NationStates Jolt Archive

Capital City, Talisinium

Mark Jose Sheppard looked up from the morning paper to glance at the television. A rather attractive young anchor was presenting the news of a rather disturbing subject.

"The senate is set to vote on more emergency powers for the president today. The law, if passed, would allow…"

Mark simply tuned out after that. Emergency powers, since when do small-scale terrorist 'scares' count as emergencies? Mark suppressed a shudder about what he was thinking about doing. This has got to stop.

He stood up, looking around for his wife. When he realized she had gone out with some friends, he breathed a sigh of relief. It would be better without her here anyways.

Mark walked to the bathroom and got himself cleaned up; he needed to look his best today. After that he went to his wardrobe and retrieved his ceremonial full dress uniform of the Talisinian Army and out it on, white gloves and pistol belt and all. He also retrieved the leather holster, as a sidearm was mandatory for general officers in this class of uniform. He then retrieved his standard issue sidearm, a .45 caliber Colt M1911A1. Curiously, he also grabbed a single magazine and loaded his weapon. He safetied and holstered the weapon, and then took a look at himself in the mirror when he was all finished.

It's Too late to turn back now.

(OOC: More to come in part 2)

Presidential Building, Capital City, Talisinium

Gen. Sheppard arrived at the marble building by staff car from his house. He stepped out of the car into the early morning sunshine and straightened his cap. Mark breathed deep, and steeled himself for what needed to be done. You're committed now.

He walked up the marble steps, and past 2 very heavily armed guards. The 'president' needed all the guards he could get nowadays, it seemed.

The receptionist in the lobby looked up at him, obviously busy with other things, but upon recognition she simply waved him through to the stairway behind the desk. She wasn't the only one to notice him either. While it was not uncommon to see high ranking officers in the building, it was uncommon to see them in ceremonial full dress. Mark ascended the 4 flights of stairs without incident, and soon was directly outside the presidents office.

2 guards were on duty outside a closed door, and one of them motioned to the general to step over, pointing at his sidearm. Just then however, the door to the office swung open and President James Brady peered out, and instantly noticed Mark in his uniform. He waved off his guards and motioned for Mark to step in.

"What brings you here dressed like that?" Pres. Brady asked as he sat down at his desk.

"A matter of great importance, sir." Mark visibly shuddered.

"What, are you resigning or something? Because I don't want to hear it." James took a big swig of coffee from a mug on his desk.

"Not quite, sir." Mark searched for a good phrase to use, a one-liner that would apply. Finding none, mark sighed. In one movement, Mark drew his pistol, unsafed it, and put 1 round through the presidents head. By the time the guards forced their way in, Mark had pushed the presidents body out of the chair and was sitting it, with his pistol on the desk, still smoking.

The guards entered, SMGs at the ready, but held their fire. Mark looked up at them, with a slight grin on his face.

"I am in command now."

(OOC: Well there you have it, folks, my entrance into this forum. Feel free to post any official replies your government has to this event.)

(OOC: I will continue this story a bit in this thread, but probably tommorow.)

Presidential Offices, City of the Blessed

His Holiness, Edwardo Listless, sat at his desk, pondering the events of the past few months. Much had happened, during his longer than scheduled vacation, not that he had not enjoyed his vacation. He decided it was time to start on the diplomatic issues, that had been so neglected in his absence. He looked over his list, and one name stood out, for no apparent reason, other than Edwardo though it was an interesting name. "James Brady," he said to himself, as he dialed the operator. He then had the operator connect him, with an operator in Capital City, in Talisinium. Then he asked for the Presidential Building's main switch board, then finally, for President Brady's office.

Presidential Building, Capital City, Talisinium

The 2 guards stared at one another, but finally lowered their SMGs and walked out. They seem to think the same things about the late president as you do.

The telephone blared away on the presidents, and now the generals, desk. Mark tentatively picked it up and answered.

