NationStates Jolt Archive

The fall of the monarchy should have been a genesis, instead it was turning into a genocide...

0555h, Distad Air-base, South East Kalmurstan

"You have been gathered here today for we believe each of you belong to the United Royal Front and are actively participating in subversive activities designed to disrupt the transition from monarchy to republic."

Three dozen citizens of the Republic of Kalmurstan stood chained to a pair of parallel fifty yard long metal pipes. Before them, a middle-aged gentleman dressed in a dark-grey suit, stood atop a foot-locker. On either side of him stood a single military police officer, dressed in standard arctic-pattern camouflage, but wearing a full-face NBC respirator. They each had an AKS-74U, currently held at ease, but ready to be brought to bear in an instant. Three more soldiers, identically clothed, stood to the rear of the captives, their watchful eyes surveying the group.

"This behaviour, to purposefully hinder the advancement of your own nation, is classed as an act of treason. As you are all well aware, treason is punishable by death. The laws of the land say you are each entitled to be tried by military tribunal as enemy combatants." The middle-aged man smirked briefly before he continued. "That will not happen. I believe that not a single one of you is truly innocent. All of you are guilty to varying degrees, and all will face the death penalty. Your executions are scheduled for zero-six-hundred hours today and will proceed as planned. Make peace with your lord, for you shall meet them soon."

Moments later a jeep pulled up and the suited man climbed into the rear seat, promptly joined by the two soldiers. At the opposite end of the pipes, a similar scene was playing out. Within two minutes both jeeps were well on their way back to the main barracks on the base.

Panic had broken out amongst the chained captives. Many pulled against their restrains, hoping to find a weak link. It was a futile attempt to break free. Some had slumped to the ground and sat sobbing, others simply stood in place, as if accepting their fate.

As the base commanders watch beeped the hour, two Sukhoi Su-25 jets swept out of the clouds and lined up to strafe the prisoners.


0700h, Central Military Command, Tharinsk, West Kalmurstan

A young intelligence officer shuffled papers from one side of his desk to the other, skim-reading each one as he slid it over the polished metal.

"Forty-eight thousand, three hundred and eighty-two, nationally." He tapped the pen in his left hand against the steel surface, extracting several satisfyingly metallic clinks. "Plus the thirty-six from this morning... Forty-eight thousand, four hundred eighteen in the three weeks since the clean-up started. Not counting any the other sites have executed today." Sighing softly, he shook his head. "At least it seems to be working, political dissent is down twenty-six percent over the same period, and the Presidents approval-rating has reached sixty-eight percent."

"Running the figures out-loud again, Chris?"

The intel officer jumped slightly and spun round to meet the enquiring smile of a female soldier, dressed in OD coveralls.

"Uh, yeah. Svet, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"What do you think others would think of this clean-up if word got out? Y'know, the public knows it's in their best interests and will stop the insurgency, but how d'you reckon other countries would react?"

"They'll be fed the same line about ending the insurgency. If they want to look closer, let them. Yes, we're executing terrorists, but each one is getting a military tribunal and being found guilty." The woman plucked a cigarette from behind her ear as she spoke, bringing it to her lips and lighting it when she finished.

"But are they?" Chris sorted the papers into a neat stack, then slid them into a large envelope.

"Ours is not to question, Chris. Remember that, and you'll go far. Forget it, and you'll find yourself in the northern labour camp." With that, she walked off, leaving the young intelligence officer to seal up the package and deliver it by hand to the base commander.



((OOC: Jump in if you want, you don't need to ask, although if you're wanting to move things in a certain direciton, by all means drop me a TG and we'll look to work something out.))

1000h, Parade Square, Lanjsk, Central Kalmurstan

Several hundred people had braved the bitter cold and gusting winds to hear the presidents address. Security was omnipresent, with one "Pack" of Arctic Wolves special forces providing high-visibility security and another mingling in the crowd in civilian dress.

There was no stage in the square, instead, a pair of MT-LB armoured personnel carriers sat along the road on the north side. Inside one, President Viktor Tblis ran through his short one last time. The crowd may be smaller than he liked, but the press were there, and this was going out live across six of the eight national TV stations. Happy with his preparations, he reached up and opened the hatch before climbing out onto the roof of the vehicle. A round of applause spread throughout the audience, Tblis smiled and waited for it to die down before starting his speech.

