Tingxue Village, Heisen-Daumer Provinz, Second Imperial Chinese Republic, 10:23 PM, Local Imperial Time

Thirteen cultists had caught wind of the Tamoran agent's message from a corrupt policeman, though they hardly got to know much before soldiers kicked down the door, shooting him and pursuing the cultists as they ran. They managed to lose them as they caught a helicopter to Tingxue Village, a small farming community near Er'mingtua. They dared not to venture into the city, for it was swarming with Internal Security Officers and Nationalist Militia soldiers searching for them. They found a bartender willing to carry the message to this "Hassan" as the bartender called him, and they quickly found shelter in the surrounding caves thereafter.

Cultist 1: What now? If this "Hassan" doesn't arrive soon, the Bureau will surely find us. They - they'll have us shot! Hung!
Cultist 2: Calm yourself brother. The Divine One, even in his passing from the mortal realm, will watch over us.
Cultist 3: Even if the Bureau finds us, we have the power of the Divine One with us. Do not forget that.

They fell silent, their woven bundles tightly strapped to their backs. They all stared at the ground or clasped their hands in prayer. One was counting beads around his neck while another drew hieroglyphs upon a small journal.

Their silence was ruined a moment later when shouting emerged from a cultist on watch outside, who dashed inside, white-faced.

Cultist 4: Hubschrauber!

Helicopters.

They were on their feet within an instant. Gunfire erupted from the machine guns of the helicopters above, scattering lead and shrapnel all over the foliage.

Cultist 5: How?! How did they find us?!
Cultist 6: Run! In the name of the Divine, run!
Cultist 3: They are dropping soldiers!
Cultist 2: Just run!

---

Special Internal Security Officer Hans Obern II, Clearance Jade

Hans pulled out his silenced pistol and leapt off the helicopter, his eyes locked on a cultist desperately running away from the searchlights of the helicopters.

Hans landed with a roll, and began firing at the cultist's limbs.

The cultist only redoubled his pace, but not before Hans caught up and pounced him. They rolled to the ground, struggling and flailing.
The cultist managed to grasp Hans' pistol and point it at him. Hans responded to the threat by ramming his head into the cultist. The cultist groaned in pain and dropped the gun.
Hans picked up the gun and fired a succession of rounds into the cultist, who screamed until the officer stamped on his face.

He turned towards the direction of the others until, to his horror, he saw an unmarked helicopter rise and fly away, the Bureau helicopters in close pursuit.

It seemed that the criminals had not been comepletely flushed out.

---

The whole region of Heisen Draumer went into lockdown today after the investigation into the Cult of Draves revealed that a strain violent mutants were created by the Cult during their experiments. The contaminated water has been revealed to have carried the strange virus, capable of causing those affected to either die of exhaustion or turn into a mutant within the next 48 hours. The virus appears to cause severe swelling, headaches and failure to reason, including violent actions and signs of cannibalism. The virus spreads through drinking water, and only in ideal conditions. The creature that the Cult was worshipping turned out to be a former biological weapons researcher of the Oriental Commune who had inadvertently infected himself with the pathogen. Recent actions by the Marine-Guard Response Force show that infection can be averted by treating water with common herbs from gardens, notably a mixture of ginseng root, ginger, bluestar, and levius blossom. For mutants, a cure has been developed by the Imperial Medical Commission, though their securing has been throughly difficult. Remaining cultists and Cult researchers have fled into the countryside, and the Imperial military is currently hunting them.

As they stepped inside the elevator, Max turned and casually replied, "Oh yes, it would be far easier to dismantle all these emplacements and simply have small patrols, instead, which was our original doctrine, but it was the - " Max shifted uncomfortably -"unfortunate cause of death for our previous monarch, who was killed by suicide aircraft. These are merely precautions. But then it is a Fortress, no?" He stopped as they reached a well lit corridor, to the end of which was a a heavy oaken door, which a sentry opened. Inside, the Emperor stood waiting, three cups of steaming tea waiting on a large table. The Emperor steeply bowed as per custom, and said, "Greetings, King Lapu. I trust President Herminstaat has given you a warm welcome?"

