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Kerlile had, for decades, been attempting to create a functioning Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). So far, they have failed. They’d managed a Short-Range Ballistic Missile, but that really only helped them in wars with Lauchenoiria, Greater Acadia, Kvask, Zongongia, Comhar or - if the winds were right - maybe Bears Armed. Maybe. Kerlile had far more enemies than just their neighbours. In fact, everyone was an enemy except perhaps Xiomera and Huenya, ironically given how the two felt about each other.

Of course, if the Kerlians admitted it to themselves, even their short-range missiles weren’t up to scratch. The Matriarchy suffered from a lack of materials, and a lack of suitable scientific education given how much foreign textbooks were censored before they were allowed into the universities. Things had started to change on the latter front, recently, but they still had a lot of catching up to do in their weapon development.

So it was a clear morning when the Missile Development Force of Kerlile began preparations for their latest test. They would shoot one of their newly developed, and hopefully more reliable, missiles into the great lake they shared with Kvask and Greater Acadia. Their own side of the lake, of course. They certainly didn’t want to start a war when their military was ill-equipped and sanctions still meant food rationing was in force.

The test began as expected. They set up the missile launcher and the warhead-less missile. They checked their calculations. They sent up their camera drones to film the test for later analysis. They all nodded to each other. And then they launched the missile.

Something went wrong. At the time, nobody was quite sure what it was: it would take time and analysis to work it out. But what they did know, right from the outset, was that the missile was not sticking to its projected course. The women of the Missile Development Force watched in horror as their test missile curved away from their end of the lake, up towards the horizon, and down, down, down in the direction of Greater Acadia.

“Oh shit.”

Post written with input from Lauchenoiria

---

It had been shockingly easy to infiltrate WOE. The human element had been the key. That, and having an insider.

Gabriel Fleming had, once again, proven his value to Xiomera by providing the key elements of planning what would be known, in Imperial Intelligence, as Operation Treechoker. The name of the operation, a less than subtle pun on "tree hugger", conveyed the mission quite well. ImpInt was to capture members of WOE, and bring them to Xiomera for interrogation. The fact that they were in Lauchenoiria was of little relevance to the Xiomerans.

The operation began with the simple expedient of gaining access to the non-secure online server that WOE members used to communicate casually. From there, ImpInt agents managed to convince one of the WOE members to trust them enough to let them into the more secure server where actual discussion and planning took place. Taking advantage of peoples' willingness to trust others was an ImpInt specialty.

After some time on that server, ImpInt agents were able to narrow down two likely candidates to start the operation. The first was a bombastic individual named Clay Moss. He was often the first, and last, and loudest person to speak at WOE events on the streets of Buttercity. The second was a much less outwardly noticeable person named Irene Ramos. Ramos was not prone to speeches or taking center stage at rallies. What she was prone to do was organize. Every event, gathering and meeting of WOE in Buttercity seemed to involve her in one fashion or another.

Between a big speaker and a big planner, ImpInt reasoned, enough useful intelligence should be able to be gathered to begin bringing WOE down.

---

Both of them were brought into the custody of ImpInt in a similar fashion. Moss was tricked easily enough by being told that a group of interested people wanted to hear him speak. When he arrived for his big speech, he was given a drink with enough knockout juice to put him to sleep for quite a while. Ramos was simply tracked to her home, and nabbed late at night. She was likewise given something to make her sleep through a very long trip.

When both of them woke up, they would be somewhere neither of them had ever expected, or wanted, to be - Xiomera.

Port Salad, March 26th

Captain Piper Drummond, the commander of the Salad Land Naval Patrol, tapped her fingers irritably on the arm of her command chair. The SLS Neversink, the pride of the fleet (and only thing even vaguely resembling a warship that it had), had been ordered out to sea to do a patrol around the islands of the Saladian Archipelago. This was done solely to appease the whim and fancy of the Marquis, Bastien de Salad. He liked to have "the big ship", as he called it, show the colors every once in a while. So, for absolutely no reason, the ancient destroyer was slowly chugging out of port.

