Mauga'afi - Nofoaga's nightmare

[Nofoaga]

DARK CLOUDS

It was a sunny day. With the normal temperature for the time of year, a gentle breeze that brought some coolness to the inhabitants of the coastline and the rustling of the many palm trees that typified the East Bay of the island.

Adrien Lumeau just had his second coffee of the day. He loved the view his desk gave him. Adrien works as a researcher for the National Institute of Seismology. The NIS maps all climate and nature movements. Less than a week ago, neighboring Gadalland & Aspern warned of the upcoming tropical storms. All in all, the storm was not so bad and the expected damage remained.

Adrien hesitated... 'Shall I have another cup of coffee or shall I continue to enjoy the view?' 'Back in conflict with yourself Adrien?' called Lucie Dumarq from behind her desk. Lucie got up, took a glass and stepped up to Adrien. 'Here... Have some turtle juice. That's much better and healthier than coffee.' Turtle juice was one of Nofoaga's specialties. 'Thank you' said Adrien with a feigned grin.

'And Adrien...' started Lucie. 'What's on the agenda today?' 'I don't know, Lucie, It's calm and it looks like it's going to stay like that for a while' said Adrien, placing his hands behind his head and spinning around in his chair.

After talking about everyday life and Lucie's comments that turtle juice is really better than coffee, Lucie started to hesitate. 'Well, Lucie, I can't hear you anymore. Getting convinced about grabbing a coffee?' Adrien joked.

'Adrien, come and have a look' said Lucie with a serious voice. Adrien sighed deeply. He didn't feel like watching the photo shoot with her family again. 'If it is to look again at 101 pictures of you in a straw skirt then you don't have to do it' said Adrien bored.

Lucie looked angrily at Adrien and said sharply: 'come and look. The Maufa'agi is showing activity. But how can that be?' 'Show me' said Adrien. He looked at Lucie's screen and immediately walked back to his desk where he opened the same screen. 'This is Strange' said Adrien confused. 'Should we tell the boss?' Lucie asked with a dubious glance.

'Wait, Wait, not so fast Lucie' Adrien snapped at her. 'First, take a look at the camera footage from the Maufa'agi.' Lucie looked up the live stream and opened the screen. In the meantime, Adrien was standing next to her again. 'That image is so weird, like someone's holding the camera.' said Lucie. 'Zoom in a bit' Adrien ordered. 'Okay, but be polite. I got you from... my... turtles...' Lucie suddenly stopped. 'I think we should bring in the boss Adrien...' said Lucie doubting Adrien. 'Uhu' reacted Adrien dry. He took the phone and called Bertrand, who was in charge of the NIS.

Not much later, Bertrand entered. Agitated as he was, he asked exasperated 'what now?'
'Boss, look at this' said Lucie. Adrien immediately added a few words, but Bertrand shut him up. 'Is that camera not normally on a tripod' asked Bertrand. 'It's like someone's holding the camera with their hand, shaking like that.' The three continued to look bewildered at the live footage. After a few minutes, Bertrand turned around and said, 'it must be nothing... probably another bird that likes the camera as a toy.'

Bertrand was about to leave space when Lucie called him back. 'Boss, boss!' Bertrand turned back and stood again with Lucie and Adrien. 'Look, you're both people's treasures, but please get to work. For a camera that shakes once in a while, Don't call me. Get to work!' he shouted.

'Boss... it's not a bird.' said Lucie in a silent voice. Bertrand, Lucie and Adrien looked surprised at the images. 'I go straight to the president, Adrien, check the activity of Mauga'afi and keep me informed' and Bertrand rushed out of the office.

The footage was clear. The Mauga'afi, the largest volcano on the island, was awake and dark plumes of smoke rose on the crater...

[Nofoaga]

FIREWORKS

While Bertrand went to his car, he called Agnes, president Romain Guichard's chief of staff. 'With the chief of Staff of Romain Guichard, president of the Republic of Nofoaga.' it sounded formal.

'Agnes, it's Bertrand.' he said. 'I need to speak to the president immediately.' It was quiet on the other side of the line. With an equally formal voice, Agnes continued her rehearsed text: 'the president is currently in meeting. Can I take a message?'

