No endorse
12-03-2007, 02:26
Atal Amner scanned the crowd, gathered before him, reveling in the moment. Thousands, no, over a million were present to hear him speak at the annual ‘State of the Motherland’ address, chanting songs and waving the banners of the Glorious Motherland. Everywhere there were government officials, keeping order, providing security, and managing the colossal sound system constructed for the event. Finally, the soaring overtures and themes being piped over the speakers concluded, and an orderly signaled the Prime Minister. He glanced behind to Violet, smiling up from her seat among the numerous orderlies. She was beautiful, despite the horrible toll her injuries had taken upon her, and as she smiled at him, he felt infallible.
“BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE MOTHERLAND! I come before you bearing good tidings!” The crowd began to quiet down, settling in for yet another long speech. A State of the Motherland speech is quite possibly the longest speech any person in No Endorse has to make. Stretching over the first five days of the New Year, this series of speeches covers every facet of No Endorse life, from the latest fashions to the most recent laws passed, featuring a statement from anyone with any sort of political power. They were a time of celebration and community, a preparation for the coming year and a reflection of the last. The Prime Minister, of course, always speaks last, summing up the past days’ speeches into a single statement, spanning hours.
However, on this fifth day of January, Amner was going to break tradition, quite possibly for the first time in his life. After several moments, he smiled, and, gesturing about him, uttered a single statement. “The Nation has never been better.” After a few moments, of stunned silence, a few whispers began to rip through the crowd. Pausing just a second longer for dramatic effect, Amner leapt right into his speech.
“In the time since I first took up leadership of this nation ten short years ago, after the tragic death of my brother Gale, we have made significant progress. The administration before last, that of the corrupt Lynne Burke, was a complete disaster. No Endorse was a paper tiger both at home and abroad, her military might blunted through constant hammering at irrelevant entities around the world stage. Under Prime Ministress Burke, No Endorse saw an unrestrained economic boom, the economy galloping ahead at an unhealthy pace, rapidly outpacing any sort of stability that could be installed. This lack of foresight precipitated the severe economic depression that initiated the Citizen’s Revolution. Under Burke’s administration, foreign policy amounted to Miss Burke seducing foreign leaders to her bidding. This proved to be a highly ineffective tactic considering her ‘assets.’” Small peals of laughter shot through the crowd, uneasily attempting to see where the Prime Minister was going with this untraditional statement.
“The next administration, under my brother, was a powerful, but slightly misguided authority, ensuring that No Endorse was powerful internally, but ignoring external power. As a result, we were unable to render assistance to any of our foreign dependants for some time, severely damaging our already questionable international relations with every nation but our longtime ally of Whyatica. Since that time, we have built back up our relations with new and old allies, reforging the great Motherland from a backward state to a powerhouse in North Haven. Our membership in the APOC ensures positive relations with the strongest nations in existence, and other treaties and agreements with nations have created a New Diplomacy for No Endorse.”
“Today, we enter the age of New Diplomacy. The economy is more powerful than at any point under the Burke or Gale Amner administration, an impressive feat considering the recent tragedies at home. Crime rates are at a low, as are radiation levels across No Endorse. Finally, the reconstruction of the Military is finally complete, bringing us into the new reality of a nation of five billion, from our old mindset of a nation of one billion.”
“Therefore, it is time for us to exert our newfound capabilities, to look beyond our borders, and to show our potential enemies that we mean business. It is now time to demonstrate the heights that can be achieved by exerting the natural laws over man, and it is time to once again renew our vows to our foreign commitments.”
“You all know of the Veneto Basin, the old state of the Nempiran Republic, and a festering cesspool on our borders. For ninety nine years, the Nempiran people, and our racial kinfolk, the Nempiran Endorsians, have withered under the oppressive yoke of the Empiricalian state of Tigris. They have shown themselves to be but mere replications of the Burke administration, and it is almost certain that they owe their very existence to her diplomatic indiscretions, and are one of the nations suspected of harboring her over the last fifteen years. Over the last century, the Tigri have committed grave atrocities across the Veneto Basin, brutally suppressing any and all attempts at intellectual discourse, political and social improvement, and even economic development. As I speak, Tigri police squads move uncontested through the streets of the basin, and Endorsians and Nempirans disappear without warning.”
