Names:
New Abyssinia—Ezana Tesfa
Nepal—Amisha Yadav
Bhutan—Sonam Dorji
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
March 15, 2023
The door to Ezana's office opened slowly. The nation in question looked up from the reports he'd been overseeing, raising an eyebrow as a young teenager entered the room. He had curly brown hair that was just in the process of being grown out, and showed the beginnings of a handsome ruggedness that would come to dominate his adult years.
Ezana sighed despite himself, standing slowly. His body ached from the coup he had staged to take over the country, so he was sure to be gentle with himself. The boy looked up at him again, eyes flickering back down as the nation moved to meet him.
"Ras Täfäri," the boy murmured, bowing slightly. Ezana shook his head, letting out a long breath.
"I told you not to call me that," he said, arms crossing as he spoke. "Ras Täfäri is a rural name, given because your peers cannot truly understand who I am. When we are in the capital, I am either Ezana Tesfa or New Abyssinia, remember?"
"Yes, New Abyssinia." The boy raised his eyes slightly to meet Ezana's. When the nation shot him a hard look, they flickered back down again.
"You are satisfied currently, correct?" Ezana asked, pulling out a chair. "Here, sit. I see you've grown in the last year since we've seen each other, Alemayehu."
Alemayehu nodded, tersely taking his seat. "Yes, school is nice. I have a few friends."
Ezana hummed, taking his own chair behind his desk and pushing aside his papers. The reports could be finished later. He leaned back, taking in his protégé. He did look healthy and well-fed, but his stature was still rather small, and his hunched posture, almost begging the casual observer to not investigate him, was rather worrying. He'd have to take care of that. After all, he couldn't afford to allow his Temelikachi to grow and become cowardly. Where had that bold, blunt child he had met in North Gondar gone? Perhaps it was time to try another boarding school? He'd hate to separate the boy from whatever friends he may have made—social interaction was vital for mental development at his age—but if it meant he didn't grow to become a pushover and finally rid him of that rural dialect of his…
Ezana cut off that train of thought. That was a matter for another time.
"I can assume why you're here?" He asked, placing a hand under his chin. Alemayehu nodded quickly. "You have seen again."
"Yes."
"What is it this time? Shall I murder Somalia in cold blood and dump her on the side of the road so that we can plant more seeds? Take over the entirety of Africa? How many more must I kill?" Despite the firmness of his voice, it was tinged with a deep sadness, if not regret.
"You didn't… kill Ethiopia," Alemayehu murmured, shifting uncomfortably. "Either way, I only tell you what I see. You can choose whether to follow it or not. I'm sorry if I displease you, but I can't help what I see."
Ezana let out a long, deep breath, knowing in his heart that the child was right. Doing what was right required sacrifices, and if that meant stealing his brother's country for himself (though if he were honest with himself, that part he actually, deep down, liked) and removing him from the picture, then so be it. If it required sacrificing an entire generation of promising young men to war and experiments, then so be it.
"Excuse me," he waved a hand, closing his eyes briefly. "I haven't slept well recently. What did you see, young one?"
"Do you remember my cousin?" he asked softly. "Layla Bekele?" Ezana nodded.
"The one studying biomedicine? She insisted on studying abroad for whatever reason. I told you, she's safe in Germany and receiving the best education possible. All paid for by me, may I remind you."
"When she's done studying, you will bring her back here. She'll be assigned to a lab studying the…" he struggled to remember the word for a moment, failed, and then continued. "Mutated virus. I forget its name. There she will facilitate a way to end the war in just the way we need it to."
That was… rather simple, for once. Ezana nodded. "Alright. I'll file it away. Try to remember the name of the virus. When you do, come back to me. You know the rules."
"Yes, Ras—Ezana." Alemayehu reddened at the slip-up, stood, and was out of the room in a flash.
