9th January 2005. On this cold, winter morning a group of twelve men arrived at a grey apartment in downtown Ulm. The one who opened, a man in his forties with a high forehead and twinkling blue eyes, was Heinrich Sonneborn- the future second chancellor of the People's Republic of Wanka. As a child, he had seen how Wanka was plunged into the chaos, the new king unable to maintain peace within his own borders after the disastrous war with Sylva and the resulting Treaty of Hessen. Forcefully recruited into a local communist militia at the age of 15, he quickly got to experience the horrors of war. Nevertheless, Sonneborn did well in the militia, rising up its ranks and eventually receiving command of an entire brigade, with which he promptly defected to Meinhof's approaching Liberation Army.
Throughout all his chaos, and despite the years spent alongside orthodox communists, Sonneborn never changed his mind as to who was responsible for the downfall of this once great empire. He had retained a copy of the Treaty of Hessen, in hope of one day being able to throw it in the Sylvans face and make them pay for the suffering that was caused as a result of their greed and paranoia. Along the way, he'd met several like-minded people, all men who wished to see that the Wankan state and people would once again stand tall amongst the giants of this world. They called themselves simply Die Patrioten, or, you guessed it, "The Patriots". Amongst them: Laurent Blank, future Geheimpolizei head; Oberst Max Esenti, future head of the Air Force; Siegfried Zusak, future economy minister. All of them playing a part in Meinhof's fifteen-year long government, and all of them playing a part in tearing it down.
Because Sonneborn knew that Meinhof's party, Zentrum (Center), was practically unbeatable. Not only because the Sylvan-educated Ulrike Meinhof created a democratic system which she knew how to use and succeed in, but also because of her reputation of nearly single-handedly ending the Dark Ages and bringing back order, stability and prosperity which had not been seen for nearly half a century. Thus, Sonneborn's strategy was to bring it down- from within.
The first breakthrough came in May 2008, when Siegfried Zusak was appointed Minister of Finance and as such was the first Patriot member of Meinhof's cabinet. The group steadily grew, albeit in the shadows, and when asked about it, the members would make it sound harmless (hell, it wasn't the only nationalist group). The second came two years later, when Max Esenti, now with the rank of a Generalfeldmarschall, was appointed head of the poorly equipped Air Force. Finally, in 2012, Laurent Blank was appointed head of the Geheimpolizei, the intelligence agency of the interior, and with that, an inherently huge amount of power and influence. The notorious Gepo, as it was called, operated practically above the law and was extremely secretive in nature. With the help of the agency, the Patriots further cemented their position and used it to anchor themselves within Zentrum. They persuaded Meinhof to create the Nürnberger Allianz für Zukunftsgerichtete Interregionalkooperation (NAZI), and finally in March 2015, to orchestrate a war in the Sellenland.
Eventually, one could say inevitably, Heinrich Sonneborn himself was brought into the cabinet as vice-chancellor when his predecessor became entangled in a corruption scandal (helpfully uncovered by the Gepo). This was the golden moment; after ten whole years of plotting and scheming, power was truly within their reach.
Kronstadt | Kreis Kronstadt
Volksrepublik Wanka
Two weeks after the Second Sellenland War
1539 Hours | March 21st, 2015
Range, two hundred meters. Wind speed and direction, negligible. Excellent visibility, excellent weather for this mission, the pale man behind a sniper rifle thought. He was a member of the Sixth Kampfkommando-Kader (6. KKK), the special forces unit of the Gepo. His target was five minutes late for her speech, but here she was. His crosshairs tracked her movements as she strode up to the podium, surrounded by bodyguards in suits. They, too, were troops of 6. KKK. But that was irrelevant.
The sniper did not hesitate. The target stopped, turned to face the audience. The sniper placed his target in his crosshairs and fired. The target fell. As the screaming, cries and chaos broke out he slung his rifle over his shoulder, picked up the fallen cartridge and walked down the stairs toward the car park. But he never arrived there. Out of the shadows, a young woman wearing sunglasses stepped out. Her arm was extended, pointing at his head.
