The Forest Brothers

They had come. She was nearly jumping with glee as they walked right into her way. They were completely ignorant, walking ducks, in fact. All she had to do was wait for the signal, and then...

Through her walkie-talking came a series of beeps, a series that she had memorized ever so carefully. The signal. In exactly ten seconds, they would open fire, all of them across the city.

Ten.

God, how impatient she was. To wait was an agony, but it was necessary for the survival of independent Eastern Haane.

Nine.

She itched to pull the trigger, but she resisted, with all her might, tormenting herself with the memory of the camps of Areai.

Eight.

She closed her eyes, breathing in and out, and suddenly everything seemed much faster, much calmer.

Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.

She and her compatriot pulled their triggers, and the wrath of gunfire rained down across the city. There were many of them, and together; together they would fight for a free, socialist, and independent Eastern Haane.

From a distance, he heard the announcement of the Reitzmic soldiers. Good. They had bought them some time. Time enough to blow up these charges; time enough to blow up this ramp on the road from the airport to Kiel, the sole ramp that connected the two.

The nature of Kiel's modernist city planning would leave the Reitzmen and women trapped, trapped in a labyrinthine city, surrounded by snipers.

He had no time to waste. He set the end of a long string on fire - they could not have advanced mechanisms - and pulled himself away.

A great plume of red was raised into the sky as a tumultuous bang was heard, as the ramp collapsed and a cloud of dust diffused.

He sighed. It was done. All would go well.

As they approached the airport, it became clear that there were in fact people there; people, soldiers, who had managed to stay hidden. Their work was to cut the 3033 meter long runway with a series of charges given to them. They were to use all that they had been given. They entered the airport, covertly, covered by the dark, crawling, at the 1/3 mark of the runway and taxiway, carefully placing charge upon charge behind them.

It took them thirty minutes to reach the end; but then, then; they detonated the charges.

Fire shot up high in the air, dust kicked up everywhere. Nothing could be seen; the combined blast was forceful enough to throw them off their feet. In the distance, they barely registered their counterparts doing the same as well.

But it was done. THey had cut the runway into three, roughly equal sections. Nothing would be able to land, nothing important; nothing would be able to take off.

(Edited because of misunderstanding w/ Reitzmag's post)

They were just below the ravine. Half of them were dead; the rest of them had retreated. But their artillery had been halted, and would soon face greater struggle. Their work was done; they retreated back into the tall grass of the plain, slowly, taking care to make no noise at all, although many of them were greatly injured.

As they limped back, crawling through the soft dirt of the plain, they thought of the five that they had lost, and the hands of the capitalists. Capitalism had for so long taken everything from them. Those who were older remembered the concentration camps of the pre-1996 dictatorship, how they were tortured and deprived of food and sleep if they did not meet the quotas; how their parents had to struggle to pay the 'rent' for living in the camps; the meager pay; the blasting horns which proclaimed that Eastern Haane was finally free from the socialist menace. Those who were younger remembered the poverty and the hunger of the former capitalist government.

Why would they choose to go back to such horrors? They would never give in, never give their lives to people who wished to force that back upon them. They would rather die in service of their nation, in service of the free and socialist world republic that was to come.

They had fired, and now they were being fired upon. An announcement had come from a loudspeaker; but of course, it was calling them to surrender. They would never surrender; they would rather die than give up the hope for an independent Eastern Haane. The two withdrew, disappearing into the cavernous interior of the building, hiding themselves in a storage closet. They would never be found; there was simply too much to search. They gave the signal to those further in the city that the Reitzmic soldiers were coming. Their sector; their assigned neighborhood; had been cleared; now, they were to draw the Reitzmic fighters deeper and deeper in the city, before destroying all transportation infrastructure behind them and trapping them by the sea.

Why did these people keep walking into their hands?

They greeted them, and led them into the outbuilding that many now referred to as "Death." They barred the door, blocked the windows, stuffed the air vents with opium, and set it on fire, as they had done before, and would continue to do, and waited, expectantly, for those inside to fall as their brains became addled on the potent drug.

FLASHBACK

They had come, with military vehicles, but apparently friendly. It was terrifying; they all believed they would be stabbed in the back. He, their speaker, smiled uncomfortably. "Well, hello. What exactly have you come here for?"

