NationStates Jolt Archive

Link back to original thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=490304

Lisbon, Portugal

As the Holy League forces departed Portugal, German troops quickly landed in Lisbon, and moved out from Lisbon advancing behind the departing Holy League forces. The presence of German forces ensured that order was maintained, and looters were immediately incarcerated in temporary military prison. The German military police, the Streitkräftebasis, were quick to take up the temporary role as police officers and ensure that order and the transition to good government was accomplished as soon as possible. At the borders of Portugal, German troops occupied garrisons to ensure that hostilities did not continue. A firm iron curtain started at Lisbon and expanded to engulf all of Portugal.

Along with the German military presence came thousands of German missionaries and aid givers. Billions of Deuschmarks poured into Portugal, rebuilding and erasing the results of the conflict with the Holy League. New monasteries were built and the gospel once again began to be preached in its purity. Churches were once again freed from the shackles of tyranny and oppression. In a chaotic world with much uncertainty, the Portuguese welcomed certainty and rushed to the gospel and the traditions of the church which had lasted for thousands of years. It had lasted for thousands of years and would continue to last for thousands more. Others were skeptical of the German religiosity and feared a repeat of the Holy League tyranny. Only with time would they be convinced of the German sincerity. But they were a small majority.

Although no official date of elections was set, the temporary Studienberater Minister announced that an election was expected to occur as soon as order was established in Portugal. He also asked that the leaders of the previous political parties come forward immediately to register with the Germans for the upcoming election. He declined to answer questions about the rumored changes to the Portuguese constitution, perhaps adding a constitutional monarch. He simply announced that once order was established, everything would be announced.

Raipur has not been slow to declare that it will act against the imposition of a monarchy in Portugal, a nation whose politics have long been dominated by popular socialist parties. Soviet consuls have returned to the nation and the League of Communists (Igovian) has begun to prepare funds and liaison officers to support the establishment of co-operative semi-Igovian enterprise -such as seen fleetingly in northern England, Cornwall, Wales, and Scotland- as the nation rebuilds its independent economy.

Portuguese leftists who took refuge in Soviet India and Pondicherry during the Spanish occupation have begun to return, but many maintain a foothold on the sub-continent for fear of a German betrayal.

Leftist Portuguese who return to Portugal from any known Soviet territory are immediately detained by the vigilant Streitkräftebasis until they are found to be no threat. If necessary they could be held indefinitely under emergency legislation drafted under martial law. The Studienberater announced that the turmoil of the war will not be allowed to spill over into Portugal. Anyone, including businesses and political parties, found accepting funds from the INU, Fourth Commonwealth, or any Holy League nation will be immediately incarcerated and all illegal funds seized. This legislation will last until Portugal was rebuilt and day to day operations resumed.

The church in Portugal was heavily consulted by Studienberater Adalwolf for political advice and how to deal to set up the resulting government. It was clear to him that the problems of the past could not be allowed to continue and that something must be done to prevent that the problems of the past from repeating themselves. Something new something fresh was needed to disturb to circle of conflict in the region. Perhaps the gospel would provide the answer.

The process of consolidation continued as governmental institutions, police forces, bureaucracy submitted to German oversight. Police squads were reformed and placed back on the street. Doctors and nurses returned to hospitals. Students and teachers went back to school. Stores reopened, and shoppers began purchasing. Tankers began arriving back in harbors, trucks began traveling highways, and trade began to flow into the nation. Slowly but surely things began to return to normal. Everywhere were seen German aid workers repairing the damage from the war. There were even signs of improvements, all being built with German money.

"Anyone, including businesses and political parties, found accepting funds from the INU, Fourth Commonwealth, or any Holy League nation will be immediately incarcerated and all illegal funds seized."

This act was easily sufficient, even without the illegal detention of Portuguese citizens by foreign authorities, for the Soviets of India to vote for the establishment of a Portuguese Liberation Soviet and to recognise a Provisional Portuguese Government in Exile at Pondicherry. Provisional elections able to count upon only a few hundreds of votes in person would establish a Legislative Soviet within days, though, with no access to Portuguese territory, there seemed little value at this stage in raising any sort of administration.

The re-opening of Portugal's economy, of course, allows Soviet propaganda to hit the personal computers and internet cafes of the Iberian nation, and the illegal detentions and the German refusal of Indian aid and investment clearly lead the way, followed by the fact that while the Indias declared war and sent forces to meet deadly battle when Portugal was invaded, Germany sat on the sidelines and waited for the League to retreat before moving in with grubby bribes and the same religious over-tones by which the League justified its conquests.

If the Germans think that the Portuguese, a republican people whose politics have been since the defeat of Fascism dedicated to social democracy, communism, socialism, ecology, and liberal democracy have been already bought and delivered to their regressive theocratic zeal, they may just be in for an unhappy surprise.

The Soviets respond directly to arrests by sending more resources daily, forcing more arrests, costing the Germans more money as well, and receiving more ammunition for their self-fulfilling propaganda.

Soviet revenues, in fact, seem to be exploding as exploitation of Anarchan petrochemicals increases under ever strengthening Igovian influence and Indian refineries sell-on fuels to their growing cadre of deprived allies at still below-market prices and a healthy profit for Soviet state and Anarchan labourer alike.

The Provisional Portuguese Government was treated with scorn by German officials and equated with the organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, a Basque socialist backed terrorist group. Portugal would be no home for socialist agitators , disturbers of the peace, and those who failed to honor their father and mother. Peaceful socialists were monitored closely by German and Portuguese police and were allowed to congregate.

The internet was not limited although paper propaganda was seized if found. Money funneled to Soviet agitators in Portugal funded the arrests of the same agitators. There were only so many exiled Portuguese and the number of disturbers and agitators still left abroad was surely decreasing as the jails began filling. Soviet subsidies for agitators abroad was fine with Germans as it had no effort in Portugal and was just another way for the Soviets to lose money and undermine the war effort.

It is not long before the Quinntonian Air Force is in action, bringing in supplies from Geata, Italy and Ramstein, Germany that is there being organised after being donated from all over Quinntonia. This humanitarian aid is then turned over to our friends and allies, the Germans, and the ambassador to Germany begins to make some noise as to making a multi-billion dollar donation to the oppressed peoples of Portugal, as well as opening a “Provisional Bank” with a seed offering of 3 billion USD. What this bank would do, would be to give capitol loans at only 1% interest to regular people who have viable business models. This will stimulate economic sustainable development by allowing the Portuguese people to begin to invest in their own nation. Of course, all of these suggestions, pending German approval, are coming on the heels of the announcement by the Quinntonian Chairman of WEC that for this year alone, the entirety of the WEC investment will be slated for Portugal, some 7 billion USD. This, of course, is a huge show of support for the Germans and the Portuguese people who they will be protecting. With all of this sudden capitol, sustainable capitalism will no doubt follow quickly.

The measures of interring supporters of the HL and especially the Soviet supporters, though very few in number, is lauded in the name of international security, and some question as to terrorist intention is floated publicly.

WWJD
Amen.

Provisional Bank and state of affairs

Studienberater Adalwolf von Oswald eagerly welcomes the economic assistance of the USQ and stated that he was instructed to say that the German government would increase its level of funding to match the Quinntopian loans, dollar for dollar. Furthermore he suggested that the Portuguese Provisional Bank be a joint enterprise between Germany and Quinntopia. Oswald suggested that a board of directors, half German and half Quinntopian, be created immediately to oversee the distribution of the funds.

He also began collecting information on areas where the money could be best spent. Teams of Streitkräftebasis were sent out on the ground to survey damage from the war and determine where the money could be best spent. Projects that were particularly difficult or expensive were marked down and were sent to the board.

The military camps containing terrorists and suspected Soviet sympathizers were but a small proportion of the overall population as the Germany had not come with bombs but with Bibles and goodwill. The consultation with the predominantly Roman Catholic churches continued as a formula for post war governance was being worked on. Other shadowy consults were also sent to other nations. The pronouncement of a new government was eagerly anticipated by the Portuguese people but the continued building projects all other Portugal should be reassurance that German intentions were benign.

OOC_ I should probably mention something that has been bothering me about this thread in particular. The idea that the Soviets would have massive support in Portugal, I think, is not supportable. That is, the “leftism” of Portugal is exactly the type of pseudo-socialism that BG rails against whenever we get onto the topic of what is “left.” They are left in the same way that the New Democratic Party of Canada is left, they have some socialist policies, but are so centrist as to recoil from anything resembling “true” socialism. This is much akin to thinking that the average union member in the industrialised west would suddenly rise up for their worker brothers, it simply isn’t the case. The socialism of places like Portugal is simply not driven, even among the leadership, by a drive towards a more “”enlightened” more direct democracy. Rather, the socialist aspects are more a drive towards a liberal social practice reacting against half a century of fascism and an exaggerated sense of control over their present leadership, whether that be perceived or real. This is akin (though not exactly) to believing that Rudd’s rule in Australia, or even Labour in England would equate to a massive uprising of support for a Soviet style of government. I mean, the party in power in RL, with over 70% of the popular vote, is the Socialist Party of Portugal, and there are some seats from the Communist Party, but it sees to be widely held that the Communists will never really go any further as their rhetoric and ideas are too extreme for the population, and the election which elected them and the ruling party of the time ousted the Social Democratic Party, which ruled previously and is/was a right of center party that is sometimes compared to Labour. It seems that this election may have been an anomaly, with people more voting against the many scandals in 2004 that the previous government endured. So, yeah, do I doubt that the Soviets would have some support in Portugal, enough to make a nuisance of himself? No. Would he have popular support over and against the nation that both liberated the country from the Spanish and is currently rebuilding it, unlikely, especially given that the political persuasions of the people would be more like Gurg’s Britain than anything.

WWJD
Amen.

(OOC: Thanks for bringing that up, Q. A few things on that... first, what the ISC does/says and what I believe are not always the same, especially in AMW, where the ISC is increasingly conventional and to the right of my own political position. Second, I'm not claiming massive support for Igovianism per se, merely reminding Fleur that soft-left politics prevail in Portugal so he will have a lot to deal with in imposing right-leaning policies. Further, in AMW Portugal has been invaded by an extreme right-wing force, subjugated, and has taken no direct part in its own 'liberation' which has only brought about more right-leaning foreign influence. If this isn't going to mobilise the existing Communist section of society and radicalise the general left-leaning mass of the population, nothing is. Most of the Portuguese in Pondicherry and those kicking up the biggest stink in Portugal or joining the Soviet-sponsored International Brigades are of course a minority, but in soft-left Portugal further radicalised by its situation that minority is a little larger than it would be in many other nations.
Portugal was, in any case, one of the only continental European nations with which the Commonwealth did any half significant trade before the Spanish invasion, and links exist between Indian and Portuguese personalities and populations... I'm just trying to be realistically involved on a continent that we largely ignore.)

I hoped it wouldn't come to this.
OCC thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13270477#post13270477

(OOC: Thanks for bringing that up, Q. A few things on that... first, what the ISC does/says and what I believe are not always the same, especially in AMW, where the ISC is increasingly conventional and to the right of my own political position. Second, I'm not claiming massive support for Igovianism per se, merely reminding Fleur that soft-left politics prevail in Portugal so he will have a lot to deal with in imposing right-leaning policies. Further, in AMW Portugal has been invaded by an extreme right-wing force, subjugated, and has taken no direct part in its own 'liberation' which has only brought about more right-leaning foreign influence. If this isn't going to mobilise the existing Communist section of society and radicalise the general left-leaning mass of the population, nothing is. Most of the Portuguese in Pondicherry and those kicking up the biggest stink in Portugal or joining the Soviet-sponsored International Brigades are of course a minority, but in soft-left Portugal further radicalised by its situation that minority is a little larger than it would be in many other nations.
Portugal was, in any case, one of the only continental European nations with which the Commonwealth did any half significant trade before the Spanish invasion, and links exist between Indian and Portuguese personalities and populations... I'm just trying to be realistically involved on a continent that we largely ignore.)


OK, thanks, I was thining it might be something like that, but jst wanted to publiclywalk through the mental exercise for myself and anyone else reading.

WWJD
Amen.

OOC: Finally thought I should introduce my head of state.

Portugal’s New Monarch

It was eleven o’clock in the morning and the sun was streaming down onto the large man’s girth. The largely overweight man, probably weighing at least 350 pounds, was snoring heavily, and with each breath the bed shook. Abruptly, the apparently immovable object stopped snoring and his nose sniffed the air in a curious fashion. His eyes then opened wide and the giant man exclaimed, “Bratwurst! Mein!” as he eagerly grabbed the sausages from the plate beside him with his bare hands and then gobbled down just as quickly. Seeing the Kaiser had awakened, the aides stopped fanning the smell towards him and waited for him to finish.

