Questers
26-05-2008, 16:52
The Prime Minister was nervous. The bill had passed Parliament, so it was technically Law, and all that had to be now was to announce it. Still, it felt… well, it was certainly a step forward for the country, but a step backward in terms of international relations. Neither was it part of his mandate. Taking a deep breath, he wished he’d had a cigarette beforehand. Nevermind, it’d all be over soon.
“You’re on in three…”
There’s no going back now.
“…Two…”
This is absolutely the right thing to do.
“…One…”
Events my dear boy ,events.
The cameras turned on, and Prime Minister Right Honourable Benjamin Russell was now addressing not just his nation, but the world. Many people knew what he was going to say, but more did not. He looked straight at the camera, sitting at his desk with the map of the Empire and a portrait of the King behind him, as was the protocol for nationwide media addresses.
“People of Questers. This morning, the Withdrawal Bill passed through Parliament, giving the Office of the Prime Minister unlimited executive power in choosing to withdraw from international organisations. I therefore announce, with all the conviction I have amassed to justify doing so, the withdrawal, for the second time in history, of the Questarian Empire and Commonwealth from the Alliance for Protection of Civilization. At Six P.M. Western Havenic Time today, all Questarian assets will be begin the systematic withdrawal from Alliance territory that we do not have pre-existing stationing treaties with. In return, we expect the same from the Alliance nations who have stationed military forces on our own soil. We will withdraw from the military and political infrastructure of the Alliance at precisely the same time.
There comes a time in the history of a nation when it has to be decided where a nation’s loyalties should lie and why. We know that our compatriots in liberty, Praetonia, Clandonia, and Willink are our friends and will always be so, unless in one of those nations a drastic swing to authoritarianism should occur, and our people and theirs share more than just political similarities, but a joint language, heritage, history, culture, and religion. In these countries that we have befriended ourselves with we understand there is a long running cultural support of civic and economic liberty. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for many other nations of the alliance. Had it been so I would not be making this address to you presently. Across the Anglosphere, our brethren looked at us with sad eyes to see that we were not a democratic nation whose people were not just lacking in political liberty, but lacking in the basic freedom to choose their political path. Surely it is the opinion of no Questarian that a return to the triple door knock is not favourable? The sight of men in dark suits with Government badges waiting to take dissenters is the political condition of our neighbours to the West and to the South, not our own!
We had aligned ourselves with, in Western Haven, nations where the very basic political culture is the direct antagonist to our own. I need not to remind the Questarian people that they never decided to join APOC of their own choice, but it was the decision of the unelected Government of the day, and although I would be not just a fool but an ingrate to criticise a man quite possibly the greatest Monarch of all time, it was done not under the conditions of a growing and stable economy and a free people but under the conditions of military threat, a threat that our nation itself was only intimidated by because our military forces were not what they are now or what they were before the war. I need not remind you that in its time in office, the Liberal Party has doubled the size of our standing military and quintupled the size of our Reserve forces. Our nation is united in civic, economic, and now, political Liberty. Let nobody say there is not a man in Questers ready to die not just for the concept of his country, as all good men are, but for the concept of the basic human liberty that in the past we have strived to deny a portion of our populace. I need not remind you it was our Government that freed five hundred million Questarians from the shackles of slavery and propelled them into the sphere of human dignity. I need not remind you that it was our Government that legalised the left-wing parties and challenged them to political debate, where they were destroyed not on the violent field of combat but on the floor of the House of Commons and on the terms of not the Army but the media.
We need not rely on the Doomani or their consorts to defeat our enemies should they find within their hearts the intent to attack us. I was told yesterday by my confidant and personal friend, the First Sea Lord, a man who as we all know led the Royal Navy into the Strobovian Strait those many years ago, that our Navy has regained its place as the single most powerful military arm in the entire world. I have been told by the Air Force Chief that our military aviation is ready to fight its equivalent branches in Doomingsland, in Tyrandis, in Aequatio, in Space Union, not on equal terms but on terms that will deter any nation from a potential invasion of our territory. And I have been told by Field Marshall York that our military is ready to defend its territory across the world. But those nations who were once our enemies no longer find it in their hearts to oppose us, and we are much the same, and with this in mind I am pleased to announce that trade with our northern border nation of Allanea, much hated by many of our allies in the Alliance for their resistance to slavers and tyrants alike has increased tenfold since you voted our Government into power. It is clear now why those APOC authoritarian nations despise Allanea, because the doctrine of liberty that they have implemented and we have seen fit to take to our own nation defies everything that APOC stands for. From Jesselton in Questers to Kingston in Praetonia to Salisbury in Willink to Constantia in Space Union toObsidia in Hamptonshire to Liberty City in Allanea to Warminster in Clandonia, in these headquarters of emancipation, no man lives in the servitude or serfdom of another – no man lives bound to a lifestyle which they may despise by those very chains of slavery that we have cut ourselves free from, by the forces of coercion, whether they be religious or economic or political tyranny, for in these nations that we can truly call our friends and allies, every man is a free man, an independent soul, free to choose according to his own convictions.
