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Ryccia · 11-17-2021, 10:28 PM

Mirochi, Kingdom of Valora
Royal Palace

The rebels had seized most of the country, although royalist militias were resisting behind the frontlines. To all onlookers, the war was close to ending. The rebels had paid their advance towards the capital with a deluge of blood. The royalist regime, together with their Ryccian allies, had turned the path to Mirochi into a fortress of carnage and suffering. But finally, they were here.

The capital.

The Royal Palace was secluded on a hill in the eastern outskirts of the capital. Regardless, fighting could be heard, far-off into the distance. The rebels were laying siege to the city, launching an assault from the west. As some royalist units had defected to the rebellion, the Grand Coalition had their own artillery, and their cannonade could be heard all across the city.

The palace was heavily fortified, so it was one of the few safe areas of Mirochi. The elite royal guard was stationed there. Fanatical ultraroyalists, they will defend the crown to the death.

The King was having a panic attack. Everything seemed lost. Most nobles had fled, hoping to be admitted as refugees in Ryccia. Tens of thousands of ethnic Ryccians in Valora had fled as well, setting up refugee camps across the Ryccian side of the border, and the flood would only increase. The King's last remaining military and civil officials were begging him to surrender to spare the country more bloodshed. Even the Ryccian ambassador, who had taken refuge in the palace, was beginning to petition him for capitulation. The Ryccians were realizing that the royalists were doomed, and thus were now engaging in secret talks with the rebels to at least salvage something out of this collapse. However, he refused, even if he knew his days were numbered.

"Your Majesty, this humble servant urges you to surrender. Please, may His Majesty spare the people! The war is lost-"

"No! I refuse to surrender! General, you know all of our heads are on the chopping block the very instant we sign away our existence! Whether it is here or in Ryccia, the rebels shall slaughter us all!"

"The lives of our people are-"

"NO, ENOUGH! I SHALL GO DOWN FIGHTING!"

Who knew that the impossible would happen? Who knew miracles could happen?

Rebel-held territory, Valora

The fractures between the various factions of the rebellion had grown to an intolerable extent. The leftists, the nationalists, the liberals...they all hated each other more by the hour. These tensions had been exacerbated by the true mastermind of this war, the Crown Princess.

All was going to plan.

She ordered her puppets in the nationalist faction to execute leftists for "insubordination". Outraged, her puppets on the left were instructed to secede from the wider rebellion, forming the People's Republic of Valora.

Against all odds, and just when they were about to win, the rebellion broke.

Infighting between the nationalists, the leftists and the liberals broke out, with their respective units regrouping and fighting their former comrades. The advance towards the capital halted as the royalist remnants witnessed the unthinkable: the rebels turned on each other. Against all expectations, the royalists were now able to retake territory.

This war isn't over, not by a longshot.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

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(This post was last modified: 11-17-2021, 10:32 PM by Ryccia.)

Ryccia · 04-18-2022, 08:14 AM

Mirochi, Kingdom of Valora
Royal Palace

The time had come.

With the civil war, the status quo of the country had been destroyed. The royalists, aided by their Ryccian masters, had won, but at a grave cost. Devastation was everywhere, and even though the King had proclaimed victory, many nobles were now convinced the current system could not last, especially in the modern era. Another rebellion just as large as this one would occur.

The plan was in motion.

The Crown Princess had been plotting a coup for months now. As even the most conservative of nobles slowly but surely embraced constitutionalism in order to adapt the regime in this new world, she could convince many to join her side, and they did in their thousands.

The King refused to change. He was a Ryccian puppet, now more so than ever. Ryccia, fearing an ethnic genocide and wishing to keep its tight hold over Valora, favoured the political status quo. Democracy, for Castiana, was a hydra that could endanger everything. Valora, however, had to change. Otherwise, it would remain like this forever, a slave that constantly shot itself every six seconds.

The putschists stormed the palace, surrounding it and outnumbering the defenders 4 to 1. Despite these troops being veterans of the civil war, the palace guard was no joke. It was an elite unit, and it could its own. Under such pressure from talented soldiers and taken by surprise, however, they didn't last long. They were subdued in less than five hours.

