The Butterfly Effect

[Ostmark]

02:51 AM
WIEN,
PALACE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC.

You must be registered for see images

The city of Wien is usually quiet at night. With crime virtually non-existent, and the small presence of vehicles on the streets after sunset, it is very rare for its almost one million inhabitants to wake up due to honking drivers, loud exhausts and engine noises. The only sounds that could be heard from the bedroom of Volkskanzler Horst Grasser was a wail siren of a firetruck in the distance, but Grasser, who had his hearing damaged by decades of work as a welder at Ostmarkische Motoren Werke, continued to sleep unaware of how quick a calm and peaceful night can turn into a living nightmare.

The phone dedicated to emergencies woke him up all of a sudden, causing him to turn around too quickly and disgracefully fall from the bed "SCHEISSE!!". He slowly stood up, in confusion, and looked around him before he realized the loud ringing came from that phone, the phone he never answered to. He crawled all the way to the table, swearing and cursing for the pain he had inflicted upon his right knee. Finally, he answered the call.

"*LoudYawn* wha.. whass goin on.."

"Herr Volkskanzler i am Generalfeldmarschall Steiner. I am deeply sorry to wake you up.. but there is a situation that requires your immediate attention."

"ah.. Guten morgen Generalfeldmarschall Steiner.. yes.. i'm listening *YetAnotherLoudYawn*"

"According to the reports i am receiving, CONPROFOR Ostmark forces have been ambushed during a rescue operation. We have lost contact with a platoon in Boulon. At the moment i cannot confirm nor verify the dynamics, or the number of casualties, Herr Volkskanzler.."

It took almost one minute for Grasser to process those informations. And in the meanwhile just stood there, with his eyes barely open and the pillow's marks on the right cheek which he slowly scratched with his hand.

"Herr Volkskanzler? Can you hear me?"

".. wait.. what.. hold on Steiner.. what in hell are you talking about.."

"Herr Volkskanzler. I am in the meeting room with the Oberkommando of the People's Defense Force and the State Security Service. We will explain you the situation in detail once you are here, your Excellency".

Steiner hanged up, but Grasser still stood there, holding the phone next to his hear despite a loud beeping had replaced Steiner's voice. It was in that moment that Grasser opened his eyes wide open and his jaw dropped. His mind was literally stormed by an infinite ammount of words and pictures. He let the phone drop on the ground and flipped over several objects as e ran up to the door. One of the Honor Guards standing infront of his bedroom opened the doors to investigate the noises. Grasser was running so fast he hit the guard, falling on the ground, again.

He stood up from the dusty carpet, helped by the guard "Herr Volkskanzler!! Are you ok??" asked the guard, visibly worried "VERDAMMT!!!!" shouted the People's Chancellor. The guard held his position next to the door and watched Horst in his slippers and light blue pajama, with a fair ammount of perplexity, as he quickly disappered down the hallway "Why are these doors always closed!!!!!".

After a few minutes he finally managed to reach the designated meeting room. The highest ranks of the Volkswehr, the Staatssicherheitsdienst, his sister Vizekanzlerin Andrea Grasser and his friend Vizekanzler Ludwig Bohmer were there too. And their faces were extremely worried.

 

[Ostmark]

03:12 AM
WIEN,
PALACE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC.

You must be registered for see images

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Well?? Steiner, tell me what the hell is going on!"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "We don't know, Sir.."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "What do you mean with 'we don't know'?? You told me and entire platoon disappeared and 'we don't know' what happened to them? Who attacked them? Are there casualties?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "It is possible Your Excellency"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Possible? And what am i supposed to do now? Call their families and inform them that their sons are 'possibly dead'? I want facts Steiner, not theories and speculations!"

Vice-Chancellor Andrea Grasser: "We should have never meddled in Burgundy.."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Andrea.. listen, we have priorities now, and the priority is to find out what happened to this platoon. I want answers and i want them now. Bohmer!"

Vice-Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer: "Yes Herr Volkskanzler?"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "One: I want the Staatsicherheitsdienst to find the answers we need. Do we have agents in Burgundy? If we do, wake them up. If we don't, SEND THEM! Two: Call CONPROFOR Ostmark Command and order them to write a detailed, and i mean it, report on the situation. Are there survivors? Are there any casualties? Did they see who attacked them? Three: Inform CONPROFOR forces of the situation and tell them we are still investigating on the dynamics and we will soon provide a more detailed report. And four: Get me on the phone with Ivar, I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-L-Y!!!"

Vice-Chancellor Andrea Grasser: "Ivar.. And what do you think Moravscik will do, Horst? Resuscitate the men that we sent to die in a wartorn country we had no business with?"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Not now Andrea, NOT NOW! We don't know if they are dead! Nobody in here knows ANYTHING about what is going on! Do you understand how serious this is? There are treaties, defense pacts, ultimatums, alliances, blocs, it's a global war in the making Andrea, and there will be no survivors! We must stay calm and rational, one step at a time we will sort this out."

Vice-Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer: "The Volkskanzler is right. We must stay rational. We can't jump to conclusions before we find out what happened in the first place, and who is to be held responsible."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "So, what do we know? Steiner?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "A platoon composed of 15 men of the People's Defense Force and an APC was escorting a humanitarian convoy tasked with moving civilians out of the city of Boulon, where heavy fighting is taking place. After approximatively thirty minutes, the convoy left the city center direction south-east. And we received this radio transmission."

