Chapter 108
A New Cold-War?
Faction info: The Resurgent Enclave
With the end of the Cold War in 75, and the SRU being victorious, the Enclave split into various small groups. The largest faction was the extremist Enclave forces, many of whom were business tycoons who spent the next few decades rebuilding the Enclave.
Slowly gaining supporters in the military and the government once again they started to look on how to strike back at its enemies, the Venezuelan Empire was the prime Target, they had left the SRU but were currently in a delicate political situation,
The emperor Rafael II of the Royal House Sequera had died with no heir. His Nephew Gaspard Duke Tucupita, son of the emperor's brother and his French Wife, a general in the Army, was the rightful heir.
Only he was betrayed as the Council voted in favour of his Cousin, Duchess Maria of Trujillo; this led to divisions as Duke Gaspard took the Capital of Caracas hoping to capture his cousin, only for her to have fled to the summer palace on the south shore of Lake Maracaibo with the majority of the nobility and government.
What wasn't known to the two factions was the Enclave had planed all of it, they killed the emperor, they bribed enough of the council to vote in Maria, hell they even blew up American owned oil refineries and rigs to give their members in the senate to gain support for military intervention.
Many wanted to focus on the Incan Empire to gain revenge for their humiliating defeat decades ago, but knew that would bring Sparta into the conflict and possibly starting another world war, one many Enclave Generals knew they would not be able to win.
Venezuelan empire
Capital-Caracas (Disputed current civil war)
Territories- from Colombia in the west to Greater Suriname in the east. (Greater Suriname is made up of real-world Suriname and French Guiana)
Leaders- Empress Maria of House Sequera (Disputed due to Civil War, Grand Duke Gaspard claims to be rightful Emperor)
Throne Room
Imperial palace
Sparta, Greece
Spartan Empire
The entire family and council watched in complete silence as their Queen read the report from her spies in the Americas, with an amused look. "So, the Enclave shows itself again decades after they crumbled. Hmm I have to give them credit for their boldness."
"What should we do about this my Queen?" Admiral Titus Ptolemy asked her, and he did have a point had this happened 8 years ago Sparta and the Entire SRU would have send an invasion force thus starting another world war.
That's when it hit her: The Enclave deliberately targeted the Venezuelan empire, as they were no longer under her protection. "Interesting, it appears the Enclave has grown a brain. For now, Admiral, we will continue to watch the situation. As long as both royals are fighting each other, the Empire won't have the strength to beat back the Americans."
Kassandra decided to watch and see what the Americans planed while sending mages to the Empire to try and convince the two factions to set aside their differences and work together, yeah it was a long shot but it would keep any spies on their toes.
Kassandra said goodbye to her daughters and granddaughter as they returned to there own homes leaving Kassandra and Hippolyta alone in there private wing relaxing on the sofas.
"You are planning something, aren't you, love? You cannot just sit this one out." Hippolyta asked her with a knowing smile. If there was one thing Kass enjoyed, it was unique types of warfare, and the Cold War was very enjoyable for her beloved Spartan.
Kassandra just grinned, oh she had plans all right she knew who she wanted to win the Civil war and she wanted to break the Enclave to such a state that not even the gods would be able to aid them. (not that the gods would they enjoyed watching there fellow Olympian screwing with the mortals)
1 month later
Site Beta
Nevada USA
Situation room
Level 3
"Mr President, our forces have full control of the peninsula and majority control of the Falcon State, thought we are facing serious resistance Los Pedros in the west and the town Tucacas in the east." Enclave commander Frank Reagan informed his President as he looked at the latest intel from the front.
The President looked at the reports, the Forces loyal to Duke Gaspard were supplying the town via land and sea using its location on one of the nations main highways as well as its ports as well as providing some air cover using the airfield in the town of Puerto Cabello.
Normally the USAF would be able to defeat the Venezuelan Air Force quite easy, but despite gaining support for the war, the Enclave could not get a blank check and was only given a limited amount of Air Power as this was officially a peacekeeping mission.
"Do the forces loyal to the Duke and Empress still attack each other, how can they have the manpower to hold our forces back?
"Yes, sir thought not with the same level they had in previous weeks, it appears they see a foreign power sending troops as the greater threat, we are also reviving news from locations such as New York and LA that the attacks on the Oil Refineries were staged by our forces."
"This is getting out of hand. We have to get ahead of this before our enemies find out. Order our forces to divert attention to the east and make a push for Caracas." The President Ordered his commander, who nodded and left.
President Bush returned to DC, using the Presidential metro, one of the largest underground metro systems on the planet. It was originally designed and planned to connect every US Military Facility to the Capital, but economic situations and the Collapse of the Original Enclave saw it only connect all Federal Buildings in DC and the surrounding Military Facility's,
So, to get back to the White House he had to Fly to Andrews and take the Metro to the White House, the problem with being the President of the Republic was it was nearly impossible for him to be seen traveling to secret locations when the Shadow Government didn't exist anymore, also when you're trying to keep your enemies from finding out you have regained your strength.
