INES II: Gone is the Old Guard

[Karalysia]

Originally Posted by Anonymoose

Putin is not? That doesn't even make sense. I think you're looking for 'путйн йс хот'

I have no idea. All I did was the red letters.

Originally Posted by D'Artagnan59

To: The Chinese Resistance
From: Indian Republic

Bite me.

Comrades how would you like to mow down Chinamen in the thousands? We have a new weapon design capable of doing just that. And we're selling it for a discount to alliance members. Watta you say? (See Comintern group)

[Milarqui]

We would like to advice Mr Putin that being so cavalier about some people's lives, no matter who they are, isn't well seen between decent people.

[Karalysia]

Putin prepares his rifle to shoot the Iberian ambassador for being irritating.



The Iberian ambassador flees before Putin loads the weapon.

Putin sighs disappointedly. "It's been days since I've shot someone" he comments

He glances at the bodyguard standing behind him and decides he dislikes the denim jacket he's wearing. He blows the blonde man's head off. "Ahh...there it is" he says with satisfaction as the blood and brains erupt in a delightful geyser of gore. The woman aide next to him screams.

"Oh shut up" says Putin irritatedly. "You've been on my staff for three years now. You know how I roll."

[Milarqui]

Your attempt to assassinate our ambassador in cold blood, in a clear contravention of the international laws that regulate the job of diplomatic relationships since the Congress of Viena of 1815, as well as the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the common laws of human decency, is more than enough to recall our ambassador from Russia.

From now on, consider diplomatic relationship between Iberia and the Far Eastern Asiatic Republic severed, until Mr Putin apologizes for his actions.

[Abaddon]

I am back

[Karalysia]

May our enemies perish in the millions.

[Abaddon]

ewwie, look at my siggie! need to sort that pronto!

[Karalysia]

Do you want my mobile war-crime platform?

[Abaddon]

My nations technology is superiour to that of yours. We thank you for your offer, but feel we would have little use for your weapon other than as a novely. We look forward to its use in the Asian front however.

[Karalysia]

Originally Posted by -✩-

My nations technology is superiour to that of yours. We thank you for your offer, but feel we would have little use for your weapon other than as a novely. We look forward to its use in the Asian front however.

Now I'm offended.

Also technically we have the same technology, or we should at least due to the tech sharing agreement of the Comintern.

[Abaddon]

I have contributed 1ASP each year to the fund, as I assume everyone else has. Other activities have lead to a few more technology advances being secured are a matter we wish to keep close to our chest.

[Circuit]

This story's long. Sorry.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Omonoia Square, Athens, Constantinople Federation

The train slowed enough to allow Elene Collias to read the words "Greek blood is Albanian freedom" tagged on the wall of the subway. She sighed. Looking on the bright side, at least it wasn't a blast mark. She'd seen some of those along the tunnels of the Athens Metro. Some were even decoratively edged with blood, just to add to the impact. This...this was relatively tame. No one was killed when the Metro was tagged.

Although that didn't mean that someone wouldn't be killed as a result.

Collias knew that by riding the metro, she was taking her life in her own hands. One minute, the train would be gliding along the tracks. The next, the locomotive would be in flames and the whole thing would go awry. Granted, there had only been...what was it? ten attacks on the Athens Metro? More than that, probably. How else could she explain how she'd seen three blast marks in not that great an interval?

Luck of the draw? More like a representative sample.

But the train arrived at the Omonoia Station safe and sound. Collias heard a sigh of relief from some of the other passengers. Riding the train was like playing Russian roulette. The next ride could kill you. So why did she ride the train? Well, terrorism wasn't restricted to the metro. She could just as easily skid out of control while riding in a cab after the tires were shot out in a drive-by shooting, or a car bomb could explode when the bus made a stop. And she didn't own a car. Truth is, public transportation was dangerous, no matter what you rode. The months after the assassination of Yuri Kallis would have torn the nation apart had the National Congress and the military not done their best to keep things under control. Their best wasn't good enough, though, in her opinion. More likely they were just prolonging the innevitable fall of the Constantinople Federation and just extending the length of time for partisan warfare on the streets.

The bell rung, and all the passengers stood up, attempting to make their way out of the train in a crowd as thick as blood. No one wanted to be on the train. Terrorists didn't wait for the train to move to set off a bomb. Collias stood, and stood, and stood, knowing that this was the best she was going to get for a while. Openings in the crowd were few and far between.