Drummond was the captain of the flagship, and she absolutely hated the ship. Despised it, down to every rusty bolt and decaying piece of metal. In its first life, the ship had been the XIS Quetzalcoatl. A Xiomeran warship that had served in the Great War, it had been a decade old when that fight began. Now, it was well past its sixth decade sputtering and coughing over the waves. The ship was supposed to have been broken up at Port Salad after the Xiomerans got rid of it, but the father of the current Marquis had decided to make it the laughable flagship of a laughable fleet instead. And Drummond was the chief donkey, in her opinion, being in charge of the decrepit senior citizen of a vessel.

It was 7 am, entirely too early to be sailing around pointlessly in Drummond's opinion. But all she could do was sip coffee and grumble. As the ship entered open water outside the port, however, the captain noticed something. "Helm, why are we turning? I didn't order a course change."

"Um....no one did, ma'am," the helmsman replied sheepishly. "It seems like the rudders are stuck, I can't get it to go back on course. We're, um, going in a circle."

"Going. In. A. Circle." Drummond bit off each word as if it had personally insulted her parentage and habits.

The helmsman shrugged helplessly, turning back to his quite-stuck controls. Meanwhile, the crowds about their daily business in Port Salad had begun to point and laugh at the ship clearly going in circles.

"Get extra men down to engineering to figure out why the hell we can't turn the ship. And get Naval Command on the line, because I have had it with this ancient pile of rusted garbage. I swear, if the government doesn't cough up some money for new ships, I am going to see what guns aboard this floating wreck still work and blow up the damned Palace!" Drummond slapped the arm of her command chair for emphasis, causing the arm to fall off and hit the floor. The captain shouted in sheer misery, as the "mighty" Neversink continued to leisurely complete its lazy circles.

---

An hour later, Valentin Daucourt stood in the middle of a semi-circle of the islands' leaders. The Council of Custodians and the Marquis, in response to his urgent plea, had grudgingly come down to discuss the matter of the still-circling ship in the middle of their harbor. The commander of the Salad Land Defence Force, and Drummond's superior, tried to explain yet again. "The ship has jammed rudders. We would normally try to fix it, but they no longer make parts for a ship this old. Even the Xiomerans can't help, and they built the bloody thing. The Neversink is simply too obsolete and worn down to be a viable flagship any longer."

"Nonsense! It's a perfectly fine ship." Bastien de Salad leaned forward, chuckling. A young man with flowing black hair and a perpetually amused expression, the Marquis shook his head. "It's a big ship, surely it's tough enough to have some life left in it."

Daucourt sighed, for what felt like the tenth time. "It is big, yes, my lord. But it is also older than anyone in this room and significantly more decrepit. It cannot be patched together any more. Oh, and Captain Drummond is threatening to blow up the Council Chambers and the Palace if she has to spend one more day aboard the thing."

"Hah! How's she going to blow us up, if she can't stop going in a circle?" de Salad replied smugly.

"You know Piper, my lord. Would you put it past her to find a way?" Daucourt replied with a raised eyebrow. 

"Oh, very well," de Salad replied after a moment with a deep sigh and a shrug. "If my fellow-citizens on the Council agree, we will find some money in the budget to buy some ships. I suppose it's cheaper than building a new palace or council chambers."

I’m pleased to announce that the 2023 IDU Olympic Games will be held this summer in Hanshui, Laeral, and adjacent cities. Sign-ups are now open and extended through May 14th for this third iteration of the popular IDU tradition!

In-character information

The 2023 Olympics will be held primarily in Hanshui, the historic and bustling metropolis often seen as the gateway to western Laeral. Located on the Zhongshui river, Hanshui offers numerous opportunities for exploration for the tourists expected to arrive for the Olympics. The majority of events will be held at sporting facilities in Hanshui and its environs, but certain winter events will be held in the neighboring city of Lushui, to the north, accessible by rail or highway. Sailing events will be held in the resort town of Cordeliers, in Corday province, to allow for the event to take place in the Albarine Sea.

