NationStates Jolt Archive

The sound of lead cracking against brick resounding throughout the outter chambers of the royal palace. It was the third month the Ayatollah Essam Walid al Misri had remained confined within this lavish prison. It was the third month his elite guard jumped at every sound they heard. It was the third month since the day his country turned on him.

For years, the Holy Republic of Etaraan had remained a loyal and devoted Muslim nation, serving the will of Allah. Beautiful cities had risen up, the country reached great new heights in the sciences, and the economy was stronger than ever. And in less than a year, it had all come crashing down.

A secular movement had sprung up. A movement seeking to push Allah from the lives of his people, and from the lives of his governing heads. With every radical imprisoned, with every apostate killed, two more arose in their place, until it came to this.

The Ayatollah dropped down into a position of prayer and softly whispered a plea that Allah might save him.

Aimless tapped his finger on the table. One of the satelites in orbit had found a small country underseiged by rebels. the small country was apprently named Etaraan. It seemed a theocracy was falling down.

he and the council of Archbishops where debating to help or sit this out. The main arguement was Zackaroth was a Christian based nation and should help. But on the other side there where mulsims in Zackaroth. Also Jewish.


Aimless sighed knowing the debate would wage on for hours and he simply did not want that. " Cease the argueing. In the Bible it says god will not forsaken us. We shall not forsake another country even with diffrent relgions. We shall help them and in so they may see the light of Jesus Christ. If not then we have still done the right thing by helping our fellow nieghbor. Prepare a small strike force. Tell them to send in the DECA squad. This is a low level mission. Should be easy enough." he said getting up and walking off to see if he could try to make diplomatic contact.

General Badi'a Fadwa tugged briskly at the collar of her uniform. Taken from the body of one of the Ayatollah's elite, it's worn pecan hued threads had begun to tear and fray. The seam of the right sleeve had torn three inches to reveal a ragged grey undershirt beneath. All the original medals and rank insignias remained intact, though dulled from the wears of battled and guerilla warfare.

This was hardly the image one might picture for the leader of this insurrection. The second daughter of a simple farmer, it was a long and strange story that brought her first to the status of a women's rights protester (quite the dangerous profession in Etaraan), on to become leader of an all out rebellion.

And yet here they were. Thousands of men and women ready to commit to a new future- a secular state in which women were treated as equals, all religions might practice freely, and all could live without the fear of the state. They were so close to such a beautious victory.

Jasam Tunge'y leaned back, relaxed, in his chair. His mind was not relaxed though. The news of a rebellion in Eteraan had even reached the small nation of Sterino, and it was not happy news. Tunge'y sat thinking about it. 'A rebellion? Disgusting behaviour! These people must be stopped and taught a lesson about respecting the law in charge.' Tunge'y had been considering whether or not to take the incident up with President Osam J. Hungda or not. President Hungda would probarly have the same thoughts as himself, but going into conflict would almost defintely be a disaster for them.

Tunge'y thought for another half hour about it. If President Hungda never knew about the attack, then he could not consider any blame, even if it was his High Chosen Secretary who led it. Then agian, who is to say he would be found out? Tunge'y had been carrying out attacks on countrys who did things that shouldnt be thought of, and never been found out. Yes, the UN called the group that he led Terrorists, but he preffered to refer to them as Justice-Doers.

Tunge'y reached his decision. He lent forward and picked up his phone, and pressed #8. There was a few seconds of ringing, in which Tunge'y played with the telephone cord in his hand, and then someone picked up.

"Hello?"
"Hello agian Tustan."
"Jasam? Why are you calling?"
"I want an attack carried out on the nation Eteraan."
"Jasam, you know it is not as simple as to just send a man into a country and blow him up for no reason..."
"There is a reason! The country has revolted agianst their leader! Its a rebellion Tustan! What if our people take the same idea and try to rebel agianst President Hungda? We would both lose our positions in office!"
"Alright, but still, its not simple to send someone in."
"I don't want to send someone. I want some people."
"This nation has nothing to do with us."
"Listen Tustan, you know what I am capable of, please don't get me angry at you, just please do as i say!"

There was several seconds of no sound coming from the phone except a small fuzz. Then there was a reply.

