Haweed [Attn: Kadikistan]

[Clarenthia]

Marden
Outskirts of Alaghan

Zorawar inhaled one final time as the embers of his cigarette glowed, crawling closer to his fingers. He blew out the smoke even before his fingers could pulled the cigarette back. As he did, he leaned the back of his head against the cold brick wall and peered up at the stars. He closed his eyes and flicked the cigarette to the ground, not bothering to put it out.

In the private darkness of his own thoughts, he could remember it all. The way she danced with the other girls at the fountain, the way the sun beamed against her dark hair and the red shawl that covered it. He could see the way her olive eyes glistened, so bright, on her face. Not as bright, though, as her smile which was warmer than the Jurzani sun. Remembering her face as she laughed was an already arduous task as each day passed. No matter how vivid his memories were they quickly descend into the last image of his daughter that his eyes had bared witness to.

The attack came without warning and done in a brutalic efficiency that the Kadikistani had used to construct their empire. It started as any other day, just as all tragedies so often do. Zorawar was digging into the earth to replace a fence post knocked down by storms in the days before. The soil’s surface was the same sort of loose gravel sand that marked a large portion of the Jurzani countryside, but the soil underneath was cold and hardened from the prior day’s rain. His work was interrupted by a scream, not uncommon in the village, but something about this one was different. Any mystery was quickly gone as the scream was followed by another and an ominous “pop” that could only be one thing. Soon sounds of a village in panic swept over as Zorawar raced back into the house.

“Lakhta!” He called out in a desperate yell as the open windows did nothing to damper whatever chaos was coming from the streets. “Where are you!?” He dashed all over the house, but the little girl did not respond. Another pop, followed by another, then a fourth.

“Lakhta! Come here!” He screamed again. Then, a whimper, amongst the roar of the outside called back to him “Plaar?” She called. He ran to the girl, scooping her into his arms, she seemed to have been woken from a nap. “Plaar, what’s going on?” He kissed her forehead, soothing her as he whispered back “We have to go my Gwel, all is fine.”

As if almost by summonance, the door to the home was kicked open and in walked one of the light skinned Kadikistani. Not the same as the soldiers or police, but his expression had an anger, a visceral hatred. “Dogs!” He shouted in a language that Zorawar could only barely understand, approaching the two of them as two more came through the door like bulls. The other two had guns. As they pillaged what little the home had, the first approached the man and his daughter, continuously shouting and motioning for them to get out of the house.

Zorawar didn’t understand the words, but he knew well enough he had to leave. Military police had raided homes before but this was different, there was something more sinister going on. He held his daughter tightly as the Kadikistani man grabbed him, throwing him outside where all doubt of what hell was occuring was dismissed. He could barely see through the people dashing in every direction, but bodies littered the ground and the doors of homes were busted in as swarms of the Kadikistani were chanting, lifting their rifles in the air as a dark, red liquid creeped from the bodies beneath their feet, dying the sand. Lakhta began crying as Zorawar covered her eyes. Another pop, and the cries stopped. Lakhta’s body heavied in a way he never felt before. He knew immediately what had happened, but he couldn’t muster the strength to look down. His hands were warm, wet, as the tears swelled down from his eyes.

“Haweed - A Jurzani, above all else, defends their homeland,” Zorawar whispered to himself but imagined it in the same way his father had recited the 6th and most important commandment of Jurzaniwali. “Never before has our country needed us so.”

Zorawar’s memories drifted away as he opened his eyes to again see the stars twinkling in the peaceful night sky, hanging above such a pained land.

“Are you ready?” Arsalan called to him, grabbing his attention.

“I am,” Zorawar lifted his body from the wall and approached Arsalan and the group of three men inspecting their pistols.

“Good,” Arsalan nodded, handing Zorawar a pistol, which he took. Arsalan grabbed Zorawar’s shoulder with a firm grip. “Once we start, we do not stop. There’s no going back. No matter what.”

“No matter what,” Zorawar cocked the pistol and joined the men, Arsalan huddled them together.

“We all know why we’re here,” he said “Round that corner sit those fucking butchers, reveling in their debauchery. Drunken dogs, all of them. We all lost something, now its time to make them pay. Haweed, brothers, Haweed. The Jurzan needs us now.”