"The president is not here right now, he's... away. I can take a message" Mark realized he sounded like a total idiot right now.

"Well who am I talking too?" The voice on the other end asked.

"This is General Mark Jose Sheppard, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of Talisinium." Mark then very rudely hung up on the obvious chief of state of some country, and prepared himself for something he wished he didn't have to do.

Face the World and tell them what happened.

(OOC: Sorry for the short reply, I think I'm done for the night. I'll post some more on this story tommorow.)

OOC: I might become more involved in this thread as time goes on.

Capital City, Talisinium
0734, 12.4.09

It had been 2 weeks since the 'removal' of President James Brady and the ascension of General Mark Jose Sheppard to power. The 2 weeks since then had been tumultuous, but not as bad as one would think they would be after a president is forcefully removed from office. Most everyone had thought basically the same thing about the late president, that he was nothing more than a corrupt, thinly-veiled fascist. Gen. Sheppard had been the only one to actually do anything about it, however.

Jacob Smith mulled this all over in his head as he took another bite of his cereal. Jacob was a presidential aide, but his employment was currently 'on standby' as the new government worked out any problems it may have with the late president's cabinet. Truthfully, Jacob never expected to get his job back.

Jacob looked up from his bowl to stare groggily at the television and the news that was being presented on it.

"The now-Chancellor Mark Jose Sheppard is making many changes to the government in his first couple weeks of power. He has frozen the senate's ability to pass laws and to…"

Jacob gulped down some more of his cereal.

"…the Chancellor wants to sweep any remnants of the corrupt president's regime away and to start to…"

Yep, there's no way in hell I'm getting my job back. Jacob swallowed some more cereal bits and stared up at the ceiling of his apartment. I wonder what the future holds?

(OOC: I need a better name for my capital other than 'Capital City. Anyone got any ideas? I'll post more on this soon.)

OCC
I'm not sure if you want any opposition or at what level so this thread is merely a intro that can be expanded as the story develops or it will die a natural death when no info is found.

IC

Admiral Ney and Duke Blaise looked up from their briefings on the events in Talisinum, both were puzzled despite reading all the available information.

The Duke rose from his desk chair, taking the file with him he went over to the leather chairs and sat down, easing himself down he put his feet up on the coffee table, sighing very deeply.

"Well Jochiam, all this briefing tells us is that we don't know much, hell we don't even know for sure what happened to President Brady"

The Admiral walked over to his leather chair, placing his folder on the coffee table he said

"Well all we know sire is this General Sheppard walked into the office a General and walked out defacto Chancellor. From that we can only deduct that either Brady resigned unexpectedly; which is most unlikely or he was killed on the spot, either way this man Sheppard is head honcho".

"Well goddamn it Jochiam, when Generals can just walk in and shoot their rulers we are living in a slippery chaotic world, there has to be some structure, and if the structure isn't good change it; but fuck it people cant or shouldn't change governments just because they shoot first."

The Admiral smiled to himself as his young Duke worked himself into a righteous cause, it was the usual precedence to some new initiative.

Duke Blaise rose from his chair, he switched on the wall screen and typed into his keyboard, moments later the large wall screen was filled with a digital map of Talisinium. He stood transfixed to the floor.

"Jochiam, rulers of nations have to know that they stand for something, we cant always please everyone in our countries, but we need to know that our decisions are based on the well being of the country and cannot be changed every-time some dis-satisfied jerk walks into your office with a gun.
This President Brady character may not have been a Abe Lincoln, Jochiam
but he was President; and that has to count for something".

The Young Duke turned to where his National security advisor was still seated.

"Admiral, I want a full intelligence operation on this Talisinium, I want to know who their friends are and who are their enemies. I want to know everything about Sheppard, from rolls of toilet paper he uses to his most intimate secrets with his mistresses. Most importantly we need to find if there is any home grown opposition to this Sheppard, or perhaps some loyalty factions to President Brady."