They explained their aims, but already they all knew that they were going to stab them in the back at some point.

"Wait a bit," said the man, attempting to smile yet again.

They went some distance in the woods before deciding, after only fifteen minutes of deliberation, to drug them. It would be a massive operation; but their stores of opium were enough.

The Reitzmic soldiers were allowed into their base, an outbuilding of a former collective farm. They, the loyal and socialist Haaneans, stuffed the opium into the metal air vents of the building before setting it aflame.

They barred the doors, covering the windows, and waited.

They had buried the explosive devices along the dirt road leading to the airport. They, at the very end of the Kilometer, had been entrusted with the task, as a final 'reward' for the Reitzmic soldiers, who would have had to push through a truly endless number of nail beds as they were being fired upon by countless partisans.

On the other end, on the section of the road on which travel went east, others had buried as well; but none had traveled that way, at least yet. But now; now they had received signal that the soldiers would be coming. They had just entered the Kilometer, on the road in the direction west; the first groups had begun their initial assault, although some had had to retreat as a result of casualties.

It would take a very long time for the Reitzmic army to reach the end of the Kilometer; that was assured. But from what they had heard, they would have to be ready, alert at all times.

"You are telling me," said the man, "that even more of them are coming?"

"Yes," said the woman. "Their stupidity is incredible. All of them who have come here have not returned; some of them have died from an overdose of opium. We still have quite a bit left, though. Good that we were able to discover that drug lord's stash."

He turned away, and greeted the Reitzmic soldiers who had come yet again. He was getting sick of this; they could not afford to waste any more opium on these capitalists. But they had to.

"There is a phone in that building," he said, pointing to the building which they had used to drug the last groups of the Reitzmic soldiers. "Call those above us in Vienna. Call, or else we will have to take action against you."

They were herded into the building. The door was locked, the windows blocked, and the opium again placed into the air vents and burnt.

They again waited, as they had done for the past few days on a near daily basis. Meanwhile, the artillery and the military vehicles that had been captured when they had drugged the first batch were put into use. From what they had heard, their war against Reitzmag was going poorly. Somehow, they had managed to plan for every contingency. Many of their compatriots were dead; now, they would have to take their true revenge.

Agnes Obel had received horrifying news. There had been a veritable massacre in Kiel; according to the information they had been shown, the Reitzmic government had shown no mercy to their resistance. Rockets had been used to kill a scattered force of less than 100; tanks had shot, in an attempt to kill their forces, into a protected wilderness.

Their forces had been near obliterated; and she would have to present this to the National Convention.

They were horrified. Never before had they heard of such excessive tactics being used in a war; never before had they heard of such violence on the behalf of a civilized army against an unprepared force less that 700 in number.

Within thirty minutes, a resolution had been drafted, passing swiftly. The lack of proportionality in the Reitzmic response was truly sickening; she felt as though she were about to vomit.

"How many of us are left?" he asked, shaking. There was nothing that could be done anymore; he knew that they, the capitalists, had killed nearly all of them.

"Twenty-two," said the woman before him, her voice a shadow of what it was. There had been 108 before the offensive.

His knees felt weak; a wave of nausea overcame him. "In the city?"

"We do not know. There has been no communication."

So they were all dead. 236 people, friends, comrades, reduced to 22.

"A retreat...a retreat will be necessary," he said, swallowing. He did not believe that he was saying what he was saying. But they would need to, if the few of them that were left were to survive.

She nodded silently. "I will; I will go and tell the rest."

Slowly, she stepped off through the woods, to the little throng of people who were huddled near a rock, rising from the ground like a dagger. Each of them, all twenty of them, began to rise. Many were limping, their shirts drenched with blood. Some were missing limbs; others had to be carried, for they no longer had legs.

"We will go to Flensburg," he said, finally. "The city is empty, and it is not very far. We will...we will be safe there," he said, tears welling from his eyes.

They simply stared in incomprehension, their eyes glassed over, as though they could not see him; hear what he had said. So much had happened to them; they were dead to the world.

He looked to the comatose Reitzmic soldiers, who lay beneath numerous lean-tos. None, thankfully, had been executed yet, despite the vote. They would leave them; without the dosage of opium, they would recover, although they would be left with withdrawal, that hopefully would not be too bad.

