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latomus · 07-20-2018, 04:52 PM

Tripping over another lump of concrete in the pitch-black street, he stumbled into a man lighting his way by the faintest light of the face of his wristwatch. After mumbling his apologies, he asked the man for the time.
"1:18 in the morning," the man replied languidly, rubbing his face. "Couldn't the Lords wait till sun-up?" the man laughed, trying to lighten the situation.

He didn't have time to laugh or reply. His mind was fixed on the fact that he had wasted an entire hour since the quake searching the tenement complex and the surrounding neighborhood—or what remained of it—for a working phone. He hurried back to the complex, to the ruins of his home. He found his wife and two daughters sitting on an overturned wall, their silhouettes illuminated by distant orange rays.

"How are you holding up?" he asked his wife.
"Okay," she lied again, her voice a hoarse whisper. He didn't trust her this time. He knelt down, feeling her arm and her leg. She winced when his fingers brushed a shard of glass embedded in her leg.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered. Their two daughters looked on curiously behind his shoulder.
"For their sake," she nodded to them.

A breeze kicked up the dust from the collapsed tenement around them. It left behind an acrid smell in his nostrils, and he looked towards where it blew from. Down the hill, the orange heat was growing brighter. There were no sirens carried on the breeze, no flashing lights beyond. Wherever emergency services were, they certainly weren't on this side of the city, and having just searched uselessly for a phone, he knew there was no way to contact them anyway. The fire was sweeping towards their neighborhood, turning the brick and concrete buildings into black-torched husks, and the wooden ones to ash.

His wife was in no condition to move. Her skin felt cold and pallid. If he squinted in the dark, he could see her shaking. Something had to be done to save the neighborhood long enough for his wife to find medical attention. For once in a long time, he thanked the Lords for their help. They gave him a job with his very own country's Office of Emergency Planning, in the Department of Health.

"Stay here," he told his wife. He pulled his daughters over to her, clasped their hands together. "Stay with your mother." Then he was off again, rushing into the night, now silhouetted against orange and gold by the surging flames.

He spotted a figure in the dark—a tall stranger closely followed the beam of his own flashlight, using it to guide him over the rocky debris that now filled the park between the four buildings in the tenement complex. Only one still stood tall against the night and the mountains. He grabbed the man's arm. "I need your help."
"Who're you?" the man grunted, flashing the light in his face.
"Antay Qullqi." he fumbled through the pocket of his pajamas, thankful he hadn't forgotten his wallet. He showed his government ID to the man. "I work for the Department of Health."
The man brought the light to his feet. As Antay's eyes adjusted back to the darkness, he could count four more tall figures that now shadowed the man in front of him—maybe his friends, or his brothers.
"What'd'ya want?"
Antay pointed down the hill at the rising light. "That fire's coming this way, and the fire department isn't. I need to get everyone here organized into a fire brigade. We have to build a firebreak before it gets here."
"I have to find my sister first," the man replied. The other men circled him, nodding in agreement.
"If she's still pinned under the rubble when that fire comes, she'll be burned alive. As soon as we get a firebreak built, you can go back to looking for her."
The man thought about it for a moment, looking to his companions for advice. They talked in hushed whispers for a while. Finally, he turned back to Antay, extending a hand for him to shake. "Let's go."

Antay's impromptu fire brigade grew from six men to eight, from eight to sixteen, and from sixteen to near forty within the half-hour. He led them to Quriquyllur Avenue at the base of the hill, the wide four-lane street for which the neighborhood was named. Even from here, they could feel the oncoming heat. Antay cleared his throat and spoke to them.
"Listen up. The fire will come up Chuya Street to the intersection behind me. If nothing is done, it will continue up the hill to our homes and our families, and there will be nowhere for the injured or trapped to go. We are going to build a firebreak—a tall wall—to make sure that doesn't happen."
"What are we building it out of?" a man in the crowd asked.
"From the debris at your feet. Anything nonflammable—the broken asphalt here, the split curb over there. We'll build it on the median. We need it tall—three or four meters high for five blocks all the way down to Shumaq Street over there."
There were a few incredulous murmurs at the size he proposed.
"Do we have any tools?" one asked.
Antay shook his head. "Let's get to work."

The men, still shocked, didn't start putting their backs into it until they watched him pick up the first few bricks himself and toss them onto the median. Even when they did, Antay knew it wasn't enough men to get the job done, even if they had the whole night to do it. They had maybe an hour or two before the fire reached them. Borrowing a flashlight, he rushed back up the hill, searching for any other able-bodied survivors, and flashing his badge in their faces to get them down to the road to help. Within another half-hour, he had brought their number to a hundred.