"Alright"
"Good" Said Jasam, relaxing once more, "What are you able to do?"
"Depends, what are your plans?"
"Hmm... I think an assasination on a few of the Rebelliors head figures would do the trick."
"Got any names?"
"Not at the moment, I'll get back to you with them. Thank you Tustan."
"Your welcome Jasam."

With that Tustan hung up the phone, and switched on his computer, ready to search for details of Eteraan recent news.

OOC: A few names would be helpful from Eteraan :p

OOC: before i get involved, what would my passive intelligence efforts have picked up on the state of civil rights in Etaraan before the rebelion? or even just random minor diplomatic contacts that may have occured.

Tustan was doing some paperwork on the excuse for such a lack of money being put into education. 'Education? Waste of time! Military training is all our men need, and cooking and cleaning skills for the woman'. He gasped and jumped slighty from his seat when the phone rang. He picked it up instantly.

"Hello?"
"Hello"
"Jasam, you agian, that was quick."
"I know, it wasnt to hard to find information on their leader."
"Okay, whats his name?"
"You mean whats her name"
"A woman?"
"Yes, a woman"
Tustan spat on the ground at the very thought of a woman taken charge of a country.
"Whats her name?"
"General Badi'a Fadwa, she has led the rebellion in this country. Fancies her self some sort of hero."
"Woman can't be heroes."
"Exactly, which is why we must stop her, not only is she giving the impression you can over run a leader, but also that woman can be in charge!"
"True. So, you are saying you want her assisinated?"
"Yes. It should be easier to just kill off one person instead of a few. Plus, the nation has been through a lot, I doubt there National Security will be up to stopping such killed soldiers as ours"
"Not ours Jasam, mine."
"I am the one paying for the weapons and services am I not?"
"But I am the one commanding them."
"Good, then command them to assasinate this woman!"
"That I shall."

It was 1pm next day. Tustan was walking through the streets, relitevaly quite for a saturday. Not too suprising though, there was armed police on every street, and even Tustans respected position in the government could stop him from getting looked at, thought it did protect him from random searches every 10 minutes. He walked into a barber on a street corner. There was a bald man behind the counter, pretending to do some work. Tustan walked right up to the man.
"I would like a hair cut please. Then I would like for the remainder hair to be coloured blue." Said Tustan, staring at the man.
"This service can only be done in the back room."
"That is quite alright." Replied Tustan, and walked behind the counter, took out a small golden key, put it in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. He walked through into a dimly lit room, which had a small table, where there was 1 spare seat, and 6 other men sitting around it. Tustan shut the door behind him and sat down in the seat.

"Thank you all for coming. I have chosen you six to fly to Eteraan and assisinate General Badi'a Fadwa, she..."
"She?!" Asked one of the men, startled at this.
"Do not speak out of turn Kustov"
"And don't you order me around or I wont do the assasination!" He said, rising from his seat angirly. Tustan quickly whipped out a desert eagle and shot Kustov in the head. Blood splattered onto the wall as he dropped to the floor, knocking his chair over in the process.
"Dont worry," Said Tustan, putting the gun away, "He was new. Anyway, as I was saying. I have chosen you five to fly to Eteraan and assisnate General Badi'a Fadwa, she is leading a rebellion, and this country does not agree. This is not a national military operation, this is secret, and by all means, illegal, but it is still for the best, and im sure the whole nation will agree with us. Any questions?"
"How are we going to get there, and where will we get the weapons?" Said one man, sitting next to Tustan.
"Our good friend Jasam Tunge'y is supplying us with 7 desert eagles, one denanator, 2 sub-machine guns, and 3 sniper rifles. Getting there will be more difficult then getting the weapons though. You will have to hi-jack a plane from the Sterino airport..."
"Impossible! The security is too tight, we wont..."
"Ahem." Sounded Tustan, nodding towards the dead body on the floor, which blood had seeped from. The man nodded an apoligy, and shut his mouth.
"You will have to hi-jack a plane from the Sterino airport." Continued Tustan, not used to being interupted so frequently in one meeting. "This may normally seem difficult, especially getting through all that security with all those weapons, but it shall be a bit easier then we think. President Hungda will be opening a new air strip 4 days from now. On that day, the security will be extremely high, which is when we will strike. One of you, you may decide among yourselves on this, must take a shot at me, as I shall be there with the President. I will be wearing body armour, and it will be a rubber bullet. It should cause enough chaos around the President though, to allow the remaining four of you to get past the security. On runway 2, there will be a small private jet which you can hi-jack and fligh to Eteraan. Once you are there, I will give you more details."