---

Yesterday, the trials of thousands of criminals, including those from the Black Rose Pagoda were completed en masse by undeniable evidence seized by Imperial officials during the national sweep-up. All contraband has been destroyed, and all suspects have been sentenced to death by freezing or hard labor in Altreich Provinz. The first waves of death sentenced criminals have already been transported to the mountains to die of the season-long cold. The hard labor-sentenced criminals are awaiting transport to the iron mines down south. The Emperor is quoted to have said, "Enjoyed your pig-like heaven under my father, have you? I hope you enjoy the freezing hell on earth - or deep below, you miserable cowards."

---

Over 3470 smugglers, drug dealers, and substance producers were arrested across the nation yesterday as part of a nationwide sweep-up of illegal practices ordered by the Imperial Electorate and the Imperial Throne. Local police, military, and special police stormed identified warehouses and labs, arresting those inside and tracking down those who escaped. The action was met with great enthusiasm from the populous, who formed groups of militias to find and apprehend those who escaped to the mountains. A total of 203kg of comtraband was seized and immediately destroyed, with a total value of 231million Imperial Marks (183 million USD). The Emperor was reported to have been pleased with the outcome of events.

President Max Herminstaat smiled at King Lapu. Bowing, he said in perfect English, “You are most welcome Your Majesty. I apologize for the soldiers' presence. There are isolationists who think that every foreigner is an enemy, so they take to extreme measures to prevent entry, and violent cults, along with terrorist recluses, although-“
He turned and looked at the relatively peaceful airfield, with helicopters landing here and there, offloading rice and various goods from their mountain homes. A small crowd, along with reporters and cameramen had gathered  around the Quintelian jet, though soldiers prevented them from going too close. The expected protestors were nowhere to be seen.
"-it seems that they have neglected to show up. In any case, I trust you had pleasant trip? And please, do bring your translator, as the Emperor is only able to speak mandarin and german."

He motioned to the sleek, armored car that awaited them with its doors open. A police motorcade surrounded it, the officers all wearing in formal uniform, though assault rifles were slung onto the sides.

The Imperial Republic had not had any foreigners visit since nearly 200 years ago, at the start of the civil war. That an ambassador was coming, much less a sovereign, put up a large commotion in the republic's news networks. Emperor-Admiral Jingduming had already arranged for a fighter escort to lead King Lapu's aircraft to the Nanjing International Airport. He didn't want to risk the visiting sovereign's safety over the Imperial Republic's treacherous mountain ranges, though luckily it was still spring. He had enough to worry about already, with the cultists stirring up trouble in the North and pirates off the coast. If anything, he was more concerned about isolationist groups disrupting the diplomatic meeting, which was why he had a entire contingent of his own elite Marine-Guard waiting for the King Lapu for when he stepped off his aircraft. An armored car awaited him, ready to whisk him off to the Imperial Fortress, where Jingduming would be waiting. His attention snapped back to the sky as the Quintelian jet glided down from the clouds, the three Chinese F-CK-1As turning towards the airstrip. He waited until the aircraft had safely landed, then put down the viewing lenses and headed inside to his study to await King Lapu.

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This has been DBS.


---

There has been recently been a massive controversy surrounding the Cult of Draves, a small organization of extreme worshippers of some sort of mutated creature, likely a result of physical contact with some forgotten stockpile of chemical weapons from the fall of the Oriental Commune during the War of Black Blood. They have been reported by terrace farmers in the Heisen-Draumer region to be attempting to pour some sort of unidentified substance into the water supply of several villages, resulting in reports being sent to the Imperial Electorate, who have responded by deploying several regiments of Nationalist Army soldiers into the region. Tests have shown the substance to contain a strain of virus that was a known biological weapon from the War of the Black Blood, fielded by the Oriental Commune as a means of killing off the food supply of the Imperial Republic, though this version shows traces of radiation and deliberate RNA tampering, changing the base DNA of the whoever consumes the contaminated substance. The cultists are currently under house arrest within their mountain monastery, though their fate remains to be seen by the Imperial Electorate and the residents of the villages. The Imperial Medical Commision is currently investigating the sludge's containment and removal.

