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Terrible Swift Sword (Centralian Civil War IC Thread; Open)

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Tytor:
HTMS Monarch, Sea of Kyne
February 4, 2022
12:15 PM, local time

Lieutenant Colonel Frank Gerry went through the preflight checklist for his Tri-Star AR-12 Thrush three times before firing up the engines.  He'd done the same with his full-body flight suit (or space suit, as those in the know tended to call it) before heading out to his aircraft.  Gerry might be a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Air Force, but today he was flying as an agent in the Royal Intelligence Service.  In fact, that was about the only excuse for an airman like him to be aboard the carrier HTMS Monarch in the first place.  Technically, his plane was an AR-12N Sea Thrush, the cold war-era spy plane's naval variant.  Being carrier-capable meant the Sea Thrush could be deployed farther afield than the larger and more modern, but land-dependent, AR-12S.  Fortunately, this mission should be just fine with the older AR-12N.  Gerry checked his instruments one more time and flipped on the radio.  "Tower," he said, "This is Mockingbird 1 requesting clearance for takeoff, over."

"Roger, Mockingbird 1," came the reply, "You are cleared for takeoff.  Good hunting, over."

"Appreciated, Tower," Gerry said, "Commencing takeoff.  Over and out."

Takeoff went rather smoothly.  As always, the steam catapult was a little rough, but that was to be expected.  Gerry quickly ascended to a cruising altitude of 70,000 feet, and struck out for Centralia.




New Eastland City, New Eastland
Federal Republic of Centralia
February 4, 2022
2:35 PM, local time

Nehemiah Godfrey, Pastor of the Lord's Resistance Army and aspiring ruler of all Centralia, gazed upon the bombed-out shell that once was Grant Tower, one of the most important buildings of New Eastland City's war-ravaged financial district.  Grant Tower had been the headquarters of Centralia's largest bank, Phineas Grant and Sons.  PGS was one of the primary bankrollers of the Centralian Federal Army, and now... now the bulk of its reserves had been captured by the LRA.  Godfrey smiled grimly.  With PGS's former wealth now in his hands, he could start looking abroad for aid - purchase propaganda broadcasts, reach out to sympathetic governments, and buy better weapons off the global black market.  And with New Eastland in his hands, he had a port from which to receive any such goods.  In fact, the best part of the fall of New Eastland had to be the capture of the cruiser FNS Catawba and the destroyer FNS Roundrock.  Sure, they were both pretty old, and the Federal Navy still had more ships, but it was a start.

Godfrey remained transfixed by the smoldering ruin for a little longer, then turned to a lieutenant standing just behind him.  "All right, Todd," he said, "It's time."  And indeed it was.  Time to finish the redemption of this people.  Time to establish legitimacy in the eyes of the world.  Time to open the next phase of his crusade against the godless bureaucrats of New Providence.  And time to film a declaration to the world, announcing the establishment of the Federal Republic's successor as the lawful government of all Centralia.

A distant motion caught his attention, and he looked up into the sky.  There, far, far above the great city, was a solitary black airplane.  Perhaps a lost airliner?  Or, less benignly... perhaps even a government reconnaissance flight?  No matter.  The LRA's positions in the city were dug in and well hidden.  No, the LRA was not going to be pushed out of New Eastland easily, if at all, regardless of how many aerial pictures that blasted government in New Providence took.  Godfrey smiled again.  Now, on to the film studio.

All was well.




Philipsburgh, Mazeltovia
Federal Republic of Centralia
February 4, 2022
6:30 PM, local time

The Insurgent-in-Chief.  That's what everyone had called him for ages.  It had been his codename for as long as the Communist Party had been forced underground.  It wasn't his real name, of course; just imagine having to walk around your local high school with a name like "Insurgent".  No, his real name was John Browder.  When he wasn't skulking around between underground meetings (or, for that matter, leading a revolution against the current government of Centralia), he was Mr. Browder, a grocer who ran a small shop in central Philipsburgh.  He'd been a Mazeltovia resident most of his life, except for a brief internship in New Providence when he was in college.  Browder was rather older these days, and he'd been fighting the good fight for decades.

The sunset wasn't visible from where Browder was standing, but the clouds overhead were varying shades of pink and orange.  He pondered the symbolic significance of it all.  The sun was setting on the Federal Republic, and soon a glorious red dawn would rise over all of Centralia.  Surely it would.  And Comrade Browder would be there to lead the way into the future.

His People's Liberation Army controlled parts of several southern states, and all of Mazeltovia.  Perhaps tonight, Browder would record an address declaring the establishment of the Federal Republic's legal replacement.  And then... who knew what the future would bring?




OOC: This thread is intended to consolidate related storylines associated with Centralia's civil war.  Anybody is welcome to get involved; I ask, though, that anyone who does remembers that not everything we as roleplayers know is known by the general public, or even by the different actors in this conflict.  If there's any confusion regarding what is or is not public knowledge, please feel free to DM me here on the forum or ping me on the TIO Discord server.  If there is sufficient call for it, I will set up an OOC thread.

