Zargathian News Network

[Amyante]

Very well. We wish to order three of both the F/A-18 Silent Hornet with an upgraded sensor suite and the F/A-47 A/B block Sino Fighter, as well as one of each model in separate parts, for compatibility testing with the current prototype models that are in development. Obviously, should these tests be successful, the appropriate licenses will be acquired before its incorporation in a production line model.

With regards to the UFE's offer of joining the Northern Air Command, we have no objections with linking our Air Command with the UFE to increase efficiency, but we must respectfully decline the offer to have UFE installations built on Zargathian territory. Our systems may still be young enough to encounter the occasional error, but we are improving.

[Amyante]

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[center][size=5][i][b]Zargathian Battleships Nearing Completion[/b][/i][/size][/center]

For a long time, the Zargathian Navy has been restricted to patrolling the coast and rivers using patrol boats and onshore installations. Today, the government has released pictures of three battleships being constructed at an undisclosed location in Zargathia. According to the report, these three ships are to support the coast guard and carry out patrols along the edges of Zargathian national waters, as well as provide quick response to vessels suspected of smuggling. Upon their completion, Zargathia will be officially joining the list of nations with a 'Green-water Navy', a step up from its current classification of having a 'Brown-water Navy'. eventually, it will be the goal that the Navy will continue to be expanded to allow for prolonged overseas deployment.

[url=http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/7984/1086a5bec97a387badee79c.jpg][img]http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/7984/1086a5bec97a387badee79c.th.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9416/35f20ae7334bce919a06635.jpg][img]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9416/35f20ae7334bce919a06635.th.jpg[/img][/url]
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[center][size=5][i][b]Zargathian Battleships Officially Inaugurated[/b][/i][/size][/center]

Today, under the eye of the press, the first three battleships of the Zargathian Navy have been officially declared operational. The event was preceded by a wide scale military parade, after which Amyante addressed the nation to thank them for their efforts in making Zargathia what it was today. The ships, named [i]Subutai[/i], [i]Kangxi[/i] and the flagship [i]Dorgon[/i] are to assist the duties of the Zargathian coastguard with patrols, and acting as forward bases to quicken the response of the coastguard.

[Amyante]

[center][size=5][i][b]Address to the Nation[/b][/i][/size][/center]

Today, broadcast on every Zargathian television and radio channel, Queen Amyante made a speech to inform the nation of the results of the negotiations and the insecurity caused by what many of the people saw as an invasion of Zargathian territory.

- "Dear people of Zargathia. When i first came here i made a pledge to myself that i would do everything in my power to protect you, the people that placed your trust in me, so that none would ever witness the horrors of war. Together we have seen nations rise and fall, and amongst it, Zargathia was blessed enough to be one of the few nations that bore witness to this process, without falling victim to it ourselves."

- "However, we have not been without error. In our efforts to treaty ourselves to every nation in our vicinity, we should have paid closer attention to the type of government we were associating ourselves with. When our close allies from Japan began to glorify the events of the Second World War, we should have issued warnings, taken more effort in persuading them to avoid their current course, but my personal friendship to their Crown clouded my eyes. When the Korean Government threatened us with war and invasion, we should have been more alert, but instead, we did simply not take them seriously, pushing the problem onto the United Federation of the East to solve. When the Mongolians emerged, we were happy they seemed more willing to talk than the former one that had tried to instigate nuclear war, and this eagerness blinded us to the ultra-nationalistic course their government had been taking. For this, i apologize. To my friends, to my international colleagues, and most importantly, to you, the Zargathian people, whom have been placed in jeopardy because of my actions."

- "Over the course of the next few months, there will be a few changes in the way Zargathia is being run, but we shall take effort that you will notice as little of it as possible. Perhaps the most notable of those are the ones where soldiers from the Serenissima Republika Vauleya and the United Federation of the East will have access to Zargathian territory, and our former territory that we had given to the Xinyan Republic is to be ceded to the United Federation of the East. In return for this, we have been promised a return to normalcy by having the sanctions imposed upon our nation rescinded, and free traffic of people and goods may once again resume as they had before this crisis. To those fearing a loss of national identity, you have no reason for concern as the government of Zargathia will remain fully intact. As part of the policy of transparency, a copy of the treaty we have signed will of course be made available once the aforementioned sanctions are dropped, marking the agreement as official."