Ezana sighed, drumming his fingers on the table. Yes, he would have to change things in how he raised his Temelikachi. He was extraordinarily lucky to be the host of one, and even more so to have found him so young. He, his country, and the world as a whole could not afford to let Alemayehu's upbringing go awry. It was bad enough he was born in such a backwards village...
Ezana shook himself. Africa needed to look to the future, one independent from foreign intervention, to survive and prosper. His Temelikachi's sight only proved that long-held belief of his.
Oh, Merille. It's a pity you had to go. You may have bowed to the white men one too many times, but I would never voluntarily put you in your current situation without absolutely having to. One day, you'll understand my motivations.
As long as everything goes according to plan.
Manhattan, New York, USA
January 13, 2024
"So, what exactly is this meeting supposed to be about, again?" Italy yawned, twirling a pencil in between his fingers. "I'm bored!"
"Italien, the meeting's barely started!" Germany snapped, looking irritated. "Please, don't complain today. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep for weeks. I'm not in the mood."
America frowned as her eavesdropped on the conversation. It was a meeting of the higher UN today (basically all the really relevant/powerful countries), which he had called to convene a week earlier. Around the table, Eurasia/Russia (He kept on telling himself that Ivan was Eurasia now, but he had a feeling a part of him would always call him otherwise), England, Germany, India, North and South Italy, and France all sat together, for once not fighting. Germany did look tired, America conceded, judging from the dark bags under the Aryan nation's eyes.
"What's wrong, Doitsu?" North Italy questioned, looking concerned. Germany shook his head.
"Nothing, just a recent election gone awry," he sighed, rubbing his temples. America nodded in sympathy, knowing all too well what a bad election season felt like. "What's going on, anyways? Italien does have a point there."
All eyes turned to America, and he nodded, having expected this, and typed into a keypad at the edge of the table. The wood at the center parted and lowered inside, revealing a digital map of the world, divided into it latitude and longitude lines. He pressed a couple more buttons, and it zoomed in on the country of New Abyssinia and its neighbors, Eritrea and Djibouti.
"New Abyssinia, America?" France questioned. "Why him? I know that they've recently gone through a revolution and representative change, but things have been quite quiet in the horn of Africa for almost a year now."
"And that's exactly my point," America replied. "It's been quiet. Too quiet, if my intel from PXT 2020[1] is to be trusted. I've sent some spies into the area—hey! My satellite systems were showing some suspicious stuff!"
"Alfred, you can't just invade everyone you're suspicious of," England sighed, rubbing his face with one hand.
"Idiota," Romano muttered. America rolled his eyes.
"Anyways, while I was there, I discovered some pretty strange stuff," he continued, frowning. "Strange enough that I wanted to bring it up with all of you."
"Well, at least we know this system works," India sighed, sitting up slightly from his position near the foot of the table. "What's New Abyssinia doing now?"
"Nothing good," America said. He typed on his keypad once again, pulling up a digital documented report and expanding it so everyone could read the words on it. There was silence for a couple minutes as they read, before Italy cut through the quiet with a gasp.
"He's mutating the virus?" He questioned, eyes widening. "Why would they do that?"
"Seconded," Romano agreed with his younger brother, crossing his arms and scowling. "We have enough trouble with Libya and the virus as it is. We don't need mutations coming and screwing up the little progress we've made. It certainly doesn't help that this bastard—" he gestured to Russia. "Isn't sharing his vaccine."
"Well, I'm saying we should invade them now!" America announced, pounding one fist with his hand. "Hit them with a preemptive strike and make sure they don't wipe out the human race with some sort of bioweapon or something!"
"Good luck doing that without a vaccine," Russia cut in, uncharacteristically serious. "Unlike what Romano is claiming, I'm not keeping the vaccine out of spite. I do believe I've told you this already. Someone stole not some, but all of the vaccine before I could mass-produce it, and I'm still working on trying to retrieve what I've lost."
"I don't know," England cut in. "It seems that New Abyssinia is becoming quite the threat. Shouldn't you help us like you did with ISIS?"