Events will be held in the following locations:

Lo Kai Memorial Stadium (Hanshui)
- Basketball
- Handball
- Tennis

Hanshui Metropolitan Stadium (Hanshui)
- Athletics
- Cycling
- Equestrian
- Fencing
- Gymnastics

Langdon Zheng National Aquatic Center (Hanshui)
- Aquatics
- Surfing
- Water polo

Bertin-Leger Athletic Center at University of Nanhai (Hanshui)
- Archery
- Baseball/softball
- Table tennis

Hanshui Municipal Center for Winter Sports (Hanshui)
- Curling
- Figure skating
- Ice hockey
- Speed skating

René Gramont National Winter Resort (Lushui)
- Alpine skiing
- Bobsled
- Luge
- Ski jumping

Other locations
- Biathlon (West Jilan Resort, Lushui)
- Sailing (Cordeliers, Corday)
- Triathlon (Course extends along the Gaoming River)

As always, you’re welcome to develop RP plots however you like centering on the Olympics. Feel free to message me over Discord with any questions. Any plots involving substantial disruption to the Games (ie, a terror attack, a major crime, etc) must be cleared by me before being released.

Registration

You may register any number of nations to the Olympics by filling out the registration form and completing the registration spreadsheet.

Registration Form:

Nation Name:
Nation Trigram: *The trigram is a three-letter abbreviation used to denote your country: ie, LRL for Laeral*
Puppet? *Y/N; if the nation is a puppet, please designate the main nation it’s associated with.*
Link to Completed Registration Form:

Registration Spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...sp=sharing

Complete this Google Sheets spreadsheet with names and skill rankings for each of your athletes by making a copy of the spreadsheet and filling it in. (Thanks to Eiria for creating the spreadsheet!). As was the case in previous Olympic signups, the calculation modifiers that help produce the results willl be rated individually per athlete or team, on a 100 point scale ranging from +50 to -50. A positive score will help your athlete, while a negative one will hinder them. Each country’s athletes must sum to 0 or below. To help you keep track of this, the Google Sheet will automatically sum up the numbers at the bottom. If you use another software to fill out the spreadsheet, make sure to confirm that the sum is 0 or below.

On the spreadsheet, you may enter one athlete per event, unless stated otherwise. The exceptions:
- Certain events tell you in parenthesis if they’re an exception, ie (Four Person, Mixed Gender). In events with multiple athletes, separate their names with slashes. (/)
- Certain events are marked with a tilde (~). This denotes a team sport: you can name it a generic name (Team Laeral), but many people enjoy giving it a more creative name: ie, “Laeral Herons” or “Huenyan Freedom Team.”

If you have any questions about the spreadsheet or how to submit it, don’t hesitate to message me over Discord for the swiftest response.

Deadline

Please try to submit your applications by the end of the first week of May  May 16th: the sooner the team rosters are all in, the sooner that event results can be calculated!

List of Events

For your reference, the full list of events for the 2023 Olympics is provided below. Eiria and I are proud to include numerous new events this year:
- 1 new archery event, Team Archery
- 2 new cycling events: Individual Sprint, 50 km relay
- 1 new figure skating event, Ice Dance
And, most exciting of all: 3 entirely new sports, with all events for men and women: 
- Equestrian, with Dressage and Show Jumping events; Sailing, with Dinghy and Windsurfing events; and Surfing, with a single event.

Alpine Skiing: M/W Downhill, Combined, Slalom, Super G.

Archery: M/W/Team

Athletics: M/W; 100M, 800M, 1500M

Aquatics: 100M and 200M; Back, Breast, Butterfly, Free, 10M Dive

Baseball/Softball: M/W

Basketball: M/W

Biathlon: M/W; 15KM, 20KM

Bobsled: M/W 2P, 4P

Curling: M/W, Doubles

Cycling: M/W; Individual Sprint, 50 km Relay

Equestrian: Dressage, Show Jumping

Fencing: M/W/T of; Épée, Foil, Sabre

Figure Skating: M/W/P/Ice Dance

Gymnastics: M/W; Floor, Vault, Balance Beam, Rings

Handball: M/W

Hockey: M/W

Luge: Doubles

Sailing: M/W; Dinghy, Windsurfing

Speed Skating: M/W; 500M, 1000M, 1500M, 5000M

Ski Jumping: M/W Normal Hill

Surfing: M/W

Table Tennis: M/W/MT/WT

Tennis: M/W/MD/WD

Water Polo: M/W

The two groups arriving on Cyanth for discussions were both presenting a confident front. But behind the scenes, they could not have been more different.