A hundred men still wasn't enough. Antay organized a triage area on the site of the old playground, tying tarps between the twisted steel of monkey bars and swing set frames. His wife was the first patient that a nurse—the closet they had to a medical professional on the scene—tended to. The rest of the injured quickly swarmed the area, dozens lying and groaning and writhing in pain while the frantic nurse and a few of her deputized assistants bounced from patient to patient with what supplies they had—when those ran out, they tore off shirts to make bandages, belts to make tourniquets. With that finished, he turned back to the tenements and surrounding buildings, enlisting even the little dust-covered boys to build the firebreak. When he returned, the flames were close enough to see in the dark as if it were daylight, or at least twilight, and stray embers floated on the wind like fireflies. Someone had taken charge in Antay's absence at gathering shovels, brooms, wheelbarrows, and anything else they could use to haul rubble to the median. With the blaze now well within sight, they worked at a frenzied pace to pile the wall up as high as they can. Antay hoped it was tall enough.

The fire reached the firebreak at quarter to 3. They watched on their side of the avenue, exhausted from the heavy lifting, as the bright glow smashed against their defenses. A few tongues of flame licked over the top, but the whole brigade sighed with relief when it became evident it would not be able to cross. Even Antay drooped his head in gratitude—until someone in the dark shouted "Fire!" behind them. They all glanced up, and saw the flying embers setting fire to the roof of a storefront behind them.

"We don't have any water!"
"Get your wife and kids!"
"Let's get out of here!"
Antay shouted over the panicking men. "Listen to me if you want to save your families! Grab every shovel and wheelbarrow you can. We'll douse it with dirt!"

He led a party of men up the stairs of the abandoned storefront, shovels in hand. They reached the top floor, where the fire was eating through the ceiling and onto the carpet and furniture. He kicked a hot coal out the window, onto the open street, then smothered a small lick of flame by dropping a dresser on it. The rest, clambering onto the bed and then, after busting their own hole through the roof, began throwing shovelfuls of dirt onto the fire that consumed it. Within only a few minutes, it all was extinguished, along with the men's fears.

They watched with the vigilance of hawks for any signs of fire in the the rest of the houses and storefronts, wrestling with two more over the coming hours. The fire, meanwhile, continued to rage beyond their firebreak until six in the morning, when it moved on after consuming everything combustible outside their neighborhood. The men cheered the rising sun and the fading flames, until the sun shone on all the devastation the earthquake and fire had caused; it had rendered the city and their homes totally unrecognizable. Antay thanked them for their help and dismissed them back to their families. He marched back to the triage area to look for his own.

By the time he reached it, he was surprised to find ambulances had arrived to cart the injured away—as well as a van conspicuously labelled "Department of Health" on its side. As he wiped the dirt and soot and dust from his face, the man who had driven it here grabbed him by the shoulder. "Antay!" he greeted him breathlessly. "Lords, not only are you alive..."

He recognized the beaming smile. It was his coworker, Chican. He smiled in return.
"...but you saved your whole neighborhood!" Chican exclaimed.
"I what?" Antay replied.
"You got them organized and built a firebreak, didn't you? We saw it from above, from a helicopter. We thought it was maybe spontaneous, but then when I drove out here myself they told me some 'Department of Health' man was leading this bucket brigade. Most courageous thing I've ever seen. You did good, Antay. Real good."
Antay nodded hollowly. "Look, Chican, I'm just looking for my wife and daughters."
"Oh, they're right over here. In the ambulance," he led Antay over.

Tucked into the gurney, his wife greeted him with a pained smile. "Thank you," she said briefly.
Their two daughters, sitting beside her in the ambulance, practically tackled their father when he approached. He laughed for the first time in what felt like forever as he hoisted them back on board, but it died down when he turned to the paramedic sitting opposite them in the ambulance.
"Is she going to be okay?" he asked the man.
The paramedic nodded. "We just need to get her to the hospital now."
He hopped up inside himself, reaching out to squeeze his wife's weakened hand. "I'll see you there," Antay comforted her. He turned back to glance at Chican. "But my work here isn't done yet." He climbed back out and waved his two daughters goodbye. "Look after your mother, alright?" he called as the paramedic shut the door and the ambulance sped off.

