Chapter 1
Elector Primo Anden Stavropoulos had just made his first political decision. This was the kind of decision that always finds a place for itself in the history books. He planned to do something that would cost many people their lives. However, this act would bring wealth and glory to the country he now ruled, the Republic.
Currently, Anden stood in front of a portrait of his father, the country's previous leader. To Anden, it seemed rather egotistical to have something like this in the bomb shelter located underneath the Grand Pillar, where the Elector worked and lived. Egotistical was the perfect word to describe Anden's father. The man had too much confidence in the Republic's ability to support itself. Or, rather, the country's ability to support him. He used a great deal of the Republic's wealth to throw lavish parties. The fool had failed to realize the crisis the Republic faced. While the Republic has two colonies in South America, which have provided their country with oil and precious minerals, like rubies and diamonds, those colonies in question were already beginning to run dry. When they completely dried up, the Republic would suffer massive economic damage. Anden refused to allow that. If only his father had put the Republic's military forces to good use. The moment Anden's father was "elected" into office, he began negotiations, the United Colonies. People cheered when he announced that the war that had been raging on for a decade was finally over. Never mind the fact that the Republic lost one-fifth of its territory and gained practically nothing in return. However, very few people knew about this because of media censorship. All the dull masses believed they had won when in truth, the Republic had suffered a humiliating loss.
Anden had plans to rectify his father's mistakes. Fortunately, Anden's father only isolated the Republic; he did not change any internal government policies. Thanks to this, the Republic still had a massive military force that was completely under the Elector Primo's authority. To ensure that the Republic would be prepared for the policies and the decisions Anden planned to implement, he took a "backstage" role in politics at a very young age. Anden did everything he could to influence the decisions of politicians and ranking military officers. Quite a task to take up when you are only a thirteen year old boy. Not to mention, all the time Anden spent studying military tactics and making friends with future leaders. Due to Anden's efforts over the past six years, the Republic's military forces have never been stronger or more coordinated. Anden also saw to it that a great deal of funding has been put into the Department of Advancing Warfare, which is responsible for the development of new type of weaponry and tactics.
Now that Anden was in charge, it was time to put the department to good use.
"You summoned us, Elector Primo." One of the individuals he order to report to him in the bunker. "Now that we are all here, may we know what this is about?"
The one who spoke was Terrance Grayson, a man who was once a commander at the frontlines in the war with the Colonies. He was the kind of person who believed in strict discipline. His hair was always cut to exact military standards and his clothing was always wrinkle free. Not once since Anden had met General Grayson has he seen him out of uniform. Though, this should be expected from a man who lost a hand in battle. Terrance's right hand was torn apart by shrapnel at the warfront. Not long after he received a biomechanical prosthetic hand, he returned to the warfront. The man swore on multiple occasions that he would wipe the United Colonies government from existence and bring all their territory under the control of the Republic. He did not react well to the end of the war. Terrance would have left the army and gone home to become a drunkard after being forced to accept this humiliation. However, Anden convince him otherwise. Anden helped Terrance rise through the military ranks while Terrance schooled Anden in the art of war. When an individual is destined to become leader of a country, they need people who are intelligent and loyal by their side.
From the look on Terrance's face, Anden could tell he had a good idea of what this meeting was about. Anden knew he could count his agreement and support.
"Esteemed ladies and gentlemen, I have asked you here to discuss a most important matter." Anden said, then gestured his assistant, Nancy Holloway, to begin the presentation.
To Anden's right, a large screen was lowered from the ceiling. The first thing appeared was a series of graphs. These graphs showed the decline of the Republic's economy, lack of resource income from their South American colonies, and decrease in overseas trade. Anden pointed these problems out in great detail and expressed his concerns for the future of their country.
"More than half our citizens are starving. There have been over a thousand deaths related to malnourishment in the past week alone." Anden stated. "People are beginning to act and speak out against the government. Normally, our law enforcement and military could silence these dissidents, but more and more people continue to rebel. Our citizens are growing increasingly desperate. Desperate individuals to desperate things. We must unify the nation."
"Are you not overreacting?" A senator, Julie Marrow, sneered. "Those who are starving are in the lowest class of citizenship. The lower class citizens know that the Republic prioritizes feeding our military and important officials. There have been times when those rats tried to take more than they were allowed. Every time, their opposition has been swiftly crushed under the boot of our military."