Fort Daws
Deer Island
Massachusetts USA.
"Brothers and sisters, our allies have alerted us to a horrifying truth, the Enclave has regained its hold on our Republic, this war in Venezuelan Empire is all a ploy to gain some petty revenge against the SRU and control over the Empires Vast oil reserves."
The various military ranks argued about what to do. They were not well prepared to fight the Enclave again, but just who were these people? That's simple: They were the Circle of Steel, the Ruling Council of the Brotherhood of Steel.
Once a group that could Rival the Enclave, but were now only a fraction of their former strength hell even their old allies the minutemen had officially disbanded 12 years ago while they themselves have maybe 2000 members across the USA.
"Elder, we must focus on rebuilding our coffers to wartime levels, if the Enclave indeed have some significant patrol over the wheels of government, we have to assume our finances within the military are compromised." Paladin Ramos, a major in the US army rangers told his Elder and fellow members of the circle.
He was right, while they had some assets within the civilian sector, they had benefitted from having members in high-ranking posts in the military they had neglected to secure more independent funding.
They agreed to use the money they had already syphoned from the DoD budget to invest in new industries and property to establish their order again, for just as the assets linked to the military were now possibly compromised, so were their Chapters.
And with that, battle lines were starting to be drawn. The Enclave's internal security services would discover the return of the Brotherhood in early 2002. With the war in the South grinding to a standstill, the Brotherhood had secured new hidden facilities ready to cause chaos to the Enclave.
Kassandria Egypt
Royal Palace
Princess Diana Agiad was reading her copy of the reports of the new situation in the Americas with a smile on her face, (my mother sure loves causing chaos) she thought to herself as she lay the documents down on her desk before getting up and walking towards the private gardens of the palace estate.
To spend the rest of the day lying by the garden pools as musicians played peaceful music, or she would have had it not been for a certain sister known as Donna deciding to pop in to pay a visit to her big sister (annoy her).
"Dear Donna, to what do I owe the pleasure of the Duchess of Byzantium in my city? Diana asked, happy to see her sister but annoyed, knowing her day of peace was now gone. She turned to look at her smiling sister.
"Hmm I'm moved by your sisterly affection Diana, I only came to ask if you received the report from mother too, there is talk that mother has called for her high command to plan for a possible 2nd Cold-War".
Both sisters smiled, knowing that their beloved mother was probably overjoyed at the thought of another proxy way with the Americans—well, the enclave—but they were basically the same thing anyway, as far as the Spartans were aware.
"Oh, believe me, dear sister. I know, all Western ships entering the canal or my ports are being double-checked, their crew IDs are being checked with the Imperial shipping registry for all foreign-registered ships, and unregistered ships are being given lesser priority to cross the canal," Diana told her sister as they walked towards her office.
"So, will this Cold War be like the last, or will it turn hot? Donna asked, earning an eye roll from Diana, but secretly it was something the Duchess of Kassandria did wonder about; America was a superpower with only the British and Russian Empires of Europe and the Indian Chinese and Japanese Empires of the SRU as there Equals there was no doubt about that but Sparta was without a doubt the world's only Hyperpower.
As they walked towards the office, they stopped at the war room, it was quite empty only a few officers from the Battle mage corps, using their magic to show updates on the current conflict in Venezuela.
"Major, what is the current status of the war troop numbers specifically".
"As you command, my Princess, the war seems to be mostly contained within Venezuela itself, most likely to prevent total devastation to the empire, or it just has not spread there yet. As for who supports whom, the Empress has the backing of the council and the military unities in Columbia and the Western half of Venezuela."
"Hmm interesting and what of the Duke Gaspard? Donna asked.
"Ah yes, in terms of military strength, he has the backing of the troops in their Eastern Provinces of Greater Suriname and Guyana, as well as control of much of Eastern Venezuela, including its Capital of Caracas, though the Americans have focused their efforts on taking the capital."
"Here's a more detailed report on this parchment." The Major spoke, waving his hand, conjuring a piece of parchment with everything she needed before returning to his duties. Both sisters looked down at the parchment.
Venezuela conflict
Population of the Empire- 66,839,466 people
Military strength- currently unknown, (2.5 million before the war)
US Task forces troop numbers
21,000 personnel
100 helicopters, attack, and transport
4 C-130 Hercules Transports
20 F-18 Fighter Aircraft
Reports indicate Enclave is attempting to gain more support and funding from the Senate.
Giving their thanks, both sisters walked away towards Diana's office. Taking a seat behind her desk, she gave Donna a look. "It appears the Enclave is not full strength if they have sent so few men, wouldn't you say, Donna?"
"Indeed, sister, what should we do until we receive word from our mothers about our next move? She asked, seeing her older sister grin as she pulled out a game on Senet, making Donna Groan in all their matches these past few centuries. Donna had never won once.
Both sisters believed things would be quiet for them for a while, and they were right. It wasn't until early 2001 that things changed for Sparta. The Americans took the City of Carcass and received additional funding as the Civil War spread to the entire empire.
