| This forum is used with the NationStates web-game designed and run by Max Barry. While not officially affiliated, this serves as the regional forum for the regions: Middle East, African Continent, American Continent, Asian Continent, and European Continent. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and can "read only". In order to get the most out of these forums, please become a member and read this guide - http://z3.invisionfree.com/nationstates/index.php?showtopic=3060 If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Abdul's Story | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: Nov 2 2008, 12:07 PM (171 Views) | |
| Ulgania | Nov 2 2008, 12:07 PM Post #1 |
A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
|
OOC: Started this in my one-shot topic, but I'm making something of it. I don't know if this is something that other players can get in on, but I'm writing this just for the sake of writing something. And for those who don't know, Sahndaq's now part of the Ulganian Federation. IC: Abdul Sammad, a member of the Wasi administration in Sahndaq and top liaison to the Ulganain Chancellery received word of a problem that had been threatening to plague the young administration. Its relations with neighboring Morrocon, a country that had always seen itself as African in culture was apparently having its own internal shifts in power. Its relations with Ulgania, strained as they were in recent months were taking on a whole new light as Sahndaq joined the Ulganian Federation. Opening one of his more recent emails, he found a link to a Morrocon news website featuring a video of a speech from the country’s Prime Minister. “The times of change that Ulgania has brought upon this continent are dangerous, and they cannot be left to see fruition. The lives of billions are at stake. When Ulgania became a federation that incorporated a blasphemous nation, and an Orthodox one that wished only to be left in peace they reached a watershed moment. This moment is one that Morrocon cannot stand beside, as we have done with the Ulganians in the past. Their expansionist ambitions have gone unchecked, and our actions allowing this to occur reverberate much the same as other countries in history have allowed for appeasement. What is to stop Ulgania from reaching greater expansion? What if the Valentine government sets its eyes upon Morrocon? Or the African Confederacy? Africa may be large, but the wedge Ulgania drives through it must be broken. Their claim to Orthodoxy is no longer justifiable either, as the actions of the Hegemony to their south, and the heathens to our north make way for a state that does not recognize God as WE recognize God…” Sammad closed the browser window, sighing with indignation. He was never really sure about where his country was going. Aurum’s change to a public corporation would undoubtedly leave holes in Sahndaq. The Caliphate in itself wasn’t up to the task of anything, but Ulgania was. Were these matters of political importance meaningful to the Islamic people in Sahndaq? Abdul often wondered this. The only answer he could come up with had to do with the alternatives. What if Wasi was in charge of Sahndaq without question? What if the Dominion entered our nation? These alternatives gave Abdul a greater degree of indignation. Aurum’s withdrawal and replacement once again took his country away from his people. But, what was there left to think? What was there left to debate? He knew Sahndaq would tear itself to pieces if left in a vacuum. Leaving his office, he grabbed a newspaper and cup of coffee before leaving the building to head to the newly established Chancellery headquarters. The drive from his building was vastly different. The old signs of the Caliphate and Aurum had become a staple for any passage through the city. State-sponsored propaganda had been replaced with plywood. Many of the centrist signs and symbols around the city were removed. Abdul felt lost in his own home. The city had grown up in had come to resemble so many things. An Ulganian way of life had never been one of those. A new issue faced him though, and it was that which had been an issue since the announcement Ulgania, lead by the nephew of aging Dresdon Valentine. How would accomplish a strong union between the existing state, and the new one? He was, after all the liaison between Wasi and the Chancellery. After the announcement had been made public, overnight gunfire could be heard in the street. People had started to panic, and many Islamic fundamentalists who were afraid of a new status quo became militant. This is where Abdul ran into trouble in new fashions. The stability in Sahndaq City was declining, and Abdul was running out of safe routes to take. The Green Zone established by the Federation army kept areas around government complexes relatively peaceful, but occasionally one could hear the ground shake as a bomb went off in an unmonitored sector of the city. Abdul made it to the Chancellery headquarters and saw that Wasi’s caravan had already arrived. The meeting taking place was hardly being interrupted by the rioting outside in the city. Parking