NationStates Jolt Archive

The oil fields of Rubet Sea, the stretch of water between the two mainland isles that made up Stevid, was not renowned for being rich with the black stuff. It was in fact a fairly unremarkable sea with a booming fishing industry and a lot of history, it was from these waters that the Royal Navy launched Spike ASAT missiles at the satellites belonging to the Northern Alliance during the Golden War of Succession that brought about the Haven Pact’s first victory in the Otium Aqua Sea, the body of water to the West of Rubet. But otherwise it was not a major sea to Stevid and was purely strategical in the eyes of the military tacticians in the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. Port Cadia was the largest military/civilian port in the sea and was part of the Stevidian mainland in the region of Cadia. It had been used to launch almost all of the Dweller and Hanover Class vessels in the Royal Navy because of its safety from the elements of both nature and the hostility of man. Cadia had been the victim of international espionage in the not too distant past when Kanami sent over a high speed stealth aircraft to the Cadia region and spy on Port Cadia. The results of this was the local RAF base scrambling two fighter jets and shooting down the aircraft but only after the pictures were sent back to Kanami.

To say the stretch of sea and the Cadia region were boring was totally untrue, they were simply unremarkable… the last place, on paper at least, where trouble would start. However government policy had been subject to debate massively in this region that had been after independence from Stevid and the Holy Empire for the best part of three decades, of course the iron grip of the Empire clung onto Cadia for evermore and never seemed like letting them go. But Ministers of Parliament had gathered support and rallied many to the cause of Cadia the past several years and things had only gotten worse for Stevid when religions not following the same idols of Judaism, Christianity and Orthodox were banned. Cadia was strongly against this move by the government, it was they that finally pushed the government into welcoming all religions back into Stevid. MPs to Cadia and the Cadian Political Assembly (CPA) pushed through parliament multiple proposals enticing the government to end the war with the Golden Throne and to prevent further loss of life- their proposals failed. They were pro-Kanami too, especially during the two Hanover conflicts and had asked hundreds, if not thousands, of questions debating Stevid’s relationship with Independent Hitmen. Thin ice was always beneath these arguments as the alliance between IH and the Empire was so close it was hard to imagine a time when it didn’t exist. If it wasn’t for the United States of Independent Hitmen then Stevid would most likely be a satellite state of the Golden Throne or a nuclear wasteland by now. The CPA had lost a lot of support after questioning the alliance.

Fresh calls for independence were gathering momentum now and even sections of the military were beginning to heed the calls for independence which greatly worried not only the Imperial Government but even the King himself. Three major branches of the military exist with two, the RAF and Army, having pledged support for independence. Regions of Stevid have battalions and squadrons assigned to them and the workers/soldiers/pilots generally come from those regions whereas the Navy is a non-regional biased force in which the ships are partnered with a town or city but never crewed by that place entirely. The RAF and the Army were however and this was a problem. Three large tank battalions, including XXVII Corps which had fought in the Golden War of Succession, and four RAF squadrons, one of which was made up entirely of bombers, where founded in Cadia and had Field Marshals and Air Marshals who strongly supported the cause of the CPA. Even more worryingly was that the Rubet Sea was dominated by the Cadia region and if independence was granted (or forced upon the government) then the Royal Navy’s strategic asset was somewhat vulnerable and also a major port would be lost as well. Not to mention the oil fields, while not brimming with black gold it was more than enough to supply the Cadia region with power, money and jobs- enough to make it fully self sufficient. The recent policy of improving international relations with the world had been forgotten by most with the recent actions committed by Steppe Empire and the Ryou Black Islands which has force military action. The CPA, run by the Cadian Party which has the majority of seats in Cadia over the Conroy Party, has made it clear to the Imperial Government that the friendly stance being projected was flawed and a smoke screen for more imperialistic gains.

