The Land of the Freezing Sun

Natal · Feb 11, 2018

The Crimson Raven
Dun Eidyn - Heroes Square
1250 hours

Andras Ross was a a cadet officer in his last year at the Ceretic Guletic Military Academy. He had like many of the Caledonians, red hair, green eyes and was of average height. He was now in the Heroes Square holding a republican flag a white-green-black flag while singing with the others, the republican anthem. He was one of the many who had a grandparent in the Communist Party of Caledonia, the only legal party of the one year old People's Republic of Caledonia. He saw, like many others, the republic as one of the sane moments in Caledonian history of the 20th century. The Republic, with Kadikistani aid gave them a new life. Though many of the projects were ended by 1960, when the republic was already disbanded, but they were funded by Kadikistani money that the country pumped into southern Caledonia to keep it's standard of living high so that the people won't join the northern rebellion. It worked. Many of the southern Caledonians felt detached from the 1957 war, or how the National Syndicalists dubbed it, the Liberation War and felt that the communist republic had much more pros than cons, especially when in the aftermath, it was only Caitish functionaries that came from the north to rule the south.

Andras was here as a revolutionary. Even though General Corentin Ruellan, the Colonel-in-Chief of the Academy told the students to stay away from all much movements, the lesser officers, many of whom supported the demonstrators, have told the students that they will close their eyes if they will go to participate, they must go in civilian clothes and with no document on them that would prove that they are students from the Academy. Thus, Andras and many of the cadets went and joined the protests along with many students and workers alike. It was the first time in Caledonia's history since the proclamation of the Internal Settlement, that workers and students marched alongside.

There were more than 100,000 people present in the Square. Andras stood holding a republican flag that he received from another man, as the Revolutionary Socialist Party were distributing flags and banners. Together with him was Santo Drest, a smaller, blonde man, in his early twenties too, also a cadet at the academy and a bast friend for Andras. He was holding a red flag. Looking around Andras could see that the whole demonstration was a red block, with republican flags here and there. Even so, he looked at the flag he carried and waved it a little, in the small space he had for himself in that huge crowd. He felt proud looking at the traditional symbols the of the green band of the flag imagining for a moment what his grandfather would have felt in 1957 when he saw that flag wave above the Dun Eydin Castle.

The demonstrators have heard speeches from veterans of the 1957 war, Andras was lost in thought when Santo pushed him to pay attention to a Gunnishman that was talking about how he came to Caledonia as a volunteer to fight for the republic when he was only 16 in the hopes that a Caledonian republic would pave the way for revolutions in Gunnland and Elben.

"We are the peat bog soldiers, marching with our spades, in the moor..." the people were singing socialist songs when loud noises and screams started to be heard. The people started dispersing. Andras looked around confused. Santo was still close to him. "It's better if we leave. It we are separated, we'll meet as fast at possible at The Defiant Monk," said Andras. The two threw the flags down as it would impede their mobility. After the initial screams and agitation, the police attacked. This time chaos spread all over the Square. Andras and Santo were going towards the Artur Seznec Boulevard, at it's end being the academy, but in the whole chaos, their advance was very slow.

Many of the demonstrators have run, but the Revolutionary Socialist Party came prepared. Many of it's cadres teared the flags and used the flagpoles to fightback. The Square turned quickly into a huge battle ground when the police attacked with cavalry. It was such a mounted policeman galloping between the people fighting that nearly hit Andras, should Santo have not pushed him back, as he observed him coming. Everything happened extremely quickly. After the mounted police continued it's gallop, a man in a blue jacked came behind it and saw the two cadets. He was carrying a baseball bat. The man paused a little to look at them and then frowned. "You fucking communists!" he yelled and he approached. Andras was still in shock when he saw Santo approaching the man with his hands raised up, but still in guard, trying to talk to him. The man attacked and hit him with the bat. Even if he tried to defend himself, Santo fell and the man jumped on him. Andras, panicking and started filling with rage came and disarmed the man, before hitting him with his own bat. As the man fled, Andras took Santo and tried to get out of the Square.

After a few meters, as they were approaching the waterfront apartments, Andras felt a hand on his shoulder. He saw the red armband and then recognised him as the man that distributed the flags and banners in his zone. "It is not safe here, come," said the man as he helped Andras drag Santo in the courtyard of one of the apartments. "It's better that we stay here for a bit before things calm down," he said. "Are you okay?" he asked Santo. "My arm hurts as fuck, but I don't think it is broken," he said. "Can you see something with your left eye?" the man asked. "A little. It looks bad?" Santo asked. Andras only now observed that before he managed to beat that man in blue jacket, he managed to hit Santo at least once in the face too. "Well, it's swollen and it would probably blacken, but there shouldn't be any problems. I am Goron Edern, by the way, commissioner in the Revolutionary Socialist Party. That was some pretty ninja stuff you did back there," he said looking at Andras. "I'm Andras Ross, and this is Santo Drest. We are... Cadets at the Ceretic Guletic," he said with a small pause. "Cadets? Ah, there is no need to worry, there were many of you in the square. And the RSP has a great deal of respect for the Guletic bunch, as they were even in 1957 great supporters of us. You are between friends here... and I feel that we need more as we are as close to the situation immediately before the internal settlement as ever. In the following weeks, the fate of Caledonia will be decided," Goron paused a little. "If you ever get a leave again, as looking at him," he pointed at Santo, "the officers will ask some questions and they might penalise you for all this, but should you ever get a leave in the city again, ask for me at the Drunken Lugh Pub in the Northern District. I'll buy you two a pint." He smiled and left them without saying anything.

Natal · Feb 12, 2018

The Hag
Dun Eidyn - Ys House
12th of February 2018, 0630 hours

Gwen Felix was an old woman, in her late 60s or early 70s and she was still the head of the Constitutional Court. She was still energetic for her age, though as she looked at the clock, she thought that it really must be the last time she will stay up all night to work. Her car stopped in front of Ys House. She thanked the driver, tipped him 10 Bonn and then got out. A valet opened the door for her and she entered the neo-classic mansion that housed the Constitutional Court. In the lobby she looked in a mirror and for a moment she shuddered. The beautiful and round faced red headed lass gave way over the years to a hag, she thought. Her hair was white, but she cared for it. She still wore it long but she braided and then put it around the top of her head, similar to a crown. It was a fashionable hairstyle in her youth but it became an image of Caledonian women in politics after both Lena Rees, the Benadur from the 50s and also Olivia mab Andras, the previous Benadur also had similar hairstyles. As she went afterwards in her office, she asked for a cup of strong black tea.

A knock was heard on the door and a man in his late forties entered the room. "Can I come in?" he asked. "Of course, have a seat," responded Gwen. The man, named Peran Drest, was a member of the Constitutional Court too. He was seen as one of the more pragmatic members of the council. "I hope it's important, given how early it is..." he said with an annoyed voice, though when a valet brought the tea, his frown disappeared and the corners of his lips went up a little. "It is, as I prefer some privacy for this and as you know, the walls have ears, but at this hour, they are in smaller numbers than at more... normal hours..." said Gwen smiling. "I brought you here to show you this," she continued as she gave Peran a report of a bill from the Aonach, with a big "National Marriage Bill" header. Perans scoffed at first. "So they even used this idiotic name for it," he said before continuing to read.

Three minutes pass in complete silence, with the exceptions in which Gwen sipped her tea, as Peran was reading. "It would have been absurdly amusing, if it wasn't so tragic," he commented. "It will fail. I mean, yeah, it has been voted by those cronies, but it won't become part of the Law Monitor. It clearly isn't constitutional," she said. "True. If Loago is to be incorporated in Caledonia, it clearly changes the statue of both countries. I will have to see again exactly how Caledonia's relationship with the Empire of Loago is described in our constitution to see if it changes, but it is clear that it changes the statue of Loago from an empire to a mere state. It is a constitutional change by itself. It needs to come to a referendum, if not in Caledonia, at least in Loago for sure," said Peran frowning as he was still skimming over the text of the bill. "I have a feeling that a referendum will be needed in both countries for it," she said.

A knock was hear again on the door. A man, with a red face who appeared to have been running has opened the door and was followed by the valet. "Excuse me, madam, sir, I couldn't stop him," said the valet. Gwen recognised the man immediately. "No, it is okay. I know him, let him in," she said. "What do you have for me, Tegan?" she asked. Peran was still rereading the bill and didn't really gave so much attention to the man. "Ma'am it is of extreme urgency," he said as he gave a sealed document to Gwen. She opened it and started reading it. Peran observed that her eyes were shocked for a second, before they became confident again. "It seems we might win legally," she said. "What is it?" asked Peran. "Not here, let's go for a smoke outside," she said.

The three went outside, in the garden behind the building. "The frost was cruel last night," commented Gwen as she went deeper into the still dark garden, as the sun didn't risen up yet. As the two men came closer, she continued "do you want cigarettes?" she asked as she gave each a cigarette and lighted them up. "Like I said, earns in the walls. Little in number this early in the morning, but still there. Here, in the garden, snowberries, oaks and juniper berries don't have ears," she said smiling. "Gentlemen, here is the reason to bring down the National Union and Madec and also plan B in it's undoing," she continued. "What is it?" asked Peran. "Invasion plans for the Peninsular Republic and for Boumerda," said Tegan. Peran was so shocked that he even dropped his cigarette. "What?!" he asked with a stern but still, slow voice. "It seems that with the disbandment of the Viridian Compact thanks to the incorporation of Loago into Caledonia, new negotiations have to be done with the Boumerdans to sign new free trade and travel treaties. It seems that Madec wants to give the Boumerdans an ultimatum: Chostangea or bust. What we have here are potential invasion plans from Dun Rheged into deep Himyar," she said. Peran was shocked. "They want to start a war? What's with the Peninsular Republic?" he asked. Gwen took a few moments to skim over the papers and then concluded: "They want to declare the Republic as hostile for harbouring Pan-Himyari nationalist elements and to invade it from Loago," she said. Peran inspired deeply and for a few moments the group stood in silence, the only noise being heard being the burning of the tobacco in the other two lit cigarettes. "It started snowing again," Gwen said with an irritated voice. "My old bones need to have the spring coming as fast as possible," she continued. Peran was silent. He was thinking more as of why is this hag more irritated of the snow that of the plans which would clearly destroy Caledonia. "So," she turned to him, "meet Tegan. He is a very good friend of mine and of my associates. He is an intelligence officer at the Bureau or State Security," she said. The two men shook hands. Peran was sure that Tegan wasn't his real name and most surely he was infiltrated in the National Union, but what he managed to bring out from there made him earn his respect. "You now understand why I want to bring down those monsters?" she asked. "Do you have the means?" asked Peran. "I'd say I have some power and I also have associates," she said before pausing to extinguish the cigarette. "I have three plans, and I need you to be part of plan A," she made a pause again and she put her arm on his shoulder. "I know that your son is a soon to be officer. I think he will finish this spring the academy. Do you want him to die in the savannas of Loago or in the deserts of Boumerda?" she asked sternly. Peran only shook his head. "I lost my father when in 1957 the northerners revolted. I lost a son, when in '85, Chostangea was lost. I do not want to see any more deaths for the sake of a dying empire and for a crown which is so far away from the people it represents. Look at it now. Yesterday, fifteen students and workers have been killed by the blueshirts and the police and more than 500 were arrested and the crown is silent. I want to stop this madness and I want you to join me," she said. Peran just nodded.

Natal · Feb 16, 2018

The Shadow
Dun Eidyn - Ys House
15th of February 2018, 1630 hours

Tegan was waiting for the Constitutional Court to finish it's meeting. It was the most important step in what him and Gwen Felix called "The Legal-Revolutionary Process". Two days ago, him, Gwen and Aedan Blacach have met to discuss the next moves to bring down the fascists and to discuss a potential escape plan, should Saig Madec manage to suppress the Saturday demonstration and to put the country under the a state of emergency. The three have decided that if this will be done, Gwen Felix will be waited at the airport by a helicopter which would take her first to Calidia and then to Kadikistan, while Aedan Blacach will activate the LCC partisans which will be joined by a large part of the army and by most of the secret services, with Tegan being the liaison between the LCC partisans and the rebel elements in the army and the secret services. ""But it mustn't come to that," said Tegan then, but Blacach responded: "Should it still happen, I don't think Kadikistan would leave us for the fascists, especially when they didn't leave the Slavonians behind." Either way, things mustn't come to that, Tegan still thought.

After he heard the sounds of the chairs being pushed as the judges rose from their desks, Tegan went to the door. The first to come out, was Gwen Felix. Tegan approached her. "You know the drill. By the snowberry bushes," she said, before turning to Peran Drest, telling him to organise and give the statements in the press conference. Gwen took out a cigarette and went outside, followed by Tegan.