He extended his hand into the middle of the group, and the others met it.

“Now!” Arsalan called, as he pulled his arm. The group pulled out, lifted their bandanas to cover the lower part of their face. Arsalan carried the only rifle of the group so he trailed as the group approached the Kadikistani bar. The group of men ran as quickly as they could, busting open the door - immediately catching the attention of the Kadikistani inside.

Dazed, confused, the Kadikistanis were nevertheless quick to realize what was happening and stumbled for their weapons. The Jurzani opened fire, the pops of their guns met with the screams of the young women the Kadikistani preyed upon. Whatever firefight would have erupted was quickly put down but the rapid fire of Arsalan’s rifle. Six Kadikistani bodies fell to the ground, six butchers now lay dead.

“For a Free Jurzan!” Arsalan called out to a group scrambling to make their exit.

“Let’s leave,” Arsalan called as he lead the group out of the bar and as far from the town as they could.

@Kadikistani Union

 

[Kadikistani Union]

Revolutionary Army Headquarters
Alaghan
Socialist Republic of the Jurzan
February 15th 2020

The Regional Headquarters of the All-Union Revolutionary Army in the Jurzan SR was based in the city centre of Alaghan, the Kadiko-Jurzani regional capital. The armed forces of the Jurzan fell under the heavily streamlined command of the Eastern Direction which like all other military Directions and Districts was under tight control by Central Command in Ivar. In this way the Revolutionary Armed Forces stood in sharp contrast with the federalisations that were taking place in the massive country politically and culturally. Despite subtle and modest efforts of the Regionalist Section within the All-Union Communist Workers' Party an overwhelming majority of the various factions still deemed a strong centralized command as the best strategy. Not in the least because 78% of all People's Deputies had either a military background beyond their mandatory conscription period or were still in active service. While far from the levels in the age of Nikolai Leninov in the 1950s when no less then 98% of nation's supreme legislative institution were enlisted, the common sense of keeping a strong unified military pragmatically remained dominant. That didn't mean that the reformists in Ivar ignored the need to have the military evolve along with the new political and cultural realities.

Since the early 1960s the consecutive reformist administrations made serious efforts to end the over-representation of Kadik officers in the Revolutionary Armed Forces. During the 1960s itself and the 1970s the All-Union mainly saw an increase of Slavic minorities like the Ruskastani, Polani and Krasnislavians in all ranks of the officers class. Safe for a few dozen exceptions the non-Slavic groups wouldn't really start supplying all branches of the Revolutionary Armed Forces with officers until the mid-1980s. The reformists realized in order for the massive patchwork of nations to survive the century and not become engulfed by civil strife was to include the many cultures and ethnicities. They realized that the dominance of ethnic Kadiks, even combined with their Kadikistani offspring and other Slavic groups, both in the military and outside of it was unsustainable. A result of the efforts toward inclusion was that in most the Republics belonging to the Kadikistani Union the natives had steadily filled the higher echelons of Party, State and Military.

The Jurzan was an exception to this rule as it was the newest Socialist Republic of the All-Union, not counting the Krasnislavian 'reunification' after the

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in 2018. The Kadiko-Jurzani War is remembered in the collective memory as a very brutal conflict with the statistically far superior Revolutionary Armed Forces taking no less than 4 years to take control over the country. Control being a relative term in this context as while the conventional Jurzani military managed to inflict heavy damage on the Kadikistani attackers it was mainly the staunch Jurzani popular resistance that made the self-proclaimed 'liberation' of the Jurzan an extremely costly affair. While the Party issued history books teaches that there were only 'three reactionary conflicts' in the Jurzan since the end of the Kadiko-Jurzani War, the region was never fully pacified. In fact anti-Kadikistani sentiment retains a very significant popular base which condemns collaborating with the enemy. This meant that in contrast with the other Socialist Republics of the All-Union the Slavs and mixed-blood Kadikistani's were still overrepresented in the Jurzani stationed military units.