All of these cards on the table made a hand that the Conroy Party and the Holy Empire couldn’t match. People were on the streets protesting for less imperialism, dissolution of the entire monarchy, the resignation of PM David Conroy, the dismantling of the whole Holy Empire and the complete autonomy of Cadia and all the other major regions in Stevid (including Rubet Island) from the central government in Stevid. While protests were usually once every four months and number just below three thousand, it was clear that the Cadian Party and the CPA Chairs Committee were organising the protests. Not only did the banners give away the fact that the CPA was a governmental body that wanted full independence up also because the military were there, in full uniform waving not the Stevidian flag but the Cadian flag. The press had interviewed the soldiers who claimed to be part of an infantry battalion founded in Cadia and also some pilots 934 Fighter Squadron- also founded and based in Cadia. The military had mixed support and had even declared their full support for the CPA, treachery was afoot, civil war was even a possibility and while nearly 78.4% of the country was in support of the Holy Empire and against Cadia’s independence, 21.6% were FOR independence. In a country of over nine billion people that was a staggering amount of people, if civil war did erupt then the Empire would win swiftly and easily but the uprising would be so immense that members of the Holy Empire might feel insecure especially if the home of the Empire couldn’t hold down its own regions. All would be decided in a single parliamentary vote, the issue was too biased for a population vote, would Cadia become independent? The clause was if the overall answer was YES then preparations for autonomy would begin immediately, if NO then the issue must not arise in parliament for voting for another decade.

The vote was broadcast live on the major television stations in Stevid, nations in the Holy Empire received a direct feed as did allies of the Holy Empire, other countries would have to tune in by different means but it was estimated hundreds of billions of people were watching on the internet. It would be an historic moment because if the ministers of parliament voted YES then Cadia would become a nation in its own right and thus would be the first nation to actually leave to the Holy Empire. The voting began at three o’clock in the afternoon and ended two hours later. The tension could be felt through Parliament and throughout the Holy Empire, the tension was broken when the Speaker of the House declared that the voting results be brought forward and read to the House. The Nose to the Left were AGAINST the Cadian autonomy while the Nose to the Right were FOR. The three civil servants bowed before the Speaker and the woman between the other two civil servants read the voting result aloud.

“Voting results for ‘The Independence and Full Autonomy of Cadia’ are as follows: Nose to the Right 3,148, Nose to the Left 5,420, abstaining 1,432. Left win by a majority of 2,272 votes.”.

There was an uproar that rocked the House of Commons, shouting from both sides- cheers on Left and jeers on the Right, Cadia was not to be independent from Stevid and the Holy Empire and would remain a region of Stevid and not an independent country. The people hadn’t voted but the vote was as unbiased as one could make it, the MPs from every party, every constituency, dominion of the Holy Empire had spoken and cast their vote and had decided by the closest of margins that Cadia was not to be independent. The media coverage was extensive and followed on for several weeks about the after effect of such a decision. There were strikes by pro-Cadian workers, particularly on the offshore and onshore oil establishments in and around Cadia, the postal service within Cadia and in the out lying regions went on strike too to bring whole sections of the country to a halt. Government negotiations with worker unions broke down on several occasions leading to further prolonged strikes. The capital of Cadia, the bleakly named Cadia City, was host to several riots that broke out nearby the Conroy Party Headquarters in Cadia, Police used force to suppress the rioting populous that were obviously appalled that they still had to live under a government that was imperialistic, greedy and hypocritical. Petitions, no matter how useless they were, were signed in their millions before being sent to Number 65 Lowlands Road in Stevid Capita. The petitions were promptly shredded and recycled as toilet paper, they served little purpose at this stage, they simply showed that a large majority of the public was against the Commons’ decision but they was now little they could do about it. A petition just shows that there is an annoyance within a population.

