NationStates Jolt Archive

[ooc:] Related to this thread.

[ic:]

Within a very short span of each other, two videos, the only communications received from Czardas since the beginning of the Warmasterian invasion, begin showing on all international television, overriding anything else viewed at the same time.

The first video is about fourteen minutes in length and starts with footage of a city from above, the caption reading only, "Aurú, Czardas, 1 March 2006, 16:38. Population: 750 000." Below, citizens are seen going about their daily business, as cars drive on the streets, a normal day.

Then one can hear the sound of air-sirens and thousands upon thousands of missiles descend from the sky, launched from a Warmasterian fleet some distance away from Aurú. People scream and run to and fro, panicking as missiles impact civilian areas, destroying buildings and killing thousands. The cameras show footage from afar of the ships launching more and more missiles and shells, a caption identifying them as Imperial Warmasterian vessels. Finally the bombardment finishes. The cameras pass over the once thriving city, now reduced to rubble and wreckage with napalm-fueled fires blocking the vision, and the caption reads: "Aurú, Czardas, 1 March 2006, 16:53. Population: 0." The video fades into blackness.

Several hours later, a second video is released. This one is of significantly better quality and shows a horrific torture scene:
...Rahvin began to speak.

“Czardaians, I bring you a message of death today. During the capture of Senazkerkia, the population of the city resisted Imperial occupation and fled, burning the town behind them. However, the Legions are not cheated of their prize so easily. The forests outside Senazkerkia are still burning, and will burn for a long time yet...a fitting grave for infidels. Only one captive was taken. One. And now I bring you the pleasure of seeing how Kregaians treat infidels. Observe.”

The Inquisitor selected a device that looked like a pair of pliers from a velvet-lined box, as well as a scalpel. Moving to the Czardaian’s fingers, he made an incision around the knuckle, then reached in with the pliers. The man screamed in pain, and the Inquisitor withdrew, the man’s knuckle in the grip of his pliers. He repeated the process three times on the right hand, then used the pliers to pick up a red-hot coal from a brazier, and traded the scalpel for a flaying knife. Slowly he cut off a long chunk of skin, and the Czardaian arched his back, screaming louder than ever. The Inquisitor stroked the coal along the wound, slowly seeping blood, burning it black and cauterizing the gash, drawing it slowly along the exposed flesh. The next step was to place the coal in the man’s navel. Leaving it there for a few seconds, the Inquisitor calmly selected the scalpel again, slowly making a slit in the man’s stomach, grasping the pliers and using the coal to cauterize this wound as well, as a safety precaution against blood-borne diseases. Before working further with the gut wound, the Inquisitor moved to the feet, drawing a needle from the brazier where it had been heating. The Inquisition had known for centuries that areas of the body corresponded to areas of the foot, and when the Inquisitor jabbed the red-hot needle into a central nerve where the foot met the leg, not only did the man let out a shriek that deafened the others, but he bucked and thrashed wildly against the metal restraints as his tormentor held the needle to the nerve for a few seconds. The Inquisitor replaced the needle and reached for a metal eyedropper. Holding the man’s eyelids open with two fingers, he dropped in three drops of an alkaline solution strong enough to scour the flesh from the bones of a stag in minutes. The screams seemed to go on forever. Finally, he turned to the cut he had made earlier in the gut. Locating another nerve, the Inquisitor began to strum it like a guitar string, sending waves of agony rippling up the man’s spine. Forsaking a dropper, the Inquisitor selected a metal cup of the alkaline solution, emptying it over the man’s intestines. The man tossed his head back and forth screaming his lungs out, and the torturer seized his opportunity to force his head down and drive a spike through the tongue, preventing him from screaming while the Inquisitor used a device not unlike a cheese grater to shred the flesh on his thigh, using a twisted form of massage to widen the wounds and exacerbate pain. Tiring of the man’s silence, the Inquisitor left the nail alone, but instead ripped his tongue away from the spike, tearing off the tip. The Inquisitor then moved around the table to an arm, gripping it with irresistible strength and breaking it, over and over again, splintering it until he knew it the bone was a mass of fractures. The screams of the captive seemed to go on forever...

For hours the man was tortured on Czardaian live television, the Inquisitor never repeating himself. However, at last he began to tire of the job and began practicing forms designed to slowly kill, not to sustain life, while still maintaining maximum pain.
Any normal programming after this will seem dull and subdued in comparison... and whatever Czardaian group released them knows that someone, somewhere, is going to respond. The Czardaian government has released no statement, but that is primarily because it has mostly collapsed...

Atrocities like this cannot be ignored forever. Yet until now, the world seems to have taken no notice.

