LizNES6: Fortune Favors The Brutal

I've got a flag for you for Grand Senegambia

To: World
From: Free America

In order to keep the international community apace of events behind the scenes, FA and California have been trying to hammer out a peace, but to no avail. They are not willing to give up their stranglehold on Mexico and Panama, and so we had no choice but to reject their offer of what was essentially a white peace with a few conditions.

We are saddened that peace was not able to be made, and so the war must go on. But make no mistake: We WILL Free Mexico, and eradicate Hudsonism. There is no other choice but to destroy Hudsonism and to free these subjugated peoples.

I'm done

Author's note: any events involving another nation mentioned in this story are based on true, recent events.

Newport News, Virginia

Representative Dominic "Dom" Draper approached the ninth hole on the golf course. The first eight had gone reasonably well for him; he was one under par. The President, however, was two under par, as was the Dixie Military Chief-of-Staff. His caddy placed Draper's golfbag softy on the turf as he maneuvered to retrieve a driver from the bag; instead, however, the Representative motioned the aid to wait as he reached for a shot of Jack Daniels.

"Solid shooting so far," he remarked to the President, who was adjusting his swing for the green ahead.

"Yeah, well," President Michael Boulder started, muttered between his practice swings, "All the good shots in the world won't fix the global economy." The President lined up his iron and swung, sending his golf ball floating towards the hole.

Draper watched the ball settle on the green before saying, "Good swing."

The President nodded. Turning to an aid, he motioned for a beer from the cooler nearby. "So tell me, Dom, you've been hammering out a plan for an economic upturn for several weeks now. I've been eagerly anticipating the final product. How has your work in the corporate sector been going?"

Draper smiled. "Building and burning bridges, on a daily basis. You know how it is."

The President sipped his beer. "Did you see the report this morning? The Hearshaw Group is planning for an 'inevitable' liquidity rush, now that peace on the continent is all but dead for the time being."

A nearby representative, on the House Foreign Relations Committee, piped up, "They're worried about investor confidence. It's dropping like a rock."

Draper turned to the representative. For a few seconds, he stared unerringly towards the the representative, his eyes glaring from behind his sunglasses. "Confidence is a phantasmal decoy, used by amateur economists whose economic views are as depressing as their personal ones."

The President chuckled as Draper continued. "Confidence is an illusion. In reality, the economy is the of influence between an older brother and a younger brother. The younger kid will moan and cry and feel all sorts of fears and self-doubts. But, if you give him an older brother as a role model, the kid'll switch attitudes in the blink of an eye."

The President raised an eyebrow, interested; Draper spoke on. "The Hearshaw Group isn't afraid that they will initiate a liquidity rush. They're afraid the little brothers will. Hearshaw is the big brother here. If Hearshaw reports an increase in stable investments, the other little guys will follow their lead, even if they were scared out of their minds just the day before. Unlike the other, smaller banks and investors, the Hearshaw Group doesn't rely on any phony sense of confidence when they invest. They're professionals; if they see a good deal, they'll take it. They won't let their hallucinations of despair take a hold of them. Once Hearshaw invests some more, the other guys won't even dream of liquefying their investments."

President Boulder nodded. "Interesting. What type of deal would entice their investment?"

Draper sipped his whiskey. "Right now, our government is sitting on a treasure trove of securities worth hundreds of billions of dollars. If we convert those into short-term bonds -- maybe ten year bonds -- and promise a nice, steady rate of investment on them, the Hearshaw Group will swipe them up. Ten years is long enough for the war to end and the economy to stabilize. We've got about $200 billion of possible bond investments; that'd be enough to go around. They'll pick them up, and once they do, only a fool whose invested with Hearshaw will want to liquefy their assets."

Boulder nodded. "Alright. Release $200 billion on possible bond investments. Give Hearshaw first contact rights to the bonds, and make sure smaller investment groups follow suit."

Draper added, "Cole Capital would be interested as well. There's enough to split it."

The President began to answer, only to stop as he noticed an aid hustling towards the group. "Urgent message for the President," he panted as he arrived.

The President opened the envelope and took a few seconds to read the dispatch. He spent a moment in silent contemplation before handing the document to the Chief-of-Staff. "It's from California," he muttered.

The Chief-of-Staff read the message quickly. "Goddamn," he exclaimed, his voice muffled by the cigar in his mouth.

Draper waited for the document to reach him. He devoured the few lines of the message quickly before remarking, "Well, they've been making that threat for awhile now."

The President took the dispatch, and in an act of rage crushed the paper in his fist. "No one threatens Dixie, and no one threatens me." Turning to the aid, he commanded, "Tell the California embassy one thing: get the hell out of Richmond."