The CPA used the media coverage of the chaos to their advantage. It was a simple, be it primitive, plan to illegally grab independence from the owner. Cadia would be free from the imperialistic rule of the Holy Empire. Cadia would not be constrained by the masses of red tape that tied down a once great and prosperous nation of the seas. Cadia would be the epitome of freedom and would dislodge themselves from the Empire and be their own state. They had the means to do it to, the Cadians controlled huge oil fields in the Rubet Sea and a declaration of independence would mean a seizure of oil fields and would also drive up the price of oil around the Empire as well as the government losing a sizable portion of their oil revenue. The Cadian Gate naval base would also fall under Cadian control and the Royal Navy shipping moored their would have to find a new home for the time being unless of course the commanders of the ship had convinced the crews that Cadia was the better choice. The Royal Navy was different to the Army and the Royal Air Force, sailors with Adaptus Astrates nationality were servicing en mass in the Royal Navy and gaining full co-operation from a crew was near impossible. Personal loyalties would have to be put aside for the greater good; either that or the commanders could resign or even stage a mutiny. Army and Air Force commanders found it far easier to get an entire army or squadron on their side and so Cadia was effectively armed against Stevidian and/or Imperial opposition to a declaration of independence.

While the media fuelled the panic of more industrial strikes, more riots and more emergency powers being shifted to the Prime Minister and his cabinet, the Cadian Political Assembly launched their coup d’etat against the Conroy Party’s control of constituencies in Cadia. Police Forces all around Cadia had been bribed to deliberately make riots worse or even let the offenders run wild, hire mercenaries and gangs were ordered to torch and destroy Conroy Party governmental buildings and attack houses belong to MPs. It seemed like a complete breakdown of law and order and the police were ‘struggling’ to overcome it. Martial law in Cadia was declared by the Cabinet during an emergency meeting- this was exactly what the CPA wanted. Immediately tanks, APCs and armed men took to the streets and established full control of the ‘trouble spots’. But one puzzling thing that the media picked up on was that not only were the Cadians now immediately behaving themselves but the Army were closing major, minor and even completely illegitimate roads into Cadia. The flag of Cadia was being flown from most government buildings and it seemed that allow the rioting and civil unrest had completely disappeared, it seemed to have been replaced by an odd (if even frightening) regime change. It took a few days for the government to realise what had happened although many media sources had clocked on a tad quicker, Cadia’s marshal law had worked but in fact the military were not being controlled by the state, at least not the state everyone thought previously. The CPA were in control, the boarder was closed to immigration and emigration, the oil shipments from the Rubet Sea were no longer reaching the government by the rail routes through Cadia but rather they were stopping in Cadia and went no further. Shares in oil fell and prices soared while revenue in oil within the Stevidian government fell sharply.

The transition had been swift and well calculated and the CPA were almost in complete control of Cadia before the Stevidian government had realised what had happened. Three days after martial law had been enacted, Cadia declared independence from Stevid and the Holy Empire. The mass media and the government now fully understood what had happened, messages from Imperial member nations about this internal power struggle swamped the Foreign Office as they tried desperately to reassure the Holy Empire that it was a situation that would be resolved quickly. Threats went out to the CPA, dangerous ones too that meant that civil war (a term broadly used now it seems to have lost general meaning) would be a possibility. Stevidian armies residing within the borders of the homeland moved on Cadia while loyal armies and barracks caught inside Cadia fortified their positions in preparation for war. The Stevidian government still believed they controlled the military imposing martial law but the CPA was to prove this notion wrong. The former RAF in Cadia, now renamed the Cadia Air Force (CFA), were ordered to launch preliminary strikes on key sites within Stevid. Railway lines leading in and out of Cadia were utterly destroyed and also the railway stations themselves were destroyed. Minor airfields and even military airfield were attacked, the sudden surprise meant that no retaliation from Stevid was possible. Early warning radar sites were attacked and so the Empire lost eyes and ears along the entire Stevidian/Cadian border allowing ground and air attacks from Cadia into Stevid to continue with no opposition. Government buildings belonging to Stevid and not Cadia were destroyed and their workers were imprisoned. The Army launched several lightening raids on uranium mining facilities along the Stevidian/Cadian boarder resulting in a large loss of Stevidian life and the complete annihilation of at least two mines and the closure of several more before the tanks returned to Cadia.