The aides had become so inured to this strange spectacle that they had stopped showing signs of revulsion. Besides it was the only way to wake up the man in the morning so it was unfortunately a necessary evil. After the Kaiser had finished his morning snack, he then ordered his customary 3 suckled pigs, 5 large plates filled with Bratwurst, 7 slices of bread, 8 pancakes, and 15 omelets. Once he finished eating his breakfast he arose and his aides dressed him in his large custom made suit. Then as was his custom, he went to look after affairs of state for an hour before lunch. On this particular occasion, he was met by the all important Chancellor Shultz in his small audience chamber.

“Kaiser, do you find the suckled pigs to your liking today?” Shultz asked.

In reply, the Kaiser sighed contentedly and slapped his belly. “Yes, although they could have used more butter as tenderizer.”

Shultz smirked and stated, “You know that won’t be happening. Your new ‘diet’ won’t allow it.”

In response, the Most Supreme Majesty Wilhelm III retorted, “Then I’ll string them up and have them hung drawn, quartered, and sent to all the major cities as a symbol of those who oppose me.”

At this Shultz burst out laughing, his tiny frame wracked with laughter. Then he subsided and grew quiet. He said, “Careful Kaiser, remember what happened last time? Don’t make me cut your stipend again. Now sign these papers, I have work to do.”

Shulz then walked up to the monarch and tried to pass him the papers. Shultz held the papers for several moments without the Kaiser reaching to grab it. The only response from the Kaiser was a series of gentle snores. There sat Germany’s head of state with head down, snoring with saliva trickling down the side of his mouth. Schulz cursed and called for an aide. “Leave these papers with the dottering old fool and make him sign it when he wakes. Feed him some more bacon if you have to wake him.” Shultz left the papers with the aide and stalked off.

Eventually, a week later, the papers were signed and Kaiser Wilhelm III, cousin to the minor French noble Monseigneur le Comte d’Artois and distant relative to the Spanish Bourbons, officially became the new catholic constitutional monarch of Portugal. A new residence was being constructed for him and when winter rolled around again he would go to Portugal and stay there until the spring, at which point he would go to his German residence.

Portugal's New Constitution

The new Portuguese system is modeled after the bicameral parliamentary German system with the Upper House as the Council of Bishops and the Lower House the Federal Assembly. The Council of Bishops will control the funds of the Portuguese Church and will handle those funds by operating all of the social programming through the Church, instead of having the state control it. The Federal Assembly will be almost exclusively responsible for legislation with the Council of Bishops having a veto over all legislation. Elections in Portugal are required every five years although they can be called sooner by the discretion of the Chancellor. Under the constitution the King’s agent, or governor general, would be suggested by the Chancellor to the King and if accepted the Portuguese Federal Assembly would vote to ratify it. In the interim until the election in Portugal, the acting Governor General was Adalwolf von Oswald, who was also acting Studienberater. The date for elections in Portugal was set by Oswald in one month's time on Feb 25th. He took the time to reiterate that extremism would not be tolerated and only moderate non- Ignovian parties would be allowed to participiate in elections. He also stated that all political parties must have a new leader by January 25th. In order for Portugal to embark on a new course it was imperitive for change.

Oswald, after under veiling the new constitution, also announced the construction of a large permanent German military base just outside Castello Branco that would house 50,000 German soldiers and up to 150 Eurofighters. He was quick to point out that German troops would not immediately concentrate in Castello Branco but would be diffused over Portugal and maintain law and order and guard against possible Holy League attacks.

Germany Increases Armed Forces

Following the heels of announcements of large garrisons overseas in Cyprus and Portugal, Shultz announced the creation of two more active divisions as well as more personnel for the airforce. These two new divisions enter active duty in staggered fashion. The first division would come online in 6 months and the second in six months after that. In order to facilitate the introduction of the new divisions, reservists were encouraged to change their status to full time and more bonuses were given to new enlistees. The make up of the new units was still tentative but a strong paratrooper and armored presence was likely. As Germany’s status into NATO appeared certain, citizens of Japan, Greece, and even Roycelandia were allowed to serve in the German armed forces for the first time. Citizens from traditional allies, like the Quinntopia, Poland and the Czech Republic, were also allowed to enlist. A special invitation to the Portuguese was also extended by Oswald as a means for the war torn country to receive some much needed funds.

[OOC: Prosletyzing is one thing, but you can't be serious... this is Portugal, not the Land of Mindless Tools].

OOC Thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=13270477#post13270477

Lisbon, Reino de Portugal

Her Catholic Majesty Queen Marie Antoinette of Spain, younger sister of His Most Christian Majesty Louis-Auguste and wife of His Catholic Majesty Philip IV--and hence the unifier of the Spanish and French Bourbons--accompanied His Royal Highness le Comte d’Artois, HMCM Louis-Auguste’s oldest brother, to the inaugural celebrations taking place in Portugal’s capital. The couple publicly promenaded about the streets, taking ample opportunity to photograph themselves with Portugal’s new king, Wilhelm III, their mutual second cousin once removed from the Spanish line. It was an odd contrast: the feminine, beautiful, and voluptuous Marie Antoinette and svelte, saturnine Comte d’Artois standing alongside a mostly German 1/6 ton ruler…but the smiles spoke volumes. The message was clear…this was all one big and happy European community, one big, happy European family. And, to be sure, Wilhelm III filled out his medal laden uniform amply. Comparisons to Hermann Goering were quietly but absolutely suppressed.

The photographs, which would run front-page on the state-run magazines and gazettes of the Kingdom’s of France and Spain, and most likely those of Rome, Tulgary, and the Russias as well, depicted a bright new age for Portugal. More importantly a bright new age for a Catholic, and, even more importantly, Monarchist Portugal. The Bourbon powers had nothing but excellent things to say about the new government, and were wholeheartedly supportive of righteous measures to curb all forms of sovietism. The only suggest His Royal Highness le Comte d’Artois offered was an even more stringent anti-soviet policy, to include motivated arrests and interrogations to thwart at every turn the ‘red menace’.

It was a watershed moment, moreover, for relations betwixt the Orthodox (both Western and Eastern rites) Holy League and Protestant Germany. For though both powers believed in the divine right of kings, Germany adhered neither to the Vicar of Rome nor the Patriarch…even, disgustingly to the Lieutenants of God, embraced constitutionalism. Indeed, heretofore it looked as though war could very well break out between Germany and France especially, a fear heightened by the Austrian debacle. But as the months and eventually years wore on, trade commenced between the Reich and Christendom. Under pressure and daunted with a never ending war of infinite fronts the Kingdom of France suggested to the Kingdom of Spain that the Portuguese operation was totally counterproductive, especially in light of truly remarkable military achievements in West Africa. So it came to pass, and pass with the all important Quintonnian blessing, that Germany was given trusteeship of Portugal. And that had led, remarkably, to a Catholic and Monarchist Portugal and, unbelievably, to amity between the Holy League and Germany. Furthermore, in the mind of Louis-Auguste of France, the warming relationship had forestalled one of his greatest fears: that Germany and Britain planned to unite against he and his holy allies.

Such was the mood when le Comte d’Artois and Queen Marie Antoinette sat down to conference with Kaiser Wilhelm III. Speaking at a news conference following a truly copious dinner, His Royal Highness le Comte d’Artois had this to say:

“Today begins a new day in Europe. For now, in Europe, by means of the benevolence of Christ, we have gained peace in our time. The enthronement of a German blooded Portuguese monarch, with a Bourbon lineage, signals to all the world that a needless and jingoistic confrontation between Protestant Germany and Catholic Christendom has been succored by accord between Kings chosen by God. As I enjoy the warm hospitality of my new friend, His Majesty Wilhelm III, I relay my brother’s wishes, the wishes of His Most Christian Majesty, that Europe, for the first time in her long history, has been made whole. From this moment onward I have nothing but confidence that the Holy League and Germany shall become in time verifiable allies themselves. Germany this day has given a sign of surety to her Catholic neighbors, monarchists all, that she will accommodate to the needs of fraternity and a shared vision. In return, on behalf of His Most Christian and His Catholic Majesty, I offer this surety in recompense: the Lieutenants of God in Congress of the Holy League recognize the new Portuguese state as totally legitimate, and accept her as a brother in the greater European community.

“Let us all rejoice: for the Kingdom of Portugal has built a bridge between Christendom and the Reich. Now, under the auspice of Christian charity, it is time that bridge was crossed.”

http://cache.eb.com/eb/thumb?id=10634

A pic of Wilhelm III, maybe

OOC: Given recent criticisms of my RP I am extremely reluctant to post this but I guess I can't hold onto it forever. I hate doing the omnipresent narrator because I think its quite tacky but I had to launch into it a bit here to explain things a bit.

But whatever. Feel free to criticize Spyr all you want although I'm not going to look at your "comments" until I have finished catching up with my other RPs.

Lisbon, Portugal

The celebrations in Lisbon to welcome their new ceremonial head of state were relatively low key except for the one hour inauguration ceremony, which while certainly containing some pomp was far less glittering than when other monarchs were officially invested with the power of state. This was probably due to the nature of their kingship, in Portugal, Wilhelm’s power was sharply curtailed by the new constitution while in France the King was omnipotent and his iron fingers reached into every business, every church, and every home.

The list of invited guests to the coronation at the church Igreja de São Roque was small but nearly every power faction within Portugal was represented. While many were nationalistic and disliked the new power structure, they were also eager to adapt to the new situation and divert as much money into their own coffers from the vast billions flowing into Portugal. Take Duarte Pio, the claimant to the Portuguese throne, who was attending the ceremony along with the rest of his family. He had recently returned to Portugal from exile and almost immediately after the Germans came, a large mansion was already being constructed for him. It was surprising really because while he was wealthy prior to the occupation, it was certainly above his means to afford what is already looking to be a supremely grandiose mansion. Why the Germans would “rebuild” his house in such a fashion is puzzling although the Germans must have a good reason to use rebuilding funds in such a manner.

The small pro-monarchist party, who was surprisingly against Duarte Pio, was represented by their leader Henrique Barrilaro Ruas. It was an interesting situation, prior to all this, the only pro monarchical faction within Portugal was opposed to the strongest claimant! But in the pax Germania neither faction would see their candidate on the throne and once the German ruler inevitably left the throne it was probable that they never would. But in the present, at least the institution of monarchy was re-established after many years of vacancy. Even though it was not a Portuguese on the throne, the institution was re-established and the camps began to play for the favour of their German protectors. Their presence at the coronation was the start of their attempt to gain favour from their German protectors.

Several other leaders from Portuguese political parties were also in attendance. The leadership contests were just completed and from the non-Ignovian Portuguese Socialist Party or PS, the long time party supporter and new leader Josea SOCRATES Barrilaro Pinto de Sousa was there to represent her new party. She was one of the most outspoken against the new constitution but her presence today at the church signified her desire for peaceful chance rather than violence and bloodshed. The church leaders, who were going to play a significant role in the new constitution, were also in attendance, including Domningos Silva the cardinal who was to officially set the crown upon Wilhelm's head. Representing Germany was Wilhelm's wife Bertha von Bremen, herself a large lady, and several high ranking German nobles including the wealthy billionaire Klaus Wowereit von Berlin, and some church officials. Chancellor Gunter Shultz was unable to attend but his second in command Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Arnwaltan Fleischer was in attendance.

The French and Spanish delegations were relatively small in number but the presence of the royal couple, the Spanish Philip IV and the French Queen Marie Antoinette, made up for their lack of numbers with brilliance as the richly adorned couple glittered with gems and precious metals. Queen Marie Antoinette looked particularly stunning in contrast to Kaiserin (a title literally meaning wife of the Kaiser) Bertha von Bremen, a large heavy weight woman. Phillip IV was placed in position of prominence beside Wilhelm.

Officials from Quinntopia were also in attendance.

The ceremony began as the Studienberater, Adalwolf von Oswald, related the story of the ancient Roman General Cincinnatus.

"After years of distinguished service, a famous Roman general named Cincinnatus happily turned in implements of war for those of the field. He left his armies and left Rome to retire to his farm. The retired general was ploughing the fields when a messenger arrived at his farm. The messenger spoke of a great menace facing his home town and that it was necessary for him to assume an office with great power and responsibilities and then lead his fellow countrymen to victory. It was a time for seeding and the General knew that if he left his farm he would not be able to seed his crops and he would not have a harvest that year. He initially resisted but after learning of the threat facing his homeland he at last acquiesced to the request and left his farm. He went to the city and soon after assuming his office, he crushed the opposition and Rome was saved. After things had settled down, he humbly gave up all his power and returned to his simple beginnings."

