The tanks were parked in the square again, and the silence of the morning was interrupted only by a flock of birds taking off from them.
The old diplomat whistled under his breath as he walked unfazed under the shadow of a rank of Basilic tank barrels towards the consulate they were facing, a sight he had become accustomed to since the fiery days of Gray November. Opening the consulate door, he counted verses that he used to sing aloud in his head.
“Twenty wounds there were counted on that hospital bed
And from them he bled so profusely
And he started to sing as he laid there to die
“Widely spread is the sea…”
Though his diplomatic passport guaranteed immunity from state repression, so complete had been the imposition of the new regime that even a man who grew up under the Ultranationalists was stunned at how quickly Basil had become reminiscent of his childhood.
The diplomat was a leading representative from the UIF State Chamber, and he had been no stranger to this type of deliberation. Formerly an Arcadian bureaucrat, Korolev was one of many in the younger generation to receive amnesty after the Reclamation and continue his work for the new government. He had a comfortable position as the Ambassador to Basil, marking his seniority and decades of service to the Imperial Federation.
For a century, the special relationship between the UIF and Basil had been of envy to much of the world. Like Aeseria herself, Basil withdrew from PAKT after their own revolution, and the two nations became friends fighting alongside each other in the First and Second Continental Wars. When the Basil Air Force intervened on Vikus’ side in Operation Shadow Realm, the country had his gratitude and respect, effectively indefinitely. A member of the Tau Coalition, NEOCON, and JoolFed at the same time, Basil didn’t need to lift a finger for the next eighty years. The UIF was at their beck-and-call for services rendered - paid in full, in the single, most decisive battle of modern Kerbal history.
That November day and the aftermath disrupted this for the first time, and now, the statesman was observing its consequences first-hand. His Basilic counterpart, previously from their State Department, had been forced to resign by the new government. Now, like with most of their appointed positions, his equivalent across the table was a military officer, aligned with the coup. Confident, educated, but inexperienced in the more subtle arts of diplomacy, the man smiled in his dress uniform, littered with medals and ribbons, in a gesture of comfort and strength.
Korolev compartmentalized his reactions to the Colonel’s disposition, and offered pleasantries instead. By lacking the etiquette of trained statesmen - or intentionally disregarding it - the conversation quickly pivoted towards the topic du jour, the UIF’s concern on Basil’s mobilization, and unrelenting embrace of a new total war. Korolev found the conversation unproductive, but maintained his discipline as the Basilic officer waxed poetic about the glory of war, the inevitability of a new Basil securing its “place in the sun” as it were, and the necessity of their hegemony to guide a new world order. Amidst the waves of bold rhetoric, Korolev’s aging ears distinguished a single sentence that cut through the rest of the diatribe like white noise.
“Rest assured that the Republic of Basil does not intend to threaten the sovereignty of the United Imperial Federation - for if we so desired to invade, it would be over already.”
Korolev looked down at the notes in his dossier. The OAI had provided him and his team with the best statistics they could procure, as well as their analysis of the results. After the destruction of the Basil Senate, the Army was in charge; the president, a retired general himself, declared martial law after a majority of the politicians were dead or missing. The remnants of his party have been running a skeleton crew of the federal government, supplemented by a clique of loyal officers. The opposition was banned and driven underground. Practically overnight, the Basilic economy began a rapid shift towards a total war mobilization.
The situation deteriorated rapidly from there. The new government’s ambitions towards East Hook were an open secret to the international community, as was its military buildup. The IU and Kolus Coalition chose to pre-emptively strike Basil and their ally Sarkizya - another former UIF ally falling to a new, radical government - and within hours, bombs were falling in Burr, and artillery shells rained in Baskay. With overwhelming fire support, the Basil Army crossed the strait, and seized East Hook in a rapid conquest.
To the reporters and journalists abroad, the Basil Axis looked like an unstoppable juggernaut, but Korolev’s ledger told a different story. The Basil economy was under immense strain to run its war machine. Standard of living had plummeted; deficit spending was at its highest since the Shattering. Over a period of a few years, this total war was simply unsustainable - they would need to feed the furnaces by plundering all of their neighbors, or risk immediate collapse… The alternative was to collapse in a few year’s time, nonetheless. The posturing from the Colonel, however, did not suggest this at all.
The basic principles for conduct in diplomacy and war had been penned for ages, for the uninitiated princes and lords often finding themselves victims of mistakes one would find trivial to avoid today. One promulgation was to present an illusion of strength when weak, serving as a deterrent in equal measure as to give an impression of weakness while strong. Korolev’s mind wandered on the idea as he nodded along to the arrogance of his counterpart, until he finally arrived at a topic of particular importance.
Anyone taking a cursory glance at a world map would note that in order for Basil’s chief ally, Irsmuncast, to receive any supply from the mainland, it would have to either transit over the treacherous Baskay, risk interception in the air, or travel safely overland through Newseria. Korolev knew from the moment he sat down that the Troika would request - no, demand - the right of passage through the sovereign territory of the Imperial Federation, but nothing could prepare him for the astonishment he would endure when the Basilian opened his mouth.
“We will assume that we have a land corridor with which to move military materiel to and from Irsmuncast…and if you would like to challenge this reality, we will still have our land corridor, and you and your countrymen the whole world over will be pulverized like a pancake repeatedly in a hydraulic press.”
Korolev looked ahead, unphased.
“If we are to be honest with you, the only reason why we have not already is because of the debt of honor from Operation Shadow Realm.”
Through many years of education in the diplomacy and foreign policy of the Imperial Federation, any student comes to understand that Basil and her people were held in utmost regard by the old guard, revered for their undying honor, tested and proven under fire during the most decisive battle the world had ever seen. Now, he was forced to confront the brutal reality - the illusion of the grandfathers back home were of a people and a nation that were long gone by now.
