Mother Russia

[Lynneth]

[Classified]

Tikal's forces wordlessly and suddenly disengaged from the Russians, quickly and efficiently moving back to rallying points before proceeding towards Liaoning to meet with their Japanese allies. All other forces currently in transit were re-routed to the province. Losses of the forward forces had been minimal, most casualties only having been wounded. There were only five confirmed cases of KiA.

Within days, Tikal's forces would arrive and fully assemble in Liaoning, stand-by for further action.

[Chicago Noise]

The ADF contingent would return to the Northern Border Front within the borders of the Amur Republics.  The Premiers were not at all happy with the turn this had taken and immediately contacted Ambassador Xi Linping at SEATO HQ to make a reply within the forum, specifically dictated from the Office of the National Soviet.

[jesbro]

Lee would withdraw Shanghai forces to a rally point with Druk Yul forces. He knew Mei had gone a little too far with the wording of her letter but deep down understood why she did. Lee knew from seeing the Russians on the battlefield that even if their leaders were taken down the Russian people would continue to attack them. Although he didn't speak out about it like Mei had done he knew that something drastic might have to be done if the Russians didn't stay within their own borders this time.

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Official Notification from Druk Yul to Russia and its population.

 

Hostilities will resume in 8 hours after a humanitarian cease-fire to permit the wounded be removed from the battlefield and for civillians to get out of harms way of  our forces advance. The war may be ended by your government surrendering itself into SEATO custody for prosecution for the breach of the Harbin accords. All officers in the military chain of command from 3rd star general or equivalent to the rank of head of state must surrender. This includes Emperor Maximilian and his MOFA Upyr. Your POWs are being treated with respect and are as peacefully detained as they permit. You have until the end of the 8 hours for your government to surrender itself to prevent further unnecessary bloodshed. We mean your people no harm save for what they bring upon themselves through hostile actions and the statements of former Diplomatic Liason Mei have been rescinded and the Empress is going into retirement.

 

If we must march to your capitol and pull Emperor Maximilllian out by his ear, we will... but he will account for his actions and for the undue deaths he has caused among both of our populaces.

Edited August 6, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Kevin Kingswell]

Immediately after the Druk Yul message was sent

 

No response was given from Imperial Russia 

 

At the same time in the capital of the Russian Empire, inside the Imperial Palace. 

 

Carla Varos, the first born daughter of the Emperor Maximilian Varos rolled into cover behind a stone pillar as a hail of bullets struck her makeshift cover blasting small chips of marble into her face. Leaning round she snapped off a few rounds into the royal guardsman's chest pitching the man back with a scream, smirking she switched her aim and brought down the other guardsmen who fell to the floor riddled with bullets. Stepping out of cover Carla looked back down the hallway, a brief flicker of sadness crossed her face as she saw that three of the men who had accompanied her lay dead where they had fallen. The surviving two soldiers looked to her to lead them and she waved them forwards towards the massive double doors that opened on to the Emperor's throne room.

 

As the two men took up flanking positions on either side Carla readied her handgun and nodded for them to open the doors. Her men swiftly kicked the doors open and swarmed into the room with Carla hot on their heels. She had expected to encounter more resistance once inside but she was confused to find the room dark and empty, she motioned for her men to fan out as she and they began to search for the room's occupants. In a few moments Carla felt that something was wrong and she was just about to yell out a warning when the sound of metal hitting flesh rang out and the head of one of her soldiers rolled out from the shadows and bounced across the floor. Crying out the last remaining soldier emptied his weapon's clip into the space his comrade had been standing in but whatever had killed him must have moved on as the bullets struck nothing but the air and the walls.

 

The soldier continued firing until his weapon clicked empty and as he reached in to reload his weapon he caught a gleam of descending metal before he was split in two vertically. As the two halves of his body slid to the floor with a wet slapping noise a hollow laughter rang out. Gritting her teeth in anger Carla slowly stepped forward step by step her hand gun held before her. She had just reached the center of the room when some low sound of cloth moving to her right made her duck and raise her weapon meaning she caught the descending blade of the sword just in time.