"All leaders should aspire to be more like General Cincinnatus. He was arguably one of the greatest models for leadership that exists. He assumed power because it was needed and after the need he gave up his power. Before Germany arrived, Portugal was a broken war-torn country under the heel of a foreign ruler and foreign army. The country was not ruled by Portuguese but by Quislings elected by 'Portuguese Free States'. As it is commonly stated the "Free States" were only words and not actual 'free'dom. Like Rome, Portugal faced a terrible danger but fortunately, your German brothers were there and saved you from the scourge of war. And I assure you this state of affairs does not have to be permanent and there exists a clearly defined amending formula for changing the constitution. But it must be done by legality of law and not by physical violence. We shall help the governing political parties to keep order and ensure that Portuguese are kept safe from extremism.”

"Portugal, you have been given a new monarch and you have been given a new future. One in which your sons and daughters can live freely and peacefully with your neighbours. Like the ancient General, Wilhelm has assumed an office with great responsibility and like the General, he will only stay until he is needed and then leave. Because as according to the Constitution, he is only King so long as the people of Portugal desire him to be."

"In 1968, Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, the closest male-line relative to Manuel II, a former king of Portugal, swore an oath to the Republic of Portugal that he would loyally follow his nation even if it meant his death. I ask you now Duarte Pio to come forward now and prove your oath."

The orchestra began playing and stiffly and formally, the Duke walked slowly towards the front of the Church carrying the modest golden crown. He stopped before the now awake Wilhelm underneath the Portuguese flag and paused. The orchestra stopped playing and he asked Wilhelm these questions:

"Do you solemnly swear to protect the people of Portugal from their enemies, to uphold the constitution with your life, to protect the people from tyranny and all forms of injustice, to defend the way of life of the Portuguese and their fundamental freedoms from all threats and dangers?"

In a rare form of calm and composure the large Kaiser placed his hands on the Bible and said, "By the Grace of God and the Virgin Mary I do so solemnly swear."

Duarte Pio then stated, "Do you then accept from the people of Portugal the sacred obligation of Kingship?" When Wilhelm responded in the affirmative, Duarte Pio placed the crown upon his head. On cue, the church bells all over Portugal rang out and sounded the cry of liberation. Once the ceremony was completed, Wilhelm went with His Royal Highness le Comte d’Artois on a modest 15 minute parade around Lisbon. In a rare form of composure Wilhelm did not embarrass himself and conducted himself with dignity. Once pictures of Wilhelm and Comte d’Artois were finished being taken and the public address given by Auguste was completed, Federal Minister Arnwaltan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and second in command to Shultz, privately approached the French delegation, where, after a long day of ceremonies, had now returned to where they were staying at a luxurious hotel.

Later that day, Portuguese newspaper and television media networks described their analysis of the coronation. Some were scalding denouncements of the foreign king and a few were glowing endorsements of their German saviours while the majority contained mixed messages of approval for their new constitutional monarch with cautious criticisms. Although pollsters began formulating an answer it was not initially clear how the average Portuguese perceived the coronation. But at least no one entered the streets rioting.

Germany

As news of the coronation entered Germany, almost immediately signs of discontent became visible. Work stalled as Germans talked to each other and tried to understand how it possible that it had happened. Whispers were everything and soon it was all they could talk about. The Spanish King was in Portugal but most importantly the brother to Auguste himself there too. Scathing denouncements of Chancellor Shultz were found in every single German newspaper. Papers across the country ran with headlines like, French pig welcomed by ally Shultz, WHY ISN’T ARTOIS BEHIND BARS?, Shultz licks French boots . Out of hundreds of newspapers not a single newspaper said anything good about the visit, or about Shultz, and most called for the immediate resignation of Shultz’s government. Spontaneous protests broke out all over Germany and within hours of the news hitting German airwaves the size of protestors grew and grew until it reached over 1 million Germans. They peacefully stood in the streets and one every corner and on every rooftop sermons were preached and prayers were prayed. A sheer mass of people blocked the Reichstag and parliamentarians were forced to sleep inside for the night. The tired crowds eventually peaked and satisfied that their voices reached their elected officials, quietly dispersed for the night. The next day they went back to work but analysts were predicting another round of peaceful protests for the next few days.

News of the peaceful demonstrations in Germany were quietly but widely disseminated and spread all over Portugal. Comte d’Artois continued to be untouched and protected. In addition to his regular body guards a number of highly trusted Germans were stationed to protect him at all times from German zealots. In the same vein, orders came down from the top brasses in Berlin to soldiers in Portugal that they were to stay away from the Comte at all times.

EDIT: Due to stupidity I changed some names... Also cuz the French King himself was not in Portugal I downgraded the rioting. Instead of 8 million, its only 1 million. Though its still a very big deal in Germany.

OOC-Whoah! Did NG say he was going to be there?

IC-The Quinntonian delegation formally asks royal assent to set up an ambassadorial mission, with five consulates, that will allow the Quintonians to administer their aid programs, as well as collect ongoing information. They also arrange to hire several top advertising firms and begin to launch simultanious ad campaigns in support of the new regime, though the Quinntonian ambassador, Jeffrey Dul, quietly expresses discomfort with a German royal head of state.

WWJD
Amen.

Coinciding with events in Portugal, a Phalansteric printing press in Soviet India publishes a document that its editors claim was delivered anonymously the day previous.

The document has achieved possibly greater notoriety than such a small publication would normally expect because it makes several bold claims of interest around the world.

Presented in the form of a missive to the international community, the document makes the first recorded reference to two organisations both if which it claims are already internationally active. First is the Indian Red Army (IRA), and second the Popular Front for the Liberation of Portugal (PFLP).

The claims relate to actions planned or already in motion, each group responsible for one. While it is claimed that the IRA will punish the United States, on its own shores, for its imperial attitude in East Asia and now Africa and for its, "imperial dictatorial theocratic agenda", the PFLP, reportedly, has pledged to assassinate Kaiser Wilhelm and Cardinal Domningos Silva.

Shultz is mentioned several times through the document, and while neither group is identified as taking responsibility for direct action against his person, the intent is clearly implied.

Raipur and Calcutta have both indicated ignorance of the two touted organisations.

Shit I'm confused... There's the Queen of France, the Queen Mother, and the Queen Marie Antoinette. Okay, Antoinette is the second cousin of Wilhelm, and the sister of Auguste. Wilhelm is the first cousin of Comte d’Artois. Right? Wouldn't that also make Antoinette Wilhelms first cousin as well? Antoinette is married to Phillip IV, the Spanish King. I just got myself a bit muddled with the relationships. I think I skimmed and saw "Queen" and made an ass out of you and me. Stupid complicated French relationships. I forgot that Wilhelm's relationship to France is also a relationship to Spain, and I guess that makes the Tsars family to Wilhelm as well. Are the Italians connected too?

It doesn't change the RP at all but I'm going to go back and fix the names from king of spain to king of france and also make a reference to Comte d'Artois.

IC:

Quinntopia
Normally the government for Portugal would handle matters of foreign policy including the request for consulates, but in the interim until the elections of Feb 25th, Governor-General (also known as the Studienberater) Adalwolf von Oswald gives royal asset on behalf of Wilhelm immediately, skipping both the upper and lower houses.

Oswald is very attentive to the concerns of Jeffrey Dul but does mention that the constitution can be changed at any time if they follow the amending formula and the due course of law. He also explains that the royal head of state was arranged in consultation with the King of France. Recently France had numerous setbacks in Africa and Shultz was sensitive to that and wanted to give the French a means of backing down without losing face. Furthermore, it was hoped that a propaganda victory in Portugal would help to alleviate the political firestorm that would likely erupt in France were the French to retreat from Africa. Therefore, he concluded, the royal head of state was very much in the interests of Quinntopia and Germany. And what is in the interests of Quinntopia and Germany is also in the interests of the Portuguese people as under a German regime they have received their freedom back. Furthermore, he stressed that he considered it unlikely for the royal powers to ever be used, given the stability of the upper house of Bishops.

Propaganda campaign
The phamphets arrive in Portugal and are widely circulated in the temporary detention centers for radical Ignovian secularists. It is estimated that approximately 10,000 individuals have been detained in the temporary detention centers. Almost immediately several cells of the PFLP are formed, including, however, some government and German plants. The publication of the documents was picked up by the local new media, although the entirity of their demands was not published. Upon hearing of this, the Portuguese police stationed several police offers around Cardinal Domningos Silva and security was tightened around Kaiser Wilhelm, with additional guards being assigned.

Response
The usual rhetoric came from the German Foreign Affairs office including statements that "such a move was an afront to the intelligence of the Portugeuse people and that the damned radical secularists should be more concerned with the state of their spiritual affairs rather than inciting and enflaming violence halfway around the world." However, for the first time in the history of relations between the third Commonwealth, the Catholic Bishop Jörg Müller was sent to the phalansteric printing press in Soviet India in an attempt to dissaude the phalanstery from publishing any more copies of the phamphlet. If accepted, he would be very pompous and would not fail to criticize anyone at any chance he was given. It was seen as an abrupt change of pace that someone would be sent to Soviet India and a sign of perhaps warming of relations, but he still hated the radical propagandizing secularists who he saw as destroying the faith of millions.

OOC: Sorry, I had to find this thread and stuff! I really should have gotten in sooner.

London

"Hello, Mr. Silva," said Strathairn, a cigarette burning in his right hand. He stood in the receiving room at No.10, Downing Street, and greeted the President of Portugal. Aníbal Cavaco Silva's face was lined with stress and fatigue, creased and bronzed by the South Atlantic sun. His Government-in-Exile in the Azores had the benefit of an office, but little to do there, and so the President of Portugal spent his days shuttling between London and Ponta Delgada, speaking to British officials and exerting a calming influence on his own fractured government.

With the League cease-fire and the negotiations regarding Portugal, Silva had been looking forward to returning to Lisbon. It wouldn't be a happy homecoming, but it would be a powerful moment both politically and psychologically when Portugal's head of state at last returned to his country's capital. For a nation shocked and subjected to a lighting invasion that reminded many of the Blitzkrieg in Poland, it was a necessary step in reasserting national identity and reclaiming sullied pride. Silva had expected to be back in Lisbon for weeks, and in an ideal world he would have moved quickly to rebuild the government. José Sócrates, the prime minister, had died during the evacuation. His party was in shambles, and most of his nation's political infrastructure had been demolished by the monarchists. It was hoped that the British, having brokered a cease-fire, could aid in rebuilding.

And then, of course, the Germans came. They had seemed nice enough at first, if a little theocratic at times. A little order and stability was just what Portugal needed, and people were initially quite glad to welcome the Bundeswehr. Unfortunately, that good feeling hadn't lasted. The constitutional reforms had come as something of a nasty shock, and everyone was a little confused as to why the Germans had thought it was a good idea to appoint a fat Kaiser--and a Bourbon--to Portugal's long-vacant throne. For God's sake, the country was governed by a socialist majority! Suffice it to say, Silva's high hopes for a restored Portugal were, at the very least, very premature indeed.

"Hello, Mr. Strathairn." Silva's voice was accented and a little hoarse, and he cleared his throat. "Pardon me, I have something of a cold coming." Strathairn nodded and gestured at a couch.

"Have a seat, sir. Please shift aside those papers, if you need to. I'm afraid it's been rather busy here. And welcome to Britain, I trust you're happy to get out of the sun?"

"Quite. And don't mind the papers, I've been living on my Gulfstream for some time, I know how it feels. I must say, for a prime minister, your living spaces aren't all that... imposing, if I may be so bold." They passed a few minutes in idle chit-chat, drinking tea brought by one of the staff. ("Apparently you live better than it seems, Mr. Strathairn!") After about twenty minutes, ("Please, call me Andrew.") the conversation swung around to the topic of Portugal.

"You should know, Aníbal, that my government doesn't intend to recognize either the constitutional monarchy set up by the Germans or the Parliament in Exile in Raipur. I honestly don't think that many people will, but I'd be happy to back you publicly if necessary. I'll be speaking to my contacts in Germany as well, although that relationship isn't as strong as it used to be. I can't promise anything. In the meantime, I'd like to ask if the Royal Navy can continue using the Azores as a refueling point. We're getting to the point where we need those mid-ocean refueling spots, especially on transits to the Australian territories. It would really help, and I'm sure that some kind of deal could be arranged."

"That should be fine, Andrew. And thank you for your backing. It gets lonely in the South Atlantic sometimes, and it might be just the thing to let people know that Portugal's government still exists!"

Later that day, Whitehall
[Live from the BBC]
It's a foggy February afternoon in London, and Prime Minister Strathairn has just addressed the nation with the President-in-Exile of Portugal. This is something of a big occasion, as Portugal itself has been in a state of some political confusion over the last few months. The camera showed a middle aged man standing under an umbrella and giving commentary. Behind him, Sir Andrew Strathairn and President Silva of Portugal were taking questions in the rain.

