Alterran Air Force placed on orange alert status as President Anderson condemns N&GB, affirming that 'postponement is temporary'
The Alterran Times. October 21, 2021. International subdivision.



The Alterran Air Force, Alterra's air defense and offense force, has been placed on orange alert status, according to an AAF spokesperson who made remarks on the attempted genocides in Nicholas & Great Britain. Orange alert status is the AAF's second highest alert level in which the AAF will be a) stepping up Air Force patrols in designated alert zones, in this case being the northwestern frontier which is the closest point of Alterran airspace to N&GB and b) preparing assault and defense aircraft for a possible - unlikely, but possible - incursion into N&GB should the Alterran Federal Congress deem it fit.

President Thomas Anderson addressed the nation once more yesterday alongside Secretary of Defense Noah Walker, where he repeatedly condemned N&GB for its continuation of atrocities and genocides against its own population. The President remarked in a statement that went viral on Alterra social media that 'postponements are temporary', alluding to N&GB's crown monarch's statement that the genocide on Romordians will be postponed.

The President also stated that the Alterran Air Force was ready to support the United States of Izaakia in its air incursion operations into N&GB airspace, but has made no commitment to such support - which may include the allowing of Izaakian aircraft to use Alterran bases in the northwest - due to the Federal Congress continuing to hesitate to make such drastic measures.

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Alterran Air Defense Sphere (ADS) placed on high alert as the Federal Congress authorizes a full mobilization of the armed forces
The Alterran Times. October 22, 2021. Local subdivision.



President Thomas Anderson, along with Defense Secretary Noah Walker and most of the members of Alterra's National Security Council, which is equal to the Chiefs of Staff of other nations, completed their thirty-minute testimonies before the Federal Congress's Committee on Audits and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The conclusion of these testimonies resulted in the approval of the Resolution for the Authorization of the Mobilization of Military Forces For the Purposes of Self-Defense, giving the round to an interventionist camp victory.

Over 90% of the Alterran Armed Forces were given orders to mobilize, and Democratic Senator Jonathan Watkins from District 4 put forward before Congress the Emergency Manpower Act, which introduces limited conscription laws to boost the Alterran military for the next two years. The act, which came to be popularly known as the EMA, received strong support from liberal Democrats in Congress but failed to gain support from the seven conservative Democratic Senators who served as the only obstacle between the EMA and its passage. The new opposition coalition, the Coalition for Peace, composed of the Senators and Councilors from the Conservative and Labour parties, voiced their opposition to the EMA.

Nonetheless, President Anderson signed an executive directive placing Alterra's Air Defense Shield, composed of 250 medium-range non-nuclear ballistic interceptor missile trucks, equipped with over 1,500 'Neutralizer' missiles, were placed on high alert as the ADS's reserve force of 50 interceptor missile trucks and 300 Neutralizer missiles began a slow but steady deployment process to high-risk areas and 'concentration' areas around Alterra's major cities.

The Alterran Air Force is also stepping up their patrols around Alterra's airspace, and rumors of top-secret Alterran government discussions with Izaakia are leaking rapidly. Although the nature of these discussions have remained unknown, an Air Force whistleblower - whose identity has been kept secret - mentioned to the press that the talks, if they are even actually happen, are covering Alterran air defense from nuclear weapons.

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Alterran Air Defense System to receive upgraded long-range ground-to-ground missile batteries from Echo Defense Corporation
The Alterran Times. October 23, 2021. Local subdivision.



The Alterran Air Defense System, or ADS, is a partially-automated computer system linking Alterra's air defense sphere, composed of rapid response interceptor aircraft part of the Rapid Air Response Team (RART), as well as the 250+ missile batteries scattered all over the country dedicated to protecting Alterra's skies from foreign intruders and protecting the nation from air attacks. The ADS is treated as an independent fifth branch of the Alterran military, albeit a more obscure one, as it is administrated by the Air Defense Council, a subdivision of the Alterran Air Force. The ADC is the primary body responsible for the ADS, and recently hit the headlines when it voiced its support for fully automating the ADS.

The Air Defense Council announced today that the ADS will be equipped with 50 new 'Sentinel' long-range ground-to-ground missiles (GGMs) with a range of between 200 and 600 kilometers, as the ADC refused to give an exact number. These new Sentinel devices were procured by the ADC as part of a 670 million Altair procurement deal with prominent Alterran defense company Echo Defense, which also developed Alterra's Eagle Eye early warning detection suite, which allows the nation to detect incoming threats and transmit its location, status, speed and velocity real-time to ground defenses.