 

Now Carla was face to face with her father the Emperor, who gazed at her with bloodshot eyes and a feral grin. "Hello daughter. Come to kill me have you? Naughty naughty we can't have that" he said mockingly with a laugh. "To hell with you father. You've gone mad. You think I will let you destroy this nation and our people. Never!!" she screamed back at him throwing herself back and letting go of her gun and drawing a short sword from her belt before rushing forward to meet her father's charge. 

 

The pair of them, father and daughter ducked and weaved, struck and parried blow after blow. Both of them were fighting to the death and neither expected or wanted any quarter given. Maximilian was stronger and better trained than his daughter but she was faster and was still thinking perfectly straight whilst the Emperor was loosing his grip on his sanity more with every second. The duel continued with neither of the fighters gaining any advantage until the Emperor made a simple mistake, over balancing on a thrust he slipped and Carla stepped inside his guard and rammed the point of her sword up into his chest. 

 

A soft gasp escaped the Emperor's lips as he looked down at the blade now half way lodged inside his chest, a thin trickle of blood leaked from his mouth and he let go of his sword and grabbed his daughter by her shoulders. "No.No.NO.NO!!!" he roared at her shaking her with every last piece of his strength his eyes wide open in shock and anger. "I am the EMPEROR. I will not be slain. I CAN NOT BE SLAIN!!" he screamed loudly which quickly descended into a hacking bloody cough as his daughter twisted her weapon inside his body and slashed his lungs to ribbons.

 

As the Emperor gasped and heaved she stepped back a step dragging her blood soaked blade from her father's body and watched dispassionately as his strength left his body and he collapsed to the floor. Blood began to pool around him from his deep wound and he tried to say one last thing but whatever it was he said it was too quiet for Carla to hear. As the light and life faded from his eyes Carla looked down at her father's corpse with cold eyes. "Goodbye father" she said simply before stepping past him and approaching the small door to the side of the room that lead into her parent's private bedroom. Pushing open the door with the tip of her sword she looked in and was not surprised to see the body of her mother on the bed a dagger through her heart and her mother's hands wrapped around he handle.

 

Sighing softly Carla closed the door to the bedroom and crossed to the throne of her late father and took her place in it just as more of her loyal supporters ran into the room. They took one look at the still corpse of the Emperor before they all went down to their knees before their new Empress. Looking up they smiled at her and she responded with a smile of her own as she sat back and pointed to the nearest one. "Establish a public broadcast immediately" she commanded of the man who quickly hurried to obey running to a nearby wall mounted computer unit and activated the ceiling mounted camera.

 

Across every television screen in the Russian Empire and to anyone locally nearby they would see Carla sat on the throne of her recently departed father and she would hold her blood stained sword across her lap well within sight before speaking. "Citizens of the Russian Empire" she said addressing her people, "my father who had descended into madness is dead. By my own hand" she stated motioning to the sword in her lap. "As of now I am the new ruler of the Russian Empire and I decree that all forms of violence and hate towards our neighbors is to be stopped immediately. Our nation and our people have already lost so much due to the madness of my father and I will see no more suffer for it."

 

"This is my first command as Empress. My second is that Lady Upyr is to be found and arrested on sight. She is believed to have been part of a conspiracy to bring about the downfall of the Russian Empire and she must be brought to account for her actions. She must be taken alive so that she may stand trial."

 

"This is a time of upheaval and strife for all of us but together we are strong and we can make it through this whole. Believe in me as I do in you and we will succeed. For the people" she said to finish and had the feed cut. Now she would wait and see what the reaction would be from the other nations and from her own people.    

Edited August 6, 2014 by Kevin Kingswell

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Druk Yul will refrain from recognition of the ascent of Carla until we have proof of these claims, but for the moment will negotiate with her in good faith. We still have a concern about the current government. Will our demands for all personnel from 3rd general up to the position of head of state to stand trial and those specified who are not dead.. will they be met? For those deceased, given the nature of their death, we will need absolute evidence of their passing. We would like to have our doctors view the bodies. We also note that the tribunal must be an international, not a domestic russian Tribunal. The tribunals council will consist of all binding treaty members of the Harbin Accords and they will render a verdict. The laws violated are not the domestic laws of the Empire, but if those laws have been violated the same perpetrators will be remanded back to Russian custody for additional prosecution upon surity of their return for confinement if a guitly verdict is rendered."

