La Plaza de Toros

[Radilo]

Monte Carlo, Nouvo Porto
11:00 PM

M was playing Baccarat at the high rollers' table, the one you could only approach if you had an invitation.

"Another nine, impressive sir."

"God smiles on me," M said as he collected his chips. Over his shoulder he saw his nominal advisory; he stood up before he was confronted by the other man.

"The hell are you doing here?" Foreign Minister Barnapola asked, shoving him. "Our country is burning to the ground and you're gambling."

"Yea, I am, I have to distract myself." Barnapola slapped him, and grabbed his collar, "you fucker...our Republic is on fire and you're playing cards!"

"Yes I am," M said calmly, "as are we all. It's a fucked up world we live in. We can only play the game."

"What's your actual name?"

"I don't have one."

"What's your legal name?"

"It's M."

"What did your mother call you?"

"Dimitri."

"What?"

"My mother called me Dimitri Badua. I was named after a grandfather I did not know and the city I was born in."

August released M's collar, he continued, "my mother was a refugee from Tarusa. Why she fled, I don't know. She was a prostitute and a drug addict. She loved me. But she had a problem. She died when I was 11. An overdose. I had intended to join the military service, but the intelligence service poached me first."

August was almost breathless, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just let me finish my game," M said returning to the table.

"Another nine, sir. You're on quite the roll."

"I wish I were... I wish I were."

 

[Ebria]

Manzanares

General Aurelio Ortega was looking at the maps in his office, in the headquarters of the 2nd Army. He was joined by other officers and had an opened line with President Ana Isabel Gallego, which was still in Sahagun. "Sorry for the interruption, we received news from Dario Rios and General Murillo. They managed to stop the rebel attack into La Tiburana from the Ciudad Universitaria," she said as she returned online. "La Tiburana?" Ortega asked and then turned towards the others in the room. "It means they changed strategy and tried to attack in the city's west, leaving the northern sector," someone in the room said, but Ortega just waved him off. "I think they are probing the defences in other areas, to see how the city is defended. Because its clear the northern sector is a tough nut to crack," Ortega said and Gallego nodded. "Rios and Murillo think the same. That and they believe an attack towards the airport will come too, with the hopes of getting into a position to flank the Ciudad Universitaria," Gallego stated. "It is thus important to break them from the north once and forever, so we can win this before we wake up with Angliarique, Csengia or Tarusa coming trhough the Serrault Canal, or before Radilo is overwhelmed by the Pelasgians," she added.

General Ortega nodded. "Operation Matador is probably the most ambitious and biggest military offensive this country actually set up since the old Ebrian Empire collapsed," the general said as he turned towards the maps, and the others looked closer. "By now, gentlemen, you all know how this is going to go, but I will repeat it one last time. Maybe by this time next week or in two weeks, we're having diner in Plaza Mayor, in Valls," he said and the others smirked. "We will full on attack the frontlines with everything we have, and overwhelm them. We have six divisions against their two. The front is going to be divided in three sectors," he said, beginning his presentation.

"In Sector del Oeste, the 4th Division will be joined by the 3rd Tercio of the Legion and by the Radilans. They will attack Arapiles in force, and then move along the coast towards Moraleja. From there, if God helps us, they will move to Las Mesas and Coria, with the 3rd Tercio in Las Mesas, the 4th Division in Coria and the Radilans between them.

In Sector Central, the 5th Division will attack the silvershirts and their fascist volunteers and collaborators with everything they have. The 5th will then move up to the foothills of the Sierra Dorada and then it will react to the other two sectors, providing flanking operations and aid to each other. If everything goes well and it won't be necessary, they will link up with the eastern sector and then move inside the Sierra Dorada, to take Montellano.

In the Sector del Este, the 4th Division and the 1st Tercio will attack the enemy 8th Division. They will move then to Daimiel and Balazote. They will continue on this vector, and then attack the mountainous area to lift the siege on Valls," Ortega said.

"This is the general strategy," said Ana Isabel Gallego, following closely, albeit not seeing very well the map. "Yes, detailed orders have been already sent to the units. The idea is to attack with everything they have in a show of strength against the rebels. The 1st Army will remain on guard against any attacks from the east," Ortega continued.

"Today is D-day. We are just expecting the order," a fellow officer said. "It will come. Look for Manolete," Ortega said, referencing to a famous bullfighter from the late 19th century, as the code to initiate the operation. "All but a few hours to go," he added.​

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Amérida

Tens of thousands of volunteers meant that the bold-faced lie the Commonwealth had made, when it told the Tarusans no weapons were being sent to Ebria, would be uncovered sooner or later. In the eyes of its government, that wasn't really an issue, however. Lies were part of wars and that included wars by proxy. As far as the Commonwealth was concerned, the Pressburg Pact made bold-faced lies about armed soldiers being humanitarian workers, the Ebrian fascists lied about its massacres and compared to those kinds of lies, secret arms deliveries were quite minor and understandable in the grand scheme of things.

Training of the volunteers was proceeding at a steady pace. The Ebrian government was about to start its major offensive and if it exhausted its forces in doing so without achieving a decisive victory, the civil war would enter a phase of attritional warfare. The Commonwealth wanted to make sure that the Republic had a head start in case it came to this. Likewise, with the prospect of intervention from Csengia looming over the country, arming and training thousands of ideologically committed and highly motivated union members was bound to pay off.

The nature of the newly formed militias in combination with the incompatibility of many Commonwealth weapons with those commonly used by the Ebrian forces meant that the militias were almost a wholly separate force unot their own. Major depots of guns and ammunition, grenades and explosives, equipment and missiles were set up, the biggest of them near Amérida, of course.

However, with the war already in full swing and the time necessary to properly train people without military experience to be able to stand confidently in battle, demands had arisen for another separate formation. While no formal decision had been made yet, Aram Ajemian had already begun preparing the necessary infrastructure and command chain for the formation of an international volunteer division. The idea was for the International Workers' Federation to call upon volunteers from all over the world with previous military experience to form a unit that could be dispatched to the frontlines sooner rather than later, armed with Commonwealth guns.

There were some challenges, of course. Not least of which was the issue of language. Aram had decided that the command level would operate in Ebrian, after all that was the country they were fighting for and it would make coordination with regular Republican forces easier. It also allowed him to set up command structures in advance, by drawing upon volunteers from within Ebria itself. Former soldiers and officers who had, for whatever personal reason, decided to re-enlist with the militias instead of the regular armed forces when the civil war broke out.

Svetograd was still dragging its feet on the decision, fearing such an open armed intervention, even of limited scope, could provide an easy pretext for Kremlyov to escalate. When, not if, the decision would finally be made, however, the formation of the first Ebrian International Division would not take a long time.