Small skirmishes between raiding forces belonging to both sides soon escalated into minor battles in the air and on the ground but neither government had openly admitted hostilities despite the obvious losses on both sides in the Cadia region. The home sector of the Holy Empire, the homeland itself was seriously destabilised and Stevid’s allies looked on helplessly while the great Empire squirmed with treachery

It was almost open war and CFA had advanced warning of the RAF’s arrival on the scene, the Royal Navy had no base to operate from in the Rubet Sea and there was even rumours of mutinies onboard some of the smaller ships. Armies were already engaging in minor battles but titanic ones were probably just around the corner, horror and tension gripped Stevid as Cadia’s air raids into the country continued with minimal resistance as the RAF struggled to reassert its authority in the region. The Royal Navy were put on high alert now that they and elements of the RAF were the countries first and last line of defence against foreign attack that could come from any nation seizing the opportunity to kill off an already crippled Empire. The Stevidian government called out to the whole Empire and to her allies all over the world to offer protection from foreign aggression while the rebellion was crushed.

Cadia was finally free from Imperial rule and were looking for revenge against the Holy Empire’s hypocritical attitudes.

OOC: Sort of a civil war RP but I like to think of this as an open and organised internal rebellion. It will be an RP because I would like it if a really decent RPer steps up to control the Cadian faction but it isn't crucial- I can RP it myself. Basically i'm bored and I want to liven up my time on the forums a bit more and rattle up my allies a bit, I need to update my NS wiki and what better way to do it than this way?

It is open so feel free to post your nation's views on the matter, Stevid and the Holy Empire as a lot of influence on global NS politics and happenings (I hope, I have been here a while) so international views and media attention is of course welcome. If you want to RP a newscaster following the situation then fine, a family caught up in the chaos, the rebels... something... then feel free to do so.

If someone does decided to play as the Cadia faction then say so and send me your MSN address so we can discuss it more easily, failing that then TG's will have to be the only option.

The jist of the story will be that Cadia will be retaken by the Holy Empire but the political implications in the aftermath will be heavily focused on. This is kind of a political/war RP all in one. As I say, I can do it on my own but it would be good experiance if someone could step up.

Takers?

Thanks.

In Shai, The Capital of The Ryou Black Islands, news of what the Ryous called "The Imperial Civil War" had all scared of what would happen if The Rebelion started spreading. Already, Terrorist Groups such as The Jehovah's Witness Army and The Democractic Army of Free Ryou (a Fordockian Puppet Group) threated to start a Rebelion. The Ryou Responded with a Heavy Hand buy Deporting All Fordockians and Jehovah's Witnesses out of The Ryou Black Islands, into exile.

The Ryous, being a friend of The Stevidians soon started to help put down The Rebelion by first Destroying The Rebel Air Power. a Full Scale attack on The Cadian Air Force to end the air raids on Stevid. Premeir Rei Nakagishima soon sent a Message that The Ryous were going to help The Stevidians against The Rebels.

Cadia/Stevid Border

Soft winds blow most days of the year over the green rolling hills and mountains that make up part of the Cadian/Stevidian border, today was no exception as the clear blue sky of the early morning brought temperatures down to six degrees C and the added wind chill brought it closer to around four, but it was a glorious morning on the border with many stopping points along the winding roads for tourists or locals alike to pause and take in the breath taking countryside. Birds whistled and chirped happily without a care in the world as they enjoyed they enjoyed the pleasant weather. Few cars were on the road to spoil the calmness, mainly because both the newly formed Cadia government and the Stevidian government had closed all roads leading to and from the two countries, but also because this end of the Cadian region was nearly one hundred and fifty miles away from the major motorways and hyperways that connected these parts of Stevid together. Cars rarely came through here in the first place.