"It is done." she said lighting her cigarette. "The National Union is no more, theoretically speaking, of course," she said, sighing. "Tonight and tomorrow will be crucial," she continued, "I have told the other judges to be careful in those next days. I expect Saig Madec to do something regrettable. He might ask for martial law, to keep himself in power," she sighed again. "I have kept contact with the State Security Administration and with the 325th Guard Battalion, the Dun Eidyn garrison. They have said that should Madec and his cronies call the army to restore order, they will not follow the orders and will remain in their barracks, but at the first reports of another unit coming towards the capital, they will come in the city first and arrest Madec and the fascists," said Tanet lighting a cigarette. "It is imperative not to turn this into a civil war. We don't need a new 1957. We have legally weakened Madec up to the point in which, if we would know clearly that there won't be any coup from his side, Aedan Blacach and the League of Communists would call for a motion of no confidence, they would win it and we would be over with this circus... But sadly we know that Madec won't play the legal card. That is why we must crush him. All this legal stuff is for the others, we feel a sense of legalism. In truth, you and me both know how things are done politically around here. We talk soft, while we carry big sticks. Currently, with the Saturday demonstration and with the loyalty of the LCC partisans, the State Security Administration and the southern military units, I like to think that I carry a branch, not a stick," said Gwen smiling victoriously. "The problem are the Caitish people and their blindness towards progress. They will surely support Madec and I imagine that they will organise a resistance," she continued. "They can be easily crushed, like they were in 1957. This time, the Caledonians are clearly with us, so it wouldn't even be as complicated like it was 60 years ago. But now, until Saturday, I want you to be safe and I want you to go and wait for that moment at the place we talked before. The Administration will provide protection, but you need to be in our range, we expect everything from the blueshirts and Madec," said Tanet.

After he left Gwen Felix and Ys House, Tanet went to his car, where Oan Preden, another agent of the State Security Administration was waiting. "We have a development," started Preden to report. "Is Madec already beginning his coup?" asked Tanet interrupting him. "No, nothing of the sorts. The Government Palace is quiet currently. No, the problem is a new actor on the scene," Preden continued, "a post-delegationist group from the student scene, with members from the National Students' Union," said Preden as Tanet got into the car and started driving towards the western edge of the city. "And they are prepared and even have some fireworks with them," Preden continued, while reading a report. "Post-Delegs? Exactly what we needed... anarcho-capitalists over all this motherfucking chaos," Tanet commented. "They can actually help us," Preden said. "From the looks of it, their target is the headquarters of the Blueshirts," said Preden smiling. "Well, well... It would be an interesting development then. Let them bomb the shit out of that place and then arrest them for arson and terrorist attacks," said Tanet as he turned on the radio and tuned in on RBI. They continued their drive in silence, as Preden was making some notes on the report while he was at some points humming alongside the music on the radio.
The car stopped in the parking lot in front of the military base of the Dun Eidyn Garrison.

"It is good that you came so quickly. I have heard the news. So legally Madec is defeated, right?" asked colonel Mateo Brendan, as the two men from the State Security Administration entered the base and then in the colonel's office. "Well, legally he is now heading a minority government. He will be brought down on Saturday," Tanet commented. "We have a problem here, and I think it is because of you," Colonel Brendan continued, showing a document to Tanet and Peran. "A Caitman by the name of Talorc has been appointed commander of the Dun Eidyn government," said Colonel Brendan with an irritated voice. "Whatever you did at the Constitutional Court has made Madec so desperate as to promote a Major to Colonel and to give him the command of the 325th Guard Battalion, replacing me," continued Brendan laughing nervously. "So he is desperate and afraid," said Peran smirking. "Yes, but when he is afraid he is the most dangerous. When is this Colonel Talorc scheduled to arrive?" asked Tanet. "Tomorrow night," said Brendan. "I don't think he can do anything. If Madec wants to Caitishise the southern armies to keep them loyal, he is doing this too late, as the Dun Eidyn garrison is his priority and his guy manages to arrive only by tomorrow evening. It seems that even nature itself favours us with the snows that are blocking the north," he continued. "If this Talorc guy will do anything that would compromise the Saturday Revolution, I will simply put him under arrest. The men will follow me," concluded Brendan. "Perfect, do that. I will keep you posted. Depending on how the situation develops, the army would be called to keep the peace. Either way, this is the second last day of the Kingdom," said Tanet.

Natal · Apr 11, 2018

Fact #60: "There are three things behind which there is no logic: the prostate gland, a Caledonian Republic and Engellexic humanism", Toiseach Gordan Loganaich in the aftermath of the Restoration of the High Kingdom of Caledonia in 1958 under High King Nechtain II and the National Syndicalist Regime.

Headquarters of the National Democratic Party, Muir Road, Dun Eidyn

Coll MacFhilib, the Chairman of the National Democratic Party drove his Eiffellander made car on Muir Road and parked it vis-a-vis the headquarters of the Party. He was a member of the Aonach for Dun Eidyn-Balornock, but every day before going to the parliament, he went in the morning to the party headquarters to check on the latest events. Even though secretaries were reporting to him everything, he preferred to show the people working there that he actively engages in leading the NDP. When he entered, the main secretary looked at him, a bit distressed: "Mr MacFhilib, there is a man waiting for you in his office. He it was extremely urgent and couldn't give many details only to you personally."

Coll Mac Fhilib was a bit surprised, as usually he knew the secretary and she was very meticulous. It was strange to let someone in without knowing who he was and with what issue he came. He entered his office, as the man waiting there rose and shook his hand, greeting him. "Mr MacFhilib, my name is Douglas MacMurray, I have come to make you a proposition." Coll looked at him and observed his greying blonde hair and ashy eyes. A blonde man, speaking with a strange accent, clearly he was a foreigner. Coll observed that he was speaking rarely, showing that Caledonian Gaelic wasn't his first language and he was making an effort to speak him. His name, germanised, clearly was of a Gunnishman. But what would the Gunns want from him. For a moment, he tried to think of the Gunnish clans to see if there was a MacMurray lying around, but none ringed a bell in his mind.

"A proposition?" asked MacFhilib. "What kind of proposition? What organisation do you represent?" he continued, but the man made a gesture which his left hand to stop him. "You said... or not you personally, but your party said on a twatter post recently, that soon the Caledonians would prefer security and stability over the idealism of prometheism. Let's say that I represent a group of people... powerful and influential people, whom have always believed that idealism without security is, frankly, bollocks and have always emphasised on the need to keep the country and its people safe and secure and most importantly, stable."

MacFhilib raised an eyebrow. "May I ask who are those people?" he enquired. "No, you may not. In time, if we would become friends, you may meet them, but until then, no," said the man, whom MacFhilib started to believe to be extremely shady. "May I try to guess whom those persons are?" Coll tried his luck again. ""You are my guest to do it and is quite natural for you to do it, but it doesn't help you if I am not approving or disapproving your guesses," the man calling himself MacMurray quickly responded. "Let me try still. You said stability. Well, if you are approving of me attacking the government it is clear that your bosses fear that in the future, the current government will attack them, maybe with the nationalisation and socialisation laws. If they fear that, it also means that they were privileged by the old regime, of the liberals or even older, of the National Syndicalists, so they are probably industrialists and landowners. I would go with the heads of powerful companies and corporations like North Timber or the MacNill Conglomerate," said MacFhilib, but he immediately regretted that he felt the corners of his mouth involuntarily raising a bit, hoping that MacMurray would said something, but the man remained unmoved, with a perfect poker face. "I think that instead of playing those games, you should hear my proposition," MacMurray said with an irritated voice.

MacFhilib sighed. He felt humiliated, like a naughty pupil whom was asked to behave by a stern teacher. He tried to hide his cheeks blushing, but I felt naked in front of the man presenting himself as a Gunn, though he was extremely sceptical that he truly was one. "What proposition?" he asked. "Have you heard of the Radek Money?" MacMurray asked. Of course MacFhilib heard of it. It may be one of the biggest heists from a Caledonian bank. Billions of buinn disappearing right when they money was to be surrendered to the authorities of Crotobaltislavonia. The Authorities were extremely annoyed, especially with CBS becoming an ally of Kadikistan and thus the chances to annoy them too were as high as ever. "Whats with the money?" MacFhilib asked, curious what the Gunn wannabe would say about them. "Do you want them?" asked MacMurray smiling. It was the first time the guy smiled and showed that he was human. MacFhilib was perplexed. "You have them? What if I call now the police of the Toiseach and say that you have them?" he asked. To that, MacMurray only smirked. "It would be an amusing spectacle, for I know for sure that yesterday, the embassy of CBS received around 15 prank calls about the money and the Gearda at least 30. It would be bad if the leader of a historical party like the NDP would start making prank calls too," said MacMurray with a smile emanating superiority. "So what is with this proposition?" asked MacFhilib. His mind was continuously working, he was imagining the industrial and agricultural conglomerates and corporations being attacks against the government, but if the money truly was in the hands of this man and what he said about the calls prove to be true, it meant that bankers and policemen were too taking a part in this, he thought.

"We want you as an ally. We want you to continue to attack the government and the republic and that farce of a referendum and you would receive a part of the many to fund the future electoral campaigns of your party. From what I imagine, if you say yes, in a year at most, you might have a great chance to be the next Toiseach of a restored High Kingdom of Caledonia," said MacMurray sternly. He too could see the eyes of MacFhilib flick at the idea of him being the Toiseach of Caledonia. "I... well... I must say that my party has promised to abide the laws and provide stability..." said MacFhilib. "A crashed Buinn and a huge economic deficit, calls for nationalisation and now talks of war with Engellex and the collapse of the historically friendly relationship with Gunnland are exactly the opposite of what the people were promised," MacMurray continued. "I will leave you to sit on this and to think it. In a week's time I will return to talk with you and to receive your response. Before you would be ready to say no, I need to say that we are hoping for a restoration the legal way. There are also more violent means, just look in the north. Groups like the Monarchy of the North and the Catholic and Royal Army would be happy to receive the Radek money and believe me, as he is an acquaintance, Seathan MacRath too would love to be Toiseach," said MacMurray as he rose from his chair and simply left the room.

Natal · Apr 30, 2018

Fact #120: There are three constants in Loago: Tribalism, opportunism and heat.

Anesu Creek Farm, near Umtali, State of Loago

Tadgh Blacach, a 30 year old tall man, reaching 1.90 meters, yet slender going toward skinny, was working on his laptop, when his wife, Ayanda came to him to announce that a car entered the yard. "It must be our old friend," said Tadgh as he rose from the chair and went out of the room. Anesu Creek was come commonly known as the Royal Farm since Prince Tadgh used his inheritance to buy it. Through it he wanted to step away from the agitated life of Dun Eidyn and to marry the woman he loved. He was surprised how much respect the name Blacach carried around, as on a daily basis, people living in the area have been coming to the farm to meet the prince and what the Wala were calling, "the princess". Before he could enter the hall, he heard the butler: "Ah, Mr. MacFhilib, welcome. Prince Teague is waiting for you." It was typical for him to have his name butchered by the Loagins. There is an important Gunnish community living in Loago and for some time, their language seems to start influencing the speech of the Fante and Wala, probably being seen as simpler than the Caledonian or Ivernish languages and name forms.

"Tadghin!" yelled Coll MacFhilip as he entered the house and hugged Tadgh. The leader of the National Democratic Party taught in his younger days at Rheged College where all of the big shots sent their children to receive some expensive yet quality education. He remained close to the royal family afterwards and thus it was no surprise he used diminutives for them. Of all, he liked Tadgh the most, as he felt he was wittier than his younger brother, Mael Coluim and had a stronger personality, something he fully observed during the succession crisis, when Tadgh just rejected the crown to marry a Loagin woman. In time, he became a friend and mentor of the family. "It is good to see you again, Coll," Tadgh said as he responded to the hug and invited him inside. The ex-prince presented Coll MacFhilip with his wife, the butler and the cook. As dinner was served, Ayanda preferred to let the two talk, as she was preparing for her own guests. The farm became a cultural hot spot in the area, as Ayanda was organising a musical and literary circle.

"So, old friend, what brings you here, to the end of the world?" asked Tadgh. "Well, the statue of Maseru will be soon voted and Loago will be free in name too, not only in practice and before it, I wanted to enjoy one last safari like in the old days, and if you were on my path, I'd say to stop and say hello," said Coll as he started eating. "Sorry, it isn't as refined as what you would find in Dun Eidyn, but still..." said Tadgh as he observer Coll frowned as he took a bite. They were eating pap, a staple food of Loago, which actually was maize porridge, with chakalaka, an extremely spicy vegetable relish and zebra steak. Coll took a bite of the steak and was a bit surprised, as it was tastier than he imagined it.

"So, how are things back in the old dreary north?" asked Tadgh. "Well, things are currently stagnating, especially in the high north. From what I can gather, the men of Seathan MacRath are too weak to deal a major blow to the Republican Army, especially after they were recently defeated in battle, but the Republican Army itself has its morale so low in the north that it borders on disintegration, so, I might say that they are pretty balanced in just terrorising the civilians," said Coll as he continued to eat. "I heard of some new developments," said Tadgh, smiling, "and I am a bit shocked that from my isolated part of the world, I managed to create more liaisons than you in Dun Eidyn," Tadgh contined. Coll growled a little, more anxious to hear what he has to say, rather than his unnecessary comments. "Elben might help arm the Catholic and Royal Army," said Tadgh. "Impossible. Elben has no navy. How could they smuggle weapons up north?" asked Coll as he stopped from eating. "They don't need to do it themselves. Like you said, the morale of the army is extremely low. Weren't a few weeks ago some officers arrested because they were smuggling weapons to the rebels? I wouldn't say its that hard. The problem would be another. If Elben helps the northern dissidents, Gunnland will do the same soon, as those two always work together. If they do that, they will give a huge advantage to the dissidents. Imagine Caledonia as a reactionary kingdom like it was in the late 50s and early 60s," said Tadgh. "The Clans won't accept that. Loago won't accept that," said Coll, as he resumed eating. "Loago doesn't give a shit now that they got their government. Once the statue of Maseru will be voted they will truly not care at all what happens in wee faraway Caledonia. As for the Clans, I have my own reasons to believe that one clan is supporting them," said Tadgh as he finished his food. He didn't touch the pap. "Yeah, I've been thinking that the lack of progress against the dissidents comes from the support Clan Loganach gives them," said Coll. "That might be possible, though the fighting there is counterproductive to the Loganach interests, as they are fighting on their grounds. No, I have someone else in mind," said Tadgh, "Clan Munn is, like you know, a cadet branch of Clan Gunn. If the southerner kingdoms are supporting the rebels, I may believe that they were promised to put a Munn on the throne," continued Tadgh.