'Agnes, it's more than urgent! tell me where the president is...' Bertrand said excited. 'Bertrand, I can't just admit anyone who wants to speak to the president urgently, and you know that too.' Agnes sounded irritated on the phone. 'Agnes, it is a question of the survival of our nation...' Bertrand replied. Agnes hesitated. After a few seconds, which seemed to last for a century, she said where the president was at the moment: 'Guichard is sitting with some ministers in the presidential palace, in his office.' 'I'll be there in 15 minutes' Bertrand shouted on the phone.

The road from the building where the niche was located and the presidential palace was not far away. Only 2 kilometers. But because of the poor quality of the roads, also in the capital, the ride took significantly longer.

Bertrand repeated in his head what he was going to say to president Romain Guichard when his phone rang.

'Yes!' Bertrand shouted. On the other side of the line was Adrien. 'Boss... Mauga 'afi has erupted' sounded with a serious voice. 'I'm on my way to see the President, Adrien. How bad is it?'
'I have no idea but the programs tell us about 12 hours.' 'That's not good. Far from it. I'll keep you informed.' cried Bertrand.

Mauga'afi erupts the 20th of june 2021

[Spain]

Intervallum

It was another day for the Spanish Army's section deployed in the Republic Nofoaga, for those in both the Base Militar de Tuagavale and the Base Militar de Bourbon. The military was doing some training as every day, supervising everything around was fine and some others were just patrolling the seas from the bases. Meanwhile, in Tuagavale, they were doing the same, but a soldier from Nofoaga that had entered the army recently was looking at the volcano carefully... The smoke alarmed him, was that even normal?

His name was Maxence Fatiki, he was pretty smart and remembered that the volcano was not active. Then, why was the smoke exiting the crater of the Mauga 'afi? That wasn't normal to him, and he was sure it wasn't for the people that knew about this. He hadn't had any contact, so all he could do is tell General Carlos Brown, the high-rank general in charge of the military operations in Nofoaga. He started to walk when suddently, an explosion was heard.

The volcano had erupted, and Gen. Carlos Brown was the first to come out of the building, running and visibly alarmed. He found Maxence and the rest of the military left its functions after the explosion, it was time for an improvised meet up outside the base's buildings. Maxence was visibly alarmed too, he would never expect his home nation to go under this circumstances. General Brown could feel the nerves of his soldiers, so he proceeded to speak:

"Gentlemen, calm down. Fatiki, what on Earth happened? Is everybody around here ok?" asked Brown. Maxence answered back: "Sir, the Mauga 'afi has erupted, there was smoke this morning, and the volcano had been asleep since a while ago!" Brown looked to the smoke, now darker; and checked everybody was OK. There was no time to time to lose: "Listen up everybody. I want this half of the base to check the bunkers are ok just in case the Government orders a evacuation. The other half, go to buy more things and pay with the military paycheck we receive. The technological equipment was updated time ago, just buy meat, vegetables, every kind of food, water, things like that! Also some more equipment will be good, and if you want something else you're free to buy it. But remember, we are here to protect the Nofoagans."

The base started their job and General Carlos Brown went back to his office, where he awaited for a call of the President to see what he was going to do. Meanwhile, a teletype was sent to the Ministry for Defence in Spain, as the daily update of the situation; and another high-rank tried to contact King Juan Carlos I, with no sucess. The soldiers started doing his job, buying everything and even more than what Brown had ordered, and checking the bunkers were ready to have some people in them. It was going to be a bad day for them, or at least, it seemed like it.

[Nofoaga]

AN OMINOUS MESSAGE

The President Romain Guichard was in the middle of a meeting with his ministers on the reform of the prison system. Guichard has always been a cool lover of repression and wants to focus on the reintegration of prisoners. What does it call "more chances politics".

The talks within the government were well advanced. Suddenly there was a loud bang. Everyone looked up in silence. 'Don't panic colleagues' said the minister of Internal Affairs. 'It's probably again the engine of a car that exploded by Red fuel.' The minister of economy replied: 'Red fuel, that is also something we urgently need to address. Do you know how many taxes we're gonna lose with this?' he said irritated. The president looked at his colleague with a bored look and insisted on continuing the agenda.

Meanwhile, Bertrand, head of the NIS, had arrived at the presidential palace. He rushed out of his car, entered the palace, but was soon stopped by the Presidential Guard. 'Let me through!' he shouted to the guards. Just then Agnes, the president's chief of staff, passed by. She stopped by the guards and said to Bertrand: 'Didn't I tell you the president doesn't have time?'