Mr. Silva, the elected president of Portugal, has been running the government absent a prime minister in the Azores, currently the only territory directly administered by the Portuguese government while the Madeira is under mandate by the UK. He just spoke about a desire to return to Portugal and reform the government, which was at the time of invasion led by the Socialist Party and Prime Minister José Sócrates. Since the evacuation of Lisbon, Mr. Silva has been unable to form the full Parliament to elect a new leader since large portions of it are missing. The Portuguese government stayed in Lisbon until the last moment, hoping that either the Spanish advance would be stopped or that the British forces in Gibraltar would mount a counterattack. As a result, large parts of the Portuguese government didn't make it out of country. The presenter, a regular broadcaster from Parliament, paused before continuing. The camera zoomed in a bit on Silva, and the presenter's voice was heard in the background.

Mr. Strathairn joined Silva in calling for the reinstatement of Portugal's elected government, saying that it was time to reassert normality in Europe. He called upon the United States and Germany to aid in this transition, and said that the government would not recognize any of the other governments of Portugal. There are, of course, three governments counting Mr. Silva's, one of which was set up by the Germans with apparent League support and another formed by the Soviets in Raipur. We'll keep abreast of the situation, but for now it's back to BBC Headquarters for a look at the markets. Jon?

Events were moving quickly since the coronation. Bishop Müller received a reply from the Kallathigiri Falls Autumn Commune in Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka Soviet State, confirming that a (deeply contested) vote in the Soviet of the First Level has approved his visitation request, but that there are to be no spare private rooms until a new annex is completed later this year. The Bishop is given the option of delaying his visit, or taking a bunk in either the male or unisex dormitory. The letter sent to Müller is printed on promotional paper that will give the German reason to expect, in the main, waterfalls, coffee, and architectural dedications to Lord Shiva when he arrives in Chikkamagaluru District.

Provided that the Bishop does not show up on any warning lists held by GSIC or comrade Leninya Bopara's Office of the Commissar for Wartime Sentinel Duties he will have little trouble gaining entry to the Commonwealth.

Portela Airport, Lisbon

Not a quiet terminus at the best of times, Aeroporto de Lisboa also had to handle a lot of traffic related to all that fuss with the coronation, which had drawn all sorts of important people to the capital, from Portugal and abroad. No doubt security would be at least as tight as ever.

A SATA International flight for North America was making ready for take-off carrying some 164 passengers of various European and North American nationalities, along with just a few from other parts of the world, many of whom had been in Portugal on business related to the German occupation and the coronation of the Kaiser.

Despite global and local tensions, few expected to hear such a terrific explosion on the tarmac not far from their aircraft as they waited to pull away from Terminal 1. A frantic burst of activity had just been played out, and more was to come.

Driving up a road passing close to the inner-city airport -Portuguese had long been debating the merits and drawbacks of falling into line with most of Europe and relocating their airport outside of town, but had lately other priorities on their minds- had been an odd assortment of civilian vehicles that suddenly revealed themselves as more than mere oddities. A truck hauling a ramp-like trailer had pulled off the road outside the fencing that blocked access to the two runways, and had been rapidly followed by several powerful off-road motorcycles that appeared suddenly from the trailer of a second lorry.

Within seconds a trio of bikes had launched themselves in daredevil fashion up the hurridly-positioned jump and cleared the perimiter fencing, doing no small ammount of damage to their resale value and the comfort of their determined and now jarred riders.

With the bikes speeding across the tarmac, the drivers of the two trucks had produced another motorcycle from the one trailer and set light to their original vehicles before making a getaway attempt, riding in tandem. Even as they fled, the passenger let off a burst of fire from a compact but powerful 9.3x21mm Weasel submachine-gun, a design produced usually by the Fort Brennus Small Arms Factory (BRES) for the Indian Commonwealth Guard, repeatedly striking a police car that just happened to be passing by at the time of the strange incident.

Inside the perimeter, airport security responded quickly to the breach and a car made swiftly across the apron in an attempt to intercept the on-coming motorcycles and their riders, whose intentions at this stage were unknown. As the security unit closed in, one of the bikes pulled away from the others, making a beeline for the car. With his head bare the olive-skinned rider stared down his rivals in a most serious game of chicken, letting out a cry of No mercy for traitors! in Portuguese as he slammed his bike on to its side and slid under the wheels of the security vehicle. The suicidal rider had, evidently, armed an impact bomb only an instant earlier, and as the car flipped end over end four or five times before coming to a halt on its roof, on the SATA airliner one passenger stood out for his calmness and lack of alarm following the sound of the blast.

Álvaro Gonçalves proceeded calmly down the aisle, excusing himself as he squeezed by dozens of other passengers all fussing and clamouring for a view through the port windows. As he reached to release the exit door, a female flight attendant moved to block his way, and was flung to the floor. Álvaro, guard of all, hauled open the door and raised a left-fisted salute to his approaching comrades as the two remaining cycles pulled up beside the airliner.

A line was thrown up, and Álvaro tied it off as a small robotic unit crawled up on rollers gripping the rope. This he established as a much stronger brace by extending arms against the aircraft's bulkheads, before making his way back towards the passenger deck.

The guerrilla's heart lept into his throat as he stood holding aside the curtain, blood dripping from his knuckles after having knocked-out a second flight attendant without even giving the young man a second glance. A man stood opposite him at the far end of the walkway, pistol drawn and yelling in English, something about being a US air marshal.

Gonçalves remained frozen for a moment, and then hurled himself back through the curtain, which fell to behind him as the marshal fired two shots into it.

Silence descended, broken only be a few whimpers from passengers here and there. The marshal swallowed hard, unsure as to whether he had hit Gonçalves, whom he had observed gesturing to the bikers and assumed to be a terrorist or hostile agent of some sort even before his bloody assault on the second flight attendant. He edged forwards, reassuring passengers as he went. At the curtain he paused for a moment and prepared for a quick movement to determine the terrorist's condition.

Two more shots rang out.

"Everybody, please return to your seats. This aircraft is now safely under the control of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Portugal. There is no need for further alarm."

A huge white man, hefty Soviet D-41 Dag pistol in hand, stepped over the body of the air marshal, followed closely by Álvaro, who was saying in Esperanto, "Nice shooting... thanks, Celso!" as he looked at the fallen Quinntonian.

Before long the three heavily armed hijackers had shut the aircraft up and forced their way into the cockpit, where Álvaro was politely asking the pilot to continue with his take-off operation while the third individual, who turned out to be a woman, called Desidéria by her comrades, red handkerchief tied around the lower half of her face, trained a submachine-gun on the seated passengers.

"If you don't" said the tall man, whose Portuguese was clumsy at best, "I will." And, pistol aimed at the captain's head, he pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal a tattoo referencing an Indian Soviet aviators' club associated with the Commonwealth Air Guard Auxiliary Corps (an organisation with literally hundreds of thousands of qualified-pilot members).

(OOC: Though Q and I have talked a fair bit about the wider campaign and other specific, uhm, non-governmental Igovist actions, I haven't gone through this particular incident. I wasn't sure if the USQ has air marshals, since they've never had a 9/11, but I thought that it wouldn't hurt too much to include one (he could turn out to be German or something else if that works better) and that would be better than not including any such character only for somebody to later ask why nobody was there to tackle it. Anyway, I've got a few more stages to this operation, but they don't have to play out as I've imagined, so let's see how we go, eh?)

Mumbai

Parliament is, unsurprisingly, quite displeased over the German take-over of Portugal, and diplomatic recognition of the prewar Portuguese government headed by Anibal Silva is re-affirmed. Germany's involvement in Portugal in the first place takes most Unioners by surprise, who are used to Lisbon looking towards England for support, and another highly confusing aspect of the occupation is the reestablishment of the monarchy, and not even using a Portuguese royal at that.

Condemnation is heaped upon the government in Berlin for what few can describe as anything besides blatant imperialism, doubtless contrary to the wishes of the Portuguese people, who just saw the end of the Spanish occupation and who, most Parliamentarians think, would very much like to have their country back. Portugal does, after all, still have a popular, recently-elected government more or less in existence not too far away, the likes of which could almost certainly return to govern effectively on short notice. In light of these observations Unioners have little reason to consider Germany's presence in Portugal as anything besides an attempt to dominate the country and its politics.

Diplomatic pressure is applied to Quinntonia, Germany's primary benefactor, and Hindustani representatives in Washington do their best to convince the Quinntonians that Berlin has no business interfering with the affairs of Portugal. It is not a difficult argument to make, and Unioners present a large body of evidence to support their claims, but Mumbai's word probably carries a lot less weight than Berlin's, and few expect any major success to come of the effort.

Hindustani officials will no doubt be surprised to find nothing but support in Washington. The Quinntonian ambassador to Portugal, Jeff Dul, begins to mount closed doors pressure on the German/Portuguese government to invite the government in exile back to the country formally, though as private citizens, and to allow them to run freely in the upcoming elections that have been promised. Further, it begins to ask the German government for definite withdrawal limits in regards to its current commitment in the nation.
With this, comes more promises of further aid for the nation, and promises of comprehensive trade and military agreements that will be profitable for the Portuguese people, but even on those issues, they choose to wait and negotiate details with the government that will be formed in the upcoming elections. They also ask if they may provide election monitoring for the process.
The Hindustanis are told that the Quinntonians are perplexed by the shift in government, saying that they think that the Germans believe that to have a monarchy in place in that nation, even a figurehead will allow relations for the embattled and surrounded nation to improve with its neighbours. Of course, Quinntonians are sceptical, but only time will tell. If it proves to be true, this will be an unconventional approach that will pay incalculable dividends, if not, it will be a colossal and foolish error in judgement. The Quinntonians are setting up diplomatic missions immediately, but at this time they recognise only the German occupation command. They will, however, immediately recognise the government as elected in the upcoming elections, whoever that may be. Assuming the elections are fair, of course. The Hindustanis are reminded that Quinntonia negotiated for the surrender of Portugal by the Bourbons, and only asked their close friend and allies from Germany to step in and ensure that the withdrawal by the Royalists was complete, and that the following rebuild was funded and made secure by their presence. They ask the Hindustanis to petition the German command to allow them to act as observer in the upcoming elections as well, and ask them to encourage the government in exile to seek re-election in the nation.

However, upon hearing about the terrorist activity in Portugal, they do immediately assign their most crack Delta Force Team of counter-terrorism operatives to the mission, with a lane taking off from Rammstien in only minutes from the initial report. A Delta Force Team led by none other than Col. Charles Norris. His friends call him Chuck.

WWJD
Amen.

OOC: You guys really hate me eh? So much reading! Well I'll try and get a post in. I don't like doing it but I guess I've have to do an omnipresent narrator. Also, if I screw up, don’t hesitate to mention it as long your not a jackass about it.

Also, with regard to the terrorist stuff I would like to know from Quinn how many Quinntopians are in the plane and if there is anyone particularly important on the plane. He never actually stated that people from Quinntopia even arrived for the coronation. Also my gut instinct is just to shoot down the plane so I want to know how to RP the affects of it if I actually end up doing it. Anyway, I don’t think there would be too many important people arriving on the plane because well, the Portuguese live in Portugal, and the really important people from Germany and the Holy League would life in private jets. Also I’m not sure how much of a draw the coronation would be for common people, because, well they weren’t allowed in for the church service and the festivities were hardly anything to brag about. An hour service and a short 15 minute parade doesn’t really give them much opportunity to get involved. Besides, the Portuguese probably wouldn’t feel ecstatic towards their new monarch so there would hardly be giant celebrations for other European and North American visitors to get involved with.

It seems much more likely, to me anyway, that the plane would be composed of mostly holidayers, sightseers, people travelling to other destinations, businessmen, people visiting their family, etc. and not very many if any visitors to the coronation. But if you want to make it Quinntopian based we can say the plane is returning to the USQ and mostly filled with Quinntopians. That’s how I’m running with it now anyway. Plus given Chuck Norris is the head guy I just want to hand it over to Quinn to deal with the terrorists, hopefully throwing in a couple roundhouse kicks here and there. So it would make more sense to justify handing it over to the Quinntopians if it was mostly Quinntopians involved. But yeah if you launch the plane, I think there’s a good case for Germans to be close enough to deal with the situation very quickly and throwing a couple of Meteors or Meteor equivalents at it.

Also, I'm going not proceed with the diplomatic mission to the Third Commonwealth right now. Perhaps I'll create another thread for it once I have time.

IC: Germany and Britain Relations Implode
It was a considerable upset to the German authorities that Britain moved against their sponsored Portuguese regime and further de-stabilized the ever weakening relationship between not only Germany but also with Quinntopia, who also backed the new regime. Shultz immediately retaliated to the news of British sponsored regime by calling for the immediate expulsion of British embassies in Germany and stated that the separation of British and German troops in Cyprus and all other territories was now permanent. Shultz also publically stated that if Germany wished to discuss matters of importance Germans would simply bypass the British puppets and talk directly to their masters. According to Chancellor Shultz, the British had become little more than pawns of Hindustan and the Third Commonwealth in a world wide game of brinksmanship. However, out of respect for their Portuguese allies, Shultz stated that royal assent would be given to any British embassies in Portugal, should the British recognize the new government. Herr Luder was silent on the issue, preferring to allow Shultz to speak publically on behalf of Germany. However, he sent a personal letter to General Jack Jones condemning him, insulting him, and telling him in no uncertain term, to repent or God would seek him out.