Admiral Ney rose from his chair and walked over to the desk, he picked up his cap and then turned to his Duke.

"Sire do I need to prep the expeditionary force"?

"No Admiral, not yet, I just want to know more about this character, you may authorise black Intel ops and electronic Intel but that is all".

Marchsburg, Capital of Gryerhan
4:47 P.M., 4/12/09

"So what's on the agenda today, boyos?" asked Prime Minister James McCulloch, sitting back in the chair in his office. He had only taken office in April of that year, and so the room was still quite bare, with only a Gryerhanian flag and a Wheland's Legacy post on the western wall.

Across from him sat two men, both in military uniforms. Unlike many nations, Gryerhanian officer uniforms were the same as regular uniforms. There were no brass buttons, no fine leather baldrics, or stiff, starched tunics. There were only simple hip-length jackets, plain cotton trousers, and black berets.

The first of them to speak up was Sky Marshall Allan McReary. "Well, Mister Prime Minister, we've been monitoring a new situation over in Talisinium. You'll recall a General Mark Sheppard initiated a coup roughly two weeks ago?"

"Aye. What of it?" the Prime Minister replied.

"Well sir, the people here've been in a right uproar about it. If it were me, I'd advise we send them our best regards. From what we gather, the new regime is a might better than the old one." This came from Field Marshall Joseph Stanley, the Gyrerhanian Chief of Staff of the Army, and a hero of the Civil War.

McCulloch closed his eyes, running a hand through his greying hair. The Civil War had ended only a month ago, and the situation then had been similar to what was going on over in Talisinium, albeit much more violent. The numbers of the dead had totalled to almost a quarter million, and the cities of Alaina and DeCamp were still undergoing extensive repairs.

"Alright, I want you to wire General Sheppard. Tell him that as long as he runs things the right way, he's got Gryerhan's support. We're takin' a big risk doin' this. I don't want it to be known that the Federation supports fascism. As long as his intentions are good, we'll back him in any backlash he suffers. But if he starts getting a little too comfortable with his power, we pull out."

The two commanders sitting before him nodded in unison. "Aye, Prime Minister. It'll be done before breakfast tomorrow," McReary promised. He and his land-based colleague stood to their feet, snapping to a salute to the Prime Minister, who retrned it crisply himself, before turning and heading out the door.

(OOC: Anyone needing information on Gryerhan can find it here. This being my first forum roleplay as well: http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Gryerhan )

The Chancellery, Capital City, Talisinium
1508 hours, 12.4.09

(OOC: BTW the IC date is March 12th, I'm using a d/m/y date here.)

Chancellor Sheppard looked up from a set of briefings he had been looking over to listen to the debate raging between 2 of his advisors

"…Nonsense! The loyalists haven’t got a chance! Hell, we don't even know if they have any sort of leadership right now!"

"You're wrong, we have seen signs of coordinated raids on depots in nearly a dozen cities, if this goes on for much longer we'll…"

The Chancellor raised his hand to quiet the 2 men, and when it was silent he spoke up.

"We'll give any of these rebels a chance to disarm themselves and turn themselves with no consequences placed on them and a legitimate way to have their voice be heard. If they refuse, we'll have to send in the military and batten down the hatches."

Henry Winesburg, the older of the 2 advisors, spoke up next.

"They won't come peacefully, Mr. Chancellor, they will not take up our offer. I say we should just send in the army right away and take them by surprise!"

The Chancellors eye gleaned with a passion neither men had yet seen from him, and this passion was evident in the way he spoke.

"Mr. Winesburg, I walked into this room 2 weeks ago and shot President Brady in the head for a reason, not just so everything could go back to normal a few weeks later. You all remember what happened 6 years ago, when President Brady sent in his personal regiment to quell the riots in Vickersburg? Nearly 100 people were killed for no apparent reason and with no consequence. I will not become that monster."

Both advisors piped down after this. And after a long 5 seconds of no talking, Chancellor Sheppard stood and put on his suit jacket. He straightened and buttoned it, and looked down at the 2 men who remained sitting.