The Xiomeran delegation arriving in Telefar, in the center of the Novella Islands, was in fact just as confident as they appeared. Empress Calhualyana knew she had the Manabí in an impossible situation. Unless some other power chose to intervene, Xiomera held all the cards. Thousands of them, in fact, in the form of the wave of Imperial troops waiting in southern Xiomera to pounce on Manabí Rive the second the order was given. The Imperial Navy had already blocked off the strait separating Manabí Rive from Xiomera, to secure an amphibious assault that the Manabí had zero chance of fending off. And if these talks failed, the Manabí would discover that fact in a most painful way.

In truth, though, Calhualyana was glad that the Novellans had decided to offer talks. She had a small admiration for the Novellans. She had judged them to be a most pragmatic, efficient and advanced people - definitely a peer state to Xiomera, and one worthy of negotiating with, unlike the Manabí. They were also offering her a potential chance to avoid having to invade Manabí Rive, and potentially kicking off a bigger conflict than she really wanted. But there was one non-negotiable...Manabí Rive could not, under any circumstances, join the Union of Caxcanan States. The UCS already represented a major security threat to the Empire, and having them on Xiomera's doorstep was not going to happen. One way, or another.

For the Manabí, their projection of determined sovereignty and confidence was a total front. They knew the cavalry weren't necessarily coming, and that Xiomera could re-occupy the entire country within days if they truly wanted to. There was always the option of waging an insurgency similar to the one which had driven Xiomera out during the civil war. But Calhualyana didn't seem like the type to care about casualties - her own, or others. It would be best, therefore, to secure some kind of deal which met everyone's goals. Giving up UCS membership, though, would require a lot to be offered to the Manabí to make it worth their while.

As the two delegations arrived at their respective arrival points, they waited to be greeted by the Novellans with those thoughts in their minds.

Proposal to amend the Nuclear and Zombie Safety Act in the following way:

In §1 clause 1, add in between "final day of" and "August" the following:

"January, and again the final day of"

---

Purpose of amendment: NS has announced that N-Day will be twice annual, and one can assume the other date is likely to be around late February as this one was. Meaning that we ought to prepare our laws for next year.

After several weeks of well-attended film screenings at the Majestic and Castro Theatres, the time has come to recognize excellence in the achievements and contributions of the year's outstanding films from across the IDU. Nominations have now closed and it is time to cast your votes. All resident nations of the IDU are eligible to cast one vote per category. Nations who nominated a film (there are 3 of them) are eligible to cast one additional vote per category. Voting opens February 16th and will close Sunday March 5th at at 23:59 PST (UTC -7). Please vote early, vote often. May the best film win!

Category: Best Music

• Blue Rings (Eiria)
  

Category: Best Supporting Performance

• Anita Ozola, Blue Rings (Eiria)
  
• Beth Hope, Little Betty (Ecclesiastical Dominions)
  
• Olimpia Pardo, Kalipso (Gardavasque)
  

Category: Best Lead Performance

• James Judins Blue Rings (Eiria)
  
• Timothee Cimino Kalipso (Gardavasque)
  

Category: Best Picture

• Kalipso (Gardavasque)
  
• Blue Rings (Eiria)
  

You and I in a little toy shop
Buy a bag of balloons with the money we've got.
Set them free at the break of dawn
'Til one by one, they were gone.
Back at base, bugs in the software
Flash the message, Something's out there.
Floating in the summer sky.
99 red balloons go by.

