09-17-2024, 05:23 AM
Act II: Waiting in the Wings
Milintican Communist Party headquarters
Huānoch, Milintica
Neina Arana tsked slightly to herself as she looked over several sets of papers. Finally, she raised her head and turned to Ikei Rakena, her incoming Minister of State. "Summarize the situation for me, please."
Rakena sighed. "So far, no one except Khoga and his followers in Taragai have extended any official recognition or acknowledgement to our government. As for unofficial actions, the Slokaisians have made some murmurs about 'transparency'. The Eirians and the nations in Hesperida will most likely make their own murmurs about us, but do nothing, as they usually do. We may get more stringent pushback from the Lauchenoirians, given their blatant worship of capitalist jackboots. But the most notable reaction has been from Huenya. The administration of President Xiadani has been, frankly, very hostile. They have 'declined' meeting with us as they continue to 'investigate' the election results. It's been said without being said by the Huenyans that they greatly prefer dealing with Matōchmizalo."
"Xiadani is an idiot," Arana said flatly. "I've heard some of her remarks about me, and about the election. She likes to talk big for someone whose own capital came within a hair's width of falling to insurgents around this time last year," Arana sneered as the members of her incoming Cabinet laughed. "I could care less what the Huenyan government thinks - they're no threat. As for the Lauchenoirians, they haven't given me a reason to be scared of them yet, and I can't say I see that changing. The Eirians typically don't respond until someone has already punched them in the nose, and the nations in Hesperida don't do anything ever out of fear of disrupting their precious greedy trade. Sounds like we can expect more of the same that always happens from most of the world - nothing."
"If the Huenyans continue to be pushy, we should expel their 'election observers' as soon as we take power." Coszcayah, the incoming Minister of Justice, grimaced in irritation. "Their attempts to interfere in the transition to our administration are becoming quite blatant. Speaking of the transition though, my sources are indicating to me that the Supreme Tribunal will be making a decision by the end of this week about Matōchmizalo's silly little court case."
"By the end of this week? Inauguration Day is barely two weeks away!" Arana shook her head. "See if we can light a fire under the justices, please. This is not the time for them to engage in their usual leisurely deliberations."
"I am honestly concerned about what happens after they make their decision. Matōchmizalo has said repeatedly now that he will not agree to hand off power, even if the Tribunal decides against him." Mazayotl, the incoming Prime Minister and Arana's running mate, tapped his own set of papers pensively. "We have to thread the needle carefully if Matōchmizalo refuses to leave peacefully. If we respond too harshly, that could trigger an uprising from the remaining MPP supporters. It could also spark a backlash from the international community."
"Screw Matōchmizalo and the MPP," Arana snapped. "If Matōchmizalo refuses to step down, once his term is officially over by law, I will have the Army drag him out of Haven House by his scrawny little neck and charge him with treason for attempting to overthrow the government. If his supporters resist with force, we'll ban the MPP and run them out of office and off the streets. I really hope they give us the excuse."
Some of Arana's Cabinet members looked uncertainly at each other at that. Even for the newly energized and radicalized MCP, banning what was still the second largest political party in the country and its historic leader was a tall order. Arana adopted a patient expression as she looked at them. "Don't look so shocked. Remember history. What I just outlined is exactly what the MPP itself did from 1917 to 1928, which made the MPP the dominant movement in this country in the first place. If the counter-revolutionary shadow of itself that the MPP has become needs a history lesson, we can give it to them. The irony of that would be a little bit delicious, to be honest."
"Our timeframe would need to be a bit more accelerated," Coszcayah pointed out. "We wouldn't have eleven years to pull that off."
"We can do that," Arana replied. "But for now, we keep going forward as we have. We make sure we're in position on day one to stomp on any opposition here at home, while fending off any unwanted outside interference. And most of all, we make sure Hauraki continues to stonewall anyone poking around the election results until then. Because after October 3rd, it won't matter anymore."
---
Even as Arana and her incoming Cabinet discussed things, however, the wonderful twin strands of life known as "unexpected actions" and "unintended consequences" worked their magic, as they often do.
Nelpin and Itopan, two low-level diplomatic staff with the Huenyan State Department, had arrived in the city of Aropaonui in northern Milintica. Aropaonui was a rural village that was quite a bit off the beaten path. It still managed to attract a fair number of foreign visitors, however, due to its scenic beauty on the coastline and its chances to experience native Paora culture. Visitors usually loved the town's exotic-sounding name, without at all being aware that Aropaonui meant "bashed kidney fat" in the Paora language. The locals conveniently forgot to mention that to visitors, most days.