The populace of Franberry has called for action, after viewing the video (the second one was not shown, due to the fact that it was too graphic). The goverment of Franberry offers Czardras any materiel they require. The goverment also sends its condolences.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: Government of Franberry

We thank you for your condolences and offer of materials to help rebuild the city destroyed by the attack. Sadly those killed in the attack cannot be revived, but any aid to help rebuild the lives of the survivors will be greatly appreciated.

~ An unknown Czardaian, speaking for the people of Czardas
~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Admiral watched the videos. "What is the matter with earth today?" He asked him self. He asked his secretary for an update on the Czardasian Government. "It's mostly in ruins," the reply came. The Admiral sent the following message, via radio, to the people of Czardas:

It is with great regret that I watch these videos. I am sure that you are in need of help rebuilding. I will be sending a force of around three and a half thousand men to aid you in these desperate times. Also, the INAL will be sending the Spectors to help the Riders, who I am sending, to scour the mountians and hills of your nation in hopes of finding who ever ordered the attack.

With my deepest regards,
Supreme Admiral F. Crowley

[ooc:] As a note, I'd appreciate it if people tried their best to write highly detailed posts, and read at least the later pages of the link on top of the thread.

[ic:]
~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: Supreme Admiral F. Crowley, Drexel Hillsville

We thank you for your words. However, we know who ordered the attack and the torture. The orders came from the Warmasterian Admirals and Generals commanding the force of over 1,000 vessels, 10,000 aircrafts, and 3 million soldiers invading Czardas, along with all of their allies. We therefore believe that your task force, while admirable, will be ineffectual against such mighty armies.

~ An unknown Czardaian citizen (see above)
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upon reading the reply that he had received the Supreme Admiral sent forth yet another radio brodcast:

The Hillian forces offers it's aid and protection from the said invading forces. We are a fromidable opponet to many nations of the modern world. Our navy is one to be reconed with. We will stand beside you in your time of need.

Admiral F. Crowley of the CFA

~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: Supreme Admiral F. Crowley

We thank you for your aid. However, we would not want it to be wasted against such forces as we know to be besieging the Czardaian mainland; over 6,000 or even 7,000 naval vessels in total, including at least fifty superdreadnaughts and hundreds of battleships. We doubt that any single navy in the world would be able to stand up to a force of this magnitude, and recommend that you gather a coalition of equally determined allies to counter this menace rather than dashing headlong into possible destruction.

~ An Unknown Czardaian
~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Emperor stared at the video, shrugging a bit at the extremely graphic torture scene. It was a bit of a problem that it had gotten out, but thankfully neither of the videos had made it through to Yurka. Torturing someone and sending it to the nation's populace would work one of two ways, by making them more prone to surrendering totally, or making them unwilling to be taken alive. Not that it mattered, as any further things leaving Czardas would be blocked. Now there was more of a reason for the Empire to hurry up with the attacks.

"Damn... I suppose its better that we haven't been shown involved with any of that yet." The dark haired Emperor said with a sigh as he leaned back in the seat behind his desk and spun around in it.

Bumpage

Spirits ran high in the top Imperial FCC-equivalent centres as the high-ranking officials laughed and jeered, watching the two programmes. Due to the extensive censorship, very little was let into Imperial TV networks without being screened first by the censor board, and there was no way in hell the obvious anti-CAD propaganda was going to make it a mile into Bandurian territory. The torture scene was reminiscent of the Bandurian SIT II or thereabouts; no-one was actually particularly shocked, in fact many found it amusing, only reserving the labels of brutal and horrific for such techniques as SIT V ot even beyond. Auru swiftly became the butt of the Bandurian jokes in the upper levels of the military, with the full knowledge that only an incredibly foolish, or pacifistic—they were virtually equivalent—nation would leave such a large city bereft of defences.

Emperor Lucius I, however, was less happy with the result. He knew that the messages would get out to the world at large, and possibly cause trouble for Banduria and her allies. He realised swiftly that he would have to issue a public statement on the matter, and that the moment he departed the Imperial Palace reporters would be swarming him asking for comments on the continued alliance with Warmaster.

Therefore, Lucius lost no time in releasing a statement to the various nations of the world:

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/dornuva.jpg

Official Imperial Statement

During the invasion of Czardas, we have become aware that certain 'atrocities', including the apparent deaths of civilians and the televised death by torture of a Czardaian citizen among other things, have been perpetrated by our allies in the CAD. We are sure that many of you may be asking why the Imperium continues to ally itself with such nations.

The reasons behind this are very clear. The invasion of Czardas is a legitimate conflict, brought on by their own foolishness and provocation. The death of their people was brought upon by their leaders, and for supporting them, the citizens deserve to die.