Today, though, the crowd was slower. Soon she heard curses. "God, move it!" a woman in front of her said. "I want to get off this train and go home!" Collias couldn't see out to tell what the hold-up was; her window was blocked by a pillar. But finally, she found an opening, and was able to move a yard to the next window to see what was going on in the station.

Crowded. Incredibly crowded. And people in the station were doing their best to get out as well. A large crowd was trying to get up the stairs to the surface. Something was going on. And now, Collias was dying to know what it was. Hopefully something good. But cynicism said that it was likely some epic act of terrorism.

It took a good seven minutes for Collias to get out of the train and up the stairs out of the Omonoia Station. Fighting her way up the steps, Collias swerved her head around to get a clear picture of what was going on. And thank God it wasn't an act of terrorism. Rather, it appeared that a rally was going on in Omonoia Square that night. The square was jam packed with bodies, the roads completely blocked off and barricaded...though the barriers were quite crude, like cars blocking the road, indicating that this must not be a police barricade. And therefore, not a sanctioned rally. But the police were hanging around, and they didn't appear to be complaining. In fact, those who were holding the rally had time to set up a podium, a stage, spotlights, a sound system, and Federation flags, along with another flag that she wasn't too familiar with; a black flag with a red eagle and crosshairs. Clearly a political rally. Maybe not officially sanctioned, but the police were in on it.


Flag of the Constantinople Federation


Eagle and Crosshairs flag

Collias would not have an easy time getting home tonight. That much was clear to her. But whether she wanted to go home now was another question. This...could be important. Collias wasn't much for politics; same thing, in her humble opinion. They all would do the same things, and ultimately the whole thing was a game for the guys at the top. But she also knew the importance of survival. And paying attention to important events like rallies and keeping on top of the political movements were key to survival.

If Collias were going to stay for a rally, she might as well do her best to get front row seats. She squeezed her way through the crowd, creeping through its cracks and saying "Excuse me" the whole way. She reached a reasonable distance from the center of the crowd: close enought to see that there were great big men who appeared to be acting as makeshift security for whoever was speaking. The men, along with all those behind them who appeared to be running the rally, all wore the same clothing: black slacks, black button-up shirts, and on each shirt a black patch with the red eagle-and-crosshairs was attached. Men on the stage in the same uniform were talking and gesturing, and on occasion one would come up to the podium and say "Testing, testing," into the michrophone. It took a good ten minutes till a Greek with jet-black hair and a dark complexion came to the mike.

"Hello, fellow Greeks. How's everyone tonight?"

A cheer came up from a good portion of the crowd. Those who did not cheer clearly were of Elene Collias's mindset: "I don't know or trust you enough to play your game." The man, not detered by the silence, said, "Alright. To those of you who cheered, great! To the rest of you, I'm going to ask the same question later tonight. And then, I want to hear you cheer."

A few chuckles came around. He continued. "Fellow Greeks, my name is Aischylos Loris. But who I am is not as important as who I precede. I precede a man who loves his nation and loves his people. The man I am here to introduce is a man who wishes to raise the Constantinople Federation from the bloody remains of Yuri Kallis. The man I am here to introduce is a man who intends to right the wrongs done to the Greeks of this great nation, a man who despises the Turkish assassin Ergin Basoglu, and bring the other assassin to justice. May they both burn in hell.

"The man I precede is one of the most intelligent and charismatic men on this Earth. This man is the answer to the problems of the Constantinople Federation. This man is ready to put Greeks in their rightful place at the helm of the Federation. This man is ready to clean up the terrorists, the separatists, and the nationalists tearing this nation apart and putting us all in fear for our lives, and make sure that they never rise again to threaten our nation, our children, our loved ones, and ourselves. This man is more than the solution to the Federation's problems; he is the promise of a glorious future. And now that I have set the bar high, I will allow this man to surpass it."

Loris turned to his left and raised his hand, and with a booming voice proclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Greeks, I present you with the leader of the Greek Syncretic Party, the future of the Constantinople Federation, Cronus Xanthou!"

Music blared over the speaker system as a tall man with long jet-black hair, shaven face, and lighter skin trotted up the stairs to Loris. Collias, applauding with the rest of the crowd, was impressed when, after shaking Loris's hand, Xanthou looked upon the crowd with a smile. It wasn't the fact that he did this, but that he allowed her to get a good look at his eyes. And they were some of the most piercing eyes she had seen; the irisis a lighter grey color and small pupils of jet black. When Loris left the stage, Xanthou, stepping up to the podium, began in his deep voice.

"Thank you, Aischylos. I don't know whether I can surpass the bar you have set, but I'll give it a shot. But I know one thing; that every word he said about my goals are true. And I have every intention of keeping those goals.