“For too long we have left our brethren under the misguided and autocratic rule of Tigris, and, by extension, the communist state of Empiricalis. It is time to show our abandoned brothers and sisters that we have not forgotten them in our quest for power and perfection. Therefore, with full support from the Parliament, I declare war on the Empiricalian state of Tigris. In one week’s time, on the centennial of the Tigri annexation of the Nempiran Republic, No Endorse troops will begin to retake the entirety of the Veneto Basin, from the sea to Ato-Sara. The state of Tigris is advised to stand down and allow such liberation to occur painlessly. Any and all resistance will bring a full scale invasion of Tigris.”
“Such liberation is impossible without sacrifices from the Sons and Daughters of the Motherland. The Army will announce its draft numbers tomorrow evening, but any who sign up before that point will receive preferential unit placement. Therefore, brothers and sisters, I bid you to go forth and register for the glory of the Motherland, the betterment of the Veneto Basin situation, and the purification of the human race. The future is never certain, but I can say to you with confidence, that the fittest is No Endorse, and as the laws of nature are absolute, so is our victory.”
Amner switched off the microphone, reveling in the thunderous applause. It was the shortest State of the Motherland speech in recorded history, and one of the boldest to boot. He walked down off the stage and began shaking hands, as well as signing autographs, kissing babies, and, where appropriate, beautiful women. Violet would be annoyed, but it was all for the cameras. She knew that she dominated Atal’s life like no other force. After several minutes, an orderly came to whisk Atal and Violet into a waiting limo, signaling the official ending of the State of the Motherland festivities.
In the vehicle, Atal poured a glass of wine for himself and Violet. She held it aloft, smiling from ear to ear. “To No Endorse!” “Aye,” he nodded, downing his and pouring another. “To No Endorse.”
=============================================
Along the No Endorse-Empiricalis border, hundreds of troops began to arrive. Entire staging bases, closed since the last round of budget ‘re-examinations and re-allocations,’ were hurriedly reopened. The vast military might of No Endorse stood poised on the brink; ships filled Carranda harbor, tanks flooded the streets, and every High-Speed Atomic Train seemed to be filled with a thousand men.
Missiles and planes of every form were readied. Even the dozens of ALDA-B sites were activated to maximum readiness, prepared to eliminate any strategic missile threat. But even with all of this buildup, there was not a single boot in the DMZ. No shots were fired, no planes entered Tigri airspace. Everything waited for the Centennial.
=============================================
For a tiny bit of background, check here: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/The_Veneto_Basin_Affair
“BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE MOTHERLAND! I come before you bearing good tidings!” The crowd began to quiet down, settling in for yet another long speech. A State of the Motherland speech is quite possibly the longest speech any person in No Endorse has to make. Stretching over the first five days of the New Year, this series of speeches covers every facet of No Endorse life, from the latest fashions to the most recent laws passed, featuring a statement from anyone with any sort of political power. They were a time of celebration and community, a preparation for the coming year and a reflection of the last. The Prime Minister, of course, always speaks last, summing up the past days’ speeches into a single statement, spanning hours.
However, on this fifth day of January, Amner was going to break tradition, quite possibly for the first time in his life. After several moments, he smiled, and, gesturing about him, uttered a single statement. “The Nation has never been better.” After a few moments, of stunned silence, a few whispers began to rip through the crowd. Pausing just a second longer for dramatic effect, Amner leapt right into his speech.
“In the time since I first took up leadership of this nation ten short years ago, after the tragic death of my brother Gale, we have made significant progress. The administration before last, that of the corrupt Lynne Burke, was a complete disaster. No Endorse was a paper tiger both at home and abroad, her military might blunted through constant hammering at irrelevant entities around the world stage. Under Prime Ministress Burke, No Endorse saw an unrestrained economic boom, the economy galloping ahead at an unhealthy pace, rapidly outpacing any sort of stability that could be installed. This lack of foresight precipitated the severe economic depression that initiated the Citizen’s Revolution. Under Burke’s administration, foreign policy amounted to Miss Burke seducing foreign leaders to her bidding. This proved to be a highly ineffective tactic considering her ‘assets.’” Small peals of laughter shot through the crowd, uneasily attempting to see where the Prime Minister was going with this untraditional statement.
