Author's Note:
I have been busy, but I decided to start a new story. I just hope this sticks around!
Also, reading Archived Entry #1 (by me!) and Isolation (by Well Groomed Goldfish) might really help you understand what's going on. This is a 'What if?' of 'Seas of the Past', had the precursor war been a stalemate.
Summary:
What if the War for French Succession persisted? What may have happened, had one teen's decision in Crimea been different. The year is 2071. A conspiracy threatens to control the entire world. And further, yet, the biggest rifts, are the ones we find in ourselves.
A Race Against Time
Chapter 1 - 2071 - Sevastopol, Crimea
The situation in Europe, April 29th, 2071, is a maelstrom of chaos:
The remains of what used to be the French army pepper English and German troops in a guerrilla war in Northern France.
Austria has invaded Italy, in a last ditch attempt to escape the advancing Swiss and Russian armies.
Spain is facing the threat of the 2nd civil war in 3 years.
Greece is readying for an invasion by Egypt, and has launched WWII-era V2 rockets at England and Norway.
Denmark is preparing an invasion of Sweden and Poland.
Russian and Mexican troops are setting up for D-Day Part 2 in the PELF-controlled Southern United States of America.
And, uprisings and riots have sprouted all over Europe.
But, the question remains untouched, yet so persistant:
How can one's decision, 20,000 miles away, change history like no others can?
Sevastopol, Crimean Republic
"Hello Marko, I see you're doing well today?" a woman greeted to a walking teenager in the market. "Yes ma'am, I'm doing fine." the Italian-born college student replied to the woman.
"So Marko, tell me, what would you like for lunch today?" the woman asked. She pulled up her saggy pants and her velvet head-covering back a little bit, and slowly pulled out a pair of tongs.
Marko thought for a few seconds. "Come on, Marko! You know I need to go to the soldiers' department and drop off the leftovers from last night to them!" the woman shouted.
"Alright, alright, Auntie Maryam! I think I'll have some pirozhki. And maybe some of your homemade tea, if that's OK." Marko finally answered. Aunt Maryam smiled, and plucked a few pirozhki buns into a small, brown bag.
"Here you go, Marko!" Aunt Maryam smiled, handing the bag to Marko. "Thanks a lot, Aunt Maryam!" Marko thanked, running off to catch his bus.
But, this is the point of divergence.
Marko's decision of lunch, on April 29th, 2071 would change history forever, in 2 ways.
Marko's decision of pirozhki for lunch, would cause the War for French Succession to end, but cause an successor state of Austria to start World War III, and eventually, wipe out 45% of humanity.
Had Marko chosen differently, this is how history would have been changed forever...
"Alright, alright Auntie Maryam! I think I'll have some..." Marko rethought again. I'm not that hungry right now. Maybe some...
"I'll have some blini, Aunt Maryam." Marko finally replied. "Sure thing, Marko." Aunt Maryam smiled, grasping some blini, and dropping it into a brown bag, with some tea for good measure.
"Oh crap! I have to catch my bus! Thanks a lot, Aunt Maryam!" Marko yelled, running to his bus, and barely getting on in time. "See you Marko!" Aunt Maryam yelled, as Marko's bus started driving on the Kamyshove Highway.
"OK, now to drop off the leftovers from last night." Aunt Maryam said to herself, as she pulled out the boxes from the display counter, and lowered them onto a rusty, old shopping cart.
She pulled the cart, getting dust stuck on her Arabic, foreign shoes she got from her sister, until she reached the military base in Sevastopol. "Halt! What's your name?" a guard barked, running up to Maryam.
"Maryam Hussein-Vargas. I'm here to drop off some food for my husband. Now may I pass?"
There seemed to suddenly be a twinkle in the guard's eyes, as his face brightened with a smile. "So you're the lady that makes those delicious shortcrust pastries!" he remarked, with imaginary sparkles added for full effect.
"Sure! You can pass!" the guard finished, still smiling. "OK..." Maryam replied, slightly creeped out, as she opened the door with her husband's spare keycard. She noted to herself that it looked stormy outside, and applauded herself for bringing an umbrella.
"Hey Mary, how are you doing?" an officer, Viktor Fradkov said to Mary in flawless Russian. "I'm sorry, what?" Maryam replied, citing the fact that she did not understand Russian.
"I apologize, Mary, but I meant to say 'Hey Mary, how are you doing?'." Viktor said, in broken Italian. "Great actually. Hey, I would like you to give this to Matteo. And don't eat any, unless he lets you. I was really mad, when I heard some of your friends fed my cookies to dogs."
"Alright then. Thanks a lot, Mary; you actually increase our morale by a lot." Viktor said. "Really? That's something new I learned..." Maryam remarked. "Oh! I have to go, Viktor, back to my shop, and reopen! Damn, didn't notice the time until now."
"Alright Mary, hope you have a safe journey back to your shop!" Viktor yelled. "For God's sake, it's only 2 miles back to the marketplace. But OK! See you!" Maryam yelled back, running to her shop.