DTNS Morning News Bulletin, 2/15/23: "Good morning. I'm Indrani Lal, and this is the DTNS morning news update. At the top of our headlines this hour, Lauchenoirian officials have reported the discovery of a large balloon apparently making observations within their airspace. The balloon was first sighted in the skies above Liaville, in Aeluria, before taking an easterly course over Elopolis. If it continues on its present route, the balloon is expected to fly over the Lauchenoirian capital, Buttercity, before possibly passing over Usera. Observers on the ground reported that the balloon seems to be able to shift direction on its own, implying an onboard propulsion source. Who owns the balloon, or what its function is, remains a mystery. No government or company has stated that it owns the balloon, and with the Lauchenoirian government not yet releasing an official comment on the balloon, the people on the ground in Lauchenoirian cities are left to speculate and debate on the unexpected arrival."

99 red balloons.
floating in the summer sky.
Panic bells, it's red alert.
There's something here from somewhere else.
The war machine springs to life.
Opens up one eager eye.
Focusing it on the sky.
Where 99 red balloons go by.

DTNS Evening News Bulletin, 2/15/23: "Good evening, this is Tyler Walsman with your DTNS evening news update. At the top of the hour tonight, a strange balloon sighted over Lauchenoiria has reached the nation's capital Buttercity, continuing on its still unexplained journey. It also appears to have spawned siblings, as sightings of similar balloons are now being reported in other countries as well.

In Milintica, a similar balloon passed over the island of Koputāroa before reaching the Milintican capital of Huānoch within the past hour. Milintican Su-25 attack jets shot the balloon down once it reached the capital, causing minor damage to a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. No casualties were reported. President Matōchmizalo of Milintica had this to say after the balloon was shot down.

Matōchmizalo: "This is clearly a violation of our sovereignty by some unknown actor, but we will recover the wreckage and determine who is responsible quickly enough. The Democratic Peoples' Republic of Milintica will not tolerate such offensive acts and will respond against the aggressor responsible in due time."

Walsman: "Koputāroa is the second largest of the five islands that make up Milintica, and is home to the country's second largest naval and air bases. Milintican officials stated that is proof of the espionage nature of the balloon.

Meanwhile, a third balloon passed over Manauia at the same time as the one that was shot down in Milintica. Manauian forces took no hostile action against the balloon, but did issue a formal protest at what they also termed a violation of their sovereignty. The balloon made a circular route over Manauia before heading eastward towards Antepec Island, a Xiomeran colony. This led Manauian officials to accuse Xiomera of operating the balloon, a charge that Xiomera's government has so far not commented on.

And reports have just come into our international desk of two more balloon sightings. Huenya's military has reportedly shot down a similar balloon just now near the city of Coamac, a few miles west of the front line between Huenyan forces and ethnic Xiomeran separatists in eastern Huenya. A surface-to-air missile brought the balloon down, causing some damage to the outskirts of Coamac. One person was reported injured on the ground. Huenyan officials called the balloon 'a clear attempt to gain intelligence'.

Another balloon has been sighted in Eiria, on a southerly route which will take it over New Riga towards the Eirian capital of Geminus. There has been no response yet from Eirian officials."