The city of Auru, in and of itself, was a legitimate target as well—it was the Czardaians' fault of its destruction for not reinforcing it adequately, or warning its residents properly. We see no reason why this should be considered an atrocity, except in the atrocious planning brought upon by the leaders of Czardas.

As for the man tortured to death... he had surrendered himself and his city to The Warmaster, thus bringing himself subject under Warmasterian law, and punished accordingly. The Warmasterian laws themselves are no more harsh than the laws of the Imperium of Banduria itself, or many other nations, and thus the punishment itself was legitimate and should not be considered a crime of any kind.

In addition, nations that attempt to give military aid to Czardas will be met with the full military force of the CAD. You would be unjustified in your cause, aiding an already doomed nation. The Czardaians brought this upon themselves; do not bring destruction upon yourself as well.

You have been warned.

OOC: Not to be a numbers Nazi, but...it's actually 6.6 million troops. Or does he just not know? ...Whatever.

IC: OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQUE:

The Imperium wishes to thank Banduria. It has stated our position perfectly. That man was subject to Imperial law. His demise was a political tool, no different from legislative language in a bill. Any nation that wishes to meet the Legions in battle...we will bury your mangled bodies on the Czardaian soil that we conquer. We warn you against such foolishness.

Saul Hudson watched impassively at the television images of a single poor wretch being tortured to death on international television. One Czardaian with the nerve to stand up to the Warmaster. Hudson would have felt a tug of pity, or at least respect, but the Czardaian had apparently been stupid enough to insult someone high up in the command structure. The Imperial Inquisitors were not given to broadcasting their every work. This was an important case. From the corner of his eye, he saw his aide, Aleister Crowley grimace.

"You seem troubled, Aleister."

"I am, Milord. The footage is...gruesome."

"I agree. Our own torturers are slightly less given to fanfare, but just as effective at extracting information. Of course, the Inquisitors intended no such thing here."

"Of course, Your Highness. Should I write up a press release, seeing as our forces are participating in the invasion?"

"You may. Tell the international community that quite frankly, Czardas should have expected atrocities like this. The videos in no way undermine our commitment to the war or our allies, including the Warmaster."

"I will make a statement to the press immediately, My Liege."

"Good. That will be all, Aleister."

Turning on his heel, Crowley left the room, leaving Hudson to his thoughts, foremost of which was how the inevitable media frenzy would affect the peace conference already being planned, and how the Czardaian general population would react to the videos.

Bumpity

Avlos Selkirk leaned back in the plush leather chair. He didn't know whether to throw up or laugh. Maybe both, he decided.

Surrounding him, and a bit cramped in the Great Hall's Situation room, sat some of his senior staff, the Viceroys of the Armed Forces, and, on the far side now with his head held low, the Premier of The Voltarum.

There was a sickening silence in the room, as the monitors that moments before were filled with the gruesome images out of Czardas were now quiet with calming static. For some time no one motioned to turn them off.

In a dull and sorrowful voice, Premier Xerco Longbottom broke the silence. "Chancellor Selkirk, now that we have seen what we needed to see, can you kindly update us on the situation."

Avlos stood and took a deep breath. "As you know, when the situation first developed, we originally mobilized a defensive fleet to defend Czardas from an impending attack. However, several factors caused us to withdraw the fleet... the most prominent being the conflict that arose between our nation and Czardas' chief ally and defender The Silver Sky. Upon Silver Sky's regretful action in the colonial theatre, the Order decided it was best to sever all relations with our former Woodstock Pact ally. This included the calling back of our forces around Czardas. At the time, Czardas' borders were untouched, and seemingly well guarded from attack....

He turned now, and flipped on a display on the west wall of the room. A display of Czardanian territory appeared, now pox marked with foreign colors representing the inflitration into the mainland of the country. "... As you can see, this situation has somewhat changed in the last few months."

"As you no doubt gathered from the videos, the invasion is crippling, and what's left of the government seems to be in chaos. Reports are coming out that the Czardaians are asking for a cease of hostilities, but given the participants, the likelihood of that happening is low."

Avlos turned and sat - never had a briefing been so hard - the undeserving guilt lay on his conscious like weight on his back.

The Premier rose, supporting his 71 year old frame on his ebony cane. "I bring you all here tonight to inform you of the situation. As you can gather from Avlos' information and these videos, the situation in Czardas is both inhumane, yet at the same time nearly impossible to rectify. Any diplomatic message will be nothing more than a finger wagging at the monsters responsible for these crimes against humanity. In addition, you have seen the numbers - even our great navy in its entirety could not save Czardas now. So, you may ask, what can we do? ...And then, you probably come to the one plausible conclusion. I will tell you right now that the possibility is near zero, given the current climate, but it is there. There are already hints from one member of getting involved - so I tell you this now, should the call come for action. We need to be ready, and we need to be willing. Despite Czardas' errors that seemingly started this confrontation, I think we can all agree that what we saw there" - he motions to the now dead monitors - "is far beyond retribution."