The King had no time to flee. He was captured. In his bedroom, the Crown Princess held him hostage.

This bedroom is where Mother had slept. This bedroom is where I had spent a good deal of my childhood. I know this place from head-to-toe. So many memories...

Finally, Mother's death shall be avenged.

"Sophia?!", screamed the King, "what are you...?!"

"It is I who shall depose you, King Augustus. The country needs to change. You and your ultraconservative clique refuse to. I shall do what is required of us all"

"...Heh"

Who knew that poisoning her mother would lead to this?

"So...your plan is complete. I cannot believe you hold this grudge even now. Ever since her death, you changed. In your sorrow, in your grief, in your hatred, you embraced constitutionalism, all to spite me. You, my own heir, became an annoyance. This is not about the country. This is about her, is it not?"

"..."

"I had to. I shan't apologize for what I did. She had to die so we could-"

"YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER!"

Sophia screamed in her fury. To please the Ryccians, her father had poisoned his own wife, her mother. The only one who had loved her in her life, the only one who had made her feel safe in a world of machiavellian cynicism and greed...she died because she had become a political nuisance.

It was true. In part, all of this was for revenge. A personal vendetta she had carried for years as a child, when she learned her father had killed her. A hatred that had festered for ages...finally unleashed.

"You have no spine, you twisted devil! You killed her, your own wife, my mother, only to please the Ryccians! All your life, you have been a puppet for them because you desire power. All your life, you have been the definition of scum! To go to such depths for power and treasure...how can you ever believe that was honourable?!"

"So says the one who orchestrated this whole war in order to advance her agenda. Face it, you are just as sadistic as I. You made use of the entire nation, so many lives, all for your thirst for revenge. Selfish little girl...all your life, you have whined to no end. All your life, you have been a pest"

"No. I did this for her. This is what she desired. You are and have always been aware of this. The winds of change finally blow on Valoran soil. Why else would you have ever taken her life?"

The King laughed. Change? Emotional clown, idealistic nonsense. All his life, the King had sought wealth. He had no conscience, no moral spine. Close to a psychopath, he knew how this world worked. The Ryccians were in control. The monarchy was in control. He was in control. Why would he ever give up that? For him, anyone in the elite who challenged this established order was an idealistic fool waiting for their demise. Idiots, the lot of them, so annoying had these liberals been for ages...like rats he had to squash. How frustrating, and now it came to this. How laughable.

"...Change? We shall see. Try beating the Ryccians in the upcoming conflict. You know there will be one. One you shall lose. I know you shall end my life here. I am aware I shall go to the deepest depths of hell. However, I shall have the last laugh all the same. You liberals shall always, always fail. Go ahead, kill me. Begging shall not save me now"

This was for the country. This was for her.

In an instant, Sophia grabbed a dagger she had brought for the occasion. A fine knife crafted by expert artisans, a beauty to behold. She was going to end him.

She plunged the knife into his stomach, steel cutting through his flesh. The King began to bleed from his mouth, his body now failing him.

Despite the pain, despite it all, he laughed. He laughed all the way to his demise. He cared not anymore. This was her problem now. Pathetic.

In death, his mouth remained open. His face remained as it was: laughing.

Forever laughing, as he wished.

Sophia ordered two soldiers to dispose of his body. To dishonour him, he was first sliced into his parts. Legs, arms, head...all of it. Then, these parts were cremated separately. Finally, his ashes were transported to a helicopter and thrown into the sea.

May he never stand here again.

Castiana, Ryccian Federation

The Ryccian military and intelligence elites were furious. Many politicians were as well. This upstart princess who dared change it all...they were livid beyond belief.

The Ryccian Federation refused to recognize Sophia as the new Queen of Valora despite her birthright and her power. In order to stop her, they declared her illegitimate due to her act of patricide and recognized her younger brother, Prince Leonidas, as the new King. A pro-Ryccian autocrat, he was fine with being used as a tool if it meant furthering his own interests.