Slowly, they began to walk. How many of them would be left when they arrived, they did not know. Of course, they had the vehicles, the many, many vehicles, that they had taken from the captured soldiers; but they could not use them if they wished not to be seen.

The man sent out a communique to Vienna, to the government of Obel:

TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF EASTERN HAANE

THE OPERATION IN KIEL HAS FAILED. AS WITH PREVIOUS COMMUNICATION, NON-PROPORTIONALITY OBSERVED. ORDER OF NO QUARTER LIKELY, AS BEFORE. 214 DEAD, AT LEAST EIGHT INJURED. RETREATING TO FLENSBURG.

The woman and her family emerged from a little house in the woods. They had hidden there ever since the coup of Areai; for they all were terrified.

Now, however, that was over, in a way. Areai had been replaced by a tyranny far worse, the tyranny of the Reitzmic state, which wished to force the horrors of capitalism, which she remembered quite well - the sickness, the hunger, the poverty, the torture, the pure agony of life - upon them yet again.

She told her children and her husband to stay inside; she, who had always been the head of the family, would go.

They went back into the little house, waving goodbye tearfully, as she walked toward the base. A hammer was concealed in her clothing.

As she approached that base, where so many of her countrymen had fallen, she saw a man in the corner of her eyes. It was the man who had begun it all, the man who had so enraged the nation that it had devolved into total violence. Attorney Winston, the butcher of the Haaneans.

Within her heart a hatred burned; she was hellbent on killing this man, who had done so much to their nation and had caused the deaths of so many of her loved ones.

She began to approach him, pretending to smile. "Attorney Winston!" she shouted, in a false joy. "I have always been your greatest supporter!" She felt her stomach turn inside of her; bile filled her mouth. She swallowed, and continued. "I'd like to talk to you!"

And quite suddenly, in the moment of confusion that she had created, she swung at his head with the hammer.

COLLECTIVE FARM 89-E

The bodies of Areai's soldiers and lord laid in recently dug pits. They had defeated them, at high cost. Half of them were dead; in a few days, Areai's goverment would discover what had happened, and kill the rest.

Enough time, however, to evacuate. A total of five collective farms had fallen into their control; they had elected a governing council, composed of ten representatives from each.

They had tried to organize people by profession, as well, as to ensure the better organization of production and the rebuilding that would come, although this had been slightly less succesful.

They were not willing to subsume themselves into the Republic. It had proven itself to be weak, and in many ways undemocratic. If the salvation and liberation of Eastern Haane was to come, they would have to found a new government, based on new principles.

The governing council had approved such a thing; now, it was her work; her honor; to declare the new state.

The people of the five collective farms, or at the very least those who could attend, were gathered before her.

"The Governing Council of the Haanean Nation, which derives its existence and legitimacy from the people, declares the following, with the power vested in it through the power of the Haanean people. The previous goverments have usurped their power, using it to tyrannize the innocent people of Eastern Haane. With all our might, we declare that this must end. A true democracy must be installed, one which derives its legitimacy and its power from the people, one which acts purely for the people, with their consent, their support. We thus declare the formal establishment of the People's State of Eastern Haane!

For the people of Eastern Haane have for ages endured tribulations and tyranny, forced upon them by a succession of dictatorial and reactionary governments, governments too eager to betray the people to the capitalist aggressors. We, acting in solidarity for the nation and for its perpetual freedom, fought against this, suffering but now prevailing, to liberate the people from the many tyrannies that they have faced. The forces of evil, of the tyrannies of Areai and of Reitzmag, have and will be destroyed. The people were liberated, and exercised their liberation in the truest way possible, in the election of loyal deputies bound to their will.

These deputies, united in the new Governing Council as the greatest representation of the will of the people of Eastern Haane, have now declared the new People's State as the continuation of this pure will.

They have established this new state, and created its institutions, both the Council and the nascent Syndicates, to serve and to represent the will of the people.

We shall not oppose the democratic Republic in Vienna, for our aims for the final liberation of all Eastern Haane are the same, for now."

SKAGEN

The city of Skagen had been fully taken. She looked on, from the balcony of an apartment, tears of joy coming from her eyes. They had organized themselves into small, self-governing assemblies to manage their apartment buildings; labor, too, was being organized into highly democratic syndicates as to better organize the economy and prepare for the rebuilding that was to come.