The 51-year old General Bakhtawar Raisani was the highest ranking ethnic Jurzani in the Revolutionary Army and one of the few non-Slavic exceptions. Known by his underlings as both a tyrant and a loyal dog of Ivar, Raisani was the eldest son of a Colonel of the same name. His father had defected from the Jurzani Green Army in the early days of the Kadiko-Jurzani War and rose to the ranks as a token Jurzani. Like his father General Raisani was often shown in propaganda of various forms as an example to be followed by all ethnic Jurzani's. While this had made him public enemy number one for those with separatist sentiment, he did manage to gain a modest base of support among the local collaborators by granting privileges and offering protection. The main reason for him to be where he was was the protective hand of the Central Government in Ivar who saw him as a useful tool in their seemingly unending quest to fully pacify the Socialist Republic of the Jurzan.

The Headquarters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces was located in what was once the Presidential Palace of Alaghan. Feeling quite comfortable in one of the greatest architectural pearls of his culture General Raisani oversaw the Alaghani Military District from the highly modified presidential chamber. The walls were still damaged from removing the paintings and filling the arched statues up with concrete. Back in the day there was much protest when the palace was rebuild after the war by Kadikistani workers, rather then by Jurzani's using their own custom construction and renovation techniques. General Raisani was sitting behind his solid oaken desk engraved with the flag of the Jurzan SR while the All-Union flag decorated the wall behind him. The General was joined by his staff of which half were of Slavic decent to discuss the latest attack that killed 6 Kadikistani Ultranationalist Paramilitary fighters. After being briefed by Colonel Shaheed Zardari the assigned and generally disliked Political Commissar Drako Miljevic was the first to speak; "This is clear as day, Comrades. It's a retaliation for the Marigat Massacre", he stated referring to the murder of 24 ethnic Jurzani males on the 7th of February by paramilitary forces linked to the Ultranationalist Brotherhood. The latter being a faction within the A-UCWP that was plotting to overthrown the reformists and re-instate Kadik-dominance, but they got exposed and largely liquidated after they attacked an up-and-coming leader of the Radical youth League starting was was labelled the '

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'.

Like everywhere else in the All-Union the largest base of support for the Ultranationalist Brotherhood in the Jurzan were the Kadik and Slavic enclaves. The ethnic Slavs living in these enclaves looked back to the past with great nostalgia, the older generation telling stories of the many privileges and protection they enjoyed during the policies of Kadikization and Kadikistanization. Brigadeer General Zardari continued the meeting while the General listened attentively with his hands crossed across the desk. "That much is evident, Comrade Commissar. The question here is, how do we resolve this issue without starting another full scale rebellion.". Zardari was instantly answered by Brigadeer General Branislav Antinov, a Ruska-Kadikistani known for his affiliation with the Old Guard Sanctioned Political Group; "It is imperative that we catch the terrorists responsible for Marden as soon as possible. We must show strength and teach the people that we will maintain order and punish those who dare distu...", before Antinov was able to finish his statement he was interrupted by Zardari who rose up from his seat with fire in his eyes; "What about the 24 fellow countrymen who got butchered in Marigat? Where was your iron fist then?!".

Both men got into a heated argument in a manner of seconds and eventually dragging most of the other officers in it too, Slavs facing Jurzani's. General Raisani continued to listen closely for about three minutes until he had seen and heard enough, gently raising his hand and non-verbally motioning everyone to be quiet and sit down. He spoke with calm determination; "Zardari, I want you to create a special task force that will turn Zkovljia upside down. You will find me the men responsible for the Marigat Massacre and bring them to Alaghan. Take whatever men and resources from the 127th as you deem necessary. Attempt to maintain the peace at all costs, but when faced with armed resistance you are authorized to use deadly force.", the General turned to Antinov, "You will accompany him, Antinov. Help him persuade the people that justice need to be served and arrange a meeting with the paramilitary leaders in order to discuss their disarmament."

Zkovljia was the largest of three Slav enclaves in the Alaghan Military District and a known breeding ground for the Ultranationalist Brotherhood that maintained very hostile relations with the people inhabiting the surrounding areas. It was a public secret that the Revolutionary Army Garrison in Zkovljia was closely linked with the paramilitary forces that were responsible for recently killing 24 ethnic Jurzanis. With all this in mind it was a gamble to send in a largely Jurzani force, but Raisani would rather have the already dishonoured enclaves in an uproar then all the rest of the Jurzan. The General continued "What happened in Marden must be answered with similar resolve. Shlebuchya contacts suspect they will soon be able to locate the terrorists. Once we know where they are we will make examples out of them, like we will make examples out of the terrorists we fish up in Zkovljia... Dismissed."