The Ryccian troops stationed in the country along with their autocratic allies were now repositioning. Skirmishes between the constitutionalists and the autocrats broke out all across the country. The civil war had ended, but a new one had now begun.

An age was now closing. How the next shall fare is up to fate.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

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Ryccia · 04-22-2022, 05:31 PM

Castiana, Ryccian Federation

The world believed the Ryccian establishment was united in its resolve to intervene in Valora. The political elites, the military high command...everyone was in agreement that the autocratic Valoran monarchy had to be preserved.

The reality could not be more different.

Behind the scenes, the government of William Altrecht was fuming. The military was exerting an abnormal amount of pressure to maximize the level of intervention in Valora. The Prime Minister's goal of internationalism had been shattered with this war. His plans to restore Ryccia's image on the world stage proved fruitless. Lachuentstin's promotion to the extraordinary title of Marshal was actually a trap: the politicians wanted to humiliate her and the military establishment if the war did not end in anything less than an absolute victory for the Ryccians. A Marshal losing a war with so many soldiers at her disposal? The governing coalition had lost control of the extent of the intervention, so they hoped that, in the event of a defeat, the military would lose a great deal of face. And, if they won, the coalition could use this to their advantage domestically in future elections.

The military were not a bunch of naïve fools either. They knew what the government was doing. In their minds, these weak-willed pacifists had no spine. In their pathetic efforts to keep their precious image to a world that would forever scorn Ryccia and its interests, they had hampered their fight to preserve stability in the region and save the substantial Ryccian minority in Valora from a monumental catastrophy. Moreover, Ryccian business interests were now putting pressure on both the politicians and the military to preserve the status quo in Valora. The military hated that. They blamed the politicians for this as well. To the officers commanding the nation's troops, used to strategizing and planning, these weren't people. They were annoying obstacles. A similar view was shared by their opposites, who also spent their careers calculating: the military was a hostile adversary in their plans.

The now-Marshal Lachuentstin was furious with this ceasefire. In order to garner some useless PR, the government pressured them to stop fighting. They could've crushed the disorganized constitutionalists in one fell swoop! Instead, the military had to watch in fury as their opponents on the battlefield coalesced and took the opportunity to reposition their forces. The military was itching for a fight. They can crush them right then and there. To their dismay, these absurd chains of diplomacy and pacifism kept them restrained. A golden chance to end this war before it even started, gone. Now, they were intent on humiliating them too, huh? These upstart fools...each and every single one of them, SPINELESS!

The military saw no use to the now-feeble attempts of the politicians to clear up Ryccia's image. That's why they had pressured the politicians to let them have more autonomy in their decisions, or else. Unbeknownst to the highest-ranking members of the political elite, they had begun to threaten or bargain with low-level MPs and Senators to garner some political clout. Several MPs of the governing coalition had already been compromised, and more were on the way.

To the world, it may seem that the all-out invasion of Valora was the monolithic design of the Ryccian Federation. Instead, the capital's politicians controlled very little. It was the military who was in command of this affair. Fearing a coup or some other bloody insubordination from the armed forces, the government tried to only stymie their operations, not end them completely. Despite having so much control of the situation, the military wanted all of it. They knew that, if they let the politicians have their way, they would send little to the autocrats. What, a few thousand soldiers, some military advisors and only supplemental air and maritime support, all in the hope of looking good to the rest of the world? Heck, some politicians didn't want to intervene at all or even wanted to support the constitutionalists. Absolutely pathetic and foolish. No, they wanted to go all in.

