by Max Barry

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by Zitravgrad. . 28 reads.

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The very last Governor-General of Imperial Zitravia before the storming of the Kremlin was Casmar Kirillovich Deryzsky, who was proven unpopular with the common people, but tolerated by the aristocracy whom he tried hard to appease. In January 2005, the Governor-General was shot in the back by an unknown assassin (later revealed to be a hired hitman rather than a politically-driven killer) while in an opera house. Among the suspects were the Cossack Guards, which was, at the time, led by Colonel Oleksander Kyrycenko, who had a tumultuous relationship with the Governor-General. (Irony was that Kyrychenko was considered both a Cossack and a nobleman in Kozavian system, two of which rarely overlapped thanks to the Cossacks being a unique society.)

Auestriker Empire was an archnemesis of the Kozavian Empire during the Imperialists' War, and its defeat meant that the furious and embittered Kozavian Empire was free to trample over it. In 1995, 1,500 Auestriker prisoners of war were handpicked for their expertise in military-related engineering and extradited to a Naukograd (science city) in Svarevna for the purpose of weapon research. According to their sentences, most members were to be put under labor for at least 20 years. One of the high-ranking members in the Auestriker POWS was Prof. Dr. Alexander Theodore de Marmesont, 32 year-old aerospace engineer. After gaining permission from the Kozavian authority, his wife and twin children joined him in the Naukograd.

The Naukograd was essentially a city, with its own hospital, school, housing, emergency service and utilities. For most parts, the "prisoners" had to take care of their own living condition, while living and working under the strict eye of Zitravian Gendarmerie. If anything broke, they had to fix it themselves while the Gendarmeire's only job was to watch them work and report on it and to prevent them from stepping out of the city without permission. This, however, also meant that their living standard certainly was above normal prisons and that they retained a sense of community. As a result, they kept their own culture and even refused to speak Russian or Ukrainian to their "jailors" and even demanded respect for their high-ranked officers and scientists. During the Revolution and the War of Independence, Dr. Marmesont made no movement and merely followed the Provisional Government. But as soon as the Civil War arrived, he defied Vice Admiral Yermirov's order to remain quiet (which was what they were supposed to do) and sided with Miroslavsky's Workers' Union who promised them freedom. By the time the Naukograd was dissolved and the prisoners of war were released, they had a population of 2,167, which included the original prisoners of war and some of the families who joined them. Some of them left for their home in the Auestriker Empire, some of them decided that Zitravgrad was already their new home.

Kozavian law enforcement has a rule on corporal punishment known as "Interrogation and Torture Routine". Essentially it is a process in which the interrogators must estimate the suspect's capability to withstand torture before applying physical and psychological force upon him or her as constantly as possible without killing the person by accident. A routine is usually repetitive but specific, dictating what to do and when to do it for optimal result in interrogation. Do consider that Miroslavsky is a physically impsoing man and even then they managed to break him in two weeks...

"Military families" in Kozavia are often middle-class to upper-class families who have a long-preserved tradition of sending their sons (or even daughters) to the military. They are not an official thing, but certainly has a unique place in the Kozavian and Zitravian culture. Each family sometimes has its "patriarch" who is in charge of the estate and the wellbeing of his family members. This tradition seems to decline in the new Zitravgrad, largely because of the conscription already sending everyone to a couple years of service. Miroslavsky family has been associated with the military since 19th century, thanks to its unbroken line of male patriarches.

Dr. Nedelykov is a man of complex operations -- even more so than Miroslavsky. In 1996, he started writing a calculator program named Paradox, which soon grew into a more complex software with several extensions (Equinox Paradox for date and time calculator, Avaritia Paradox for accounting, etc., etc.) But its final extension was "Licentia Paradox" which was a brute force hacking program that slowly ate into the Zitravian Regional GovSys (Government's System) and into all public systems while erasing its own footprints. If Nedelykov's interrogation is reliable at all, 12 October 2007 was not the day he was ready, but rather a month before. But before then, he left his 32 GB RAM desktop computer running a 5 TB heavy software on high-speed connection since 2001 to 2007, just to get hijacked on the day of operation.

The sabotage lasted almost 5 days, during which electricity, telephone lines and internet were not working (except some places that had their own generators -- a minor detail for Nedelykov anyway.) His targets were the bureaucracy and the law enforcement who, as he wanted, failed flat to preserve order in the capital city and other strategic locations.

Baron Lavrentiy Yurievich Kholmatzhonov was two-faced -- he served as the Mayor of Providenska, one of the most important posts in the Kozavian Empire, while he himself worked towards to the return of the Yaroslav dyansty. Nonetheless, he also sought to preserve the culture that the Kozavian Empire had given them over the centuries... all the while he tried to make democracy a thing in this nation. Perhaps his only crime was so much compromise.