Germans and Hindustans

At the same time as the announcement to the British, the Hindustans are informed that Hindustan observers will be allowed into the country to observe the election that will take place on February 25th. However, they can only have no more than one hundred observers and must pass both German and Quinntopian security checks. Furthermore, prior to entry they must undergo a body cavity search to ensure they are not smuggling in contraband. Once they are in Portugal they must agree to be under constant surveillance from Quinntopian observers and not leave their side for any reason. After they leave they must also undergo another body cavity search to ensure they are carrying messages from terrorist groups to the Third Commonwealth. Although it is not stated, clearly the Germans have little love for the Hindustans and trust them far less than the Quinntopians.

Germany and Quinntopia

Oswald listens very attentively to the concerns of Jeffery Dul and states that the request for the former government to return will be initiated immediately. However, as previously stated, they will not be allowed to run in the next election as leaders because as previously stated it was time for change and the government that failed to avert war with their Spanish neighbours would not be allowed to govern once again. Their mistakes would not be allowed to repeat. However, they would be allowed to run as long as they do not challenge the current leadership, agreed to work within the system for constitutional change, and did not have any known relationships to terrorist organizations such as the PFLP. Election monitoring is easily and readily granted by Oswald to Quinntopians to as many observers as they desire even should it number the entire population of Quinntopia. However, he said that if he allows other outside observers, such as the Hindustans and the British, into the country, they must be accompanied by Quinntopians at all times and must not be allowed to leave their sight, or they will immediately be shipped out of Portugal for inciting violence.

Oswald resisted any attempted from Dul to pin Germany down on a fixed date for removal and stated that Germans would probably always have a significant base in Portugal to ensure the continued peace and stability of Portugal. The decision on whether German troops should remain or leave, he stated, should remain with the elected Portuguese government and must not be subject to outside parties. However, he was quick to reassure Dul, that German troops would leave if asked by the elected officials. He also asked when to expect the arrival of the 2000 promised Quinntopian troops at Castello Branco. Given the recent terrorist activities it would be appreciated if the Quinntopians established a more significant military presence in Portugal, hopefully including some planes.

Fallout from Silva
The British sponsored regime was the greatest blow to the legitimacy of the newly created German sponsored government in Lisbon since its recent creation. It was one thing for the Ignovians to set up another government but quite another for a liberal democracy with strong ties to Portugal. Pressures for reforms increased within Portugal but the main result was that though while still small, an increasing number of Portuguese, followed the example of the former President of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, in looking for solutions outside the German constitutional system. Immediately after the British announcement, recruitment for the PFLP increased 10% as hundreds, with no prior experience with the Ignovians, signed up to free their country from foreign domination. Under the Spanish, terrorist attacks were relatively rare, however under the German regime the existence of certain fundamental freedoms unfortunately meant it was easier for terrorist groups to organize. It came as a personal disappointment to Oswald that rather than praising the return of freedoms and working for improvement from within the system, the British instead chose to follow the destabilizing policies of the Soviet powers.

Not all political actors within Portugal responded positively to their former President’s message. The monarchist parties of course reacted strongly against the message and others followed their lead. It was under the new political system that the new leaders were elected and many of them did not want to give up their new political power. The establishment of the government in exile was even criticized by the former wife of the Prime Minster, Josea de Sousa. She stated it was the role of elected officials to legislate and make decisions of importance, and it was certainly not the role of the largely ceremonial President, who was more used to cutting tape and opening buildings than making decisions of importance. According to Josea de Sousa, no Portuguese MPs still abroad should join the so called British “government” and she invited them to come back to Portugal to participate in the upcoming elections. She also took the opportunity to underscore what was rapidly becoming a popular idea with the people. She stated that if her party was elected to government she would introduce legislation that would transfer the institution of monarchy to a Portuguese monarch upon the death of Wilhelm, whenever that occurred for the forty year old monarch.

Both Josea de Sousa’s remarks and that of the former president were captured by the local news media and widely disseminated to the entire Portuguese population. Quinntopia advertisements were followed by German advertisements as they continued to try to convince the local population of the benefits of the new regime.

Portela Airport, Lisbon

The explosions on the tarmac and the firing on a police car could not fail but alert the police and the German military of the immediate dangers posed by the unknown rogue group to the safety of the Portuguese airport. Within one minute, two Eurofighters launched from a nearby base, with another seven on their heels, to investigate the situation. Within three minutes, they will be directly above the airfield and hopefully by that time it will not be too late. Civilian airplanes coming into Lisbon and in Portugal were immediately ordered to land at the nearest airport, excluding that of Portela Airport. All planes within Portugal were grounded as Alert status Red was issued. Portuguese police and the more powerfully armed Streitkräftebasis were sent out to block entrances within 10 blocks of the airport and evacuate everyone from the streets within that radius. The Germans and Portuguese immediately contacted the Quinntopians and let them know that the plane contained a large number of Quinntopians. For that reason they suggested that the crack force lead by Col. Charles Norris be the lead negotiator. However, they are informed that if the plane attempts to leave the airstrip it will be blown out of the sky by German Eurofighters in order to minimize the damage to the surrounding city. If the plane was to crash into major apartments or city skyscrapers the cost to human live could reach thousands and it was essential that the threat be minimized.

After the terrorists take control of the plane a loudspeaker is set up not far from the plane and immediately a Portuguese voice erupts from the loudspeaker.

“Please remain calm. Attempts to take off or exit the airfield will result in the immediate destruction of the plane. Please remain calm and wait for a professional negotiator who will be here shortly.”

At that point, after hearing his plane will be destroyed if it takes off, the pilot hears the Ignovian terrorist and sees the insignia. He does not completely understand the foreign language but sees common aviation symbols and understands. He immediately pleads for his life and asks for the Ignovian to spare to his life and says he has four young children at home who still need him. He remains in the pilot chair, cowering in abject fear.

Mumbai

It should come as no shock to Germany that Parliament rejects the offer to send election observers to Portugal. Election monitors can hardly be expected to do their job effectively under such strict conditions, but that concern is largely beside the point. Few Unioners regard the German regime in Lisbon as legitimate, and sending observers to monitor a German-imposed election under German-imposed conditions of conduct would, the majority believes, imply recognition of the occupation government's authority. Nobody wants to let the Germans invoke the presence of Hindustani observers as evidence that whatever election takes place is "free and fair," and there is great confidence that, in the end, the German-organized election will demonstrate such a widespread lack of support for the imposed monarchy amongst the general populace that the Germans will be left with no other choice but to end their occupation.

News of violence in Portugal is met with disapproval, and it is widely believed that the recent airport incident will turn out to be the work of agents provocateurs, who mean to give the occupation authorities an excuse to tighten their grip on the country. Parliament issues a declaration encouraging the Portuguese people to indicate dissatisfaction with their German occupiers through peaceful means, and warns that the use of violence, at this stage, will only serve to make the Germans more difficult to get rid of, and could serve to increase Quinntonia's sympathy for the occupation regime.

In the short term, some aid is offered to the Portuguese government-in-exile, and Mumbai promises that, if the Germans attempt to seize the Azores, Vijay Ramsingh's 10th Fleet, currently based out of Conakry and Dakar, will assist in their defense. These offers are not made terribly public, however, in an effort to keep the situation as calm as possible. It is thought that the Germans may read Hindustani overtures to the government-in-exile as a military threat to their occupation, and few in Parliament want to be responsible for that kind of escalation.

"'Attempts to take off or exit the airfield will result in the immediate destruction of the plane.' This the voice of the German-backed authority in Portugal as an airliner reported to be carrying over one hundred and fifty passengers of various European and North American nationalities is apparently taken-over by rebels fighting the German occupation..."

That was how Gadar! (Revolution!), India's largest newsmedia outlet reported to the world on the early stages of the crisis in Lisbon. It was evident that the Soviet state-owned broadcaster and publisher had received communication, directly or indirectly, from the hijackers, and it would later become apparent that the PFLP guerrillas had access to a satellite phone operating on the Igovian system. The voice of the Portuguese security officer and his threat to destroy the aircraft along with at least 170 passengers and crew was repeated ad nauseum for the interest of anybody on earth who would listen.

"If this causes public outrage" said a spokeswoman for Gadar! responding to related claims, "it is only the fault of the authorities in Portugal. We report the news, we do not create it."

Aboard the aircraft the hijackers delayed their plan for take-off as Gonçalves set about rigging potential access points with what appeared to be explosive devices.

"We'll take off all right, we just need to wait for the international community to dissuade the puppets from killing scores of western civilians. It won't be long, so be ready." Said the one called Celso to what crewmembers were in a fit state to listen.

The big man only clucks his tongue and hisses softly in disgust as the pilot cringes further.

OOC: You want to shoot down a plane filled with civilians?! Um, if you do that, don't expect Britain to talk to you again. Ever. At all.

Address to Parliament

"Ladies and Gentlemen, members of Parliament. I feel that the situation in Portugal has become one which requires me to give an address which formally outlines this government's position on the matter, and explains why the choice has been made to break with our allies in the United States and Germany. This is not a step that I take lightly, and with the full understanding that in doing so, I have jeopardized Britain's alliances and security to an extent that will, no doubt, cause a great deal of discomfort, unrest and concern within this body. I beg your indulgence, for I think that if we are to stand for the rights of man then this is the only course which we can take.

"The Republic of Portugal has been without a monarch since the Carnation Revolution. It is led by a left-centre government headed by the late Prime Minister Sócrates. Furthermore, it is our oldest ally and it seems now our last in Europe. The British have a long tradition of guaranteeing Portugal's independence. It was we who removed Napoleon's armies from the Iberian Peninsula, we who stood firmly by the Portuguese during Franco's reign, and it should have been we who came to their streets, stood with them and helped the Portuguese people regain the independence and the form of government which they cherish. We were remiss in our failure to do so, and naïve in our expectation that Germany would do that noble work for us.

"I have no words which can express my astonishment at Germany's actions in Portugal. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the German people, who have risen in fifty years from disgrace and defeat to a powerful and moral nation. I have been to Germany, and I wish some day to go there again. However, I am perhaps forced to question the motives of Germany's elected leadership. In its pandering to the Holy League, it has installed an unwanted monarch in a republican state. In its visceral hatred of the Progressive Bloc, it has forced a system of government on a nation which has no desire for it.

"I entreat the leaders of the United States to retract their support from the German government. The government of Germany has so far shown its unwillingness to engage moderate leftist governments such as that of Hindustan, has asserted that the United Kingdom of Great Britain is a puppet state, and has shown a dangerous instability in its upper military leadership. As a champion of freedom in this world and as a fellow liberal democracy, I beg that the United States see Germany for what it really is: a noble nation co-opted by evil men.

"Henceforth all British co-operation with the government of Germany is suspended. All military trade between our two states is suspended. This state of affairs will continue until such time as the Bundeswehr leaves Portugal in the hands of its elected president and senior living political leader, Aníbal Silva. At that time, we shall re-evaluate our stance on Germany's government. Gunter Shultz must show the world that he is a democrat, that he respects the rule of law, and that he holds sacred the sovereignty of nations as all legitimate political leaders must do.

"The people of Portugal want their freedom, their ancient liberty and the government that they chose in an election the credibility of which is beyond doubt. The people of Britain and the government which represents them will stand by our oldest friends on God's green Earth, and we will not permit foreign interests to interfere with Portugal's inherent right to determine its own course. We stand with our brothers in Hindustan, who we name in defiance of Shultz's rhetoric to be honourable and brave men and women. The Hindustanis have fought and died for Britain in these past years, as they have fought and died for freedom the world over. We are proud and humbled to count these men and women as our friends.

"Ladies and gentlemen, members of Parliament. The world is at a turning point. I affirm my commitment to freedom of speech, freedom of choice, freedom of worship and freedom of the market. I affirm all of these, and say that this government will stand for freedom across this Earth. I say we will stand with Hindustan, with Portugal, with the emerging democracies of Africa and the peoples of Europe who yearn for their briefly held and dearly desired liberty. I invite the United States, land of the Godly, free and brave to stand with us as brothers. It is your natural place, and I could think of no thing more noble than the Union flag, the Stars and Stripes and the Hindustani tricolour united under one banner of freedom for all. Prime Minister Vanessa Moerike, I call upon you to heed the traditions of your great and noble country, to stand by the side of those who share your goals. If we human beings are to ever be free and peaceful, we shall need you and yours. You have my respect, my admiration and my friendship. I ask that you give me yours and that of your nation in this.