"There is also the problem of Marxism-Leninovism. In Monadh Rois, the Prometheists are clashing with the communists," said Coll. "Yes... I heard. I fear that we are approaching the impasse we had in the 50s, as currently, from my point of view, the government is overwhelmed and its members, from what it seems, border on the imbecilic," said Tadgh. "Look at Loago. We managed to create a functioning state here. We managed to end the fights between the Fante and Wala peoples, while also reaching a balance between ethnic nationalism and post-colonialism on one side, and white minority interests. We did what might have been seen as the impossible, as we created a moderate and capable political class. A new generation of Himyari leaders. We need that in Caledonia too. We have the radical monarchists up there in the north. We don't need them. We have the radical republicans in Monadh Rois, be them Prometheists or Leninovists. We don't need them either. We need moderates who are ready to understand that leaving all those fancy epithets in the country's name still leaves us with the main substance, which is Caledonia. The country is the same and we must still respect her if she is a monarchy, or a republic. Now its not the time to have a civil war," said Tadgh. "We need people to restart the dialogue," said Coll as he too finished his meal. "Restarting the dialogue starts to be an overused theme is northern journalism. No, we must have someone to really say that only through compromises we will keep this country alive. Compromises coming from both the monarchists and the republicans," said Tadgh. "If it is needed, the National Democratic Party will discuss with the Country Party. I imagine that Olibhia MacAnndra will be open to the idea," said Coll. "You can and should. But, I am one step ahead of you, as currently the head of Clan Blacach is meeting with Toiseach Lucas Ros and presenting this idea," said Tadgh. "What is the idea?" asked Coll. "It is currently classified. But the blacks can put much more pressure on the government than any opposition party does," said Tadgh. "What I want from you is to fight to keep the people united, for I fear that Engellex is preparing for something. One can manage and dialogue with Kadikistan and behind all that though play, they are pragmatic and know what they want. Whereas Engellex is an unknown menace. Now it is not the time to fight between ourselves. With the recall of the diplomatic staff from all over the world and the rhetoric attacks on Caledonia, Ivernia and Carinthia, I feel that we are mere months if not weeks away from a war in which they would want to enslave us all with their human commodity system. That is why I want you to follow exactly whatever instructions you will receive from Mormaer Robert Blacach and to be as comely as possible while you continuously ask for unity," said Tadgh.

Natal · May 1, 2018

Fact #23: A person does not simply leave a Clan. A government does not simply declare war on a clan. In Caledonian politics, clans have been almighty, are almighty and will always be almighty.

Blue House, Dun Eidyn

A convoy made out of three luxury black Deira 9-5 cars parked in front of the Blue House, the headquarters of the government. Out of the one in the middle, from the front door a man with a black, white, green kilt, a black suit, white shirt and a black tie came out and opened the door on the back. From the other cars, similar men came out of the cars and organised themselves in a formation in front of the building. From the back door of the car in the middle, came out a man in his early 70s, with a wrinkled face, bald, but with a ginger beard and deep blue eyes wearing the same costume like the rest. He was using a walking stick, though he was looking strong enough to walk independently. He wasn't just yet another Blacach, he was The Blacach, the clan chief and arguably the most powerful man in the country. As he entered the building, followed by two of his men, the secretary at the reception greeted him and apologised: "The Toiseach is extremely sorry, he knows of your appointment but there was an emergency and is now in a meeting with Archbishop MacIver," she said worried. Robert Blacach didn't say a thing. He went straight to the door on the left, the office of the Toiseach. The secretary followed. "I am sorry, Mr Ros, I told him that there was an urgent meeting and the audience was postponed..." she tried to say as Blacach opened the door.

"Don't you have to attend a meeting with the Pope? I am pretty sure there is a plane waiting for you at the airport," said Blacach as his eyes met the Archbishop's. MacIver's face was flushed. "Your grace, I..." Mac Iver tried to respond, but he was interrupted. "Your excellency, I have an appointment with the Toiseach and we have some rather important subjects to discuss. I would prefer you to just leave your machinations for some other time," said Blacach without flinching an eye. He used the more republican style of "excellency" rather than the typical "grace" as a way to sting the Archbishop, which was seen as a great friend of the republicans. MacIver rose from the chair and went outside without saying a thing. Lucas Ros looked a bit perplexed. He knew he had in front of him The Blacach, the richest and most influential man in Caledonia and probably the whole Viridian Union, but he wasn't expecting him to be this rash. He knew he had an appointment with the clan leader but the current scandal between the Archdioceses of Dun Glas and Dun Eidyn came up, especially with the call for excommunication. He knew that the clans were the real powers in the country and as of yet he didn't manage to win the support of any clan, so he was walking in a minefield. He wanted to first stabilise the country and then start negotiating with the clans to win their support. He wanted to start with weaker clans like Loganach or Munn and then continue to Sutharlainn and at the end Blacach, but the Mormaer came asking for an audience, so he had to start with the strongest clan, thus he was having a powerful handicap in this discussion. He wanted to keep the Mormaer as friendly as possible so he kept a neutral face when, before leaving, his eyes met with the Archbishop's and saw his call for support.

"Your grace, please sit down. I am extremely sorry for this. There was an emergency as the relationship between the Archdioceses of Dun Eidyn and Dun Glas is falling apart," he said with a worried face. What a weakling, thought Blacach. He remembered how 60 years ago, he was only 12 years old. His father, Aindreas Blacach went to meet with Toiseach Gordan Loganach after he restored the Kingdom. Immediately after he arrived, Loganach yelled at him, called him a weakling, for not resisting the republicans, as the restoration of the Kingdom was then based on the efforts of the Sutharlainn, Loganach, Munn clans and even of the Blacachs of the North, the cadet branch of his clan, while the main line of the Blacachs just stood by and waited to see how things developed. This made the clan weak and also created many enemies in the National Syndicalist regime. That is also why now, Blacach waited to see the republicans defeat the National Union in what they called the Snowdrop Revolution. He didn't want a return of the fascists. The clan prospered in the liberal period between 1985 and 2018 and managed to become the strongest clan during his tenure as Mormaer. Robert Blacach wanted this to continue. He didn't want an 1957 again. But still, he thought back of that episode 60 years ago and could only say that Gordan Loganach was truly a powerful Toiseach. He managed to send the Party of the Left back in its caves and to bring stability to the country he did the biggest taboo in Caledonian politics, namely he detained and killed most of its political enemies. After the political repressions of the 1890s and early 1900s when the royal government killed anyone remotely linked to the organisation of the failed republican revolution, a true overkill, the savagery of the episode made many Caledonian politicians to respect and unwritten law, which was to never repeat such an event. 1958, Gordan Loganach didn't care about this gentleman's agreement and sent nearly 100,000 people to labour camps in the high north. Now, he is described as one of the most evil tyrants in Caledonia, even even today, farmers in the north continue to discover human remains from places where political prisoners were executed 60 years ago. But, as much as it was an aggressive, violent and inhumane act, it gave Caledonia 50 years or stability. Compared to him, Lucas Ros was a weakling in the eyes of Robert Blacach.

"Your excellency, I have come to discuss some grave matters with you," started Blacach. "This country has the right to stay away from a fascist dictatorship. No one would gain anything from a return of the National Syndicalists. But still, I would say that the people also have the right to be themselves and to enjoy their culture, their faith and their typical idiosyncrasies. I am here to try to offer you an overview of this country, so I can know for sure that you see this country and this people correctly, not through reports of sycophants," he continued. "Your grace, I believe that the bureaucratic apparatus of the Commonwealth is mature enough..." Ros was interrupted. "If you really think that, you are more naive than I anticipated. You want to create a modern nation by emulating the Gallic Commonwealth. Very well. You can befriend them, you can ally with them, you can do whatever with them, but let me tell you, that the Caledonians are continental Celts from the south. They are northerners. They are closer to the Ivernians, the Gunnishmen and to the Elbeners than to the Gallegans. This country is stagnating. In two months this government has just responded to the crises threw at itself. Not only that it has never taken the lead, but it has responded poorly," said Blacach with a stern voice.

"Your grace, the country is in crisis. There are northern dissidents whom have started an armed rebellion against Dun Eidyn, Engellex is targeting us, probably readying to invade Loago and Kadikistan is the bear that mustn't be woken at all costs. We are in a profoundly complicated situation," Ros tried to excuse himself. "The country is stagnating. Do you know what is happening in the north? The Republican army is close to disintegration as many are deserting for the rebels, while also smuggling weapons to them. In Monadh Rois, prometheists and leninovists are ready to kill each other. This is want you want? A double civil war?" asked Blacach sternly. "Your grace, those rebels will soon be dealt with. The people wanted a republic and by defending it, we are defending their interests," said Ros. "You really think they wanted a republic? What is this then?" asked Blacach as he took from a file he held a graphic. Lucas Ros looked at it. It was the result of an opinion poll ordered by the National Institute of Statistics, at his order, asking 10,000 Caledonians if they approve of the Republic. Around 20% said that they support it, 65% said that if they would have known better, they would have changed their vote, and 15% were undecided. "You ordered this statistic to see where you are situated and when you learned the truth about this yet another failed republican experiment, you ordered the Institute to withhold the publication of the results. What if I will send this to Affiliated Press or the European Press Association?"Blacach continued. "The people expect instant results. A period must pass until the country is stable and prosperous again," said Ros. "But is you say the people are now rushing, why do you condemn them? You also rushed the referendum and won thanks to the anti-fascist revolutionary fervour. If I go tomorrow to the press and publish those results while also asking for the signing of a petition for a second referendum, I expect that I would get the necessary half a million signatures in a fortnight and then the parliament will vote to organise the referendum," said Blacach with a relaxed voice. "This is like a coup d'etat," responded Ros angry. "If you want to call it like that, it might be, yet organising the referendum to fast after the Snowdrop Revolution, calling it a fight between the fascist kingdom and the democratic prometheist republic and even proclaiming the republic before the referendum was even organised, is in my opinion a coup d'etat too," said Blacach. "The only thing that legitimised your move was the constitutional court which and that hag, Gwen Felix. She was a bit too zealous in regards to the March on Dun Eidyn while also closing her eyes in regards to the abuses of the Snowdrop Revolution. She should retire, soon I presume," he continued. "We can war, but in the end, I can just simply say that the clan members should boycott the republic. I will be followed by the Sutharlainns and the Loganachs. I don't really care about the Munns they are a loose cannon. But still, if I do that, it would be amusing to see republican elections with 10% voter turnout," concluded Blacach smiling. Lucas Ros closed his eyes. He knew that Robert Blacach was extremely influential and with the current state of the country the people will feel closer to the clan than to the nation and thus will follow his guidelines.

"Okay then. What do you really want?" he asked. "A compromise," said Blacach serenely. "A compromise?" asked Ros concerned. "Yes. It is clear the the current situation in the country breeds radicalism. Radical monarchists and fascists in the north and radical republicans and leninovists in Monadh Rois. We should unite to provide a front which can defeat all those and keep Caledonia together," said Blacach. "But like you said, the army is demoralised. How do you want to defeat the northern dissidents?" asked Ros. "I'll just order the people from Clan Blacach to fight them. Your Republican Army is so weak because you forgot that the clans are more important to the people of Caledonia than the nation itself. If the clans will support you, you will see a great change," continued Blacach. "Ok, so you will support the defeat of the Leninovists and the northerners..." said Ros. "No, I want to deal with the Leninovists diplomatically. I will deal with the northerners," said Blacach. "But what compromise?" insisted Ros. "The return of normal political life in Caledonia. The rejuvenation of the country. We haven't created a global empire while being a republic. We did it under a king. We were a great power under a king. The republican episodes were moments of desperation and decadence. We need to return back to what we were. We need the king back," said Blacach. "That is no compromise. You want to undo the Snowdrop Revolution," said Ros frowning. "Yes, I do, but again, I am compromising. We will create an elective monarchy. We will revive the old tanistry and have the people elect their future king. This will make a compromise between the monarchists and the republicans," said Blacach.

