OOC- Dave has given me the OK with this.

62 men and women had gathered in the basement of the Fleur de Lys nightclub close to the beach front in the city of Troyes. For the past few weeks they'd all been taking trips over the border to Aosta where they'd meet up with members of the Empire's Special Forces. Many of the 62 had served with Real Marseille during the fight against Materna but their skills had become a little rusty, after all many of them weren't exactly career military types. One of the 62 was Jean-Pierre Cantona, the founder of Real Marseille and the first President of Marseille, he had persuaded his former comrades in arms to reform the paramilitary group and now with weapons supplied by the Empire of Aosta. Jean-Pierre hoped that they wouldn't be needed but as he checked that he had several spare magazines for his weapon he couldn't rule out it either. They'd tried everything to get the city back for their homeland and even with international support it seemed that Seaforth were intent on keeping hold of their little slice of Albion. "Friends today we shall take back to last piece of our homeland. When we kicked out that damn cult and restored our nation as a Republic all should have been well but as we've seen Troyes failed to get that and now we must toughen our hearts, strengthen our spirits and prepare once more to go into the fire if needed. We promised that we would free all of Marseille and now we must finish the task. You all know your duties for the day and I pray that we meet again with our mission complete." He headed round the room and shook hands with each of them. The last three people he made his way to had stood to one side and not mixed with the others.

Lt. Mirko Russo, Sgt Ruben Clemente and Leading Rate Sara Zanetti had flown in that morning as tourists and stood in civilian clothing, accreditation given to them as journalists while in reality Russo and Clemente were members of the nations elite commando force Zanetti was a radio operator with the Navy. They were here to ensure that high command back home had a clear picture of what was happening. "You all set JP?" Russo asked Cantona as they shook hands.

"As much as we ever can be. You're sure everything is in place?" The former President enquired.

"Yes sir. We've had confirmation just a few hours ago.  We've got your back." With that reassurance the members of Real Marseille placed their rifles in gym bags and stuck pistols into holsters concealed under their jackets before they headed out. At first they made their way in ones and twos leaving at short intervals from the nightclubs back entrance. They made their way down towards the military base that dominated the harbour. There were the usual protests there with Cantona recognising several old friends who had fought alongside him years ago. They stood there with flags and plackards demanding the Seaforthians go home. It was once all the group had got themselves in position that the plan swung into action. There were four roads that lead to the base and now a large box truck full of bricks had swung across each blocking access by road to the base. Cars beeped their horns as traffic began to back up in the streets around the camp. The drivers exited the vehicles and their passengers stuck huge knives into the tyres other members of the group hurried forward and pulled on ropes sending banners unrolling down the side of the truck announcing that the Seaforthian base was now closed and that Real Marseille were in charge of the road blocks. Some of the crowd having seen the banners began cheering.

WIth the base now effectively stopped by the road a flotilla of four fishing boats appeared and dropped anchor in attempts to block the entrance to their dockyard. All that was left was an aerial approach and that would be next to impossible for the folk of Real Marseille to stop. While the locals did their work Zanetti kept the Aostan government up to date and then when the boats had dropped anchor the next stage of the plan swung into action.

At 11:45am on 12th April 2024 the people of Real Marseille have determined that we can wait no longer. Today we have taken action to restore the city of Troyes to the control of Marseille. As a result we have today claimed an estimated 95% of the city for the newly established Republic of Troyes. In addition we also assert our rights to all waters, as laid out by the FSC and all air-space as recognised by international law. We hereby also declare that on the 1st July 2024 a referendum will be run in the city giving people a choice as to whether to remain their own independent Republic or rejoin with Marseille. Until that time Jean-Pierre Cantona will serve as interim President.

Almost instantaneously a group of Aostan naval vessels made their way into what Cantona had described as his new territorial waters. The HIMS Rothari lead a pair of Destroyers (Perctarit and Godepat) and the same number of Frigates (Liupert and Raginpert) took up positions on the main naval route into Troyes and then transmitted their own message

As of 11:50 am on the 12th April 2024 the Empire of Aosta formally recognises the Republic of Troyes and Mr.Jean-Pierre Cantona as their provisional President. In an agreement confirmed by both nations the Imperial Navy of Aosta is to take up a role of maritime security for the new Republic until such a time as they can take responsibility for doing so. We wish this new nation the best and look forward to a bright future as neighbours

Neu Uburzis Stadt, 12.4.2024



Among the shocking news about the Gugnir attack on the Alander Democracy, disturbing news about the Son of the Imperial Ambassador in Nya Aland has reached the Empire. Ortwin Voss, son to Ambassador Caius Julian Voss, is suspected of colluding with the Gugnir. The Ambassador has been caught on a partial recording with several news sources as he seemingly had been yelling at staff for being put on leave. While we still clear up the Audio, so far it can be assumed that Ortwin is suspected of working together with the Gugnir in some capacity.

