Now that the first play-by-play war is beginning, there's going to be a new part of the chapters, at the beginning of each segment where necessary. Posted here will be the cities and countries in solid control of both sides, those in danger of being overtaken, and those on the front lines. For big wars such as this one, the list may be long, so feel free to just glance over it.

To the guest who reviewed, the AOT fic is abandoned. I'd appreciate it if you reviewed my current works for their content and not something I'm embarrassed about and only keep up because it's popular. Kudos to you if you actually read this whole story, though.


Chapter 9: Love and War

January 3, 2027

Rome, Italy

New Abyssinia—Safe: Addis Ababa; Mogadishu; Asmara. In Danger: None Fallen: None

Front Lines: Nairobi and Nakuru, Kenya; Abri and Al Fashir, Sudan

Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti—Safe: Kisumu, Kenya. In Danger: None. Fallen: Djibouti; South Sudan; Khartoum, Sudan; Marsabit, Kenya.

World Meetings in and of themselves were rare. Only once every five years did the countries of the world dare to gather together to discuss problems and try to fix them. Usually nothing good came of them, save for that one time back in 2015 when they moved to rid the world of ISIS. Emergency World Meetings were even rarer. Though any of the big five (USA, China, France, UK, Eurasian Union) could call one at any time, it had actually only been enacted twice, once at the onset of World War 2, and once during the recession of 2008.

This made the fact that America had thought New Abyssinia a big enough threat to the world to call one was even more worrying.

Romano kept his arms crossed tightly across his chest as the doors to the meeting place in Rome opened and nations slowly began to file in, most confused and worried. At his side, Veneziano was unusually quiet, having been lectured by his brother multiple times to get the idea that pasta was not needed to solve the problem through his head. America was also already here as well, preparing to speak at the head of the table. Romano had to admit (if only to the deepest parts of his mind), that he was impressed with how many had shown up. Everyone except Algeria in the Arab League had responded to the call, as well as around two-thirds of NATO. The Eurasian Union and several other non-Arab League and NATO countries had reserved a place in the meeting as well.

Even so, it had taken over a month to get everything together. In that time, Djibouti and South Sudan had fallen (though that wasn't really a surprise), while Kenya and Sudan were barely holding on, despite a rushed UN task force being sent to help. Thousands had died.

What a merry Christmas that had made. Romano had spent his only day off that month desperately trying to catch up on his sleep.

He watched silently as Denmark and Norway entered the room, followed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. This was going to be one heck of a meeting, he could tell. Would the accused nation here even show up? New Abyssinia had forgone attending any meetings after he had taken over the government from his brother. He probably wouldn't come. Although the World Meeting invitation technically applied to all nations, no one had expected Ezana to take up the offer. He was practically the new version of North Korea.

"Fratello! The meeting's starting!"

Veneziano's voice snapped Romano out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see that indeed, the meeting was beginning. America stood up as everyone grabbed a seat in the crowded room (this was a NATO meeting building, not a World Meeting one, but they had managed to squeeze enough seats in).

"What's up guys!" America shouted into his microphone, causing everyone present to wince and cover their ears, save for Finland and Norway[1]. "Thanks for comin' on such short notice!"

"Have some restraint, America!" Germany shouted from his seat next to Iraq. "You've nearly deafened us all!"

"Oh, sorry," he apologized, rubbing his head sheepishly. Romano shook his head. America may be twenty physically[2], but he still acted like a twelve-year-old at times. Well, a lot of the time. "Anyways, you all know why we're here, right?"

"Mostly," England responded. "But you didn't go into details. What's all this about New Abyssinia and superheroes?"

"Super soldiers," America corrected. "Like from the Marvel Universe! Captain America! But evil!"

"Oh, kill me now," the island nation muttered, facepalming. "Why did I even come here in the first place?"

"Oi, America!" Romano spoke up, folding his arms and sending his ally a harsh look. At this rate, no one was going to take them seriously. "You tell the story right or I will!"

"Okay, okay," the young country huffed. "Sheesh. Anyways…"

Romano didn't pay much attention as America went into the details about New Abyssinia and the threat he posed to the world. He'd been studying the subject for months now. A small stab of fear shot through him as he thought of those super soldiers. Dammit! He still couldn't help but be afraid of this war, despite the fact that he'd been investigating it for so long. At least the other nations seemed to be taken aback as well as America continued telling of what had happened.

America's voice drew him back into the conversation again.

"We believe that the cause of this cause of super soldier serum' may have been stem from Eurasian Union's vaccine, the one that was stolen around five years ago," he finished.

"You are accusing me of this?" Russia spoke up. There was a suddenly coldness in the air around him, causing Egypt and Belgium, on either side of him, to try and scoot away. He turned to the two Italies, and Feliciano squeaked and hid under the table. Romano managed to keep his ground, though his eyes flickered uncertainly and he winced almost violently. "You should provide proof to support your claim instead of having America shout your accusations, Италия[3]. Unless you want to face the consequences."