Anden studied the Senator as she grabbed a donut from the food spread out over the meeting table. The moment she stopped talking, the Senator practically shoved the entire donut into her mouth. Lazy fatso who could not be any more ignorant to the present situation the Republic faced, Anden thought. He then had Nancy move on to the next slide. This one showed street graffiti, flyers about rebellion, and images of certain terrorist attacks. The graffiti was an image of a green woman holding a torch with the word "liberty" above her.
"The graffiti has been found in major and small cities all across the Republic." Anden explained. "In every town where this graffiti is, the flyers seem to follow. Though, this was not discovered until recently. You see, the flyers were printed with a special invisible ink and our forensic examiners only figure out how to reveal it a few days ago. The flyers were distributed during illegal events, like dog fights and so on. Then, those curious enough about them would hear of meeting places where the messages on the flyers would not only be revealed, but there would be discussion of acts of rebellion. However, there was no clear link between this and any actually terrorist attacks. That is, until we captured one of the terrorists alive and were able to interrogate him. After three days, we were able to have his cooperation in letting us know the details of his organization."
"Organization!?" One of the Senator exclaimed. "Are you saying there is a terrorist organization inside the Republic!?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am." Anden said. "Fortunately, I have already put into motion actions to root them out. However, if we do not unify our people, these terrorist will grow in strength. And I have already decided what action we will take to do this."
"What is your decision, Elector Primo?" Terrance asked, already knowing the answer.
"The Republic will be going to war." Anden said with confidence and authority.
The entire room fell silent. All these Senators and military officers have lived in peace for almost a decade. Now, then would again be at war.
"Whom will be fighting?" A Senator inquired.
"First, we will eliminate our more immediate enemy, the Colonies." Anden said. "Then, we will take on country after country until the world is ours."
A few of the Senators looked at the new Elector Primo with admiration, most stared in disbelief, and one actually chuckled. Everyone turned to the one who chuckled. Anden stared at him with a piercing gaze.
"Do you realize the gravity of what you are saying, Anden?" The individual asked. "The world is a very big place. We fought to a stalemate with the United Colonies, not long ago. Only a foolish dreamer would talk of conquering the world with our current forces and resources."
Everyone was shocked by what that man just said. No one questioned the Elector Primo. No one. Perhaps it was because Anden was so young. Or maybe it was because he had only risen to power a short while ago. Nonetheless, the Senator had made a terrible mistake. Anden walked over to the man and leaned over him.
"Foolish dreamer, am I?" Anden said with a smirk.
Before the Senator could do anything in response, Anden punched him in the face. The man fell off his chair and onto the ground. In an instant, Anden was ontop of him, punching him in his face repeatedly. Once he grew tired of beating him, Anden pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket and stabbed the man in his neck, cutting open his jugular vein, killing him. Anden took a deep breath, stood up and removed his now bloody gloves.
"I can understand the doubts many of you feel, but I need your faith. I have been planning for war since the day we gave up on taking the United Colonies." Anden said, clearly stating his absolute authority. "My father was the foolish dreamer, thinking that our country could go on forever as it is. The Colonies have long wanted us gone, so they could bring back the United States of America. An idiotic idea born out of the desire to reclaim past glory. We are now more than capable of taking their territory and resources. However, it would be foolish to stop there. Can any of you tell me why wars are waged?"
None of the Senator answered. The room remained uncomfortably silent for what felt like ages. Then, Anden spoke, "The answer is because there is more than one country in this world. Differences in beliefs and needs breed conflict. I intend to bring an end to conflict, by bringing everyone in the world under one flag. It is not as impossible as you all believe. In the history books, the Great Roman Empire was on its way to accomplishing it before its collapse. The same could be said for Nazi Germany. If not for Hitler's mistakes, they would have continued their expansion until they ruled the world. Now, can anyone tell me what sets us apart from those two civilizations?"
Again, there was a rather uncomfortable silence until Anden gave his answer.
"We know the mistakes they made. As we know their errors, we know how to avoid them." Anden said. "We will build a grand country that rules the whole world. This is what is best for the Republic and the world. Now, we will move on to strategies. I have already worked out some rather interesting plans and tactics."