"Tut mir Leid, Maximillian. Blank's befehl." ("Sorry, Maximillian. Blank's orders.")
The shot echoed loudly in the empty car park.
Just several dozen kilometers away, an armored car was speeding toward the government house. Sonneborn talked quickly and quietly on his phone.
"Sie hat's überlebt? Meinhof survived? How?" he said angrily. "Spare me the details. In a coma? Okay, put her under Blank's supervision. Make sure that nobody, absolutely nobody gets to see her and that if she wakes up, she stays where she is. Don't allow her to contact anyone, put her back to sleep if necessary. Is that clear?"
He pressed the "End Call" button, and forced himself to calm down. Everything would be under control. He was now the de facto chancellor, the most powerful person in Wanka. He had enacted martial law, the first time Kronstadt would experience it since the Republic's establishment. In the mean time, well-prepared Gepo agents were going to work. It had been "discovered" that the shooter (who had been killed by an officer after attempting to draw his gun) had been paid by an underground ring containing Zentrum members and leaders of the opposition to assassinate Meinhof. Using the "National Security Act", Sonneborn soon would have purged his own party of those who didn't share his views, and destroyed the opposition. And then he would finally be the chancellor and leader of his fatherland.
Max-Bonhoffer-Streitkräfte-Kommandozentrale Nürnberg
Nürnberg | Unterweserkreis | Volksrepublik Wanka
Two months after Patriot takeover | May 12th, 2015
In the end, all did go well. Meinhof survived the surgery, but she continued to stay in a coma, which suited Sonneborn. Within the party, those who opposed the new chancellor and his clique suddenly found themselves embroiled in corruption scandals which made headlines, obscuring the more sinister activities of the new government. A new law had been passed successfully, requiring all members of parliament to be approved by an "independent board" (conveniently stuffed with Patriot people) and then a quick election was held. Incidentally, the law was called the "Ensuring Democracy Act". Only MP's of Zentrum and a puppet party passed and could be selected. To the masses, nothing had changed; Zentrum was, as always, in power, and was squabbling with the more radical opposition party. As for Sonneborn, well, he had the power to change the constitution itself.
The masses, it could be seen, really didn't mind. The new chancellor seemed to be as rational and strong as his predecessor, and he kept using her name, praising her work, vowing to continue what she had started. It initially came as a little surprise when he declared that he intended to increase defense spending by 20% and increase the size and capabilities of the armed forces (while mentioning briefly the development of a strategic, nuclear deterrence). After hearing all the pacifist talk by the Meinhof administration, this was something new, and eyebrows were raised. But all doubts were gone once he said that he was only doing what Meinhof had been planning to do.
Down the corridors in the underground bunker which served as one of the Armed Forces primary command centers, two pairs of footsteps could be heard.
"You know, I'm really wondering why Meinhof intentionally kept the military so puny." said Sonneborn, his voice echoing along the corridors. "Increasing its size would have massive benefits to our economy. We can draw several hundred thousand young men and women into employment, not including the additional manpower required by the military-industrial complex. I was worried that it would drain our economy, but it might as well have the opposite effect, so Zusak says."
"Meinhof didn't want the army to become too big," replied Rudolf Hintner, the newly-appointed defense minister. "She wanted absolute control, and didn't want to risk having elements of the army launching some kind of coup, like back in the 1970s. Besides, she really did believe that peace and diplomacy could solve our problems. One reason why she allowed herself to be persuaded to stop the nuclear arms program."
"Oh yes, how is that coming along?" Sonneborn asked. He had without hesitation immediately restarted the dormant program after coming to power.