"Well, time to give lunch to Mr. I'm-The-Boss-Of-All-Of-You-So-Listen..." Viktor remarked. "Hey Boss, here's lunch!" Viktor yelled to Maffeo Vargas, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian 4th Army, and secretly, the personification of Venice, Italy.
"Thank you Viktor, we'll need all the energy we can get. Get Vladimir in here; I'll get ahold of Ivan." Maffeo ordered. "Sure thing, boss.." Viktor replied dryly. Viktor did not know, but Maffeo was referring to his ally in the war, Ivan Braginsky, or the fellow personification of Russia.
After Viktor had left the room, Maffeo sat down to his lunch. "Well, honey, your customers were awfully generous today. Meh, I'll just have a little." He chomped down on a shortcrust pastry, and ate a piece of pirozhki.
Then, he went to call Ivan, who picked up relatively quickly. Then, all of a sudden, Maffeo leaped into the air with patriotic pride.
When he was done, Viktor was coming back in with Vladimir Popov, one of the 5 brigade generals in the Vladimir Putin Crimean Military & Aerial Support Centre and Base, and Maffeo's most trusted man.
"Alright sir, what's the current situation right now in Europe, and for us?" Vladimir asked Maffeo. "Well, I'll tell you some, and then you watch the news what Ivan just ordered."
"So, first of all, get your iPads out." Check. "Next, go to the Google Doc, that says 'War Situation'." Check. "Read the doc."
Military Status of the Euro Coalition's War Against France's Allies
French Resistance vs. Germany, Britain, & Belgium
Status:
The resistance movements in Paris and Marseille have been crushed with destruction of the Notre Dame Cathedral by our prototype Rogers XP-47 Ravenwoods' oxygen-diesel bombs and C4 loads. The resistance in Bordeaux is currently being quelled by the 6th Army right now, with orders to shoot if shot upon. Martial law is still in effect, as of 8:00 London Time, April 29th, 2071.
"Good, good." said Maffeo, even though he already knew this from Ivan's briefing of the situation to him.
Austria (4th-9th Armies, Austrian Air Force, Holt Co. Navy), Greece, Croatia, & Hungary vs. Russia, Switzerland, Britain, Germany, and Turkey
Status:
Austria has pushed out to 5 miles north of Venice, and 12 miles out of Genoa. Vienna's suburbs are still under siege, as of 8:00 London Time, April 29th, 2071. The Russian tactical group A-54 took Linz at 7:30 London Time, April 29th, 2071. The joint task force is facing the Einstendt Line, and winning so far. UPDATE, 8:56 London Time: Vienna has surrendered, after learning the news from the French resistance war. Austria to be divided up into 4 parts, just like post-WWII Germany & Prussia.
There have also been signs of unrestricted movement by Austrian soldiers in occupied Poland, but they have not been confirmed.
"They just took Vienna?!" Maffeo shouted in surprise. He checked his atomic clock. It was 11:59 in Sevastopol right now, which was 8:59 in the morning in London right now.
"I'm worried about the Austrians in Poland, not Vienna." Vladimir whispered to Viktor. "Same."
Spanish National Army vs. Movimiento de Independencia (Independence Movement)
Status:
Most of our contacts, except German agent E-23, have reported the same thing: The IM is rising up in Spain, and have established control in Catalonia, Gibraltar, and Galicia. The president was killed, en transit to Greece by one of our military drones, along with his former staff. Some of our forces have gave arms to Galician rebels, and even 3 planes to the Independence Movement in Catalonia.
"Well, that's good." Viktor huffed, thinking about his term in the office, dealing with communications from and to Spain.
30 Minutes Later...
"...and that's the worldwide news." All of a sudden, alarms started flashing in the base. "Wait - don't tell me that's-"
"CODE RED, MEN! GET INTO YOUR DEFENSE POSITIONS!" Maffeo screamed into the base-wide PA system. "Who the hell could be attacking now?!" Viktor yelled to Vladimir.
"Wait a minute...don't tell me...oh shit..."
"What is it?"
"We're fucked." Vladimir swore, as the symbol for the Iranian Army and the Austrian Army's remaining men marched into Russian soil. "Screw the facts! Vladimir, activate the hidden silos; I'm calling Ivan!" Maffeo commanded.
"Are you insane?! Alright then..." Vladimir shouted in shock, pulling a little Ziploc bag out, with 45 codes to activate nuclear missiles. Meanwhile, Maffeo got in touch with Ivan.
"Ivan! Are you-"
"Comrade, all of Mother Russia is being attacked. Moscow will be like another Sweeping of Lyon, or at best, like after the Firebombing of Dresden. Most of our men are in Europe, fighting the French resistance and Austrian homeland."
Maffeo shuddered, thinking about the Sweeping of Lyon, which was the result of the complete obliteration of Lyon, France, by oxygen-diesel bombs, C4, nukes, and burning of 20,000 rebels, along with 450,000 civilians being taken hostage, the lot being women and children.
