Introductory Notes: So now we begin the first major conflict of Captain Mahogany series, stories posted under this title will be of events that happen in this time period.
Summary: A Brief History of Bereznik and its conflict with the rest of the world.
Bereznik
2099
For a country that didn't exist prior to the first global conflict, Bereznik already had a long and bloody history.
Made up of several parts of formerly unstable countries of Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the country had formed to provide a haven for those that didn't agree with the current world government.
The country was a dictatorship, run by corrupt officials that controlled the most political power.
Women, children and men that were unfortunate enough to get on the wrong side of the ruling party, had little to no rights and were treated like slaves (actually they were, but the ruling government had claimed that they were getting paid for their work).
Most of the country's resources and wealth were channeled into things that guaranteed the ruling party's control and comfort, but surprisingly the crime rate was low (this was due to the harsh punishment for minor crimes , where the minimum sentence, was either five years of servitude or the loss of a hand or other body parts depending on the severity of the offence).
The only good thing the country had going for it, was the fact it didn't use religion as an excuse for their actions.
Needless to say, the world government had so many trade sanctions on Bereznik, it was amazing that they had any trade at all.
But considering Bereznik led the world in the trade of illegal goods that were smuggled in and off the country, because the countries that surrounded Bereznik had issues controlling their borders and the GDF wasn't much help in that regard.
So the world government was happy to ignore the country, for the most part, the country's airspace was a no fly zone, and people had to have special permits to enter the country.
In fact if it wasn't for Bereznik's rather annoying habit of funding, organising and executing terror attacks on the innocent civilians of countries that were under the govern of the world government, ordinary people probably wouldn't realise the country existed.
The first major conflict with Bereznik, after the country first formed, happened in the mid 2050's, after a series terror attacks happened across the world and claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including the third man to step foot on Mars and his wife.
The conflict lasted for two years, only ending after Bereznik signed a non-aggression pact with the World Government.
After the treaty was signed, it appeared that Bereznik was following the conditions to the letter, with the only terror attacks being done by stand alone criminals or groups.
That was until Spectrum managed to capture a couple of firebugs that were trying to burnout half of Australia, when it discovered that the group that they were a part of had backers that apparently worked for Bereznik's ruling party.
Bereznik denied knowing about it, claiming that it must have been a couple rebels in their own government funding the stunts, and that they would hunt down and find the people responsible.
It was a convenient coincidence that the people that the Bereznik rebels that the government deemed responsible, happened to be the ruling party's strongest opponents.
Things went quiet on the Bereznik front, for the next few years after that until the missile attack on the world security conference in 2098, where most of the world's military and security leaders were killed in the blast.
Spectrum, due to a fluke of circumstances, was the only organisation that didn't lose any of its people in the attack, not that it was reported as such.
Bereznik did take responsibility for the attack, and a series of attacks on world military installations began, mostly in western countries, but the world president was reluctant to declare outright war against the country, because relations with Russia and China in the world union were shaky at best, with both countries threatening to leave the world government, taking their allies with them.
But then the Bereznik's attacked International Rescue's Hatching 2, destroying the aircraft and killing all the personnel on board.
The public outcry was immense, International Rescue was a beloved icon in many countries across the world, and most importantly, from a political perspective, a politically neutral civilian outfit.
War was declared on Bereznik within hours of the attack…
And with that, the second global conflict began.