Tustan was doing some paperwork on the excuse for such a lack of money being put into education. 'Education? Waste of time! Military training is all our men need, and cooking and cleaning skills for the woman'. He gasped and jumped slighty from his seat when the phone rang. He picked it up instantly.

"Hello?"
"Hello"
"Jasam, you agian, that was quick."
"I know, it wasnt to hard to find information on their leader."
"Okay, whats his name?"
"You mean whats her name"
"A woman?"
"Yes, a woman"
Tustan spat on the ground at the very thought of a woman taken charge of a country.
"Whats her name?"
"General Badi'a Fadwa, she has led the rebellion in this country. Fancies her self some sort of hero."
"Woman can't be heroes."
"Exactly, which is why we must stop her, not only is she giving the impression you can over run a leader, but also that woman can be in charge!"
"True. So, you are saying you want her assisinated?"
"Yes. It should be easier to just kill off one person instead of a few. Plus, the nation has been through a lot, I doubt there National Security will be up to stopping such killed soldiers as ours"
"Not ours Jasam, mine."
"I am the one paying for the weapons and services am I not?"
"But I am the one commanding them."
"Good, then command them to assasinate this woman!"
"That I shall."

It was 1pm next day. Tustan was walking through the streets, relitevaly quite for a saturday. Not too suprising though, there was armed police on every street, and even Tustans respected position in the government could not stop him from getting looked at, though it did protect him from random searches every 10 minutes. He walked into a barber on a street corner. There was a bald man behind the counter, pretending to do some work. Tustan walked right up to the man.
"I would like a hair cut please. Then I would like for the remainder hair to be coloured blue." Said Tustan, staring at the man.
"This service can only be done in the back room."
"That is quite alright." Replied Tustan, and walked behind the counter, took out a small golden key, put it in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. He walked through into a dimly lit room, which had a small table, where there was 1 spare seat, and 6 other men sitting around it. Tustan shut the door behind him and sat down in the seat.

"Thank you all for coming. I have chosen you six to fly to Eteraan and assisinate General Badi'a Fadwa, she..."
"She?!" Asked one of the men, startled at this.
"Do not speak out of turn Kustov"
"And don't you order me around or I wont do the assasination!" He said, rising from his seat angirly. Tustan quickly whipped out a desert eagle and shot Kustov in the head. Blood splattered onto the wall as he dropped to the floor, knocking his chair over in the process.
"Dont worry," Said Tustan, putting the gun away, "He was new. Anyway, as I was saying. I have chosen you five to fly to Eteraan and assisnate General Badi'a Fadwa, she is leading a rebellion, and this country does not agree. This is not a national military operation, this is secret, and by all means, illegal, but it is still for the best, and im sure the whole nation will agree with us. Any questions?"
"How are we going to get there, and where will we get the weapons?" Said one man, sitting next to Tustan.
"Our good friend Jasam Tunge'y is supplying us with 7 desert eagles, one denanator, 2 sub-machine guns, and 3 sniper rifles. Getting there will be more difficult then getting the weapons though. You will have to hi-jack a plane from the Sterino airport..."
"Impossible! The security is too tight, we wont..."
"Ahem." Sounded Tustan, nodding towards the dead body on the floor, which blood had seeped from. The man nodded an apoligy, and shut his mouth.
"You will have to hi-jack a plane from the Sterino airport." Continued Tustan, not used to being interupted so frequently in one meeting. "This may normally seem difficult, especially getting through all that security with all those weapons, but it shall be a bit easier then we think. President Hungda will be opening a new air strip 4 days from now. On that day, the security will be extremely high, which is when we will strike. One of you, you may decide among yourselves on this, must take a shot at me, as I shall be there with the President. I will be wearing body armour, and it will be a rubber bullet. It should cause enough chaos around the President though, to allow the remaining four of you to get past the security. On runway 2, there will be a small private jet which you can hi-jack and fligh to Eteraan. Once you are there, I will give you more details."

ooc:

No_State_At_All: Intelligence for the region prior to the rebellion would show a warped view of Islamic law enforced at gun point. Women are considered more pets than people, political dissidents are shot at gunpoint. The economy is strictly regulated to prevent any foreign "sacreligious" items to enter into the country. The country was hostile to all external interactions. This rebellion seeks a separation of church and state and to provide equality throughout the country.