The people were safe, they were happy, they were secure, and they were free.

This was the beautiful future that they would bring to Eastern Haane, a future in which labor was organized harmoniously, in which policy was developed not through violence but through calm and logical deliberation.

Several workers were at the postal office. They had voted, as part of the postal syndicate of their commune, to begin their work immediately. A coordination council had been elected as to, of course, coordinate their work with those of others.

Already mail of many types was being sorted and delivered; they were very busy. But in their work they were happy, for they had total control over what they were to do.

FLENSBURG

A cold wind caused the windows to rattle. Yet that was not what the Speaker was so terrified of.

Nine of his compatriots had died on the way, falling unconscious from blood loss. He remembered their pale faces, their final breaths. They were forced to leave them; they could not afford to be captured. God knows what those capitalist demon would do to them.

And now they were sitting here, in the dark, waiting for death. They could not make a sound, could not move, could not do anything but simply sit there and slowly die. The forces of evil had prevailed, and they were now too afraid to face it head on; now, they had shown their true cowardice, for they did not wish to die for their nation.

And, worst of all, they had accepted it. Unwillingly, but that was of no matter.

SKAGEN

A series of boats, manned by heavily armed men, passed by. Where these men had come from, she did not know; their intentions were even more mysterious, and thus all the more terrifying.

She took what she knew to the commune office, and there, an emergency meeting was called.

"There are," she said to those of her commune, gathered before her, "soldiers here. They are passing by our coast, watching us, watching the sea. I do not know what their intentions are, but something must be done."

A general expression of shock came from the populace, and discussion began. The debate was generally not to do with the benevolence of the soldiers, for virtually everyone had instantly agreed that that was non-existent. It was, instead, to do with how they would deal with them. Some proposed that they be forcefully taken ashore and forced to stand trial; others that they should be shouted at; another third saying that they should be summarily executed.

The assembly agreed upon the second option as a first choice, followed by the first. The third option was rejected entirely, save for if it was truly an emergency.

More boats had passed by by now, on a terrifying regular basis. None of the peoplewanted to return to their work; most were of the opinion that an occupation was imminent, and that, as such, they should be at arms.

The group elected to warn the soldiers went up to the shore, carrying a loudspeaker. The loudest of them all, a weary teacher of the first creche, shouted,

"You are in the waters of the People's State of Eastern Haane! By the order of the General Assembly of Commune 5, we ask that you leave the area, for it has been declared a demilitarized zone by the Governing Council of the State, with the consent of the people! We do not wish to cause any harm; however, if an invasion is attempted, it will be resisted by the entirety of the population!"

They were increasingly aware of the terror that the Reitzmic soldiers were inflicting on the nation. Some, many, even, of them were capitalists; yes; but none of them believed in such atrocities. Certainly, none of them believed in the wild free-marketism of the Reitzmic government either, instead preferring an indicative and heavily regulated economy based upon trade unionism and small business.

But the atrocities, at the moment, were more important. Mass surveillance, non-proportionality; all of these were awful. There were also terrifying rumors that, some day, they would all be deported to Reitzmag and forced to integrate into the population.

Something would soon have to be done if they wished to survive as a nation. There were none that could ruin what they were planning; the cultists here were gone, killed by Areai some time ago and stuffed into holes dug into the ground.

Everything; the entire base, would go up into flames. They would flee into the forest as quickly as possible, to avoid detection, although the Reitzmic surveillance state would surely find and kill them, even if they scattered themselves throughout the entire country, even if they chopped their bodies into bits and had one person throw the pieces into the sea before themself jumping in.

They gathered, using matches to light the temporary housing on fire. With the floor of the forest covered in leaves, it did not take very long for the fire to spread.

As the smoke became unbearable, choking everything in a blanket of grey, in an unbearable and awful smoke that burned eyes and throats they all ran into the forest, scattering themselves, but still running, as though their very lives were dependent on it, which was entirely true.

"They have mutinied, your Majesty."

"Execute him!"

A pair of her personal guards grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him away, toward the door. Screaming could be heard; then a chop; and then nothing. A head was brought back inside, and was placed in her lap; she smiled, and tossed it away.