The 2nd Chinese Republic roared to life, its massive Jing-Huang Type III engines buzzing with life, slowly moving the Nation-Cities forward. The mining rigs that had been so furiously drilling away the night before now slowly were raised up and back into their bays. Onboard its various tiers, workers, engineers, and scientists alike rushed to and fro checking diagnostics and readying systems. The 2nd Republic's two gargantuan 38-in Kruppen-Tai’er cannons were oiled, their coolers watered, the shells readied. Tier Nanjing, the Capital and command tier, located in the 2nd Republic's upper central area, was already bustling with the morning activities of the officers and crew, who had plotted an extensive course the night before and had set the 2nd Republic to head out earlier than usual. Though even at this early hour, the markets of the Trade tiers, the outer armoured belt of the 2nd Republic, were already open and bustling with the tradesmen of foreign cities. Unlike most Tracked Nations, the 2nd Republic did not possess a yawning jaw to snap up smaller cities for sustenance. Instead, it relied on its innate ability to actually mine resources from the earth, using great steam pumps that forced resources to the surface, where they could be mined. Granted, this meant that their entire ability to scavenge was severely decreased, but it did mean they possessed an absolute source of resources, while other nations relied entirely upon predatory pursuits. Because of such a threat of being pursued by a larger nation, the 2nd Republic possessed its incredibly powerful engines and an equally powerful compliment of guns to duel and and fight off predator nations. In addition, its 20 airship-strong Imperial Service Fleet guarded the nation from the skies, consisting of one dreadnought, five cruisers, seven frigates, and seven destroyers. The lower less-essential tiers were guarded from boarders by the Nationalist Armed Forces, and the critical sections, such as the capital, engines, research labs, and hospitals were guarded by the elite Imperial Marine-Guard Corps.

The city had begun its trek at first light, and now was traveling through a particularly rugged mountainous area when they happened upon a thick bog, fogged by toxic chemicals and gases. Upon first sight the Head Helmsman thought to circumnavigate it, but the Scientific Corps insisted on collecting what information they could from it, so accompanied by a frigate, a science vessel was dispatched to examine the bog. Upon analysis, the astounded research team found a small deposit of tungsten and raw bauxite, incredibly hard-to-find minerals, with all the tungsten being used to produce armor-belt-piercing rounds, armor, and gun barrels, while bauxite was even rarer to acquire, and was refined with skeins of gold to create a high energy-superconducting material that formed the core of Tesla Cores, incredibly powerful energy sources that were incredibly rare and sought after. The 2nd Republic rolled to a halt, armored shutters opening to reveal mining attachments and rigs, and steam pumps being drawn out from the depths of the great steel behemoth, plunging into the murky but shallow depths of the toxic bog, drilling, pumping and collecting the valuable cache of metals.

---

No less than seven miles away, the militant Nation-Cities of Cassalvae slowly rolled forward, stalking the 2nd Republic, following its tracks. Its scout airships had reported the 2nd Republic's halt to mine the bog to Cassalvae's Lord Halvaers. The Lord was exuberant at his chance to strike and snap up such a technologically unique Nation-Cities. He ran up and down the bridge, waving his arms and shouting and yelling excitedly.
"Put the engines to full power! Ready the guns! Ready the airships! Ready the jaws! Ready.....ready the marines and the boarders!"
Meanwhile, the local citizens of Cassalvae were already waving crowbars and tool-kits, jubilant to claim yet another unsuspecting prey into the gullets of the Nation-Cities. The Cassalvaeian airships were already headed towards the 2nd Republic, their gondolas loaded with bombs, boarders, and rockets.
The element of surprise was lost the moment one of the 2nd Republic's destroyers floated over a mountain and spotted the attackers.

---

Onboard the Lieutenant Wolff, Captain Hans von Staatenmacht was screaming orders at the top of his lungs, his hands on the helm, furiously trying to turn the airship to present its port side.
“Arm the torpedos and start shooting already! They are almost upon us! Verdammit, launch the rocket pods!"
The Lieutenant Wolff's six 20mm port auto-cannons began spraying a storm of heavy cordite-tipped rounds, the rocket pods hissing as they released their load of high explosive into the cloud of enemy airships. There was a hiss-chunk as the torpedos left their tubes, the dozen rather sizeable large munitions headed for the slower and less maneuverable enemy heavy cruisers. Instead of looking to confirm any kills, Captain Saatenmacht, a veteran airman, was far more concerned about getting his ship out in one piece.