in a designated area, directed to Abdul by a guard, he made his way along the renovated building to the front entrance. The headquarters had once been the main headquarters for the Sahndaq branch of Aurum, and was perfectly suited for the Federation’s needs. Aurum had once used the area for logistical purposes, and the facilities within it were just about intact, with the company only taking with them that which was considered important for the company’s stability. Entering the building, he was escorted by two guards. One, an ST9 agent and the other, one of Wasi’s people showed him to the meeting room. It was quaint, with a table meant for three people on either side. The room itself was lit with dim lamps, and there were already a good number of people inside. Wasi nodded towards him, and Abdul approached. “Hello Abdul Sammad, I hope your drive has been a blessed one,” he said. “My mind has made the drive of no concern. There are many things wrong with our home,” Abdul replied. “A mere drive is the least of my worries.” “Well said my brother. Let us hope we can make some progress today.” The third day of the meetings began to get underway as the last two delegates entered the room. With Wasi and Abdul was the former Caliphate’s interior minister, a man named Al-Musar. The Ulganian delegation consisted of Tres Valentine, General Mateljan, and a delegate by the name of Kalestad Purisa. Purisa had a background in international affairs in the region by being a former delegate with Morrocon and a formal liaison to the Serpentine Pact. His knowledge of the region was a valuable asset for these meetings. However, things were not progressing. Ulgania had been quietly working on militaristic policies to repel potential Dominion incursions. These developments were not sitting well with Wasi, who wanted greater say over military matters. In turn, Valentine had pointed out that he had full executive authority in matters of defense. Wasi demanded more though. Valentine had indeed already given many concessions in the areas of trade and economic solvency. As well, as Ulgania Proper already held many lucrative trading deals, Sahndaq stood to make a fortune with Zeelar next door. “Listen Chancellor, I my only condition to this power-sharing deal is to hold control over any Federation military elements within Sahndaq,” Wasi said. “You know that military unity can’t occur with disjointed command!” Mateljan nearly shouted. Abdul sighed, and felt the urge to slump in his seat. Time passed in the meeting without much being accomplished. Mateljan wasn’t budging on any of his positions, and Tres would only discuss trade. Finally, feeling that a general compromise between the two hard-headed leaders might work, Abdul spoke up. “Listen, the best solution for military matters would be for Wasi to take command in Sahndaq if direct Ulganian command is no longer possible.” From there, negotiations were more effective. Wasi clearly felt unimportant, but all the same the sides came together on a final power-sharing deal. Leaving the conference again, Abdul took a route out of the ‘safe’ zone, and into potentially dangerous territory. Sahndaqi troops, outfitted with new uniforms since integration were patrolling. Stability was still low however. Finally escaping the confines of the conference room, Abdul Sammad gathered his things and managed to get a spot in the motorcade to make it back through the Green Zone. Small uprisings tended to be much more dangerous in the early evening as many of the city’s working population was trying to get home, and thus making themselves vulnerable. However ramped up the security was though, the trip was an uneventful one. This could be attributed to ST9’s interference with usual operations considering Tres Valentine’s involvement with the motorcade. Returning to the Green Zone, Abdul entered his office and prepared to go home. Already missing the security of tanks and humvees, he carefully made his way back to his vehicle, and out of the compound. The trip home was just as shady as it had been earlier that day. Things were moving along though, until he tried to get on to a highway, which lead to a main intersection in the city. As Abdul approached the intersection, he could suddenly hear sprays of gunfire over the sound of his radio. Turning down the news channel, he could clearly hear several automatic weapons being fired. Shit, he thought to himself. He screeched to a halt with the rest of traffic, but it was too late. Already part way in to the intersection, several masked men approached his vehicle with weapons drawn. “You, you, get out of your vehicle!” he heard one of them call. “Get out now or we will fire!” Not daring to resist, he got out of his vehicle and dropped to the ground in a panic. Completely forgetting his advanced training in firearms and marksmanship, he didn’t even think to draw the gun tucked away in his suit jacket. Harshly dragged to his feet, Abdul was quickly forced into the back of a van. As local police forces arrived at the scene, it was already too late. The group was already fleeing the scene. Edited by Ulgania, Nov 14 2008, 04:07 PM.