"It is too much. A monarchy is still a monarchy. The people voted for a republic," said Ros. "The people were unaware what that vote meant and you know that. They were manipulated and are now rebounding and supporting Seathan MacRath and his goons," said Blacach. "At most, if you want to accept it, I can create the post of Lord Protector, which could function like a constitutional monarch," said Ros meekly. "No. The people what to return to their roots and to the era in which Caledonia was strong. They don't want continuous experiments. No one heard of a Lord Protector in Caledonia itself," said Blacach sternly. " This is my offer. You will say that you want to create a second referendum to pacify the country. You will call Seathan MacRath to peace negotiations. The second referendum will provide three options: first, keep the republic as it is; second, organise an elective monarchy, with Mael Coluim V continuing his reign and the people electing through a vote his Tanist; third, return to the old hereditary monarchy with the 1985 constitution. The first option is to bring the radical republicans to the table, while the third option is to bring the northern dissidents to the table," said Blacach. "This would come from me, this is my part of the compromise. What is your part?" asked Ros. "I will keep you in power. I can easily create a political front under which the Country Party and the National Democratic Party will unite together. If I can bring them in an alliance with the Prometheist League, you will have much to win. First, if the negotiations fail and the rebels won't accept the idea of the referendum or its result, I will personally put my own weight behind the operations to crush them. If that happens, Seathan MacRath will come begging for his life," said Blacach. "This will destroy the northern threat, while leaving the Marxist-Leninovists as the only opposition. If Kadikistan wants to respect its image as a pragmatic and honorable country, they will still do anything possible to not repeat the 1957 episode and will like to keep Caledonia in the Northern Status Quo Treaty. For that, they will have to keep their dogs at bay and with it, there you have it. Stability," continued Blacach prophetically.

"Stability is something we currently lack. This is what stops us from developing and prospering," said Ros thoughtfully. "And things will get worse from here," said Blacach. "From my own reports, the rebels in the north managed to win the political support of the Kingdom of Elben. If they did that, Gunnland isn't that far. The northern dissidence will erupt in a full blown civil war and if that happens, the Leninovists will stir the shit too to gain power. Do you really want a three way civil war?" asked Blacach sternly. "No, but neither do I want to turn my back on the ideals of the revolution," said Ros. "Did Lena Rees turn her back on Prometheism?" asked Blacach annoyed. "What?" Ros was surprised. "You heard me. Lena Rees was the best Toiseach this country had in the last century and she was a prometheist which fought against communism and national syndicalism under the banner of the High Kingdom of Caledonia. That is what I want to recreate," said Blacach. "If I propose this, the party will turn on me. The Congress will end up breaking the party," said Ros. "Many will understand that the republic is doomed as it is and will see the alliance with the Country Party and the NDP as a necessary evil. Some will care more about politics, and personal power than the country, so they will break the party and will be against it, but they will be a negligent mass if the alliance is created," said Blacach.

"I will discuss with some of my associates. We understand the grave situation we are in now and if Prometheism is to continue, we must unite and win the support of the clans," said Ros is a defeated voice. "But if this thing is to go forward, I want you to promise me on the honour of your whole clan, that you will support the government, whatever the result of the referendum is," said Ros looking in the eyes of Blacach for more than 10 seconds for the first time in the meeting. "Very well. Of course I will," said Blacach as he rose from his chair and shook Ros' hand.

Natal · May 25, 2018

Fact #53: The Northern Enclave resisted in the 1957 Caledonian Emergency up until Kadikistani reinforcements came thanks to the support of the Caitmen, which revolted against the assimilation policies of the Caledonian regime.

Taran map Onuist College, Dun Garan, Present Day

Catriona Blacach, a 49 year old woman, was rinsing the whiteboard at the end of her class. "Inflected Prepositions with Possessive Determiners" still remained on the board, written with a black marker, as she was interrupted. She taught Caledonian language and literature and geography at the Taran map Onuist College, one of the only two Colleges in Dun Garan. Colleges were typical schools in the Caledonian education system made out of all classes, from first graders to twelfth graders all in the same institution. Catriona didn't like that much to teach Caledonian grammar, as she found it extremely complicated and complex, maybe a bit too much for the students. She preferred to teach literature more, but that was something one would find more in high school text books, rather than middle school text books. Even if she will become 50 this weekend, she was still very youthful, appearing at least ten years younger. Her youthful appearance and demeanour made her a student favourite among the teachers.

"Santist ta henui, hox an..." started a girl which remained in the classroom during the break to speak with another one, in Caitish. A boy went to the girl which was talking and literally smacked her over her mouth. Catriona, while still cleaning up after the class was interrupted by the screams and cries of the girls. She turned towards the scene. "You have no right to speak that barbarian language here! This is Caledonia! We speak Caledonian here!" the boy yelled at the girls, both of them crying now. Catriona went towards the students and caught the boy by the hand as he was preparing to hit the girl again. "For Christ's sake, Iain, what is wrong with you?" she asked the boy half in shock, half in rage. "We are living in Caledonia, we don't need slimy and smelly Caits here," the boy said with a sincerity and innocence that made Catriona thing that she asked more about the weather rather that such a serious thing. "You're coming to me to the principal, and the counsellor. We need to have a discussion," said Catriona.

Catriona knocked on the door of the principal and then entered. "This is wrong on some many levels," said Uisdean Mac a Phearsainn, the principal after he heard the story of what happened from Catriona. "Iain, who told you that Caitmen are slimy and smelly?" asked the principal. "Mother said that they stink and they are lazy and prefer to kill Caledonians rather than live a normal life," said the boy. Catriona started to become enraged. "You know your mother has no right to call people that way, right?" asked Catriona irritated. "Cat, please..." said Uisdean to stop her and then looked back at the student. "Where is your mother from?" he asked. "Dun Eidyn. She married my father and moved to Dun Garan because my dad works at the oil rigs in the White Islands," said the boy. "Of course..." muttered Uisdean for himself. "Iain, listen to me, you said your mother comes from Dun Eidyn. That city is far away, around 800 kilometres to the south. If she only recently came here, she can't know how Caitmen truly are, so please, don't follow blindly what others are saying," said Uisdean. The boy nodded. Now go apologise to the two girls.

"Just that? Some weak, no pressure, no consequence discussion?" asked Catriona as Iain left the office. "At the moment, yes," said Uisdean. "It isn't fair. Those girls might now be traumatised. Just imagine yourself how it would be if someone would come and smack you and yell at you because you are speaking your own language," said Catriona angry. "Calm down, I see that you try to transform into your mother, but please, understand. That boy is just 12. He is innocent. The real problem are his parents and I will call them immediately to have a talk with them and if they don't understand the new realities they can move their dandiprat to another school, but until then, we have more pressing issues," said Uisdean as he handed Catriona an order from the Ministry of Education. "They want, in time, to devolve Votadinia into become a real Caitland. With its own national language and functioning autonomous government in Dun Glas. For that it seems the need Caitish medium schooling," said Uisdean. "So what does this have to do with me?" asked Catriona. "Well, if we need to attract more funds, we will need to show that we will be the first school in the region to become a Caitish medium school. You know some Caitish, probably on conversational level, but you need to know more if you are to teach geography in Caitish. You don't need it for Caledonian, but if you want to keep your current pay check, you will need to improve your Caitish so I won't be made to hire a geography teacher who speaks Caitish fluently," said Uisdean. "And when would we become a Caitish medium school?" asked Catriona. "By the next year we should have everything sorted," said Uisdean. "You literally give me four months to learn to speak Caitish fluently..." said Catriona annoyed. "Well, I would say you shouldn't waste time around here then and start rehearsing," said the principal.

Catriona traversed the school yard and then passed through the hedge row in her own yard. In the days before 1985, the population of Dun Garan was bigger by around a third at least if not a half, and Taran map Onuist College, at that time, Toiseach Daniel Loganach College was the only high school the town had to it was nearly triple in size. She was currently living in what in the past has been the gardener's house. It was a four room house with a small yard surrounded by hedges that has been build in the late 50s when the school was expanded and then was given to private owners when the town and the school too shrunk. The rent was extremely cheap and being so close to school, it was an ideal place for her to raise her children. Usually she was so lazy to go out of the school ground and go on the street to her house that she just preferred to pass through the hedges to reach her yard. The students were usually making fun of her apparitions but she didn't care. Now the thing with the Caitish language was annoying her. At her age, after she managed the impossible, raising a child as a single mother while still attending classes at university she thought that by now things might get easier. She was born in 1968. Her first born came when she was only 18. Sean, her oldest son, was now 32 and married, with a son of his own, living in Dun Glas. After her first husband left her, she married again with another man, with whom she had a second son, Aindreas, who was now 23. He was living now with his partner in Dun Eidyn. He came out as bisexual, when he was 16 and since then had a series of relationships with both women and men in time became running jokes in the family. He now settled with an Gall-Goidel he met at University in Dun Eidyn. He was born in 1995 when she was 27. Afterwards, her last child was born, Aoife, whom was now 18 and in her last year in high school. She was born in 2000, when she was 32. A year after Aoife was born, she got dumped by her second husband and raised Aoife and Aindreas alone. Now, as her children were already adults and she was a grandmother, she was expecting her life to become easier, but the devolution of Votadinia seemed to be against it.

"Aoife, you home?" she asked as she entered the house. No response meant she was either still at school or already out. Catriona shrugged. Her mind was still repeating the the imagine of Iain smacking the girl for speaking Caitish and the words of the principal repeating "...you try to transform into your mother..." again and again. She sat down. It wan't remotely bad into trying to emulate her mother, she thought. She helped and defended the vulnerable and the weak. She used her influence in Clan Blacach to defend them even from the clutches of the National Syndicalists, even if she wasn't as successful as she hoped to be. Still, she tried. It was her turn now, a generation later to try. She went in the attic in which she was holding in an old chest some stuff of her mother's. As she opened it and rummaged through the old newspapers and journals, she observed the corner of a photo reaching out of one notebook. She opened at the page the photo was and looked at it. The photo showed two women, Catriona recognised one, thanks to her braids locked around her head to be her mother, while the other woman was holding something like a ball of towels. The was she held the towels mimicked the way one would carry a baby, though she couldn't see if there truly was a baby there. She looked around and see more photos. In another, she recognised herself as a teenager, holding hands with her best friend at that time, her mother was behind the two. Another, which attracted her attention more, showed her mother and a man playing with cosmetics in a bedroom. On the back side, scribbled in crayon and barely readable, "As fabulous as we are strong" could be read and underneath, the date, 12th of December 1984. She couldn't recognise who that man was. As she continued to rummage through the stuff, a small booklet fell down. Catriona took it and blew the dust from it. It was written in German: "Rosa Liebe unter die Obsidian Fahne". She didn't speak German and would have loved for Aindreas to be around to translate, as she could only understand Rosa, which would have either meant rose or pink and obsidian which was a nickname for the Caledonian flag, the Obsidian Banner. Probably it was something like "Rosy life in Caledonia" or something, she thought. Just some propaganda book about the great life under the National Syndicalist dictatorship. But when she opened it, she saw written in crayon and barely readable again: "Pink love under the Obsidian Banner. I am glad that we have managed to make the Eiffellandians write about our little commune and struggle for respect and liberty. May 1985." She closed the chest and kept the photos and the booklet. Yes, she decided that she wanted to be like her mother. It should be easier today than it was in her days. She wanted to make something positive in her life and provide protection and support for the poor, the vulnerable and the weak.

Natal · Sep 23, 2018

Fact #34: The Virunians are a very arrogant and know-it all type of people. Adding that to how political they get is a recipe for destruction. That is why an iron fist has always been seen as being the best for the Virunians.

Saint Maarika Palace, Maseru

Koit Sisask, a man in his late 50s, his hair once golden blonde now silvery white and his cheek once smoothly shaven, now with unkempt, and unshaven, felt extenuated. He was once the most powerful man in Virumaa, a real strongman between 2007 and 2018, but he lost. Yet, he was still the State Elder and he was still heading Virumaa. Not the Democratic Republic one, but the United Republic one. The democratic one that he and his associates have built since the fall of the fascist regime in 1985. He has made a great mistake while he was leading the country. His neo-liberal policies have turned the people against him and the fact that he left the right-wingers gain more and more influence had been the nail in his coffin. It was easy afterwards for the communists to say that he is impoverishing the people and is bringing back the old national syndicalists. While the economic crisis in the end didn't seem to be as bad as was predicted, the fact that the influence of the national syndicalists grew made the people weary up until it started a wave of anti-fascism that turned into the takeover of the republic by the Party of the Left, which now calls itself the Revolutionary Socialist Party.

"The wolf changes its coat, but not its behaviour," said Koit Sisask. "Sorry?" asked Linda Tarvas, the ambassador of Virumaa in Maseru. "I didn't follow," she continued. "I was thinking of the Party of the Left and them changing names. In the end, they are the same bunch of godless barbarians," said Koit Sisask as he took a sip of the coffee the ambassador offered him.

When the Democratic Republic was proclaimed, Koit Sisask was apprehended by the communist authorities and literally declared insane. He was sent to a hospice in Loksa, with the sole intent of rotting away with no one hearing from him again. But, surprisingly, even for him, he managed to find his way out and was smuggled past the border to Ivernia and from there he managed to reach Loago, where many of his old associates were already waiting for him. The conservative and anti-communist regime of Paavo Laht in Loago was a friendly base from where they will organise to try and retake the north.

But now, as he was outwitted and outplayed by the communists, he still didn't accept surrender. When he was the State Elder of Virumaa, he wanted to create a fully secular and liberal state, akin to Eiffelland or Bourgogne, but his views might have been a minority compared to the power of traditionalism espoused by the Catholic Church on one side and on the other, the nostalgia of the first and second republics, which were sponsored by Kadikistan in 1957 and gave the people of Lounamaad a chance to taste real riches, even if it lasted for a short while. The only problem was that he was caught in the middle, between those two giants. Now, the time has come for him to make some new friends, even if he would have hated some, if not all of them a few months ago.

"I want to present you to someone," said Linda Tarvas. Koit Sisask looked at her a bit confused. She observed his right eyebrow raising and him trying to hide his confusion by taking another sip of the coffee, so she continued: "It is a young man that can be our saviour and the institution he represents might be the key to uniting the Virunian people under a banner. If its all postmodernism nowadays and everyone looks back to the good old days, we should do the same. The commies look back to 1957-58, I would say we should look back to the 1940s or 1930s," she said smiling.