 

[Pelasgia]

Nikaia, Pelasgia

Four large Tarusan transport planes taking off from Csengia landed in the airstrip of the navy base near Nikaia, the largest northernmost city of Pelasgia. Together, these massive airframes had brought with them five batteries, each armed with twelve of the so-called

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from @Tarusa. The Pelasgian military would use its air superiority in the region to transport these batteries as soon as possible to the country's eastern frontier, in Sebasteia, and then to Zarakas, Tephanon. From there, they would assist the local Pelasgian aerial and land forces in securing Tephanon and the Basilisk Sea against aggression, in light of Tianese movements in the region. These missiles would reinforce Pelasgian forces in Tephanon, drawn from the Second Army, which consisted of roughly 40,000 troops of varying quality (including local reservists) and some 200 tanks and other armoured vehicles.

At the same time, the new class of conscripts had been drawn up, and wartime mobilization meant that they were to be retained. In Pelasgia around 1.2 mil. young men would come of age. Normally, only around 900,000 of those would be called up to one or another branch of the armed forces. This time around, all these men were sent straight to training units, with around half (or 450,000) being allocated to the Pelasgian Imperial Army. The Pelasgian military made its choice to deploy these to the country's east, training them on the frontlines of what could be anti-landing actions in Sebasteia and its neighbouring Themes. ​

 

[Pelasgia]

Aresura and the Eastern Meridian

The Pelasgian Imperial Army redoubled its efforts on the ground, seeking to break through the Antiochia-Santi Apostoli-Porto di Radilo defence line. Its primary aim was to capture the cities or at the very least Santi Apostoli, which would allow it to break the Radilan front in two and defeat the isolated Radilan pockets separately using superior numbers and quantities of materiel. To this end, the Pelasgians made use of both their ground and air superiority, conducting relentless air raids against Radilan ground targets and seeking to eliminate any surviving Radilan air units in Aresura.

The Pelasgian airborne troops, who had been on standby since the failure of their previous operation, were now given a new objective: taking the Morea island chain, known to the Pelasgians as Hagios Georgios. If successful, the initial Pelasgian force would secure airfields and airports on the larger island, enabling the deployment of more significant forces by air transport, while also capturing the smaller, sparsely defended islets surrounding the bigger isle.

In the meantime, the Pelasgian Imperial Navy focused its sights on its primary goal: sinking what remained of the Radilan fleet. In this, it was assisted by the Pelasgian Imperial Air Force units previously assigned to attacking the Valetta fleet, including strategic bombers. Seeing the advance of the much-hurt Radilan naval reinforcements, and considering that they had already sunk the Valetta squadron’s capital ships, the Pelasgians decided to break their encirclement of Valetta and to pull back their submarines instead of having them engage the approaching Radilans on their own.

Thus, the Pelasgian fleet and the Pelasgian aerial forces began their relentless attack on the combined Radilan force, seeking to disable or sink as many ships as possible. As during their attack on Valetta, the Pelasgians focused on capital ships first and foremost, believing that a Radilan fleet without carriers and helicopter decks would be essentially powerless to contest the Pelasgians’ gains effectively.

(Written in coordination with @Radilo)​

 

[Hanseatic Republics]

Hammaborg, Free Hanseatic City
Army Compound 22, Covert Projects Division

Several leaders in the Government gathered around the table alongside a few Hajris. The discussion had been quite long but at this point the basics had been covered.

"Ok, let's start from the top," insisted First Bürgermeister and President Günther. "From what you've been telling, you, your goal is to smuggle arms into Ebria, specifically the Muslim part, and those arms would come initially from the Hanseatics, but be re-routed via Hajr to spark an Islamic uprising with the goal of installing an agent you have on the ground as the new leader of a movement towards a Caliphate? That as they utilized Hajri freedom fighters, Hajr would gain nominal freedom by joining this Caliphate, and this Caliphate would then become a voting member in the Hanseatics?"

"Yes."

There was a long pause and everyone waited for the President to reply. "Are you all out of your minds? The potential for blowback here is tremendous! Even if this were successful, even halfway successful, we'd but opening the kind of Pandora's box that might just have the Hanseatics lose their foothold in Hajr, and even if that did not happen, how on earth could we give a Caliphate voting rights in the Hanseatics?"

The silence continued as there was quite an open debate in the Hanseatics on if Hajr should be part of the Hanseatic Republics fully, or just maintain their semi-autonomous territorial status that was post-delegationist in nature, but really propped and nominally governed by the Free Hanseatic Oil company.

Katharina Günther shook her head and looked at the men in the room. "I cannot green light this as it is. Reformat this plan so that I can buy into it and yet still have plausible deniability. No Hajri Freedom Fighters. No Caliphate. Just a good old fashion rebellion so that we can match the Tarusans on any battlefield they level themselves on. I like the initiative by leveraging the Islamic population. But you guys need to do better than this. I'll be back tomorrow at 1600. Figure it out."

She walked out of the room and the group collectively sighed. One man randomly chimed in, "So you're saying there's a chance!" There was some laughter and another pitched in, "It's going to be a long night, anyone want to order some Tianlong Takeout, or maybe some sushi?"

 

[Tarusa]

Kispest

The Queen had been keeping up with the information flowing out of the neighboring Kingdom of Ebria between the Inquisitors and the assistance of the Tarusans intelligence and military assets. The Alfonsoists had launched a daring air raid against the Republican naval forces outside of Valls, while not a decisive victory it was still a victory nonetheless that had further eroded the strength of the republicans to control the outcome. Already nation had flocked to fight, Radillan military was engaged in Ebria instead of protecting their own turf, Josefianian "volunteers" were on the front lines, and there were murmers in the intelligence circle that hadn't been officially confirmed that as of yet the unionists were being raised as another militia in the isthmus region of Ebria.

The Communists claimed to be against foreign support, threatening war if the Empire intervened and threatening her Kingdom, all the while they continued to be mostly mute against the influx of military strength being added to the republican forces, coincidently by none other than other extreme left nations. She had already moved an entire division of her forces to the Isthmus to secure it, and the arrival earlier of the near division strength Anglians had added another force that could be of aid to the Kingdom. Consultation between her defense officials and the anglian officers, it had been determined the best course of action would be the airlifting of some of their troops and utilizing the rail lines for the remainder to position them on the western edge of the isthmus, allowing the division there already to be better secure the eastern half by splitting responsible sectors in half between a greater force. A Combat Air Patrol would be in the air at various times of the day with aircraft ready on the pad if there was none currently operating over the Serault Lake or the Isthmus.

She however needed a show of strength to her people, the propaganda machine had been running hard, some of the truth, some of it the lies, and some partial truths.

71st Airbase, Sankt Viet

Four fighters from the 71st Squadron were to be the show of strength from the Queen. A retaliatory strike for the downing of the helicopters over the lake. With the Tarusan navy patrolling from the canal thru the Bonaventura Bay they were able to provide valuable information via multiple sources. The traditionalists had managed to deliver a blow to the Catholic Navy, their flagship was critically damaged and a frigate and some patrol boats were sleeping with the fish. An estimated sixteen more of their patrol boats were trapped in the Serault Lake, and the Thaumanticans had impounded the few ships that had been part of their assisted mission in the Gothic Sea. The Ministry of Defense for the Kingdom had determined that a minor retaliatory strike could lead to a potential further withdrawal of the catholic navy to safer sea and open the floodgates for aid to come for King Alfonso and his supporters.