|
 |
 
|
| Ulgania | Nov 14 2008, 04:07 PM Post #2 |
|
A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
|
“Do not fire on the van, repeat, do not fire! Call for back up, try to cut them off. Force them toward the Green Zone!” an operator at the city’s police headquarters shouted as the van came up on a screen. The helicopter’s feed was choppy, but it stayed on top of the chase. Several police cruisers tailed the van, which weaved in and out of traffic and dangerous speeds. Finding more and more roads blocked off, it finally tried pulling on to a side street, but the speed of the van was too much for the turn. Flipping over in oncoming traffic, it practically flattened a smaller car as it blew by in a heap of metal. Posted Image The van’s occupants had been strapped in, but it was almost too much for Abdul. His captors, curing in Arabic finally managed to get out of the van and started dragging him out. Finally getting his wits about him, Abdul started to resist. First, he grabbed the arm of the one trying to drag him and forced it into a painful position, making him drop his pistol. Picking it up, he quickly noted it was a Scytherian (OOC: if that’s not the proper term, let me know. The point of that statement is to show it’s of Dominion origin) model. Wielding the pistol, he cracked the handle of it on the head of the man who he wrested it from. On top of that, he quickly dived for cover as the other captors drew their weapons on him. With the police approaching and the shock that their prisoner had managed to free himself, the abductors made a run for it. Abdul quickly made his own escape, and managed to get into police custody very quickly. An hour later, “Abdul, I pray that you are unharmed!” Wasi said, meeting the temporarily captured man. “I saw to it that you would be the subject of my people prayers if you had been captured longer, but I am glad to see you are safe.” “Thank you sir, and al hamdu Lilah wa shukra Lillah,” he responded. “Sir, I attempted an escape and managed to secure this from one of my captors.” Presented the pistol, Wasi gave Abdul a confused look. “Why would this be of interest to me? It was not I who gave those terrorists the means to do this,” he said. “No, not you sir, but the Dominion. This pistol was made in a Dominion nation, and can only be a sign of things to come. I highly suggest you coordinate with the Ulganians more. They have more resources than we do for countering Dominion intervention.” “They would have me close the border with Morrocon. I worked hard enough just to OPEN that border.” “Perhaps sir, but if the Morrocons are getting their arms from Sennar, and people in our nation from Morrocon, the Ulganians will want a greater say.” Their conversation had moved from the front of a police station to a large convoy, headed back to the Green Zone and the government complex. Before parting ways, Wasi made a request. “You managed to discover the Dominion firearm. I ask that you stay with it, and find out exactly who’s getting what from who. If we can find a direct Dominion source, we’ll know for sure that we’re in trouble, however we’ll also know that would have a hope to make it through a dark time. Time is of the essence Abdul. Will you do this for me?” “Of course sir,” he responded. OOC: I was planning this intelligence-related plot a while ago. It could coincide well with one of Kas’ spy-plotlines. If anyone’s willing to entertain a Dominion point of view, I will make it known that CNNP gave me control of Morrocon until his winter break, so if someone takes this up, it can accomplish a few things: -a potential front-line in Africa in Sahndaq/Zeelar which I control -Morrocon’s eventual shift to the Dominion (I’d love to do a tug-of-war of Dominion vs Federation influence) -the development of my Federation military/socioeconomic/government capabilites. |
|
|
|
| Kasnyia | Nov 21 2008, 11:56 AM Post #3 |
Chairman of the Bank
|
The Dominion had no embassies in Africa. They didn't need them in the dark continent. After all, war was negotiation in this part of the world. The takeover of most of Sennar by the Dominion, in order to assist the "true government of order", was proof of that. Now of course, lack of embassies did not mean lack of contacts. The International Machine Consortium, as a Dominion corporate puppet with the vast wealth of the Dominion Central Bank behind it, had been establishing a market in East Africa for Dominion-built arms, both as a means to lure new nations into the Dominion as well as to make profit to fund the gargantuan Zapht war machine. Of course, if such a plan was made public, there would be uproar. Perhaps war too. It mattered not. Nevertheless, Zapht would rather start the war on its own terms. As such, the Dominion Central Intelligence Directorate, along with a corps of IPIB agents were being established in a clandestine manner in other countries, most notably Morrocon, whose banks were lucrative enough for the Chairman and Treasurer of the DCB, Commodore Normund Sebasovich Franco, a man of no country and of many ethnicities who was mysterious to all except Gassel himself, to risk further conflict in Africa for even greater riches. To head the task, DCID agent Colonel Zahiruddin Saeed "Zee" Khan was placed incognito as an "illegal arms dealer", pretending to have stolen the Dominion goods he shipped around East Africa from the war in Sennar. OOC- Just background. Nothing more. Waiting for direction via PM from Ul. |