Geo:
To:- Nehemiah Godfrey, LRA
From:- His Majesties Secret Service; Niš, Kingdom Of

Greetings and Glory to God!

The HMSS has been monitoring the escalating conflict within Centralia and with looming threat upon the horizon, we wish to offer you, our fellow servants of the Lord, assistance in your conflict.
Whilst our nation's religion of Northern Orthodoxy and your organisation's religion may disagree on some aspects of faith, we are both children of the Lord. Regardless of your denomination, the Holy War against those that oppose God's will on Earth, such as your Federal Republic foe, is a war that must be joined by all good Christians.

To that end, we are willing to offer you the following:

-Funds
-Weapons and Ammunition
-Heavy Armaments
-Military Advisers
-Medical Supplies

Specific numbers will be finalised once we have news of your interest in this agreement.

Once the conflict is over, in return for our assistance, we request that all men, women and children that follow the Orthodox faith are allowed to practise freely. We do not doubt that you will pursue this policy, however assurances and promises are always preferred. We also request that you will pursue close relations with us once tensions within your nation are normal.

May the Lord guide our Black Hands, may He grant us peace and deliver us.
Petar Blagojević

Achkaerin:
Marble Palace, Valtheim

If there was one thing Peter didn't like it was these kinds of meetings, another meeting with members of the government, intelligence agencies and the military, he'd read the threat assessment provided to him and all in all it was fairly clear that if it came to an intervention, the likes of which members of Tytor's commons were calling for, that Centralia's military lacked the ability to stand against an invading force, Peter was actually convinced that given the state of Centralia's military even Heyra, being one of the smallest and yet up to date military's on Mundus could probably take Centralia's in a fight, so if or more likely when it came to fighting it would be the terrorist entities that presented the challenge. But it wasn't there that the overriding concern lay at this point, the present issue remained justifying an intervention.

"It's simple enough." Nettie Taylor, Peter's foreign affairs advisor said "There are only really two ways this leads to an intervention, first Centralia's government says yes - this isn't likely to happen..."
"Bush has indicated a desire for an intervention." Richard Chambers said "But Bush isn't Tanner."
"However thanks to Bush we know the areas the communists and LRA are in." Nettie said
"So second way?" Peter asked
"Something happens that causes enough outrage to force it." Michael Williams said "For example Cult of Helus genocide, no one could pull the trigger until we knew what was happening."
"It would be flippant to ask if Tim Carpenter's in Centralia wouldn't it?" Peter said taking a breath "Rion?"
"I have people on the ground getting the lay of the land and Achkaerinese Intelligence are looking over that website investigation from a while back." Rion Ayanami said "If we find a smoking gun you're the first to know."
"Good." Peter said "Adam?"
"Yes Your Majesty." Adam Sheppard, the Minister of Defence, said "We've been able to rotate the balance at Katenka slightly, we're still staging our search operation for the Morelander out of there but with the Intrepid now on station down there, Katenka's basically become where our tankers and Dragonbane's are calling home for the duration, fortunately if it comes to it Dragonbane's would be useful in dealing with Centralia so we've shifted some Raptorwings down there and a handful of Night Fury's, so we've got what we need to go at Centralia if we have to."
"Ok move assets into the ballpark." Peter said "You know the drill, long way round, keep distance and only close if we find that smoking gun."
"Understood." Adam said

Ashboro, Centralia

A lone motorbike roared through the Centralian countryside and into the city, the place certainly looked like it belonged in a war zone still it wasn't as bad as what she'd seen in Merina or at least that was what it looked like to Hazel Nairn as she eventually parked up and secured her bike, running a hand through her hair she looked around taking in her surroundings - the cafe's were open, the ice cream stand was doing a roaring trade and the church bells were ringing, if she didn't know better she'd have believed it was a country at piece, still at least the bells told her where the church was, Hazel made her way to the building, it being a weekday she expected to find it empty or near empty as she entered she played Bush's letter over and over in her head The pastor's a local, a lot of his staff and material come from a smaller church in St Elmo's city, Tytor well the implication of that was clear - Rapture as they'd been called then, after all there'd been suggestions of their leadership fleeing Tytor. Hazel's job was to find out what she could about this, taking to perusing one of the church's many stain glass windows she started training her ears on what she could hear around her.

New Providence, Centralia

Perhaps the most concerning thing about this crisis was the apparent silence of the Centralian Government, normally a civil war would have people shouting it from the rooftops but not here, in fact such was the concern that Rion had in truth put the Government right at the top of the intel list in red pen. So here in the heart of the capital, and suitably dressed for it were Joe Ochre and Anthony Vilani, the pair walked through what appeared to be a busy, almost normal square. It was a rather disconcerting experience in that it didn't really add up to what they were expecting.
"If you didn't know better." Joe said quietly as they walked "Would you say there was a war on?"
"Looking at this no." Anthony said, moments later they stepped into the home of Congress, Joe managed to procure the day's order paper
"And it gets weirder" Joe said, upon examination of the order paper "All routine. Nothing we'd expect it's eerie."
"What is this? The Truman Show?" Anthony said
"Sure feels like it." Joe said
"Keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel." Joe said "Let's see what's going on."