Even the fascists had two sides inside them... Led by Vice Admiral Nikolai Stepanovich Yermirov, the republican fascists were in support of a fascist republic run by a regime of military officers, free from the influence of a monarchy. It had its own struggles before forming into a small, but crucial faction filled with top brass of the Armed Forces in the early 2000s, with its heart in the Zitravian Navy. Meanwhile, Dr. Konstantin Stepanovich Nedelykov was more of an aristocrat who wished to preserve the shape and form of the Zitravian ruling class -- the old elites. He rooted for the return of pre-Kozavian monarchy. the Yaroslav dynasty. Although both were covered with the blanket term of "fascism" thanks to their far-right stances, they were drastically different and not even the brotherly bond would hold Nedelykov and Yermirov together to the end.

The sailors under Vice Admiral Yermirov were perhaps the least tolerant of Yermirov. In December 2008, the fleet under Yermirov was still stationed next to the Providenska Kremlin slightly away from the Admiralty Building, a position he wouldn't give up for anything. After enough naval warfare (and many rounds of embarking-disembrking), Rear Admiral Fyodor Alexeyevich Svaskov decided that he couldn't win with his inferior fleet. He issued a message which he spoke to a loudspeaker: "Brothers, if we continue, we will be sailing next to the Admiralty forever, and perhaps sink next this Admiralty. But I have a question, is your captain going to sink with you?" It was not effective immediately, but after another fruitless few days, doubts began to rise (actually on both sides). While no one knew for sure what had happened on Yermirov's flagship, but eyewitnesses reported a quarrel erupting between Yermirov and his best mate before it escalated into a violent fight in which Yermirov was shot and fell off the ship. The sailors did not make an effort to retrieve his body and soon the best mate surrendered almost plainly and emotionlessly.

One of Kazimir Ivanovich's greatest critics live in his house -- Feodora Alexandrovna has always been a living symbol of Auestriker technocrats against other technocratic factions (i.e. Dresvyanin, Nedelykov). Auestriker technocrats have always been a special breed of technocrats in Zitravia, usually seen as a closed community of German-speaking educated upper-middle-class people who immigrated into the eastern nation to "modernize" it, but ended up making the knowledge they brought impenetrably. They are westernized, disciplined, and more free-thinking than the Zitravian counterpart. Thus, they are the first to oppose all forms of censorship and restriction that will block their "path to progress".

Most of the details surrounding this affair are private, but what is known of it involves a secret communication between Feodora Alexandrovna herself and a military intelligence officer, both of whom used to be associates of Dr. Konstantin Stepanovich Nedelykov in one way or another. The official report had it that the ZKVD suspected several right-leaning technocrats (among them the First Lady herself of all people, and the future Prime Minister Adam Yanovich Dresvyanin) of being co-conspirators of Dr. Nedelykov and the far-right movements before and during the Revolution. This suspicion was reinforced by the fact that both Miroslavskaya and Dresvyanin hold a copy of Paradox software. However, Dresvyanin's former presence and resignation from the Provisional Government prove him innocent. Miroslavskaya is nowhere near that fortunate. Her father gave Nedelykov himself a refuge in his house before the latter tried to cross the borders illegally and she was one of the last people who were in touch with Nedelykov. The ZKVD sent a warning that they had to imprison her for treason if there is still no evidence of her innocence. Without other choices at hand (and perhaps still feeling betrayed), Miroslavsky allowed the charge to be placed on his wife along with a few others. Two months later, the further investigation from the ZKVD proved that most of the contacts surrounding Nedelykov had been non-political and the families of the convicted technocrats appealed for a release. Unfortunately, the misunderstanding had taken place and the damage had been done. The technocrats generally loyal to Miroslavsky soon shifted themselves away to their only choice of the time -- Dresvyanin and the United Front. This event also ironically empowered Nedelykov's status after his release in early 2019, to the so-called "fascist terrorist" to "the losing side of the political game".

Instead of being referred to simply as the Third Global War, the Imperialists' War (1985 - 1995) has been granted a fancy name that reflected its imperialist nature -- it was a war that stemmed from colonial conflicts which soon escalated into a field of opportunities for colonial powers to settle conflicts, whether old or new. The Kozavian Empire and its dominions only joined the war in its latter half, but its initiation of nuclear exchanges escalated the conflicts. As a result, the Empire was hit by 16 nuclear strikes, 3 of them were in Zitravia and 2 more were in Kozavia itself.

Prof. Dr. Denis Anatoleyevich Mefimsky's opposition towards the Kozavian Rule started from the tamed and reserved environment of the University of Providenska, but soon was translated into something people could digest. Essentially socialistic, pro-worker rights and anti-monarchy, the Workers' Union was considered radical and dangerous by the Kozavian authority (and frankly by other factions as well). Since their ideology attracted common people, the Workers' Union's strength was in the number of supporters. The Workers' Union later became the Workers' Party under the leadership of Premier Miroslavsky, but its founders are no longer sure if its ideology still remains.