'Agnes' Bertrand said distraught... 'This is of the utmost importance. Let me speak to the president.' The chief of cabinet was a little bit ambivalent but eventually gave in. 'Wait here and I'll see what I can do.' she said.

Agnes took the stairs leading to the president's office, knocked softly on the door and entered. Once at the president's office, she whispered to him: 'Bertrand of the NIS wants to speak to you immediately. Judging by his insistence, it must be urgent.' she said. Guichard looked at her, interrupted the interior minister, who was once again talking about tightening red fuel, and said, 'colleagues, would you excuse me for a moment.'

The president got up, left his office and came down the stairs. He immediately approached Bertrand and asked: 'what is so urgent?' Bertrand replied, 'Mr. president... for some inexplicable reason, the Mauga'afi is active again. Volcanic activity is growing rapidly. We must warn the people.' Romain Guichard looked baffled at Bertrand. The president said: 'If this is true, we have huge problem Bertrand, I hope you are not mistaken.'

'Come upstairs' Romain said to Bertrand as he pulled his maw. 'The entire government is in my office. I'd like you to tell us what we might be facing this problem.'

As both gentlemen went up the stairs to go to the president's office, the entire building began to tremble. 'What was that?' asked Guichard as he looked at Bertrand. 'That, Mr. president, is... Mauga'afi.'

The president and Bertrand entered the office. The members of the government were still at the table in horror. 'What just happened, Mr. president?' asked the minister of environment. The president stepped to his chair and said briefly, 'Bertrand is going to tell us.' Everyone looked at Bertrand with attention.

Bertrand began to speak: 'Dear ministers. What you have experienced now is the eruption of the Mauga'afi volcano. We believed for a long time that this volcano was no longer active... until this morning.' The minister of finance interrupted him, and said 'What's the problem? The distance between Mauga'afi and the urbanized areas is ample enough.' Bertrand looked at the president. Guichard nodded and Bertrand replied: 'that is indeed true. But I'm sure you heard a loud bang just now, and a few minutes ago, the earth trembled here, in Port Beauharnais. That means the power of this eruption is unseen.'

'What are the consequences for the island?' asked the president.

Bertrand sighed deeply. After a few seconds he addressed the president: 'The island is one large plateau of volcanic stone. Mauga'afi must have been active for much longer because such an eruption does not happen overnight. So there's only one possibility. The volcanic activity was underground until this morning. Due to the heat of the magma, layer by layer the soil is crumbled, creating a hollow space between the ground surface and the actual soil. What makes this eruption so dangerous is that it's not just the volcano erupting... but the whole island.'

The ministers looked at each other. The minister of Internal Affairs stood up and asked Bertrand: 'How much time do we have to change this?' Bertrand looked down and felt all eyes on him. He took a deep breath, looked at the president and said with fear in his voice 'None, Mr. president. There's no time to change this. We need to evacuate the population now.' And the Earth... began to tremble again as a slight smell of fire reached the capital.

[Nofoaga]

A DEAFENING SPEECH

The otherwise blue sky was dark. In the distance, the ascending ash clouds turned red and the growl could be heard all over the island. Every now and then the earth trembled. Especially the East Bay, where almost the entire population lived, suffered severe shocks.

President Romain Guichard was nervous and fidgled his vest. The once calm man, who was not afraid to speak to large masses, now had difficulty. Within minutes, he would address the nation.

'Mr. president' said the spokeswoman 'everything is ready.'

Romain took a deep breath, manned himself and stepped towards the microphones from where he would explain to his fellow countrymen what was in store for them all. He was looking a little lost when he heard '3, 2, 1...' The spots were now all aimed at him.

'Dear Nofoagans... What was deemed impossible has become reality today. Around 4: 00... the Mauga'afi volcano has erupted. According to the National Institute of Seismology, the eruption is of that force that it can be compared to what an earlier eruption caused: the birth of our island. Right now, rescue workers are putting everything in place to get you to safety. In particular, I would also like to thank and encourage the Government of Gadalland & Aspern and the military stationed in the kingdom of Spain.'