The four fighters armed each with two anti-ship missiles would launch from the sea between the two kingdoms shortly after take-off, carrying out their long range strike against the republican naval vessels around the waters of Ameridia.

 

[The Federation]

Joint Base Hughes, Midway

Orders were given to the 2nd bomb wing of the 4th Air Force to begin gearing up for possible combat operations, with the illegal blockade of Ebria by Tarusan and Socialist forces, the Federation felt that Gallia was slipping away too quickly even if the Republican forces in Ebria were making advances. "It's only a matter of time before these cabbage eating fucks are at our doorstep!" President Langley could be overheard yelling at his Secretary of War. Anti Ship missiles were loaded into the bomb bays of bombers, a few super sonic bombers that would fire an opening salvo at standoff range to be followed by conventional bombers. In specially built air conditioned hangars sat two of the Federation's stealth bombers. They were being prepared for a mission to penetrate the blockade's and Ebrian airspace and attack ships in the Bonaventure bay. So far only plans were made to attack Tarusan ships, but orders were also drawn up for a sweeping attack on all blockade ships in the area regardless of who they belonged to.

Baldwin-Whitehall

A cargo ship containing aid and weapons departed the docks in the mega city of Baldwin-Whitehall, at sea they were met by two frigates of the Federation Navy. They would make way to meet up with six attack submarines from Midway that would shadow the surface ships. Their intentions were sit in international waters several hundred miles outside of the blockade and await for orders to run the blockade and force the Tarusans and Socialists to either attack or backdown.

 

[Pelasgia]

Aresura and the Eastern Meridian

The Pelasgian Imperial Army continued its rapid advance into Aresura. Some of the local territorial defence units fought skillfully and valiantly, earning the respect of the Pelasgians, but the vast majority, being poorly trained and equipped, proved no match for a regular army. Thus, the Pelasgians captured Santi Apostoli, their primary objective, but also Antiochia, the official capital of the region and the point of great historical contention between the two warring nations. To the south, the oil fields of Peraica fell under the total control of the Pelasgians, forcing the Radilans to retreat into Porto-di-Radilo, the last major city of the region under their control and the last bastion of Radilan presence of mainland Himyar. Like vultures surrounding a moribund beast, the Pelasgian army moved to surround Port-di-Radilo.

In the air, the Pelasgian heavy bombing of the Radilan territories of Aresura and Valetta continued, while air battles tied up the remainder of the local Radilan air units. The second and final major air battle over Aresura saw the invaders effectively annihilating what remained of Radilan air power, including ground installations, and ensuring Pelasgian air superiority over the region. As a corollary to this, the Pelasgian airborne units achieved a clear but not decisive victory in the Morea island chain, enabling them to establish a foothold and to land significant forces in the isles. At the same time, some Radilan resistance remained, particularly in the form of guerilla activity in the arid, mountainous isles north of Aresura, which meant that the Pelasgians had not secured full control over the Morea, even if they could land troops there at their leisure.

The real battle of the war, the latest iteration of the ancient rivalry between the navies of the Basileia and the Serenissima, proved to be yet another bloody stalemate, with a narrow victory for Radilo, in that it managed to prevent the Pelasgians from pushing its fleet back westward, ensuring that the Eastern Meridian would remain the primary theatre of naval operations. Still, neither side succeeded in making a significant breakthrough or eliminating the rival fleet; instead, the significant losses of the two fleets would create a reef of sorts, which would be studied by oceanographers, marine scientists, historians and even aquatic tourists for decades to come. No doubt, the oceanic graveyard of the battle would cause many tears in both Radila and Propontis, and all for no apparent reason so far.

(Written in collaboration with @Radilo)​

 

[Tarusa]

18 nm West of Chiste, Nuoria

The Imperial Navy had setup its quarantine of the mainland. The cruiser Sletvana was the commanding ship of 3rd squadron in charge of the western sector of the quarantine, the area determined to be the most heavily used by those nations that had been helping the war effort continue onwards. Constant communication with Naval Headquarters in Sankt Viet, and their own radar systems were being used to track the civilian naval traffic of the Meridian region to attempt and prevent mishaps.

They had been told that select nations would attempt and bully their way into the quarantine zone, seeking to only expand the conflict to greater proportions. The first vessel of such had finally been tracked by one of Svetlanas escorts, the ships attempted to hail it. The response they had gotten back was that they would continue forward as they did not recognize the quarantine. Continued attempts to hail it were simply ignored from that point forward.

Captain Apraksin took to the communications center to inform Sankt Viet of the situation while Captain Lieutenant Enqvist began carrying out the orders for the ship. On the deck oft the cruiser the helicopter was being prepared for flight as the flight crew and a frogman squad was removed from standby and ordered to board the incoming cargo ship. It was not long before the helo was lifting off and on its course towards the ship.

From above the helo once more tried to warn the crew they needed to change course, or allow themselves to be boarded to search the cargo to check for contraband. Nobody aboard the helo was quite sure, but was confident they had been told to fuck off before being told no. With that the side door opened as the men began their rope descent aboard the ship. Four of the eight man squad moved towards the stern and the command deck of the commercial vessel while the other four moved towards the bow and would proceed to begin sweeping the vessel.

As the vessel was slowed to a near halt, and the crew was detained, two men of the squad began a search of the vessel as the Sletvana had changed its course towards the vessel. It did not take long before they had cut the locks on several containers carrying various munitions and some MANPADs.

"Sletvana, this is raider 2-0. Ship was carrying munitions. We shall leave a few men onboard and further detain the crew. Setting course for Sankt Viet, the rest of the men will transfer back over to the ship."

Sankt Viet Naval Hq.

We have intercepted a shipment of arms and munitions bound for the Republican Forces on the Tianese flagged container ship Hai Wan 275. The vessel repeatedly ignored all attempts at communication to allow searching of the vessel. The vessel is in transit to Sankt Viet to be detained as all cargo is further searched by shore crews.

 

[Josepania]

Avila, Ebria

"So there I was, crouched behind a car, gripping my service rifle tightly as I waited for them to pass by. The Angliarique paratroopers were so intent on my comrades, trading pot shots with them, they had no inkling I was waiting on their flanks." For what seemed to be the umpteenth time, Francesco was telling the story that had been working its way through the David Constantino Brigade about his personal exploits in the Battle of Avila, which his audience doubtless already heard at least three times already, but they nonetheless listened with rapt attention and curiosity.