"Comrades, as you are all no doubt aware, the elite Kalmurstani Armed Forces and intelligence agencies have been waging a war on the fascist United Royal Front for almost a month now. In that time, we've captured and executed more than ten thousand of their operative, each one ready to take up arms against you. We've foiled over two dozen planned attacks, each one designed to kill you, your loved ones and your friends. We are winning the battles and the war, but we must not become complacent! We need to be constantly on the look out for those who are working with this insurgent force in order to prevent any attacks in the future. We will prevail, and the Republic of Kalmurstan will rise fully from the ashes of the old ways."

He continued his speech for a full ten minutes, working the crowd into a frenzy. This was exactly as he wanted, in one fell swoop he'd managed to convince his people elections should be put on hold "temporarily" until the situation was resolved, given himself and his generals more powers and opened the door to more restrictive legislation in the future. All was going to plan.

1300h, Unknown Location

Morse code travelled over the airwaves, broadcast across the international distress frequencies by one person making a wild broadcast, hoping to reach someone.

"Kalmurstan in turmoil investigate"

Every six minutes it automatically repeated it's short message, hoping to reach someone.

OOC: Consider me quite intrigued.:cool: I need a good intelligence-gathering and spec-ops RP of my own in the worst way, and this should be nice. I'll TG you later with a few questions of my own; mostly the standard stuff (size/geography/location of Kalmurstan), plus w/e else I figure might be needful for us to work out. Until then, sweet RP so far.:D

SIC
Il-87 Maxdome USSW-SD N009114, Skies over Wagdog
Lady Uralia Tíliel nós Kharlir, Acting Secretary of State, rushed towards the General Secretary's secure phone line in the staff section of her assigned command plane. She didn't particularly like being stuck up here, especially since by law only figures in the Revolutionary Party could succeed into the General Secretariat thereby excluding her own Greenwood Coalition, but there were more pressing matters now than political grudges.

Dialing in the number for the OBSAT-secured satellite phone line, she waited for her human boss to pick up. Not exactly hard for an Elf, even one who could occasionally be snippy by her race's usual standard, but still not to be preferred with so much happening at once now; all of it potentially disastrous.

"Yes Lady Tíliel?" General Secretary Charles Lind piped in from the receiving end on his own Maxdome aircraft, Red Army Air Force One. His voice carried that of a focused, yet also tired man; the characteristic tone of a man dealing with a crisis that showed no signs of stopping yet, or growing any more merciful either.

"Indeed Comrade, there is an intercepted message which we believe may be of interest to us from the nation of Kalmurstan. And, more specifically, of interest to the Federation and your wife who is the head thereof." Simultaneously playing and datalinking the recording to Lind, Lady Tíliel always knew how to get to the point; which was one advantage she had over the more-prestigious but equally-more grandiloquent Ambassador to Vetaka Lady Uthiria Tóriel Lathíriel nós Farlond.

"Yes. Let me discuss it with Christine, and see if we can get an 'official' in going. If not though, well, prepare an appropriately-sized Special Forces insertion from among the Rangers we assembled for that so-far abortive Trojan deployment. Nothing to start a war, at least not yet..." Wagdog had enough of those looming as was. "But something to investigate as the message says. My thanks, Lady. Is there more?"

"No, Comrade." With that, the line clicked dead and she resumed her tasks; going over the OBSAT and non-OBSAT SIGINT feeds being piped in from State Department Headquarters in Tailville DR's Palace of the Revolution quite some distance Northwest now, feeds collected and then processed and forwarded to her from as many points in the world as Wagdog had satellites to cover or embassies in place and aircraft aloft to listen. In this case, the transmission was a Morse-code style distress beacon and thus easily intercepted; so now the decision of "how" to respond was being made, and had one more set of hands to go through yet. One response was sent though, bounced across several satellites and ground stations in the same method as the original was sent, containing only the following...

