02-21-2024, 03:23 AM
February 19th
Bor-Öndör
It had been almost a month since the Taragaian government had begun to crack down on pro-democracy protesters in the country. The whole exercise had begun to resemble a time warp to those responsible for executing the demands of the Chairman and the Presidium.
No matter how many skulls were smashed, people laid flat, or arrests made, the results were the same. The authorities would succeed in quashing the protests occurring on a particular day, clear the public squares and the streets, and restore a semblance of control. The very next morning, a new set of protesters would take their place. Usually more than had been there the previous day, in fact. The crackdown by the government had not only spectacularly failed to scare off the protesters, it was inspiring more and more people to join the protests. More ominously for the government, the protesters were showing less and less inclination to simply sit down and let themselves be beaten up or arrested. Khadagan Daldurkhan had launched the protests as a bid for nonviolent civil disobedience. But with Daldurkhan sitting incommunicado in an Internal Security prison, new voices were rising within the protest movement. Just as the government had lost patience with the protesters, these voices were losing their own patience with the government. Increasingly, they were fighting back. While the jail cells were filling up, so were the beds in the military hospitals.
Otgonbayar Khoriubechi, leader of the People's Army, found himself trying to fend off what could easily become a civil war, thanks to the heavy-handed response of his own leaders. He sighed as he downed another glass of whiskey and looked at the latest reports. Things were getting out of hand, and he was increasingly taking the blame from the Chairman and the Presidium. If it wasn't for their stupidity, we wouldn't be in this mess, Khoriubechi thought bitterly as he tried to figure out a plan.
A sudden shout from the other room made Khoriubechi look up. "The General is busy, you can't go in there - " Chanai Ganzorig shouted, only to be shoved through the door to the General's office. Behind the General's aide, three Internal Security agents marched in. "What is this?" the General bellowed.
"General Khoriubechi, stand up slowly and do not make any sudden moves. You are under arrest," the lead agent snapped. Khoriubechi stood up slowly as ordered, but his expression was anything but submissive. "Arrest? By whose orders?"
"By the orders of the Chairman and the Presidium. Your incompetence and inability to end the anti-revolutionary protests are being dealt with. Put your hands behind your back," the agent replied as his two comrades moved towards the General. Khoriubechi sighed. Unseen, his hand pressed a button under his desk. As he was handcuffed, Khoriubechi smiled slightly. The three agents dragged the General out of his office, and outside the command center towards a van parked in the middle of the parade ground. Even as they moved towards the van, however, soldiers began pouring out of the barracks surrounding the parade ground. They began shouting demands to release their General, in a tone of voice that was clearly not a request. The number of rifles they were carrying only served to underscore their demands.
"Order your men to stand down and get out of our way, or you will die here," the lead Internal Security agent shouted as he raised his pistol to the General's head. Khoriubechi laughed wholeheartedly in response. "And I won't die if you take me to your headquarters? Better to die here with my men instead, especially if it means I get to take you motherless bastards with me." Khoriubechi laughed again at the expression of surprise on the agent's face. "No, here is what will happen instead. Either you will surrender and take these damned handcuffs off of me, or we will all die together. Choose."
The agent snarled, but before he could decide to do something stupid or not, Ganzorig made the decision easier by coming from behind and shooting the agent in the back of the head. The Internal Security man dropped like a felled tree. The other two Security men raised their own pistols, pointing them in panic at the soldiers surrounding them. "Come on, do you think those peashooters are going to save you?" the General asked with another laugh. "Put them down already and let's not have more unnecessary death."
The two Security agents finally lowered their guns. Several soldiers roughly disarmed and restrained them. "So...um...what do we do now?" Ganzorig asked. "What we should have done a month ago," Khoriubechi replied.
February 20th
Khongkhortai, Gerelma Province
While Khoriubechi was gathering his forces and issuing his statement in Bor-Öndör, another was preparing to do so in her own stronghold.
Over the past month, the porous borders between Gerelma Province and the rest of the world had proven to be a boon for Ebegei Qoriqacha. Under the noses of the Border Guards, the Qoriqacha clan had quietly been accepting gifts and visitors. Gifts, in the form of fine Xiomeran weapons of war. Visitors, in the form of CSSC mercenaries to supplement her own clan supporters. For some of the CSSC men and women, this was their third deployment within the past two years. Veterans of the Aurian and Huenyan campaigns, they had both the experience and the ruthlessness needed to prepare those seeking to bring a new Khanate to rise.
With the Taragaian government distracted and stretched to its limits by the nationwide protests, it would prove to be an easy task to seize control of the province. The People's Army and Internal Security forces in Gerelma Province would wake up on the morning of February 20th to find themselves under siege. Warriors loyal to Qoriqacha, backed by Xiomerans loyal to their precious quetzals and to bloodshed, had risen up to bring a new era to Taragai. A new era that looked so, so much like a very old one.
Bor-Öndör
It had been almost a month since the Taragaian government had begun to crack down on pro-democracy protesters in the country. The whole exercise had begun to resemble a time warp to those responsible for executing the demands of the Chairman and the Presidium.
No matter how many skulls were smashed, people laid flat, or arrests made, the results were the same. The authorities would succeed in quashing the protests occurring on a particular day, clear the public squares and the streets, and restore a semblance of control. The very next morning, a new set of protesters would take their place. Usually more than had been there the previous day, in fact. The crackdown by the government had not only spectacularly failed to scare off the protesters, it was inspiring more and more people to join the protests. More ominously for the government, the protesters were showing less and less inclination to simply sit down and let themselves be beaten up or arrested. Khadagan Daldurkhan had launched the protests as a bid for nonviolent civil disobedience. But with Daldurkhan sitting incommunicado in an Internal Security prison, new voices were rising within the protest movement. Just as the government had lost patience with the protesters, these voices were losing their own patience with the government. Increasingly, they were fighting back. While the jail cells were filling up, so were the beds in the military hospitals.