Mazeltovia, Centralia

The job of sniffing out information on the Communists had been handed to Misty Kennedy, probably the best sniper in the Achkaerinese military and as such she was approaching her assignment like a sniper, the rooftops were her domain, the place from which she could observe all before her, from where she could pick up unusual behaviour and from where she could hunt if she had to. Right now as day turned to night she stood against a roof mounted vent the wind blowing through her raven black hair and billowing her jacket, in her hand she had her sniper rifle sight she was using it to observe the goings on around her, this place at least certainly looked like it belonged in a war zone, there were a few indications of civil unrest and plenty of signs of neglect. She glanced up at the sky, the storm clouds were gathering the questions were obvious when would it break? And where would lightning strike first?

paralipomena:

Message to the Centralian federal government | Private communication

After returning from Ktsatskuri, I'm able to communicate your government that, considering the present circumstances your nation is facing, the Unitary State of Mktvartvelo would be honoured to offer humanitarian aid and other supplies.

I'm available for an immediate meeting to discuss this offer and other potential agreements between our governments.

Yours sincerely,
Gocha Arsenidze
Ambassador of the Unitary State of Mktvartvelo in the Federal Republic of Centralia

Tytor:
HTMS Monarch

Lt. Col. Gerry stood at ease as the RIS analysts went over his high-altitude photos one more time.  Also in the room was Admiral Richardson, overall commander of the Kyne Fleet; he'd flown to the carrier via helicopter a few hours ago.

"Well, gentlemen?" the admiral prompted the analysts after a moment.

"Sir," one analyst (Gerry believed the man's name was Todd something) replied, "From what we can see, it looks like we've a large massing of LRA fighters in and around New Eastland City, which is more less what we'd expected.  What we did not expect was the fact that the CFA appears to have pulled back to defensive positions south of the city rather than launching any sort of counterattack against the rebels."

"It is entirely possible that we're looking at the total collapse of the Federal Republic in a matter of weeks," the other analyst (something Williams, Gerry believed) cut in, "The really strange thing, though, is that the photos of New Providence don't appear to have any of what we would consider the hallmarks of invasion panic or evacuation, and that just corroborates what we've been hearing from our guys on the ground."

"You'd expect the place to be swarming with civilians trying to get out," Todd said, "But there doesn't appear to be any of that.  It's almost like the people of the capital don't believe the war is really coming their way."

"Of course, sir," Williams concluded, "The more information we can get the better.  Keep flying observation missions, and soon enough we'll know enough to properly plan the intervention Parliament is demanding.  And that will get them off all of our tails."

"Very well," Admiral Richardson said, nodding, "Thank you both, gentlemen.  That will be all for now.  Colonel Gerry, you heard the men.  Go get some rest; you'll be heading out again first thing tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," Gerry said, snapping to a salute, and with that, the meeting concluded.




Ashboro

The few people on the streets of Godfrey's temporary seat of government paid little notice to either the motorbike or its rider.  Many assumed she was another one of those "resistance fighters" who had taken over here, as well as in neighboring states.  As she approached the church, however, someone finally took real notice of her.

"Excuse me, ma'am," a custodian said to her, "I don't believe we've met.  I'm Daniel, the head custodian, and I find it helpful to get to know all of the pastor's friends when they pass through.  How long have you been with the Lord's Resistance Army?"




New Providence

Matt was confused with it all.  He and Parker had finally tracked down Korso and his "Sons of Liberty", but now there was a war on.  But it wasn't just any war, either - this war promised to define the course of Centralian history for the next few decades.  The really weird thing was how little the government was talking about it, and it seemed like they were leaning on the press to keep it that way.  The SOL had assigned the pair to observe comings and goings at the Capitol a few days ago, and since then, Matt had become rather familiar with all the staffers who frequented the front steps.

Suddenly, Matt noticed something odd, and he grabbed Parker's arm.  "Hey, look over there," he said, pointing at a pair of staffers who were heading into the building, "Those two, they don't look familiar to you, do they?"

"Huh, you may be on to something, Grasshopper," Parker said, pushing his fake glasses farther up on the bridge of his nose, "They look a bit out of place, almost like spooks... but why would the OSS be spying on Congress?  Let's shadow them when they come back out; chances are they'll come back the way they came."




Philipsburgh

As dusk fell, nobody really noticed the sniper up on the roof.  The first to really notice was a hapless security guard checking the rooftop before locking up.

"Um, excuse me, ma'am," he called out to the woman's back, "I need to get this door locked, so I'll have to ask you to..."  He trailed off, noticing the sniper rifle.  "Oh, excuse me, I didn't realize," he said quickly, "I mean, if you're on official PLA business, don't let me stop you.  I'm just the guy in charge on security here.  Didn't mean nothin', I swear."




Reply to the Unitary State of Mktvartvelo

Ambassador Arsenidze,

It would be my pleasure to accept your nation's offer of aid during this conflict.  I invite you to meet me at my office for formal discussions, perhaps over a light lunch.

Sincerely,
-R. Edward Young
Secretary of State

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