99 Decision Street.
99 ministers meet.
To worry, worry, super-scurry.
Call the troops out in a hurry.

- Lyrics from 99 Red Balloons by Nena

---

LLOENFLYS DEFEATS OLDE DELAWARE, ELECTED PRESIDENT

Written by PhDre
Edited by Maowi
Written and Published by the EBC; Edited by Pland Adanna to reflect changes since original publication
Arnhelm, Europeia - Senator Lloenflys defeated Olde Delaware in the first Presidential election of 2023, with 38 of 63 votes (60.3%). Lloenflys’ ascent to the Presidency marks his first time in the Office, and Olde Delaware’s second loss in a row.
The election period started quietly, as former President Icarus indicated she would not run for re-election. After Olde Delaware stood with running mate Sopo, Lloenflys waited two days before running with Kuramia as his Vice President. “I went from planning to run just so that there was a choice at the ballot box to running because I want to run,” Lloenflys confirmed.
Candidates participated in a Discord text debate, which did little to change the toss-up nature of the election. On Election Day, Lloenflys jumped out to an early lead, and the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation conducted a live-blog with prominent Europeians.
In his first Presidential address, Lloenflys urged Europeian citizens with a “call to action if you have the time to serve – there has perhaps never been a better time to step up, seize the initiative, and get your name into consideration as a future leader.”
The Senate confirmed each of the President Lloenflys's Cabinet nominees, listed below:
Attorney General - Boisenburg
Grand Admiral - Cove
Minister of Communications - PhDre
Minister of Culture - Hezekon
Minister of Foreign Affairs - Writinglegend
Minister of Interior - Vor
Minister of RMB Affairs - Olde Delaware
Minister of World Assembly Affairs - Maowi
The president introduced a new position called the “Ministry of RMB” headed by Presidential opponent Olde Delaware (OD). One citizen, former President Pichtonia, mused that “OD clearly put a lot of research and enthusiasm into the RMB section of his campaign during the election… I'd definitely give him the benefit of the doubt.”  The Ministry of RMB would be responsible for considering potential reforms to Europeia’s regional message board, and engaging with the gameside community.

Prelude I: Xochuaxte Palace, Chuaztlapoc, January 25th
8:00 am, Huenyan time

Tonauac rode his favorite horse, Ehecatl, enjoying the sun and warm weather around the Huenyan royal palace. The 12-year-old, like his father, had taken to riding at a young age. It was an archaic form of transportation in a modern world, but it was a tradition that had the added benefit of being entertaining.

The plains to the east of the palace were relatively undeveloped, as the palace was a good distance from the center of the city. Cresting a small rise, Tonauac could see the rapidly growing sprawl of western Chuaztlapoc, where the new government capital had been placed. As he enjoyed the scenery, he heard a slight rustle behind him. Two men were stepping out of a jeep marked with Huenyan Army insignia. The two soldiers stopped some distance from Tonauac, nodding respectfully. "Your Highness, there has been an emergency back at the palace with your mother. Your father has summoned you. Please come with me. Your horse will be taken back to the stables," one of the soldiers said, gesturing to the other.

Tonauac nodded, and was about to step down from his horse, when he had a thought. "You said my father summoned me. Is he not currently on the eastern front?"

The soldier paused, then quickly said "He returned to the palace due to the emergency. Please come quickly, there is not much time."

Tonauac began to get an uneasy feeling. Normally, the palace would only send Shorn Ones to retrieve him. He noticed a third soldier in the back of the jeep, staring expectantly at him. "I think I will ride back to the palace," he said, taking a firmer grip on the reins.

"There is not enough time! Your mother needs you, you must come with us now," the first soldier said, stepping forward as if to grab the reins. Tonauac's sense of alarm spiked. He shouted a command to Ehecatl, and the horse bolted westward. The soldier who had been speaking to him cursed, unholstering his pistol and firing at Ehecatl. With a sharp jerk of the reins, Tonauac managed to dodge the gunfire. Okay, yeah, those aren't soldiers, the Huenyan prince thought with a sinking feeling. He had to get back to the palace, somehow outrunning people in a vehicle. While his horse may have been slower, Tonauac did have one advantage: he didn't need to stick to roads.

As the men following him shouted angrily, Tonauac guided Ehecatl off the road into the rough plains. More gunfire followed, but again, he was able to dodge it. As he led his mount through the plains and small hills, the men in the jeep began to fall behind. Tonauac knew the land around the palace better than almost anyone, and all the short cuts it contained. Soon, the angry curses faded behind him. Within moments, the walls of Xochuaxte Palace rose into view. Ehecatl ran full speed through the gates, startling the guards. 

In the front courtyard, his mother Tlalmaxxi had just emerged outside with several guards. "Son, are you okay? We heard gunshots," she asked, as the guards helped Tonauac off the horse. "I'm fine....but those people were shooting at me."

Tlalmaxxi's face twisted in a mixture of fear and anger as she rushed forward to envelop him in a hug. "Get out there and find whoever was after my son," she barked at the guards.