'With an unseen force, Mauga'afi sends poisonous ash clouds into the air, accompanied by burning volcanic stones. That is why all air traffic, including for evacuation, is stopped immediately. I call you to whoever has the opportunity to go out to sea. With pain in our hearts, we must face together that a great part of you... does not have that possibility and that many of us will be affected by what is happening now.'

'As president of the Republic of nofoaga, I order that the Spanish army, based on our island, immediately evacuate the population. The other heads of state and government, as well as the members of the European Union, and I call on our people in with open arms... I also request... go... water.... Island...'

[Spain]

The Evacuation

Nofoaga turned into a nightmare. Just after the soldiers finished their tasks, Guichard spoke to the island and General Carlos Brown got everything right. It was time to evacuate the island, so both bases in Nofoaga opened their gates and welcomed everybody who managed to do it to the bases and guided them to the huge bunkers. Carlos Brown exited his office and took his private van to evacuate King Juan Carlos I and Lula Namatatiki. Their evacuation was sucessful, so was the one for the Spanish residents, which were careful and wise enough to plan their evacuation and head to the closest military base. The military helping elder people and families were fast enough to save theirselves.

But before that, Maxence Fatiki was given an important mission by his boss: You need to speak from the bunker to the Nofoagans using the evacuation sirens. Maxence then ran to the bunker in the middle of a huge operation to put everything on hangars. The ships couldn't be saved, so many Nofoagans were ordered to board the ships and these departed west to Gadalland & Aspern from Tuagavale and to Spain from Bourbon. Everybody was nervous, panic took over the streets. Maxence entered the main building and went downstairs, seeing how the soldiers carried papers down to the bunker's office.

Fatiki reached the room where he would speak to the Nofoagan population. He activated the sirens system, as well as the rest of the equipment. When everything was ready, he spoke to the whole country: "This is a message for all the Nofoagans still out there. Please come to the military bases inmediately, we will give you shelter. If you leave in the south of the island, please take your boats and navigate to Gadalland & Aspern. If you live on the North, please navigate towards Spain. If you don't have a boat, please drive as fast as you can to the bases. To reach Bourbon base, please follow the coastline and drive by the beach. To reach Tuagavale Military Base, please use the main roads and every line, no matter if they go on the opposite way. Please help elder people, we will help in Tuagavale. Thank you and please be concious this is a real situation."

[Nofoaga]

A BURNING DANGER

After two days of radio silence, the toxic ash clouds of the Mauga'afi volcano increased. The eruption was so powerful that the immediate surroundings were destroyed in no time.

Also the urban area on the east coast, where almost the entire population of the island lives, was not spared. For almost 48 hours, the cities of Tuagavale, Port Beauharnais, Barama and Moine Marquette were besieged by burning rocks. The cities and settlements were literally on fire.

Among the screams of the many residents who are stuck, regularly the sound of sirens resounds. Some of them still try to escape the island by building rafts with the debris they find on the beaches... in vain.

[Spain]

It's time to close the Doors

The last military cars with the people that managed to save, families and elder people mostly, but also people that were running on the streets, arrived to the bunker. The hangars were closed, the soldiers sent to rescue the Government and the ambassadors on the island, as well as the foreign citizens they found, were back safely. The last motorcade to arrive was a supplies one, which litterally got everything from every store they found and got in on the vans and trucks. Foreign citizens had been rescued, as well as the Nofoagans that made it, but of course, there were a lot of Nofoagans compared to foreign citizens, so the efforts were put on the first group.

While the ships got far away from the island, managing to scape; the bunkers remained open as far as the air quality was alright, but there wouldn't be more expeditions to protect the soldiers lifes. More Nofoagans kept coming in during the night and the morning of the first day to both bases, following the indications of the sirens that told them how to proceed. More and more kept coming in, but there was a moment when they stopped arriving. Were all of them in the bunkers? An alarm started to play on the bunker, the air quality was close to be danger and a long exposition would kill anybody. General Carlos Brown ordered to close the doors, letting the last and lucky Nofoagan families into the bunkers. In Bourbon, some more could be saved, as the alarm played 15 minutes later than in Tuagavale.