"We're not accusing you of anything, Russia!" America cut in, saving Romano from having to respond. "It's far more interesting to study this virus, Vipeaira, instead."

Eurasia deadpanned his old rival, which America returned with the same intensity. The rest of the countries in the room began to shift uneasily, brought back to the days of the Cold War.

"Look, you two," Germany stood up and held his hands in a placating manner. "We don't need another problem." He turned to Romano and Veneziano, who had just peeked from under the table again. "You've been researching this virus, Vipeaira or whatever they're calling it now. How much longer will it take to find a way to cure and reverse its effects?"

"With New Mexico's help and at my current rate? Two years, at the least," Romano responded. "And even that's pushing it pretty hard."

"I don't know if we have that much time," Germany warned. "Any way you can speed it up?"

"I don't even have any living specimens to study! This is as short as I can make it! It's not like Veneziano can hack them either; their firewalls are much too strong."

"North Italy can hack?" Nigeria spoke up from his place near the back.

"It's just another form of art, so it isn't that hard," Romano's brother laughed awkwardly. "I don't do it a lot because fratello gets upset whenever I set Ransomware on him after an argument."

"I can try and help you with that endeavor," the African nation volunteered. "Maybe we can get some Ransomware attacks of our own into New Abyssinia's computers. Try and buy you some time."

"I'll help as well," Estonia offered, raising a hand.

"That won't buy us two years," America mused. "Not with Sudan and Kenya on the verge of collapse. New Abyssinia isn't going to stop with them."

"That's where we come in," Saudi Arabia spoke up, a large, dark man in a white keffiyeh. "New Abyssinia has overstepped his boundaries for the last time. First with the annexation of Somalia, and now that of Djibouti and Sudan. On behalf of my allies, the Arab League declares war on the State of New Abyssinia!"

"Seconded!" Egypt added, followed by assent from the rest of the Arab League members in the room, hardly anyone hesitating the decision in a practiced confirmation.

Romano and America shared a knowing look. They had expected the Arab League to help them in such a manner, but they still wouldn't stand a chance against the superhuman armies of New Abyssinia, being composed of mostly third-world nations. The choice was made between them in moments, and America huffed.

"Back to war again, I suppose," he announced. "Italy and I give our full support to the Arab League, and declare war on New Abyssinia. Will the North Atlantic Treaty Organization follow us? New Abyssinia has been abusing biotechnology in warfare, and that is cause to interfere."

"I guess we help," Germany agreed. "These soldiers have inhuman powers."

"Seconded," England added, nodding his head.

"I may be able to assist you guys against the regime as well," Venezuela put in her own two cents, shooting a look at America. Romano nodded to himself. She had been aspiring to join NATO for some time now; this would speed up the process. Her oil deposits would also be of great use to the war effort.

"Then it is decided?" America stated. He turned to Russia. "Eurasia, will you help us?"

"Nyet. You can handle this on your own, da?"

"Fine, suit yourself. Anyone else?"

The room was silent, and the young superpower took that as assent.

"Alright then. Anyone who is involved in the war, stay behind so we can work out some battle plans. The rest of you may leave."


January 29, 2027

Murzuq, Libya

New Abyssinia and Territories—Safe: Addis Ababa; Mogadishu; Asmara; Khartoum; Juba; Nairobi. In Danger: None Fallen: None

Front Lines: Taif, Saudi Arabia; Nizwa, Oman; Asyut, Egypt; Murzuq, Libya.

Allied—Safe: New York, USA; London, England; Berlin, Germany; Rome, Italy; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In Danger: Sabha, Libya; Suez and Cairo, Egypt; Mecca and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Muscat, Oman. Fallen: Kenya; Sudan; South Sudan; Djibouti; Yemen; Aswan, Egypt.

Three weeks. Just a little bit more than three weeks and they were already losing.

Germany sighed, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the desert sun. Just on the horizon, one could see tendrils of smoke rising in the air from the battles taking place only a dozen or so miles away.

They were going to have to evacuate the city soon. Indeed, most of the civilians had already left for northern Libya. He wished more than anything he could be out on the front lines right now, like he had been in the World Wars and in the war against ISIS. It was a bad habit of his, going out onto the front lines when he could be helping strategically with his military's high command. But he couldn't just sit around while his men died against the enemy. At least it was a problem most nations seemed to struggle with.

"Things are starting to get dicey out there. I say a half an hour before we have to leave."

"All our items are packed," Germany responded, turning to face Morocco. The young woman had her usually long, curly brown hair tucked into a neat bun, and wore a tan camouflage uniform to match with the desert landscape, the same kind that Germany himself was wearing. "We should get going." But he didn't move.

Morocco sighed and they lapsed into silence again. The nations in the war against New Abyssinia had been scattered in pairs along the front lines in Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. It was pure bad luck that Germany and Morocco had gotten paired together. Neither had actually met before, which made things more than a little bit awkward between the two.