He started thinking of who that might be and he quickly identified him. "Wouldn't his father be a better character to do it?" he asked. "The Virunians are looking for something fresh and I would say that youth would be much better seen, rather than age and experience and such," she said.

They went to her car, parked outside the Saint Maarika Palace, on the Sunset Boulevard and they drove out of the city. While he wanted to ask her more of her plans, the trip and stress of the last few days caught him and Koit fell asleep as she was driving. She drove on the A1 Highway passing by Koudougou, Orondara and Mbaiki until, two hours later, she stopped in front of the main house of a huge farm, in the territory of the Viru Himyari Company. "Come," she said as Koit was woken by her slamming the door of the car. He followed her up to the main door of the house. She knocked the door three times before a huge bald Wala man opened the door. "Miss Tarvas, welcome. I'll notify my master that you have arrived, please, come," he said, as he led them into the lounge, where a man with white hair and a large still blonde beard was drinking a tea and reading a newspaper. "Linda, you managed to arrive," said the main happily. "Yes, Mihkel, thanks God the attacks of the LLC have been reduced, we had no problem in our trip. May I present you, Koit Sisask, the State Elder of Virumaa?" she said. The man made wide eyes. "Of course, you excellency, may I present myself, Mihkel Vaino. Associate of the Viru Himyari Company and a close friend to any true Christian Virunian," as the man presented himself, Koit heard steps coming down the stairs and in front of him came a young man, barely twenty years old, with light brown hair, wearing a fashionable haircut and a few days stubble. "Koit, I wish to present you, Prince Alvar Tamm," she said proudly.

Natal · Sep 26, 2018

Fact #81: The Heroes' Cemetery in Imavere is the place where many of the soldiers rebelling in the 1957 war were posthumously burried after the fall of the Becker regime. In the main crypt of the cemetery lies the body of an Ivernian volunteer, Mánus Ó Suileabháin, known after his nom de guerre, Camulus. He led a band of partisans and started a campaign of sniping Kadikistani officers. In the end, Sergei Moravscik killed him and pissed on his remains.

Anesu Farm, Loago

Koit Sisask felt better after a good night's sleep. He remained at the secluded farm for the night and now, he was taking breakfast with Linda Tarvas, Mihkel Vaino and Prince Alvar. The atmosphere was much more familial than Koit expected. Linda and Mihkel were acting as they were loving aunts and uncles of the prince. "Of course, if we are to do this, full formality has to be reinstated. While there was no king to sit on the Cedar Throne for 60 years, the old traditions must be reinstated should we try to build our resistance behind the banners of the crown," said Koit as he took a bite from the buttered toasted bread. They eating a full Gunnish breakfast, which was popular in Loago thanks to the Gunnish minorities living around Maseru. "Of course, he is ready for all the duties and responsibilities his ancestors had. I had expected, to be honest that after the fall of the National-Syndicalists, the monarchy would return so I was entrusted to teach him everything he needed to know," said Mihkel as he was taking a bite of the black pudding. Prince Alvar ate only a third of his meal, and was listening to what the others were talking about. While he knew from a very young age who he was and why the royal family would be isolated and separated for their own safety, he still was surprised by the ideas Koit, Mihkel and Linda had for the future. He knew the protocol, he knew his duties, he knew what it would mean to be a king, but he always thought of it as a far away thing that might not even come. The last member of the Tamm family to sit on the Cedar throne was his great uncle, King Alvar V. He was invested as king of Virumaa, after his mother, Queen Eha was deposed by an Act of Parliament after she tried in the 1920s to reduce the powers of the parliament. Sadly, two years later, the decade of war started and brought with it wars in Milesia, Calidia and Justizia and Virumaa, which presented itself as the great defender of freedom, just collapsed as its economy couldn't manage to support the inflated costs of so many military actions, to try to reduce the influence of Marxism-Leninovism. King Alvar V was deposed in 1957 and a few years later he died, childless. While the communist regime didn't last long, it is now widely believed that the National-Syndicalist regime, which ruled the country from 1958 to 1985, assassinated him, because he was too close to the prometheists. King Alvar's brother, Prince Mihkel was Eha's firstborn son, but he had a bad reputation. The parliament didn't want him as a king as many tabloids described him as a playboy king. At some points he even had some local Loagan women as his lovers, which in the 1950s was seen as preposterous. While he didn't accept the throne, after Eha's abdication, he preferred to go to Loago and build up what was the Viru Himyari Company and turned it into one of Himyar's most profitable enterprises. While he was the head of the royal family and the main pretender to the throne, the fact that he showed no interest in pursuing the claim, made many in Kuressaare complacent. His uninterested attitude adding up to his bad reputation back home made the National-Syndicalists sure that their hold on the country is safe. His first born daughter, Princess Riina, was completely different. She was born to a very respectable woman coming from a noble family that left the country during the decade of war, which also had connections to the church. While Prince Mihkel wasn't interested in it, his wife's family insisted on preparing the girl for her duties and educated her on anything it meant to be the Queen of Virumaa. While the last State Elder of the National-Syndicalists, Aleksander Hendrikson promised that after his death, the monarchy will return, 1985 came and has shown that many of the plans that were done and prepared, simply didn't pan out. Virumaa became instead a democratic republic. The decision to move Alvar to the Anesu Farm and separate the childrem of Prince Riina came after she died in a fatal car accident a few years ago. While the Loagan police has stated that is truly was an accident and there was no evidence to support that it was an assassination, the royal family decided to split the kids to keep them safe, especially now that in the wake of the recent crises, Marxist-Leninovism returned to Virumaa and a world war has started.

"I'm not really sure that I would be ready for it. I mean it is a great responsibility, I would have to care for 30 million people," said Alvar. "You are your mother's son. If you will be as virtuous as her and as caring, you will do great. The fact that you aren't sure, is a good sign. It means that you will think at least two times before doing something," said Linda trying to comfort him as she finished her meal and took a sip of tea. "I just don't want to be a puppet used by all sorts of dictators which will oppress the people of Virumaa in my name," said Alvar. "If we would truly manage to pull this thing off and have the old Viridian Cross Banners fly over Kuressaare, I do not want us to revert back to National-Syndicalism. Virumaa was a nation that had a tradition in parliamentary democracy. We need to regain our good renown back, not just switch a dictatorship for another," said Alvar sharply. This took Mihkel and Linda by surprise, but Koit started smiling. "Your Highness, you just resumed in one sentence most of my political career. But, I promise you that even if we will form a united front with the National-Syndicalists and other arch-conservatives so that we can defeat the Marxist-Leninovists, nothing will be like the pre-1985 regime," said Koit trying assure him, though he wasn't that sure himself if he could keep this promise. "Everything that we will build in new Virumaa will be based on the Catholic Social Teaching, so we will be moderate, while we will stay away from the extreme forms of modern ideologies, we will also defend human rights and private enterprise," said Mihkel.

When breakfast was over, Koit and Mihkel remained in the kitchen to drink one last cup of coffee. Gone are the days when Ivernia, Virumaa, Gunnland, Geotri and Elben were presenting a united front in the north, now, Virumaa is again in the hands of the red dragon of the east, Ivernia is isolated and the other Northern allies are struggling to keep the balance, Koit thought. Looking back he would have really like to go back in 1985 and manage somehow to keep things as they were. "I need to show you something," said Mihkel, which took Koit by surprise. Linda came too in the room. She looked a bit surprised towards Mihkel. "Well, he needs to know," said Mihkel to her. "We have the resources to take up the fight," he continued. Linda frowned and gave him a killing look. "We can trust him, the whole situation has changed," said Mihkel again. Koit was uncomfortable as he alternated looks with each of them.

"Do you remember Radek and your attempts to become a second Riina Lepp and try to stop communism from spreading?" asked Mihkel as he looked at Koit. The other nodded. "Yeah, but we lost the money that should have paved the way for the success of Radek's coup and we told him to back down, but he went forward with it anyway and it all ended up in the Christmas Crisis," said Koit trying to think what were they hiding from him. Mihkel took Koit out of the main house of the farm to a barn situated around 200 meters out in the field. The Wala butler and Linda followed them. Mihkel asked the butler to open the basement. The man took a broom and swept the hay from one corner of the barn and raised three planks and went down. He opened a light there and prepared a ladder for the others to come down too. The basement was mostly filled with old furniture, some old dusty books, mainly of religious and political nature, edited during the National-Syndicalist years and old shears and farming tools that were rusting away. "Even lower," said Mihkel. The Wala man nodded and started pushing an old wardrobe that was barely staying in shape. Koit was extremely confused, but he looked at Linda and she had a very serious and straight face. She knew whatever was down. The man pushed the wardrobe away and opened a secret trap door that was hidden under a layer of planks and another of dirt. "You can never be too safe with this," said Mihkel. The Wala man took the ladded they used to reach the first level of the basement and put it down to reach the second level and afterwards gave a lantern to Mihkel. After he made a gesture calling Koit and Linda to follow him, he went downstairs.

Koit was left speechless with what he say down there. The "Radek Money" was in here. It wasn't really money itself but gold ingots, a huge lot of them, without any series marking them. The Virunian government was funding the anti-Farrago resistance in Crotobaltislavonia, and has offered Radek's most trusted men training for the coup, even organising different scenarios of what could happen should any element of the plan went wrong. Everything was thought and organised up to the point of perfection, but then, all the gold that was to be used to bribe anything and everyone necessary for the success of the coup simply disappeared without any trail. The Virunian secret services told Radek to back down, but he went with it and he failed. A huge political and diplomatic storm ensued, but fortunately no one pointed fingers towards Virumaa, preferring to condemn Trivodnia and because Radek didn't followed the guidelines gave by the Viru, they simply preferred to cover up their trail and leave Radek on his own. "You, you took the gold!" shouted Koit angrily as he took Mihkel by his collar. "You were ready to start a fucking war! You are the cause of this fucking world war!" he shouted even angrier. "Koit, calm down," said Linda sternly as she managed to break the two. "The Cristmas Crisis came and went without a war. This war started because Occitania entered the Trier Accord and it was rumoured that Trivodnia will do the same. It has nothing to do with Radek, and if you really think that if his coup would have succeeded and not have a huge pollitical fallout, you are so fucking naive," said Mihkel with a low, stern voice. "Kadikistan wouldn't have accepted a right-wing CBS and it might have gone to war to save Farrago. But now with the gold in our hands, we can put it to better use," Mihkel continued. Koit looked around. There were so many gold ingots there that he couldn't even manage to estimate how much wealth was there and the fact that they were unmarked, it was perfect to be used on the black market or as bribes. "We have two more caches like this but filled with weapons here in Loago, two right at this farm, some more in Cabaon, but the most in Virumaa," said Mihkel. Koit put his hands on the gold ingots. They felt cold, compared to the Himyari heat of outside. "This is a plan that needed many months at least to be set up," he said. "Were you targeting me too at some point?" he asked. Mihkel pretended not to hear the question, but Linda sighed and said: "We have a job. That is to bring the kingdom back to life and to defend the Catholic faith in Virumaa. We would have hoped that if we would convince you to join us, we wouldn't activate Operation Tuonela, but now that the Marxist-Leninovists are in power, we will need to do it," she sighed again.

Natal · Sep 28, 2018

Fact #129: The Raven is the representative animal of the regions of Pohjamaad, Sakala and Saaremaa, representing the birds flocking to eat the carrion of all those trying to conquer northern Virumaa. The Lion os the representative animal for Lounamaad and Ugandi, representing the power and prestige of Virumaa.

Saint Maarika Palace, Maseru

Koit Sisask decided to return to Maseru, as he needed to make the plan move forward. "We have received a message from the Kingdom of Elben. They will support us," said Linda Tarvas as she was driving the car on the A1 Highway from Anesu Farm to Maseru. "I'm surprised the Elbeners were the first to respond and be positive about it," said Koit. "Considering how unprepared they are for a war with Kadikistan, I was expecting them to act only under the protective arm of Gunnland and Geotri," he continued. He car entered Maseru and was driving along the wide boulevards of the city named after old Virunian kings which acted as Emperors of Loago too. While the Jacaranda trees were in bloom, with their purple flowers flooding the streets of Maseru, Koit couldn't think of anything but how much he preferred firs, pines, cedars and the crisp cold air of the north to the sweltering Himyari heat.

Koit and Linda have returned back to the capital of Loago to discuss with the State Elder of the country, Paavo Laht and to ensure that they have his support for Operation Tuonela, whose start day was getting closer and closer. Even if they visit hasn't been made official, the clerks at the government's palace knew about it and in the first moment they came and said their names they were sent to Laht's office. Paavo was waiting for them there. As they entered, Koit looked around and thought that Paavo too might be like him, preferring the cold and the winters of Virumaa to Loago, but destiny pushed him here. His office was decorated in a very rustic way, like it was attempting to copy the design of a hunting lodge in deep Pohjamaad. Paavo Laht, who was a huge man, being a head taller than both Linda and Koit has welcomed them, offered them a seat and poured some expensive Gunnish whiskey in three glasses. As he was looking around, Koit observed that on the wall close to the door, beside the green-black-green flag of Loago stood the old pre-communist flag of Virumaa. The last time he was here, that flag wasn't around.