"New Abyssinia isn't trying to kill everyone, da? I am much more worried about these bandits. I am going to give them a piece of their own medicine. I have recently found new evidence on who stole it, and I'm keen to enact revenge..."
"For the last time, Eurasia, Ukraine didn't have anything to do with the theft," Germany protested. "We've defended her this long, and we will continue to!"
"You all worry too much, da?" Russia replied coolly. "I've recently retracted my claims against my sister. New evidence has come to light that the bandits fled into Iran."
"Not the Middle East again!" Italy cried, panicking. "It's too hot! Why can they just not cause trouble for once!?[2]"
"I don't think so," Alfred replied, knowing the idea was very unlikely. "Ever since the United Middle East Coalition formed[3], they've been pretty quiet, and no issues like this have been brought up to any of us in the past couple months or so. Perhaps this thief serves New Abyssinia."
"Eurasia's research on the vaccine could aid in any mutations they hope to trigger," France conceded, putting a hand up to his chin in thought. Germany nodded in agreement. "As well as inform him how far along we are in studying it."
"If it was them, my threat still stands." Russia had taken on a terrifying expression, causing Veneziano to cling to Romano in fright. America just deadpanned his old rival. He'd survived and won the Cold War! This was nothing.
On the other hand, though…
I need to get my hands on the vaccine or create one of my own before Russia does. Then I can cure this disease and stop this whole mess before any sanctions or worse come out of it.
"Italy, would you mind if I borrowed some land in Libya? Near Benghazi or Al Bayda?" He asked abruptly. Romano raised an eyebrow, silently asking him to explain. "It's to be my new base against New Abyssinia. We're moving in, but slowly and steadily. We don't want another situation like North Korea on our hands."
"Help us out with our antiviral program and you got yourself a deal," Romano replied, trying to shake off Veneziano's tight grip on his arm. "Libya's been hounding me about it for months. Let go of me, Fratello!" He shoved his younger brother into his seat.
"Awesome! It's a deal, then. A win-win for both of us." Alfred pumped his hand in the air, glad things worked out so well. Now, for the hard part.
New Abyssinia.
August 8, 2024
Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
"Really, Amisha, this has been a wonderful trip. It will most certainly stay in my memory for a long time." Sonam smiled, tucking his hands inside of the long sleeves of his gho. "I don't usually put much emphasis on my birthday, nor do I often leave my country, so this is a welcome change in routine."
Amisha Yadav smiled at her old friend, smoothing out the wrinkles in her traditional Sherpa tribe dress to hide her blush. It had been a long time since she and one of her only friends, Sonam Dorji, had gotten together, and she had been lonely without him. Sonam's birthday had been a good excuse to have him over. They'd had a wonderful time, too, hiking and exploring her native Kathmandu valley. Though she'd lived here for hundreds of years and knew the land like the back of her hand, it was an amazing experience to walk it with a trusted friend at her side.
"Thank you, Sonam. I would dare to say that I've had more fun than you!"
The dark-haired young man laughed. Indeed, she'd frightened him more than once by climbing in the trees to astonishing heights and taking daredevil jumps every now and again. But it was all in good fun, and Sonam, thankfully, easily let it go.
It was nice to be able to relax, especially in the light of recent events. Amisha sighed, reaching one hand up the sleeve of her dress to finger the cold bandage that she'd put on her forearm several days ago. Yes, she needed this break from reality.
"Amisha, I've been asking this all day. Are you sure you're alright?" Sonam questioned, looking concerned as he noticed the dark-haired woman's movement. "You've been worried for this entire trip and have refused to talk about your own home life. Can't you just talk to me about it?" He laughed. "It's not like I can tell anyone about it!"
Amisha sighed, looking around at the wooded trail they were hiking in. She loved this valley and her people. Why did things have to be like this?
"My people discovered a new mineral several weeks ago," she blurted out, finally cracking. "It's extremely rare and we were hoping to sell it to raise our economy levels."