Otgonbayar Khoriubechi, leader of the People's Army, found himself trying to fend off what could easily become a civil war, thanks to the heavy-handed response of his own leaders. He sighed as he downed another glass of whiskey and looked at the latest reports. Things were getting out of hand, and he was increasingly taking the blame from the Chairman and the Presidium. If it wasn't for their stupidity, we wouldn't be in this mess, Khoriubechi thought bitterly as he tried to figure out a plan.
A sudden shout from the other room made Khoriubechi look up. "The General is busy, you can't go in there - " Chanai Ganzorig shouted, only to be shoved through the door to the General's office. Behind the General's aide, three Internal Security agents marched in. "What is this?" the General bellowed.
"General Khoriubechi, stand up slowly and do not make any sudden moves. You are under arrest," the lead agent snapped. Khoriubechi stood up slowly as ordered, but his expression was anything but submissive. "Arrest? By whose orders?"
"By the orders of the Chairman and the Presidium. Your incompetence and inability to end the anti-revolutionary protests are being dealt with. Put your hands behind your back," the agent replied as his two comrades moved towards the General. Khoriubechi sighed. Unseen, his hand pressed a button under his desk. As he was handcuffed, Khoriubechi smiled slightly. The three agents dragged the General out of his office, and outside the command center towards a van parked in the middle of the parade ground. Even as they moved towards the van, however, soldiers began pouring out of the barracks surrounding the parade ground. They began shouting demands to release their General, in a tone of voice that was clearly not a request. The number of rifles they were carrying only served to underscore their demands.
"Order your men to stand down and get out of our way, or you will die here," the lead Internal Security agent shouted as he raised his pistol to the General's head. Khoriubechi laughed wholeheartedly in response. "And I won't die if you take me to your headquarters? Better to die here with my men instead, especially if it means I get to take you motherless bastards with me." Khoriubechi laughed again at the expression of surprise on the agent's face. "No, here is what will happen instead. Either you will surrender and take these damned handcuffs off of me, or we will all die together. Choose."
The agent snarled, but before he could decide to do something stupid or not, Ganzorig made the decision easier by coming from behind and shooting the agent in the back of the head. The Internal Security man dropped like a felled tree. The other two Security men raised their own pistols, pointing them in panic at the soldiers surrounding them. "Come on, do you think those peashooters are going to save you?" the General asked with another laugh. "Put them down already and let's not have more unnecessary death."
The two Security agents finally lowered their guns. Several soldiers roughly disarmed and restrained them. "So...um...what do we do now?" Ganzorig asked. "What we should have done a month ago," Khoriubechi replied.
Quote:Central Command of the People's Revolutionary Army of Taragai
Bor-Öndör, February 19th 2024
The current state of affairs in Taragai is unsustainable. As has become rapidly apparent over the past month, the desire of the people for change and to have their voices heard cannot be restrained by force. The People's Army can no longer be complicit in the perpetration of violence and bloodshed against our own people. It is our role to protect the people of Taragai, not to harm them.
To that end, the People's Army hereby demands that Chairman Tömörbataar and the Presidium agree to talks with those seeking change in Taragai, to find a way forward from this current crisis. Khadagan Daldurkhan must be released, and negotiations immediately begun to find a civil and peaceful way to resolve the political issues currently afflicting our nation.
We further demand that the organs of the Presidium, such as Internal Security, immediately cease and desist their efforts to harm and suppress fellow Taragaian citizens. We are prepared to force them to do so, if necessary.
The People's Army will stand where it must - with the people.
February 20th
Khongkhortai, Gerelma Province
While Khoriubechi was gathering his forces and issuing his statement in Bor-Öndör, another was preparing to do so in her own stronghold.
Over the past month, the porous borders between Gerelma Province and the rest of the world had proven to be a boon for Ebegei Qoriqacha. Under the noses of the Border Guards, the Qoriqacha clan had quietly been accepting gifts and visitors. Gifts, in the form of fine Xiomeran weapons of war. Visitors, in the form of CSSC mercenaries to supplement her own clan supporters. For some of the CSSC men and women, this was their third deployment within the past two years. Veterans of the Aurian and Huenyan campaigns, they had both the experience and the ruthlessness needed to prepare those seeking to bring a new Khanate to rise.
With the Taragaian government distracted and stretched to its limits by the nationwide protests, it would prove to be an easy task to seize control of the province. The People's Army and Internal Security forces in Gerelma Province would wake up on the morning of February 20th to find themselves under siege. Warriors loyal to Qoriqacha, backed by Xiomerans loyal to their precious quetzals and to bloodshed, had risen up to bring a new era to Taragai. A new era that looked so, so much like a very old one.
Quote:To the people of Taragai, and the world: I am Ebegei Qoriqacha, last survivor of the line of Khans that once ruled Taragai before the coming of the evil and filthy Communists who seized control of our country by force and lies. Once, my family led Taragai to unprecedented greatness. I am here to do so once again.
The Communist regime of the TPRP has brutalized, repressed and misled our people and our great land for decades. They have brought us to the brink of ruin. And now, they murder our people for merely letting their voices be heard and squabble amongst each other for the scraps of power. They are not worthy to lead Taragaians. I am.
To the people of Taragai, you need not suffer any longer, nor let these godless and murderous Reds control you any longer. The time of a new Khanate is here. Ride to my banners, people of Taragai! Together we will protect our people, expel the hateful Communists, and restore Taragai to the position of greatness and prosperity that it once held and that it deserves.
Ebegei, Khatun of Taragai
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