The vassalization of Verdantis was a thought that had only come into mind a few times. I think a majority of my Government, myself included was going on with the war with the thought that we’d be annexing the hell out of the bane of our existence thus far.But Niaina put up several good points as to why vassalization was much better than annexation.Firstly, it would be several times more efficient for the Government to administer the region through a puppet state than to attempt coring the entirety of the states with military rule and fear.“The Schelarian military would and should be put to better use than quashing rebellions.” She’d said. “The cost of maintenance of those armies would be the same as the current cost during this war. It is just not profitable to do so, especially seeing as it would take months if not year to effectively begin the taxation of the newly conquered regions. The deficit would kill the country and the Niluthiaians would break away.”Secondly, it would be
As soon as I’d given authorization the operation began in full force, my men knowing their responsibilities trooped out of my office to begin the operation in earnest, communicate to the troops and get them into offensive positions.From that moment to whatever moment I found myself either at the end of a gun or handing over terms of surrender to Leopold Marofo, began the most stressful days of my life.We’d given the order to begin the operation to the troops and all priority one regiments; Helgen, Peridot and Upsilon were set.Helgen had been given the order to move in with the rest of our men on ground and begin placing pressure on the enemy at one point in the theather, a point we’d marked as a soft spot.But the soft spot wasn’t as soft as the name implied, it was simply the least defended front with less close air support and rather non-existent bombers flying through as our squads advanced over their lines. That still left the men, their tanks, heavy artillery and often anti-ta
Alban wasn’t sure how many days had passed since he’d been in audience with the President. But he was aware that he’d spent quite a few number of days under some observation of sort.His memory was sufficiently distorted that he didn’t care much about what had happened during that period, all he knew was that he was soon released to do as he pleased after they had stared at him day after day.Luckily, his memory wasn’t so distorted to forget the events that had transpired and once he’d been released he was intent to find his only surviving teammate, Marina.Before he could do so, however, he’d been quickly beset by more ‘Government Dogs’ as he’d begun to think of them. They’d been waiting for him the moment he’d been released from what he could only describe as a detention centre.The two dogs wore polished black suits and wore matching black sunshades, if Alban was the man he was a month ago he’d think the two just had a bad fashion day, but now vividly aware of the rot that called i
As usual, the Hospital was crowded and there were people waiting for one thing or the other in all corners. It was a good thing then that Alban had brought along his friends from the government then, with a flash of their badge and a silent glower, doors were opened and people made way.Marina’s room was set in the far end of the Hospital, completely closed off from the others. Alban wasn’t entirely sure why this was done but he didn’t complain.Entering the room, the first thing he observed was that it was a single man bedroom, Marina didn’t have anyone she was sharing the room with, perhaps that would have been different if he’d been injured as well.The second thing was marina herself, she had her hands wrapped up in sloppy bandages and had almost fallen over reaching for the pistol she now pointed at him. The dogs Alban had brought along shamelessly backed out of the room, choosing to stand outside rather than help diffuse whatever situation might be occurring.“Hello Marina.”“Al
I sat bruised, bloody and beaten amid my enemies, their predatory grins dug into my pride as I knew that they only waited for a single word to tear into me. Luckily, the one to give the order wasn't present and I only suffered a periodic smack to the back of my head.My jailors were kind enough to let me have access to a television, more for their entertainment and less of mine, of course, but it gave me all the information I needed and even more."Just last night, the Volstovian government finally confirms that it is under attack from a neighbouring country.""Yeah, I don't think there's any need at this point for confirmation, we've got clear footage of the battlefield a full aerial and ground view too.""Ah, yes George, let's have the clip played," she pauses to look to the camera, "Viewers, please be warned, what you are about to witness can only be described as deeply disturbing."The station slides over to play the clip and it is truly disturbing. A screech pierces through the r
I died of old age.For some reason I thought and hoped that that would be my finally death. It wasn’t.I was back again, lying in the painfully comfortable bed that greeted me with each reincarnation into my nineteen-year-old body. Having experienced death in more methods than most dead people could boast of, the experience had become gruesome.I’d died in several ways; stabbing, shot in the head, shot in the head by a sniper, suffocated with a pillow, war, bubonic plague, suicide, the list goes on.But in total, I had lived a sum of nine lives and a hundred and seventy-two years. Yes, the experience was gruesome.I sighed, done waiting for the puppeteer of my misery to reveal itself to me. Whatever pioneered this phenomenon around me. Unsurpringly it didn’t. After close to two centuries of life, I still had no clue what purpose my repetition served. I had no idea what mistake I was to rectify. If this was a game, I had no waypoint.I sprung to my feet, unamused by my tenth reincarnat
My back was greeted by my painfully comfortable bed. I died again.Ha!Actually no, I hadn’t. Though I was brave enough to steal a bit of Luciano’s hair with that bullet, I knew I couldn’t control the military without his support. I needed him gone, yes, but not only for my satisfaction. If I got rid of him without mapping and buying out the loyalties of those who would replace him then, I’d only be creating more problems for myself.Currently he held the highest ranking position in all facets of the military. That would need to be broken down. I preferred to have options to choose from. If I had three military advisors and members of my ruling council, then I had a better chance of dividing their forces when I smell a coup.A few well-placed promises and threats and I’ve got a stable hold on the Military, no one willing to move against each other, much less myself. The problem arose in how to rip his power away from him and divide it among those I wish.“So far the reports show no si
I would be lying if I didn’t think this was cringe worthy.It was raining, we all wore black and many women from what remained of my extended family wiped out the waterworks.Well we had to bury them sometime. My parents I mean. This was the tenth time I was holding their funeral, burying endearing pictures of the two of them in the same casket. Was that cheap? Burying two people in one casket just because you could-seeing as pretty much nothing remained of their bodies.It’s the thought that counts.I hear and feel my phone ring, the frightening sounds of Mark Hamill’s iconic joker laugh. I let myself smile at the visible scares it gave everyone at the funeral. I pulled it out and ended the call. No point actually answering a schedule call now is there? Why would I schedule a call? Why to get out of my parent’s repetitive funeral, escape my aunts and the mound of cousins that seemed to keep growing, of course.I turned around and began to walk away with the phone placed against my e