"I am going to make a broadcast, and tell the nation and the whole world what has happened – and what I plan on doing about it."

(OOC: Take from this what you will; I'm sure some spy from your nation could listen in on this. I'll be making an official broadcast later today.)

Marchsburg
5:00 P.M. 4/12/09

Prime Minister James McCulloch read over his telegram one final time before he decided he would send it forward to Chancellor Sheppard. Satisfied with the way it had turned out, he finally leaned back in his chair and hit the 'send' button on the machine, which sent the message via Internet to a fax machine in the Talisinian capitol building.

"Chancellor Sheppard,
It is with great great interest that the people of Gryerhan have watched your coup, and though we would normally not condone such brutal actions, we understand that the previous regime was an ineffectual one. We therefore would like to pledge our support to your own regime, militarily or logistically if necessary. However, I must stress that we are quite cautious in this situation. If it comes to our attention that your regime does not act towards the interest of the people of Talisinium, we will withdraw our support. We do not pledge our support to fascists.
The best of luck to you, James McCulloch, Prime Minister"

The United Kingdom of Telvira wishes to convey its support for the new regime and is willing to support Talisinium against any enemies, domestic or foreign.

The United Kingdom of Telvira wishes to convey its support for the new regime and is willing to support Talisinium against any enemies, domestic or foreign.

The Citizen Federation of Talisinium thanks the United Kingdom of Telvira for their support and may call upon it in putting down any small pockets of resistance that don't choose to disarm.

Gryerhan;14695136']Marchsburg
5:00 P.M. 4/12/09

Prime Minister James McCulloch read over his telegram one final time before he decided he would send it forward to Chancellor Sheppard. Satisfied with the way it had turned out, he finally leaned back in his chair and hit the 'send' button on the machine, which sent the message via Internet to a fax machine in the Talisinian capitol building.

"Chancellor Sheppard,
It is with great great interest that the people of Gryerhan have watched your coup, and though we would normally not condone such brutal actions, we understand that the previous regime was an ineffectual one. We therefore would like to pledge our support to your own regime, militarily or logistically if necessary. However, I must stress that we are quite cautious in this situation. If it comes to our attention that your regime does not act towards the interest of the people of Talisinium, we will withdraw our support. We do not pledge our support to fascists.
The best of luck to you, James McCulloch, Prime Minister"

To: James McCulloch, Prime Minister of Gryerhan
From: Mark Jose Sheppard, Chancellor of Talisinium

Prime Minister,
It is with great pride that I accept your support in these troubled times. While what I did does seem brutal, I assure you that I was and still am acting with the greater good of Talisinium and her people in mind, something the previously regime was not doing. I, too, do not support the actions of fascists or brutal dictators.

Signed,
Mark Jose Sheppard
Chancellor of the Citizen Federation of Talisinium

Admiral Ney read the report that his intelligence team had sent back from
Talisinium.

Encryption - Code Alpha/Zulu.Golf

Message from
Unit Black 1

TO:
Skybird 6

Local opposition has been identified as several groups of uncordinated protest groups.
No regular armed opposition but there maybe passive beaureaucratic opposition at several levels.

Would not recommend intervention that relies on armed civil opposition.

Indications are that several nations are clearly showing support for the new regime.

Operations Continue

He shook his head, it seemed that this was one coup that truly had little opposition, and if the people of Talisinium were not concerned enough to oppose it then he knew the Duke wouldnt be concerned.

Admiral Ney decided he would sit on these initial results for a few days before informing the Duke there was little or no real opposition.
Meanwhile his intel teams were using operatives to try and get in touch with any opposition, if it existed at all.

The Citizen Federation of Talisinium thanks the United Kingdom of Telvira for their support and may call upon it in putting down any small pockets of resistance that don't choose to disarm.

We have forces on standby for deployment to your country.

OOC-do you have a coastline?