He paused, and looked around the table. "And finally, although I know it is on the minds of everyone in this room, we must also forget our decisions of the past, and move on to what we may do for the future of the innocent people being murdered at the hands of the tyrants in The Warmaster and her allies."


Official Government Statement

Our nation hereby condemns the actions of The Warmaster and her allies in the atrocities committed against the people of Czardas. Try as you might, we look with pity at your pathetic attempts to justify what can only be termed as genocide. Once again, the wanton members of the CAD have shown their inhumanity and ignorance, and your frivolous warnings just serve to show your innate trepidation of outside intervention. We urge all nations involved to cease these malicious actions and attempt to resolve this conflict without further loss of life.

Signed, High Chancellor Xerco Longbottom, Premier of the High Order
(12 other Chancellors)

~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: Government of The Voltarum

We thank The Voltarum for their statements; at least one country can recognize the CAD's statements for what they are. I will say now that the Czardaian government was foolish—very foolish, indeed. Despite The Silver Sky's co-operation with Doomingsland, we trusted them to continue to help defend Czardas against attackers, support they withdrew as soon as it appeared conflict was imminent.

If possible—as we have lost much contact with the outside world—is there a way you can reach the Woodstock Pact, or any of our other allies, asking them for diplomatic support? The only thing that will convince the CAD to back down is a threat of greater numbers and military force, and perhaps they would pay more notice to such an alliance than to lone nations.

~ J. R. S., a member of the Czardaian Council of 400
Provisional Government Headquarters, Adarion, Czardas
~~~~~~~~~~~~

OFFICIAL DIPLOMATIC COMMUNIQUE:

We would like it to be known that we have agreed with the Czardaian government to a ceasefire and a conference to decide the outcome of the war to be hosted in Czarna. This means that Imperial engagements have ceased. Your complaints, then, are useless, as we have reached a state of truce, and this should satisfy your pacifistic whinings for now. However, understand that the Imperium will strive to maintain a degree of realism, from all parties involved, and that a temporary truce does not mean that a state of open war cannot be re-declared in the wake of this conference. It is the discussions themselves that will decide this, not any so-called aggression or belligerence from the Imperium.

His Divine Majesty Sacred Emperor Lucifer of Domain Halcyon

The Dictator of New Bonzawaneia switched off the television out of disgust once it got to the second video.
After a long talk with his ministers, he gave this speech to his people:

People of The Third Democratic Dictatorship (!!!) of New Bonzawaneia, once again a nation of currption a nasty punishments is threatening another nation. I'm sure you've all seen the; unsettling footage and will therefore know that we must act. I agree with this, although I do not want to pull our grand nation into war. So we will do the next best, peaceful, thing. Give aid. Medical supplies and whatever else is needed in Czardas WILL be sent.
Thank-you for your time...

What he did not broadcast is that he would also send weapons if requested...

The room was silent as the footage was played on international TV. The devastation of Aurú, then the subsequent torture of a man in one of the most brutal interrogations ever witnessed, even Mr Fisher, a cynic in his 40's who'd seen action in several theatres and now the director of intelligence winced at the atrocities. Animarnia TV did not censor its news broadcasts and Animarnia Citizens were calling out for blood, The blood of The Warmaster and her allies.

President Friedman sat with his head in his hands, contemplating the situation it seemed these days every country and their goldfish was committing acts of genocide, the ICLU in Gilibad, the 'Communists' in Kravania they couldn't go poking there nose in to every conflict in the world. But this, never had he seen such mass murder on a grand scale and to broadcast it all on live TV showed the utmost contempt for the international community as a whole.

But the question remained, what could they do about it. 5000 Special Forces were currently in Lone Alliance aiding them; the bulk of Animarnia's military had been mobilised for possible conflict with Kravania and was still on standby. In theory he could deploy a large contingent of forces to the area all though they would be severely outnumbered and sending the country headlong into war could lead to similar scenes being committed on Animarnia soil.

Even though, long-standing policy had been to uses Animarnia's military only in defence of herself and of her protectorates and allies, still even if he could convince the senate that it was worth it Animarnia couldn't hope to do anything on her own. It was time to call on an old friend; one it had not spoken to in a long time, from an alliance that may have been forgotten…


Encrypted Code Omega Black
To: Czardas Officals
From: Nameless Government offical.

We are willing to supply you with advanced weapons to help you fight off those who have commited such acts of mass murder against your citizens. Tell use what you need most.

End Encyption.