'Leaving out the fact I was hiding behind that car so I could get away as fast as I could. I wasn't about to take on five soldiers by myself, that's just suicidal.' he thought to himself darkly, the self-doubt and loathing already beginning to creep in again as he continued to put on a brave, almost nonchalant face to his comrade soldiers, but it was true. His intentions during that battle certainly weren't to be a war hero, merely to stay alive. That wasn't something that needed to be publicly disclosed, though.

Besides, it doesn't matter. What is propaganda if not lies wrapped around a kernel of truth, regardless of who is creating the propaganda? The truth is you were behind that car, you were waiting for them to pass by. The details are irrelevant, especially what happens next.

"Once they passed, I repositioned myself, ready to fire into their flank, when all of a sudden, I heard movement to my right, and I froze, becoming one with my cover as I tried to focus on the noise... it was another squad of soldiers, these were Alfonsist militiamen, and my comrades had no idea they were coming. If I didn't do something, they'd be flanked themselves, and probably killed or, worse, captured. Without thinking, I raised my rifle and fired into the militiamen, taking the squad of five completely by surprise."

'If I hadn't, the Phalangist bastards would've spotted me and killed me immediately. One absolutely saw and locked eyes with me... Jesus, I can still see those fucking brown eyes of his...'

"I'm not sure how I managed to hit them all... perhaps I took to my basic training better than I thought, but they all went down, one dead instantly and the other four wounded to various degrees. Naturally, I knew this would get the attention of the Angliarique soldiers, so without thinking I armed and tossed a flashbang grenade over the car I was still hiding behind, waited for the explosion, then revealed myself and demanded they all surrender, and for my comrades to come out from hiding and help me take them prisoner. They were worth more to us alive than dead, after all, given they were foreigners and had intel."

'Ugh... ok hotshot revolutionary... First, those Alfonsist idiots were all bunched up together, they'd never had military training before, and it's pure luck I got any of them. Second, I was panicking and wanted to grab the fragmentation grenade, not the flashbang, but in my stupidity I picked the wrong one, but with equally stupid luck those soldiers got blinded by the grenade. I should have died at least three times back there.'

But you didn't, did you? You killed three men, one immediately and two from their wounds later, and captured seven, a majority of them trained soldiers, and saved your squad. It doesn't matter how or why you did it, only that it was done, and that people know about it. Look at those men, they think you're a hero. Why take that away from them? It'd be a cruel joke otherwise, and nothing good would come from that for you. Just take the victory lap and stop complaining.

It was true, the men assembled really did look impressed at the retelling of the story from the man himself, and the results really were undeniable. How much of it actually contributed to the overall battle leading to the liberation of Avila was unclear but frankly unimportant. What mattered was he and, for that matter, the rest of the David Constantino Brigade played a key role in supporting the Ebrian 3rd Division when they themselves failed in making any progress on the first push, ensuring that initial attack was not a disastrous failure, and if anything set up a second push that proved to be too much for the Alfonsists and the Angliarique invaders to handle. Ever since, despite the fact that Francesco was still dealing with some kind of PTSD over the fact that he was directly and vividly responsible for killing three men and nearly dying horribly, he was being treated very well by his comrades, being given extra rations by the men, somewhat lessened patrol duties by the officers, and otherwise treated more as a friend than 'some guy.' It was... weird to say the least.

"Hey! Get your butts in gear, we're redeploying!" a sergeant called out from across the street. "We're going to Ranero, gentlemen! Powers that be want to see if we've still got the magic touch in liberating towns from Alfonsists."

With that, the assembled men and women started to disperse to gather their gear and get to the transports, Francesco along with them. Hopefully, this time, he could spend more time behind the front lines, watching the Ebrians do the work for them, and not have to put his life on the line yet again for the cause.

 

[Tarusa]

((written for the Alfonsoists))

Western Sector, 7th Division

This war had not been going well for the forces of the army that had rebelled and were attempting to keep the crown and install the alfonsoist government as they had been unhappy with the way things had been going. The war had not been going well either, constantly being on the defensive with the 9th division being bogged down in the sprawling urban quagmire of Valls. Something needed to happen as it appeared all they were doing was fighting a prolonging campaign to the end. The 7th would launch a counter-attack against the Radilans. That had been the word that had been spreading among the ranks, supposedly from the officers and word from some of the artillery battalions was they had been resupplied, with some of the shells carrying two different paint schemes marking them, one was sarin with the other being mustard.

The volley of shells escalated in the late morning, the increased intensity of the shelling was marking the beginning of the counter-offensive along the this sector of the front. The shelling was not normal however, they targeted the radilan positions and the rear lines of the enemy, they were hammering them with a combination of chemical weapons. The military command had decided it was time to pull out the weapons they had been sitting on and give their outnumbered forces a better fighting chance.

It was not before long that the lurching sounds of the vehicles as they began to move could be heard as the advance against the Radilans commenced and they began the push to beat the radilan gains back. It was as if the counter-offensive and the chemical weapons had caught their foe completely off-guard, leaving many dead and those alive attempting to retreat only to further subjugate themselves to the mustard gas that had been deployed in their rear areas.

Valls, 9th Division

The city was still the scene of the most intense fighting of the conflict, and yet the drive for the capital continued. The 9th division once more pressed the assault against the city, the fighting was grueling and the city was rapidly turning into a city of ruins and lifelessness. They had finally managed to once more press the assault forward and gain control of another sector of the city, now half of the city was in the hands of the Traditionalists.

 

[Ebria]

Sahagún

The hopes of Operation Matador to break the siege of Valls by the end of the week and thus push the civil war in its last legs, has been dashed as Ana Isabel Gallego has received a call from the front by General Ortega. She has spend more than an hour on the call receiving the briefs and then called the rest of the Supreme National Defence Council to an extraordinary meeting.

"We have received some grave news from the frontlines in the center of the country," she said. The other members of the council were concerned because an extraordinary meeting was clear to bring only bad news, but their initial fears of Valls falling were quickly replaced with confusion, for in the end, in their eyes, nothing bad can truly happen in the center of the country, with the full force of the 2nd Army and the Legion marching upon the rebels.

"The Alfonsists finally used what we feared the most. We have received reports from General Ortega that they used the Quimi Project," said Ana Isabel Gallego. The rest of the room fell silent. "We did start production in utmost secrecy two years ago, that would give them enough stockpiles to wage the war with this," someone commented and Gallego nodded. "It seems that they did not use it against our soldiers per se, but rather against the Radilans, who were flanking on our western sector along the coast. They also launched a missile attack on the units sieging Daimiel, but it seems the latter wasn't a chemical attack, but probably by now they plan to play with us, to always keep us on our toes. I want it to be known to the whole world that weapons of mass destruction have been used against the forces of the people. I want it to be known to the whole world," she said.

