A Letter to my Love, Mexico.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn3t1ZQKSPo"]Mexico, my love.[/url]

[i]Dearest Cassandra,

Have you ever stopped to wonder what has become of the world around us? The sounds of crumbling empires and the cries of people lost and forlorn with no one to take care of them. Holy America is a dream, it was a nightmare, and we as a people finally have the chance to escape from such a fate. I have heard in recent news that there are foreigners coming from across the sea toppling the rotten structure of the Empire. This is ill-news to me and to my brothers at the university. I can tell you now, Cassandra, that nothing good will come up from the breakup of the Empire, especially if these new dictators arrive to care nothing about the people they govern. It would appear that this is the destiny of the Latin people. We have been stripped of our culture and dreams by the Imperials of the south and when we cry out to the world, we are silenced.

On every continent the cries of nationalism echo forth. There are the cries of Germans, of Chinese, of Russians, and Africans, but what of Mexico? We deserve the same freedom that our brothers and sisters across the world enjoy. Greater freedom, in fact, a dream when Mexico and all of Latin America can once again breathe the air of freedom that God granted to us, so many years ago.

With the crumbling of the Empire, Cassandra, it is time that we find our courage to make this dream a reality. I understand that there are those who have taken advantage of the anarchy happening around us, you sent in your last letter that a man named Constancio Mojica, has set himself up as a dictator in Veracruz. We will not stand for this and I promise that I will see you soon to free you and Veracruz from this tyranny.

I can already hear the thunder of the coming storm and God willing, Cassandra, I will come to you without harm. But if it would happen that I be cut down. Remember that I gave my life to my two loves. You and Mexico.

Forever in love,

Raul Solorio Diaz[/i]

---

The rain was falling heavily against the roof of the makeshift canopy in the wilderness of southern Mexico as Raul folding the letter to Cassandra and leaned back on the wooden chair. Raul and his friends, who had left the Oxaca with a meager battalion of one-hundred men, watched in disbelief as hundreds more journeyed through the jungles and plains, heeding the call of Mexican independence. He knew eventually, the Army of Mexican Liberation would be powerful enough to oppose both the last remnants of the Imperial Army and the local dictators who had turned southern Mexico into a parallel of Italy during the renaissance. These local warlords each desired the unity of an independent Mexico but they didn't speak to the population, they spoke to wealthy foreign businessmen and Imperial rebels for munitions and arms. The Liberation Army however, functioned as a more than just an army, but as well as a medical and protection force, cleaning up the local area of bandits and taking care of the regional population. Such actions did wonders for the amount of volunteers for the army.

"Catón! Come here for a moment." Raul called out from the canopy. "I have a letter for you to take to town."

Catón turned from speaking to a few soldiers and hiked up the muddy trail to where Raul sat. He smiled and scratched his beard. "Another for Cassandra?"

"Yes, and tell Galo that we're going to begin the march soon. Our ranks are large enough, I don't want the Imperials or these local !@#$%^&* getting the first move."

"Of course, Raul, any idea where we're striking first?" Catón said as he turned out facing the vast Mexican wilderness.

"The coast and the liberation of Veracruz."

Edited October 16, 2011 by Sarah Tintagyl

[Sarah Tintagyl]

[i]Dearest Cassandra,

Have you ever played dominoes? Have you ever watched the pieces fall as you push one down and the rest follow suit. It is the pattern that you, my love, will soon see happen across all of Mexico. The people desire independence, they want someone to tell them that they are free, that freedom is theirs. It only requires a punch. Soon, the Army of Liberation will be at the gates of Veracruz and I will free you and your sisters from the tyranny of Mojica and the Imperials around the countryside. But it necessary first that the rest of the region discover the reason for our rebellion and our struggle. Oh! How they rally to the cause, Cassandra. If you could only see their faces as hundreds; no, thousands of people clamor on cobblestone roads begging for the chance to speak their peace.

We watch, Catón and I, as they hoist Mexican flags into the sky and shout praises to the Revolution and the freedom that we promise to the people. I realize now that this cry is more than just Mexico but the fight for people across the entire world. Perhaps one day, you and I, my dearest, will be able to inspire their hearts to throw off the chains of oppression that bind them. It is a sad day across the world, we have Socialist states with monarchies attached and Communists who are nothing more than dictators. That will change in Mexico, I swear it. We have had too many past leaders to abandon us, the Hispanic people. Even now, in the south, thousands, maybe millions have been killed in the Imperial Wars, men and women not even recognized. I know that if this happened in nations like Japan or Germany the world would not stand for it and so why should we?

I tell you Cassandra, I will not lay down my rifle or my pistol until the Mexican people, the Hispanic people are preserved and rescued from our abyss. I will not rest until the Light of God shines down on our people once again. We will sit in the sun and the world will see our civilization for what it truly is, glorious.

Have patience my love, we are on the march and soon Veracruz will hear the tramping of our boots.