The room stayed quiet. She ate from a tasteful platter of cheese and fruit that had been brought to her.

Outside, there slowly built up a growing cacophony. She ignored it. Things like that often happened between her guards; they would be executed, of course, when they calmed down.

But soon, there was a great explosion of noise, screaming. A red plume rose into the sky, and she was terrified. She began to back up into her seat; she could not flee, for they were before her.

Before she knew it, they had broken in.

"Citizen Areai," said one, dressed in the clothing of a soldier, a red band on his arm. "You have been sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Assembly."

She screamed as she was dragged away quite literally, her body dragged against the ground, her knees and shins scraping against the ground, causing her to be in agonizing pain.

She soon entered the street, and there, she saw; there there were many people, far more than there should have been. These had been the loyal workers of the nation! What reason did they have to come here?

They spat at her, throwing pebbles and other such things at her. Some had phones, and were recording the incident, even live streaming it.

Areai continued to scream, trying to grab and bite those dragging her, trying to slow them down.

As her unceremonious procession through the streets began to slow, apparently of their own volition, she began to think she was saved. And then she saw the public plaza, its masses of jeering crowds, and, most terrifyingly of all, a cross, laid across the square.

She began to scream again, more loudly than before. She was forced to stand up; she could barely do so.

"Help me! Someone, anyone, help me! Why are these brutes doing this to me!" she shouted, eyes jumping from one person to another.

They continued to spit and scream at her.

She came to the cross, and was made to turn around. She was lashed with a cane one hundred times; then she was pushed onto the cross. She was tied to it; and then, most horrifyingly of all, it was risen.

Immediately, she felt a horrible pain, worse than anything else she had ever felt, course throughout her body. She tried to scream, but could barely do so. It was becoming difficult to breathe.

Through the pain, she dimly registered one of the men who had dragged her there shouting.

"Comrades! We have all been liberated through our own effort. This woman dared oppress us; we have risen up. Our workers' councils, our soldiers' councils, elected and accountable to us and us alone, have led the way toward a new and decentralized system! This woman and her ilk shall never be seen here again! We thus declare that the People's State, the democratic People's State formed by the first revolution in the north; it has come here, to us all! Eastern Haane has been liberated forever!"

Things continued to be thrown at her; some people continued to record or live stream the execution.

She did not know how long she would be there; she could barely even think about it, instead focusing on trying to breathe.

(IC SECRET, AS EVERYTHING ELSE) FLENSBURG - PUBLIC LIBRARY

alt text
The Speaker of the Forest Brothers

"Well, you've called me here for what?" said the Speaker. "You have saved us all; but what else is there for me to say, for me to do? They are there; they will remain there forever. They will kill you all, without a gram of mercy, if you dare oppose them."

"Rest assured, they will go. The international community will soon remove them; and, if they do not, then we will take matters into our own hands."

"That would be suicide. I so wished that I could die for my nation; but, you see, that has no importance here. If I; if any of my compatriots died; it would be for their victory. They are truly everywhere, knowing and seeing everything. And I tell you, they will kill you. They know that we are here, talking about this, and it is very likely that they have already sent someone, or something - perhaps an improvised nuclear bomb, I wouldn't put that past them - to kill us."

"Unfortunately, I doubt that any of this will come to pass. A no fly zone has been established - "

"I know. They will oppose it, and at the very least, it will lead to death everywhere. Blood will rain down on our cities, mangled bodies falling from the skies. Our people will die, our country purged with fire. And then...they will establish their horrid capitalism."

"Their supply line will be cut off, and then we - if the Four Assembled Powers do not attack first as a result of the countless violations of the zone that will certainly happen, or if they try an occupation - we will attack. I am asking you how to go about this."

"That is very simple. Don't. You will die horribly, and you will have the blood of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, on your hands. You will live every waking moment of your life, from that point, in misery."

"They had a supply line then, they will not now. In addition, our military is more prepared, to say the least."

"Fine then. Focus on the airport. Do not attempt to slow down or completely obstruct their remaining supply lines; they are armed quite heavily. Do not take it by road either. Your operation should instead begin on the plain."

"Yes, yes, continue, please."