"Well, that's extremely good news!" Sonam exclaimed, smiling. Then he looked at her, a young man barely out of his teenage years, with a sudden frown. "Something happened, didn't it? That's why you asked me to come out here, even though it's the middle of the week."
Amisha sighed, pulling up the sleeve of her left arm and exposing the deep wound on it. Sonam stiffened, and she quickly pulled it back down again.
"This mineral…" she murmured. "Has explosive properties. Extremely explosive properties. It killed over 175 people when we accidentally set it off while trying to harvest it. Now my people are panicking, my government is going to extreme measures to contain the mineral and my people, and India and Tibet have been on my back about whatever I've been hiding from them—I've been able to keep most of the information from them, but it's only a matter of time. I called you out here because I'm trying to postpone a meeting with India so my government can formulate a plan to try and negotiate a way out of this situation."
"Amisha…" Sonam blinked, taken aback. "You should've told me earlier. I may be a small nation, but I could've helped a little bit."
"You only represent Bhutan, my friend," Amisha sighed. "And I Nepal. What difference in this situation could either you or I make? I didn't want to put you in danger."
"Still…" Sonam frowned and looked towards the ground. "We're friends, Amisha. I at least want to try."
"Thanks," The brown-haired woman smiled. "I'm glad, Sonam, to have a friend like you."
"As am I," Bhutan smiled, and they began walking down the path once again. "And if this is the only way I can help, then I'll gladly keep you in this valley for as long as possible."
Some time passed in relative silence as the duo made their way back to the small village they had been staying in for the last few days. A couple words were passed, but mostly the two South Asian nations of Nepal and Bhutan were content to let the nature speak for itself as they walked.
After an hour or so, another person came into sight. Amisha frowned as the man came into view, trying to place where she had seen him before, as he was still a fairly long distance away. Then, three more men, with military uniforms and rifles, turned around the bend, and the Nepali woman froze. Sonam grabbed her uninjured forearm.
"You need to run," he murmured. Amisha gulped and turned around to see two more men come up behind her. They were trapped.
"Nepal! You can't run any longer!" India's voice bellowed through the mountainside. As he and his military men came closer, Amisha felt something cold brush against her wrist. A blade. Sonam hadn't let go of her arm, and had discreetly passed her a weapon. She wasn't surprised—most nations carried something to defend themselves with, the only reason she didn't was because she had forgotten her pistol in her room that morning—but was shocked that her friend was willing to give it to her. Not willing to risk her friend any more, she swiftly pulled her arm away. Neither looked at each other, not willing to give away what had just passed between them.
"Ever since tensions between us have heightened, you've been hiding something, Nepal," India accused as soon as he came within their normal vocal range. He gestured to his men, who aimed their guns at the two nations. "I have no quarrel with you, Bhutan. I suggest you stay out of this."
The Himalayan nation shared nothing, simply risking a furtive glance at Amisha. She quietly motioned for him to move. This was her problem, not his. She was a fool for bringing him into this. Her hand curled around the hidden dagger in her sleeve. She took a deep breath and put on a brave face. She may be a small and insignificant nation, but she wasn't going down without a fight, damn it!
"You're acting like Pakistan, India," Amisha challenged, voice sounding much more confident than she felt. "Accusing everyone all the time. What are you trying to do? Become the next America?"
India scowled, he clenching his fists, and Amisha felt a twinge of satisfaction. Pakistan was always his father's weak point; it was always too easy to get him angry about the younger nation.
"Don't bring Pakistan into this," the rising world power hissed. "I have five guns on you right now. Don't do anything you'll regret. What are you hiding Nepal? I'll give you one more chance."
"It's nothing dangerous!" Amisha bluffed. "Leave me alone!"
"I would if it wasn't for the police killing your people," came the harsh reply. "And the mineral that can kill two hundred people in a single blow. My army is storming your country as we speak. Why do think no one stopped me from coming here?"
