VI: Escalation

"What. Is. That?" Scratch that, I know what it is. Why do you have it?

I'm staring incredulously, and probably more than a bit enviously, at the item in Dio's hand. When I realizes what I'm looking at, he dives into an enthusiastic explanation.

"What, this? Your parents gave it to me as a gift and said that it would be useful. Boy, were they right; who knew that a pen could be so versatile yet fancy? It works awesomely on both paper and tablets. With the nibs it come with, you can even draw and do calligraphy with it. I'm still trying to figure out what all these buttons do…"

He yammers on, less so to explain things and more just to sing praises. I already know it's great. It's versatile due to running on the best of Three tech. And it's fancy because it got the ultimate One treatment, with all that tech being clad in precious metals, semi-precious stone, and calfskin; they even managed to not make it look gaudy like a lot of their stuff. Suffice to say, the thing costs a fortune; a pittance compared to the money our family currently earns, but still. A person doesn't just casually give something like that away.

Now I know what my folks gave him after the dinner. He must have left quite the positive impression on them, if they gave him such a gift. And considering that the thing also functions as a storage drive, they didn't simply give him one out of their pocket but actually bought one in advance for Family Day.

Family Day in general went pretty smoothly. Of course, Ma and Pa just had to get a word in about how messy my side of the room was, especially compared to my roommate's portion, as well as prodding me about my academic progress. It's as if they thought that going over to the Capitol would result in me shirking my studies in favor of doing nothing but drinking.

Okay, maybe there is quite a bit of drinking involved here. But my academics are still in good shape. I can handle myself, and I'm a big kid… yeah, yeah, physiologically-speaking of course. But I digress.

In any case, they told me that it was good that I settled in, was meeting new people, and not getting into trouble. And dinner was nice. Besides me and my parents, Dio and some of his folks were included.

Oh yeah, Dio's folks: a great group of guys. They were the extended family in Two that adopted him after the district was secured; if anything, a couple of them actually reminded me of the "Peacekeepers" back in Central. Though I could have done without everybody cross-examining me to see how I've been treating my roommate.

But in any case: the pen. I did tell my parents beforehand all about my roommate, minus the more messed-up aspects of course. They also did say that they would get a trinket for him, which is customary, and I informed them to get him something nice and useful. Just didn't expect that of all things.

He's still rambling, and I should probably stop him now. "Just clarify one thing for me: was its box titanium or mahogany?"

"What's mahogany?"

"It's a reddish hardwood."

"Oh, yeah the box was made out of that. I take it that you're familiar with this?"

I slam my forehead into the desk and keep it there. Dagnabbit, they got him a limited edition one with the 25-nib set!

"Uh… Ned? You alright?" Oh, I'm just peachy…

I've wanted that pen for a long time. However, every request was turned-down with various reasons: "You're going to lose it.""It's not practical for you to have here.""You're going to lose it.""It would just invite a mugging on your walks through the city.""You're going to lose it."

Now it falls into the hands of the kid next to me, and he's so damn upbeat about it.

I could probably mention the price of the pen. The realization that it is probably monetarily worth more than him would be more than enough to put him back in his pla—

Remember the agreement to look after Dio?

… What the hell is wrong with me? To think that my initial reaction at Dio showing concern would be to formulate a way to tear him down. Over a pen.

As I get back to my senses, I think over how I silly that was. Not to mention the fact that him being upbeat is supposed to be a good sign.

I also did mention that he liked to write and sketch a lot. And judging from the absurdly orderly way he keeps his stuff organized and clean, there is indeed no danger of him losing it. Admittedly, in contrast, my folks have a point about the high chance of a loss, which would be a waste. The stuff I already have serves me well; no need to throw a hissy because another is shinier.

I take a deep breath and lift my head up. "Just took me by surprise. That's all. That pen's pretty hard to find."

"Okay. Well, be sure to thank your parents for me. It meant a lot to receive that."

"No problem."

Stupid internal fuzzies.