The Palace so far has reported that they'll look into these claims, and see into Ortwin's communication to the embassy. Though they have stated that Ambassador Voss was put on leave before this reveal.

While Östanåker Maritime College sat just outside the town itself a 2nd group of black fatigue clad men and women had began barracading the town. They had moved into the small police station where just five officers had been on duty. The 100 or so Gungnir now turned it into something of HQ with the officers locked inside the holding cells. In the north of the nation various other small towns had seen similar groups turn up and take over their neighbourhoods. It was soon apparent this had been a well organised attempt at some kind of pustch with around 8,000 Gungnir operatives taking up arms to stake their claim to the country. Not all of them where Ålanders, a handful, maybe as many as a 200 had come from Holmvik and then a further 100 or so were converts from across Mundus. So far the Ålander military was beginning to get its intelligence sorted as the isolation of the northern towns often meant that communication could be slow and in many cases the Gungnir had taken people there totally by surprise.

In the College itself the process was well under way. While the original gunmen began sorting the various groups a black car with tinted windows arrived. A lady with flame red hair exited. She was dressed in a smart business suit but a small pistol sat on her hip. By now the only people remaining in the hall were the Ålanders who were Odinists and the lady assessed the group and scanned a list of names she'd taken from one of the gunman. "Take them to the sports hall for now" The men did as instructed.

Ortwin was stood at the west wall one of the men, a rifle slung on his back approached him and pushed him into line. Over the next twenty minutes each of the students were given a chance to either show their ID proving they were Odinists or given a chance to state their case. If they convinced the man with the list or had their ID on them they were sent to the sports hall, those who couldn't were left to one side and then escorted two at a time off to their rooms to grab "proof" that they were Odinist, at this point if they failed to convince the Gungnir they were taken to stand with the foreign group. It was Otwin's turn, the man with the list of names stepped in front of him. "Name please?" He asked in a tone that was actually rather friendly. "Voss.....Voss....Voss...." he said to himself more than anything as he scanned down the list. "ah got you." he said tapping the name with his pen. "Neu Urburzis....don't get many Odnists from there I bet" he smiled at Ortwin. "Ah yes" he scanned across the line of the information. "Some diplomatic link I see......doesn't say what though" he turned the paper and Ortwin would have seen his name, his student ID number, date of birth, nationality and then a few letters, one was a "D" which meant the individual may potentially have diplomatic immunity. "So we need to keep this quick....ID card, temple membership card or what else have you got that shows your one of us?" He asked and listend to Ortwin's reply. They waited for him to make his case and then satisfied the man finally introduced himself. "OK, I'm Lt. Jasper Holm, if you need anything once this is done this is my card." He handed the man a white business card and then turned to the next in line. Once the process had been completed Ortwin found himself in the sports hall where a hastily set up pair of tables waited with a gunman sat behind each one.

Alisa meanwhile had been frog marched off by another gunman. There she'd been taken back to her room and given just a short amount of time to grab her valuables. As Ortwin was being sent into the sports hall she was helped up onto one of the trucks by a man. "I'll pass you that up Miss" the man said. They may be toting guns but all of the Gungnir seemed to be acting as politely as you could in such a situation and were almost like you'd expect a policeman during some natural disaster evacuation to act. He offered a hand to help her up and then lifted her suitcase up. Once the truck was full its rear curtain was dropped and a voice on a speaker told them to prepare to set off. The trucks took off out the courtyard and were soon on their way. The truck ran pretty smoothly for about twenty minutes, a few of her fellow truck passengers had their phones out, there was no signal, it seemed the Gungnir had somehow stopped them getting a signal of any kind. Soon they began bouncing around a little more but only for a few minutes until they stopped and the engine turned off. They were parked on a quayside with a ferry sat there "You've a 24 hour ferry ride ahead of you. Once in international waters you'll be given the location of your drop of. We shall inform your embassy of your destination too so don't worry. There is food and drink onboard. Please watch your step as you board" the men from the trucks helped people board and while there was no aggression or violence there were men watching with rifles and dogs. Several other trucks arrived bringing people from other parts around Östanåker. Once everyone was onboard the PA system fired up. "Ladies and Gentleman welcome aboard the MV Jordi. Our journey will be around 24 hours. The restaurant on deck three will be open, tea and coffee is available at the cafe's throughout the ship. We have weather reports that the sea is relatively calm so we don't expect much of a problem." the voice sounded no different to as if they were going out on a day trip. Thirty minutes after they had arrived on the quayside the ship pushed off.