Hangar A13
Zkovljia
Socialist Republic of the Jurzan
February 16th 2020

"Our guy in HQ informed me yesterday that a Special Taskforce is being created by that dog Raisani. By this time they are mobilizing and getting ready for departure. ETA city borders in 6 hours.", Nebojsa Bozic reported while saluting in his black tactical uniform with the Slav tricolour patched on his upper arm. Receiving this report was Vukica Nikodijevic, Commander of the self-described 'Popular Protection Brigade' (PPB), who smirked arrogantly upon hearing the news. With the relatively young Nikodijevic briefed he could initiate the next step in his ambitious, but also extremely dangerous plan. "Contact the other Commanders and tell them to prepare for the raid.", Bozic signalled his own subordinate who promptly left the room and started heading for the radio control centre.With both men now alone in the room Nikodijevic spoke more bluntly; "Can I trust you, Bozic?". Bozic couldn't help but show a small frown, carefully responding with; "Yes.. Sir..". Nikodijevic stood up and turned his back to Bozic, now addressing him while he was looking at the large Slavic tricolour draped behind him; "Andrej Zerakov, Nikola and Marko Bogdanovic, Vojislav Belic, Ivan Lubljan and the new guy, Zoran Mladenovic. All good boys, loyal boys...", Nikodijevic paused for a second to light his cigarette and let the names sink in with his counterpart, "They didn't deserve to be butchered by these savages. They didn't deserve to be butchered for serving their people."

Nikodijevic now turned his face to a portrait of Nikolai Leninov, a man remembered in Zkovlija and most if not all of the other enclaves less so for his socialist endeavours, but mainly as the protector, benefactor and almost mythical father-figure. "You know I take time to talk to those left behind by our fallen brothers.", Nikodijevic continued as Bozic nodded respectfully, "It is not easy explaining to a mother that her son was killed by these rabid dogs. By far the best consolidation for these women, Bozic, is offering vengeance." The Commander now turned directly to Bozic; "Our intelligence has traced back the origin of one of the attackers to the village of Hezareh, 68 kilometres south of here. This intelligence was confirmed by an external reliable source, which means we consider everyone inside the village as guilty of aiding and abetting at least one terrorist. We all know where there is one there is more." The Commander had seemingly fired up the young Bozic enough and deemed him ready for the horrible order he was about to receive. "Muster a strike force of 50 men and head for Hezareh. Burn down the village and leave none alive. If 24 dead rats doesn't learn them the lesson, maybe that will. Tell the Jurzani's that if a village aids separatists it will be destroyed." With the order issued Bozic saluted Nikodijevic one last time, turned around and started exiting the Hangar. "One more thing, Bozic! Tell Ratko to rally up some Salatic sympathizers so we can deliver them to Zardari and Antinov when they get here."

 

[Kadikistani Union]

Revolutionary Army Headquarters
Alaghan
Socialist Republic of the Jurzan
February 16th 2020

The atmosphere was tense in the Alaghan HQ with Brigadeer General's Zardari and Antinov having departed for the Zkovlija Slavic enclave just a few hours earlier. General Raisani was increasingly doubting whether he had made the right call sending two politically opposite commanders to on the most dangerous areas of the Jurzan. Zardari was a known regionalist with sizeable popular support in his home region of Dargai. In fact like his superior Raisani, Zardari was one of the few natives that had managed to gain local support beyond their clan. And while his loyalties towards the Kybher Clan were without question, the Brigadeer General genuinely believed that he was fighting for all Kadiko-Jurzani's. Branislav Antinov was the offspring of a cadet-branch of the Leninov Revolutionary Clan and never hid his own loyalties to what he perceived as Kadik and other Slav pioneers. Pioneers that brought the values of Ivar such as equality and discipline to every corner of the massive All-Union at great personal risk. While the ambitious Antinov knew it wouldn't be very wise politically to utter his true sentiment all long as the reformist remained in the saddle he was a true believer that the Slavs and mainly the Kadiks brought civilization to what he deemed as savages. General Raisani had several possible outcomes rotating in his minds, but he would soon be interrupted by an intelligence officer.