Chican nodded approvingly. "Brave and kindhearted. Have you ever considered running for President, Antay?" he grinned. Antay smiled and rolled his eyes. "Anyway," Chican continued. "Let's continue where you started. We're making this the relief center for everything west of the Quri, starting with clearing out a space for a helipad."
"A helipad?"
"Haven't you heard? The whole world's sending help."

President Quenti of the Qhichwa Republic had spent the past day living in an aircraft hangar and sipping on tepid coffee. The only thing that kept him positive after all the terrible news from the ground and on television was every bulletin from the Department of Foreign Affairs—unanimous had the nations of the world been in their condolences, and practically unanimous had they been in sending physical relief—expertise, supplies, volunteers. Now he watched the planes crowd the skies as thick as fleas, taking up even the taxiways as parking spaces as the international airport overfilled with cargo planes bringing welcome relief. Many had already been diverted to other international airports to the west, even military airbases. Even as the stream of refugees poured out of the city, the military had performed its duty well, rushing into the city to help extinguish fires and provide treatment to the injured. But without any coordination, all progress towards rebuilding would stop here, when he knew it would take more than just twenty-four hours to rebuild the capital of his battered country.

Now he sat on the dais in a conference room in the airport terminal, presiding over a jam-packed room of representatives from every aid organization and every relief effort from every corner of the world that had come. His Secretary of Health now took the podium to brief them on the situation, even as more streamed through the door.

"Yesterday's earthquake struck the capital of our republic, Mamaqaqa, just after midnight. The outlying towns and villages were also affected, but Mamaqaqa remains the primary focus of our relief efforts. Mamaqaqa sits in the Qhichwa highlands, in the valley of the Hatan Mountains. It is situated on the confluence of the Quri and the Kichka rivers. We have established three relief centers in the city over the past day that we seek international assistance in supporting. One is located on the west bank of the Quri in the Quriquyllur neighborhood, a mostly residential and commercial area. One is located in the Capital District, directly south of the confluence. The last is located on the east bank of the Kichka, near the remains of the Old City. We will distribute aid to the population through these three locations, as well as administer medical assistance and evacuation if necessary."

"The earthquake and its aftershocks have disturbed the landscape as well as the city. We expect landslides to continue throughout the coming days. The fires have mostly been put out, but continue to ravage parts of the city west of the Quri. There remains no access to consistent water pressure or electrical power anywhere in the city, so you will need to bring both potable water and power sources with you everywhere you go. We request the assistance of engineers with restoring these to working condition as quickly as possible."

"Lastly, we are establishing refugee camps along the National Highway north and south of the city. We will require the assistance of volunteers and equipment in clearing an area to build temporary housing and aid distribution centers. These camps will be administered by the Republican Army, not the Department of Health."

"Please update the Department of Health and the Republican Army with your intentions. You are otherwise dismissed."

The International Press — 12 July 2018

MAMAQAQA (IP) — The President of the Qhichwa Republic has issued a statement thanking all efforts promised by international relief organizations and foreign governments to assist his country in its time of need following the devastating earthquake which destroyed its capital city.

President Quenti mentioned the swift responses of the Peocracy, Pax Dracon, Harmakmis, GI-Land, Ubesii, Bzerneleg, Esfalsa, and the Kingdom of Sedunn as greatly reassuring to both his government and the citizens of the Qhichwa Republic.

While not going so far as to admit the country's lack of strong building codes as contributing to the scale of the catastrophe (especially despite its long history with earthquakes), he thanked in particular Bzerneleg's proposal to send engineers and architects to formulate better codes for the country's earthquake-prone regions. He also took time to mention the valued expertise from specialized units such as the Peocracy's "Jade Rabbits."

The total amount of financial aid to be transferred to the Qhichwa Republic over the next 12 months amounts to approximately 9.21 trillion Qhichwan anku [307 billion USD]. Some international economists speculate that the amount of relief aid may inflate the anku and plunge the country into a deeper recession than the earthquake could alone.

Other economists and urban planners highlight the positive: the earthquake, while certainly catastrophic, has paved the way for a total rebuilding of the city of Mamaqaqa to modern standards, not only in safety but in pollution and congestion.

No matter the speculation, the facts remain clear: the death toll by this earthquake remains in the thousands, tens of thousands remain wounded, and hundreds of thousands have been left homeless. Among the noted dead is the Bzerneleg ambassador to Sedunn, who was enjoying her vacation in Qhichwa at the time of the earthquake.

(This post was last modified: 07-20-2018, 04:55 PM by latomus.)

Hammerstar · 07-21-2018, 03:15 AM

Qhichwan Airspace, 6:34 AM

"The others shall be here in the morrow, along with our Nuwang." dr. Aminah Teh mentioned.