“We will win no matter what.”
Korolev sighed, and smiled as he closed his briefcase, preparing to stand up. “Thank you for your time, Colonel.”
Baskay Borders Closed After Basil Threatens UIF Invasion Repeatedly
GORODSKY; 2210 - The UIF States-General has announced the formal closure of its borders to the Second Republic of Basil and her allies, following a diplomatic incident where the country threatened to invade the UIF several times, as tensions between the two powers grew to their highest point in a century amidst the Second Baskay War between Basil, the Pan-Veiidic Commonwealth, and the Imperial Union.
A diplomatic summit between delegates from the Basilic provisional government and the UIF Chamber of State ended prematurely, according to the First Consul’s press release, which started over deliberation of the Siege of East Hook and the devastating ground war on the Irsmuncastine border. With friendly relations and existing agreements between Basil & Irsmuncast, as long-standing UIF partners, as well as the IU, PVC, and their allies, the Imperial Federal government has been under significant pressure since the conflict in the Baskay first began; first attempting to diffuse the situation between the opposing powers, then striving to mediate as a neutral party for the termination of the fighting. Both the Basil Axis and the IU-PVC Coalition had been petitioning the UIF government for diplomatic and military support, paralyzing the States-General, as the global order of Pax Aenia experiences its greatest crisis so far yet seen since the Reclamation.
After the Laveskan nerve gas attack and subsequent army occupation of central Doren, the UIF has increasingly been on a state of heightened military alert, rapidly exposing the deficiencies in the Armed Forces after decades of peacetime focus on industrial reconstruction and global diplomacy. The IU, Basil, as well as their coalition partners of the KC and Pan-Veiidic Commonwealth have transitioned to war economies, embargoes, and autarky, with trade through the Baskay at its lowest point since the 2080s and the system economy indicating a global recession. Shortly after New Year’s 2209, with public concerns on the Baskay War and the ongoing Ravine Emergency, the States-General passed a resolution to transition the UIF economy towards a partial mobilization, ratified by The Empress Magdalene I Vikus-Ward the following day.
Strategic aircraft of the UIF Air Force assemble on the tarmac of Fournloke International Airport, Newseria.
According to First Consul Kasparov’s report, the first topics of deliberation were the no-fly zone over the Transravnine Military Government and trade deals for consumer goods and Aenian food to Basil, to alleviate the domestic crises of their total war economy. However, when the topic of conversation turned to the war in Irsmuncast, the dialogue rapidly turned sour. Though borders would remain open to their armed forces in peacetime, the UIF’s neutrality in the conflict necessitates the full and unilateral exclusion of military forces from armed combatants through Imperial Federal territory, unless as to be interned for the remainder of the conflict. The Basilic delegation demanded a land corridor be provided for their army through Newseria into their ally Irsmuncast, which was refused by the UIF ambassador multiple times. After the rejection, and declining a counter-offer, the junta officers representing Basil stated they will assume the land corridor into Irsmuncast will be provided for their armored divisions, come the end of the year, implying they will cross the border themselves - by force, if need be.
After the series of insults issued against the UIF delegates, the ambassador reportedly departed the summit early with his staff and returned to Greater Comberth. The following day, it was agreed upon within the UIF government that Basil’s threats of invasion would not be tolerated, and that their bluff would be called. The office of the First Consul announced the formal ejection of the Second Republic’s military forces from sovereign Imperial territory, effective immediately, and indefinitely. The closure also extends to the Irsmuncastine Armed Forces, who have been entirely subsumed under the Basilic chain of command, and currently engaging the Veiidic ground forces in a gruesome land war across the length of their border.
The official closure of all borders and more active UIF stance in ensuring its sovereignty now presents immediate strategic problems for the Basil-Irsmun Axis leadership, severing the connection between Basil and her immense war industry and the active front line in the Veiid. With air and naval control of the Baskay still disputed, it is unknown to what capacity the aggressor nations can supply their front line by alternative means, and the replenishment of army losses in meaningful quantities is likely no longer feasible.
Since the Basil Troika has already referred to a border closure as an uncrossable red line, and promised to annihilate the UIF for inconveniencing them, the UIF Armed Forces have been in their most active alert status since the end of the Gray November crisis. UIFTAUCOM has confirmed the UIF Army II and III Corps have received Warning Orders, and the three reserve divisions of the 10th Cavalry, 11th Armored, and 12th Expeditionary have been recalled to their respective headquarters. The Newserian border remains guarded by armored sentries of the 4th Cavalry Division, while more strategic aircraft continue to concentrate along the Ravninny coast for reconnaissance and command sorties.
With the threatening posture maintained by the Basilic President Suminski, such an incursion would mark the first line engagements of the UIF Army since the Maryurt War, as well as the first instance of hostilities with a formerly allied nation since the birth of Aeseria in 2057. Such a possibility is already viewed as a tragic failure in diplomacy and fraternity by the UIF’s population, with the public opinion on an already viciously unpopular war deteriorating further by the day, now beginning to tear at some of the oldest friendships in modern Kerbal history. Suminski was not made available to comment, and it is unknown how relations with the UIF may thaw in the future if hostilities come to a conclusion.
Baskay Borders Closed After Basil Threatens UIF Invasion Repeatedly
Baskay Borders Closed After Basil Threatens UIF Invasion Repeatedly
Re: Baskay Borders Closed After Basil Threatens UIF Invasion Repeatedly
The United States of Central Kafrica is appauled at the recent news trickling out of the Bay of Baskay and the continent of Doren as a whole. We condemn the Basillic threats to the United Imperial Federation and applaud their commitment to exploring diplomatic options.