The destination for the two Huenyan diplomats was Aropanui's town square. The Huenyans had received a report from some locals that there had been issues with trying to cast their vote. They had accused the town's mayor, Ori Hariwana, of ordering local police chief Iria Pihopa to monitor who was voting. Pihopa had challenged known MPP activists trying to vote. The police chief worked with election judge Ha Amu Rata to reject several voters on various technicalities, the reports claimed. The locals suspected that Hariwana and Pihopa, both MCP loyalists, had deliberately tied to block MPP votes. They also had expressed concern that the ballots themselves, which were in the custody of Pihopa and Rata for several hours after voting ended, could have been compromised.
Nelpin and Itopan arrived at the town square and met Raione Hamuera, the person who had filed the initial complaint. The two Huenyans began interviewing Hamuera and several other local residents about what had taken place on Election Day. As they did so, a man watching them from across the square quietly walked off.
Twenty minutes later, three police cars drove into the square, parking near where the Huenyans were talking with the locals. Pihopa stepped out of one of the vehicles, flanked by four more officers. They walked up to the group, and Pihopa brusquely demanded to know what the Huenyans were doing. Nelpin presented their diplomatic credentials to Pihopa. "We are here interviewing local residents about the election. We are election observers registered with the Milintican government," Itopan said.
Pihopa snorted. "You're not registered with anyone here."
"We are registered with the Milintican State Department in Huānoch. We are diplomats protected by international law," Itopan replied.
"I don't care," Pihopa replied bluntly. "You're not welcome here. Get back in your car and get out of here." The police chief then turned to the locals who the Huenyans had been interviewing. "You are engaging in an unlawful assembly. Get out of here now before I arrest you all."
"You can't do that!" Nelpan shouted as she stood up. "These people are violating no Milintican law -"
"You think you know the laws here better than I do, Huenyan?" Pihopa snarled. "Last chance. Get out of my face and leave or you're going in handcuffs."
"You. Wouldn't. Dare." Nelpan glared at the police chief. "We are official diplomats. It would be an international incident and way out of your pay grade."
Pihopa looked down at Nelpan, face twisted in slight amazement, before his expression darkened. Without another word, he grabbed a can of pepper spray from his belt and sprayed Nelpan and Itopan both in the face. As the two Huenyans both coughed and sputtered in pain, Pihopa yanked Nelpan around and began handcuffing her. Another officer quickly did the same to Itopan.
"You are both under arrest for trespassing, refusing a lawful order to disperse, and resisting arrest," Pihopa snapped. "As for the rest of you, leave now. This is your last warning."
As the small group of locals grumbled and stepped back, Nelpan and Itopan were marched to one of the nearby police vehicles and thrown roughly inside.
Milintican Communist Party headquarters
Huānoch, Milintica
Neina Arana tsked slightly to herself as she looked over several sets of papers. Finally, she raised her head and turned to Ikei Rakena, her incoming Minister of State. "Summarize the situation for me, please."
Rakena sighed. "So far, no one except Khoga and his followers in Taragai have extended any official recognition or acknowledgement to our government. As for unofficial actions, the Slokaisians have made some murmurs about 'transparency'. The Eirians and the nations in Hesperida will most likely make their own murmurs about us, but do nothing, as they usually do. We may get more stringent pushback from the Lauchenoirians, given their blatant worship of capitalist jackboots. But the most notable reaction has been from Huenya. The administration of President Xiadani has been, frankly, very hostile. They have 'declined' meeting with us as they continue to 'investigate' the election results. It's been said without being said by the Huenyans that they greatly prefer dealing with Matōchmizalo."
"Xiadani is an idiot," Arana said flatly. "I've heard some of her remarks about me, and about the election. She likes to talk big for someone whose own capital came within a hair's width of falling to insurgents around this time last year," Arana sneered as the members of her incoming Cabinet laughed. "I could care less what the Huenyan government thinks - they're no threat. As for the Lauchenoirians, they haven't given me a reason to be scared of them yet, and I can't say I see that changing. The Eirians typically don't respond until someone has already punched them in the nose, and the nations in Hesperida don't do anything ever out of fear of disrupting their precious greedy trade. Sounds like we can expect more of the same that always happens from most of the world - nothing."
"If the Huenyans continue to be pushy, we should expel their 'election observers' as soon as we take power." Coszcayah, the incoming Minister of Justice, grimaced in irritation. "Their attempts to interfere in the transition to our administration are becoming quite blatant. Speaking of the transition though, my sources are indicating to me that the Supreme Tribunal will be making a decision by the end of this week about Matōchmizalo's silly little court case."
"By the end of this week? Inauguration Day is barely two weeks away!" Arana shook her head. "See if we can light a fire under the justices, please. This is not the time for them to engage in their usual leisurely deliberations."
"I am honestly concerned about what happens after they make their decision. Matōchmizalo has said repeatedly now that he will not agree to hand off power, even if the Tribunal decides against him." Mazayotl, the incoming Prime Minister and Arana's running mate, tapped his own set of papers pensively. "We have to thread the needle carefully if Matōchmizalo refuses to leave peacefully. If we respond too harshly, that could trigger an uprising from the remaining MPP supporters. It could also spark a backlash from the international community."