"As of yet, as you might know, the Maseru government in a pariah, as it is recognised only by Eiffelland," said Paavo Laht as Koit and Linda opened the subject of how only very few, mainly Rurikgrad nations are recognising the current Kuressaare regime. "That is true, but should the State of Loago be put again under the Virunian banner of the Viridian Cross, it will enjoy the status of our currently in exile government and that will open enough doors, I believe to create a better international standing for it," said Koit Sisask as he took a sip of the whiskey. It was good, earthy, with slight oak and smokey flavours.

"We are currently fighting in the war against communism, as you know. This summer we had a surge of attacks from the LLC. We managed to contain them, but I fear that once we will be aligned to you, we will be the targets of new attacks," said Paavo. He sighed, then took his glass and drank it all in one sip. "We managed to stabilise our thing here in the deep south," he continued. Koit was continuing to look him deep in the eyes, hoping that he might dominate him, while Linda was in a faraway place, very absent, as it was just regular business that bored the hell out of her. "It would be bad if we will jump ship and join you without thinking of the consequences. As much hope you have in the resistance and as mush dissent is sown by the Archbishop, there are still many chances that you will lose. If that happens, I don't want to be really that deep into shit. I do believe that..." he wanted to continue but he was interrupted.

"You will have a chance to return home. Take your family, you kids, even those of your mistresses if you like and return to Virumaa, should we be victorious. Koit here will make sure that you might be knighted and maybe even receive the title of count and I will make sure that when the Royal and Catholic Army will be formed and fully formalised, you will have the rank of Marshall in it," said Linda sternly. "While I do enjoy a diplomatic game of cat and mouse from time to time, I'm not in the mood for fake Pelasgian courtesy," she continued as she finished her glass of whiskey and then took a cigarette our and lighted it. Paavo frowned. "Smoking is prohibited," he said. "I think that officially a coup d'etat is prohibited too in the Virunian law, but that didn't stop you. Let's not play the teacher and the pupil and talk real business," she said as she blew the smoke in his face. Koit was shocked by this lack of respect from her side, especially when they were coming to ask for help. The frown turned into a smile which let out a guttural laugh.

"It sounds good, but you still need to win this thing if I am to get all those benefits. So, before you even promise that you should make a show of force and show me that you have some chances," said Paavo giving Linda a smile of superiority. "Fine, what do you want us to do," said Koit quickly after he started seeing a pulsating vein on Linda's temple. "Take Cabaon," said Paavo with a tone that made is sound like he was just asking someone to go and grab him a cup of coffee. "Fine," said Linda quickly and sternly.

The Glade of Saint Andrus, Kallaste, Pohjamaad

It was already getting cold even during the day, but Sister Heidi Mark was still unwavering. The Glade has been filled with people in the last few days and even if there were victims in the conflict with the authorities, more and more people were coming to defend the Glade. More and more gendarmes were coming too, but even if they, in the end will be pushed out, so many people in Pohjamaad would have heard about the resistance near Kallaste that they will know that disobedience is a not only possible, but a must, thought Sister Heidi. Seeing that people stood their ground even if they were beaten, or they had water cannons or pepper spray firing towards them, made Heidi Mark happy. She managed to do what she wanted, to make sure that the people understand the importance of the faith.

"Do not back down! Jumal meiega*!" she yelled when she saw that the gendarmes were preparing for another charge to break the protesters. The protesters had branches, baseball bats, pieces of metal to use as weapons and they were prepared when they clashed with the gendarmes. Rocks were being thrown towards the authorities. As she was hitting a gendarme with a branch in his shield to keep him away, Sister Heidi Mark saw that a molotov cocktail was thrown from the protesters and hit a policeman in his helmet, shattering the glass and spilling the fiery contents all over the gendarmes. A few more were thrown and that was the moment gun shots were being heard.

Panic ensured. It was one thing to have a hand to hand fight, but if guns were being used, people started panicking. Even so, Sister Heidi was unwavering. The Glade was too important. It had a place in the heart and faith of everyone who was born of lived for some months in Pohjamaad. Around her, people dressed in civilian and gendarmes too were falling, blood running around. She was confused while still hitting in the shield of a gendarme. It weren't just the authorities that were shooting, as they were being shot at too. Some more molotov cocktails were thrown too and a fire started as the dried up leaves and twigs of the forest were touched by fiery gasoline. As the people around here was running in panic, gendarmes and civilians too, that is when she first felt the cold but fiery bullet that pierced through her lower abdomen. She looked in front and saw the gendarme holding a gun.

Rapla Reeducation Camp, Rapla, Sakala

Father Ronan was an ethnic-Ivernian, abbot of the Saint Andrus Monastery near Kallaste. He knew the Glade were important. There were apparitions taking place there since the middle ages. What made him leave Ivernia for Virumaa was that he even heard that after a Marian apparition, one tree in the Glade even showed the face of the Madonna, but by the time he managed to come to Pohjamaad, the tree was cut off. Even so, the local villagers were ready to swear on anything possible that it was true. Ronan too had his own experience when he felt the presence of the Virgin Mary when he was praying in the Glade. A young shepherd boy who was too there said he felt it too.

There was much ruckus being made in Virumaa last spring because of the Father Ronan's reports, but later to try to make more people believe him, he did something which he now regretted. He used Carbolic Acid to create wounds on his hands to present himself as a stigmatist. It worked, as many people in the north were coming to a pilgrimage to the Glade to pray and to see the stigmata. He became a close associate with the crypto-national-syndicalists and they were bringing more and more people, even from the deep south to the Glade and were popularising his case.

But now, the communists came to power and it all fell on him. He was accused of mischief and of "counter-revolutionary activities". He was presented as a hoax by the authorities. But he knew, the apparitions were real. Now he was lying in jail and the stigmata was healing, when he saw the door to his jail open.

"You and your fascist bastards have really made a mess down in Kallaste," said the main officer. Ronan didn't knew his name, but he knew they were calling him the Hog. If all the rumours were true, he was a sadist who found joy in torturing the inmates. "We are deeply sorry, but your hoaxes have brought too much pain to this people and country and you must be cleansed. Say hello to your god for me," he said before he took a pistol and shot Ronan in the head.

Natal · Sep 29, 2018

Fact #192: After the State of the Knights of the Order of the Viridian Cross was secularised and transformed into the Kingdom of Virumaa, the Order was kept as a sovereign military order aligned officially to the Holy See, but still under the influence of the Kings of Virumaa.

Virunian Embassy, Eschenbach, Kingdom of Elben

The Conference room of the Virunian Embassy (aligned to the government in exile) was filled to the brim with exiled politicians, diplomats, representatives of the church, nobles, business men and capitalists and other persons of notoriety which have been force to find refuge out of the country first in 1985, when the National-Syndicalist Regime fell and afterwards in the spring of 2018, when the Party of the Left, now renamed into the Revolutionary Socialist Party has took control of the country.

In the richly decorated room with nordic elements, from sculpture motifs to hunting trophies, the head of a huge Vaalbara stag being the dominant element, more than 40 people were staying around a table where only 4 people were sitting around. On one side was Archbishop Hendrik Saar, a blonde man with a clean shaven face, wearing a plain black cassock. In front of him, Egon Rootare, the chairman of the National-Syndicalist Party. Beside him was Udo Vesik, the chairman of the Traditionalist Union and Laur Kapp, the vice-chairman of the National Democratic Party. All of them were conservative to reactionary politicians. With the exception of the NDP, which was a centre-right party, all of them were far-right movements, even if they preferred the term conservative or traditionalist, rather than fascist.

"We have our king and we managed to unite together. It is time to start Tuonela," said Egon Rootare, has he hit the table with his fist and the men behind him nodding in approval. "Soon, my friend. Very soon. Let's not be hasty," said Hendrik Saar, with a hand gesture trying to calm him down. "I would like, before we start Tuonela, to try to come together and imagine what the Virumaa of tomorrow would look like. It would be better that we all show our ambitions now, here and try to find common ground, rather than at the end of Tuonela, should we be victorious, to start fighting eachother," said Hendrik Saar calmly and slowly. "Should be victorious? Of course we will be victorious, we have God by our side!" said Udo Vesik loudly. Hendrik Saar rolled him eyes in a very subtle way.

"There are some things that need to be organised and at the end of this meeting, I want you to sign the Accord we will come to and we will organise a press meeting to fully proclaim the kingdom and our unity," said Saar. A worker of the embassy came and offer coffees to the four men. "The first thing. Our union should really be a union, not just four movements which have come together to fight a common enemy and then disperse. That is why I want to dissolve all our political groups and create a united movement for the nation. I decided to go with the name of National Union, to emphasise on the idea of the nation state and the unity behind it. The disuse of other epithets will show that we don't have anything to do with the old and corrupt parliamentary democracy," said Hendrik Saar as he put some sugar and milk in his coffee. "For?" The other three rose their hands. "Good. No nays, no abstains." He made a pause and then took a sip of his coffee.

"Next..." he said as he took another paper. "Alvar Tamm will be invested as monarch under the name of King Alvar VI and the titles of King of Virumaa and the North, Duke of Pohjamaad, Count of Saaremaa, Defender of the Faith and Grandmaster of the Sovereign Military Order of the Knights of the Viridian Cross. All for?" he said looking at the other three as they raised their hands. The other people in the room applauded everytime a new point was ticked as successful. "Considering our success and the fact that our fight against communism is bellum iustum and probably as close to a crusade as we can be, I might contact the holy see and manage to make the Holy Father offer his majesty the title of the Most Catholic King..." said Hendrik Saar thoughtful after he signed some more papers and took another sip of his coffee.

"The name of the country is to be reverted back to the pre-1957 anomaly, to the Kingdom of Virumaa or in latin, Regnum Viruniensis. All for?" His question was again followed by three raised hands, applauses and another sip of the coffee. "Of course, we will do more than just renaming the country. We will return it to its glory. We will govern following the social teaching of the Church and provide a real moderate and efficient government by culling the excesses of modernity, such as liberalism and communism, while also respecting human life and dignity. The whole idea of staying away from excesses is what really helps us building a foundations on which the generations to come will build the house of Lord, here on this world," said the Archbishop and the others nodded in approval.

"Now, the most problematic part. The government. I have a few propositions. First, as much as I respect you and your party, Mr. Kapp, I do not want to hear of the idea of Koit Sisask being the State Elder. I am sorry, but we had the chance to return the state back to its traditional monarchy in 1985 and thanks to him, we had an era of what he called liberal democracy, which we have all seen how great it was, that it brought forward Marxism-Leninovism into our country," said Saar as he took a final sip of his coffee and looked at the NDP representative in the eyes. Quickly an embassy clerk came to fill his coffee cup. "With all due respect, you Grace, while I do believe that Koit Sisask has made grave errors in his earlier political career, he has now helped us the most as he managed to bring the State Elder of Loago to join our cause and soon Cabaon too and he provided us with the funds to organise Tuonela..." said Laur Kapp hastily, but he was interrupted. "The eight commandment condemns lying. Paavo Laht of Loago promised his help of Cabaon is taken by us, and me and Linda Tarvas have made sure that it will happen soon," said Hendrik Saar sternly, but before Laur Kapp could say something, he continued. "But you are right. Koit Sisask of today is not the same as of yesterday and he has done a lot of efforts to amend his errs. I will accept him as part of the government, but not State Elder. I will take that position. As I am the Church's representative and currently our faith is what fuels our return to tradition, it is only natural," said Saar looking at the others, waiting to see any opposition.

"So, if we are to respect our promise to Paavo Laht, he will be made Count of Rakke and the Marshall of the Catholic and Royal Army. In his empty place we will appoint a Vice-Roy," said Saar as he looked around the room. "Mr. Kapp, you complained about the harsh weather in Imavere. I would say that the Himyari heat will help you with your arthritis," said Saar as he looked Laur Kapp in his eyes. He tried to complain but he stopped. "Linda Tarvas has requested the ministry of foreign affairs, which she will receive as I think she is our most experienced diplomat currently. Mr Rootare, you worked as an ideologist for the National-Syndicalist Party and their corporatist policies. I want you to be the Minister of Social Security. Mr Vesik, I want you to take either education or culture. We will need the youth to be educated in the spirit of Traditionalism. Bigger ministries like finance, economy and such I want to be filled by technocrats. They will be neutral and we will choose them in unanimity. All in favour?" The last point was again followed by all hands up, applause and a sip of coffee.

Natal · Sep 30, 2018

Fact #37: Signed in 1957, the Status of Maseru Act gives Loago full independence and makes it an equal to Virumaa, government wise, but creates a political and economic union between the two, called the Viridian Union. The Status of Ajdir was proposed in 2017 by Sheikh Fela Kazi, but it was turned down by the Cabaonian local parliament.

Ajdir, Cabaon

The plan took more than five years to organise and as Linda Tarvas and Mihkel Vaino have said it before, it was organised in such a way to try to take Koit Sisask and his "United Republic" by surprise. But the events of 2018 took even the traditionalist or "Tammist" faction by surprise and they suspended their plans until recently. The fact that Koit Sisask and the National Democratic Party have joined them in a bid to end the communist regime of Kuressaare, meant that they had even more supporters than anticipated. Thus, as Linda Tarvas and even Hendrik Saar hoped, Operation Tuonela might even be a coup d'etat if it is successful and not push the country on the brink of civil war.