"Comrade General, we just received satellite images from CvON-7. They indicate a large convoy leaving Zkovljia at 1400 hours, heading West. We are tracking them, but at this time can not confirm whether the convoy is armed.", the intelligence officer said in the most stale manner possible before being given an update by one of his subordinates, "Excuse me, Comrade. We have confirmation that the convoy is armed and most likely heading for Hezareh. The latter is a small village, coordinates 50.85045 4.34878. How do we proceed." General Raisani was determined to act decisively and didn't hesitate; "How fast can the nearest Rapid Deployment Unit reach Hezareh and what's the ETA of this convoy?" The answer was not what the General had hoped for, the Rapid Response could have its first boots on the ground in 36 minutes while the convoy was estimated to arrive 14 minutes beforehand. For a few seconds the option of contacting the Revolutionary Strategic Missile Forces and calling a missile strike on the convoy crossed Raisan's mind. That would however prove impossible given the short life span as the use of missiles in a first strike still required the approval of Central Command in Ivar. That process would take too long and might end up striking the civilian village instead.

General Raisani had no other choice than to accept the fact that the Zkovlija paramilitary forces would have a free hand in Hezareh for approximately 22 minutes. More then enough time to cause an atrocity that could potentially send a shock-wave through the Jurzan SR and even the All-Union.

Hezareh
Socialist Republic of the Jurzan
February 16th 2020

A total of eight SUVs speeded through the dusty roads gathering a huge cloud of sand and dirt behind them. A few seconds away from the centre of the small village PPB Commander Bozic had just ordered one of the vehicles to split off and head for a farm on the outskirts. Bozic was committed to his cause and would do everything he could to make his mission a success. Determined to write his name in the history books he was even willing to sacrifice himself and everyone under his command to achieve just that. Some of the villagers of Hezareh had noticed the approaching cloud headed by big black SUVs and warned the others along with the four soldiers belonging to the 12th Regiment of the 67th Motor Rifle Division. The latter were in charge of policing the small village with a population of 347. While the 30th Party Congress agreed to the expansion of the militsiya, the Revolutionary Army was still responsible for law enforcement in large parts of the All-Union. The four soldier were armed with automatic assault rifles along with having a few handguns and about a dozen grenades.

Most of the villagers were outraged yet not really surprised when the rag-tag soldiers dropped their weapons and jumped in their truck, driving out of town at the first sounds of gunshots received from the approaching PPB unit. Several villagers tried to follow, jumping in their car or on their horse if they had one, even running away on foot. A few braves quickly raided the now empty Army Station, grabbing and distributing every weapons they could find. Most however retreated into their respective houses, locking the doors and shutting the blinders, in hopes of waiting it out. That would not prove to be a very good strategy as the attackers were keen on sparing not a single soul. As the SUVs pulled over in all five major corners of the village about half a dozen heavily armed, masked men exited from each and started firing on everything that moved. Another two SUVs went in pursuit of those that attempted to escape the onslaught.

Within the first 5 minutes the streets were cleared and the paramilitary unit had only encountered minimal, unorganized resistance mainly concentrated in and around the Army Station. The defenders of Hezareh barely had the time to load their weapons or even find ammunition before being targetted by Bozic's finest selection of cold-blooded men. After the confirmation came in that the streets were cleared Bozic waved three fingers in the air, signalling his men to target the houses. His PPB kicked in doors and cleared them with grenades, either watching them burn or by doing a final sweep if the house was still standing. Commander Bozic had planned for his mission to last no longer then 20 minutes and 9 minutes into it ha was already ahead of schedule. He had little time to be optimistic though as at the same time one of his men yelled out, "RPU INCOMING!", referring to the approaching attack and transport helicopters.