"Señora, there will be questions regarding the sourcing of the chemical weapons," General Froilan Saldaña said and Ana Isabel Gallego thought for a bit and nodded afterwards. "They will ask and they should. Present to the press a narrative that these weapons have been brought to Ebria by supporters of the Alfonsists. Mention the Pelasgians, because they have their mercenaries there and Pelasgia was hostile to the republic and to Radilo too," she said. "We should mention Angliarique and Csengia too. Let's not forget their debacle in Avila and generalised hostility" said General Saldaña. "Yes, that is true. Yet, I don't want to fully open a 2nd front in case Csengia fully attacks. I will concentrate on Angliarique more," she said.

An adjutant came with files for the president to the interest of everyone. "With all due respect, but to hell with the narratives. They are politicians, not us. What were the casualties?" another general asked. Gallego and Saldaña looked throught the papers. "It seems around 2,000 only in the initial attack, and with the rebel counterattack and the rout that followed, it is estimated that it goes to even 4,000 to 4,500 dead and wounded," Saldaña said, reading the report gravely. "That's a quarter of the Radilan unit," someone commented in the back. "Yes, I will have them recalled and remain in reserve. I must talk with General Ortega about this," Saldaña said.

The general stopped for a while to read the debriefs and then continued. "Two more news for today, one good and one bad. In Ranero the republican forces have managed to take control of the whole city. There seems to be scattered resistance here and there, but the big town of Comarca Central is back into our hands. We do expect continued brigandage in the Sierra Morena of course, but at least we now had the cities that rebelled fully in our hands. In the capital, on the other hand, things are sour, as the enemy is attacking in force again, this time in the center of the city. We have received reports from Dario Rios and General Murillo, that they had to retreat from Ciudad Universitaria, because they had to reinforce the Las Letras district," Saldaña said.

"That means that the suburbs, Ciudad Universitaria and Mirasierra are taken by the enemies, while La Tiburana, Las Letras and Cuatros Vientos is still in our hands," Ana Isabel Gallego said. "Exactly," Saldana said, nodding. "It means we need to rush Operation Matador," she said. "I'd recommend we don't do it. The city still resists and will continue to resist. What we need is to ensure this new weapon the Alfonsists began to use, never take us by surprise to this level again. We need to prepare the Legion and the 2nd Army for chemical warfare too and pause the operations until we receive protective gear," Saldana said and the others nodded. "We need somehow to destroy their arsenals and weapon facilities," Gallego said. "We will discuss with the Air Force, we must bomb Calatrava's military facilities and raze them to the ground to ensure we destroy the chemical weapons production at least, for it is clear that by now they dispersed their stockpile," Saldaña added.​

 

[Tarusa]

Kremlyov

The airbase was busy as two of the nations three largest strategic lift aircraft were being loaded. The Empire had taken note of the declaration for the mobilization of former military personnel in the Republic of Tianlong, and the aggressive rhetoric that had been thrown around in the weeks before. The Ministry of Defense had already shipped some missile systems previously to the Pelasgians to provide a critical asset to its ally, yet again it was going to airlift a far greater asset this time to both of its allies.

Each aircraft was being loaded with sixteen containerized weapons, the very same weapons that had delivered a crippling blow to the ships of the Republic of Tianlong in the Bonaventura Bay before under the command of the Anglians. The officers of the General Staff would get a chuckle out of the fact this system would potentially be once more put to use against the very same adversary.

One aircraft was destined for the Anglian Empire, the other would be flown into the Pelasgian Empire.

 

[Pelasgia]

Aresura and the Eastern Meridian

The Pelasgian Imperial Navy, seeing the recent deployments of Tianese naval assets in the Basilisk and Axshaina Seas, decided to redirect half its force urgently toward the Axshaina Sea, to protect mainland Pelasgia. At the same time, half of the assets flown in from Kremlyov were urgently redistributed along the Pelasgian East Coast, including some to Tephanon, to defend the area against Tianese naval threats. The significant land forces which had been preparing for naval attacks were now fully activated, while the Fourth Army was pulled back from Aresura and sent toward the country's east. The air region was activated and placed on the highest alert, preparing to both defend against aerial strikes and to launch attacks on ships.

While all this was going on, the remaining half of the Pelasgian Imperial Navy prepared its final attack on the fleet of @Radilo, one which would decide the ultimate fate of the naval war in the Eastern Meridian. At the same time, Pelasgian strategic bombers and ordinary air units over Aresura prepared to inflict crashing blows on the Radilan ships, while ballistic missiles were also aimed at the Radilan Navy, which was now close enough to Pelasgia proper for such strikes to take place (even if the missiles were not designed to hunt naval ships). Pelasgia was committed to ending the naval war then and there.

In the Morea, Pelasgian troops kept being ferried over from the mainland to secure control of the islands and to destroy any remnants of the resistance. Just to the south, in Aresura, the Pelasgian Imperial Army started another general push westward, to take Perama (or Porto-di-Radilo) and finally end the land war.​

 

[The Federation]

Two Federation carrier strike groups of the thaumantic fleet departed Joint Base Hughes in Midway, leaving one behind to defend the heavily militarized Midway islands. They would transit in international waters between the south side of the Remurian Islands in a desperate attempt to reinforce the Radilans.

A third strike group departed the west Sylvanian city of Rennerdale to the south toward the Sankt Katharina Islands, their mission would be to neutralize the Tarusan base their and destroy the ships associated with the base. Patrols actively screened the strike group for submarines and other ships. With the use of weaponized container ships, combat air patrols from the strike groups carrier paid special attention to any merchant ships getting to close.

A fourth group departing from Aja in Polytopika left to rendezvous with the Tianese fleet in the Basilisk sea.

In Gothland the former Gutarike military and navy was Federalized by order of the occupation governor and put on high alert. Assets of both the Federation and Gothland began to set up anti submarine netting as well as prepare to deploy mines in international waters between East Jydsken and Salen, taking a page out of the Tarusans book, if the Tarusans made any threatening moves in the Gothic the Federation would be ready to cut off the entire sea and trap the northern Tarusan navy in.

Allies of the Federation were informed via the command center in Charleroi.

Ooc: sorry I'm reduced to phone posting when I can get the time.

 

[Tarusa]

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211 Alekseevskaya Street
Kremlyov
​

"It is unfortunate that the Tsar has fallen on deaf ears as he attempted to give the Federation the chance to avoid this conflict. A lot of good the hotline does with a hothead in Charleroi that continues to drive nations into the sphere of Kremlyov with his rhetoric and actions. This coalition that is amassing is a joke at their best, and the Radilans think they can hold onto these overseas territories even after this conflict is over, our best guess is 90% of their fleet is now part of the sea, a third of their air force is in pieces across the fields of Aresura and their army has taken a beating. They have lost their ability to project power and even turn the tide in Aresura as they can't get themselves there in the first place unless they want to swim!"

This led to a bit of laughter amongst each of the branches heads,

"None-the-less, its appearing more and more we will finish the fight coming to the defense of an ally once more. We have provided them with the best means we possibly could to protect themselves and make the coalition feel the same pain as the Radilans, but we are inevitably being drawn into this conflict and we can see that by the activities of the Federation. They have increased their activity at the entrance of the gothic sea, a fleet on the western shores of the Federation has moved to sea, and carrier groups have left midway. The Federation has set a significant number of its carriers to sea. This with the Tianese as well having set a significant portion of their navy to sea as well and rumors of an evacuation in the basilisk of civilians that we haven't confirmed yet but the activity would suggest it to be true."