Relations between the politicians and the military were worsening by the hour. The tension behind the scenes was palpable. It only takes a single spark to light the fire waiting to burn from all this dry wood.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

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Ryccia · 05-07-2022, 05:23 PM

Duchy of Ruotsi
Kingdom of Valora, Constitutionalist Territory

The trend of Valorans and Ryccians hating each other in these lands was now a fact of life. It had been so since the late 19th century, when anti-monarchist revolts targeted ethnic Ryccians due to their elevated status in society. All across the country, both groups despised each other. In the Valoran-dominated West, ethnic Valoran peasants resented their mostly mixed and ethnic Ryccian elites, as well as the independent landowning Ryccian farmers that had settled there ages ago. In the Ryccian-dominated East, the native Valorans were a minority, and the revolts of the past had left bitter scars. Ryccians were the most prevalent ethnic group here, and it was in these eastern regions where the monarchy was most beloved, mostly because it was seen as an instrument to stop Valoran nationalism dead in its tracks.

This interethnic hatred was one of the primary reasons for the failed rebellion that had scorched the lands of Valora two years ago, and the rebellions of the past as well. It was intense and passionate, and it threatened to split the country in two.

However, one region was a remarkable exception.

Ruotsi was located in the south of Valora. It was in the middle between the west and the east. Almost 4 in 10 people here were ethnic Ryccians, and they concentrated in the industrial coast of the region. Unlike the rest of the country, local Valorans and Ryccians had amiable relations in this area. Ruotsi's Ryccian minority was unique from the others found elsewhere. These ethnic Ryccians were not descended from landowning settlers and elites, but from desperately poor migrants who came here in the early 20th century. They came to places like Slateport, the region's capital and largest city, to work on industrial jobs. Others went inland to work as agricultural labourers, although the pattern of landowning Ryccian settlers like elsewhere in the country was more pronounced in the northern interior. At the same time, Valoran migrants were moving to these areas, and so the Ryccians they found were as poor and desperate as them, albeit a bit wealthier due to the country they came from. As a result, the two peoples found and experienced common struggles. It also helped that the local nobles were the most progressive in the kingdom, with the ducal family that held the hereditary governorship of the region renowned for being ardent liberals. Despite their powers being limited by Valora's absolute monarchy, Ruotsi's high-ranking nobles tried their earnest to implement a less repressive system. Some landowning nobles even semi-socialized their agricultural and industrial companies, giving workers and unions a say in the decision-making process. The monarchy was supported here for a different reason than the rest of the country: it represented Ruotsi's unusual ethnic harmony. Nobles here were actually loved, not hated.

If any place was the heartland of the constitutionalists, it was here, Ruotsi. When the rebellion occurred, it was outsider fighters who were the ones who initiated reprisals against the Ryccian minority, whilst fighters from this region proactively and fiercely protected them. Many Ruotsi Ryccians actually joined local forces in the revolt, or at least more than compared to other Ryccian groups in Valora. In the first Grand Coalition, Ruotsi's rebels were the most furious over the persecution of ethnic Ryccians and prohibited these activities on their lands. Nobles here were actually the leaders of the past rebellion, and they were punished severely once the royalists retook control. During the rebellion, some local leaders were so disgruntled that there were even serious talks of establishing a Ruotsi Free State to allow the region to chart its own destiny, separate from both the royalist regime and the republicans, but nothing significant ended up bearing fruit.

The local rebels here were also more accepting to reforms to the monarchy, and if a peace settlement had given them that, they would've instantly betrayed their more ardently republican allies if it came to it. In fact, that's exactly what happened: all but one of Ruotsi's counties sided with the constitutionalist coup, and the punished liberal nobles were all freed and rehabilitated by the constitutionalist Queen Sophia. The fighters here, which had fought for a republic they never really believed in, now enthusiastically swore allegiance to their new Queen. Barely any republican sentiment here was left, but the fire for freedom burned ever-brighter still.

And it was so that, once Ryccian marines began to land in the region, the ones who they thought would welcome them, the Ryccian minority, began to jeer them. The Ryccian military officers who conducted the operations were stunned. The local population of the Ruotsi coast, which was disproportionately Ryccian, absolutely refused to help them. They were as opposed to the Ryccian Federation as the native Valorans were. Protests in the occupied areas were staged, with local residents, both Ryccian and Valoran, vehemently opposing the advance of the marines.