That had occurred just 4 years ago on July 17th, 2067. It was a terrible sight, as it was even more devastating than Hiroshima, and released 20 times more radiation than the Fukushima incident 60 years ago.
Maffeo than got back into reality. "Sir, our radar indicates help coming from...China?!" Viktor briefed. "Ah. Well, we're losing ground here, and bombs are being dropped everywhere. How close is the enemy to Moscow?"
Viktor shrugged, while he watched the firestorm rage on outside during the Crimean sunset. "The latest reports suggest that the closest enemy to Moscow is 34 miles southwest of Minsk, and 34 to the Russian border."
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the room. "What the hell?!" Vladimir screamed, as concrete blasted through the office. Papers were scattered everywhere, some flying outside, only to be burned by the burning explosives.
Then, a recognizable plane flew into the base's airfield. Vladimir was under 2 feet of wood and concrete, but could see the 5 men exit the aircraft. Maffeo wasn't covered, but was instead bleeding profusely.
A man wearing a dress suit, and a woman in military wear walked towards Maffeo, along with 3 armed guards. "You...why did you come all the way here, Roderich?" Maffeo spat, laying on the ground, still bleeding.
"Because, Maffeo," Roderich sneered. "What?" Maffeo said, starting to cough. "even when I gave you everything, you still rebelled."
"That.." Maffeo coughed, "doesn't...give...reason...to..."
"What?" Roderich said. "You're a worthless piece of trash, who only became rich, because I spoiled you beyond imaginable belief. It was me who gave you the importance to Italy. It was me who saved you from the Spanish. You were just a hinderance for my plans of world domination."
Roderich pulled out an AK-47. "And now, you have no use. You are nothing. You were just a pawn in my plans to take over the world. Bye-bye." He was about to pull the trigger, but all of a sudden, 5 shots pierced his ribcage and the guardsmen's heads by chance, and he started to bleed.
"You...are...mistaken in your attempts..." Maffeo coughed out, "...as Italia has not yet fallen..." Roderich started to cough blood. "Come on...finish me...before I die..."
"Your...attempt at...killing...the...source...will be brought...to...nothing..." Roderich sputtered, close to death. "Well, let's end this, shall we...?" Maffeo coughed out.
Finally, Maffeo's hidden blade had punched Roderich in the throat. At the same time, blood squirted out of Maffeo's head, as a bullet shot out from Maffeo's left temple. "L'Italia... non...è...ancora...perdut..."
And then, Maffeo Barbarini Vargas, along with Roderich Edelstein, the human personifications of Venice and Austria respectively, passed on into the other-worldly realm, where the likes of Rome and Germania were located.
At the same time, Viktor had clawed his way out of the concrete, and sniped Roderich's guards. However, a woman donning military gear still stood, blinking at the two corpses.
Suddenly, she started to rapidly blinking. "Oh my God...what have I done..." she cried, as Viktor, with his blood-stained uniform, put a gun up to her head. "Hello, my name is Viktor Fradkov. What is your business and affiliation here, in the Vladimir Putin Military & Aerial Support Centre and Base, ma'am." he stated, coolly.
"M-my name is Eliz-Elizabeta Héderváry...Um, I came with the man w-who was..." Elizabeta started crying, as she thought to herself, What happened to me? I became a monster, and now, Mr. Austria is dead!
"Oh good, gracious Lord, I just want to be with Mr. Austria!" Elizabeta sobbed. "Wait, what?!" Viktor shouted, hearing Mr. Austria. "Just kill me!" Elizabeta cried out, reaching for the gun.
"NO! You're now under the custody of the Russian 4th Army! Or what remains of it..." he shouted. He looked around, and saw the glorious buildings of the base tumbling down from collapse, and exploding everywhere.
"Viktor! You're alive!" a familiar voice yelled in joy, as Viktor saw the face of 2 of his friends. "Mary! Vladimir! You're alive!" Viktor yelled with joy, as they embraced in a hug.
"What happened? We saw the entire invasion; it was truly horrific." Maryam stated. Then, she saw Maffeo's dead body. "W-what?!" she stuttered, when she saw the two men, Maffeo and Roderich, dead, with blades in each other.
"Mary, calm down. The other guy-"
"OH ALLAH, MY HUSBAND IS DEAD!" Maryam started to sob, as Vladimir looked at Elizabeta. "So, looks like we have ourselves a captive. What do you say we do? Interrogate? Or A-X?" Vladimir asked Viktor.
"NO, Vladimir. We're getting secrets out, not raping any captives, like what the 7th Army did after Lyon." Viktor ordered Vladimir. "Well, since it seems you're better at leadership, I hearby promote you to temporary commander-in-chief of the Russian 4th Army." Vladimir stated. "Congratulations."
End Note:
THAT was the longest chapter I have written in a long time.
Anyways, hope you like this story! If you do, review and follow, so I can make sure to make this a frequent story to update!
Until next time, adieu!