"The battleground of freedom is in Portugal today, but it is also in Africa. It is in Berlin, where the great people of Germany will fight freedom's battle in their hearts and souls. It is in Mumbai and in Raipur. It is in London as well. It is in Southeast Asia, where ideologies noble clash with realities oppressive. It is in Australia and South America, where tyrants and democrats live side by side with anarchists in peace. It is in the United States. It is in this room. The battle-cry of freedom comes in many tongues, but today it calls in ours. Today, its cry is for the liberty of Portugal. Ladies and gentlemen, members of Parliament, citizens of Britain and citizens of the World, thank you and good night."

Cyprus

The British were already gone from Germany's bases, the sterns of their ships leaving a gentle wake in the Mediterranean Sea. British occupational zones experienced significant fortification, the ever-present and ever-expanding Corps of Royal Engineers moving to and fro with bulldozers, converted Centurion Vs and other assorted equipment. Taking cues from that most efficient of military organizations, the WWII United States Navy, the Royal Navy established Naval Engineering Brigades whose job it was to fortify harbour entrances against submarine attack and support amphibious groups in beach landings. Lacking any beach landings and having already built a sort of modern Churchill Barrier, the NEBs joined their Army cohorts inland in construction of a network of revetments and redoubts. Britain's Cypriot Mandate had expanded a fair bit over the past year or so, and its borders were still porous. Roads were surveyed, checkpoints were set up. Wire fencing was replaced by low double walls backed by a discreet but fairly significant network of bunkers and low hill pillboxes. Cyprus had become the home of two hostile camps, and it wasn't uncommon to hear a tommy making disparaging remarks about 'Jerry' that carried on the stiff sea-breeze.

Housing accommodations for the Cypriots were carried out by the NEBs and Engineers, as well as several professional construction firms. Cyprus' infrastructure, while modern, was enjoying a fairly substantial expansion in terms of light rail, road and electrical connections. Homes that had been requisitioned during the Mandate Expansion in late 2007 were paid for in British Pounds provided by the government if they could not be returned to their owners. Those whose property fell along the border were awarded parcels of formerly British Government land, as pleasant as could be found on the rocky little island. Still, it was difficult to please everyone and there was certain to be a fair bit of dissatisfaction. Moving from a charming little villa to an equally charming but rather smaller apartment free of charge was not always seen as a good thing, and the Provisional Authority in Cyprus had to field a fairly regular stream of complaints delivered in rapid Greek.

Foreign Office

The Foreign Office delivered a scathing and acerbic treatment of the Germans' response to the aircraft hijacking. Shooting down a plane carrying 150 civilians which posed no threat to the illegitimate German government in Portugal was nothing short of mass murder, and any attempts to do so would be met with opposition from British aircraft based in Gibraltar. If the Germans were content to lose their collective heads regarding a single aircraft hijacking, perhaps they should not be running the illegal occupation of a free country!

In all seriousness, said the Foreign Office's spokesmen, Britain would not allow the German military to commit mass murder when the aircraft posed no threat to life or security. Common air security practises demanded that the Germans simply give the hijackers what they want unless their demands were in some way unreasonable. If all they really wanted to do was make a point and fly out of the country, why not let them? If it came to crashing into buildings, by all means the Germans would be within their rights to destroy the plane to save the greater number of lives. If the only danger was to German prestige, the Foreign Office submitted that the lives of 150 innocent civilians ought not be made to pay the price for German hubris. The sixth commandment (fifth by the Lutherans, but we're using the Anglican interpretation) demands nothing else.

To the UK
The UK government’s comments were not falling on unsympathetic ears in the USQ. The ambassador to the UK did immediately request an audience with the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister about this issue. He wished to clarify the government’s position in regards to the USQ. At the beginning of his speech, the PM said, “...why the choice has been made to break with our allies in the United States and Germany.” Then, proceeded to outline the break with Germany but only made requests to the USQ. PM Moerike very much wishes that she be told exactly where the USQ stands with the UK.

To Portugal
Jeff Dul, in the round of talks with the German occupational command in Portugal, requested only one more thing. Please allow these elections to be free. In order for them to be taken seriously, the former government members needed to be allowed to run for any and all positions that they wished, even under the new system it would seem that barring certain people from certain positions without proving their involvement in subversive activities would be against the theoretical powers that they themselves set in place.

To Mumbai
Mumbai is told that the supervision that Quinntonians would give her observers would only amount to following them around to fulfill the letter of the law in regards to the German needs. They would be free to do anything that they deemed necessary and the USQ would even follow their lead in any investigation of the election. Of course, the Quinntonians that they would assign to them would be only there to help, not to hinder, and if the Hindustanis saw or reported anything different from the Quinntonians, they would be free to declare the elections invalid. The Quinntonians simply wanted help in regards to this election issue and hoped that Hindustan would be able to offer their expertise.

At Home
The pundits in Quinntonia were having difficulty sorting out these two “allies” of the USQ and their positions. First, Germany declared that the UK was working with the HL because of the peace overtures with France after the massive French attacks on UK interests and assets. Then, in the UK blamed Germany and Quinntonia for trying to derailing their cooperation with the HL. Following this, Germany placed a monarchy in Portugal that elicited charges of, “...pandering to the Holy League.” At this point, it just seemed sensible that this would be followed by the pot calling the kettle black. Germany’s position was unstable at best right now, with many worldwide and in Quinntonia wondering what was truly occurring in the halls of power in Berlin. The UK suffered the largest attacks by the HL of any of the former NATO powers and then started to cooperate with France, and Quinntonia’s new ultimatum has seemingly caused the disintegration of British/Quinntonian relations. With a complete lack of anything resembling a coherent foreign policy coming from either side, it was difficult for Quinntonia to know who to back, but they knew that the Progs the world over were guffawing at what they saw as the disintegration of the West.

As for the matter of the planes, PM Moerike herself called Schultz and requested that he rescind the order to destroy the plane if it took off, and rather just block the runway with other planes and vehicles in order to block it in, which they could easily do before the plane moved. Norris would be there soon. However, if the plane took off, and headed for lad targets of any type, she would support the order to destroy the plane. Her Foreign Minister was also advised of the obvious inside communications that were coming from inside the plane to the Soviets, as well as the pamphlets that were being printed identifying the terrorists as Ignovians. Just then, the reports started to come in of the terrorist attacks on Quinntonian soil.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=537027&highlight

This was going to be a bad week. God help us all.

WWJD
Amen.

BG, I'll give you one last chance to takeoff.

Hostage situation

The Eurofighters streaked towards Lisbon and rapidly landed on the runway coming directly towards the airplane. It was now or never, either the aircraft tried to take off or it stayed put. Even if they tried to take off now, there was no guarantee that they would have enough time before the Eurofighter reached them. And the Eurofighter continued head first towards the plane. Would they move? It became a game of chicken. Several Eurofighters continued to circle around the airport. The loudspeaker repeated the same message that the aircraft would be blown up if it attempted to take off.

Quinntonia

Oswald expressed to Dul that he was put between a rock and a hard place. The elections for the leadership of the political parties were already two weeks old and the new leaders had already began campaigning for the election on Feb 25th. Did Dul want the Germans to overthrow a democratically elected leadership simply because of outside pressure? Furthermore, Oswald stated that the ban was over now and that the former leaders could rerun in subsequent elections. However, in order to satisfy his Quinntopia allies he mentioned he was willing to step aside as Governor-general and give the position to the former President of Portugal. Oswald expressed reluctance at this option indicating that the German government wished to retain some oversight over legislation so that the Portuguese did not immediately begin to provoke their neighbours. However, he did say that because of the supreme importance of the Quinntopians he was willing to do it.

Shultz expressed surprise to Moerike that she was informed in such a rapid manner about the state of affairs in Portugal. He himself had just been informed just after the Eurofighters were launched. He told her that the Eurofighters were just landing at that very moment and trapping the captured plane. However, the order to bring down the plane remained. He explained to her that the airport was located in the center of a major bustling metropolitan center. If the airplane took off it would pose a danger to millions of civilians and the Germans would not be responsible for the deaths of so many. Shultz also assured her that the signals from the planes were now being jammed and that it was impossible for them to communicate in any way with their superiors. Shultz also expressed sorrow at the recent damages in the USQ and that German aid workers would be sent immediately to help with the damages. Shultz told Moerike that the attacks would not go unpunished and that the war between Germany and the Third Commonwealth was looking more and more inevitable. So far he had held back from supporting his greatest allies because he did not want to support the Holy League by declaring war on the Third Commonwealth. But with the recent ultimatum all that was lacking was the trigger. These terrorist activities were that trigger. He asked Moerike if she had anything else to say and then told her he had a war to win.

Germany declares War on the Third Commonwealth

Shultz stood in front of several military officers, including Herr Luder, some church officials, and the Quinntopian ambassador.

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. I have just learned of massive Soviet terrorist activity in the United States of Quinntopia. I have also received word that Ignovian terrorists have captured a planeful of innocent civilians in Portugal. This declaration of war by the Ignovian Commonwealth on our Portuguese and Quinntopian friends will not go unpunished.”

“Several months ago, a great American, under whose symbolic shadow we stand here today signed the Moerike Doctrine, the declaration of war against an ungodly opponent and strong force against the gospel. This came a bread beacon light of hope to millions of Africa languishing under the dark rule of radical secularism. But today, they are still not free. They are battered by the storms of withering paganism and staggered by the winds of secularism. But that will change my friends. We will change Africa from bastion of paganism and secularism to an oasis of freedom and justice where all of Gods children, yes black men, as well as white men will be free from the red tide of radical secularism.”

“Long has the persecution and clamping down on the gospel been ignored and undermined. We have allowed our brothers in Dra-pol to be undermined by a totalitarian government. No more! We have allowed the radical secularism unlimited access to Africa. No more! We have allowed the underground terrorist organizations to flourish in Portugal. No more! We have no supported the Quinntopians against the vile acts of violence against civilians. No more! If we do nothing we too shall be overrun by the godless and the blasphemers. We must take up our swords. We must take up bows. We must raise our voices and shout to the Lord who alone shall grants the victory. We Germans, rich and poor, Catholic and Lutheran, shall stand side by side and raise their voices to the Lord. Standing united with praises on our lips, we shall pour in an unending stream into Africa until righteousness runs down like water and freedom like a mighty stream.”

“We shall not stop until there is a bible in the hands of every African and the freedom to read it without persecution. We shall not stop until the very last taint of radical secularism is expunged from Africa. We shall not stop until God’s banner is flown under every tree and on every hill and ant-hill of Africa. There are those who ask us, when will you be satisfied? We can not and we will not be satisfied until freedom rings across the deserts of the Sahara. Let freedom ring across the dense tropical forests of the Congo. Let freedom ring down the clear waters of the Nile. Let the freedom ring until all of Africa is free to openly worship him once again.”
“This day Germany officially declares war on the godless monstrosity of the Third Commonwealth. All leave is cancelled and I request that all reservists immediately report in for active status. All young men between the ages of 18 and 40 are hereby ordered to come in and be registered. Ignovians, today you have attacked our allies and we shall not be silent. Prepare for war.”

After Shultz’s speech the German economy started the slow transformation to total war status and an immediate quota was placed on all civilian luxuries. Ships will begin pumping out of German shipyards, aircraft will be built, and tanks assembled. The German nation was awaking from a long slumber and now after fifty years they were once again at war. The church was quick to respond to the news by encouraging male parishioners to grow their hair long and announcing non-stop pray days until the end of the war.

The Response to British Warmongering

The Germans ignored the letter from the British Foreign Affairs Office but passed it onto the Quinntonians to alert them to the hostile intentions Britain had towards Germany. Since Britain’s Foreign Affairs Office threatened war, a total ban on communication between all levels of German government and all levels of the British was quietly announced. German soldiers in Cyprus were ordered to not have any contact with any British soldiers. The erratic behaviour of the British was unforeseen by Shultz and although it would weaken Shultz politically to stop propagandizing against the British it appeared necessary in order to stop a war he never wanted. Shultz smiled wirily at the sudden shifts in British diplomacy. First they are friends with us, now they want to attack us. They fought the League, then cooperate with them. They cooperate with the League and now accuse us of pandering to league. First they went to Egypt to fight the Soviets, now they cooperate with Soviets in attacking the legitimacy of the German sponsored government in Portugal. He was glad that the Hindustans now had to deal with the erratic topsy turvy British. They threatened us, he thought, if we took out a terrorist threat within a heavily populated urban area with a minimum of civilian casualties, but who knows? Within a few hours they might end up attacking the Hindustans with nerve gas. The erratic behaviour of the British was becoming very troubling to Shultz and he passed on his concerns to Moerike.