"We estimate that we can begin production of a nuclear weapon by February next year. Of course, it will take a while until we can actually have an operational weapon. The Atramentari have been extremely helpful and with their assistance, development will proceed rapidly. Erquin is also showing interest, they've offered to cover the cost of maintaining the Sellenland and investing in it, along with massive loans, in exchange to be part of the program." said Rudolf Hintner, the newly-appointed defense minister. "I strongly suggest you keep quiet about this program, though. Our people might have missed it, but the Septentrion League have not and their making some serious noise."
Sonneborn smiled at that. "Let them complain, it's not like they'll be able to do that for much longer. Isn't that why I'm here?" With that, he showed his ID to the guard, who opened the door to the situation room. Awaiting him were the familiar faces of the General Staff and accompanying officers. As Vice-Chancellor he had always advocated more funding and expansion of the armed forces, something which made him popular amongst the army's top brass who'd welcomed the change in leadership.
"Meine Damen und Herren," Sonneborn began after everyone had settled down. "In light of the changing security landscape, I believe that our defense apparatus is long past due some significant reform. In the view of our foes, Wanka is no more a harmless, poor and penniless nation, it is a growing power which seeks to play a greater role in the international arena.
"Exactly fifty years ago, our empire was forced to its knees and was eventually torn to shreds by the Sylvans who imposed the impossible Treaty of Hessen on us. This treaty will form a central part of our foreign policy from now on, as I will seek to recover what has been lost. In the United Territories, our dear 'friends', we have another several million Wankers and hundreds of square kilometers territory in foreign hands. In the north, our territories beyond the Dreispitzen mountains lie in Mozrian hands. But most importantly, in Sachsen, we have over eleven million starving Wankers suffering under the yoke of Sylvan oppression.
"We will see how far diplomacy gets us. However, we must not forget the nation and people who put us in this situation in the first place. Sylva- Sylva is the root of all our problems! And up to now, the trigger-happy Sylvans have never missed a chance to threaten or attack Wanka and are always ready to deal our nation the final blow.
"Let us take a look at the map. With Sachsen under Sylvan occupation, they are in a prime position to strike at the vital industrial center of Hessen, or could drive north into Gladbach and northern Wanka. And we? To get into Sylva, we need to either fight our way through Sachsen or through the Cloyster Mountains before we can actually strike at something vital to the Sylvan economic machine. And if the Sylvans aren't willing to give up what is rightfully ours, that is precisely what we're going to do."
Murmurs of agreement rose up from the ranks of the Generals. To most of them, this was exactly what they wanted to hear, and exactly what they had been pushing for over the past decade. However, they had to admit that the armed forces simply wasn't strong enough for that yet.
"You will have overall nine months to prepare for such an eventuality. I want to have an army that is capable of bringing an enemy three times as strong as the Sylvan army to its knees within weeks. For that, you will have the necessary funding. Thankfully, while they are not obliged to assist us in the event of a preemptive offensive, the Erquinians have agreed to provide us with significant loans. If absolutely necessary, we can triple our defense budget."
So much for 20%! The faces of the Generals showed even more surprise. This was getting better and better.
"I will set up an independent commission to monitor your progress. By January next year, I want every Wankan division or wing to be as strong as a Sylvan one. We should have a proper strategy within this month which we will discuss in our coming meetings, so that you can properly prepare and train your units."
"But if we suddenly start this huge build-up, won't we alert the Sylvans? I assure you that this will be practically impossible to hide." asked Generalfeldmarschall Ludwig von der Leijen, the general responsible for the Wankan victory in the Sellenland war.
"Ah, yes, but leave that to the politicians. For one, the Sylvans have always made fun of our puny army- some of them also believe that our army needs to be at least a little bigger- but nevertheless, we will make it clear that our efforts are only defensive in nature, and directed against Aemen and the United Territories. So be prepared to be stationed near the UT border or in the Aemen mountains; of course, we will have underhand assurances to both nations that our efforts are directed against Sylva. But leave that to us politicians."
Soft laughter erupted in the room. Sonneborn, having said all he wanted to say, thanked the staff and exited the room. He was to give another speech in southern Wankas historical capital in four hours.