And so too in the authoritarian spheres of APOC lie untold billions of souls yearning, crying out to be liberated from their oppressive systems, for at least once in their lifetimes they have seen a glimpse of the liberty that in the Anglosphere every man and woman, irregardless of their race or social standing is entitled to enjoy. We shall not do these people the injustice of associating ourselves with their all-seeing leaders and giving those despots the justification they seek from Liberal states for their continued existence. To those nations in the Alliance who call themselves Liberal, we urge you, withdraw at once, for there is no greater moral degradation of a free country than the support of those whose ideals you clash with in such a titanic manner for mere convenience. As we withdraw from this collection of authoritarian nations who, unjustifiably, our governments and those of our allies who we pressure immeasurably to follow our lead, I have but three words to every citizen of every country living under the tyranny that we strive to oppose, be it Automagfreek or Doomingsland – sic semper tyrannus.
I expect that the nations of APOC, apparently honourable in their methods, shall extent to Questarian citizens in their nation the very basic rights that we have extended to their own in ours and allow them to leave, if they so wish, unharmed with the property they have earned by honest toil. Across the globe, where ever they may be and whatever their occupation, class, gender or race, a Questarian subject may protect themselves from harm and unlawful oppression by the mere three words Civis Questarianus sum and with those they can expect that the strong arm of the Questarian nation and the almighty Royal Navy will defend them from crimes committed against their person by the state, the magnitude of the crime or the Government committing it being irrelevant. Consider this a warning to those who would punish the citizens of Questers for the actions of their Government. If a mere one of our citizens lives under persecution for any reason imaginable it is not just an injustice or a travesty, but an attack on Questarian Liberty which will not be tolerated.
God Save the King.”
[OOC: Civis Questarianus sum = I am a Questarian citizen]
“You’re on in three…”
There’s no going back now.
“…Two…”
This is absolutely the right thing to do.
“…One…”
Events my dear boy ,events.
The cameras turned on, and Prime Minister Right Honourable Benjamin Russell was now addressing not just his nation, but the world. Many people knew what he was going to say, but more did not. He looked straight at the camera, sitting at his desk with the map of the Empire and a portrait of the King behind him, as was the protocol for nationwide media addresses.
“People of Questers. This morning, the Withdrawal Bill passed through Parliament, giving the Office of the Prime Minister unlimited executive power in choosing to withdraw from international organisations. I therefore announce, with all the conviction I have amassed to justify doing so, the withdrawal, for the second time in history, of the Questarian Empire and Commonwealth from the Alliance for Protection of Civilization. At Six P.M. Western Havenic Time today, all Questarian assets will be begin the systematic withdrawal from Alliance territory that we do not have pre-existing stationing treaties with. In return, we expect the same from the Alliance nations who have stationed military forces on our own soil. We will withdraw from the military and political infrastructure of the Alliance at precisely the same time.
There comes a time in the history of a nation when it has to be decided where a nation’s loyalties should lie and why. We know that our compatriots in liberty, Praetonia, Clandonia, and Willink are our friends and will always be so, unless in one of those nations a drastic swing to authoritarianism should occur, and our people and theirs share more than just political similarities, but a joint language, heritage, history, culture, and religion. In these countries that we have befriended ourselves with we understand there is a long running cultural support of civic and economic liberty. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for many other nations of the alliance. Had it been so I would not be making this address to you presently. Across the Anglosphere, our brethren looked at us with sad eyes to see that we were not a democratic nation whose people were not just lacking in political liberty, but lacking in the basic freedom to choose their political path. Surely it is the opinion of no Questarian that a return to the triple door knock is not favourable? The sight of men in dark suits with Government badges waiting to take dissenters is the political condition of our neighbours to the West and to the South, not our own!