"Activate the afterburners!"

The Lieutenant Wolff threw its back towards the enemy, about to fire its engines' thirteen-ton overdrives when a cruiser's shots smashed into the gas-bag's side, tearing an engine pod open and lighting the rear gun deck on fire.
The entire airship shook, listing, and Captain Saatenmacht himself was thrown against the wall as the world around him exploded into bright lights. Groaning, he pried himself off the floor, and staggered back to the vague shape of the helm as his vision slowly cleared. He groaned again and blinked.
He looked up again to to see the helm control board, the afterburner switch blinking green for ready. He reached for it, when a hand grabbed him from behind and threw him to the floor.
He cried out in agony as his assailant shot him in the chest, shooting his arm out and yanking as hard as he could as he found his attackers foot. There was another yell as his assailant crashed to the floor and final scream as a saber plunged into the assailant's chest. He looked up to see the more-than-welcome armored helmet of a Nationalist marine, the ever-present smoking shotgun held ready in his right hand, a long, slender assault saber in the other, which he drew out of the now-limp corpse. The marine extended a hand, and Captain Saatenmacht took it and stood up. The marine gave a quick salute, to which the Captain responded likewise, albeit shakier.

"Captain, the enemy have boarded the ship. We can hold them off for now, but not too long. What are your orders?"

The Captain staggered back to the helm dashboard.

"You must keep them away from the critical areas of the ship at all costs until we reach the 2nd Republic’s docks."

The marine saluted and ran off, one of the sailors bolting the door behind him.
Captain Saatenmacht gripped the wheel and pulled the ship up, finally reaching the altitude he desired. He reached for the afterburner switch and flipped it.
An alarm howled throughout the Lieutenant Wolff as the afterburners ignited with a mighty fwoosh lurching the ship forwards as friend and foe alike hastily found things to hold on to.

---

The Emperor-Admiral Taiwanpenguin stood at his observation post, a armored balcony with a large observation glass, watching the mining operation slowly finish. The last loads were being loaded into the hulk of the steel behemoth, the mining contraptions slowing down as they found less resources to collect.
All of a sudden, a single destroyer with one of its four engines on fire shot over the top of a mountain and into the narrow valley where the 2nd Republic resided.
The Emperor-Admiral stared in astonishment until a bright scarlet flare streaked out of the destroyer's gondola.

Attackers inbound.

Alarms sounded even as the Emperor-Admiral turned and ran towards the bridge. Th destroyer slowed, and floated down to dock with the 2nd Republic. The moment the airship docked, a contingent of Imperial Marine-Guards stormed the gondola, their sub-machine guns poised, their sabers drawn. The Emperor-Admiral entered the bridge room to a scene of panic, the navigators shouting orders down speaking-tubes to the engines below and the Captain frantically throwing switches and checking diodes. The Emperor-Admiral ignored this and went straight to the intercom. He needed not to rally his people. They already knew what was at stake. He only needed to say two words.

"Battle stations!"

At once the previously calm and filled market dispersed as guns were manned and citizens evacuated into the lower, more armored levels. They were replaced by the army green and gold of the Imperial Service Fleet, beelining for the airships that sat ready and fueled on the docks. The two massive cannons swung towards the valley bend where the 2nd Republic had passed through earlier, the ka-chunk of the rocket batteries being raised from belowtiers.

The Cassalvae slowly rolled into view, its citadel presented, bristling with guns and airships swarming towards the 2nd Republic. The 2nd Republic refused to become easy prey though, as the last of the mining equipment was stowed away as the engines roared and the Nation-Cities rolled forward at an increasing pace. Cassalvae's guns were already firing, little streaks of light becoming loud thunks as they bounced off the armor and crutches and muffled explosions as they hit the armor plates. There was a terrific explosion onboard the Cassalvae as one of the 2nd Republic’s main 38-inch railroad-gun's shells smashed into the Cassalvae's upper tiers, leaving a smashed debris zone upon the upper area. The Cassalvae was seemingly unfazed as it continued as though nothing had happened and responded with a rocket barrage.

