Sovereign

"Orland seeks our domination once more! Proud Lieplatz, would we really accept this humiliation from a nation already divided? Shall we lay down as the traitorous Federal Republic threatens their fellow brothers, or as the tyrannical reactionary Queen demands the restoration of that old hag's decrepit government? Nay, we shall not! Men and women, every able-bodied member of the Lieplatzan Citizenry are required to report to our recruiting posts. Together, we shall defend our homeland from Orland's aggression!"

- General Richstoff's Speech on Lieplatzan State TV.

+++

West Orland

November Palace

January 25, 2024

"What?"

Amelie was dumbfounded by the sudden report placed by William on her desk. Incident O-L 23/25. That was the title of the very document before her. As she read it, the details of the incident bled through. Northern Orland, on various border outposts, was attacked by multiple raids on the night of the twenty-third of January. Mere two days ago.

Her eyes trailed through each base that was attacked. The pictures about the damage. The scattered destroyed armored vehicles, the artillery holes, the burned-out Orlish flag on one of them, the captured intel from captured Lieplatzan troops…and the bodies of her dead soldiers.

Her blood boiled.

"At 01:00 hours, standard Western time, Lieplatzan forces raided and assaulted twenty-eight outposts and border posts in the Orlish–Lieplarz border," William boredly said. "Local forces counterattacked within thirty minutes, just in time for the Lieplatzan withdrawal, but we are afraid that some of our border defenses are now compromised, and that they have uncovered our military buildup on the border."

Amelie placed the document down, already fully red. "Why had I only heard of this today?"

"The Armed Forces only released the reports after the investigations. I believe that the OHC would rather anger you than feed you misinformation. After all, thirty-eight OAF servicemen died in those thirty minutes. I bet they didn't want you going off the rails after hearing that."

Amelie crossed her arms. That's such an insult. I'm not a child to be coddled just to control her temper. "William, I'd like you to remind General Albrecht not to play these kinds of games with me. I can control myself."

"I'll be tending to that in my next meeting with him then."

"As for our response…" Amelie only had one judgment. "I think you can clearly tell which path Orland is going to take after this provocation?"

"Well, there's really only one option after this one. Quite frankly, I think General Richstoff must be quite the…suicidal fellow, don't you think?"

"I do think that's the case, yes." Why would that moron even attack Orland out of nowhere? That was the question that ran in Amelie's mind. Doing his nonsense on his border was something, but straight up going into a spree against Orland itself, a nation that dwarfed Lieplatz many times over, was something Amelie didn't expect.

Quite frankly, I thought we'd be the aggressor. Amelie expected either her or the Federal Republic to attack first to liberate Lieplatz. Or perhaps Lieplatz already knew that regardless of what happened, she or Rimpler would strike at them? Certainly, perhaps that would push them to take action themselves.

But still…to attack and give us even more justifications to attack. "Wait, since we didn't even reveal this, that means the public and the media have no idea about this?"

"Yes. They have no idea about what happened. No way for us to turn this into a propaganda spin quickly. Well, maybe it will work if we just add it as another reason. But again, the OAF isn't ready yet, which is precisely why General Albrecht is being cautious. He doesn't want to walk unprepared troops into a trap."

"I share the same opinion, William," Amelie said. Indeed, to walk her troops to a death trap was the last on her list of wants. At the moment, the OAF would only be able to muster a few thousand troops for the entire operation. Below even fifty-thousand soldiers that would launch a concentrated assault into Nordia.

It was a natural limitation, as most of her forces were still embroiled in the frontlines against the Federal Republic. Diverting too much would risk collapsing it, so she was currently working on a tight budget if that would be a good comparison in this operation.

Still, once I do my diplomatic plays, there can be no caution left. She'd have to be quick with it. Already, she was starting to rattle her saber. Each day that passed, she would appear on national TV to condemn the State of Lieplatz and the repression of its citizenry. And she wouldn't cease this propaganda play.

"If you want war, you'd have to convince the people for it," Adelaide said. Each time the Lieplatzan State committed another crime against humanity, was an escalation she continuously capitalized on. In other words, Amelie was redirecting the outrage and anger of her people to the Lieplatzan Government.

And while the Civil War made it complicated to fully convince the people to dip their feet in another war, it was surprisingly easy for the most part. Amelie just needed to speak with a more "pro-women" rhetoric to do it.

Women controlled the votes, the economy, and the government. More importantly, her fellow women already hated male-rights revolutionaries. The actions of the Federal Republic, the Hebei Republic, the Asturian Republic, and the Confederation had been so brutal that the image these men created for themselves made it easy for Amelie to justify war against their collective.

After all, they were all out to slit their throats after taking their wands, weren't they? It was a disgusting move for Amelie, as painting the male collective as somewhat of a barbaric cartoon villain was something that went against her ideals, as she held pity more than hate for these men…

But, strategic considerations came first.

A ring distracted the two of them.

"Hmm…it's the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Amelie said after picking up her phone. William nodded, before turning around and leaving.

Amelie needed to hear this one.

+++

Amelie placed down the phone with a sigh, before sipping her tea.

Damn it. She thought to herself. Adelaide had just reported that the State of Lieplatz finally withdrew their embassy from Orland. Their diplomats, who were mostly women employed by the previous government, now effectively had no more power and no longer represented their government.