"Screw Matōchmizalo and the MPP," Arana snapped. "If Matōchmizalo refuses to step down, once his term is officially over by law, I will have the Army drag him out of Haven House by his scrawny little neck and charge him with treason for attempting to overthrow the government. If his supporters resist with force, we'll ban the MPP and run them out of office and off the streets. I really hope they give us the excuse."
Some of Arana's Cabinet members looked uncertainly at each other at that. Even for the newly energized and radicalized MCP, banning what was still the second largest political party in the country and its historic leader was a tall order. Arana adopted a patient expression as she looked at them. "Don't look so shocked. Remember history. What I just outlined is exactly what the MPP itself did from 1917 to 1928, which made the MPP the dominant movement in this country in the first place. If the counter-revolutionary shadow of itself that the MPP has become needs a history lesson, we can give it to them. The irony of that would be a little bit delicious, to be honest."
"Our timeframe would need to be a bit more accelerated," Coszcayah pointed out. "We wouldn't have eleven years to pull that off."
"We can do that," Arana replied. "But for now, we keep going forward as we have. We make sure we're in position on day one to stomp on any opposition here at home, while fending off any unwanted outside interference. And most of all, we make sure Hauraki continues to stonewall anyone poking around the election results until then. Because after October 3rd, it won't matter anymore."
---
Even as Arana and her incoming Cabinet discussed things, however, the wonderful twin strands of life known as "unexpected actions" and "unintended consequences" worked their magic, as they often do.
Nelpin and Itopan, two low-level diplomatic staff with the Huenyan State Department, had arrived in the city of Aropaonui in northern Milintica. Aropaonui was a rural village that was quite a bit off the beaten path. It still managed to attract a fair number of foreign visitors, however, due to its scenic beauty on the coastline and its chances to experience native Paora culture. Visitors usually loved the town's exotic-sounding name, without at all being aware that Aropaonui meant "bashed kidney fat" in the Paora language. The locals conveniently forgot to mention that to visitors, most days.
The destination for the two Huenyan diplomats was Aropanui's town square. The Huenyans had received a report from some locals that there had been issues with trying to cast their vote. They had accused the town's mayor, Ori Hariwana, of ordering local police chief Iria Pihopa to monitor who was voting. Pihopa had challenged known MPP activists trying to vote. The police chief worked with election judge Ha Amu Rata to reject several voters on various technicalities, the reports claimed. The locals suspected that Hariwana and Pihopa, both MCP loyalists, had deliberately tied to block MPP votes. They also had expressed concern that the ballots themselves, which were in the custody of Pihopa and Rata for several hours after voting ended, could have been compromised.
Nelpin and Itopan arrived at the town square and met Raione Hamuera, the person who had filed the initial complaint. The two Huenyans began interviewing Hamuera and several other local residents about what had taken place on Election Day. As they did so, a man watching them from across the square quietly walked off.
Twenty minutes later, three police cars drove into the square, parking near where the Huenyans were talking with the locals. Pihopa stepped out of one of the vehicles, flanked by four more officers. They walked up to the group, and Pihopa brusquely demanded to know what the Huenyans were doing. Nelpin presented their diplomatic credentials to Pihopa. "We are here interviewing local residents about the election. We are election observers registered with the Milintican government," Itopan said.
Pihopa snorted. "You're not registered with anyone here."
"We are registered with the Milintican State Department in Huānoch. We are diplomats protected by international law," Itopan replied.
"I don't care," Pihopa replied bluntly. "You're not welcome here. Get back in your car and get out of here." The police chief then turned to the locals who the Huenyans had been interviewing. "You are engaging in an unlawful assembly. Get out of here now before I arrest you all."
"You can't do that!" Nelpan shouted as she stood up. "These people are violating no Milintican law -"
"You think you know the laws here better than I do, Huenyan?" Pihopa snarled. "Last chance. Get out of my face and leave or you're going in handcuffs."
"You. Wouldn't. Dare." Nelpan glared at the police chief. "We are official diplomats. It would be an international incident and way out of your pay grade."
Pihopa looked down at Nelpan, face twisted in slight amazement, before his expression darkened. Without another word, he grabbed a can of pepper spray from his belt and sprayed Nelpan and Itopan both in the face. As the two Huenyans both coughed and sputtered in pain, Pihopa yanked Nelpan around and began handcuffing her. Another officer quickly did the same to Itopan.
"You are both under arrest for trespassing, refusing a lawful order to disperse, and resisting arrest," Pihopa snapped. "As for the rest of you, leave now. This is your last warning."
As the small group of locals grumbled and stepped back, Nelpan and Itopan were marched to one of the nearby police vehicles and thrown roughly inside.
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