What should they do about the British? The British fought to kick the Holy League out of Portugal and now that a democratically elected government is close to being elected, they refuse to recognize it. Not only that, they are now threatening us with war! Shultz explained to Moerike that he was befuddled by their actions. The British seemed bent on war and no matter how he tried to compromise they seemed to want war at whatever costs. It was a political decision, he explained, that lead to falling out between Germany and Britain because the people were increasing becoming angry at irritated the British. The British conducting public arms deals with the Hindustans and the League, all while still applying for NATO membership simply became too much to stand. But now it appeared, much to his amazement, that the people’s scepticism was proving correct. Perhaps the British really were on the side of evil, collaborating with the Holy League and the Soviets as it suited them. He asked how to respond to them and their threat of war over the Portugal situation. Should the PM of Britain be assassinated in order to prevent a bloodbath from occurring? Because the unwillingness to cooperate or compromise was proving incredibly dangerous. Not even the French were as dangerous at this moment, because at least they would listen to reason.

United States Embassy, London

The missive from the Foreign Office was only a prelude, but it would certainly serve to clarify the government's position on issues.

Dear Mr. Ambassador,

As a politician, I'm sure you understand that no complex idea can be fully conveyed in the course of a single speech. We shall attempt to address your concerns as quickly and fully as possible, with the full intent of a later meeting as per your convenience. The relationship with the United States is deeply integral to the success and the ideals of this government, which places the freedom of men above any economic, political or social system. Accordingly we see no inherent division between the socialists, the liberal democrats and the anarchists, so long as their populations are free to select their own futures through some form of the democratic process. In this idea might be found our foreign policy, which has been called pandering, weak willed and flighty.

Firstly, the statements made regarding the future relationship with the United States. While this government can no longer associate with the Republic of Germany, we do not hold the United States in any way responsible for its acts. The 'break with the United States' refers only to the Empire's choice to retract its bid for NATO application, a decision made because the NATO alliance does not, in the final sense, serve the Empire's interests at home or abroad. I'm sure you must understand, Mr. Ambassador, that the job of government is to represent first and foremost its people's interests, and only then to consider the opinions of allies. This is not to insult you or your nation, but to clarify why the Empire has chosen not to go forward with the NATO alliance.

That said, the United States has been offered a continuance of the special relationship that has characterized Anglo/Quinntonian foreign relations for nearly a century. We make no apologies for our alliance with the Hindustanis or our support for Mr. Silva's government as the only legitimate one of Portugal, but we say that the United States has a natural place as an ally of the British Empire and the Indian Union. The Union has been a moderating influence on the Progressive Bloc, and has actually espoused a very consistent and moderate foreign policy. We have chosen to stand by them in calling for calm, peace and understanding, and we ask the United States to do the same.

Regarding the developing situation in Portugal, Britain will not permit the murder of 150 civilians. All peaceful pressures will be applied to the Republic of Germany and its Luftwaffe, and we seek nothing more than the peaceful resolution of this matter. However, if Germany attempts to destroy the airliner without cause, British aircraft will intervene to prevent their missiles from striking the target. German aircraft will not be targeted unless hostile actions are taken against the British Empire.

We look forward to meeting with you,
The Rt. Hon. Sir Andrew Strathairn, CBE
Prime Minister, United Kingdom of Great Britain etc.
Ms. Christina Lloyd,
Foreign Secretary, United Kingdom of Great Britain etc.

Dakar, Senegal

Chancellor Shultz's remarks are not taken at all well by West African governments, who have more than enough to deal with normally, and, lately, have been faced with one disaster after another. In typically neutral language, characteristic of a power bloc that carries very little influence in the world, and which betrays little of the offense felt by West African governments, the German government is asked to reconsider its recently-stated African policy, which, it is said, may result in further unnecessary loss of life. German military assistance, says the official ECOWAS release, is not presently required, and the Germans are asked to seek government approval before deploying any military assets to areas under the administration of ECOWAS states. The ECOWAS organization restates its policy that the presence of any foreign military in any ECOWAS member state without the organization's endorsement will be interpreted as an act of hostility, and the West African governments would like to preserve civil diplomatic relationships with the German Republic. It is further requested that, should the Germans find themselves in a state of war with the Soviet Commonwealth, they refrain from spreading this conflict to West Africa, where it is by no means wanted.

The official communique does not convey the displeasure felt by a majority of West Africans, a large portion of whom are Muslim, over Shultz's words. There is little enthusiasm for militarily-backed Christian proselytizing in a region badly hurt by another nation that took its faith very seriously. "Radical Secularism," as Shultz put it, is not seen as a major problem, but theological imperialism is on the other hand a problem that has already cost several hundred thousand lives. It is quite clear that the Germans either have no notion of what the conditions are like in West Africa, and indeed the continent as a whole, or else don't care, and are, like the French, out to build themselves an empire. Germany's apparent refusal to deal with the (more or less) legitimate, often popularly-elected, West African governments as equals is certainly insulting and does little to build sympathy for the German cause in official circles.

It is widely believed that Quinntonia, also a very staunchly Christian power but one proven to be a good deal more rational in its dealings than Germany, will step-in to block Berlin's more upsetting notions before they get out of hand, but, just in case, coastal defense plans abandoned in the wake of the landward French offensive are dusted-off and reexamined. London is also looked-to for military, financial, and diplomatic support.

Mumbai

Germany's declaration of war against the Third Commonwealth is not taken too seriously by Parliament, which, for the most part, believes that Quinntonia will advise its retraction in a matter of days at least. By itself, Germany, properly a Baltic Sea power, is not seen to pose too great a threat to the ISC, and Berlin's efforts will, by Union estimation, probably be frustrated by the long distances that must be covered before a significant German force will be able to come to grips with a significant Soviet force.

Unioners express their solidarity with the British, whose most recent activities have done much to restore confidence in the Strathairn government. As usual the INU is not exactly prepared to come to Britain's assistance no matter what, but in the event that things turn violent over the Portugal situation Whitehall can reasonably expect Hindustani support.

Sithin
As with most events in Europe and Africa, the Strainist Party had little capacity for action, but significant stores of hot air to propel forth its opinions. The German government and the provisional rulers they had installed in Portugal were roundly condemned, the latter for its illegitimacy and the former for inflaming tensions with Progressive states while pandering to the tyrants of the Holy League. What is needed to end the threat of war in Portugal is not the imposition of kings upon democratic peoples, but the ouster of feudal lords and the liberation of the peasants trapped in their service.

Much like the Hindustanis, the Strainists put little stock in the German declaration of war upon the Soviet Commonwealth. Despite opposition to the government imposed by the Germans, the Party is not much more sympathetic to the Portuguese exiles sponsored by the Soviets, and PFLP terrorism only strengthens their distaste.
Some in Party ranks argue that the aircraft hijacking seems similar to recent terrorist acts in Greece, appearing more to serve the interests of the supposed feudal-capitalist targets than of the socialists accused of perpetrating the crime. It certainly would seem a golden opportunity for the Germans to secure popular support for the anti-leftist restrictions put in place during their occupation. However, in Greece the supposed terrorists were closely aligned with the Unified Combine, an entity in which the Party can place some trust for sensible action. The PLFP, on the other hand, seems more likely linked to Soviet India, anarchists without respect for order and thus fully capable of such irresponsible bloodshed. If the Germans present their evidence of Indian complicity, a private satellite telephone line through a Soviet-operated system, few in Lyong or the Indonesian archipelago will likely see it as proof of an Igovian plot, but there will certainly be much suspicion that the Commonwealth may be more directly involved. These suspicions will only grow with news of additional terrorist attacks in Quinntonia. That the aircraft may be destroyed by German planes is not a great cause for outrage in early Party statements... one cannot, after all, negotiate with terrorists and hope to maintain a civilized society. Still, domestic media reporting and protesters will likely emerge in time, should the Germans carry through with the threat.

The British, and the Portuguese government under President Silva, prove to be the beneficiaries of the Party's dislike for the alternatives... some in the Party's left wing still have a soft spot for England left over from the heady days of John Bull's administration, while many in its rightist factions see British and Portugese markets as good customers for Lyongese exports. A letter of support thus manages to clamber up the middle in Party debate, declaring Strainist support for Silva and London's position in Portugal, urging Washington and Berlin to join the British in backing the 'democratically-elected leadership of Portugal'.

Within Portugal, there is another matter which must be dealt with, though given current events the matter is handled somewhat quietly. The Party had maintained an embassy in the Portuguese Republic, and intened to return it to operation upon the departure of Spain. Unfortunately, however, there are several difficulties to be confronted: with Germans in control of the country, getting access will not simply involve walking back in and hoisting the cherry blossom ensign, particularly given current disagreements over just who constitutes the legitimate governing authority. Of greater concern, however, is the fate of the pre-invasion ambassador and his staff: the Party does not have diplomatic relations with Madrid or its League allies, and even if the invaders had been inclined to respect diplomatic protections, embassy security staff had vowed to join in the defense of Lisbon as the Spaniards approached... not something likely to win the favour of those who took control of the country. Locating the staff, or confirming wether they were killed or taken as prisoners back to Spain during the retreat, is an urgent goal.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2239/strainistsignaturelb6.jpg (http://z7.invisionfree.com/A_Modern_World/index.php?showtopic=12&view=findpost&p=13773433)

In Soviet India there is tension, confusion, relief, more confusion, hysterics, and then a little anger, then a break for dinner and wine, then more confusion.

Some think to express relief at a close call: "Blimey, the Third Commonwealth! Just thirteen months ago that was us!" Says one citizen of the Fourth Commonwealth, "By skin of our teeth, there!" he adds, while a comrade counters by asking what danger the Germans could possible present to the sub-continent in any case.

In the end, both the Final Soviet and the Supreme War Soviet conclude that by Third the Germans probably mean Fourth, and by the term Ignovian they likely mean to reference Igovians, so, all in all, this is actually a fairly serious affair.

In Dhaka, Soviet Consuls approach the US embassy to the People's Republic of Bangladesh in hopes that it will serve as a conduit for relations with the Commonwealth. The Soviets will not even try to deal directly with the Germans at this point, having almost universally concluded that the people are mad and the government stupid (OOC: please don't take that personally, Fleur!).

It is hoped that Washington can do something about the wayward child, because, otherwise, "...the Soviet Commonwealth will have no other recourse but to destroy the current German state and repalce it with a less dangerous entity." The Consuls in Bangladesh don't even mention the PFLP or IRA, as if they haven't even registered on the Soviet radar.

At this stage the Commonwealth Guard has done little that it was not doing yesterday. Plans are drawn up for a return of forces recently removed from Libya and Yugoslavia, and Belgrade is contacted in advance since Lav is still not thought to be keen on having Soviet forces on his soil, but no new deployments are evident.

Lisbon

Aboard the SATA airliner the three hijackers are not greatly moved by German provocations. For all the threats and intensity, the trio appear unphased, and take little action.

"They can park whatever they like in front of us, they're the ones who're going to have to move it when we start chucking bodies out the door." Says Desidéria.

Álvaro, using the aircraft's radio, only warns the tower that the fighters should back off, "If they know what's good for them." Adding, "You're not dealing with a lot of punks, here! The Popular Front is the spirit and the fist of Portugal!"

Outside the airport, however, two comrades are slowly coming to the conclusion that there is no immediate operation against them. Perhaps they've already got away clean, perhaps witnesses will eventually be found and some after-the-fact report lead to a likely hopeless manhunt. In the end, the ramp-fitted truck is driven away to be dismantled as soon as possible, but the other truck loiters outside the airport.

Comrade Hermenegildo -yet another likely pseudonym given its Visigothic roots and its meaning (complete sacrifice)- raises an eyebrow at the sight of incoming fighters, but wastes little time in modifying the back-up plan. Granted this will take away one drastic last-ditch option for the Popular Front guerrillas, but really, this is an opportunity not to be missed. From the back of the carrier truck he retrieves a long tube, attached to which is a fitting the size of tissue box.

Moments later one of the German fighters might, if outfitted for it, receive a laser threat warning. No radar lock was evident and no infra-red tracking in use, but a small missile was already making a terrifying Mach 4 dash from a few hundred metres beyond the perimiter fencing on a path towards the fighter, which was dangerously low, close, and slow due to its approach. Chaff and flares would do no good as two explosive Sumpit delayed penetration darts left their carrier and closed in, either one capable of ripping a fighter from the sky.

"Now they'll start to wonder who's outside the fence!" Hermenegildo sneered, as he guided the darts on to their target.

India

The Soviet-sponsored alternative government of Portugal proclaims German-sponsored elections illegitimate, "because they are unnecessary". The Germans, say the Indian Portuguese, must get out of Portugal and allow the return of the President. Only then can the nation consider election of a new Prime Minister.

The PFLP, says the renegade government, is prepared to defend the Portuguese people and democracy while the independent military is rebuilt.

Suddenly the Indian-based Portuguese Sovietists claim that their purpose is to act in the Prime Minister's absence, the people providing for their own representation until he is properly replaced according to the democratic principles of a free and sovereign nation.