The Chief-of-Staff smirked at the order. The President exhaled before telling the group, "We've got a situation on my hands. Call the cabinet. I expect everyone in the Presidential Mansion in three hours."


* * *

A full list of grievances shall be presented to the world as soon as time allows.

* * *

Great story Dread!

Get your orders in everyone! 2 days left.

From: The United States of the Atlantic
To: The Dixie Republic

This will be fun.

I'd send orders, but I'm still waiting for replies to PM'd diplo...especially those sent to BILLSIF.

We confirm.

To China
From The Liberators

So it begins. Our day is finally here and we shall cast you out from continent. We have already declared our intent, now we only back those words. We only come to aid our brothers and sisters in the cause of freedom. We come to take back what was ours before the great death. It is time to restore the rightful order, it is my greatest regret that it shall take bloodshed to do so.

To: Mongolia
From: The Japanese Empire

If you continue to sow the seeds of rebellion in China it will be viewed as an aggressive action against our state, stop immediately.

Just as a reminder, orders are due by tomorrow night.

The orders I have so far;

Bulgaria
Spain
Mesopotamia
Mongolia
Japan
Deseret

Also, California is open for this turn. Until a player joins as California, I will be taking over it's diplomacy. Kozmos, if you had any plans you wanted to coordinate with me, in Nuke's place, PM me.

Finally, Dread, I had forgotten to mention that Madmen is probably my favorite show. It's nice seeing 'Dom' Draper in your stories. I feel like you have him pegged fairly well.

ZeletDude said:

To: Mongolia
From: The Japanese Empire

If you continue to sow the seeds of rebellion in China it will be viewed as an aggressive action against our state, stop immediately.

Click to expand...

The world laughs at your impotence Emperor.

I will send orders when I sober up and defuse a potential sexual harassment suit.

TheLizardKing said:

Finally, Dread, I had forgotten to mention that Madmen is probably my favorite show. It's nice seeing 'Dom' Draper in your stories. I feel like you have him pegged fairly well.

Click to expand...

Orders to come later tonight.

I love Mad Men. Don Draper has an endless amount of awesome lines in that show. I'm trying as hard as I can to mimic his style.

To Acre
From Brazil

You have no idea how much the Minister for Exterior Affairs laughed when you said Miss Franco was a spy. Have you seen her work? She's probably the most critical person of government in the whole of South America.

Look, why don't you release her. Whatever she has, the last person she'll give it to is us.

From: Acre
To: Brazil

Regardless of your opinion of her, the facts are, she broke into our nation illegally, and has attempted to spread dissent. She will be punished. And don't think he completely disregard your back-room involvement either.

La Voix Quotidienne​

Edmonton, Republic of Canada - With the Alaskan front of La Crétin Guerre deteriorating and Chernorussiyan forces overrunning much of the nation, Québecois and Canadian officials have been concerned about the pseudo-Russian military's next move. High ranking officers of both Québec and Canada's militaries believe the force in Alaska will attempt to take an overland route to reinforce their Californian cohorts in the south. The only way this would happen is if Chernorussiya invaded Canada, our close friend and ally. In order to prevent this, Canadian and Québecois forces have moved into British Columbia and western Canada where they have begun fortifying positions, especially roads and railroads connecting Alaska and the Cascadian border regions. Reserve forces and air units have been stationed in Edmonton and Calgary, where they are close enough to provide support to the fortified area. Québec has sent a sizable force to Canada, approximately six brigades of infantry and armor, as well as numerous aircraft. The force is under the command of Général de division Jacques Thibault, who was hand picked by Prime Minister Géroux for the job.

While the movement of our troops to Canada is a big deal, it is only a small part of what many are beginning to believe is a national preparation for war. Sources in parliament have notified La Voix Quotidienne of talks with the government of the United States of the Atlantic. These talks have culminated in the signing of a pact of non-aggression between the St. Lawrence Alliance and our neighbors to the south. This is obviously a measure to avoid a two-front war should we throw our hat into the ring, meaning all efforts will be focused on Chernorussiya and/or California. The only fact detracting from this is the lack of increased military spending. Some cite this fact as a core argument that Québec is not on the road to war. Either way, Prime Minister Géroux, Parliament, and the military have all firmly stated that Québec will not enter the war as an aggressor. If that is the case, and it most certainly is, we should have no worries about being part of the vile war plaguing the south and west.




Paris, Republic of Occitania - A meeting between heads of state and dignitaries from the Francophone nations of Québec and Occitania has created what is now being called "the great hope for the francosphere". L'Alliance Francophonie Éternel has been established as an organization to "better the world francophone community" through the cooperation of "our linguistic brothers from across the globe". Although Québec and Occitania are the organization's only members, representatives of the group have stated that invitations will go out to all nations with large, defined French-speaking and Creole populations. The stated goals of the organization are to provide proper representation, improve cultural and living quality, and promote growth and strengthening of all French speaking peoples.