Sterino: There are going to be issues assassinating Fadwa in that she is not a visible leader. She is also only the leader of the cell attacking the Ayatollah. She looks and acts exactly as all the other rebels and all orders are relayed through other people. I have no problem with you going after her, just keep this in mind as you do.

I'll post IC soon...as soon as I do at least half the massive stack o' homework I have sitting on my floor...

Captain Aram Hasheed glanced over the city with a broad grin. The upper level of the Madeeshwa building provided the perfected view of this newly "captured" city. In reality, it was quite difficult to deem something captured when the vast majority of the army joined the dissident movement (as was expected). The handful of military men who remained loyal to the Islamic government melted away into the night, along with a few dozen politicians and clerics. Most religious leaders remained exactly where they had resided for decades, unharmed and seemingly undisturbed by the swift power reversal. They realized exactly what was happening. This was not the death of Islam. This was the death of a government forcing corruptions of Islamic law.

Hasheed stared out the window to the north, a faint smile creeping across his lips. Word had it that General Fadwa was only days away from the final push to eliminate the tyranny that was held in the central government. The capitol was the final battleground. Here, the figurehead of theological repression would at last be brought down.

Bump

*one last bump for interest*

Chancellor Kazhem read the telegram once more.

REBELLION IN ETARAAN STOP FREEDOM AND BALANCE STOP GOVERNMENT COLLAPSED STOP COUNCIL WANTS ACTION STOP

This was interesting. From what he had heard the Islamic government had brought about and era of corrupt Religious power and rascist genocide. It seemed simply that the rebellion wanted more eqaulity and freedom. Both of which Nevadski considered good reasons. But Nevadski had been allies with the government, and empowering what looked like "terrorists" might spell a bad name for himself. But he was sure the rebellion would bring an even greater nation from the ashes. That settles it then, were going to help the rebellion. He clicked on the intercom button.

"Yes sir?" his secretary replied.

"Call in the Warlord of the Nevadski Defence Force, the President of Paradyne Technological Laboratories and the Head of the Armed Forces Production and tell them its Order 205. Double time." he replied quickly. He quickly got to his feet and hurried towards his car to get to his private airfield. This situation required meetings in the flesh. The rebels wouldn't trust some corrupt politician hiding behind a camera screen. He got into his car and thought over it once more. He was taking a big risk....but something needed to be done.

President Westfall paced in his office before sitting with the Archbishop. His eyes darted about as he pondered the situation in Etaraan. "Guidance?" he finally said, turning to Archbishop William Kodarth.
The aged bishop stared back at him. "What do you think, brother?"
"We are a Christian nation. I am essentially a Christian king, merely with the vulnerability to impeachment. Our professed goal as a nation is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world."
"Yes..."
"But mediate a conflict between a pagan religion and secularism?"
"No."
The President muttered something incoherent. "I though you would say that."
"Are you angry?"
"Certainly not...I want no entanglement with radical Islamists. We're already dealing with insurgents along the Nimikov border."
The bishop stood up and walked over to the president. "What's to be done then? What would our Lord tell you?"
Westfall stared into the wall. "'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.'"
Kodarth smiled. "There you have it."
"I will investigate, with the help of the Senate, necessary measures to bring them humanitarian aid. This situation will have unbalanced their security, their economy. To whatever side wins this conflict, or perhaps only to the civilians, we can provide help--food, supplies, manpower for reconstruction."
The bishop said, "I will help you prepare a statment."

Marshall Josef Namazov reclined in the brown leather chair, reading over the situation briefing, handed to him earlier as something of interest. He closed the portfolio and set it on his desk, putting his feet up beside it and exhaling heavily.