It was quite difficult to note that she was mobilized so abruptly by The Peony herself, in a matter of hours the first team of the "Jade Rabbits." It was originally and officially known as Peonic Royal Military Medical Corps, or PRiM2. Tánxìng of the Peonic medical division, and still led by dr. Teh.

Tánxìng was going to be the first in Qhichwan soil, with duties of providing an immediate makeshift camp to tend for the wounded and assess the situation. A constant supply of relief aid shall be given once they have done a quick assessment of situations, followed by a number of volunteers, NGO's and even a visit by The Peony herself.

She was quite trusted by The Peony to a point that she'll lead the first team on the ground, perhaps she saw her quick riposte from the Cirian earthquake and her success in the 2017 JKOM's. "Maybe that's why she chose me to lead the the party, she thought."

The aircraft carrying the supplies and the first crew landed in the airport, and upon the opening of the bay doors. She took a breath of the field and absorbed what she saw.

"It's just another day in The Jade Rabbits."

Base Camp, Mamaqan airport terminal

"Assemble camp in point Quriquyllur, prepare the post with the authorities. Soldiers shall guard the relief effort while help screen for survivors, the earthquake is quite large, and an aftershock is imminent. Be sure that our location is not a risk-prone area, initiate communication with the local authorities as well and get me who's in charge."

"Yes Doctor."

Doctor Teh rubbed her head, there wasn't any sort of emotion she could portray in this situation, to a point that some people would see her as somewhat an emotionless figure without an offer of sympathy towards the situation. On the contrary, in order to provide empathy she shall perform the procedures succinctly and immediately, it's no point crying over them, maybe that's why she never had a boyfriend.

After gearing up, she went with a party to assess the situation in Qhichwa, both in the capital and the surrounding areas. 7,8 is no laughing number after all. The first sun is up, and the clock began, the search has begun.

"毎日の小さな努力の積み重ねが歴史を作っていくんだよ。"

Put a little effort everyday and it will stack up and create a foundation for you.

- Doraemon

Treasure Island Awards Best Roleplay 2020
Treasure Island Awards Best Roleplayer 2020
Cocos Winner for Best Character Writer 2017
Cocos Winner for Best International Event 2017
Cocos Winner for Best Overall RP 2017

Things to know: Medical Intern and Biomedical Scientist from Indonesia, Muslim, 188 metres tall, loves trains

(This post was last modified: 07-21-2018, 03:17 AM by Hammerstar.)

Bzerneleg · 07-21-2018, 04:31 AM

After going to Roosevelt Island, New York and Normandie to examine the damage caused by the Qhichwa Earthquake and talk to the fishermen and women whose jobs were lost due to the earthquake, President Blythe and Vice President Underwood returned to the Presidential Mansion for a 2 hours meeting with the President's newly established Commission on the Qhichwa Earthquake Assistance and Recovery.

Membership

Donald B. Blythe Jr., President
Francis J. Underwood, Vice President
David Q. Rasmussen, Secretary of State
Charles F. Carnegie, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Joseph P. Irving, Secretary of Defense
Hannah F. Buchanan, Secretary of Transportation
Magdalena Nielsen, Secretary of Health and Social Services
Merriam E. Gutzwiller, Governor of the Bzerne National Bank
Herbert Merle, Chief of the Defence Staff
Robert J. Schlesinger, Commander of the Bzerneleg Northeastern Command
Lauren M. Chandler, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

PRESIDENT BLYTHE: Good afternoon, everybody. As you already know, I have established the Commission on the Qhichwa Earthquake Assistance and Recovery to help the management of our disaster relief and assistance process Let's start with the damage assessment of the Qhichwa Earthquake..

FEMA DIRECTOR CHANDLER: Mr. President, a team of 100 FEMA experts are currently in Qhichwa and have finished the damage assessment report along with information provided by the Qhichwa government. The level of damage we're seeing in Qhichwa right now is unprecedented and very high, the people there currently do not have access to power, telephone and internet services are currently unavailable due to the damage of the lines. All residential and governmental buildings suffered serious structural damage and the government is now relocated to the Mamaqaqa International Airport. With this much damage, I would say the full recovery process would be from 6 months to less than 2 years, but it can be faster than that if more countries participate in the disaster relief mission.

PRESIDENT BLYTHE: Thank you Director Chandler. Can other members of the Commission brief me on their work progress?