"Your own head be on it. Begin on the plain, but do not attack. Wait for twilight. Any signal given must be in some impenetrable code - use Haanean as well, to be safe. The language is entirely unknown outside of our country, and in any case is very dependent on metaphor. At twilight, do not attack. You should have a force in the city proper as well. Do this from the south, and have them as close to the center of the city as possible. Have them enter through the public park. They will enter the apartment buildings. Keep them as concentrated but as close to the sea as possible; but at the same time, keep them close to the Reitzmic camps. At twilight, give the signal you have decided upon. It should not be gibberish. Make it make sense - anything else would be suspicious. Perhaps make it seem like a cutoff news broadcast."

"Yes, yes."

"Once the signal is given, the forces in the city should begin shooting down upon the city. Make sure that they have enough ammunition to last an hour, and make sure that they are below the window and on the highest level possible. Kiel's architecture generally places this at the 30th floor. However, these people have an army of drones which can be deployed in a matter of seconds. The windows, as such, should be closed as far as possible, the curtains drawn entirely. They should fire intermittently for an hour; rotate the people and the firing around every ten minutes or so, but keep it toward the sea. It is at the forty minute mark that the airport should be taken. This should be done in four major waves, each of which much focus on every part of the airport equally. Each of the waves must be within ten minutes of each other. Let the Reitzmic soldiers call for help. A counter offensive will be launched with all their effort; instruct those within the city to occupy it, moving the deportees into the city as quickly as possible, with forces to protect them. Finally, you should have originally placed forces between the airport and the road. When they are sure that all the forces have gone, or at least most; or, if not, when the deportees arrive and there is no one on the road; these forces should set up a kilometer long block on the road to the airport, a block that in some way should stop their artillery. Those there, however, should not fire upon the soldiers; instead, make the blocks unremovable. They will attempt to return to their bases; while they are gone, burn them, or at least some of their outbuildings. Be sure to target those buildings related to weapons-storage, if you can identify them. This will leave them scattered and with little defence; you will be able to defeat them with little more strategy afterwards."

"Good, good. I will present this to the district Coordination Council; hopefully, we can have commune discussion on the subject by tomorrow morning."

IC SECRET

"Another force has yet again occupied the airport."

The Speaker sighed. "Not the Reitzmics again?"

"No. They have met our conditions."

"Then who? And for that matter, when did their occupation begin?"

"As far as we can tell, they are from the United Duchies and are virulently, even more than Reitzmag, anti-communist. As for when they arrived, it was yesterday."

The Speaker groaned. "When will these idiotic people learn? Have they looked at our elections? Do they not know that 88% of our population supports communism, with 97% at the very least being fine with it? We do not want to go back to the camps, we do not want to be eating a spoon of porridge a day, we do not want to be deprived of sleep for weeks on end, we do not want our children taken away, we do not want to be without healthcare, we do not want to be without clean water, we do not want to have only ratty clothes, we do not want to have and we do not want to have to pay inordinate amounts of money for these so called 'privileges' and 'freedoms!'"

"Erm, yes, but-"

"We do not want to be robbed of the right to be married, we do not want to be mated like animals! We do not want to be placed in stables, we do not want to be slaves! They planned to make us stupid, stupid beyond stupid; make us animals, only working for them, working for them and fucking!"

"Erm-"

"They planned to turn us into stupid animals, working for little and fucking like crazy, so that they could benefit, becoming so rich, rich beyond rich! Well, we will not have that! We will torture them all, and then kill them before they can do that! They shall wallow in their own shit, and then we shall take their entrails out, slowly, and then fling them against the wall. We shall flush them out like the pieces of shit they are, for they are shit!"

"Well, I mean, what should we do?"

The Speaker began to calm down, the redness receding from his face. "I've already told you. Follow those instructions, but I would advise you to...approach them first, just to see exactly what they plan."

"How do you mean?"

"We do not know their strategy. We need to know what they plan to do to us. We must learn at least something about it."

"We cannot trust these people, in any case. They may have come here with the excuse of humanitarian aid, but they will certainly try to install their horrid capitalism."

The Speaker sighed. "We cannot trust them. However, I must add that you must also consider non-violent ways of acting. We must get rid of them, for they will turn us into animals if we do not; but we may be able to do it without any loss of life on our side."