The first step for L'Alliance Francophonie Éternel is the establishment of a strong, secure, unified French state in Europe, which would help ensure the Européen population, both within the nation and abroad, is well taken care of. Once the Européens are secure, other groups, notably those in the southern hemisphere, will be targeted. Programs to help boost economic strength have been planned, as well as programs to preserve cultural ideals, provide common defense, and promote sovereignty. There has even been rumors of technological advancement programs, such as a collective space program. This organization is poised to jettison the francosphere to new hights.



Saguenay, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean - The very first season and championship tournament was held this year by the newly founded Fédération Continental de Hockey sur Glace. Six teams strived to earn the right to have their names be the first engraved into the Trudeau Cup. The teams, the Montréal Habitants, Quebéc Citadelle, Ottawa-Gatineau Angles, Saguenay Nordiques, Sherbrooke Broyeur, and Trois-Rivières Marteaux, all played valiantly. But, in the end, it came down to only two teams, the Montréal Habitants and the Saguenay Nordiques. To determine the winner, a series of seven games would be held, and the first team to win four games would be declared the champions. The series was hot and games in both Montréal and Saguenay were packed with fans from both teams. The favored Habitants dominated the earlier games, but the Nordiques ended up coming back with close victories. At the end of the first six games, both teams were tied with three wins each, and the final game was to be held in Saguenay. By the end of the second period, the Nordiques held a commanding 3-0 lead, a score many believed the Habitants could not top. In the final period, the Habitants pulled off a miracle, scoring a whopping four goals, the most scored by any team in a single period, which brought the score to a 4-4 tie. To break the draw, an overtime period was played. In overtime, stellar defense from both teams managed to shut down each others' attacks until the final seconds of the game. The Nordiques ended up with three times as many shots on goal during the game. Eight seconds before the end of the period, the Habitants scored a last minute goal which barely crossed over the goal line. The goal was contested, but was ultimately allowed. The Nordiques were unable to score in the remaining seconds of play, and the Habitants were declared the victors.

The fanbase of the Nordiques was stunned. Jaws dropped from Tadoussac to Ivujivik while riotous revelry erupted in Montréal and Laval. A small party was even held in Prime Minister Géroux's residence for the representatives from the Montréal area to celebrate. In a gaudy display, the victorious Habitants changed their team logo, adding a massive "C", symbolizing their being the first Trudeau Cup champions. Outraged, the Nordiques management responded by changing their logo to include a "champion C" as well, seeing as they believed they would have won if it weren't for the contested goal. Both teams are now at each others' throats, and have vowed to crush the other in next year's season. Regardless of whether the goal was legitimate, or who does better next year, one hell of a rivalry has just been born.

From: United Commonwealth of Scandinavia
To: Congo
These are the terms we are prepared to offer you. We advise that you accept.

-The nation known as the Congo will henceforth be known as the Commonwealth of Ankola, and will become a protectorate to the United Commonwealth of Scandinavia. It will surrender all functional sovereignty to the Imperial Parliament of the United Commonwealth, and the royal family of the United Commonwealth. It will be permitted to maintain various functions of regional autonomy.

-The nation known as the Congo will cede the lands pictured in the appended map.

-The nation known as the Congo will recognize the just sovereignty of the United Commonwealth of Scandinavia over the lands pictured in the appended map.

-The nation known as the Congo will agree to contribute, funds, forces and arms in war whenever it is called to do so by the United Commonwealth of Scandinavia.

-The Commonwealth of Ankola will submit its government to review by the Imperial Parliament when necessary, and the latter reserves the right to dissolve and reconstitute any government it finds unsatisfactory.

-The Commonwealth of Ankola will permit the presence, at all times when it is considered necessary, of the United Commonwealth of Scandinavia's armed forces within its territory.

Should you accept these terms, we welcome the Commonwealth of Ankol into the glorious Norse brotherhood. Should you refuse these gracious terms, we will continue our ongoing project of beating your armies bloody.



From: United Commonwealth of Scandinavia
To: France, Flanders, etc
We extend our official recognition, and friendship. Forward, for freedom!

From: United Commonwealth of Scandinavia
To: Pacific Commonwealth
As a member of the Iron Compact, South Island is entitled to the assistance and intervention of any and all of its other members. You will provide a justification for your snubbing of South Island's sovereign rights.

From: United Commonwealth of Scandinavia
To: German Rebels
Rise up and claim your freedom. The time is always now!