This tranquillity did not last long at all though for at seven o’clock in the morning exactly, the peace was shattered by an explosion which at once several more followed, then several more- a bombardment. If one were to overlook the region atop one of the highest hills then one would see the explosions and block smoke rising from the craters caused by the falling shells. The Royal Artillery from the Stevidian side had just opened up with a full frontal bombardment on enemy positions positioned in the hilly terrain. Intelligence reports from AWACS in the sky and scouting missions across the border showed that the Cadians had move several hundred lightly armed troops and accompanying APCs to the region to act as the frontline defence in the Northern border sectors with Stevid. No doubt guerrilla tactics would be implemented by the Cadians who were ill equipped in these sectors to fight off the Stevidians and so to soften up a potentially dangerous enemy, the Royal Artillery had been given rough coordinates on possible enemy positions and had promptly opened fire. Birds scattered as did other wildlife and among the fleeing wildlife were troops advancing forward towards Stevid in APCs- the Cadians had broken cover and were darting forward to counter-attack the SP guns several miles away. In response, Cadian static guns fired well ahead of the advancing forces providing a rolling bombardment to flush out any Stevidian armour over the hills in front of the Cadian APCs, so far there was no air support for either side and no direct engagement had begun yet as the Cadians pushed forward.

It took twenty minutes before the first wave of aircraft showed up in the theatre, four RAF XF-24 Scorpion attack aircraft in loose formation began to circle incoherently around the advancing Cadians. APCs armed with SAMs took pot shots while several more with men armed with SAM launchers stopped to disembark troops. The Scorpions swooped low and picked off for APCs before darting away and pulling off mid-air stunts to avoid the missile lock-on warning lights buzzing. It was a minor engagement that ended rather swiftly, the SAMs were reliable and downed two of the four Scorpions, the two survivors fled the scene leaving the ground forces to fend for themselves. The air attacks on the Cadians had ceased but they too had their own aircraft in the battle zone, AH-64 Apaches, while being slowly phased out, shot ahead of the Cadian forces and engaged the Royal Artillery battery still a few miles ahead and inflicted significant casualties. Several helicopters were shot down but the Stevidian troops had been given the orders to attack and were not expecting a counter-attack. Soon it was chaos as another twenty minutes later the Cadian APCs encircled the artillery battery on both the West, North and South flanks in a pincer movement, disembarked the troops and assaulted the position taking only minor losses while in contrast the Stevidian artillery battery took heavy losses, survivors either fled or were captured by the Cadians.

The first true battle between Imperial and Cadian forces had ended in a victory to Cadia which further damaged the reputation of the Holy Empire. Further more was the horrific news that 75% of Imperial attacks on Cadia had been successfully countered by the Cadian armed forces. Instead of gaining territory Stevid had actually lost nearly sixty miles of ground to counter attacking Cadians which left several forward positions vulnerable to attacks because they were now encircled on three fronts- this included to forward most GHQ Command Post for the Stevidians. These early stages of the war were bringing up several victories for Cadia who were now statistically winning the war that had started not only three days ago.

The situation was bleak and the Stevidian government now realised the implications of what was happening and decided that action was necessary and messages had to be put out.


OFFICIAL MESSAGE TO ALL MEMBERSTATES OF THE HOLY EMPIRE AND ALL NATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE

What many of you may already know from messages from our government and from the media broadcasted from Stevid and across the World Wide Web, Stevid is in a state of war with the former region Cadia which has declared itself a country and free of Imperial rule. We have not officially confirmed this but that is about to change.

Stevid is in a state of civil war while the Cadians believe it is an international war. What’s more government of Stevid is now declaring that this country is in a state of emergency. Martial law is now being implemented to safe guard the population of Stevid loyal to the Throne, the government and the Holy Empire.