Unlike in other occupied areas, where those opposed to Ryccian troops were, predictably, ethnic Valorans, Ryccian soldiers hesitated to use warning shots or even implement basic riot control tactics. These were people just like them. They spoke Ryccian and the other minority languages of their country, and their culture was almost the same as theirs. They were angry in languages they could understand. Upon looking at them, these soldiers saw their reflections on a mirror. How could they?

"What the hell is going on here?!"

"Sir, we cannot fire on these protesters, they're peaceful! We just can't!"

"Orders from Castiana, corporal! This is a militarily-occupied territory! No protests are allowed! Enemy sabotage cannot be permitted!"

"But sir-"

"No more excuses, corporal! Disperse them!"

Separate from the rest of the world, Ryccia's military laws were actually very clear and frank on protests: military officers could disperse them at will. Soldiers were to use non-lethal means to disperse them, albeit firing live ammunition into the air as an intimidation tactic was allowed. As such, the military ordered protests like these suppressed, no matter who started them.

"Fine, if you won't do it, I'll do it myself!"

The captain in charge of this company began to fire into the air with his pistol. The crowd, predictably, was terrorized by the sound. They began to scatter, and the reluctant Ryccian soldiers had no choice but to move in and restore order.

If the Ruotsi Ryccians weren't considered opposed to Ryccia's military efforts now, they were now. All across the region, anti-Ryccian Federation and pro-constitutionalist protests now raged on. Both main ethnic groups were inflamed by the use of force in the coastal town of Haimerihav to suppress peaceful protests, and Ruotsi from all sectors of society swelled the constitutionalists' ranks.

Back home in Ryccia, the civil government was enraged that the military had virtually given their marines a carte blanche to do as they wished. Although military law said they could, the civil government had ordered the military to not suppress any protests if they were peaceful, especially in places like Ruotsi, where Ryccians lived. Clearly, they had ignored them. The politicians were furious. The generals didn't care.

The tension in both Ryccia and Valora was reaching a dangerous peak. One in the secret backrooms of power, and one out in the open. Regardless of the circumstances, both countries could explode in their own ways.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

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(This post was last modified: 05-07-2022, 05:28 PM by Ryccia.)

Ryccia · 05-15-2022, 12:22 AM

Kukkaromi County, Duchy of Halukan
Kingdom of Valora, Ryccian-Autocrat area

The autocrats had begun a reign of terror in areas they deemed to be rebellious. They, along with their Ryccian allies, had recently gained control of Kukkaromi County in the southwest of the country after routing the constitutionalists. It was places like these that began to saw mass terror.

However, they were not alone. The Ryccian Army was aiding the autocrats in their war, and as such was present in many areas they captured. Ryccian and autocrat units occupying the same area was not an uncommon sight. Kukkaromi was one of these territories under joint military rule.

Many Ryccian officers ignored the autocrats and their purges despite many rank-and-file increasingly protesting these crimes against humanity. They neither assisted nor opposed. They just turned a blind eye and made sure their soldiers were not committing atrocities themselves. No orders from the capital told them to do otherwise anyway.

The conscience of some officers gnawed on their minds, however. They could not tolerate such brutality. Some bucked the trend, directly opposing the savagery their allies had unleashed on the local population.

Such was the case in Kukkaromi, where the commanding officer of the Ryccian company involved in the occupation, Major Eleanor Vonsurgen, stood up to the autocrat troops herself.

The autocrats had begun to ransack Kukkaromi, the local capital and namesake of its county. Random searches without reason were conducted. Houses were burned at will. Autocrat soldiers looted and pillaged. Finally, the autocrats began to yank civilians out of the streets and forced the population onto the town square. As a show of their power, they were going to execute them. It didn't matter if they were innocent or not. They were charged with nothing, and they were arrested at random. These were reprisals for the county's rebellion. That was enough.

The Ryccian troops in the town could only watch in stunned horror as they saw these wild animals terrorize the population. They were not allowed to attack their allies. They just stood there, unable to do anything. Some Ryccians held far more sympathy for their own ethnic kin in Valora than the natives and thus didn't care. Others were rightfully horrified at this display of senseless violence, but were helpless to intervene.

