3, now C4), this strategy has grown further. Kaukolastani land units move in intricate and staggered combined-arms swarm attacks, with five allied units “spontaneously” confronting a single enemy unit, then scattering before OpFor reinforcements can arrive. Through this method, much larger, but slower enemy forces can be quickly “whittled” into little more than toothpicks.

Range, accuracy, control, intelligence, surprise, and speed are the focal points. This neglect of traditional “stand and fight” mentality has rarely faltered, and left Kaukolastan with a perfect military record (never lost an RP war!). Fixed defenses, with their lack of flexibility, are quickly overrun like a rock trying to weather the tide. It cannot win.

On defensive, several massive counter-seige pieces, such as MADAE, are utilized, though swarm tactics still remain the focus. Instead of forming a rigid “line”, forces are traditionally deployed into a “fog screen” of mobile assets. Any enemy entering into the screen will be converged upon, destroyed, and abandoned, the fog only congealing long enough to deal with the threat. “If you can't be pinned, you cannot be defeated.” - General Cross.

Obviously, these tactics come at a cost. Operational intelligence, in real time, is an absolute necessity. Logistics, especially communications and intel logistics, is a focal point, as Kaukolastani tactics are dependent upon informational superiority in the field. As such, the BattleNet System is defended by another unique twist on combat, the Slicer, or Combat Hacker, charged with protecting allied datanets and destroying enemy C4 assets.

The Navy, then, as mentioned, supports the Army by wresting control of the seas for logistical lines. The Fleets are designed to project power in deep or littoral waters, and orient around the massive Dominator Super Dreadnoughts, whose railgun batteries and unique thermo-optic countermeasures allow the tremendous ships to actually “hide” in battle, a truly idiosyncratic “stealth” SD.

The Air Force, however, is of less import. Cavalry tradition, combined with powerful Surface to Air weaponry, has traditionally proved air power a waste of resources. In every experience, Ground Units, armed with powerful SA weaponry, have mauled air power, resulting in a unique, “Dominate Up” philosophy, with air power coming in only with ground units, or in strategic pre-emptive strikes.

Thusly, the airborne units revolve around multirole VTOL gunships, fast, stealthy and lethal, capable of staying over a battlefield for far longer than traditional jets. Transports haul vast amounts of units for shock attacks, and create rotating supply lines, but no enemy confronted has been able to deter with airpower, resulting in a de-emphasis of Air to Air Combat. Air is to support ground, and Ground will sweep the skies.

Speed and shock will carry the day over prepared defenses. Information will trump firepower. Control the tempo, never relent the offense. These principles have guided the Kaukolastani military to victory throughout history.

The smile has not left the Concordance's face as he replies. "Yes, yes; I see. Czardas too has long strived to become a land without government, one in which the people can rule themselves with no outside interference... one in which true freedom will rule over all, and from that, find security. But unfortunately, we are still far from achieving that objective. Perhaps if—when—you have reached your ends, we can learn from looking at your nation.

"But is that not, after all, what the international community is for?"

And in the responding silence, The Concordance seems to ripple slightly, parting downwards and melting into a stream of minute pixel-like colors that vanish into the air as one watches.

Abruptly, his voice can be heard, sounding strangely echoing. "We will stay here—as in the air. But you will not always see us."

Somewhere, the process of creating a Czardaian Intelligence operative began.

Back up for the night.

'K-stan'? You might get confused with the younger, more popular, K-stan, me!

'K-stan'? You might get confused with the younger, more popular, K-stan, me!

I've been K-stan since '03. Check the stickies I worked in... they're signed K-stan, K-man, or other various permutations of K.

YOU SHALL NOT HAVE THE MIGHTY K-THRONE! HAVE AT THEE!

:D

Funny, I've got Catman and Kaz. I think we can coexsist, unless of course you want me to take the title. :wink:

Alright, enough spam. *pouts*

Funny, I've got Catman and Kaz. I think we can coexsist, unless of course you want me to take the title. :wink:

Alright, enough spam. *pouts*
Agreed.

That's sad... I spammed and hijacked my OWN THREAD. Wow.

Agreed.

That's sad... I spammed and hijacked my OWN THREAD. Wow.
A deep, disembodied voice, as from above the clouds, says, "Don't worry. It happens to all of us. Even I've done it myself, although I do have to admit that it was in the General forum..." The voice dies out as three letters appear starkly outlined against the sky: OOC. As one watches from below, brackets form around the letters, and then a slash before the first O.

Gradually the sign dies away.