I focus my attention towards Suetonius. He's going on about how we have a test next week. It's supposed to be cumulative up to this point. Fun.

"… So as long as you paid attention in class, the exam should not present too much of a challenge. Now for today's subject.

"As was explained last period, the attack on the British convoy not only increased tensions between the TOU and the UGA, but also threatened to pull the Eurasian Union into a fight. This was exacerbated by a bombardment campaign by British forces in Buenos Aires to get Argentina to capitulate, as well as a UAF naval blockade of the coast of Brazil and the shelling of Rio de Janeiro.

"Things came to a head when, in an effort to distract the TOU, a preemptive attack of Belize and Guyana was launched in the summer of 2114. The attack was mainly thwarted, but it meant that war was officially declared between the TOU and UGA.

"At the start of fall, the UGA decided to strike at what it considered the heart of the TOU: the UAF itself."


We're looking at a nighttime shot of a city. Which is nothing new. Except that much of the city is on fire. Blooms of explosions silhouette the buildings and there is a consistent booming heard. Above the landscape, the sky is filled with tracer fire. The sound is muted so a reporter can speak.

"San Antonio. Home to the Alamo and once a key site that played a part in the events leading to the independence of Texas from the United Mexican States, it is now a city under siege by UGA forces.

"The shock-and-awe campaign by the UGA has so far claimed much of the southwest potion of Texas, including the city of Corpus Christi, with ground forces mobilizing outside of San Antonio. Interstates 10 and 37 are now considered to be an informal boundary between UGA-claimed territory to the south and firmly-held Federation land to the north. Past the boundary though, aerial bombardment has rocked the cities of Houston, Austin, and Dallas, as well as Fort Hood.

"In the west, the cities of San Diego, Los Angeles, Tucson, and Phoenix have also been subjected to heavy bombing. Considerable focus has especially been spent on the San Diego Metropolitan Area due to the presence of deep-water naval ports and Marine base Camp Pendleton, as well as its proximity on the border of Mexico.

"UGA leader Lucas Azavado had this to say about the campaign:"

And our favorite bombastic and medal-laden windbag makes his reappearance. "It is just as fair that the collective nations of Latin America bring their might upon Anglo America. For centuries, the United States of America saw fit to treat all the Americas as its playground under its Monroe Doctrine. Well I say it time we returned the favor with interest!"

Back to the reporter. "Chief Commander Andrews and President Campos have so far issued a call for calm among the populace and have commended our armed forces in engaging and containing the UGA. Special mention has been given to those in Fort Bliss for keeping the city of El Paso out of UGA and going so far as taking the Mexican city of Juarez.

"Kyle Rice, TA News."


"By the way," Suetonius remarks, "a couple days after this report, it was decided by the UGA to firebomb Fort Bliss along with both El Paso and Juarez. Juarez was considered to be a necessary loss in order to deal a blow to UAF morale. The combined death toll of the firebombing was around 1.5 million people, ironically with the higher proportion of those killed in Juarez.

"Instead of serving as a blow to UAF morale, the El Paso Incident became a rallying cry; incidentally, it did serve as a morale blow to the Mexican populace. By 2115, the UAF not only managed to push all UGA forces out of the country, but began an invasion campaign of its own into the country of Mexico. A bombing campaign commenced on the major cities as well, with special focus on Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Puebla.

"The 2114 Invasion of Texas had far-reaching effects for the UAF and later the world. Immediately, anti-Latino hysteria gripped the nation, with vandalism and public lynching towards Hispanic neighborhoods becoming commonplace. Even non-Mexican Latinos, such as Cuban Americans and Puerto Ricans, would occasionally be targeted. In response, many Latinos began Anglicizing their names as a way to both keep a lower profile and serve as a sign of loyalty. Carlos became Carl, Martinez became Martin, and so on.

"Also, the UGA's western bombing campaign not only hit major cities in California and Arizona, it also targeted the perimeter of Camp Sonora. Even after the push back from the UAF, many of the inhabitants from the refugee camp were unaccounted for. This would cause grief later on in the form of militant organizations formed by dissatisfied former inhabitants of the camp.

