The Ithacan Republic

Population: 10 Million and counting (Mixed Demi, Reptilian, Insectoid, Human and other races)

Government: Semi-Presidential Parliamentary Republic

Allegiance: The NATO Alliance, de-jure independent but is a de-facto US/UK Puppet state

Ever since the birth of the new Ithacan Republic, the actual government of Ithaca had been brushed to the side. Since the country gained independence, the Republic jumped through three different forms of government ranging from a congressional-executive republic like in the United States to a Parliamentary republic in which a single Parliament controlled both the state affairs and the government, to an chancellorship of elected officials that met in the ex-Parliament.

It had experimented with about five different constitutions, one that was hastily drafted as soon as the Republic gained independence, two others that were just the American constitution until a more precise and fitting one could be found, one based off the Articles of Confederation (That didn't go down very well) and finally one based off the American Constitution but including elements that were relevant to Ithacan society and the position they were in.

So many experiments and attempts. And the people finally settled on one. A Prime Minister and a President. The Prime Minister was the head of Parliament and the executive head of government taking care of external affairs, the President was the Head of State and diplomatic affairs.

This form of government was based primarily on the Western European model, specifically a weird combination between the British, French, and German models of government with some American ideals mixed in. So a third institution was also set up, a Federal Court that could determine what was and was not constitutional. It also had the power to amend the constitution and could declare either the actions of Parliament or President unconstitutional. In turn, the President nominated judges to take the spot on the Federal Court's 'bench' and Parliament either approved or rejected those nominations.

The idea of three government bodies, the concept that a Triangle was the strongest geometric figure, proved to run well for the Ithacan people. Especially those who had known no other authority other than a monarch and the crack of a whip. Almost every successful democratic country on Earth had one. America had the Congress-President-Court complex. The British had the Upper house-Lower house-Monarch. The Germans with their Bundestag-Bundesrat-President. The Triangle was the most stable figure in government too.

The Ithacan government was finally reassembled, just in time for the collapse of their main rival The Iscariot Empire and only a few weeks prior to the fall of Fargo. The Federal Republic of Greater Ithaca and the Newfoundland Delta was born. Normally called either the Ithacan Federation or Republic.

The only reason why the government of Ithaca hadn't completely collapsed during the tumultuous time while it found the perfect government, was because of NATO economic subsidies that pretty much rendered the Ithacan government obsolete. Even though Ithaca was industrializing fast, and had a weak yet stable economy, NATO money had accounted for just over three-quarters of the Ithacan treasury and no matter what government Ithaca had it would be NATO that kept the country afloat.

This wasn't much of a problem for Ithaca, except that it wanted to try and govern itself and feared that any attempts at self-governance, be it now or in the future, would be stomped out of fruition by the NATO military council. Luckily NATO's attention was drawn elsewhere. Using the fall of Fargo as a distraction, Parliament passed hundreds of bills aimed at improving and industrializing the Ithacan economy.

The Newfoundland Delta, and the territory surrounding it was rich in natural resources. Ithaca and Minerva were the two major cities on the continent but their economic influence relied heavily on import-based trade with other continental nations. Japanese vessels from Alnus even arrived in Ithacan and Minervan ports to supply Ithaca with food and other necessities in exchange for manufactured items produced in factories. The manufacturing capabilities of Ithaca were great, but it was still reliant on other nations for crucial imports like Agricultural products, raw ore, oil, and others.

The series of bills passed by Parliament allowed Ithaca to expand its domestic resource-harvesting capabilities without sacrificing its manufacturing streak. The other nations on the continent imported huge amounts of Ithacan manufactured goods, from toys to modern medical equipment. All of this new technology, these nations were hungry for and needed if they wanted to compete and improve the lives of their own people. But in return, they gave their raw ore and agricultural products to Ithaca where it would be refined and sold back to them. This made Ithaca dependent on foreign trade and made these nations dependent on Ithacan exports. The more the continental nations kept Ithaca supplied with raw ore, the more modern goods they would receive in return.