The chase had begun.

Oh ok then, that works just as well

What is the limit on orbital weapons? Do kinetic and missile weapons definitely register as dangerous, but what about weaponizing space shuttles by fitting them with explosives? Or just dragging cluster munitions into orbit to drop on top of enemy nations? Do we need a convention for such a case?

Following the Ming Uprising of 1412, nearly five million former Ming subjects joined together under the ancient banner of the late former Emperor Hangzu von Atwaus, a remnant of the last Ming-Brandenburg Dynasty, before the bloody War of Siver Petals conquered its people and lands. It wasn't exactly a true republic, more like a parliamentary monarchy, but people had basic voting rights nonetheless until 1452 when an unknown force of nearly three and a quarter million foreign mercenaries stormed the Reformed Ming-Brandenburg Empire. It resulted in the extremely bloody Battle for Handong, a minor mountain city at the summit of the North Far Eastern Dragon Mountain Range, where the Imperial Army of around seven hundred thousand faced off the mercenary force of around two million mercenaries, where the Imperial forces managed to hold off the mercenaries for a stunning two months, largely thanks to the well-coordinated battle strategies of the Imperial Army, and well designed military infrastructure. Reinforcements of four million dragoons, grenadiers and Calvary from the national reserves and elite Imperial Royal Guard (but mostly Calvary and dragoons from the Imperial Reserves) arrived under General Hofferstant von Beihai and routed the mercenary force with the Battle of the Burning Snow, where Imperial grenadiers threw hundreds of thousands of firebombs of petroleum jelly mixed with gunpowder into the fray, causing massive casualties to the enemy force. The mercenaries, only equipped with medium-range muskets and cannons were stunned to be attacked with long-range rifle fire from the dragons, and even more so when the Calvary charged in and practically obliterated the entire artillery force from the east, where the formations of mercenary infantry had neglected to cover an open flank to their artillery batteries, allowing the Calvary to charge and wipe them out completely. Without artillery support, the mercenaries were beaten back and the Imperial Army proceeded to mass-charge the enemy.
The battle ended when all the mercenaries were either captured or dead, covered with brutal lacerations and bloody bullet wounds. From interrogation, the Imperial Intelligence discovered a plot by the neighboring Ardian Empire, which they did, upon the defeat of their mercenaries. The war was brutal, costing both sides millions of casualties, and lasting until 1487, when the Empire of Ardia brought its armies and allies to the Imperial Capital of Nanjing, resulting in the crushing Battle of the Burning Lead, where the remaining Imperial Army was defeated, though bringing down five times the casualties they had taken. The Emperor was killed, and his entire administration either committed suicide or took part in the Last Stand of the Shattered Sword, where the Imperial Marine-Guards and other elements of the Imperial Army stood their ground in the defense and evacuation of the Royal Emperor-to-be and hundreds of thousands of civilians. The last remnants of the Imperial military went into hiding, exile, or went with the Emperor-to-be's contingent force. Such was the end of the Restored Empire.
But the Ardian Empire failed to hold onto the Chinese lands, in 1494, when the Emperor-to-be's daughter and heiress to the throne, commanded a small army of half a million Imperial Royal Guards, Remnant Imperial Army and common peasants armed with rifles decisively defeated the enemy at Hannong, as the small army outmaneuvered the unprepared and lax occupying Ardian forces and took their regional governer hostage. The Ardian Empire figured that the bloodshed and cost of sending another force to retake the are would be far to expensive, despite being ridiculously wealthy in natural resources. They agreed on a ceaseifre, allowing the Heiress to re-establish the empire, but this time under the flag of the First Chinese Republic. Thus began the prosperous thirty years of the First Republic, with the Emperor holding the title of Imperial Admiral, beginning with Heiress Huaning, it as she was fondly nicknamed by the people for her military might and yet kindness to the commons, the Steel Blossum.
The First Republic came into being on June 23, 1498, with the Imperial Admiral Huaning and President Gubang in power, with a large parliament of 72, representing all, including minorities and common laborers.

So I've only just started playing NationStates, so could I get some heads-up from anyone? Anything I should know?