"The largest impact though was the revelation that much of the invasion was fully backed by the Eurasian Union. Not just with supplies but with advisors and even some attached units.

"The UAF's reaction was swift. In 2115 it proceeded to shut down all Arctic routes in its sphere of influence and sunk any Eurasian vessel still in the area after the closure. The rest of the TOU supported its measure, especially due to the high probability that the Argentinian venture was also backed by Eurasia.

"Thus war was fully declared between the Trans-Oceana and Eurasia. As the Eurasians saw fit to mobilize Latin America against the TOU, the TOU saw fit to call upon its own ally: the Arab League. And the Arab League members nations still had centuries of built-up grudges to launch into conflict towards certain Eurasian nations.

"I will give you all some supplemental material to read for more details. In the meantime, here are several snippets of broadcasts. Not all are in chronological order."


Each of the snippets come with footage. Much of it is chaotic.

"Spanish forces were interrupted in their attempt at taking Gibralter by heavy bombardment from the Moroccan Navy. This comes after the declaration from Queen Noor of Morocco to 'facilitate the rebirth of al-Andalus.'"

"Iran has declared the Strait of Hormuz to be closed to all traffic. Arab Gulf States nations promise retaliation."

"Multiple car bomb attacks in Ankara, Tbilisi, Baku, and Yerevan today. Casualties are estimated at 72 killed and hundreds injured."

"USS Galveston sunk with all hands near Greenland. Russian submarine blamed."

"Paris declares martial law in light of riots that have set much of the city ablaze."

"A heavy skirmish was reported between Iraqi and Iranian forces."

"The Siege of Malta by French and Italian forces enters into its eighth day."

"Several explosions have rocked Copenhagen in the Nørrebro district."

"Kurdistan has issued a no-fly-zone order and has closed its borders to entry. Special dispensation will have to be made in advance."

"The cities of Mandalay and Yangon were subject to Indian aerial bombardment today. This was in response to the supposed backing of Assam rebels by the government of Myanmar."

"The Channel Tunnel was flooded earlier today by the government of Great Britain in a gesture of severing ties with the Mainland."

"Syrian and Jordanian forces are massing near the Turkish-Syrian border."


"Well… Things are definitely getting interesting," I quip.

Dio's looking at me like I'm crazy again. "I don't think what happening there should be something you find entertaining."

"I never said it was fun. But don't you admit that there is at least something interesting about this? The intrigue? The action? The recklessness? The tools of destruction? The guys back in Central would probably get engineer-boners over the latter.

"This makes our Mockingjay Rebellion look like a bunch of kids awkwardly swinging knives at each oth—oh…"

Whoops! Too soon?

Dio doesn't say anything but simply stares at me with his eyes wide and mouth stupidly agape.

"Um, yeah, never mind." Time to refocus back to class before I make things worse.

Looks like the professor is wrapping things up. "I forgot to mention: by 2113, the United Nations had ceased to be cohesive, and in 2114, the organization was officially dissolved. Just a little footnote.

"That concludes this lecture. Remember, exam next week.

"However, before you are all dismissed, I have a video to show. I will explain the meaning of it in the next lecture. For now though, just try to figure out what it means."


The video takes place in what appears to be a white complex consisting of a large irregularly-shaped plaza, a surrounding structure, and numerous towers. The centerpiece of the complex is a black cube with gold accents. Around said cube is a large crowd of people, mainly clad in white gowns; there are at least enough people to completely fill the plaza, with more streaming in from the outside or standing in the upper stories of the wall. From the looks of things, the people are slowly circling the cube in a counter-clockwise manner, with those closest to the cube comparatively more energetic in their motion.

Suddenly there is a flash of light that briefly illuminates the area brighter than the already-present daylight. Then the video cuts to static.


A/N: I was seriously debating whether or not to put in the last part, considering how controversial such things of that nature can be. Hopefully nobody gets angry.

And no, I could not resist the power of mahogany.