These new Sentinel long-range GGMs will be produced by Echo Defense for the ADS and the Alterran Army for the next few years, with plans to procure up to 500 of these missile batteries to strengthen Alterra's offensive and defensive capabilities on both the land and the air. The first batch of fifty Sentinel batteries will be stationed in the northwest as the situation between the Izaakian-led coalition and N&GB slowly grows dire.

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Project Safehouse, Five Years in the Making: What is it?
The Alterran Times. October 23, 2021. Local subdivision.



On July 3, 2016, President Ronald Walton of the Alterran Democrats signed a secret executive directive with the approval of a shadow committee composed of three Councilors and two Senators allocating $5.2 billion Altairs to a classified Alterran Army project known only as 'Project Marble' to the outside world. The sudden allocation of $5.2 billion ALT to a classified budget attracted the attention of a Green Party Councilor in the Federal Council named Edward Snowhall, who would go on to become a famous whistleblower who exposed Project Marble as some sort of mining project in 2018.

In March 2017, the then-Ministry of Internal Security (now the Department of Internal Security) acquired 25 land properties all over the country, as well as the ground underneath them, and claimed them as federal land. When nearby homeowners asked for the cause of the acquisition, the Department of Internal Security suddenly lost $2 million ALT and has to this day failed to explain where the money went, although some sources claim it went to the homeowners to keep them quiet.

Construction on what seemed to be an underground facility, a mine perhaps, began in August 2017 with extreme secrecy and regular security around a security fence that was erected in June of that year. President Walton and the Director of the Department of Internal Security, Anna Zallenberg, visited the site in December 2017 without press knowledge, but a clip of the two prominent individuals on site in southern Alterra was posted online and went viral on social media.

In February 2020, then-newly elected President Thomas Anderson (D) used executive privilege to block an attempt by Labour politicians to probe into Project Marble, a proclamation which the Supreme Court and the now-dissolved Constitutional Court upheld. When questioned on the issue, which became a near-scandal for the President and almost ended his career less than a month after entering office, the President affirmed that it was a matter of national security and that the project would be made public 'in due time'.

Now, with tensions rising, President Anderson made public Project Safehouse.

According to the President's press conference, Project Safehouse is a national and internal security project started in 2016 by his predecessor, renowned centrist Democrat Ronald Walton. Walton, who had failed to secure the Democratic bill for the presidency in 2020, was present at the conference as he was the main scientific representative on the committee that originally thought of the idea of Project Safehouse. The project aims to construct twenty-five underground bunker facilities each capable of holding and sustaining 400 people for ten years, 200 for twenty, and 100 for thirty. On rations, 400 could survive for fifteen years.

The project was originally incepted as Alterra's last resort should all else fail and nuclear bombs fall on the nation, and received strong support from the now-public Shadow Congress, which voted on programs which had to be kept classified for national security purposes. With the situation with N&GB heating up, President Anderson confirmed that Project Safehouse was being activated and six out of the twenty-five sites were already being filled with chosen Alterrans, mainly scientists, engineers, historians, and other important people.

Critically, the President stated that less than 10% of all Safehouse citizens will be politicians, however Anderson himself will be whitelisted as one of the Safehouse citizens.

With tensions continuing to rise, and the location of the Safehouses still undisclosed, the 1st Division and the 3rd Armored Division were deployed to keep the peace after reports of civil unrest in the countryside and groups of people driving around, searching for the Safehouses. President Anderson made a post on Stream where he urged citizens to stay calm.

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Elite Alterran Special Forces Group Deployed to the Alterran Northwest As Regular Units Are Withdrawn Amid Possible De-escalation
The Alterran Times. October 27, 2021. Local subdivision.



Commandant Adam Rhodes of the Northwest Garrison, a section of the Alterran Army composed of over 21,500 regular infantry troops, announced via public written statement yesterday that over 14,500 of that number, who were deployed there in the past few weeks with the rise of tensions between Izaakia's coalition of nations and Nicholas and Great Britain, will be withdrawn and returned to their respective reserve units in the coming days and weeks as the Alterran Department of Foreign Affairs released a statement to the public announcing that the crisis had dwindled down a bit in the past two days or so. 

In replacement, an elite Alterran Special Operations Group (ASOG) unit, publicly referred to as Unit Fourteen, composed of 150 elite Alterran commandoes with over 10 years of combat experience, will be deployed in the northwest in the coming days as the regular troops are phased out. ASOG directly reports to the President, and as a result President Thomas Anderson - the de facto commander of ASOG - stated that the deployment would last for one month and that they are there as a 'security precaution' in case 'things don't go as predicted by our boys in the Foreign Department'.

While President Anderson repeatedly affirmed that he believed in the power of diplomacy and that the crisis with N&GB would come to an immediate halt sooner rather than later, some are speculating that Unit Fourteen could be used to infiltrate N&GB to support coalition goals, but President Anderson, Vice President Laura Clarke, as well as other top national security and military officials repeatedly assured the public that no 'stealthy trickery' would be going on.