Sheikh Fela Kazi received a call two days ago from Linda Tarvas in which he was asked to begin Operation Tuonela in Cabaon, to show Paavo Laht, the State Elder of Loago that their group is ready and has the power to strike against regime. He left Ajdir and went to the Sharif Muhammad Base, where the biggest military unit, made of Urudoah soldiers, nearly all of them loyal to the resistance movement as they were seeing in it a chance for Cabaonian emancipation.

In the very early morning, the units left in a long column towards Ajdir. Taking the city's pro-Kuressaare garrison by surprise, the Urudoah started firing mortars towards the barracks of the local unit, the "International Volunteer Battalion". It wasn't a true battalion, but it was a vestige from the 1957 war, when foreign communists came to support Roman Becker they were put together in this volunteer unit. Today there were mostly Virunians serving in it, but the regime still kept the name.

While much of the column laid siege to the barracks, Fela Kazi ordered his men to go to the city's Kasbah where the local and provincial administration was situated. It was exactly 5 am when his soldiers stormed the fortress. Fela Kazi opened the door to the office of Premier Asaru Toure after his men declared the building secure.

The Premier was sitting by the window looking towards the smoke rising from the barracks. "Well... I wasn't really expecting you to go this far," said Asaru Toure as he turned towards Fela Kazi. "It seems that you want to condemn Cabaon with everything you have at your disposal. You might take control of Ajdir, but Kuressaare will respond. Kadikistan will respond and because of you, we might see the Great War spilling over into Himyar," said the Premier with a slow voice. "I think that the SQT would survive, especially now that we are cleaning Himyar of the communist influences, and thus be sure that the treaty is respected. Asaru Toure, you are hereby arrested by the Cabaonian Army for your collaboration with the regime in Kuressaare and for your organisation of an economical and cultural genocide against the people of Cabaon," said Fela Kazi as two Urudoah soldiers, wearing beige uniforms and red fezzes hand cuffed the Premier and took him out of the office. Right as Asaru Toure was arrested, Fela Kazi received a report on the radio: "We see white flags on the barracks." It was time to report his victory to the resistance.

Saint Maarika Palace, Maseru, Loago

Koit Sisask, Linda Tarvas and Paavo Laht were waiting for news from Cabaon. They were sitting in the nordic style decorated office of the State Elder, each with a cup of tea in front of them, but seldom taking a sip of it. Koit was reading some reports about the activities of the Forest Brothers which were supplied to the government in exile by double agents working for the RKT. "The Forest Brothers are really brutal," commented Koit, breaking the deafening silence and the tension. "Yes, they are. We must be sure that they fully recognise our government once we finish Operation Tuonela," said Linda absently.

"Look at this. They attacked the Rapla Prison after it was rumoured that Father Ronan was assassinated, they ambushed a convoy around Kallaste and in the mountains, south of Raasiku, a small group of Forest Brothers managed to outsmart a company of the Democratic Army by creating confusion and then just looking at the show at how the communists were shooting at each other," said Koit visibly impressed. "They really are good," he continued. "Yes, that is why you must move quicker. If Cabaon won't push the Kuressaare regime to desperation, even if it would be successful or not, the Forest Brothers will," said Paavo Laht after he touched his cup and seeing that it cooled, he drank it all in one sip. "Yes, even if Fela Kazi fails us, we must declare Operation Tuonela. The regime will start paying much attention to what is happening with the Forest Brothers fucking things up and they might destroy our operation. I will not let them fuck up an operation that we have worked for in the last 5 years at least. If they will manage to find out about our plan before we start it, we are fucked. We are at risk because Fela Kazi doesn't report anything as of yet and because of those lumberjack hicks," said Linda annoyed.

"We might have to call for Operation Tuonela even without the takeover of Cabaon, if we are at risk. If you said that its 5 years in the making, it's prepared," said Koit looking at the clock. A soldier knocked on the door and entered. "Sir, Fela Kazi reported. Cabaon has been liberated," he said after saluting. Paavo Laht nodded in approval and muttered something. "Very well, commence operation Tuonela," said Linda Tarvas with a grave voice.

Natal · Oct 1, 2018

Fact #422: While Pronouncements are seen as a characteristic of Aurarian politics, there is a long tradition of seeing them in Virunian politics too, possible an influence from Auraria thanks to the centuries old alliance between the two countries. Past Virunian Pronouncements are the Huti Declaration of 1830, the Raasiku Declaration of 1945 and the Imavere Declaration of 1957. But but the Imavere Declaration managed to bring a change in government while also avoiding a civil war.

Heroes' Square, Kuressaare, Lounamaad

Viktoria Sokk and Jaak Raud were standing in the offices of the Supreme Revolutionary Council in the Green Place, the seat of the government and were watching as tanks and APCs were flooding the main boulevards of the city and then stopped in the Heroes' Square. "It's good that they arrived. We need to be protected, now that we might have a second event like the one in 1957 on our hands," said Viktoria Sokk as she went away from the window and returned to her desk. "Do we have contact with those units?" asked Jaak Raud concerned. "No, but they wouldn't have passed through the whole defences of the city to come here if they were with the rebels," said Viktoria Sokk. Raud was still unimpressed, as he was looking outside towards the tanks. "There is still time," said Raud. "You want to run to Kadikistan? Right now when they are ready to put the whole of Germania on its knees?" asked Sokk angrily.

"Listen to yourself. You forgot how we managed to take control. We came on a wave of discontent against neoliberal economic reforms. We pushed for that referendum by bluffing that we have the control of the army. I tried to put in command officers that are politically reliable, but with this pronouncement, I am not sure that we the critical mass of support necessary to even start a civil war against the putchists, let alone manage to deal with them in one blow," said Jaak Raud as he started moving nervously from one part of the room to another. "Then we will soon see how successful you were," said Viktoria Sokk. "You were the one who brought this upon us. If you would have moved slower with you reforms..." he stopped and sighed but continued, "The end game was to make Virumaa a country free from the Catholic mentality, but we knew that we were walking on a minefield and the fact that that fucking glade burned to a crisp simply showed that instead of treading carefully, we ran around like idiots, activating all the fucking mines!" he yelled, but was stopped by a knock on the door.

A soldier entered the room and saluted. "Comrades, we have the reports. South and Eastern Lounamaad remained loyal, together with western Pohjamaad and southern Sakala, along the Ivernian border. Also, the local chapter of the SRP in Novi Seversk has managed to take control of the city," the soldier reported in a quick voice. "Good job, you kept control of one third of the county..." said Jaak Raud in a mocking tone. "You know, if you want, you can move your ass to Rurikgrad and enjoy the show from there. It might suit you better to just run away. We actually have the best third of the country. We have the ports of Kuressaare, Salavere and Jaani and thus we can receive support from Kadikistan. No one cares or needs the depopulated tundras and taigas of Pohjamaad. We need to concentrate on Kerdla," said Viktoria Sokk. "Make a call to Sergei Moravscik in Kadikistan. He has experience in dealing with Virunian fascists," she then said to the soldier who saluted again and left the room.

Aa Manor, Kerdla, Ugandi

General Andrus Masing was heading the junta that was created in response to the Pronouncement. He hoped that everything would end quickly with a coup d'etat that would depose the communist regime, but it seems that the emphasis on the military of Beckerism and the nostalgia for the good days of 1957 that still persisted around Raasiku has made his plans to fall apart. He looked at the map and saw that while he managed to gain the support of two thirds of the garrisons in the country, one third still remained loyal to Kuressaare. Sadly, the most important third: the Eastern and Southern parts of Lounamaad.

"As of today, we are fighting under the banner of the Catholic and Royal Army. I will be acting supreme commander of the army until Paavo Laht will come from Loago here to join us," said Andrus Masing as the other signatory generals were joining around a table where a map of Virumaa has shown the presence of royalist and communist forces. "We will need to concentrate in keeping our link with Pohjamaad alive, so we must fortify Vaatsa and expect a communist offensive there. Parila sits in a very good position strategically speaking. The garrison there can resist a siege, especially if we will manage to supply them from the lake. I would say that we must not rush. An attack on Kuressaare now might be suicidal. I would propose to create a defensive line along the front in Lounamaad from the Gothic Sea to Lake Jaala. I want the Forest Brothers to keep the communist forces in the north occupied, while we mount an attack on Pernu, so we take the only port they have in that enclave, so they won't receive supplies from Kadikistan. Also, I want the White Sea mined, especially in the straits between Laanemaa, Hiiumaa, Pohjalinn and Vendra, so we might limit the access of the Kadikistani Snieg Ocean fleet. We must expect a Kadikistani participation, so I want you all to show that we have learned from the mistakes we did 60 years ago. What out for the skies, as we might be overwhelmed by the Kadikistani air force, even if they fight a war. But first, at the exact moment in which the ultimatum expires, I want our airforces to be in the air and launch everything they have on the main air bases around Raasiku and Kuressaare, so at least should the enemy dominate afterwards the sky, it will be the Kadiki, not Virunians. Also in the eastern istmus, our forces from Kalev, Valga and Puurmani, should move to take Tareste and then with haste move towards Oru. We must take as much territory as possible before Kadikistan starts bringing in the bulk of its forces," said the general as he debriefed the others. "Any questions?" he asked. "No, sir," they responded. "Good, don't forget. Jumal Meiega!" he said to raise their morale.

Saint Maarika Palace, Maseru, Loago

"So the coup failed," said Koit Sisask. "It seems so. We have a war to fight," said Linda Tarvas. "We have done our end of the deal. We have shown you that we have some fighting force and have taken Cabaon, now we really need your support for this," Linda continued as she looked at Paavo Laht.

"Yes, you will have my support. Like I said, the government in Loago needs foreign support and currently with only Eiffelland recognising it, it lives on borrowed time. We need the support and recognition that the current government in exile enjoys and is ready to provide us with it too. That is why we here are too dependent on your success, so the Loagan Army is ready to fight in the north. It will take for it to arrive but we will mobilise as fast as possible," said Paavo Laht and he started making some calls.

MAP OF VIRUMAA

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Natal · Oct 2, 2018

The Autumn War - Phase 1

Pernu

The war that Linda Tarvas and Mihkel Vaino worked for so much to avoid has started. During the night, the 6th, 7th and 9th Air Brigades attacked the military air base in Saku, which was the only one in the still communist aligned enclave. The first casualties of the war already appeared as the 14th Anti Aircraft Battery based there managed to shoot down two jet fighters, before the base was overwhelmed by both aerial bombardment and land based artillery fired from the nearly CaR units, as the frontlines were stretching right around the city. This offered the CaR Army a respite in the north until the dreaded Kadikistani Air Force would join the fray and the battle for the domination of the Virunian air would truly begin.

Roman Haas was a captain of Celsius Company from the 53rd Motor Rifle Regiment, based in Lihula. It was one of the few Regiments of the 7th Motor Rifle Division which has sided with the traditionalists and thus remained in the 3rd Army. He looked at the map of the Area of Operation which covered the regions around Pernu and the Pabra Gulf situated north of it. To the east of his units, on the other side of the town was a huge military base where the whole of the 7th Motor Rifle Division, part of the Democratic Army was based. From the south-east, the friendly 13th Tank Brigade (3rd Army) was moving in and to the north, the friendly 18th Motor Rifle Division was arriving from Sakala. It could be a certain victory, he thought, as they were outnumbering the communist forces two to one and they also have control of the air, so they will have the luxury of aerial strikes to support them. But he knew he must not take all this for granted. A lot can change only in a matter of minutes. Militarism was a tradition in Virumaa and Haas had an ancestry filled with proud soldiers and officers. His grandfather fought in the same place he is fighting now in the Arctic War of 1957, but he was fighting for the Leninovists, as the majority of Germans in those days were supporting Roman Becker. Now, it was the other way around.

Three jet planes flew over him, past the city. He heard three explosions afterward in a quick sequence and a rising plume of black smoke coming from the direction of the base. "Everyone ok and ready?" he asked the soldiers in his APC. Most of them nodded in silent approval. "I fucking hate waiting, captain, we should be kicking their asses already... That was the whole point. Take them by surprise..." said Egon Aare, the APCs driver. Haas looked at him and couldn't stop but smirk at the comical appearance of the corporal, as he his helmet looked like it was too big for him. "Don't question the tactical plan. At least not yet. We shit starts going down, then you can do it," said Haas after which he put some dipping tobacco in his mouth. Another wing flew over them and again it was followed by another set of explosions and black smoke.

"All units, we are ready to advance. We will enter the city, as we will be flanked by our colleagues from Sakala, so be away of friendly units on your right. Over," the static on the radio felt a little too strong but understandable. "Roger that. Command, what are out rules of engagement?" asked Haas. "You are authorised to engage armed hostiles in uniform. Over and out," the response came right back. Haas sighed and made the cross sign. "Brass check all weapons and be ready. It is time to earn some money," he said.

The 13th Tank brigade will be avoiding the city to create a pincer move on the hostile division and thus have the enemy caught between the crossfire of the Motor Rifle Regiment, the 18th Motor Rifle Division and the constant bombing of the Air Forces.

Tareste

While the fight for aerial domination of Pojhamaad was quick and victorious for the traditionalists, the fight for the south was a bit more complicated, as hostile owned Lounamaad still have two active air battalions and also a clear corridor to Rurikgrad and Kadikistan. During the night there were fights between the communist 2nd Air Brigade and its attack squadron and the 5th and 9th air brigades. It ended up with some casualties for the CaR Air Force, but it managed to disable the attack squadron of the 2nd Air Brigade, thus leaving the communist regime only with the Kuressaare based attack squadron, which they were keeping for the aerial defence of the capital itself.