Vonsurgen was furious. She held the honour of her company on high and knew that doing nothing would stain them all. Refusing to stand aside, she came up to the square with two squads of soldiers, surrounding the autocrat executioners. The terrified Valoran citizens watched in confusion as Ryccian troops threatened to shoot their supposed allies.

"You! Where is the commander of your unit?"

Many autocrat soldiers were actually from Valora's ethnic Ryccian minority. Many of them had never even seen Valora's western regions before the war. In their fear and hatred of the native Valorans, Valora's Ryccians were the staunchest supporters of an absolute monarchy, even going so far as to reject democracy and basic civil liberties for Valora despite some of them even having family or other connections in Ryccia that enjoyed these freedoms. They wanted the iron fist of the monarchy, backed by the Ryccian government, to protect them from the rage-filled revenge a native Valoran mob would unleash on them.

"I am. I will execute these slime myself!"

"Name! Now!"

"Captain Karl Vonsurgen"

V-V-Vonsurgen?

The Vonsurgen were a Ryccian family originating in what is now Moonlight, a Ryccian federal subject bordering Valora. One branch of the family had migrated to Valora's eastern regions in the early 19th century. Whilst the two branches had mostly lost contact, some Vonsurgen still remembered their kin from across the border and kept in touch until the early 2000s.

Eleanor and Karl Vonsurgen had met when they were little. They were distant cousins. Karl's family was visiting a Vonsurgen branch across the border over at Moonlight, and they held a small gathering to know one another. Although she had faint memories of him, Eleanor recalled Karl as a shy but fun little boy that got teased by his older relatives for being weak. Fate had conspired to make them meet once more in the field of battle.

"I am Major Eleanor Vonsurgen of the Ryccian Army. I demand your forces cease these executions at once, lest we fire on you at my command"

When she mentioned her name, Karl was stunned. This was...?!

"You know who I am. I know who you are. Obey my orders, or you will die here"

"...Spineless coward"

"..."

"You defend these animals who wouldn't hesitate to kill us all?! Your family?! You are a traitor to our name! You spineless coward! You didn't grow up in Valora! These snakes need to be controlled before they kill us! You know nothing! Sentimental bastard, treacherous swine!"

"I await an answer, Captain"

"....."

The Ryccian soldiers were pointing their guns at him. They were surprised. She was going to kill her own cousin if it came to it? Well, orders are orders. The autocrats knew they were surrounded. They had to give in.

"Alright, I'll let your pests win. Soldiers, march out! Await for new instructions next briefing!"

They say blood is thicker than water. That isn't always the case.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

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(This post was last modified: 05-15-2022, 12:32 AM by Ryccia.)

Ryccia · 05-18-2022, 05:17 PM

Castiana, Ryccian Federation
Palace of Laws

The Prime Minister was furious. The entire government was. The military was flexing its muscles, and he couldn't do much about it. After all, they held the guns. He only had words. Words are nice and all, but they can't stop a tank battalion from blasting their shells at your face.

First with that unhinged threat of nuclear apocalypse to Denveria over some fleet in Bailtem. Then the flagrant disregard for their orders to not disperse peaceful protests in Valora. Now, they even threatened their own lawmakers over the ratification of the World Forum's reforms. That was unprecedented, and it was a surprise to a lot of people. Ever since the 2010s, the military's influence and independence had increased, but it acted outside the political structures of the state, sending messages and warnings through its actions. When it did interact with politics, it was a collaborator with politicians who held its views, but it never inserted itself as an actor. The three main parties - the centre-left Labour, the centre-right Conservatives, and the centrist Unø Lænd - had split between irreconcilable pro and anti-military factions. The factions formed their own parties, killing off their original hosts. The military, however, never influenced politicians directly with intimidation and fear. This had gone too far, even for some pro-military politicians.