The men in the room shook their heads in agreement, this meeting would be the first of many, many long days and nights to come for the highest officers of the nations military.

"I am glad we can agree, while many would prefer this statement to be that its unfortunate that we have arrived at this situation, I think we all agree that we have seen this coming for years, and this nation and its leaders have always done the best to be prepared for this event, the betrayal of our military by Ivan led us to this point for had he let us fight this war then we would not be here now, the only positive thing was we have had more time to prepare. The reserves shall be called to duty, we shall not yet call for the inactive reserve at this time. We shall dispatch a carrier group from the Gothic into the Engel Sea, and we shall see how the situation has developed from there before we decide where they should head in the south. Our strategic submarine assets shall slip away thru the northern passages and use the northern sea and its dangerous sea conditions and where they can the ice coverage to conceal themselves into the Northern Thaumantic. The strategic assets in Sankt Katherina should disperse into the vastness of the silk seas, those of the Meridian fleet are already intermingled across the Meridian when the fleet put to sea to protect our interests in the region. Gentleman, we will finish what was started."

 

[Radilo]

San Polo, Valletta,
At the end of the world

Enrico Dandolo, the elder, saw with his own eyes the fighter jets making target practice of each other. He felt the rumble of the bombs and missiles exploding nearby. This was all madness, all of what had happened. The world is a small place… an odd one--how such vicious cruelty can be inflected by human beings on each other? Are we truly this wrenched? He remembered back about 15 years ago hosting some of these same war lords in his pałaso in Valletta a city now under seige…

“Are you sure you want to open the chest?” Enrico the younger asked, his eyes tuned on to his laptop where he had the campaign mapped out.

“Um… yes,” Erzaébet, or Ezzy, as her friends called her then, said nervously.

“As you open the chest you see it’s empty but the room starts shaking, roll for initiative,” Enrico narrated clumsily.

“Oh crap, four,” Konstantin moaned.

“I got an eight,” Maria said.

“Seven, I’m going to go get another beer,” said Eudoxia.


Naval Command Center, Doge’s Palace

The Captain General’s office was, rather, austere when compared to the rest of the lavishly decorated Radilan capitol. This was to project military brawn and, in a limited way, marshal stoicism. It was an odd place, away with its baroque setting updated to be able to communicate with the much more modern Naval Headquarters in the 8th Quarter of Nouvo Porto. Meeting in the Doge’s Palace might seem odd, as there are plenty of meeting spaces in the Naval Headquarters, but holding meetings in this office carried a lot of symbolism. This is where Radilo’s explorations and conquests were launched. Symbolically it was the room where the Great Himyari Crusade was planned. That was the crusade that brought Aresura and Antiochia into the Radilan fold eight centuries ago. It was where Carlo Ofrei’s war cabinet successfully planned that same region’s defense ninety years ago during the Fourth Archipelagic War—the last time Pelasgisa tried to launch a historically preposterous revanchist war. Though their current efforts were not going as well as they would have hoped. The aircraft carrier bearing Ofrei’s moniker was badly damaged, and at risk of joining the Sulaimon as a new home for coral reefs.

Superintendent General Oslo summarized the Republic’s current predicament, “our situation is dire on sea, air, and land. Our two remaining carrier groups survived the encounter, badly damaged, and we’ve lost the majority of our support ships. There are still 20k marines on Valletta with most of their equipment intact, meaning that in the event of an amphibious assault, Valletta would not need the fleets docked there. The original plan was to make a break west, heading towards the incoming Federation fleet. However, such a movement is not likely possible as another engagement seems to be imminent. Our air force has also been weakened, but it has survived and is functional. In all likelihood this next engagement will be the decisive. Luckily, Pelasgisa’s sea and air forces are as badly damaged. Even more luckily, in addition the lend-lease agreement, they will now be joining the cause for democracy. As has Tianlong. Which is good news for us if we are able to hold on, so we must hold on. This is an existential moment for the Republic.”

“Unfortunately,” General Kallou said, despondently, “our ground forces have been beaten back to Porto-di-Radila. There was no way a few thousand troops could stop a blitzkrieg like that.”

“And that’s what it was,” M injected, a blitzkrieg, but a poorly thought out one.”

Lacé looked at M with a perplexed look, “they seem to have been quite successful so far.”

“So far, yes,” M replied, “But they mobilized their troops in under a few days, that’s why we did not have time to land Marines in Aresura. Even if these plans were made well in advance, the deployment was rushed. Likely because they knew we would see what they were doing, and with more warning it meant that we would have sent in more troops.”

“I’m not sure it would have made a difference at this point,” interjected Commandant Santori.

“It’s impossible to say, maybe, maybe not. But right now they are behaving like a naked berserker high on mushrooms wildly swinging an axe against a well armored man with a rapier: they win often, but it is not guaranteed. General Kallou, what have you been hearing about from our resistance fighters?”

“They are taking a lot of casualties, but they are also inflicting them. Morea has proven particularly resistant. What do your spies tell you M?”

“The same thing. On a dark but necessary note, they have been able to document in detail who is doing what so that—should democracy prevail—those who need be held to account will be. This gets back to the scramble they had to do before—this whole thing has been terribly demoralizing for their troops. They were rushed into this war and now they are becoming increasingly aware of what their dreaded purpose actually is.”

The Captain General nodded, “I take it everyone has put their plans in motion for the oncoming assault. Josepania is building up additional defensive resources in l'Oriente and I Tropici. Rheinbund is aiding us to procure more fire power. The Federation and Tianlong are preparing to engage. Tarusa is about to intervene on their allies behalf... as Admiral Oslo said we are in an existential fight. Not just for our democracy, but for all of them. This upcoming battle may be out las best chance to force that fight in the right direction…”

“Fuck me,” Commandant Santori interrupted, “Captain, Admiral Brilla said that the 5th Legion has come under what is likely a chemical weapons attack.”

“WHAT…”


Secret Service Headquarters, 8th Quarter, Nouvo Porto

“The chemical weapons attack didn’t change the material situation in Aresura, but I think it highlighted the urgency of the situation. More realistically, now that this is becoming a truly global war, means the need to address these individuals more than ever,” M said, pacing about in his office.

I was not sure how to respond. They needed someone good at smuggling, so the Camorra sent me. I have moved a fair tonnage of weapons and drugs in my life, but I haven’t ever lead an operation to smuggle myself and a bunch of Camorra goons into an area occupied by a foreign police state… or said police state proper.

“We don’t need them dead, we just need to have a contingency for a grisly option.”

I finally snap out of my muteness, “what sort of grisly option?”