The 2nd and the 17th Motor Rifle Divisions were moving along side the coast of Jaala Lake to enter the easternmost isthmus and take control of Tareste, while the rest of the Second Army and the parts of the 3rd Army not engaged in the battle for Pernu were moving alongside the central isthmus to reinforce the loyalist parts of the 1st Army and thus to stop any sort of offensive from Kuressaare and Raasiku.

Kerdla

General Andrus Masing was considering the fact that the main frigate units of the navy sided with the royalists a blessing. During the night he ordered Commodore Udo Ilves to use the AEGIS weapons system of the 6 Maausk Class frigates to bomb the Kuressaare Military Air Base and the bases of the communist aligned 1st Army units that were garrisoning the capital. He knew that the rocket system was invaluable and will be a principal target either of the still communist aligned submarine units or the Kadikistani air force, so after the launching of around 40 rockets towards those targets, he ordered them to retreat to the Kerdla Port, where the natural gulf and the coastal and anti-air defences will protect them.

Natal · Oct 3, 2018

The Autumn War - The Rabid Bear

Kivestmagi Mountains, North of Ulja

Erika Must was a 25 year old student, who lived before the recent events in Imavere and was born in Rakke. Her father and brother were both priers in the town and even an uncle too studied theology in Imavere, even if he didn't receive a parish and thus become a priest. In the spring, when the communists took over, her world was shattered. His brother was known to frequent meetings of the Traditionalist Union as it was a politically active family in an extremely conservative environment. One night, a white-green coloured van of the RKT came and took her father and brother and she never heard from them again. A few days before Operation Tuonela, her mother received a telegram saying that the two have been killed by the Ivernian Border Guards as they escaped and tried to illegally cross the border. This is what made her join the Forest Brothers and stories like hers were shared by many in the brotherhood. They vied for personal revenge mostly and were coming from deeply religious and arch-conservative backgrounds. This is what made even the soldiers and officers of the CaR to see the brothers as a radical bunch.

She joined the defence of the Glade of Saint Andrus, around Kallaste and was under the command of Sister Heidi Mark. After that, she was taken by Father Evert Nurme, who was known as the Rabid Bear and their column was activating in the Kivestmagi Mountains. They went from village to village and literally hunted anyone the villagers reported as collaborators. In only a week, her group visited 10 villages and killed over 50 people. This attracted the attention of the People's Militia, which has sent a group to find them. Just yesterday, on the first day of the official war, Erika Must, who started to question her participation in this manhunt, got to feel the realities of the guerrilla war. Evert, of the Rabid Bear, truly war rabid, in her opinion. While they were hunting in the villages, they were usually executing the collaborators by firing squad, but sometimes, when Evert was in his mood, he was killing them barehanded.

Yesterday, they achieved a great victory. A militia company of around 200 soldiers was sent after them from Ulja. Evert broke his 24 partisan group in two in an attempt to lure the militia to follow them. His plan succeeded as they divided their units and pursued them. Thinking of yesterday, Erika started to feel that Evert is some psychopath, because his actions and then that plan truly was the creation of such a mind. He played the militia groups on his fingers and literally just put them face to face then ambushed them. In the confusion that was created, more soldiers fell thanks to friendly fire than being shot by the forest brothers.

Now the group was in its camp, resting. Erika started thinking to desert the group and join the CaR as she started to hear that even the royalists and traditionalists were thinking that the Forest Brothers are a bunch of trigger happy loose cannons and she didn't want to participate in war crimes. The sounds of the dead leaves being trampled put the partisans in alert.

"Wait, we're friends! We come in peace!" yelled a man in front of a column made of around 25 men and women. The whole partisan group were already gun in hands aiming at the newcomers. "Who are you?" asked the Bear. "We're civilians. Villagers from Tabasalu. The authorities are searching for you and took us all out of our houses. We want to escape to the royalist lines," said the man, visibly scared. The Bear was ready to back down, but one of his soldiers caught his attention. "Commander, check this guy's buckle," said the partisan. Evert went there and opened the belt of the man the partisan was pointing at. He took the belt and looked at the buckle. It was was a military issue. The man was scarred and he tried to plead for his innocence: "Pl... please... I... I deserted... they wanted me to kill villagers... They said that if I don't do it, they would kill me for collaborating with you," he said stuttering. "I'd call bullshit on that. If you came here to find our position, you are in the wrong," said the Bear. One could hear the deep hate in his voice. In a quick move, he took his gun and started firing. He quickly took down at least 20 of the people who came to the camp in a first move. Erika was shocked, like many of the forest brothers. She started panicking and hyperventilating but tried to hide it from the others. It was clear for her. She had to escape this and join the CaR.

Natal · Oct 5, 2018

The Autumn War - Phase 1

Pernu

The battle of Pernu has been raging in the last three days. The weather warning has proved to be true as during the last night snow has fallen as temperatures dropped to -5 degrees Celsius. Roman Haas usually loved winter. That is why he was happy when he heard that he was assigned to the 3rd Army. But he loved it when they had winter clothing. The war disrupted the supply and the cold front took many by surprise and thus the soldiers have been told that their winter uniforms will be arriving a week or two late.

Their unit has passed through Pernu, flanked by the huge 18th Motor Rifle Division to the north, and by the 13th Tank Brigade to the south. In the last three days, the mortar units attached to the Democratic Army's 7th Rifle Division has fired on them, but after two hunter-killer sniper teams have been brought up to kill their spotters, the enemy mortar fire became more sparse and in general more random. They had their armoured cars parked along one of the streets at the outskirts of the town, with the enemy military base housing the communist division 1 kilometre in front of them and the friendly units moving from the north and south in a pincer movement to attack the besieged enemy infantry division.

"Roger that, Alpha One Actual. Grid Echo 1004/1554 Lima Lima. Ten guns. Splashdown in five seconds," came the radio confirmation after one recon team gave the protocols for an artillery strike on the military base. "Splash in five seconds!" yelled Haas. The whistle sounds of projectiles could have been heard immediately afterwards and was followed by three explosions in the base followed by a huge explosion that made even Haas' car vibrate. "Well, there goes the ammo depot and some soldiers. Now if the Ivernians will invade us and we won't have ammo, we know who to blame," said Egon Aare, the designated driver while smoking a cigarette. "Let's just see this end already," said Roman. The bombing was followed by three mortar strikes coming towards Haas' unit. Two hit the ground at a safe distance, while the last one hit the apartment complex on the street they were parked on. The building was evacuated, but Roman started thinking if his unit or the 18th Motor Rifle Division are breaking some sort of laws of war as the communist propaganda could accuse them of positioning themselves in front of the city as a way of using the civilians and the town as a shield.

The batteries of multiple rocket launchers from the 18th Rifle Division started firing a rolling barrage towards the military base, behind it the tanks rolling in. The strategy was to overwhelm the base and thus destroy the main point of resistance in the enclave. Roman was happy. Their unit did its duty, as a reconnaissance unit and provided the ass with artillery strikes and intelligence. Now they were watching from behind as the real armour and infantry fighting vehicles were marching in to finish what the three day bombardment of the base did not.

On the road towards Oru

General Ants Kaljurand was seen sometimes as the best of all the generals and sometimes as the strangest. While many would prefer to lead from behind and having a general view of the action, he was one who wanted to lead from the front. He was a tank commander and was heading a Regimental Combat Team that was organised from the units based in Kalev, Valga and Puurmani and has managed to take control of Tareste and now was moving south.

He was moving extremely slow, as guerrilla fighters were continuously attacking his unit. After taking Tareste, in the first night spent on the road towards Oru, he had to keep the soldiers at 100% activity, as during the whole night, hunter-killer RPG teams were continuously ambushing and attacking them. He lost three tanks but he estimated that around 70 communist partisans have been killed by his men. Even so, he was weary. He knew that to his east, the town of Parila was under attack by the communists, but he didn't meet with the resistance he was expecting. He was most likely hoping to be the victorious hero of a tank battle like the one in Kaisvere in 1957, but the lack of armoured and regular army resistance meant that the communists were redeploying to the east, to the Ugandi-Lounamaad front and around Kuressaare. So for him it meant that the Kadikistanis must soon arrive and that would be when the war will truly become bloody. Even so, the resistance on the road was stiff and delayed him in his arrival to Oru.

Aa Manor, Kerdla

Koit Sisask was the first of the government in exile to jump on the plane immediately after Operation Tuonela commenced. He had good reason to do it. He won't forget, nor will he forgive and he still had much influence around Virumaa. Much more than a bunch of monarchists that left the country sixty years ago. He flew from Loago to Auraria, then to Ivernia and then crossed the border to come to Ugandi, and its capital, Kerdla, where the HQ of the White Army was situated. After a much needed rest, he presented himself in front of the Army's General Staff and asked for a status report.

"As of yet, we are overwhelming the enclave. Soon, the base at Pernu will have fallen and with the offensives from Lihula and Imavere we are creating a pincer movement around Rakku. The Forest Brothers have taken control of the mountains north of Ulja and we have managed to take Saku, thus leaving the enclave with no airport," said General Andrus Masing. "That is great, general. I have deep faith in our soldiers in the north in making sure that the enclave disaster will not repeat like in 1057. But the problem is the south. In the end, our current «city of the world's desire» is Kuressaare and we want it back," said Koit Sisask.

"You excellency, as you might know, we are redeploying units from the north to the south to the front lines of Lounamaad. General Kaljurand is leading an offensive in the east but is bogged down by severe partisan activity. We believe that the whole of Lounamaad, especially the mountains around Raasiku are filled with the dreaded Democratic Guard, the military wing of the party and thus they are fanatics. But we have some other issues as of yet. General Kaljurand isn't reporting resistance from the Democratic Army and this makes us fear that they are deploying to the west in anticipation of the offensive we have said it will be done to try to cut us here in Kerdla from the north," said General Masing as he shown Sisask the lines of the front.

"Well, I would say that the units we have here in the south, who were just waiting this offensive, should do what they are the best at and attack," said Sisask. "It's time to seize the initiative here in the south too, where it is the most important. We must take back our homes from the godless communists. We must commence the battle of Kuressaare," Sisask continued. "You excellency, while I understand the need to move and have the initiative, it is risky. We decided to be on the defensive because we might have been separated from Pohjamaad by a communist offensive," said Masing. "I'd say the risk has been averted, as the units from Imavere and Loksa are already moving down the isthmus, Saku has been taken, the enclave is pierced by our forces in more than one point as we speak. Harku can be easily defended thanks to the highland terrain. North of it are our reinforcements arriving from the north and to the south, along the coast we are unleashing hell towards Kuressaare to take our city back. Understand general, we have a timer until the Kadikistani arrive and we must do anything humanely possible to take control of as much of the country as we can before they arrive," said Koit Sisask. "Then just give the order to attack," said Masing. "Very well, commence operation Kullervo," said Sisask.

CURRENT STATUS OF THE WAR

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Northern Cooperative Unions · Oct 17, 2018

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Tareste

Late at night in the frigid boreal forests of Virumaa, the howl of jet engines filled the sky. A squadron of
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ground attack planes, totaling about twenty, commenced guided missile strikes against targets on the outskirts of Tareste. The semi-modern craft dropped their 600 pound bombs - replacing the traditionalist attack craft previously destroyed. The strike was a hit-and-run attack following Northern military doctrine. After their payloads were delivered, the aircraft bugged out back towards their airbases on the "Idamaa" coast in Teutonia. The air defenses caused a loss of two aircraft in the action. Similar strike would commence along the eastern coasts of Virumaa.

Elben · Oct 19, 2018

Delivered by hand to Archbishop Saar:

Königreich Elben
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Communique 2018-10-18/01
Marked: Top Secret

To the leadership of the anti-communist forces of Virumaa, greetings!

Volunteers in Elben continue to express their wish to be able to travel to Virumaa and join with White forces in the counterrevolution. We are prepared to facilitate the creation of a German-speaking unit, properly armed and outfitted for combat in cold climes. As they are subjects of His Majesty the King, we can guarantee their infantry training according to Elbener army standards.

If this is agreeable, we shall move forward and see these volunteers to appropriate sending-off points as soon as possible.

Northern Cooperative Unions · Oct 20, 2018

SAKALA

The arctic surf bubbled as if it were boiling in the moon-lit sea. The tower of a midget submarine emerged from the surf just off the boreal coasts of Sakala. A crimson star was blazoned on the side of the vessel's tower. Several minutes after surfacing, a large contingent of frogmen clambered to the top deck and onto the sides of the submarine with shortened carbines. Rafts were blown up and inflated by frogmen with rebreathers and flippers. Jokes were told throughout the night with some quiet laughter piercing the silence.

Gradually, the group of twenty special forces frogmen jumped into the boats with large containers of equipment among them. They paddled towards the coast of Sakala towards their target in Vendra. Their mission was to cause as much chaos as possible - four other forces of twenty men, totaling 100 men, would land throughout the week. The plan? To draw the Whites away from the offensives in the South and tie down their forces tracking the guerrillas. The Northern Realms practiced guerrilla fighting on a daily basis among their regular forces, to be a member of the Revolutionary Guards was to excel at it. Training involved improvised explosives, bombings, taking hostages, burglaries, and all sorts of criminal action. Compared to their Kadikistani counterparts, the Northern Realms' Special Forces were not nearly as large or equipped, but they were well-trained in acts of terror.

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