Neither Calcutta nor Raipur have made any comment on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Portugal beyond what Gadar! reports of events as they happen.

*prods*

OOC: I have some serious concerns about this RP, particularly regarding the British reaction, but for now I will swallow my concerns and continue RPing, for now anyway.


LRR, what nations comprise ECOWAS? Which nations are Muslim and which are Christian? Which nations are overrun by Holy League and Soviet troops?

IC:

ECOWAS

The concerns by several ECOWAS nations are listened to very attentively in Germany and the member countries are reassured that Germany had no hostile intention on any of their countries. Germany, as it was explained, only wanted to spread the gospel and drive out the radical secularists. Political changes, such as Portugal, were the exception and would not be repeated in any ECOWAS nation. German troops would only go where invited, although if a central government was captured by the League or the Soviets, German troops would enter the country to expel the invaders and restore the legitimate government. Christian ECOWAS nations were consulted by Germany and asked for guidance on assuring their Muslims neighbors of Germany's good intentions. They were also consulted by Germany about native translators for help in spreading the gospel. While this diplomacy was going on, a multitude of German missionaries continued to feed the poor and help meet the needs of average Africans.

Portugal

As the Soviet stepped out of the van, which was labeled Automotive Service Specialists, several German and Portuguese police officers immediately noticed him. Soon after the aircraft was hijacked, the whole area around the airport was locked down, streets were evacuated, and no one was to leave or enter the zone without being rigorously searched. A second zone was also set up around the airport with the area where the Indians broke into being the first area to be searched. It was at the point when fifteen troops and police officers approached the vehicle that a man went to the back of the truck and carefully opened the back of the van, which was fairly dirty and plastered with mud. They immediately yelled at him to stop and when the man pulled a large tube from his Automotive Service Specialists (ASS for short) van they knew it was too late.

They trained their Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles on him and held down on the triggers for a good second. Peppering him with 200 rounds, when his body began to fall towards the pavement there was not much left of him. As the bullets rained into him, he somehow managed to fire the modified anti aircraft missile but, as his body was falling at the time, the tube pointed towards the ground and the missile then launched from the tube, hitting the ground. A large explosion resulted, completely destroying the van and unfortunately, all the evidence as well. Three members of the joint German Portuguese task force were burned as a result of the explosion and were immediately rushed to the hospital.

After the explosion the aircraft came to a stop, completely blocking off the aircraft from taking off. Other vans and airport security vehicles came behind the fighters to ensure that the plane would under no circumstances leave the runway without their consent.

A negotiator continued to speak to the airplane, urging them not to leave the runway and that the lead negotiator, Chuck Norris, would arrive in 10 minutes. He asked for their demands and tried to keep them talking, and from doing anything foolish, until the Chuck arrived.

(OOC: Putting aside the total lack of reference to such a reaction until after the fact of my reaction, which really means that I could now have the airliner take-off before a single fighter aircraft is scrambled, I'll let Hermenegildo die as described, but, you know, in future, a little less godmodding and a little more foresight might be in order.)

Aboard the troubled aircraft, an agitated Álvaro restates his warning to the tower, "one last time", and is just about to add a specific threat when the sound of an explosion from the airport's fringe causes him to step away from the radio and brandish his weapon towards the flight crew as the three PFLP guerrillas dash about, trying to see what has happened.

Moments later Álvaro returns to the radio, yelling threats and demanding, "no more games!" and so forth.

He is still berating the tower as the aircraft's door opens a crack and something falls. The headless body of the aircraft's pilot lands on the apron with a wet thump, and Celso, after reshutting the door, pins the severed head to the wall at the front of the passenger deck by jamming a large knife straight through its mouth.

"Forget your ten minutes! You have thirty seconds to tell me that you're going to move those f-ing planes or you'll have much worse publicity on your hands! Do you hear me? We're taking off, you have to get them out of the way, bastards!" Álvaro yells, before handing the radio over to Celso.

The aircraft's engines are soon powering up as the tower heard background whimpering from passengers and crew even as the big man sits himself in the pilot's seat. "You tell them how serious this is." He says, far more calmly than Álvaro, to the co-pilot beside him.

(((OOC: Yeah I actually felt the same way about your post. I gave you several opportunities to lift the plane off the ground but didn't get a single opportunity to respond to the action on the ground. After you pulled the tube I would have liked an opportunity to respond. I mean I RPed throngs and throngs of Germans and Portuguese police surrounding the entire area and it doesn't take much to assume military and police officers swarming all over the airport by now. And in other airports the situation is the same. All flights are completely grounded within Portugal and security and military forces are on alert all over Portugal. I think you assumed the capabilities of the Germans and Portuguese as far far far less than they really were. I mean, this is a huge deal and they will be doing everything in their power to ensure that this situation is resolved with a minimum of civilian casualties. But anyhoo I don't anticipate any future problems as long as we are both careful about trying to maintain a realistic perception of the other person's capabilities.)))

Crisis in Portugal

The Portuguese negotiator in the control tower is extremely horrified by the unnecessary reaction of the Soviets. Instead of negotiating with him and listing demands, as in the many other situations he had been involved in his twenty year experience as a crisis negotiator, the terrorists ignored him and killed a crew member without even listing their demands! However, he realized they meant hardball and he did his best to respond with flexibility to the demands of the terrorists.

“What did you say your name was? Whatever your situation I can tell you that I understand what you are going through and in order to get you what you need I need you to start talking to me. I don’t know what games you are referring to but I assure you that I can get you whatever you need. Right now the aircraft only has 30 minutes of fuel (and it does) as the aircraft still needed to be refueled prior to takeoff. If you want fuel we will get you fuel but we need civilians to start leaving the plane immediately. We will give you 10 minutes of fuel for every ten people that leave the plane.”

“I don’t know what you want but if you want to take off you are going to have to give me something in return. I want to see hostages leaving that plane immediately. Don’t do anything that we are both going to regret. If another civilian dies, you are losing bargaining power and I can guarantee that my superiors will start to get unsettled. I assure you that I can hold off the military but I am going to need to see civilians starting to leave the plane immediately. If you kill another civilian I may not be able to hold back the military. I don’t know what pressure you are under but I know a little bit what you are going through. The pressures at my job are very strenuous. But whatever I do I try to be calm and not make any rash decisions. Do you understand what I am saying? I can get you what you need but you need to slow down right away and start talking to me immediately. Talk a deep breath and just talk to me and we will work things out. If you try to take off and refuse to talk with us I can guarantee that it will be taken as a sign that you intend to strike land targets and your plane will never take off this runway. That is bad news for you and bad news for me. But if you start talking to me I promise that you will get what you want.”

Carlos stood by and tried his best to do everything to calm down the Soviets and ensure that the plane did not try to take off and lose civilian lives.

As he was speaking to the Soviets, a crack team of Portuguese and Germans quickly assembled and prepared to deploy immediately if the plane showed any further signs of taking off. Sharpshooter lined up their shots of the Soviets in the aircraft and tried to pinpoint the thermal images of the terrorists within the plane. Within the cockpit it was much easier to locate the terrorists and the sharpshooters asked to take the shot. They were denied, for the moment. Within the Eurofighters, the pilots continued to train missiles and also the Mauser BK-27 upon the plane, ready for immediate deployment.

Chuck

While this was going on Carlos’s partner Alfredo informed the Chuck about the situation and let him know about the terrorists recent actions, their threat, and the death of the civilian. He described how the terrorists were completely refusing to negotiate and stated that he doubted whether they ever had any intention of negotiating or allowing the Quinntopians to leave. Their intention, according to Alfredo, was to destroy land targets and failing that to destroy as many Quinntopians as possible. He stressed that his crack team was assembling as he spoke and he asked whether the Quinntopians would support an immediate strike on the aircraft to attempt to take out the terrorists before the aircraft was destroyed by the terrorists or any more civilians were killed.

Britain

Quietly, after taking time to examine the extremely aggressive British response, it was decided to reach out to them and the British were notified, minute by minute, of the events going on within Portugal, including the brutal killing of Silvio Amaral by the terrorists. If anyone was to blame it was the Soviets who were responsible for such horrendous slayings, which went completely against the rule of law and all normal codes of morality, and surely not the Germans who were only trying to protect civilian lives! Why were the Germans being blamed for trying to protect civilians when it was the Soviets who wanted to kill them?!?

OOC: Although others can post before Quinntopia, I will wait for Quinntopia respond to some of the events before I post again. Also, BG did you have some guys fleeing? What is their status? Have they been captured by the hundred or so troops and police officers in the area?

(OOC: Hermenegildo came back because you made no reference to an attempt to hunt him and his partner down, merely throwing up blockades ten blocks away. To clear things up, because wires got a little crossed, one guy is still fleeing on a motorcycle, and has fired a few shots in his getaway attempt. Hermenegildo came back with the Sumpit MANPAD (it's not modified, it's just an optically guided system equivalent to Britain's Starstreak), but we're assuming now that he's been killed.
The other driver, now on the bike, well, do we think he could have got ten blocks on a motorcycle before the police completed a ten-block cordon? I suppose I'll leave that up to you, or ask the community what they think of his chances, then either have him on the run or left with a decision about whether to surrender or try to run the blockade. If we decide that he's trapped/escaped, I'll figure out what his course of action might be.
I'm not sure what I assumed about anyone's capabilities. We're just trying to hijack a plane containing many people considered to be in some degree supportive of the German occupation, not conquer Portugal with half a dozen guerrillas.)

Lisbon

Celso, seated in the cockpit, is not pleased with the tower's response, but remains far more even than his agitated comrade Álvaro Gonçalves, who is now pacing the walkway, clutching his weapon.

Desidéria is clearly full of frustration, rage, or some other intense emotion, but controls it far better than Álvaro. She talks with the stewards differently to the way she addresses most of the passengers, for whom she seems full of contempt. In fact the only female guerrilla has thrown a blanket over the severed head, and apparently disagrees with Celso's decision to kill a member of the crew. She suggests that stewards, not more than one or two at a time, check on passengers and keep them calm and orderly, and grudgingly allows drinks to be taken to those who need them. Of course this has the effect of putting both guerrillas and staff on their feet at the same time.

The big man, meanwhile, is asking the tower if they take him for a fool. "If we have no fuel" he asks, "why are the passengers from Lisbon already embarked?"

The lead hijacker goes on without waiting for a reply, as if to indicate that he believes the lack of fuel to be a lie, "My name is unimportant, I stand for Portugal and for international liberty. My demands, as stated by my comrade, are that the fighter aircraft and other obstructions to our take-off be moved. My concessions to this end are that no more traitors will be harmed if you comply.

"How am I to strike land targets? Is this aircraft armed? Do you think that I have taken control of an international airliner because I wish to die in Portugal? My comrades and I want to get out before the sons of the Gestapo come for us. If you want our names, you will find my comrades amongst those blacklisted by the Spanish occupiers, and I, well, I doubt that an Indian Communist would be allowed free travel in or from Germany's Portugal." Said Celso, revealing his extra-Portuguese nationality for the first time.

"Let us leave, making our statement against the occupation, and we will release the hostages at a neutral port of call. Perhaps non-German Cyprus, but you do not need to worry about that now. Brother, you can not collaborate further with this occupation that denies Portugal her independently elected government. Let us go before the Germans take control of your capital's airport and create a disaster on Portuguese soil. Your country will thank you for it when this occupation is over."

London

It was hard to anticipate just what the Germans would do next, and everyone in No.10 was a little surprised to discover official communiqués from occupied Lisbon in the government's collective in-tray. After all, hadn't someone withdrawn the German embassy or something? Now, suddenly, they were extending the olive branch.

The reply is brief:

While the actions of the aircraft hijackers are illegal and abhorrent, neither the Indian Soviet government nor the legitimate Portuguese government can be blamed for the rash acts of a few disturbed citizens. If anything, this signifies the lack of enthusiasm for an illegal occupation, an unwanted monarch and a series of unnecessary elections. Portugal, like all republics, has a clear line of succession in cases of ministerial death, and the position of this government is that that succession should be respected until such time as a new election is called. This election, as befits a parliamentary system, will be called by the elected president of Portugal, Mr. Aníbal Silva.

Thank you for your concern,
The Foreign Office

(((Yeah I think its pretty reasonable to have your motorcycle guy escape. I'll RP it when I have time. Do you think its reasonable that the aircraft would not be fueled up when passengers are already on board? I haven't flown for a long time but I seem to remember stop overs when the I was onboard and it was being fueled. If the aircraft came from outside of Portugal, from say Germany, and just stopped to pick up and drop off several passengers (because as I already stated I don't think there would be much if any travel to Portugal due to the coronation) then it would seem reasonable to have the plane need some more fuel. What do you think? Could you compromise and say that the plane needed fuel, although it might have more than 30 minutes in it?)))