The Government, the Ambassadors, foreign citizens and thousands of Nofoagans had been saved. The army would count the number of Nofoagans later, as they would do another count for those from foreign countries. Everyone was grouped according to their place of origin, so they could have people to speak with. The ambassadors were grouped with their nationalities, and the Government was directed to a special room that was shared with the high-ranks of the military. Screams could be heard, many knocked in the doors, screaming to the military and trying to be let in. But they couldn't open. A huge explosion was heard and the experts from the NIS knew the doors opening would have to wait. It was Day 1 of not seeing the sun's light, just artificial light. Food at least was good, as the chefs made sure they cooked delicious dishes from every culture on the bunker and they had enough food. General Charles Brown observed everything and decided to go to the stage and give a speech to the whole bunker and base.

"Good afternoon everybody. This is Day 1 of our survival experience after the volcanic eruption. That means less days are left to exit this very comfortable and huge bunker and go back to see the clouds, the sea, the sky or the sun. But it won't be today.

For those that are still unaware of who I am, let me introduce myself. I am General Carlos Brown, or Charles Brown in English if you can't manage to pronounce Carlos; and I am the Chief of the Spanish Army in the Republic Nofoaga. During the days you are here, I am, along with the President of the Republic, the highest authority here. I know it is hard to be in this bunker, but believe me, it is worst than being out there. I know how sad it is to lose everything, but we have done a lot of work to offer you lot of entertainment and stuff so you can feel comfortable. If you are here, you also have a huge majority of your personal belongings with you, so you can use them aswell. We have Internet here and we are able to get the signal of the Spanish Television and to communicate with Spain, our ships that are currently navigating around the Atlantic Ocean heading to the Spanish Military Base in Mennrimiak, as well as with those from the Base Militar de Bourbon, on the North of the Island.

Now, I'm going to give you the daily information about the conditions outside: The air quality is really bad today, and it's getting worse. We have also detected some Earthquakes, and we cannot discard that a Tsunami will take place. Satellites are tracking everything, as well as our cameras out there. The cities have been destroyed by the volcano in a matter of seconds, and to show how lucky you are, let me show you some satellite footage. Here you can see the satellite view of Port Beauharnais before the volcanic eruption. Now, this is Port Beauharnais 2 days ago. And now, this is Port Beauharnais. As you can see, everything has been, sadly, destroyed. The island still survives, but we think that it won't survive for longer. We are deep enough to survive, so don't worry, we are safe here and our equipment, planes, ships and other stuff has been moved in here. It's forbidden to leave the bunker area, basically because if you do, you die. So I encourage you not to do that.

The Spanish Army is here to help you, so don't hesitate to ask anything to any soldier or to me. This afternoon we are organising a meet and greet with King Juan Carlos I of Spain and the President of the Republic, Romain Guichard, so you can ask them whatever you want and spend some time with them. For the kids, we have organised a kids club where they can do whatever they want. We expect to be here for at least a week, so be patient. Soon, we will be back up there. Let's resist!"

[Nofoaga]

PRESIDENTIAL CONCERNS

President Romain Guichard and members of his government arrived at the Spanish army's Bourbon military base. It was dark as night. The aftershocks of the earthquakes caused by the eruption were accompanied by loud growling.

General Carlos Brown, who was coordinating the evacuation in Bourbon, was about to address the fugitive when he saw the president. Romain stood among the people and listened attentively to what the general had to say.

After the explanation, president Guichard approached General Brown and said, 'Thank you... General, can you give me a view of how many people are here? I would also greatly appreciate it if you would keep me informed of any next steps. I have been informed that a space has been provided for the commanders and myself as president of the Republic of Nofoaga. Is it possible to speak there?'

The president rolled up his sleeves and followed General Brown...

[Spain]

Not the Greatest News

General Carlos Brown approached to the President aswell and listened to him, before giving him the latest information about how many Nofoagans managed to do it. He guided the cabinet to the special room and spoke:

"Mr. President, Ministers, the news I have are very sad: 11.751 have been able to make it, what means 92.287 are either dead or missing. Not all of them are here, in the island. A lot of Nofoagan were ordered to get on board the military ships and are now navigating to Spain safely, but sadly the army hasn't been able to save more. Apart from them, around 3.000 foreigners from mostly all nationalities around Europe are in both Bourbon and Tuagavale bunkers, where we are. I have informed the President of Spain, your friend Mr. Jesús Aguilar, who on behalf of you will release the data to the whole of the European Union. We cannot communicate with any other country but them, so the only way to get information from outside is thanks, in part, to the Spanish Government. Let me also show you something."