“The next administration, under my brother, was a powerful, but slightly misguided authority, ensuring that No Endorse was powerful internally, but ignoring external power. As a result, we were unable to render assistance to any of our foreign dependants for some time, severely damaging our already questionable international relations with every nation but our longtime ally of Whyatica. Since that time, we have built back up our relations with new and old allies, reforging the great Motherland from a backward state to a powerhouse in North Haven. Our membership in the APOC ensures positive relations with the strongest nations in existence, and other treaties and agreements with nations have created a New Diplomacy for No Endorse.”
“Today, we enter the age of New Diplomacy. The economy is more powerful than at any point under the Burke or Gale Amner administration, an impressive feat considering the recent tragedies at home. Crime rates are at a low, as are radiation levels across No Endorse. Finally, the reconstruction of the Military is finally complete, bringing us into the new reality of a nation of five billion, from our old mindset of a nation of one billion.”
“Therefore, it is time for us to exert our newfound capabilities, to look beyond our borders, and to show our potential enemies that we mean business. It is now time to demonstrate the heights that can be achieved by exerting the natural laws over man, and it is time to once again renew our vows to our foreign commitments.”
“You all know of the Veneto Basin, the old state of the Nempiran Republic, and a festering cesspool on our borders. For ninety nine years, the Nempiran people, and our racial kinfolk, the Nempiran Endorsians, have withered under the oppressive yoke of the Empiricalian state of Tigris. They have shown themselves to be but mere replications of the Burke administration, and it is almost certain that they owe their very existence to her diplomatic indiscretions, and are one of the nations suspected of harboring her over the last fifteen years. Over the last century, the Tigri have committed grave atrocities across the Veneto Basin, brutally suppressing any and all attempts at intellectual discourse, political and social improvement, and even economic development. As I speak, Tigri police squads move uncontested through the streets of the basin, and Endorsians and Nempirans disappear without warning.”
“For too long we have left our brethren under the misguided and autocratic rule of Tigris, and, by extension, the communist state of Empiricalis. It is time to show our abandoned brothers and sisters that we have not forgotten them in our quest for power and perfection. Therefore, with full support from the Parliament, I declare war on the Empiricalian state of Tigris. In one week’s time, on the centennial of the Tigri annexation of the Nempiran Republic, No Endorse troops will begin to retake the entirety of the Veneto Basin, from the sea to Ato-Sara. The state of Tigris is advised to stand down and allow such liberation to occur painlessly. Any and all resistance will bring a full scale invasion of Tigris.”
“Such liberation is impossible without sacrifices from the Sons and Daughters of the Motherland. The Army will announce its draft numbers tomorrow evening, but any who sign up before that point will receive preferential unit placement. Therefore, brothers and sisters, I bid you to go forth and register for the glory of the Motherland, the betterment of the Veneto Basin situation, and the purification of the human race. The future is never certain, but I can say to you with confidence, that the fittest is No Endorse, and as the laws of nature are absolute, so is our victory.”
Amner switched off the microphone, reveling in the thunderous applause. It was the shortest State of the Motherland speech in recorded history, and one of the boldest to boot. He walked down off the stage and began shaking hands, as well as signing autographs, kissing babies, and, where appropriate, beautiful women. Violet would be annoyed, but it was all for the cameras. She knew that she dominated Atal’s life like no other force. After several minutes, an orderly came to whisk Atal and Violet into a waiting limo, signaling the official ending of the State of the Motherland festivities.
In the vehicle, Atal poured a glass of wine for himself and Violet. She held it aloft, smiling from ear to ear. “To No Endorse!” “Aye,” he nodded, downing his and pouring another. “To No Endorse.”
=============================================
Along the No Endorse-Empiricalis border, hundreds of troops began to arrive. Entire staging bases, closed since the last round of budget ‘re-examinations and re-allocations,’ were hurriedly reopened. The vast military might of No Endorse stood poised on the brink; ships filled Carranda harbor, tanks flooded the streets, and every High-Speed Atomic Train seemed to be filled with a thousand men.
Missiles and planes of every form were readied. Even the dozens of ALDA-B sites were activated to maximum readiness, prepared to eliminate any strategic missile threat. But even with all of this buildup, there was not a single boot in the DMZ. No shots were fired, no planes entered Tigri airspace. Everything waited for the Centennial.
=============================================
For a tiny bit of background, check here: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/The_Veneto_Basin_Affair