"Peace and freedom, eh?"

He chuckled at his private joke. His aids remained silent, a little nervous.

"Gentlemen, as you know Teslia is modernizing, rearming. As you also know, there is no shortage of nations willing to aid us in this endeavor. A totalitarian state does not garner the scorn and the kick from the collective democratic boot that it once did. Now, you ask yourselves how our present situation relates to that in Etaraan. Well gentlemen, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. The rebellion is, for all intents and purposes, completed and all that remains is for the Ayatollah to capitulate and be executed. However, once this is completed, I predict a rough transitional period. The path is not paved for a true democracy, not yet at least. The nation is unused to such a thing. The rebel leaders are divided, united only in their cause. What happens when their goal is achieved?"

Dictator Namazov looked around the room. The men in uniform listened intently, saying nothing.

"In short gentlemen, we have to ensure that the vacuum occurs. The only way to pull a nation out of a vacuum is through a strong central leader. A secular ruler, of course, but a powerful one. Then, gentlemen, Teslia will find a kindred national spirit in this Etaraan. But first, the rebellion must be concluded. Rebels need armaments, ammunition, currency. This is something we have in bulk. We are already producing a surplus, even with our rearmament needs. We can ship enough guns to the nation so that every old man and child can fight alongside their sons and fathers."

a smirk appeared on Namazov's lips, and it spread through the room.

(OOC: Etaraan, would it be possible to obtain a bit of geographical information? Is the captured city a port city, does it have any waterway acces at all, or is it landlocked? Also, I assume that rebel communication equipment is rather lacking, unless of course they've captured government relay posts or something of that nature, so would it be more advantageous to send a human representative? Thanks, and good job on the RP.)

As President Westfall entered the room and was seated, the chattering at the table diminished to a hushed whisper. The Overseer of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Polnavik, stood and spoke.
"Gentlemen, the president and I called you here this morning to discuss recent developments regarding the theocratic overthrow in Etaraan." He looked to an aide behind him; said "lights, if you please."
As the lights were dimmed a projector flared to life, and the image appeared on the far wall. Depicted were a small squadron of transport helicopters.
Polnavik straightened his glasses. "Gentlemen, in these pictures you will witness the armed forces of Teslia distributing supplies among the Etaraani secularist rebels." The slides progressed, each picture showing boxes of ammunition, money, food, and other supplies being offloaded from helicopters, and Teslian soldiers carrying them to fabricated rebel storage warehouses.
"Our intelligence officials can tell with an excellent degree of certainty that the soldiers in these photographs are, in fact, Teslian, based on the weapons they carry and the make of their uniforms and body armor. We do not yet know the full extent of their assistance to the rebels."
A voice came from the back of the room. "Excuse me." It was Minister of Defense Hogan Mornstream. "I am compelled to call into question the relevance of any of this to our own actions regarding Etaraan. President Westfall's proposed monetary donations and humanitarian aid were to wait until after the conflict had ceased."
"Yes," responded the Overseer. "But this situation adds a new dimension to what our role may be."
"How so? I had been under the impression that our only interference in this matter would be of a humanitarian nature."
"That is correct," responded Polnavik. "But this changes some things. This action by the Teslia government indicates their interest in the success of the rebellion. It is possible, and based on the nature of the Teslian authority structure, highly probable, that they are seeking to give aid in the hope of funding a new dictatorship in Etaraan, possibly worse than its theocratic predecessor, and under their own control."
"Do you perceive this to be a threat to us? Dictator Namazov has rarely even directed his attention toward us."
President Westfall interrupted. "It is our concern, and also that of the church, that this action will destabilize the entire region with a series of wars--precipitated by this new totalitarian state--and only propagate further destructive conflicts."
"So then you will respond with force?" said Mornstream.
"Not necessarily," replied Polnavik. "The president and myself are approaching other foreign nations, as part of a collective effort to look into the matter, which will decide what is best to do."

Four days later, the President and Overseer of Foreign Affairs declared that a convention would be held in Pennula, open to any interested nation, to form a coalition of states that would decide together the best course of action regarding intervention (whether humanitarian, economic, or military) in the Etaraan.