Yours forever,

Raul Solario Diaz[/i]

---

[img]http://bonfiresblog.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/immigration_protest.jpg[/img]

[i]Oaxaca, Remnants of the Holy American Empire[/i]

As the morning sun drifted over the ruined city of Oaxaca, the Mexican Liberation Army formed their columns in front of the ancient church that stood undamaged from the civil war. Many of the Imperial Remnants had been cleared out and the local warlord, had surrendered without a fight to the advancing army. There was nothing he could do, when the Revolutionaries sounded the call for support the entire city came forth with flags flying and chanting loudly into the rising sun. Raul could not have picked a better time. The rising sun coming over the church was just as symbolic as it was beautiful and as he took the podium on the church stairs, his generals standing around him with AK-47s at the ready, he smiled and raised his hand to the sky.

"You see, my people, this is the rising sun, coming back to shine on Mexico after hundreds of years. We have been oppressed for what seems like a century. But those years have come to an end and with the crumbling of the Holy American Empire, I make a promise to all of you now. The leadership of Latin America will be reborn and carried into a new age, one of prosperity and one of power. We have had rulers before, rulers who have abandoned us and left our people for ruin. Never again. From this point on, the Hispanic People are welcome to come to the utopia we will carve out of the wilderness of Central America. Those who have been hungry, you will be fed and those who have been beaten, you will be bandaged. We are the Liberation Army of Mexico and we will not be pushed aside!

Even now, there are those who divide our people and push brother against brother and sister against sister. The man named Orosco, who only hours before ruled over Oaxaca, was one of those men. But now, citizens of Oaxaca you are free and you have sworn loyalty to the liberation of your neighboring cousins and with this statement I, Raul Solario Diaz, hereby declare war on the Imperial Remnant and all local warlords in Southern Mexico. You have failed the Mexican people and unless you surrender to the storm that gathers strength, your lands and soldiers will be torn asunder and your people will rise to the call of freedom.

Viva Mexico! Viva la Revolucion!"

With Oaxaca as the new capital of the Liberation Army, Raul and his generals soon began to create the overarching strategies needed to subdue the rest of the Mexican countryside. The soldiers would have to be used sparingly and a wide expanse of territory was required to be conquered, ranging from Acapulco on the Pacific Coast to Veracruz on the Gulf. These large cities each governed by a warlord with a substantial amount of soldiers. But with the Liberation Army's ranks continuing to swell and old munitions being recovered form abandoned Imperial posts, soon Raul's force would have the necessary firepower to expand beyond their temporary capital.

All the while, bringing him closer to his reuniting with his love, Cassandra.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

Constancio Mojica folded his hands over the ebony desk he had situated in the center of his office at the Veracruz town hall. The various newspaper headlines that seemed to fall in front of him were nothing pleasant to see. No one had expected the Nationalist' Rebellion to catch fire and worse they were already spouting off very heavy Communist and Patriotic rhetoric which could indirectly bring neighboring countries, either New Spain or the plethora of invading Asian nations to bear down on Southern Mexico. If the rebellion did cause problems, even on a continental level, it could mean the end to the beautiful operation that Mojica and his associates had set up across the region. The band of warlords, friendly or not, had secured raw resources, farmland, and free ports and the social status of the people never really changed from that of the Imperials. Wealthy capitalists and those formally tied to the Imperial government were well off and the society underneath them crumbled. There was no fixing Mexico so it was better to take what you could and become a success than try to repair that which was lost.

"And this Diaz is going to ruin everything for me. For all of us." Mojica said letting the smoke of his cigar fan out around his graying beard and his neatly combed hair. "Hector!" The warlord called out into the hall, "Come here! We need to have a chat."

Seconds later a man in a green military uniform with an undistinguished rank walked in and saluted. "Senor Mojica, sir, is there a problem?"

"You've read the dribble that the papers in town have been putting out? I'm thinking about banning such operations now if they paint these nationalists in such a positive way."

"We were in the process before, Senor, I think the underground press is influencing the paper's we've left alive. I can have men go and shut those down if you would like, sir."

Mojica nodded and stood up from his chair and clasping his hands behind his back, the warlord stared out the window eying the serene beauty of Veracruz. "I know where this is going Hector. The peace that we've all enjoyed, they're going to try and end it with the idea that this world can be saved. That there is something along the idea of a collective form of humanity that can be achieved. I'm old, Hector, I know that such a thing can't happen anymore. You see what we can do with a city-state, with production in all sectors controlled by those who understand economics and industry. Holy America has crumbled and in it's wake has left us the ability to make something of our lives. It is a shame that Diaz and his followers will try and ruin that for Mexico."

"The Liberation Army will definitely be making it's way to Veracruz, but I believe our men are better equipped, with old Imperial material to handle the attack."

The warlord took a deep breath of the cigar and placed it firmly between his fingers. "Lock down the city, make sure no one gets in or out of Veracruz proper and begin regular patrols of the countryside. When the Liberation Army makes their way to the coast, we will be waiting for them with everything we have."