“Follow me,” M said, turning towards a door in his office. He opened it and led me down a long, narrow pathway. At the end he reached another door that he opened. Inside was a small room that was totally empty except a table with two books on it. One was red, the other black, each bearing the Coat-of-Arms of the Peleglisan Empire. It took a moment to dawn on me what these books were.

“Should the democratic world lose or if these criminals are not brought to justice, I will leave you to do what you will with this information.”

My eyes went wide. Those books contained all of the information on nearly everyone involved in the upper and lower echelons of the military, police, and secret services, as well as rivals of the Camorra—and their families. Included in the Red Book were the powerful—the men ordering the brutality in Aresura. In the Black Book were their subordinates—the men carrying out the savage orders.

“We highlighted the war criminals, and of course made note of how those in law enforcement treated Camorra prisoners.”

Well… shit’s got somehow even more serious.


A barn in Morea,
Late evening

The people of Morea are tough; that’s what everyone had always said about them. It’s a hard scrabble life on the island, where farming and fishing were the two main industries. It was proud of its culture and its heritage. It was a well-established part of the Pelanic world, mentioned often in the legends and mythology of the Eastern Meridian. It was a harsh, but deeply moving place; even if its unforgiving environment and distance from elsewhere in the Republic made it less frequented by outsiders than elsewhere in Aresura. And the locals were content with that.

Stelios Terzellis was content to work on his dad’s fishing boat, as he’d been doing since he could remember; the life of a Morean fisher suited him fine. But, unfortunately, he was no longer a fisher—he was a solider fighting in a war that no one wanted.

He’d taken his first life that day. It was an anonymous Pelasgisan infantryman. More than likely the two lads shared the same age, ethnicity, and religion. The difference laid in that he was a citizen of the Radilan Republic and the man he killed was a subject of a tyrant. To Stelios, being an Orthodox Pelasgisan made him no less a citizen of the Republic than Catholic ethnic Radilans. He was proud to be a citizen of the Republic—and it wasn’t just sentimentality or patriotism. Stelios was gay. He had no way of knowing if that man he killed earlier shared his sexuality. Probably not, but it would be all the more the shame if he did--dying for a nation that despises him. At least the Republic was also proud of Stelios, queerness and all.

He had been lost in his thoughts for some time, staring at his SA32. He had killed a man, but he didn’t feel anything. His comrade, Loukia Contaki, quietly sat down next to him. She was a year younger than him, but had taken up a defacto leadership role within their resistance cell. She had more kills than anyone, with three—she was an excellent shot and was quick to take initiative.

“Do you want to talk?” she asked sympathetically.

“It was my first kill. I killed a person today. I didn’t feel anything. I still feel nothing…” he took a long pause.

“Everyone reacts differently. Everyone feels things differently. Numbness is common, especially after the first time you do it.”

“What about you? It didn’t seem to affect you all that much, externally at least.”

“At first I was just relieved—I was glad to have gotten it done… I had hit my mark and neutralized a threat. That was all I felt at first. It wasn’t until the next day, when we were hiding near the road that I had a long time to lay there, quietly and attentively… and nervously. My thoughts then started drifting back to the man I had killed. I wonder if he had a family, did he even support this damn “special military operation,” or whatever the fuck they are calling it. That’s when I started feeling some guilt. It was an incomplete guilt, but it was there. Maybe it will go away, maybe it will worsen. I don’t know… sorry, I’ve been thinking about this more than I’ve been letting on.”

“Don’t be. I hope I get to pity the poor bastard I shot. I hope that I can see in them a person who was torn between what was right and what was wrong but was forced to do what was wrong. His Emperor killed him… for what? Some oil and the chance to oppress more queer people. That’s what I feel, pity. I thought I would be exhilarated or be wracked with guilt. I just feel pity. Or maybe I just hope to. Maybe that is the simplest way to feel.”

“When this is all over, there will be time for morning. There will be time for rebuilding.”

“Do you think we win?”

“We don’t have much of a choice do we,” she said, smiling at him, “what do they keep saying now?”

“Don’t give up the ship.”

“I like how corny it is.”

“As do I,” he said, allowing himself a quiet chuckle.



@Pelasgia
@The Federation
@Tianlong
@Josepania
@Rheinbund
@Tarusa
@Jydsken-Østveg

 

[Pelasgia]

Aresura and the Eastern Meridian

Dawn broke on the western fringes of the Archipelago on March 16, 2024—midway through Orthodox carnival and well into Catholic lent. The Pelasgian fighter planes and strategic bombers, which had risen before the sun, came into view just as the great golden disk emerged from the endless azure main of the Eastern Meridian Sea. This time, however, before they could release their payloads, they found arrayed against them the massed aerial formations and the prepared air defences of the Radilan fleet and the Valetta fortress-island, taking losses and being forced to retreat. This unfortunate start to the day foreshadowed the darkest hour of the Pelasgian fleet in modern history: despite facing a numerically inferior foe, the Pelasgian navy had also reduced its own ranks, being forced to direct half its forces toward the Axshaina Sea, for the Straits lied undefended against an oncoming Tianese naval force.

Reduced as they were, the Pelasgians fought valiantly, but the redoubled efforts of their enemy, coupled with the superiority granted to them by their intact capital ship, proved catastrophic for the Pelasgians. By the end of the day, the PINS Pelagonia, the second ship of its class of light carriers, was sinking to the bottom of the Meridian, with half its hands lost and the other half shipwrecked in wreck-ridden waters. The former included Vice Admiral Isaakios Gasparinos, ironically a Catholic, and the foremost tactical mind that the Pelasgian Imperial Navy had at its disposal. The ships escorting the light carrier fared no better, most being either sunk or effectively disabled, leaving Pelasgia’s western shores devoid of any naval coverage and the road to Aresura open for the Radilans—and their fast-approaching allies. As if the Lord had decided to take some mercy on the Pelasgians, the missiles launched by the Pelasgian Imperial Army from land managed to pierce the exhausted Radilan naval air defences, scoring significant hits on what remained of the Radilan navy, especially on its carriers, one of which sank to the bottom of the Meridian, and the other suffered significant damage. This alone prevented Radilo’s fleet from immediately docking in Aresura and landing Marines—though, once the Federation Navy was in range, with its significant air power, it seemed doubtful that the wounded Pelasgian Imperial Air Force would be able to contest such a landing, at least without throwing in and risking all its units in the West.

On Aresura, the Pelasgian ground offensive seemed to finally stall, as the Radilan troops—who had cleared the outskirts of Porto di Radilo from civilians, made clever use of the abandoned buildings to ambush the Pelasgians and inflict significant casualties on them. The now more-experienced units of the Radilan militia joined forces with the regrouped few regulars in the region to turn the city into a fortress, forcing the Pelasgians to retreat and leave loads of burning armoured vehicles behind them. The Pelasgians retaliated with heavy bombing, slaughtering the defenders of the city with cluster munitions from air and heavy artillery shelling by land. Needless to say, many of the civilians who could not fit in or did not seek the safety of bomb shelters or basements suffered death or injury, while even some who had saw the ground collapse on them. While the ground war heretofore had been a relatively bloodless and mobile affair, at least for civilians, it now showed the true brutality of war—complete with gut-wrenching videos for the public of both sides and their supporting powers to consume on social media.