General Borwn proceeded to turn on a projector and turned the lights off before speaking again: "What you are seeing now was Nofoaga yesterday, when we closed the doors. Today, it looks like this: you can see more destruction in the south, a lot of forest fires and stuff. I know you are worried about the animals, but no need to worry about that, as they are all in an underground hangar, divided and with no risk of death for any of them."

[Nofoaga]

THE WATER IS ON THE LIPS

Almost 10 days after the eruption of the Mauga'afi volcano on the island of nofoaga and five days after living in the bunkers near the Spanish military base in the far west of the country, President Romain Guichard scratched his head. It was hot in the underground facilities. Fortunately there was enough randsoen provided by the Spanish military. A few days ago, General Carlos Brown made an assessment of possible losses. The entire government may have been saved, but the vast majority of the population was not.

The president and his government met each day in a separate room to discuss the state of play, assess and take any further steps. Although the latter was relative. The only thing that could be done now was to wait and see how big the damage would be.

There was some positive news. The Mauga'afi had finally stopped spitting out debris and the toxic gases gradually disappeared. The gates of the bunker could be opened for a limited time per day and also the refugees could enjoy the outdoors and a walk on the military domain.

Just as Romain Guichard was getting ready to get some air, Bertrand, the director of the National Institute of Seismology, came and called: 'Mr. president! Mr. president!' Romain Guichard turned around and asked what was wrong. 'You must come immediately, Mr. president.' said Bertrand in a hurry. The president replied: 'I was just planning on getting out now that I could. I'll come see you afterwards.'

Bertrand hesitated for a moment, turned back but turned back on his steps and shouted loudly: 'Nofoaga will not explode Mr. president!' Romain turned around and looked at Bertrand with penetrating eyes. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Bertrand resumed the word and said serenely: 'Nofoaga will implode... and sink.'

[Nofoaga]

LAND IN SIGHT

Romain Guichard quickly followed Bertrand, who escorted him to the control room of the bunker. Together with some Spanish soldiers the situation was followed closely. Meanwhile, the president picked the members of the government he encountered from among the people and urged them to come along. Bertrand opened the door and the presidential entourage entered space.

Bertrand immediately got off the ground and began to explain his scientific explanation with hands and feet to the ministers and the president. The president interrupted him and said, 'Bertrand, in human terms, please.' Bertrand sighed, stepped towards the screen where the situation was visually shown and started again...

'Since the eruption of the Mauga'afi, we thought for a long time that the island would explode. Because the eruption would release a lot of underground energy and over the years, even centuries, there has been a gap between the ground surface and the real soil, this theory really held up and so we assumed that scenario.'

'But that's not what's happening now?' asked the minister of Fisheries. Bertrand turned around, activated the screen and continued his explanation.

'Indeed. There is a second possible scenario, namely an implosion of the island for a similar reason. Only the released underground energy has not risen to the ground surface, which would cause an explosion, but has been completely absorbed by the volcanic eruption itself.'

'And that energy carried the ground surface...' the president intervened. 'That's right.' Bertrand continued.... 'That carrying capacity is gone, and so the island will implode. Because of that implosion, as you can see in this animation, the seawater comes over the land and, because of the weight of the water, the island sinks.'

'Bertrand', the president asked, 'Could you tell us what the consequences will be for the island and in what time this will happen?'

'It's hard to say in how much time that will happen. There are so many factors involved. Nofoaga is a relatively small island, low coastlines and de facto no natural protection against high water. We are also in the cyclonic season which does not play to our advantage.' Bertrand said quietly.

The president insisted with determination: 'How much time is there for Nofoaga to sink Bertrand?' Bertrand lowered his head and looked to the ground as he said with a sense of shame '12 to 36 hours Mr. president.'

There was an overwhelming silence in space. Only a whisper from some ministers and the squeak of technological material was audible. Romain Guichaard placed his hands in his side paced a bit and asked with an impressive calmness: 'Show me what the concrete consequences are for the island. Now.'

Bertrand asked a Spanish soldier to step aside, clicked a few times with the computer mouse and showed the expected result of the implosion.

'This is what Nofoaga is expected to look like at the end of this week.' said Bertrand. And again, it became completely silent in the controlroom. Romain Guichard nodded, turned away from the screen and left the room.