"Should we call a full-scale retreat?" The African woman asked after a minute or two. "Try and regroup in Sabha?"

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Germany nodded, finally finding it in himself to move away from the balcony they were standing on and inside. The coolness of the air-conditioned home (one that had been repurposed for the war after the original well-off family had left) soothed his near sunburned skin. Morocco followed him as he pulled up one of his viewing computers in the main room (that was a new invention of America's, a large tablet that one used to type, which emitted a two-dimensional holographic projection of the screen). He pulled out the tablet and clicked open a map of Sabha, Murzuq, and the surrounding areas, allowing it to expand to two feet long and high in the air.

"Sabha is almost 143 kilometers away[4]," Morocco announced. "It's going to take us a little while to get there."

"But it's the best we have," Germany sighed, looking over the map to see if he could find a better route. "You have any other ideas? You're a Saharan nation."

"Bring a lot of water," came the response. "You'd be surprised how often you Europeans forget how precious it is out here."

"Got it," Germany replied, about to close the map when he received a notification on the tablet. "What?"

"It seems you're getting a video call," Morocco remarked, lips twitching upwards. "I wonder who?"

She was being ironic and they both knew it. In the past month, Italy had made sure to call him at least twice a day, babbling on about how hard he, Nigeria, and Estonia were working on, then worrying for as long as possible about him and Romano. It usually ended up with Germany being forced to hang up on him so he'd get back to work. It was both endearing and extremely annoying.

He sighed, but clicked on the blinking phone icon and watched as Italy's happy face filled the screen, waving spastically.

"Ciao, Doitsu!" The Italian greeted. Germany sighed.

"Hallo, Italien…" he muttered. "Look, I am extremely busy right now. Can you call me back tomorrow?"

"No!" Came the cheerful reply. "Doitsu, we finally did it! We hacked into New Abyssinia's computers!"

Both Morocco and Germany jumped, then shared a skeptical look at each other before turning back to Italy, silently asking for an explanation. Then Germany noticed at Italy's eyes had slight bags under them, and he seemed exhausted, his usual cheer carried an abnormal undercurrent to it.. That wasn't like Feliciano at all; he usually took a nap under even the slightest of nudges.

"Partially, Italy. Don't raise their hopes." Another figure came into view, and this time both countries winced at his look.

If Italy looked tired, the Estonia looked like he was about to collapse. Dark bags, sallow skin, everything pointed to him having not slept for a couple days at least.

"We got some ransomware into Abyssinia," the Baltic continued. "So hopefully we hit their government computers and not just some civilians'. How's the African campaign going?"

"Horribly," both Morocco and Germany replied at the same time. The German continued. "We're about to evacuate Murzuq. That'll be the third retreat this week."

"What do you know. The same thing's happening in Egypt and Saudi Arabia," Estonia responded. "And Oman fell and was occupied a couple days ago. Hey, why don't you just burn everything once you leave? Then they couldn't get any of your supplies."

"Burn it?" Morocco protested. "People live here! We can't just burn down everything they own!"

"Well, it worked for Russia. I'm just saying."

"Hey, don't fight, you guys!" Italy cut in. "We need to work together!"

"Estonia has a point, Morocco," Germany mused. "This city is one of the only oases around. If we destroy that and any shelter, there is a chance we could maybe slow them down. Give Romano a little more time."

Morocco scowled, but Germany could see that they had sold her on the idea.

"Fine," she muttered. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose."

"We'll help them rebuild," Germany compromised, deciding to ignore how much that would cost if they decided to continue on this trend.

"Sir!" The door opened, and a German general entered. "It's time to leave! New Abyssinian forces are closing in as we speak!"

"We have to go," Germany carried on the message to Estonia and Italy. "Keep up the good work. Hopefully we'll be able to meet face-to-face soon enough."

"Bye-bye!"

"Who knows," Estonia chuckled. "Maybe we actually stand a chance now."


[1]- Rock bands. They're used to loud noises.

[2]- He's aged since 2015. Only one year, but still.

[3]- Italy in Russian (At least, I hope. That's Google Translate for ya).

[4]- Around 89 miles

World News (January 3, 2027 to January 30, 2027):

1) The Arab League declares war on New Abyssinia

2) NATO declares war on New Abyssinia for using a dangerous virus as a weapon

3) New Order Venezuela prepares to side with NATO against New Abyssinia

4) The Eurasian Union refuses to participate in the war to remove attention from their vaccines

5) Inhuman soldiers suppress the people of Yemen

6) Saudi Arabia's royal air force bombs the enemy troops in Yemen

7) Sand is unable to handle the inhuman soldiers, which is causing a lot of sinkholes to appear

8) Canada plans to withdraw from the war

9) Italy infected some of New Abyssinia's computers with ransomware. This time, the ransomware asks for virus data, not money