Back in the sports hall Ortwin and the other Odinists, both foreigners and locals had been instructed to sit on the bleachers in front of the two tables. Once everyone was in the lady with red hair entered. She carried a megaphone now and using the siren function on it silenced the room. She then let it hang by her side while she simply just spoke loudly. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katja Mannersson. I am a liaison officer for the Ministry of Defence. I am here to do two things. First is to reassure you that you are in no harm. We will be giving you some instructions for your safety and if these are complied with you have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately for now we are all under martial law. You will be free to move about the insides of the college but we ask that you do not leave for the time being. Communications are currently down but we expect them to be restored within the next two hours. We'll let you know when and then we encourage you to contact your families and let them know your fine. The second reason I am here is to offer you a chance to serve your people. Sadly there are some who do not seem like they will accept the legal change of government and as a result we are lacking a full strength security force. Anyone willing to do their bit to defend the only Odinist homeland on Mundus we encourage you to come and sign up. Its a big step we know so Bjorn and Torben will be here for the next two hours if anyone wishes to enroll. If you have no military experience thats fine, we are more than happy to help you learn. We will be offering a signing up bonus as well.....just think, that'll help pay off some of those student debts." She smiled at the audience of students. "If you have any questions come and see me, Torben or Bjorn. Otherwise in thirty minutes time you can return to your rooms etc, for now please just be patient, sign up, ask questions but please remain in the sports hall." She went and stood close to Torben waiting to see people's reactions.

Mr. Relkin navigated Abstergo Industries through some headwinds in recent times, with troubles abroad in the Unitary State and the potential for anti-trust action back home. However, thanks to the successful launches of aOS, nexus and Lexa AI, as well as securing further contracts for the Defense Solutions Division, Abstergo has seen its market cap increase to र652.4bn ($1.2tn) with some analysts questioning whether Abstergo is on path to become the first trillion-Ducat company in Rokkenjiman history after this milestone. Abstergo stocks received a boost on the successful conclusion of the antitrust matter, while gains in the field of AI offset other challenges such as the loss to Rosa Shipyards to construct the Ryōshi Class Ordinance Ship. "We're still building the Gojira class," Relkin was quick to add, "and while Ryōshi will be built by Rosa her brains will be designed and built by Abstergo Industries."

"What led us to this point," Relkin paused, "is a combination of factors. Profits and revenues beating expectations is one part of the equation and, moving into the future, Abstergo is exploring options for periodic stock buy-backs as considered appropriate by the Board of Directors. While we took a bit of a hit during the unfortunate Mktvartvelo affair and antitrust action here in Rokkenjima investors have nonetheless remembered Abstergo's historic reputation as a safe investment in times of economic uncertainty. Add to this the fact that aOS has seen its marketshare in Rokkenjima increase to 64%, nexus reach 43% and, while that last number might be concerning we're largely competing against SyncOS, although the rate of adoption of nexus is most promising. Abstergo projects that nexus will overtake SyncOS before the end of the year, and we'll see aOS north of 70% at that point as well. We're doing all the right things, providing products that resonate within our markets, so that's why we've cracked the trillion-dollar ceiling. Naturally our next target will be the trillion-Ducat ($2tn) ceiling, though I can't accurately say when that might happen."

"We also have in Lexa AI a trailblazing, revolutionary AI platform which expands its capabilities with each day that passes. Much like the internet transformed the world around three decades ago AI is ushering in another revolution; it's already changing nearly every industry and is impacting our society in ways we're only just starting to understand. As this technology becomes more capable I envision it taking repetitive and dangerous tasks from human hands, freeing humanity toward those pursuits they're so much better equipped for; work that requires creativity, empathy and, yes, humanity. Just as the industrial age eased the lives of our ancestors, freeing them from spending countless hours toiling under the hot sun harvesting crops by hand while bringing the world closer together via the steamship and train, AI will bring us closer together by taking over menial tasks while freeing people to pursue more enlightened paths. Today, however," he paused as he produced an aOS phone, "everyone who has an aOS phone or nexus PC has their own digital butler, enabling them to be more present in their lives while leaving things such as making reservations, appointments, booking flights, hotel rooms, even ordering household deliveries and services in Lexa's capable hands."

"Continuing on Lexa, we've seen a shift in how Rokkenjimans search for information on the web. While previously one would open a browser, go to a search engine, type a query and hit 'search' we've instead seen people pulling out their phones and simply asking Lexa instead. Personally I can't tell you how many times I've been out and about, perhaps shopping and a song I haven't heard in years comes on and all I have to do is say "Lexa, who is this?" and, seconds later, she gives me the name of the song, the band, the album the song is on and when it was released. That's a simple example yes, but it's something that is only recently possible thanks to the work of Abstergo and other efforts abroad." Naturally at this point the RBC pointed to the Journey XR from Arasaka.

"We've got something in the works there," Relkin replied with a grin. "Similar concept, but on a different scale than what the team at Arasaka is aiming for. Imagine having a cinema experience wherever you might be, or a workspace that occupies the space around you, all controllable with your eyes, voice and hands. It's in the works at the Future Technologies Division and while they don't have a name for it yet I've been floating Abstergo Marvel might be appropriate for the vision we have in mind. We'll see what marketing comes up with in the mean time, naturally, though I think when people see this they'll truly marvel at the potential one can fit into a headset."

Lodja and both kaitaines in for everything please.