[Lauchenoiria]

Lauchenoiria had already been prepared for the outcome of the vote. During the seemingly chaotic manoeuvrings of the naval vessels, they had managed to get their troop carriers into the waters surrounding Auria, and it was only two days after the Eirian forces landed that the Lauchenoirians followed. The Shuellian mercenaries had not been the only ships that Lauchenoiria had considered necessary to cover for.

The blockade had not, of course, fallen as of yet. They’d planned to sweep around and capture one of the vessels Xiomera had sent with supplies, while pretending to withdraw, but unfortunately the enemy was slippery. Never mind. They would stay in place, allowing their own ships and their allies to pass, while vehemently denying access to King Andrew’s cronies or his Imperial partners.

At the same time, they continued to attempt to get messages through to Andrew and the others in Auria who had been behind the coup, warning them of Calhualyana’s schemes and imploring them to do the right thing and refuse to allow their country to become the latest outpost of the Xiomeran Empire. Lauchenoiria did not think it likely that Andrew would accept, but they did so on the off chance. If he did so, they would still have to arrest the plotters to make their point about coups, but there were ways to turn such a situation to their ideological advantage.

The main problems as Lauchenoiria saw it were two things: one, the threats coming from CSSC and Xiomera against their own land, and the likelihood that CSSC and their Aurian helpers would be willing to go all-out on the war crimes, especially if they thought they were losing. The Milinticans were also a thorn in the plan, but not a very big one. Command had made it very clear to all members of the Lauchenoirian military that they would not tolerate any friendly fire incidents no matter how much communist propaganda was thrown at them.

This was a chance for redemption. Many of the soldiers approaching Auria had been those who chose the wrong side in their own civil war; who had fought for Chaher before the Haven talks and the TRC and the revelations about Charissa Clarke’s Aurora status. It had been the revelation about Auroras that truly ended the war in a conclusive way, of course. If they had not been manipulated by Kerlians, many Chaherites wouldn’t have accepted this government of Alvarez’s. Yet Kerlile was a far greater threat to both sides of Lauchenoirian society, and they needed to redeem themselves in the eyes of their people and wash the Kerlian taint away.

As the first Lauchenoirian troops landed on Aurian soil, there was an air of anticipation throughout all of Lauchenoiria, and further afield, that whatever came next, it would mark a turning point; a beginning or an end; or perhaps both.