Semi-SIC
We hear you. Please describe your situation as best able without compromising your own safety. Public offer you may hear of is not all we are prepared to do, but we must have accurate information. What do you know about this 'turmoil'; what do you mean, who is responsible, and above all why is it happening exactly?

We are sure you know that security is paramount if we are to be able to help you at all. Prepare for further contacts on this or other specified frequencies, or other means entirely that we shall make available if required by security reasons. That is all. Destroy all record of this message after receipt and reply.

SIC2
Il-87 Maxdome Red Army Air Force Two, Skies over Wagdog
Deputy General Secretary Christine Friedrich sighed some relief at hearing the secure line on her personal office suite's secure phone line ring, the Caller-ID indicating it was both secured and from her husband. Finally... She thought. I can have some time with him even if not completely. With that, she picked up the phone and sultrily whispered, "Hey there 'dawg..." Christine giggled at a joke she'd been playing at Charles' expense ever since Wagdog had reappeared in 1996, learning about 'gangsta' culture and slang shortly thereafter and its youth naturally adopting it in large measure. "You feeling naughty tonight?"

"Feeling yes, but I think you know dear why that's not exactly doable right now." His tone was colder than he meant it, but nonetheless this was hardly the time for conjugal teases when other matters were pressing. "Listen to this, please." He played the message over the line even as it datalinked to yet another aloft recipient...

Pouting at his being such a wet rag tonight, when already their time apart was really starting to chafe as it must among common-law man and wife, Christine nonetheless listened intently. "I see..." Yes, she knew that after recent reverses this issue, if carefully handled, could be of much interest to the United Federation of Allied Nations. The signal went...
1300h, Unknown Location

Morse code travelled over the airwaves, broadcast across the international distress frequencies by one person making a wild broadcast, hoping to reach someone.

"Kalmurstan in turmoil investigate"

Every six minutes it automatically repeated it's short message, hoping to reach someone.
"So tell me honey..." Christine figured there was time enough for one more well-meaning lovers'-jab at least between them tonight. "Are you going to get actual cavalry to ride in there now? You know how stretched we are for forces if this goes where it could."

"No dear." Charles chuckled a bit at that, since as Commander-in-Chief to her Deputy-CINC he understood every bit as much as her how maxed-out Wagdog was militarily aside from a precious few reserves left uncommitted; it was his job to for crying out loud! "For now, we're going to multitask. You handle the overt end, offering our own and Federation humanitarian aid and observers as a neutral party. As for me, well, if they're not too cooperative then let me know and I have other options we can start to employ; as discretion and the situation at large may require." No need for her to parse that lingo, for both could read the subtext right away.

"Very well dear." Christine mock-pouted, but was honestly glad to hear her man's voice all the same. "But remember, when we get back on land again next refuelling, you owe me buster!" She put all the jilted pride she could behind that, emphasizing her needs there and how much so they indeed were.

"Indeed love. Until then." Charles clicked off, and Christine returned the phone to its cradle in the elaborate Red Mahogany desk bolted to the floor of the aircraft's executive suite. Indeed she would handle the matter openly at first, as she had grown accustomed to in her years as Secretary General of UFAN and thus arguably Wagdog's "face" for the international community; and accordingly she set to drafting her statement on this matter...

IC
Official USSW Offer of Neutral Humanitarian Aid, International Observer, and Other Goodwill Services to the Kalmurstani Nation
Greetings, People and State of the Republic of Kalmurstan. Although I do congratulate you on progressing to a newer phase in the evolution of your government, nonetheless I am troubled by reports I have received of turmoil in your land; nothing unduly detailed alas, which is why I have come to you with inquiries as well as offers in hand.

Should your government be willing, with my husband and superior's permission already given I'd be happy to dispatch civilian agents to adminster medical and financial aid, conduct impartial mediation between yourselves and whoever may be responsible for this unrest so that it can be ended amicably. And speaking as Secretary General for the United Federation of Allied Nations, should Kalmurstan be willing for more aid in achieving a just peace I would gladly inform my allies of whatever it is you may require.