Any nation with political (including military pacts) and economical partnerships (including commercial airlines, sea/air trading) with Stevid will find trade and negotiations far more difficult than before. Internal flights in Stevid will continue but all inbound and out going international flights are suspended indefinitely. Sea trade will continue as normal as the Royal Navy been affected very little by the current internal happenings.

We ask members of the Empire to sick together and maintain their allegiance to the Throne and to the Empire and to continue their roles as Imperial states. We implore and warn you that this is not the time to reconsider your membership in the Empire. We ask for medical and even economical aid in this crisis but military aid is not necessary. We also ask that any nation with an embassy in Stevid please withdraw applications for economical treaties, cultural exchanges and military alliance proposals, in fact any diplomatic engagements will almost certainly be postponed unless it true does benefit Stevid for talks to be held.

We hope this internal crisis will die down soon but their can be no guarantees at this stage. Embassy applications are still welcome as the capital is still regarded as quite safe.

Thank you for you attention.

Stevid Capita, Embassy Avenue

The capital city of the entire Empire, Stevid Capita was a thriving metropolis and a fortress city. Monolithic walls surrounded the entire city and were nearly half a mile think and armed to the teeth, they had only ever seen action once when Kanami bombed the city after an Imperial conventional ICBM strike. The winds of war had yet to reach here from the Cadian boarder and the population thought themselves safe, the security levels had been raised massively and visibly. Stevid was not a country that made their police officers on beat armed with side arms and only the police in the fortress cities were casually armed, and even then it was only in the city centre. But now that Cadia was declaring independence and acting aggressively towards Stevid one could not discount the possibility of the capital being covertly or overtly attacked by the enemy. Almost every officer on patrol carried a sidearm, Area Cars carried additional ammunition and an automatic weapon, and Armed Response Units were armed with weapons in such a way that they were more deadly than your average army platoon. Airport security was at a premium with random searches up nearly eighty percent, the Capita Underground network was also under increased surveillance and security as one tube line runs directly under Parliament. Number 65 Lowlands Road, the PM’s political house, was now flooded with security not only from the metropolitan police but also MI5 and the Special Branch.

There were gaps in the security simply because even though it was the biggest city in the Empire and a hot spot for attacks, there were not enough police officers to do the job. An attack was almost inevitable and the best the Met Police could do was limit the possibility down to such a degree that only a small amount of collateral damage would be sustained. They were soon to be put to the test.

It happened so quickly and without warning and with no witnesses at first. A massive explosion rocked Embassy Avenue cars in the vicinity were blown away and neighbouring embassies to the explosion were seriously damaged, no one was sure which embassy had been attacked or whether it was indeed an attack. Emergency services were there in minutes, the fire brigade were quick to dismiss any possibility of a gas explosion or else three or four embassy would have been lost in the blast- it was most definitely an attack, terrorism or a carefully planned covert military attack by the Cadians or a third party. It was also established that it was the Kanami embassy that had been attacked, extensive damage had also been caused to the Kuronan embassy who were a members of the Empire and close friends of both Stevid and Kanami. Apart from the top floor of the Kanami embassy, the front was gone and structural fires within burned with such intensity that the fire brigade could not enter through the front and so had to attack the blaze from the front while evacuating from the rear. Twenty fire trucks were at the scene in little under ten minutes, police cars and ambulances flooded Embassy Avenue while media and police helicopters circled above. Fire fighters and paramedics went to the back of the Kanami embassy and began evacuating survivors from there while the fire fighters’ colleagues attempted to control the blaze from the front. The fire was getting out of control and had spread to Kurona’s embassy too, smoke clogged Embassy Avenue making the evacuation of nearby embassies very difficult, but the carnage didn’t end there. Twenty minutes after the first explosion another occurred at the rear of the Kanami embassy- this time in full view of the cameras. The explosion killed every single person on the back lawn of the embassy including fire fighters, embassy staff, paramedics, police officers, news reporters, dogs, birds, everyone and everything within twenty metres was killed by a blast bigger than the first. Live footage feeds were instantly cut by the covering news channels which then began to show previous footage of the embassy in light of the horrific images suddenly captured.