While maintaining his composure and emotionless face Bozic couldn't help but utter a curse straight from the heart: "Blyat". He turned to his second in command; "Mop up whatever is left within the next two minutes. Tell Pjotr, Soldivan and Drako to bring the big guns." Bozic's second in command saluted, but still enquired if it wouldn't be wiser to reorganize and leave while they still could. "We will stay here until the job is done. Besides if we leave now we will make ourselves the perfect target. The village will at least provide us with some cover. Tell the units mowing down the runners and the one at the farm to break off and find their way back home. They may have a chance if we buy them enough time, but for us I doubt there is an escape." Fearing a bullet in the face the men standing around wouldn't dare mention a potential surrender, but it passed through all of their minds regardless. All except Bozic, the right man for the job.

The 'big guns' Bozic had mentioned were portable heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles systems. The three men carrying them spread out and started targetting the incoming helicopters of the Rapid Response Force, firing then relocating. Knowing when they were being targetted the respective pilots did what they could with flares and evasive actions. The escorting attack helicopters were prioritized, three out of six downed along with one transport helicopter. The remaining attack helicopters unloaded their arsenal on the SAM spots, giving the transport helicopters a chance to unload a little over 160 soldiers on the outskirts of the village. This was further away from the village core then they had hoped, now being out in the open and under heavy fire from the paramilitary forces in the village. The Rapid Response unit had been shocked and shattered, by an unexpectedly well prepared enemy. They attempted to regroup in the east and launched an attack on the village encountering heavy resistance and fighting for every square metre of the small town that now seemed way too big. While the bulk of Bozic forces were now concentrating on repelling the counter-attackers, he still had a dozen soldier searching for surviving civilians and killing them on the spot.

 

[Kadikistani Union]

Hezareh
Socialist Republic of the Jurzan
February 17th 2020

With the unexpectedly staunch resistance of Bozic and his paramilitary forces and the initially poor supply-line the fighting lasted well into the night until the early morning of the 17th. The last two hours it was only Bozic and about a dozen men holding off in an old granary with only assault weapons, handguns and a few grenades to hold of the enemy siege. While preparing to throw his grenade Bozic got shot clean between his eyes the second he rose to his feet, dropping the already armed grenade, shredding his collapsing cadaver along with two men who were hiding behind the same cover. This last demoralizing blow caused the remaining six PPB fighters to yell out their intention to surrender, one of them waving a dirty white piece of cloth he had found before getting his hand shot off by a tired and overanxious corporal. It was a terrifying few minutes for the remnants of Bozic's make-shift company as they rose from their holes and shelters with their weapons tossed and hand(s) in the air. The Rapid Response Units had been given the order to arrest and bring in for interrogation rather than execute them on the spot like many of them suspected. They weren't that lucky though as the interrogation itself provided a postponed execution, but would only prolong their suffering.

The small village of Hezareh was back under government control by 7 am in the morning. The beautiful sunrise revealed the true carnage that had taken place over the last 20 hours, rendering many of the men shocked with the images no doubt carved into their respective memories. Civilians, soldiers and irregulars had piled up at certain places, fresh forces relieving the ones who did the fighting were immediately tasked with collecting the dead and making up the sad balance. Safe for 19 civilians including 6 children who had managed to stay hidden during the onslaught all 347 inhabitants of Hezareh had been killed. During the confrontation with the Revolutionary Army 72 soldiers lost their lives taking 41 paramilitary forces including Commander Bozic with them. Meaning that over the course of just 20 hours a total of 441 people died. This was an extremely high number given that there had been a relative peace for several years up until recently. A number high enough to start another full-scale Jurzani uprising, Ivar feared.

The initial response to this 'incident' by the Central Government was to cover it up. The soldiers were sworn to secrecy of face the maximum retaliation of the law. Morally this was an especially difficult task for the ethnic Jurzani soldiers who righteously wanted to demand justice, but would shut their mouths to keep themselves and their families safe. The paramilitary forces that surrendered would never see the daylight again and be liquidated once all the information they possess was squeezed out of them by any means necessary. The only loose ends were the 19 surviving civilians. Local Political Commissars arrested the survivors and after several weeks of isolation they would eventually be deported to the work camps of the High North until the end of their days. The bodies were stripped and taken East before being buried under a forest. Hezareh itself was demolished and hermetically sealed under the guise of a 'environmental disaster'. People who had friends and family in Hezareh were shadowed and contacted with diverse stories, going from promotions to the other side of the All-Union to dying from natural causes and fake funerals. No expense was spared to keep the Hezareh atrocity under cover.