OOC note

In all seriousness I won't be infiltrating N&GB

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President Anderson, Key Government Officials, Moved to Safehouses As Alterra Mobilizes Amid Izaakia-N&GB War
The Alterran Times. November 2, 2021. Local subdivision.



The spokesperson for the Blue House, the metonym for the office of the President of the Commonwealth of Alterra, has confirmed that President Thomas Anderson and other key government officials, including the President of the Senate (Vice President) and the Speaker of the Federal Council have been moved to safehouses. Confirmation came several minutes after a presidential motorcade, rumored to be President Anderson's, was seen moving through Alterra City - the national capital - at high speed. Numerous roads were blocked off by police, indicating that a high profile figure was being moved at rapid speed, presumably due to an emergency.

A pre-recorded video was aired on all channels with Emergency Mark Alpha, interrupting all active broadcasts. The President in the video urged all citizens to remain calm and announced the full mobilization of the Alterran Army to ensure the continued safety and sovereignty of the Commonwealth and its people. Military police units were subsequently seen establishing anti-missile radar sites in major cities, and checkpoints have been established on intercity routes to limit traffic movement. Panic buying has been prohibited with a 500 Altair fine and all citizens are urged to remain indoors.

Further updates to come, follow all government directives.

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Vice President and Senate President Laura Clarke speaks before the Federal Congress, states that Alterra will remain neutral 'for the time being'
The Alterran Times. November 4, 2021. Local subdivision.



Vice President and President of the Senate Laura Clarke stood and spoke before the Federal Congress yesterday, where she enumerated and expounded on Alterra's stance regarding the armed conflict between Izaakia and Nicholas & Great Britain. She stated that the Alterran government 'remains firm on its commitment' to supporting regional peace and stability and will not be entering the conflict for the time being. Additional Alterran military forces are being deployed to strategic areas in the north, as well as combat aircraft and logistics units, but the Vice President assured the Congress and the South Pacific that no military engagements will be occurring.

President Thomas Anderson, Clarke's direct senior, reaffirmed the vice president's statements in a formal statement released by the Blue House following the speech, in which the President stated that: "Alterra remains fully committed to assisting democratic processes and keeping regional peace, stability, and the status quo. While Alterra strongly disapproves of genocide against minorities, the nation cannot support directly military action by the United States of Izaakia at this time."

Vice President Clarke, who as of the moment serves as the visual face of the administration since the President is under lockdown, visited the city of Astria in the northwestern quadrant of Alterra, where she observed a military exercise encompassing over 4,500 troops and 45 combat and logistics aircraft. She also met with local Alterrans and reaffirmed at the Astria Planetarium the statements made by both herself and the President the day before.

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President Anderson delivers final address for 2021, urges Pacifica to 'seek peace over war' in the new year
The Alterran Times. December 29, 2021. International subdivision.



To cheering crowds proudly waving the Alterran flag and holding up posters of a a yin-yang symbol painted blue and red, an image form of the President's recent 'nation and people over party' initiative, President Thomas Anderson took to the Speaker's Podium outside the Parliament Building in Alterra City, and prepared to address the nation and deliver his final statements for 2021. Below is the full transcript of his speech:
 

• "Ladies and gentlemen, members of Parliament, and esteemed citizens of Alterra. I bid you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year. This year, our great nation turned a hundred years old. Established on the 19th of February, 1920, the Commonwealth of Alterra grew to become a rising tiger force in the South Pacific. This year, our nation broke its neutral status and entered the world stage, forging new friendships and establishing new partnerships with nations all over. This year, our nation joined the World Forum and the Cross Pacific Space Cooperation organization. This year, our economy saw lasting growth rates in Q3 and Q4, and is expected to see those gains get stronger and stronger next year. My fellow Alterrans, we must look onward to this new year with hope, and a positive outlook. This year, some of us were angered, put off by the government's decision to exit neutrality and foray onto the world stage, and I understand that. This year, the number of worried families grew as brave men and women joined our armed forces, and said armed forces nearly entered a war with a nuclear power. This year was not all great, that I can say for sure. But it sure wasn't all bad either. Our great nation prepares to move forward into the next year of the 21st century, with the hope that it'll be even a little bit better. This Christmas season brought much joy and happiness into our lives. Let us pray that next year will bring us the same. To our esteemed neighbors and fellow nations of Pacifica, I urge you today: Let us choose peace over war. There is always an option for peace. Sometimes, we just need to stand in the light to see it. To close off I deliver to you all a quote: In order to see the stars, one must stand in the darkness. Thank you, and a happy new year!"
  

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