The first floor of the embassy began to buckle and partially collapsed towards the rear of the build taking part of the Kuronan embassy with it. Fire fighters bravely battled with the fires that were now threatening to engulf the neighbouring embassies fully and only the combined effort of nearly fourteen trucks was an additional disaster averted. All eyes were focused on Embassy Avenue and the events transpiring there, media footage of the second blast had showed that three men and simultaneously exploded prior to the big bang suggesting a suicide attack by at least four people inside the embassy, probably visitors to the embassy or Cadians posing as Stevidian officials looking over the embassy.

All eyes were on Embassy Avenue which was exactly what the Cadians wanted, with the emergency services reeling in light of the attacks in Embassy Avenue, a shock of a second or third attack would cripple the services and bring the capital to a grinding halt. This was the plan and it worked, the tube system was attacked. Not the trains itself but the lines running under the city. A massive pile of TNT had been placed by some unscrupulous people and detonated in several tube lines in the centre of the city. No lives were lost but the damage caused was immense and several lines would be out of operation for weeks. The explosions were quite loud and heard in nearly two hundred stations throughout the network and immediately the lines were closed and stations evacuated. Smoke could be seen rising from Parliament Square Station Underground entrance as the smoke had travelled through the tube, up through the station corridors and out into the streets. Police were quick to cordon off the area while fire fighters rushed down to assess the damage and the situation.

As the media struggled to cope with the wave of attacks that were flooding the capital more news arrived of suspect attackers in Stevid International Airport. An armed group had shot dead fifteen people in the airport at Terminal 8, including seven armed police officers and three flight attendants, while wound twenty others. They had made their way onto the runway parking bays and proceeded to haul a heavy anti-tank missile launcher from one of the cases two of the men were carrying and began to shoot at parked planes in the parking bays. At once all aircraft were grounded, landings aborted and the airport declared close to all aircraft and people. Within half and hour eight planes lay burning on the runways with an estimated seventy dead before police Armed Response sniper killed off all but one man from the group. He was swiftly arrested and brought in for questioning however the emblems on the group members said it all, they were all wearing combat gear and body armour all with Cadian military markings. Cadia was almost certainly behind the attacks, this became obvious and official when two hours later Cadia admitted responsibility with a broadcast sent via an encrypted feed to the media:

The attacks on your imperialist Empire is the work of Cadia, the Cadian Political Assembly granted the military permission to engage a plan of terrorism and carnage upon your capital city. This is a symbolic attack, this is also a military attack and not a petty political or religious terrorist attack. We are attacking all those who consider themselves friends of Stevid, Kanami is a nation we have always full detested and their new friendship with the Holy Empire is not tolerated and we hope these attacks will persuade their government to declare a stance of full neutrality with Stevid. Kurona’s membership with the Holy Empire makes them an obvious target and we called to them and all partners of the Holy Empire to follow our cause and leave these barbarians to their own defence. Cripple them by leaving and join us in our battle to rid this good Earth of Stevid and their tainted history and current political mistakes.”

The giant blast ‘doors’ on the major motor and hyperways into Stevid were close shut. Several millions tons of reinforced and armoured concrete sealed off the capital from anyone getting in or out. The capital cities Milton and Northampton did the same, they were all fully provisioned for a ten year siege and so could support themselves, only military flights and convoys were allowed into the cities and every precaution was made to make sure they were allied. Every citizen inside the walls was cross checked and anyone suspicious, no matter how small the margin, was arrested and brought in for questioning. Anyone with links to Cadia were also arrested and brought in for questioning.

Four hours after the attack in Embassy Avenue, diplomats and embassy staff were allowed back into their buildings and Stevid awaited the political and civil aftershock of such a terrible day.

The final count showed that two hundred and eighty people had been killed and three hundred sixty-eight were wounded, 67% of which were in a critical condition in hospital.