VICE PRESIDENT UNDERWOOD: Mr. President, I have had a meeting with parliamentary leaders and told them that we are going to stay in Qhichwa for quite a while. With the unbelievable level of damage and destruction in Qhichwa, we can't afford to stand by and watch, and it will definitely take as Director Chandler said, more than 6 months, so that's why I have worked with Chancellor Carnegie to get votes for the Appropriations for the Qhichwa Recovery Assistance Act which passed yesterday, and now we are having 300 billion Franc that we can use to fund the Operation.

SECRETARY OF STATE RASMUSSEN: Mr. President, I have directed the Assistant Secretary of State for Northeastern Affairs George Forsberg to co-head Operation Amicus and be in charge with the civilian part of the operation. A letter about Ambassador to Sedunn's death and the appointment of a new ambassador to the Sedunnic Foreign Minister is underway. We are currently staying in contact with Qhichwa officials to assist with the disaster relief mission.

CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: We currently have 300 billion Franc more to fund Operation Amicus and other activities, however I would recommend not spending that money right now because we are having enough money to sustain the operations until next year and so it would be considered as reckless and irresponsible spending if we pour in excessive amount of money and would contribute to a budget deficit.

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE IRVING: I appointed earlier today Commander of our South Pacific Northeastern Command Schlesinger, who is here today and will depart for Qhichwa in the evening, to head Operation Amicus with Assistant Secretary of State for Northeastern Affairs George Forsberg and be in charge of military units currently stationed in Qhichwa. Our priority right now is to save as many lives as possible, therefore we've directed 2000 troops to do search and rescue missions, 1000 to build temporary shelters and hospital camps and another 2000 to help with providing civilians with the aid that we're bringing in, setting up generators around the country and providing access to clean water.

SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION BUCHANAN: We are currently working with private construction companies to help us with rebuilding Qhichwa's infrastructure after the search and rescue missions are done and the country's ready for reconstruction. We have offered the Qhichwa government assistance to help them formulate better building regulations in the future so that there will not be any kind of damage happening in the future like this.

SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES NIELSEN: The Department is currently working with the Armed Forces to provide healthcare services for Qhichwanians on naval ships and delivering medical equipments to Qhichwa. In order to serve more civilians, I'd like to ask the Chief of the Defence Staff if we could use their military transport aircraft for healthcare purposes.

CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE STAFF MERLE: To answer Secretary Buchanan's question, the Air Force is able to fly 18 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to Qhichwa with all medical necessities on board. Mr. President, our troops are currently working really hard in their search and rescue missions, though there is no detailed information as to how many have they found but they are collaborating with troops from other countries to save as many lives as possible.

GOVERNOR OF THE BZERNE NATIONAL BANK GUTZWILLER: Mr. President, I'm a little bit worried that with this big amount of foreign aid to Qhichwa, there is going to be a higher risk of hyperinflation. The earthquake makes it harder for the Qhichwanian government to collect tax revenue, and a sharp decrease in real tax revenue coupled with a strong need to maintain government spending, together with an inability to borrow or an increase in the money supply, can lead the country into hyperinflation. I suggest that we keep an eye on the Qhichwanian economy and cooperate with competent officials on their side to prevent their economy from uncontrollable inflation, which will be bad for all of us.

BZERNELEG

South Pacifican. Public Servant. Creator. In that order.

Positions

Official Thread • Lampshade Broadcasting Company • The Tsunamy Institution of the Law and Public Policy

**Pronoun** · 07-26-2018, 06:35 PM

STATEMENTS
Remarks by Chancellor Herdes on the Status of the Qhichiwan Crisis

"Today I traveled to the Qhichwa Republic to assess the effectiveness of Esfalsan relief efforts in alleviating the severity of the Qhichwan crisis. It was an honor to meet some of the countless Esfalsan personnel currently working in Qhichwa, as well as relief workers from a myriad of other countries […] as well as the Qhichwan civilians doing their part to help their country recover. There is no doubt in my mind that these efforts will serve as a beacon of hope to all Qhichwans.

"Although the present situation in Qhichwa remains in dire need of relief assistance, Esfalsa believes that a complete solution to this crisis must be both lengthy in duration and subtle in implementation. While recovery is best achieved by allowing Qhichwans to return to their previous way of life, Esfalsa stands prepared to provide continuing assistance as necessary to Qhichwa on a long-term basis.

"While at present, search and rescue operations, of course, retain top priority, there are multiple issues that will need to be addressed, most notably the potential economic recession, which would only aggravate the severity of the earthquake's damage."

"Thank you."

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