*Steiner plays an audio file on the computer*​

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Are those gunshots in the background?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "Yes Sir. 30mm bullets, the ones we use on the Panzekampfwagen 73c. It is an Armored Personnel Carrier."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "I know what a 73c is. So our forces were engaged in a firefight. Who opened fire first?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "CONPROFOR rules of engagement state that unless shot first, all forces are to abstain from engaging. Mark 1 stated they were under attack and we must therefor assume that our forces returned fire against hostile forces."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "So our forces were attacked first and retaliated. What do we know about the attackers, how many were they?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "It is hard to tell, the radio transmissions do not provide us any clue. Ambushes can be very effective even if carried out by a small squad with anti tank weapons. A simple RPG can disable a panzer, if hit in its weak spot. A properly placed squad, on higher ground, can give a hard time to armored forces and inflict huge damages. This is especially true in an urban warzone such as Boulon. The firefight lasted only a few minutes. 4 minutes and 31 seconds, from the first transmission of Mark 1 and the last one by CONPROFOR Kommando."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Let's stop here for a second: Our forces were escorting a humanitarian convoy out of Boulon. They got attacked, alerted Command, retaliated and then went silent. This is what we know for a fact, and this is what we will tell to CONPROFOR forces, AP Wien, and Moravscik."

Vice-Chancellor Andrea Grasser: "Associated Press? We should leave the western press out of this, for now.."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "No, the international community must know what is going on and sooner or later this story will be covered. It is better if we are the first ones to release the news, to prevent any speculation by external forces. This is it. I expect you all to execute my directives and we will meet here again in 30 minutes for an update on the situation.. and i need to put my clothes on.."

 

[Ostmark]

03:47 AM
WIEN,
PALACE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC.

You must be registered for see images

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Steiner, do you have any updates on the situation? Did we get that report from CONPROFOR Ostmark Kommando?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "Yes Herr Vizekanzler. Two soldiers survived. Both are badly injured but the medical staff said they are not in danger. According to Captain Bergmann who was in charge of the camp during the events of Boulon, one of the soldiers managed to escape the ambush and drive his bus all the way behind the frontline, carrying 64 burgundian civilians. 21 are injured. The Red Cross also recovered 19 bodies from the vehicle."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "And what happened to the rest of the platoon?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: ".. the soldier said they died in the ambush"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Mein Gott.. we are talking about 13 dead Ostmarkian soldiers.. but are we sure they are dead? Have we set up a rescue operation to find out if there is any survivor?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "CONPROFOR Ostmark Kommando is working on it. The rescue force should leave the camp in a very short time."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "So do we know who attacked the convoy?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: " ..this is where it gets complicated, Sir. According to the witnesses interrogated by CONPROFOR personnel, the attackers were wearing the uniforms of the West Insurrectionary Army. That is a militia or paramilitary force affiliated with the Burgundian People's Republic."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "What?? East Burgundian militias attacked the convoy??"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "This is what the report says, Herr Volkskanzler."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Are they out of their mind?? What does the military of the BPR say about this?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "East Burgundian military authorities have fully denied their involvement and have informed us of an ongoing inquiry. They promised full cooperation and transparency with the CONPROFOR, that's all the informations we got at the moment."

Vice-Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer: "Something is not right."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "What do you mean?"

Vice-Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer: "The People's Republic of Ostmark was the second country, after the Serazinist Republic of Serenierre, to recognize the Burgundian People's Republic as an independent nation. Our country and the BPR have always had excellent diplomatic relations, and there is an active trade agreement which allowed both country to export their goods at discounted tariffs. The BPR knows that an attack on Ostmarkian forces would trigger the Belgarsk-Pact, and therefor the Rurikgrad Pact. That would result, in a matter of hours, in a two-fronts war with the Domain on the West and the Rurikgrad Pact on the east. They are insurrectionary forces in the very early stages of a revolution and in the middle of a devastating conflict. They might be new to international politics, but they are not that stupid to give Kadikistan, or the Rurikgrad-Pact in general, a reason to send them back to the stone age. Plus the BPR denies its involvement and is willing to fully cooperate. Clearly.. there is something quite wrong."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "I don't get it.. i mean, you are right just about everything. But i still don't get it. Steiner, did all the witnesses confirm that attackers were wearing the uniforms of Burgundian insurrectionary forces?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "Yes Sir, most witnesses confirmed it."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Most of them? And what did the rest of the witnesses say?"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "They were either taking cover inside the bus or were not able to identify the attackers."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Andrea, what does the State Security Service say?"

Vice-Chancellor Andrea Grasser: "We have an agent in Boulon but she is keeping a very low profile while trying to reach the location of the ambush. No news so far, she said she will provide a report when enough informations will be gathered and when will she'll be able to contact us. She's been silent since then."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Bohmer, what does the international community say?"

Vice-Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer: "So far the Serazinist Republic of Serenierre has condemned the attack and sent us condolences. That's all."

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Steiner, you stay in touch with CONPROFOR Ostmark Kommando and coordinate the rescue operations. We must go back in Boulon and find out if there are any survivors"

Generalfeldmarschall Steiner: "Jawohl"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Bohmer, stay in contact with the CONPROFOR and the Rurikgrad-Pact and share the informations we got so far. Make sure you also highlight our perplexities and ask them to press on the East Burgundians to find out what the hell happened in Boulon."

Vice-Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer: "Jawohl"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "Andrea, from now on the State Security Service is authorized to use any means to progress in the investigations. If bribes are needed, tell them they are allowed to use their budget for that purpose."

Vice-Chancellor Andrea Grasser: "Jawhol"

People's Chancellor Horst Grasser: "We'll meet again in one hour. Call me if there are important news i should be aware of. Dismissed."