 

"Additionally, do we have guarantees that the DMZ will be respected by the new government and that this is not merely another delay? You can prove your actions by withdrawing all forces from the battlespaces on the border before the Ceasfire is intended to expire. If they are not there, then our forces will not advance."

Edited August 6, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Mogar]

"The Imperium's only request is the Russian Empire return to within it's borders that we had previously agreed to, we will wait for the violence to be settled within your nation before making a statement regarding the legitimacy of the government."

-Osamu Saito.

[jesbro]

Emperor Jesse was a little more willing to accept this new government if it truely did want peace and not go against any of the conditions set by any new peace treaty. "Shanghai is willing to accept peace with this new government if it is willing to accept the conditions of our Druk Yul allies and any others set in the new peace treaty that is sure to come. I am sorry if any bad feelings did come from my mother's letter. She did not really wish for the destruction of your people at all but was willing to do whatever it took to protect her people and end the war. Rest assured she has been dealt with accordingly and we feel no ill will towards your government as long as you are much more cooperative than your predecessor's was."

[Kevin Kingswell]

Empress Carla would contact Druk Yul and its allies in response to their requests. "As the Empress to the Russian Empire I have a duty to care for all my people regardless of their rank or status and as such I am willing to meet and discuss with Druk Yul and her allies to initiate talks at solving this conflict between ourselves for once and all. If a meeting location can be provided I shall attend in person. As for my forces they are retreating to the mainland as we speak".

 

What the Empress said was indeed quite true the Russian forces had withdrawn back into the DMZ but had not stopped there, leaving their so recently abandoned bases alone and empty they continued to move back across the Siberian plains and into the borders of the Imperial homeland itself. On successfully make it back to the homeland, the injured would be taken to both military and civilian hospitals while those that were unharmed were stood down and given some time for rest and relaxation to help recover from their ordeals.

 

Imperial defense forces were told to stand ready in case negotiations with Druk Yul and her allies went poorly and civilians would be evacuated from the cities that were nearest to the eastern border where any attack would come from. Some wished to stay would they would be politely but firmly made to evacuate for their own safety. In their place the defense forces would begin to fortify streets and homes and other buildings in preparation for hostile attack.    

[Chicago Noise]

The United Amur Republics will send a representative to a peace conference so long as it is held in Shanghai, Druk Yul, or Japan.  We await confirmation of a conference location as well, we have many things we wish to discuss about the future of the region.

[jesbro]

"I would be honored if the peace summit did take place at the Imperial Palace in Shanghai. After what my mother did we feel the need to show Russia that we do not wish to see them or their culture destroyed at all and that we too were fighting to protect our people from those who wanted to destroy us."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Druk Yul is in consensus with Shanghai and Umar.. we'll meet in Shanghai. Yun Li will be sent as our delegate. (As host, feel free to start the ticket Jesbro)

[Mogar]

"The Imperium trusts in Druk Yul to represent our interests appropriately."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"We appreciate that trust and we will do our best to make sure that the Imperium's concerns are properly represented. In mind with that are there any specific requests we should pass on to Yun Li regarding the negotiations?"

[Mogar]

"Just the previously stated return to at minimum the DMZ line that was previously agreed upon, our attentions have been forced southward, so we will not be sending a representative at this time."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"Understood. That shouldn't be a problem."

[jesbro]

Emperor Jesse would make sure that preparations would be made for all of his guests for this peace conference. The palace guards would still be on heightened alert after how the last conference ended however if any of the representatives wanted to bring their own bodyguards as well that was fine but there would be no weapons allowed into the meeting area near the garden behind the palace overlooking the ocean. "After how the other conference ended with Lee having a fight with Ladu Upyr I do not want to take any chances with this meeting. Make sure everyone is checked for weapons before the meeting starts."