The forested and hilly terrain in the center of the Newfoundland Delta were normally marked with tall white wind farms and blue solar power plants. Rotary blades gently spinning in the air. But now with the new economic plans for Parliament, farms, forestry camps, quarries, mines, and others all dotted the landscape of central Newfoundland. The hills were absolutely rich in minerals and were virgin, prior to NATO being here the only civilization existed in local tribes and not in large resource-demanding empires. The raw material production of Ithaca increased a hundredfold and the trade dependency Ithaca had with other Empires and nations on the continent slowly yet surely ended. Soon Ithaca became the only country worthy of exporting anything and even supplied other nations with raw goods.

But the main point is that now Ithaca was almost completely self-reliant. This meant that the government had proven itself to the people to be more legitimate and now NATO couldn't keep Ithaca as a thrall. It was a major power now, and all it was lacking was a large military that wasn't completely supplied by NATO.

Yet total independence from NATO wasn't the objective for Parliament. They wanted to remain somewhat dependent on NATO, the more they relied on Earth the happier its powers would be and the more protection the alliance would give to Ithaca. It had practically made the Ithacan Republican guard obsolete, which Ithaca and its citizens were fine with. They had no aspiration to ever break away from NATO influence or to align themselves with the Russians or Chinese. They wanted to remain loyal to the Earthbound powers, especially since Fort Ithaca was the main bastion of Ithacan defense and completely owned by the Alliance. Not only that but they still had some serious continental threats.

Their second largest rival, the ICCR had been a red thorn in Ithaca's side. Both countries were close to full industrialization, both used and implemented modern technology, both had funding from Earth-backed governments. Even though Washington and Beijing were working closer together than ever before, the Iscariot Commune was making it its prime objective to outproduce and outsell the Ithacans. The ICCR had the same manufacturing potential that the Ithacans had, and possibly even more because of the command economy run by the Communist Party. Despite all of this, Ithaca only managed to come out on top because of Ithaca's much larger population, workforce, and standard of living. For Jin-Je, the leader of the ICCR, to outcompete the Ithacans he would have to find a way to grow his population, increase living quality, and encourage industrial expansion without compromising the integrity of the Communist party.

But the ICCR wasn't the only threat Ithaca faced, and it wasn't even the most major. Even though the Iscariot Empire had collapsed, that doesn't mean Fargo wasn't still a threat, far from it. Now that the Russians had absolute control over most of Iscariot territory, they posed a much larger military threat to the Newfoundland Delta than the ICCR could ever hope to match. This is the main reason why the Ithacans wished to remain loyal to NATO command, NATO covered its weakest point.

The Ithacan military was given hand-me-downs from the American and European militaries. Mostly outdated equipment that hadn't been touched since the '60s. That isn't to say that it wasn't impressive stuff however, it was good equipment. And it was all that Ithaca would need if they were just fighting pre-industrialized natives like they used to do. Their tank fleet consisted of M60 Patton's, they had PASGT uniforms donated from the US Army, they fought with guns that the West German Bundeswehr used when Germany was split in two. It was more than enough to combat little half-naked warriors running around with swords and knives. They posed no threat whatsoever, even if NATO were to cut its military support.

But this was a new age. It has been well over four years since the gate opened, and new forces have come to the table. Russia had brought out the best of its equipment, T-14 Armata's, Laser-guided weapons, drones, Smart bombs, Russia had even developed its own version of the C-130 Gunship (Though the Americans were already planning to replace their own fleet with a more advanced aircraft in the years coming). Russia was playing absolutely zero games, they meant business. Their air force was at full capability too, advanced stealth fighters, a fleet of attack and transport helicopters, a fully capable logistical company. Russia could invade and successfully occupy Ithaca if it wanted to, the only problem was of course NATO.

Branching off that native Empires were beginning to adapt to the change in dynamics. A few were even trying their own hand in industrialization, but only one was beginning to see success. The Falkland Empire.

The Falklands and Ithaca maintained 'okay' relations with each other. Ithaca wasn't too impressed that the Falkish practiced the brutal enslavement of both Demi-Humans and Reptilians. But while the Iscariot Empire was still active both NATO and the Falklands saw each other as crucial allies to deliver a final strike towards the Iscariots. But since plans didn't work out in NATO's favor, the role of the Falklands had become obsolete and they were now rendered useless to NATO diplomatic missions. This wasn't too bad for the Falklands; they liked the lack of attention NATO was giving them as it meant that NATO had no plans to try and destroy them like the Russians did the Iscariots. But they were smart.