- "And with that, i bid you all a good night. Sleep well, knowing that the borders of Zargathia are once again at peace. Sleep well, knowing that when you wake tomorrow, you will do so under the flag of Zargathia. Sleep well, because the road ahead is long and arduous, but together, we will continue to move forward as we always have."

With the briefest of nods, Amyante smiled as the small red light on the camera died down, marking the end of the broadcast. After a brief signal to the director to confirm that the microphones in front of her were deactivated, she took a deep breath, before putting the papers down and walking outside. She felt like she could use some fresh air.

[Triyun]

Now ever present (with obvious exceptions) handlers from the Federation followed the Empress from her podium, keeping an eye on from a reasonable distance. The new reality was that the Federation would be monitoring all levels of the Zargathian Government for the foreseeable future, acting as watchmen ever on the look out.

Rather than deliver a speech personally in response, Jia instead deferred the task of responding to his Executor.

"The United Federation notes the apology, but we will remain vigilant to see how Zargathia's Actions Speak. At this time the 300 mile zone from the borders of Beijing is considered active. All future Zargathian movements must be approved by this office. Further all demilitarization is to be certified as being completed within one month time (end of this week). Chinese forces as always will conduct themselves with the upmost professionalism.

-Executor Ding"

[Amyante]

The reformation of Zargathia's military would prove to be less intensive than anticipated. First, the police and medical branches were separated from the Armed Forces, and though both would continue to operate closely alongside the Army would no longer be an official part of it. Next came the problem of Zargathian High Command, but that too was solved by repealing an old decree that the mercenary company known as the Crimson Daggers was incorporated into the Army. These mercenaries, now no longer linked to the Armed Forces though it consisted nearly entirely of former Zargathian army personnel including its Army Commander, would assist the Zargathian Army in the protection of strategic locations, and in a number of cases the protection of areas with little to no population to speak of would be outsourced entirely. With the Zargathian Army being forced to reduce itself to less than a third of its original size, priorities would have to be made.

The National Reserve would be relieved as well, making the reform to a professional core army complete. Instead, what was currently the National Reserve would be renamed to the Emergency Response Guard and be categorized as part of the White Cross, focusing on disaster relief as one of their core duties. With these changes, the numbers of the Zargathian Army hovered between ninety and ninety five thousand, within the limitations of the restrictions imposed upon it. The Navy, Air Force and relatively small Space Agency, not being considered part of the Land Forces simply continued on as they were.

With the ultimatum and discussion leading to it having been made publicly available through the Freedom of Information policy however, an anti-UFE undercurrent started emerging among the Zargathian population. Experts weren't certain whether it had always been there or not, but agreed in general that what many still saw as the invasion of Zargathian territory in New Barag as well as the sanctions and blockades that followed it had seemed to awaken it from its peaceful slumber. There would be no riots, no thrown rocks, no shouted curses. It was visible in small things. UFE citizens not being waited at tables, a stubborn refusal to speak to or acknowledge the presence of UFE soldiers, a lesser tolerance for Federation citizens driving one or two miles over the speed limit, an increasing amount of caricatures appearing in newspapers and other forms of sarcasm directed at the UFE in general... An increasingly popular one would be the Vulcan salute when jokingly mentioning the 'UFE Overlords', started by a small-time comedian and quickly forming into a meme in its own right. When receiving complaints, the media would simply shrug and say that they were simply providing what the people wanted to see, and when asked the general public opinion was that they would fail to see anything wrong with it either.

As hidden as these sentiments were in public, the general mood within the anonymity of online gaming was one of open 'take no prisoners' warfare. MMOs would see a rise in Guild names such as 'ZargathiaRulez' and 'UFE4EVER' which would openly troll and grief one another at even the slightest provocation, though neither really tended to spend the majority of their time actually playing the game aside from constantly trying to gank one another.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Amyante