Thoughts were made in a school of thought -- the Front was united in the office of Asst. Prof. Dr. Adam Yanovich Dresvyanin, but his front was not very wide. Largely kept among themselves, the educated middle-class of eastern oblasts considered themselves above the common people by their education and merits, but below the middle-class in Providenska and Yaroslavogorod and the ever-privileged aristocracy. They were freshly-educated from abroad and brought "new ideas" to home, mostly from western nations. Even in 21st century, the Kozavian Empire was a stranger to the idea such as "democracy", and they believed themselves to be the pionners of it. In their mind, the only way that Zitravia could be free was to be independent from the Empire first and foremost. In its infancy, the United Front was considered an ally of the Yaroslavian Fascists until the Provisional Government came into existence.

In the year 2000, the Kozavian Empire initiated the reduction of its Armed Forces all over the Empire. In Zitravia, 80,000 young officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, were dismissed or transferred to other positions in the police and the bureaucracy. This resulted in the general resentment among the officers who were moved, as some of them came from "military familes" and did not know how to go about a new career. However, a large number of these officers were transferred to the police, hence strengthening the Zitravian law enforcement for a while before its eventual collapse from the inside.

Before the Kozava dynasty took over Zitravia in 16th century, the Grand Principality of Zitravia was ruled by the Yaroslav dynasty. Unlike the opulent and grandiose, yet militaristic Kozava, the Yaroslav has always been rather ascetic and peaceful. And this was the reason they were still honored with the title of Grand Prince/Princess and allowed to hold religious ceremonies in the name of Zitravia. But nonetheless, the title was merely empty word, and there have been a few Grand Princes who had tried to wrestle their dominion back.

Grand Prince Viktor has always been a subject of discussion (and much quarrel). When a faction considered itself "Yaroslavian", its allegiance laid with him. Still, Grand Prince Viktor considered their allegiance a manipulation and his position a pawn of power. He was only 19 years old when the Revolution started, and never actually condoned any faction.

Long before the time of Providence's calling, the Yaroslav dynasty ruled Zitravia since the Middle Ages and was partially allowing Patriarch Photius of Lytanzium to bring Orthodox Christianity to Zitravia. The first Orthodox monarchy in the dynasty was Vyacheslav the Pious, who was baptized in 986 and continued to baptize his family and his people. Meanwhile, the baptism of Kozavia was a seperate event, but happening roughly around the same time. Since the 10th century on, the Yaroslav held themselves not only as worldly rulers, but also spiritual leaders who were not merely sponsoring the Church, but were considered a part of it. This continued as such until the succession crisis in the 15th century, in which a civil war broke out between two pretenders to the throne, the twin brothers Prince Ivan and Prince Kirill. This only ended when the Kozavian Tsar Alexey intervened and integrated Zitravia into the dominion of Kozavia, claiming the purpose of peace and order and his blood relations to the two Zitravian princes. (They were indeed cousins, but there was a need to stress that fact.) Prince Ivan opposed the Kozavian intervention and was preparing his troops to retake the capital city of Providenska, but passed away due to sickness before he could take action. Prince Kirill accepted, on the ground that Zitravia maintained her "own will".

Since then, the Grand Prince of Zitravia was moved to the northern city of Yaroslavogorod pushed behind the scene of Zitravian administration as a ceremonious and religious leader. The Zitravian boyars soon swore allegiance to the Kozavian Tsar, whether they were willing or not. Gradually, the Yaroslav dynasty faded into the background and could only offer "words of advice" to the Kozavian Tsar. The first breaking point arose in the 1770s, when Tsarina Ekataterina "usurped" the throne from her husband in mysterious circumstances. At the time, the Grand Princess of Zitravia was Alyadroma Sergeyevna who gathered an army with the help of her husband Baron Nikolai Kirillovich Lorsavich and ordered a march to the Providenska Kremlin. This ended in a humilating defeat of Grand Princess Alyadroma and a clear rift between the Kozava and the Yaroslav. The second attempt was in 1905, the year in which the Kozava dynasty was perhaps the least popular they had ever been before the Revolution of 2008 -- they were not popular even in their own Kozavia. At the start, it seemed almost as if Grand Prince Konstantine would be successful in securing "his" people's support, but his plans were exposed by the Okhrana (Tsarist Secret Police) and he had to flee the country. With each blunder, the Yaroslav dynasty backed further and further away from relevance, but could not be eliminated thanks to the dynasty's religious roles... although one has the right to suspect a foul play when Grand Prince Paul and Grand Prince Maria were killed in a "car accident" in 1998.

Zitravgrad

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