Lady Catherine was a competent, strong figure in Falkish society. She was smart. She ordered the gradual industrialization of the nation. Slowly but surely. Falkish military engineers had managed to obtain a wealth of books and articles from Ithacan libraries about machinery and technology. They could only develop what was within their means of reach, and they found that the Steam engine was the most practical steppingstone to later technology. Already the Falkish had about two steam-powered ships (they were still experimental), they built a coal railway from their capital to a neighboring city not too far away, and a manufactory had opened that smelted metals and casted iron. It was slow progress that had been dragging on for about three years now, but it was progressing in the right direction. Catherine was determined not to make the same mistakes Nora had. And Nora was a good what-not-to-do example. For every good decision Nora made, she made about twelve others that worked against her. And now Nora was being kept somewhere secret (In fact, The British military even denies that they have custody of her, which can only mean the worst is happening to her).

An industrializing Ithaca, economically competitive ICCR, militarily powerful Russia, and to top it all off the collapse of what was the largest and most powerful nation on the continent thus creating an immense power vacuum that virtually anyone can rise and take control, Ithacan Parliament and President had a lot to deal with. But they weren't alone. NATO was doing an excellent job at safeguarding Ithaca, and if that was proper Ithaca could worry about other things later.

Speaking of things that needed to be dealt with...

Fort Ithaca, Newfoundland

A fleet of choppers had flown over the streets of the city. People looked up only briefly to look and then back to whatever it was they were doing. Military presence in Ithaca wasn't new. In fact, it was almost expected. For most of the 4-5 years in the city's existence, the police were basically a military force. Prior to Ithacan independence, they were governed by the NATO military council. The only Earth-born humans there were members of the military.

But these helicopters were anything but normal. They landed on the familiar pavement of the Rowland D. Carter Airforce base. Out of them all came a procession, people with bags over their heads were quickly rushed by armed guards into the main compound of the building. At least fifty. When they were all inside the doors were quickly shut, and the base was put on high alert.

Nora had the bag removed from atop her head. Her eyes adjusted to the light in the room. It was a rather small but comfortable conference room. A bit cold from the air-conditioning in the wall. There were no windows. Wooden walls, a NATO Flag, and a round table in the middle. Soft lights glowed in the roof. It was comfortable. Surprisingly.

A Human sat down in front of her. It was just him and two other guards in the room. Nora didn't look at him.

"Queen Nora. You are in a lot of fucking trouble," Said the man as he looked down on her.

A small and uneasy moment of silence came and passed before the man said anything, "Do you know what happened to your Empire? Hm?"

Nora didn't say anything at first. Her white hair (Now silver-ish color from stress) covered her eyes as she looked down. All she could do was think of why she was here and why she wasn't in some chamber underground being tortured or sent to the executioner.

"You destroyed it." She said.

The man scoffed, "No. We destroyed it. You, and me, and the Russians, and the Chinese, and the Ithacans, and everyone else you have made an enemy. We destroyed it."

Nora looked up at the man. Taking a good look at his face, he was a middle-aged man. He wore a peaked military cap. Black outline around the bill and gold inscriptions on it with an eagle at its crest. His uniform matched that. Tan and brown from head to toe. Khaki pants, a tan suit, brown overcoat.

"I'm Colonel Jebediah Whitaker. This is the NATO HQ. Your excellent leadership of the Iscariot Empire has cost our alliance billions of dollars. We built an entire city- no- a nation in the Special Region because of you. Because of you, the world back at home is about to descend into a Third World War. Because of you, thousands of our men and women who served for our army have been killed. Because of you, all because of you..."

"You came to us," Nora said quietly.

"What was that?"

"You humans came from your world over here. We were fine without you meddling in our affairs. Everything worked the way it was supposed to. Everything. You came from you world to bring destruction," Jeb raised his eyebrow.