Please inform us of your needs soon. We ourselves are in dire straits, and although not prevented entirely from helping nonetheless we must know early lest what we may commit diminish exponentially with each passing moment our own situations worsen. We are ready, and listening; welcome to the modern age, Kalmurstan

Sincerely,
Christine Friedrich
Deputy Commander-in-Chief, USSW War Office
Deputy Party Secretary, Wagdian Revolutionary Party
Deputy General Secretary, USSW Revolutionary Command Council
Secretary General, United Federation of Allied Nations

1630h, Government Briefing Room 3, Lanjsk, Central Kalmurstan

President Tblis shook his head and leant forwards in his chair.

"Gentlemen, this message from our comrades in the United Socialist States of Wagdog alarms me. Somehow, we've aroused their suspicions. Obviously, despite our actions being in the best interest of the nation, most of the international community would not share our point of view. Recommendations?"

The room was filled with high-level officials from all corners of the government and military.

A young Lieutenant General spoke, "We shouldn't outright deny them access, that would arouse their suspicions too much. Conversely, I think that accepting the number of personnel required for a full aid mission would risk exposing our efforts."

The President nodded. "Agreed. So, If we can't allow them, but we also can't refuse them, what can we do?"

There was much back and forth discussion, ideas were dismantled, rebuilt, altered, combined, rejected and dismantled again for several hours until the final decision was made, a message worded and then sent to the USSW.

Transmission to USSW
The government of the Republic of Kalmurstan wishes to thank you for your offer, but at present we feel outside aid my place your own country at risk. As such we cannot allow any form of aid from outside sources.

With regard to the "turmoil" of which you speak, we believe you may have been misled. Whilst it is true our nation is currently experiencing a series or insurgent attacks, our security forces and military are handling the threat.

After consultations between the President, Home Office and Ministry of Defence, we have decided that whilst a full aid mission would be unsuitable, a small contingent of personnel would be accepted so as they can experience the "turmoil" firsthand.

1900h, Unknown Location

Almost simultaneously, a second message intended for Wagdog was broadcast, this one was shorter, unofficial and sent as a series of dots and dashes.

"Situation critical. Government lies. Insurgency not on same scale as arrests. No more to report at moment. Current frequency presently secure. Further comm's OK at this time. Will update if status changes. Out."

This message didn't repeat. It's sender knew their was someone waiting for it, and that any resends would increase the risk to their own security.

Kalmurstan National News

"Good evening, I'm Benedikt Markovic, bringing you breaking news. Up to one-hundred and fifty insurgency fighters have been killed in fierce street battles with government forces today. The battles raged for several hours in the western city of Odansk, causing considerable damage to surrounding property. Early reports suggest that the skirmish broke out during a raid in the area. The Ministry of Defence has not commented on the outcome of the initial raid, and casualty figures for the Kalmurstan Military have not yet been released. More details as soon we receive them."

((OOC: More of a bump posing as a real post than anything else, but meh, drip-feeding some additional content makes me feel better about it. ;)))

2200h, Just outside Odansk, Western Kalmurstan
The government ground forces had long since withdrawn from the city, but smoke still hung in the cold night air. A pair of Mi-24 gunships passed overhead, a sign of the days events, but also of the times.

Odansk was a city under siege. By government order, no-one was to be allowed in or out of the city until further notice. Checkpoints and roadblocks had sprung up in a matter of hours. earlier in the evening, local broadcasts informed the public of the current restrictions on movement, and the implementation of a curfew during the hours of darkness.

Earlier violence in the city centre had seen much bloodshed for no gain. Several dozen government troops had been killed in the fighting and two tanks had been disabled during the raid, and the President was not happy about this bloodied nose.


2235h, Checkpoint Alpha Three, Northern Odansk

"Yessir, I'll start the preparations immediately. I understand, I'll see to it it's done."

Checkpoint Alpha Three was the main staging area for troops arriving into Odansk. Positioned on National Route 6, five miles north of Odansk City Centre, it presently resembled a parking-lot more than the high-speed road link it was designed as. Tanks, IFV's, APC's and soft-skinned transports spread across three of the four lanes on each side, helicopters buzzed overhead, occasionally touching down off to the side of the motorway to offload troops or supplies.

It didn't take this many troops to man checkpoints, something serious had to be in the works.

((OOC: A little more story progression here. Again, feel free to jump on in, there's plenty of room :D.))