At least they're staying in Orland. Amelie took another sip of her tea. It would be stupid if they all went back to Lieplatz. The last revolutionary government was dead after all. Whatever sat in the halls of the Lieplatzan Government now would not be kind to women, much less, diplomats who publicly protested against the new Junta.

Someone knocked on her door. Amelie straightened herself a bit, before speaking loudly about her approval. "Come in," she said before the door knob turned around and opened.

"Nia?" Amelie said as she entered.

"The Prime Minister is here," Nia said, as Prime Minister Jacqueline Heiss entered as well. Naturally, the Prime Minister gave Amelie a respectful nod before she spoke.

"I apologize for interrupting your night, but I really needed to speak to you, Amelie."

Amelie tilted her head in amusement. "Do you really need to be so stiff and formal, Jacqueline?" Jacqueline nodded in response.

"Well, better be respectful to the Queen," she smiled. "Anyhow, I heard that there was a border clash…that's…quite the news…"

"I just received it as well."

"A border clash?" Nia asked. "Wait, with who?"

"With our Lieplatzan friends, as usual," Amelie sighed. "They tried to assault our border posts two days ago. They managed to disable many of our defenses, and kill thirty-eight of our men—"

"What?!" Jacqueline seemed enraged. "That's unacceptable! Why would they even…what even went through their minds?"

Nia crossed her arms. "To be fair, the two of you had been condemning them day and night for the past few days, all while asking their government to step down. I think they reacted as expected."

"She has a point," Amelie said. "General Richstoff already declared a general mobilization. He's preparing for a hot conflict. Just like us. Still, do you have an idea, Jacqueline? Why would they attack us…this…provocatively? After all, this would just give us more reasons to tear him down."

"I apologize, but I'm quite dry of ideas on that front, Amelie," Jacqueline almost sagged. "It's difficult to decipher these lunatics. Their motives, their tactics…they act so unpredictably."

"Unfortunately, we can't exactly predict that," Amelie said. "All we can do is prepare for their next antics."

+++

Federal Republic of Orland

State of Wuringen

Executor Building

Heindhöff wasn't liking this one bit. How dare those fools violate Orlish national security! He shouted internally, as he and a group of grim-faced officers funneled into the situation room, where the President of Orland awaited them. OAF officers, OIA agents, and Republican Guard representatives arrived one after another in the darkly lit room, filled with screens that depicted the frontlines against the Royalists, and their plans for "Operation New Honor".

"Gentlemen," President Rimpler greeted once everyone arrived. "I assume all of you have been briefed on the previous events, no?"

"We are," Heindhöff said, giving his political rival a nod of agreement. "It seems that we have to speed up our timetable. But still, our troops are not yet ready for it. Not yet, for now."

"Those fools," General Kluge laughed. "What did that moron think? Attacking Orland, Orland itself? And not just us, but even the Royalists. He must be suicidal. This is the equivalent of declaring war on all of Orland."

"He just gave us more reasons to invade him," President Rimpler said. "Though, at the same time, our agents are still working on it. Director Bluch?"

The Director of the Orlish Intelligence Agency, still the premier branch of the Federal Republic when it came to subterfuge, adjusted his glasses as he read out a report on his tablet.

"Gentlemen, the thing is…he's not exactly the one who ordered these attacks." A thin smirk appeared on his lips. "Our agents already found out that the Lieplatzan Military is now in full panic mode, searching for who ordered it, and arresting suspected officers and enlisted men."

"A false flag attack then…" Heindhöff's eyes narrowed at the suspicious smirk that graced Alfonso's face. "Don't tell me…"

"I can neither confirm nor deny anything, Defense Minister Heindhöff," he simply said, and most officers in the room received the message quite clearly. It was simply best not to ask too many questions in this case, especially when they already had an idea of why it happened. "In any case, we have the perfect justification soon to topple his regime, and place him back in the fold, wouldn't you all agree?"

"We're just getting dirtier and dirtier..." Heindhöff grumbled as President Rimpler sighed.

"Regardless, gentlemen, for the proper implementation and enforcement of our revolution, every means to be dispensed must be dispensed. General Richstoff is bad propaganda and a stain to the Coalition of Free Nations that we are creating. And a threat to the long-term stability of North Opellia if we win and allow his existence. As such, we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands, and deal with this complication up north."

The declaration from the President himself silenced any voice of opposition from the group of officers, who mostly just nodded in grim agreement to his points. The President looked at Heindhöff.

"Defense Minister, how are the preparations? I need East Lieplatz on our fold within a month. Any further delays will be detrimental to our cause."

"We're working on it," Heindhöff said. "On a second note, do we even have any plans about what would happen to Lieplatz post-invasion?"

The President nodded, as he fished out a document, titled simply "Militärregierung Ost-Lieplatz", or "Military Government of East Lieplatz". It seemed that the President really planned for a full puppeting of their northern neighbor. "I'm sure the remnants of the Lieplatzan Armed Forces and our occupation troops can come to a quick arrangement. That's our only plan, and it will stay that way until peace arrives."

"Are we really only planning for an incursion on the East?" Heindhöff asked.

"I have no intentions to waste resources and contest the Queen's interests on West Lieplatz. She can take that worthless empty land and those useless cities," President Rimpler laughed.

"Let her have some slices of the cake. After all, we would not be that cruel to teenage girls, no?"