"Fellow Greeks, some of you may remember back in the nineties, during the fall of the Soviet Union, that the Greek Syncretic Party was one of the great contenders for control of the Constantinople Federation when Yuri Kallis was chosen to lead this nation. Now at the time, the Greek Syncretic Party faded into the background when Kallis became President. We saw things this way: 'He's a Greek. That alone is enough to qualify him.' And we decided to give him a run and throw our support behind him. And for almost eight years, he lead this nation, but not in a way that the Syncretics would have lead. Rather than keeping a leash on the Albanians, the Slavs, and the Turks, he made the fool decision of attempting to integrate them, and make them a part of what was rightfully Greek. He was quite generous to them, too. And how do they repay his generosity? With two bullets. I personally was devastated by his assassination. But I won't say that he didn't have it coming.

"I want you all to realize this: the assassination of President Kallis was not just an attack on the President or the government. This was an attack on us Greeks. What do you think troubled the assassins the most about Kallis? That his government was integrating them into the government? Clearly they didn't care about that. That he wasn't doing enough to integrate them? Honestly, fellow Greeks, Yuri Kallis couldn't do enough. There was no way he could appease these assassins. Those Turks clearly had one justification for their actions: he was Greek. Let me repeat that. He...was...Greek. He was a member of a successful nation, a nation that defeated what was once the Ottoman Empire, the ancient oppressor of Greeks. And it just ate those assassins up inside to see him at the helm of the Constantinople Federation. They just couldn't stand it. And when they fired at Yuri Kallis, they didn't just fire at the President; they fired at every Greek in the Federation; fired at the hearts and the heads of every single Greek."

Elene Collias was starting to become consumed by Xanthou's presentation. He was a superb speaker. His eyes scanned the crowd, making it appear as if he were communicating with every member at one point or another. His energy grew. His charisma grew. And she was awestruck. Not to mention that his words seemed true.

"Don't believe me? Look at the state of the nation after the assassination. Those of you who rode here on the Athens Metro: what did you see on the way here? Blast marks? Graffiti? It's not just the Turks who are disgusted by Greek dominance; it's all the other races. Who here saw the words 'Greek blood is Albanian freedom' on the way here?" Collias raised her hand. "Ah, a good amount. I'll say it again: Yuri Kallis's assassination was an attack on all Greeks in the Federation. Part One was killing off Kallis. Part Two is killing you, your loved ones, your children. The terrorists are the agents who seek to finish the job. And if we let them, they will, too, with smiles on their faces.

"But what should we do? Should we surrender? Pull out of the Federation and let them do as they please? Do our best to go into isolation? First, they will not be satisfied with that. As long as Greeks exist, as long as Greeks are here to remind them of the fact that we created a strong and prosperous Federation, that we were able to accomplish what the other races were unable to accomplish, the war will continue. Their freedom is not enough to sedate them. They want your blood.

"And second, why should we surrender? Don't we deserve what we have gotten? Don't we deserve to rule the Constantinople Federation? We shed our blood, spent our resources, wagered our nation to create this glorious nation. Why should we give it up? Wouldn't that be soiling the graves of the brave men who lost their lives in the war with Turkey that created our fine nation? Fellow Greeks, Yuri Kallis's mistake in integrating the minorities was that he assumed that they deserved to rule, that they deserved what the Greeks earned, in their subjugation! Ladies and gentlemen, Greeks were destined for greatness! Greeks were destined to be a leading power in Europe! This is our glorious moment! This is our time to move ahead in our history beyond ancient conquerors, and create a new nation, a new golden age! To throw this away simply because the Slavs and the Turks are unhappy with our rule is more than just a bad idea; it's a great crime!"

The crowd was beginning to applaud, and yips and cheers were coming out. Elene Collias joined them. She felt her heart begin to race. She felt adreneline. Xanthou's passion grew and grew, and he was sweeping her along for the ride to a greater Greek dominion.

"So what shall we do, fellow Greeks? Why am I standing here yelling at you? The way I see it, there is only one solution to the problems of Greeks, and therefore the problems of the Constantinople Federation. It's time that Greeks reassert their control!"

The crowd went wild.

"And I, as leader of the Greek Syncretic Party, will promise this!"

Collias was getting into the moment like the rest of the crowd. She raised her arms and wooped.

"And then we can finally have our security and we would continue the march to glory, both at the same time. I come to you, fellow Greeks, and ask you to support me in a bid for the Presidency. My fellow Greeks, if you want peace, if you want to no longer fear for your life from terrorists, if you want to see this county and our people reach our destiny, then there is only one person you should support: Cronus Xanthou. And there is only one party to support: the Greek Syncretic Party!"