Amisha froze, her blood turning to ice. She focused on her people, and, true enough, she could feel a certain crumbling inside of her as they spoke. Her government was falling.
"Get her."
The men rushed forwards and Sonam let out a cry, looking terrified at the prospect of battle. Amisha's grip tightened around her knife, and she swiftly dodged the first man who came up to her, rushing off to the side. Whipping out her blade, she sliced blindly at the man before racing desperately down the path and past India. The old nation sighed and made a motion with his hand, and a crack echoed through the valley.
Amisha's leg suddenly gave out below her, and she collapsed with a cry. Her hand reached towards her calf, and came back red. She glared through teary eyes at India, who looked back emotionlessly.
"You never had a chance, Nepal," he sighed. "No one can help you. Bhutan is too weak. Tibet doesn't want to get the minerals inside his borders. You have no one."
"Ra tapā'īṁ kukura hunuhuncha[4]," Amisha hissed back, hair hanging over her eyes. India's eye twitched. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but there was no doubt between them that it was an insult.
"Only I can dispose of these minerals properly," India announced. Two of the army men came forwards and hoisted her up roughly by the arms. This time, Amisha didn't resist, instead opting to glare hatefully at her new oppressor.
"You think anyone will trust you after this, India?" Sonam challenged, looking frightened but strong. Amisha froze. "With actions like these we're all going to be cautious around you. You better not hurt Amisha any more than you already have."
Please, don't get hurt because of me.
"If you want to challenge me, then go ahead," India shrugged. "But if you want to live, then I suggest you leave my country within the next 24 hours. Goodbye."
Amisha felt herself being dragged away, and she locked eyes with Sonam, giving him a goodbye that she felt was going to last for a long time….
[1]- Project X Terra 2020. I got tired of writing that out over and over again, so now its abbreviated.
[2]- No offense to the Middle East! Italy is just being overdramatic since the last major war he'd taken part in was there.
[3]- A presiding body over the Middle East and other major Arab countries (like Egypt and Algeria). It's not that relevant to the plot, so you can imagine how it works.
[4]- "And you are a dog." I don't know/couldn't find any good Nepali insults, so I just put this into Google Translate
World News (February 29, 2023 to July 20, 2025):
1) Bandits steal the vaccine from the Eurasian Union. The Eurasian Union blames West Ukraine for the theft. NATO defends West Ukraine against the accusation.
2) New Abyssinia closes their borders without stating why
3) New Abyssinia is spending funds on the virus for confidential purposes
4) USA develops more spider tech
5) New Abyssinia deports foreign scientists
6) The UN condemns New Abyssinia's actions
7) Communication with New Abyssinia has been shut down by the country
8) China's sponge cities continue to increase. Their water crisis is slowly fading
9) Brunei ruins Dubai's money reputation
10) Eurasian Union proposes to give independence to Central Asia in order to maintain balance in the world
11) An agreement is signed where if New Order Venezuela remains stable until 2030, they can join NATO
12) Greece proposes to rejoin the EU once their debt crisis is resolved
13) Ransomware shuts down the entire network of Siri Lanka
14) Anti-viruses manage to create a way to decrypt the ransomware keys
15) Nepal finds some interesting minerals. However, they are very dangerous, and they exploded, killing approximately 175 people. There has been no response from the government.
16) The proposed independence of the Central Asian nations did not pass
17) Tibet warns Nepal not to send refugees to his nation due to the mysterious mineral
18) Bhutan closes his border with India
19) Tibet and Bhutan sign a no-dangerous mineral policy
20) Pakistan warns India about reparations if any of the dangerous minerals harms him or his people
21) Bhutan and Tibet begin to construct a mountain highway to increase their trade. China opposes this idea
22) Ransomware attacks Chinese systems, slowing down operations
23) Thanks to an Italian-American co-op, a vaccine for the virus in Ethiopia has been developed
Pay attention to the 4th and 23rd World News headlines. They'll be rather important later...