[Shadowsage]

OOC: Any way I can participate?

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The city of Veracruz had been under a strict curfew for two weeks as the Liberation Army continued to maneuver through the Mexican wilderness. While the city streets had died, inside the many cantinas along the empty roads the sounds of festivity echoed into the night skies. The Casa de Campo was a favorite for Mojica's soldiers and had slowly become the center of espionage for the Revolutionaries within Veracruz. Every night the goal was the same, to get the soldiers drunk enough so that their loose lips would part with important information about positions and material so that the Liberation Forces would not be caught off guard. Cassandra Alba Noriega took her job as a spy most seriously, perhaps the most dedicated of all the Revolutionaries in Veracruz. She couldn't help herself, somewhere out in the distant jungle, Raul was coming for her and while the road was perilous, the cantina maid did what she could to make sure he would come into her arms safe and sound.

"Cassandra!" Shouted Arturo, the cantina proprietor from across the room. "I'm not paying you to stand around," he pointed to the glasses of dark beer piling up near the kitchen. "Get your head out of the clouds and get to work!"

She nodded and ran back towards the kitchen, her long red dress whipping through the air and her chocolate hair falling gracefully across her shoulder. The soldiers turned their whiskered faces and followed after her tanned feet as she strode through the bar, balancing a full tray of beer with one hand and slapping away excited soldiers with the other. It was hard to not wish a quick death on many of them, but that was playing God. These men had no woman to call their own and she knew that in a few days or hopefully less, most of them would vanish in the storm that was rumbling towards the Gulf Coast. Things wouldn't get much better after the storm for the way men treated tavern-workers, alcohol and testosterone always made a pig, whether he was a Revolutionary or a Mercenary.

Making her way to a crowded round table filled with cards and poker chips, Cassandra set the tray down in front of the five soldiers playing and smiled and bowed her head. "I'm sorry this took so long, but I didn't want to disturb your game." She said with a laugh and rested her slender hand on the shoulder of one of the soldiers playing.

It was an action she immediately regretted as the soldier, a captain in Mojica's vanguard force, pulled Cassandra onto his lap. "Maybe you'd like to play Senorita? I've been losing all night, I could use a good luck charm."

"Bernardo will need a lot more than the wink of a pretty lady to get his money back." Said a relatively handsome mercenary from across the table. Cassandra mused to herself that it would have been better to lay her hand on his shoulder and sit on his lap, but he was only a sergeant, nothing was going to come from his lips or jacket.

"That's Captain Alvarez to you, sergeant." Bernardo glared at the handsome man and pointed his dirty misshapen finger at the man's head. "I'll throw you out of this bar if you open your trap again to me like that." After the outburst, Bernardo turned back to Cassandra and smiled, he was missing a few teeth and his mustache was ragged from not being combed. But as she placed her hand on his chest, the Revolutionary could feel the crinkling of paper beneath and sighed. It was her duty now to get that paper for whatever information it might contain, from a shopping list to the positioning of all of Mojica's soldiers. The disgusting party was actually getting the paper in her hands.

"Maybe a kiss might help your game, Captain?" She purred under her breath.

"I can think of a few other things that would help my game, Senorita." Bernardo laughed as Cassandra leaned her face against him and began to kiss him passionately, much to the disdain of the soldiers gathered around the table. All the while her fingers gently traveled into his coat, unnoticed and the piece of paper and it's contents were placed into the center of her corset. She smiled in the midst of her kiss and Bernardo could feel her lips turn up. He blushed and laughed pulling his sweaty arms around her. "Enjoying the taste Senorita?"

"I think I'd like it even more if I had a beer to go with it."

Bernardo nodded and reached for his beer, but as he brought it to his lips, Cassandra moved her hand just slightly to the right and the glass of beer tipped falling over the captain's pants. He jumped up in a rage as the soldiers in the cantina began to laugh like hyenas. Embarrassed and furious that his night had vanished so quickly, Bernardo flung Cassandra off of the chair and with the back of his hand sent her spiraling across the floor. "You clumsy fool! Get away from me!"

Cassandra still reeling from the hit, held her face while the other baristas came over to shield her from another one of Bernardo's blows. Seeing the commotion, Arturo ran down and took the captain's shoulder. "Captain, you have my sincerest apology. I'll have Cassandra reprimanded and your drinks are on the house."

"My drinks were always on the house you little snot. I want that girl to pay in a way that I see fi-" Bernardo began to speak and turn around to face Cassandra, but she had already disappeared through the kitchen and out the backdoor of the cantina to look at the paper she had stolen from the captain.

Immediately upon looking at the paper, Cassandra's eyes lit up. "Mojica is bringing in allies from behind Raul's position to trap him. We could win in one sweeping move." She clenched the paper in her hand and looked up to the sky. With the city under lock down, there was no getting mail out. She would have to take it to Raul herself.