Collias's voice was starting to become hoarse.

"Fellow Greeks, our people were once like an eagle, soaring above all the other beasts upon the ground and achieving new feats. Greeks were once the beast that all others looked up to. Recently our glory appears to have left us. But I don't believe that the Greeks ever stopped achieving. Night has fallen, but the eagle still continues to soar in the dark. Our dawn is approaching, and when the light shines again, the other beasts will come to see that we never left, and that we are still soaring above the rest, as we have always been. We are dark eagles, my fellow Greeks. If you cannot remember the name of the Greek Syncretic Party, know us merely as the Dark Eagle Party, and you will remember who to support. I thank you all for your time tonight. May the Greeks soar!"

Xanthou clearly appeared to be done, and the crowd broke into a piercing screech, overpowering the music that was coming over the audio system. Collias screemed along with the rest. Xanthou was waving to the crowd, stepping away from the podium as Loris trotted up the stairs, gave him a congratulatory handshake before he stepped up to the podium himself. "Folks, folks, please...I need your attention. Folks..." This went on for a few minutes till the crowd had settled down to a satisfactory level. "Thank you. Now, I have a question for you all tonight." After a dramatic pause, he shouted, "HOW'S EVERYONE TONIGHT?"

Elene Collias screamed with the others as if they were at a rock concert. Xanthou and Loris both chuckled. Loris continued over the screams. "Wonderful! You all are amazing! Now, before we end this, I'm going to let you know something. Cronus Xanthou has written a book, detailing what exactly he believes. It's called The Dark Eagle." Loris held up a thick black book with the red eagle and crosshairs on the cover, above the title and author. "We're selling copies over here on the side for only three drachmas a piece. You all should pick up a copy before you go. That way you'll be absolutely convinced that the best thing for Greeks is Cronus Xanthou and the Dark Eagle Party. Thank you all, and have a good night!"

The music began to blare again, and the crowd cheered and applauded again. Collias began to make her way to the stand with the books, bumping into others along the way. She got there where men in the black uniforms were taking money and handing out books rapidly. Collias grabbed her purse and took some drachmas out, then handed them to one of the men. A book was placed promptly with her hands, and she heard, "Thanks for supporting the DEP," said.

"The DEP?" she asked.

"The Dark Eagle Party," the man replied before returning back to business.

Elene Collias began to weave her way out of the busy Omonoia Square. Once on her street, she looked down at the book as she walked, fingering its cover gently. Of course, the book wasn't going to convince her any more. She couldn't be more convinced than she already was.

[Karalysia]

I approve of the above. Strongly.

[Imago]

Really good story. Made me forget I was on the forum for a second.

[Crezth]

Nice job Circuit, that was a jolly good read.

[bestrfcplayer]

Nice story Circuit.

To Constantanopole

From Poland

If you call for this, we will be sending troops to deal with terrorisum.

[Kozmos]

Alone. He was achingly alone in the elevator this time. That fact unnerved him, not because he feared for his life, but for things he might see down here. His bodyguards made it abundantly clear they would not accompany him to the genetech labs. They cited ‘adequate facility security’ and ‘demented freaky ass stuff’ as their main reasons. It was hard to blame them, but lacking anyone else he did so anyway. They were paid well above the standard of their profession. They should be with him, sharing in on all the ‘freaky stuff’.

Ding the elevator went and the doors opened to reveal Dr. Rocard waiting for him with a self-satisfied smile. Not completely unexpected from a man suffering a God complex. “Greetings Jacques, it’s been too long since you last visit. You look tense. Don’t worry I have many things to show you.” Jacques laughed bitterly “That’s just what I fear. Let’s get to it.”

Together they walked through the menacing, clinical looking corridors. It was all white and bright. He didn’t remember these parts. The company must have expanded the labs thanks to the big fat check from the government. The amount was absurd. He wondered if they would soon start receiving blank checks. Rocard broke the short silence with a question.

“Where are you gorillas? Why are they not with you?”

“You mean Raphael and Paul? They expressed great faith in the preexisting security measures of this complex and deemed their escort unnecessary.”

“Ah. I assumed they declined to follow you because of their ethical inflexibility.”

“If by that you mean they were disgusted with your work then yes.”

“Hahahaha. You know for war veterans I would have thought they would be made of harder stuff.”

“How do you know that they are ex-military??”