One Pelasgian unit got stuck in an artillery and landmine pocket and suffered casualties. Subsequent units that tried to recover the wounded met the same fate, until eventually no less than six vehicles were abandoned, their surviving occupants clearing suffering a slow, agonizing death. One Radilan unit tried to take shelter in an apartment building, only for a thermobaric weapon to turn it into a blazing inferno, while cluster bombs slaughtered those who tried to flee. In between, bodies of civilians, regardless of which side they had taken, strewed the streets. This was how the world would remember the Aresuran War. In the meantime, guerilla tactics wreaked havoc behind Pelasgian lines, ambushing Army troops and YKA forces alike, while the latter became ever more brutal in their reprisals, depopulating entire towns and gunning down anyone who dared flank the road when a convoy passed by.

The Morea island chain proved a poisoned pill for the Pelasgian Airborne. Initially an easy capture, the islands’ populace was no less fierce than the citizens of the Archipelago’s islands under Imperial control. Regardless of citizenship, the Archipelagians stood apart from Imperial or Aresuran Pelasgians both due to their unique culture and their unrivaled hardness, brutality and warlike pride. Behind every blade of grass and in arid hills and caves near every small town, the Pelasgians found a rifle—even an old bolt-action rifle at times. MANPADs and other heavier projectiles left behind in strategic caches by the Radilans proved the worst: though they had left the initial wave arrive largely unopposed and capture major towns and airports, the guerillas targeted subsequent air transports, which were larger and slower, inflicting heavy casualties. One such air transport had gone down with all hands, taking some 64 paratroopers with it. One of the men, among the few to be identified in the wreckage, had been a humble conscript reservist by the name of Gregorios Vasilopoulos, whose family would receive a flag, a medal and some charred remains that could barely fit in a box. The Pelasgian Air Force responded by firebombing the countryside of the islets, turning the whole scene into a veritable inferno. If this was what winning looked like, the Pelasgian Airborne did not want to see losing.

@Radilo​

 

[Pelasgia]

Axshaina Sea

The Internationalist Communist Party of Pelasgia, commonly known by its initials as DKKP and the Shurptian fedayi militias had very little in common. The former was a hardline Marxist-Leninovist Party, which had been banned and actively persecuted in Pelasgia for nearly a century, and which, in turn, was not at all shy about using terror and illegal means in its low intensity conflict with authorities. Regarded as a rabid relic of a bygone age by many of the more moderate socialists of the civilised world, the DKKP had retreated to the countryside to avoid total destruction almost twenty years prior, and it ascribed to a vision of communism drawn almost directly from the 1950s. In this vision, of course, there was no room for nationalism, be it minority or otherwise, separatism or any special treatment for any group. Crushing, total equality was the name of the game. Conversely, the Shurptians, an ancient people on the border regions of southeastern Pelasgia, had long fought for their independence, facing gradual assimilation into the Empire's majority since the loss of their sovereignty in the 12th century. Their own revolt in the early 2000s had ironically made the current Pelasgian Emperor a household name after his success as a then-army-officer, and solidified Pelasgian control over the resource-rich region, coupled with colonisation and blatant assimilationist policies. Obviously, a communist takeover would only accelerate these policies.

Still, both the DKKP and the Shurptians did have one common enemy: the official Pelasgian State, especially in its current, Phalangist iteration. While repression against them had always been harsh, the Phalangists had made the previous decades seem like a cakewalk in the short span of a few years in power. And there was no man more singularly responsible for this than Megas Doux Nikephoros Andrianopoulos, hero of the Archipelago Crisis, Admiral of the Fleets, Secretary of the Military and de facto Co-Dictator of Pelasgia for years even before the dictatorship became de jure reality. Compared to his harsh, brazenly militaristic and authoritarian methods, even his nominal equal, Grand and Exterior Secretary Theophrastos Phokas, appeared a moderate. After all, being an aristocrat, diplomat and a politician, Phokas preferred subtler methods of control that had worked well for decades. It was Andrianopoulos who had insisting on doing away with even the "charade" of parliamentarism. Naturally, more blatant dictatorship meant a more blatant crackdown on proscribed groups, including the DKKP and the Shurptians.

Sure, everyone in either group would have liked a shot at Andrianopoulos--the problem was that the man was always under the protection of a small army, in Propontis, and when he did move, it was always a secret found out after the fact. Then, in mid-March of 2024, Alexios Martirosyan, head of one of the largest fedayi groups, the so-called "Shurptian National Self-Defence Forces," received a tip from a contact that funneled it arms via @Radilo: the Megas Doux would be visiting Tephanon and Sebasteia to encourage the local troops in light of the oncoming global war. How exactly the Radilans got the information would remain a mystery, but most agreed that it had likely been passed on to them by dissidents within the Pelasgian Imperial Navy affiliated with the faction of the imprisoned war hero and socialist Rear Admiral Konstantinos Sphrantzes. The Shurptians had even been informed about the exact plane that would be transporting the Megas Doux. That was all well and good, of course, but they lacked the means to do anything about the whole thing... The DKKP, on the other hand, isolated as it was, had an armoury befitting a small army. Martisosyan swallowed his pride and reached out to Comrade Vogiatzis, the leader of the DKKP, and passed the intelligence along. The response was simple: "We'll bring the ordinance, you'll guide us to the locale. You know the area, we know how to operate the MANPAD."

On the morrow of March 22, 2024, a small mixed guerilla awaited on the Sebastean mountains, just where the thick pine forest gave way to icy, bald peaks. Having climbed the night before under complete cover of darkness, they spent the whole day hidden, until dusk. Then, around 19:00, slightly after sunset, lights appeared in the sky, as a plane passed overhead. It was a military cargo aircraft of course—the exact one they had been waiting for. The guerillas took aim with no less than six MANPADs and aimed at the cargo plane, which was flanked by another to act as a distraction and escorted by no less than six planes. "Three for each one," came the command from Katerina Katramiotaina, the DKKP cell commander, who wanted to make sure both cargo planes went down no matter what. A second later, the light of the rocket launchers' firing lighted the peaks, and six columns of smoke rose behind an equal number of missiles. Flares threw of half of them, and on the jets rushed to take another while the cargo planes scrambled to conduct evasive maneuvers. Still, the final two missiles found their mark—and they were more than enough. As the rebels cleared the mountain in a hurry, disappearing into the snowy peaks, creaks and caves that only the Shurptians truly knew, the two planes went down in flames, one exploding mid-air and falling down in pieces, and the other crashing into forested land in Sebasteia. Neither plane had any survivors.

(OOC: Written in collaboration with Radilo)​