 

"Yes sir."

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Yun Li arrived for the conference and was seated.

[Kevin Kingswell]

Empress Carla Varos would arrive for the conference having changed into her newly created Empress' outfit and would be seated. She would maintain a dignified and neutral expression. She would reveal nothing to those watching about how she was feeling. She had also come with two bodyguards who had handed their weapons over to the Shanghai men on the Empress' command and were now standing a step behind her seat.

 

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Empress Carla Varos 

[Maelstrom Vortex]

Yun Li began some Druk Yul to Russian chit chat while awaiting arrival of the other delegates,"Alright.. so our doctors confirm that the Emperor has in fact passed. We recognize you as the successor to the throne of Russia so we can continue talks." Yun li observed. "I assume you were the one who stabbed him. Your police forces are in the process of arresting those we have requested for trial?"

Edited August 6, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[Chicago Noise]

Minister of the Foreign Affairs Soviet Ho Lang arrived at the conference. He had represented the UAR in Harbin, and would again today, hoping for a better long term result. He gave his salutations and settled in for the conference.

[Kevin Kingswell]

The Empress would fold her hands together before her and look over at Yun Li with the same neutral expression before replying. "You are correct sir I killed my father with my own hand. He was driven mad and there was no way to apprehend him peacefully. As for your second issue that I partially why I am here. Quite simply I will not agree to your demand, I will not throw my people to the wolves to salve some hurt wounds among your own. Those men you want arrested are guilty of nothing more than following legitimate orders handed to them by their commander in chief. That is not a crime."

 

"In fact the only one who has committed any crimes is Lady Upyr and her fellow conspirators. Trust me when I say that when they are caught they will stand trial before ourselves and you for crimes committed against all of us". 

[Maelstrom Vortex]

"The reason I specifically itemized those above the rank of 3rd star general is because they are responsible for formulating the attack plans. Additionally, any warrior obeying a command that goes against his moral judgement is equally guilty of the crime. They should have resigned. I'm willing to consider stopping at a rank, say the 4th star general equivalent rank in your military structure or higher.. but no higher than that as 4th star would have been critical to the formulation of this strategy. We will assess their cases on an individual basis. They will be permitted to give testimony with a defense team. If they prove they were not complicit in the implementation of your father's plans, they will be returned to you innocent by our board. If they were critical to that plan, they will be held in breach of treaty. They will be imprisoned for a minimum of ten years to life depending upon the portion of the front they were responsible for and the number of casualties inflicted."

 

"I am happy to hear thought hat you are already helping in arresting the high level conspirators, that is progress. We would like to hear Amur's thoughts on this matter to see if the others feel the generals are worthy of our mercy."

Edited August 7, 2014 by Maelstrom Vortex

[jesbro]

OOC: Maestrom his nation is Amur not Umar. Need to get that right.

 

Jesse was simply going to listen to what everyone else had to say first. He knew how dangerous Lady Upyr was after Lee had told him of his fight with her after the Harbin Conference ended. He knew the Russians might have a hard time to capture her and that he might have to be the one that captures or kills her in the end.

[Kevin Kingswell]

Empress Varos shook her head is disbelief and disagreement with her Druk Yul diplomatic counterpart her point of view clearly vastly different to his. She hadn't quite realised the degree of challenge she faced with this meeting. "Forgive me sir but we clearly stand on two vastly different points of view. In the Russian Empire we do not place any blame or moral judgement on a person unless they break an actual war crime. If any of my generals had inflicted deliberate civilian casualties or any other sort of atrocity I would consider handing them over to you for trial but to do so just because they carried out their orders as expected of one in such a position? No they shall remain in the Russian Empire for they have committed no crime that they should be punished for."

 

"The ones who broke the treaty are my father, who has paid for his crimes, and the conspirators who remain at large for now. When they are caught they will be handed over to you but I must repeat that I will sacrifice none of my people just so your own can feel they have gotten a measure of revenge."