"You aren't wrong. We did come, we are the people who fired the first shot. You are right. But you forget one thing..." Jeb leaned in closer to Nora's face, "You could've stopped us a long-long- time ago. And so too could Fredrick. Both of you could've stopped us a long time ago, could've avoided all of this. But now you are both in our custody. With a fractured and destroyed empire. You lost. And that is all that matters in the end."

Nora looked down at the floor. No tears were left to cry, just a empty feeling of both regret and fear inside.

Jeb sighed and sat back down, "Speaking of Fredrick..." Nora looked up at him. Jeb took a puff of a cigarette and leaned back in his chair.

"What about him?" Nora asked.

"He's fine. And we plan on reuniting the two of you at some point. Last time we talked to him; he was pissed. Rather upset that you destroyed the empire while he was here," Jeb said.

"Fredrick isn't dead?"

"No Nora, he isn't. The assassin that attempted to kill him drew her knife into a non-critical area. Missed every major organ from what I heard. He's been fine for a very long time now."

"We didn't send the assassin." Nora said.

"I know...You guys didn't do much of anything. If we wanted to, we would've invaded your lands and freed all the slaves a long while ago. You sold your Empire to Russia. Your biggest mistake. Ever since then, we knew that most of the major operations against us weren't caused by you but by them. You aren't that great at leading a country you know-"

"Don't mock me right now. I've been through enough," Nora looked up at Jeb with pleading eyes. Jeb took the cigarette out of his mouth, twiddled it around in his fingers. He nodded his head.

"Fair enough. But just know that whatever NATO High Command wants, it will get. If they decide to execute you, you will be executed. Publicly or not, I neither know nor care. If they decide to imprison you, I don't know where they will send you or for how long. But they may find you innocent and waive all your crimes. You'd be a free woman," Nora was confused.

"Why would you find me innocent?"

"You could plead ignorance. And in your defense, I don't think you knew any better. You have no idea who we are or the Russians. Even though the Geneva Convention and UN Constitution ban Human enslavement, you haven't broken any laws. The Geneva convention and the UN only has authority on Earth. Technically speaking, the only thing you are guilty of is wasting NATO's time and money-Which might be a crime in itself, but I'm not a lawyer."

"A trial? For me? On this continent, if a head of state is captured, they are tortured. Or executed. There is no chance for them. Why don't you just do what is right the first time?" Nora asked.

"We don't do things like you because we aren't you. You are a fox. I am a human. Bam! We are already different. We don't think alike. At all. We do things differently because that is what works. Trust me. We have been doing this for thousands of years. We used to be like you, but we elevated. We advanced. We aren't savages. We aren't barbarians. We could be, but we ain't. Tell me, what god is it that you worship?"

"The gods of this world are all magical creatures that walk the ground."

"Right there. We heard the Japanese ran into one of your 'gods' back on the Alnus continent. You think we worship those gods? No. Who the fuck is running around worshipping a girl who would barely qualify for a high school Freshman? I'm not saying that you guys are wrong, but you guys are different. We follow a different set of codes, we have our own creed, our own laws. So, we destroy your laws, we destroy your gods, we destroy your codes, and institute our own. You understand what I am trying to say?"

Nora understood, "Yes."

"Good. Now we have a lot of business to get to. NATO wants to get you to Fredrick as soon as possible, but before then we must do a lot of other stuff. Who oversees the Iscariot Empire right now?"

"I do!"

"Wrong answer. How could you rule the Empire when you are here? In our custody?"

"Well, my second-in-command would naturally take over. He would lead the troops and the rest of our loyal populace to our last bastion. In Brighton. And would try to make a final stand."

Jeb nodded, "I see. Who is this second-in-command?"

"Probably Sir Ann, a red phoenix knight in our land. He would be the person I would've left in control."

Jeb took out a notebook and scribbled something down, "Brighton it is. Sir Ann, I think I've heard about him before. Any chance he accompanied you on a diplomatic mission?"

"Only twice. Once to the 2nd Ithaca summit and a third time when the UN held a conference between Russia, ourselves and NATO."

"Mhmm, Good to know. There may be a small chance. That we can save your empire." Jeb said.