We had aligned ourselves with, in Western Haven, nations where the very basic political culture is the direct antagonist to our own. I need not to remind the Questarian people that they never decided to join APOC of their own choice, but it was the decision of the unelected Government of the day, and although I would be not just a fool but an ingrate to criticise a man quite possibly the greatest Monarch of all time, it was done not under the conditions of a growing and stable economy and a free people but under the conditions of military threat, a threat that our nation itself was only intimidated by because our military forces were not what they are now or what they were before the war. I need not remind you that in its time in office, the Liberal Party has doubled the size of our standing military and quintupled the size of our Reserve forces. Our nation is united in civic, economic, and now, political Liberty. Let nobody say there is not a man in Questers ready to die not just for the concept of his country, as all good men are, but for the concept of the basic human liberty that in the past we have strived to deny a portion of our populace. I need not remind you it was our Government that freed five hundred million Questarians from the shackles of slavery and propelled them into the sphere of human dignity. I need not remind you that it was our Government that legalised the left-wing parties and challenged them to political debate, where they were destroyed not on the violent field of combat but on the floor of the House of Commons and on the terms of not the Army but the media.
We need not rely on the Doomani or their consorts to defeat our enemies should they find within their hearts the intent to attack us. I was told yesterday by my confidant and personal friend, the First Sea Lord, a man who as we all know led the Royal Navy into the Strobovian Strait those many years ago, that our Navy has regained its place as the single most powerful military arm in the entire world. I have been told by the Air Force Chief that our military aviation is ready to fight its equivalent branches in Doomingsland, in Tyrandis, in Aequatio, in Space Union, not on equal terms but on terms that will deter any nation from a potential invasion of our territory. And I have been told by Field Marshall York that our military is ready to defend its territory across the world. But those nations who were once our enemies no longer find it in their hearts to oppose us, and we are much the same, and with this in mind I am pleased to announce that trade with our northern border nation of Allanea, much hated by many of our allies in the Alliance for their resistance to slavers and tyrants alike has increased tenfold since you voted our Government into power. It is clear now why those APOC authoritarian nations despise Allanea, because the doctrine of liberty that they have implemented and we have seen fit to take to our own nation defies everything that APOC stands for. From Jesselton in Questers to Kingston in Praetonia to Salisbury in Willink to Constantia in Space Union toObsidia in Hamptonshire to Liberty City in Allanea to Warminster in Clandonia, in these headquarters of emancipation, no man lives in the servitude or serfdom of another – no man lives bound to a lifestyle which they may despise by those very chains of slavery that we have cut ourselves free from, by the forces of coercion, whether they be religious or economic or political tyranny, for in these nations that we can truly call our friends and allies, every man is a free man, an independent soul, free to choose according to his own convictions.
And so too in the authoritarian spheres of APOC lie untold billions of souls yearning, crying out to be liberated from their oppressive systems, for at least once in their lifetimes they have seen a glimpse of the liberty that in the Anglosphere every man and woman, irregardless of their race or social standing is entitled to enjoy. We shall not do these people the injustice of associating ourselves with their all-seeing leaders and giving those despots the justification they seek from Liberal states for their continued existence. To those nations in the Alliance who call themselves Liberal, we urge you, withdraw at once, for there is no greater moral degradation of a free country than the support of those whose ideals you clash with in such a titanic manner for mere convenience. As we withdraw from this collection of authoritarian nations who, unjustifiably, our governments and those of our allies who we pressure immeasurably to follow our lead, I have but three words to every citizen of every country living under the tyranny that we strive to oppose, be it Automagfreek or Doomingsland – sic semper tyrannus.
I expect that the nations of APOC, apparently honourable in their methods, shall extent to Questarian citizens in their nation the very basic rights that we have extended to their own in ours and allow them to leave, if they so wish, unharmed with the property they have earned by honest toil. Across the globe, where ever they may be and whatever their occupation, class, gender or race, a Questarian subject may protect themselves from harm and unlawful oppression by the mere three words Civis Questarianus sum and with those they can expect that the strong arm of the Questarian nation and the almighty Royal Navy will defend them from crimes committed against their person by the state, the magnitude of the crime or the Government committing it being irrelevant. Consider this a warning to those who would punish the citizens of Questers for the actions of their Government. If a mere one of our citizens lives under persecution for any reason imaginable it is not just an injustice or a travesty, but an attack on Questarian Liberty which will not be tolerated.
God Save the King.”
[OOC: Civis Questarianus sum = I am a Questarian citizen]