To the wider world, that comical fiasco of a putsch may have been a wild insanity, some hotheaded officers going rogue. However, inside the Ryccian circles of power, everyone knew what this really was: a warning from the military at-large.

This coup attempt was never meant to succeed. The media kept saying that its plotters would be sentenced to death, but the top brass of the armed forces was putting pressure on the military courts, telling them to demote their sentences to something more "acceptable". The true plotters had been in the highest echelons of power.

The Prime Minister was aware of this. He was fuming, frustrated that he could not move against an evermore livid military.

And livid they were. The military was absolutely incensed over the Prime Minister's sudden reversal in the World Forum's vote. Their top officers were already calling to his quarters, requesting several "meetings". Army, Navy, Air Force...heck, even Cybersecurity was getting in on the action, an unorthodox move for a mostly apolitical branch mostly composed of tech wizards instead of soldiers armed to the teeth.

To many of the increasingly fanatical officers of the military who held ideals instead of interests, these reforms threatened the very existence of Ryccia as a country. They constrained its sovereignty, something they saw as unforgivable and even treasonous. To them, William Altrecht was a traitor to the nation. Something had to give.

In Parliament, a young MP from the governing coalition would take a stand. Annabelle Nardunsen was from the New Social Democrats, the Prime Minister's party. She had been threatened by the military to vote against the government on ratification. They threatened to sack her brother from his post as a captain in the army, and to apply pressure so her family would be ruined financially. She complied, but, as she voted, her conscience sliced her soul, bit by bit. She regretted it.

It was time to defy Fate itself.

During what was otherwise a dull debate for agricultural subsidies, Nardunsen requested to speak. She did, but her speech was anything but about the topic at hand.

"Fellow members of Parliament, today I stand to you as a coward. I believe some of you know what I speak of. Certain agents of a malevolent force have threatened us in private, forcing us to go against our views and the national interest. They believe because they have bullets and strings, they can silence us. Yes, they have succeeded in their aims today. They intend to hold more and more strings until each and every member of this house becomes their puppet"

The legislature was silent. They knew what she was making reference to. However, they couldn't believe she was actually going public with it.

"Ever since the chaos of the last unfortunate decade, there has been a shift in the minds of our most sworn guardians. They, in their militarist delusions, believe that they are the protectors of the state. They believe that we, through who the people speak and act, should not command the institutions of the country. They have seen our gradual recovery, and since we dare deviate from their philosophy, they are reacting fiercely. Now, as we challenge them, as we attempt to assert the impartial and independent nature of a democratic parliament, they are drawing their weapons at us, intent on killing us all if they don't get what they want"

Nardunsen was actually nervous. Her hands were shaking, and so were her legs. She was an excellent actress, however. She let none see it.

"I, like many of my colleagues here today, have succumbed to their threats in the vote held previously. My mind, however, cannot allow me to rest easy, knowing I have cowardly betrayed our constituents. No, I refuse. I warn, colleagues! We must not let the armed forces spread their virulent, militarist poison through the veins of our political structures! Otherwise, we will lose all that our forefathers fought, bled and died to win! So many of us have ancestors from the Democratic Revolution. How can we face them in the afterlife, knowing that we have betrayed their legacy?"

"I urge you, honourable members, take a stand. Don't allow these armed rascals scare us! We cannot be intimidated! Unless we want to destroy our democracy, which has lasted for almost a century, we must be bold, brave! This I request of you. This I request of myself. This I request of all of us. Thank you"

Parliament was silent for a moment. No one knew what to say.

Then, a clap from an MP.

Then another.

Then another.

Then, hundreds.

The atmosphere was now electric. They cheered this 26 year-old on. From the aging to the youth, they celebrated her stand.

The military was furious. They could not let this go unanswered.

As Nardunsen left the Palace of Laws, a car began to drive by. Then, shots. Its passengers fired on her, killing her and a Senator unfortunate enough to be caught in the crossfire instantly.

The internationalists now had martyrs. Ryccia was going up in flames.

Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)

Local Council Member(April 24-August 11)

Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)

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