Prelude II: Northeastern Huenya, January 25th
8:00 am, Huenyan time

Texōccoatl was not, in fact, in Chuaztlapoc as Tonauac had suspected. The Great Speaker of Huenya would have run to his son as Tlalmaxxi had. But as the attempt to kidnap the future Huenyan monarch was happening, the present Huenyan monarch was dealing with a challenge of his own.

The broken cease-fire in eastern Huenya had sapped the morale of the Huenyan army. Even the famed Jaguar Warriors and Eagle Warriors were showing signs of being worn down, in the face of a relentless weeks-long assault by Xiomeran nationalists and their CSSC allies. If the Huenyan lines buckled, the separatists could seize the entire eastern coastline of Huenya, dealing a sharp blow to the Huenyan economy. The Canal Zone would be in jeopardy. And the efforts to rescue Xiomeran dissidents would grind to a complete halt.

The Huenyan lines could not break. They could not.

Texōccoatl was to give a speech to the troops on the eastern front, on the eve of the country's first Independence Day. The Great Speaker had thought long and hard about the speech. If Huenya was to hold the line, he needed to quite literally be a great speaker to raise the troops' morale and keep them in the fight.

As he stood on a dais, in front of thousands of his soldiers, others would be watching via the Huenyan military's television and internet channels. Texōccoatl wasted no time.

"As you all know, before events forced me into the role I now hold, I was once a soldier like you. In my heart, I still am. And indeed, all Huenyans must have the hearts of warriors. For we are fighting a battle for our very existence, our survival, against an implacable foe who will never stop trying to defeat us. Every Huenyan, whether they are in the armed forces or not, is fighting this battle to build our nation and secure our freedom, every day. From those who teach our children, to those who grow our crops and stock our stores, to the parents who work hard every day for their kids and those whose work keeps our nation going, we are all fighting for the dream of Huenya in our own way."

Texōccoatl paused. "But those of you on the front lines are fighting to make sure the rest of us can keep that fight of ours going. You are fighting to protect us, and to protect that dream of an independent, united and free Huenya. The fight the rest of us are waging depends completely on the fight you wage every day on these battlefields. And it isn't just our dream you are protecting. On these front lines, you are standing as the shield between freedom and tyranny. You stand as the tan and green line that is protecting not just Huenya, but the entire world, from the gaze of the tyrant. Calhualyana and the Empire she leads seek to subject as many free people as possible to their horrific oppression. If Huenya falls, they won't stop with us. Our friends, our allies, and other free peoples will become the new victims, their countries the new front lines. We have already seen the result of that in Auria. We can't let that happen again, not to anyone else. We must not."

Texōccoatl raised his hands. "Huenya has not been given a challenge, in Calhualyana and her machinations. We have been given an opportunity. An opportunity to show the world that Huenyans earn their freedom. That Huenyans fight for their freedom, and that of everyone else. That Huenya will be the wall that restrains the tyrant and the despot, and that upholds the dream of democracy and liberty for millions of people. This is nothing less than a war between freedom and despotism itself, and the world is watching. What will you show them? Will you show them that tyranny will prevail because we could not withstand its challenge? Or will you show them that freedom always wins, and that Huenyans are the very exemplars of that spirit? Will you show them our strength, which lies in our unity and our liberty? As our Independence Day dawns tomorrow, what will you do on these front lines? For everything that is at stake, and everyone who is at risk, will you fight - and will you win?"

The answering roar from the crowd of soldiers drowned out anything else Texōccoatl might have said. The Great Speaker simply nodded, raising his hands in salute to his soldiers once more.

---

For those observing the fighting in eastern Huenya, after the speech by Texōccoatl, there was a clear shift in the winds of war. Where Huenyan forces had been falling back, they began to hold fast. Where they had managed to hold their lines, they began to push the separatists and mercenaries back. By the end of the day, the Huenyans had held off everything that could be thrown at them. They had held the line, as January 25th became January 26th.

Huenya's Independence Day had arrived.