“Well company security background checks everyone who comes to see the labs. That and I took their DNA. It was useful in the project. One can never have too many samples.”

“What are you talking about?”

“We’ve made great progress in isolating all the important soldier genes. Now we have a very potent genetic package to apply to the troops.”

“How do you think to force them all to take it? They are military. They might not take too kindly with someone messing with genes.”

“Hah! Ignorant grunts. I’ve already talked things over with the Minister. We are going to sell it as the new round of vaccinations in response to the biological weapon use in the American Federation. They won’t even notice they have been…enhanced. The government will have its Genome Soldiers.”

Jacques was disgusted and impressed at the same time. It was a very confusing feeling. The man was a genius. It was obvious. But he was also a diabolical sociopath. He struggled in himself weather to admire him or not. His line of work was no better; selling weapons indiscriminately required a cold man. Rocard was a level above though, if he was a cold man, the doctor was definitively sub-zero.

“Is this what you wanted to show me? The reason you wrote that message in capital letters with several exclamation marks?”

“This is small peanuts comparing to the main prize. I apologize about the message though. A fit of euphoria stuck me when it occurred. Though I feel it was very justified. We are nearing the chamber.”

They stopped next to a wide sized metallic door marked CB07. It was locked with an electronic keypad. Rocard punched in a six digit code in a flash. Jacques just saw that first number was 9. That wasn’t going to be of much use. The doors opened with a psssk sound. Inside was much like the rest of the facility. Full of expensive medical equipment with lots of men and women in white coats focused on their work. The exception was a pair of scientists arguing about something in the results they got. The lingo they used made Jacques feel very stupid.

Something was different however…there was a single large tank covered by metal shielding of some sort. By it was a small plastic tower with a control pad on top of it. Rocard walked over to it triumphantly and typed in a command. The shielding started to lower slowly. Jacques stomach twisted in anticipation and fright. When it finally came all the way down he could hardly believe his eyes.

“Behold! My creation!”

“…a baby? You made a baby? Gee….I made one of those too you know?”

“Indeed. But this is no ordinary baby.” He pointed to the baby floating in the tank of brown orange liquid. “This is a clone. The world’s first clone according to my knowledge. I’d like to see that smug Argentinean bastard from the conference beat that.” He said turning his back to the tank and shaking his fist in the air at nothing.

Jacques was a bit surprised at this, but decided to ignore it “Clone? A clone of who?”
“No one specifically. It is a genetic cocktail of the world’s best soldiers. We worked hard to track them all down. Needless to say, not all of them were willing to volunteer a piece of their DNA.”

“So…this fetus is the ultimate soldier?”

“They were eight of them originally…I aborted seven of them to encourage strong fetal growth. Once we figure out how to trigger accelerated growth and implant memory engrams you will be able to see him in action. See them in action. We will be able to make as many as you wish. Provided the cloning bay has power heh. Though for now you will have to settle with the Genome Soldiers.”

Trying to push the images of seven fetuses being crushed from his mind Jacques asked “And how will you control this clone army?”

“This is the reason I emailed on the development of nano-organic and inorganic material. Theoretically they could be used to monitor, further enhance and control the Les Infants Terrible.”

“No good news on that front I’m afraid. R&D on that has just started and will take quite some time. Much as you science folks would like to believe our resources are not limitless.”

Rocard stood there for a moment thinking, before finally nodding and saying “I thought as much…we’ll have to use a fully biological vector of control which is not perfect but will have to do for the time being.”

“You do that. Tell me one thing…could you improve my bodyguards, like the Genome Soldiers? Via gene therapy? If you do…I think the Minister of Defense will be very pleased with my report.”

“I don’t see why not…they do seem to suffer from a loyalty deficiency. We have a number of physiopharmaceutical treatments and conditioning techniques to improve their functioning. Some are quite experimental in the sense that they increase strength and speed. They even decrease pain response, but it might destroy their personality and sense of self.”

“They never had that much to begin with.” Jacques said coldly as he clicked the pen in his jacket which was a panic button that sent a signal to his bodyguards to come to his aid and their unsuspecting rebirth as Men in Black.

[Circuit]

Thanks for the read, Kozmos. And thanks for all the compliments. There will be plenty more from where that came from this week.

IC:
To: Poland
From: Constantinople Federation

The situation is under control. Foreign intervention is not necessary.

[Kozmos]

Ignore Poland he just likes to makes himself heard. But your story was exquisite if a bit concerning to me considering the symbol.

[Crezth]

OOC: You know Kozmos, you could apply those new genetic pieces to your soldiers right away if only you had Polytypes.