|
|
|
| Ulgania | Nov 24 2008, 04:43 PM Post #4 |
|
A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
|
Seven days after his failed kidnapping, Abdul had made progress on the investigation into Dominion involvement in Sahndaq. A network of contacts had been put in place with the help of Ulgania’s ST9 intelligence apparatus (OOC: Consider it a professional spy network, that is you might try, but you’re not going to be able to penetrate it). Several individuals, natives of Sahndaq city had been discovered and arrested. Most of the charges were based on conspiracy, or plans to conspire against the state. Ulganian law did decree that people can’t be help in custody for more than ten days without being charged, so many of them were being held pending a military tribunal. Abdul’s arrests were having an impact, as well. Sporadic violence began to become more directed against the elements of the state that could have an impact on the Dominion’s networks in the capital city. While the arrests of actual Sahndaqi citizens were continuing to show promise, many of them were claiming to be funded and hired by groups based in Morrocon. The limitations of being constrained by the state to the arrests of Federation citizens only was becoming a problem. |
|
|
|
| Ulgania | Dec 6 2008, 02:08 PM Post #5 |
|
A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
|
OOC: Time for some exposition! IC: I have left a substantial amount of cash in account number 547424. Do with is as you will, it’s yours. Jacob Huleki was surprised at the message. Not so much that he had received one, but that it was so forth-coming and quick to arrive. Jacob was in charge of a small cell of Sahndaqi citizens who felt disenfranchised by the Ulganian takeover. Despite promises of cultural preservation, economic stability, and increased protection, those who were alive there now had never really seen freedom in the way they wished to. Jacob’s group considered themselves freedom fighters. The government labeled them as hooligans, or whenever something drastic happened, extremist terrorists. These labels were superfluous to Jacob, who wished only to continue the cause of a free Sahndaq. The number on the account seemed unique though. Details were sent to his phone outlining the details as to how he could acquire the money. Within the hour, Jacob had secured enough money to give anyone a comfortable life. Little did he know that the money was indeed from the Dominion’s East African assets. Very soon Jacob found dealers of Dominion weaponry – mostly small arms. The flood of black market goods flowing in from Sennar was astounding at this rate. It only took a few days for Jacob to have a relatively effective organization going. The government tried setting him back, but ultimately he found hiring help from outside the Federation was easier. --- Increased contingents of Sahndaqi security forces were patrolling Sahndaq City. Squads of soldiers were moving around the city and following leads. General instability still wracked the city with disorder, but something new was happening. Signs of organization and direction were popping up. There was a new source of funding, and Sahndaqi forces were having trouble pinpointing it. It would be easier if more investigative technology and other assets were sent from Serpentine to help, but progress was being made. Several bank accounts were being frozen with the help of legislation by the Federation Parliament. Hundreds of thousands of gil was being seized from the group most responsible, but no one was able to pinpoint exactly where the money was coming from. Another common theme was occurring as well: people were joining the group because they saw more economic opportunity from that than from the lack of business in the city. As things quieted down in the rest of the country, Sahndaq City was still seeing signs of chaotic attacks since people were finding more ways to succeed through the gang. The group itself remained unnamed, but it was informally being called the Sahni Army. No central organization could be found, and large sums of money were being spread out all over. |
|
|
|
| « Previous Topic · Middle East · Next Topic » |
11:43 AM Jul 13