Wilted Rose

Precipice Of War: The Reboot of a Reboot

I see this exists, alright, I'll grab me hat...

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Outskirts of Krakau, Galicia-Lodomeria/"Austrian Occupied Poland", Danubian Federation.

"You can not prevent my entrance into the city, I have the full rights granted to me to move as I see fit and report to the people what is happening here! The media can not be surpressed like this!" shouted a rather large woman, her large cheeks burning red in anger as she angerly shoved her finger into a uniformed man's face. Several others around her echoing her protests as what was essentialy a convoy of vehicles were stopped at a military roadblock.

The man being yelled at was Klaus Stosch, a bulky man who stood strong before the woman shouting her objections straight into his face, almost covering his face with her saliva. He didn't seem to even be bothered, as he looked at her with almost a robotic lack of emotion.

"Ma'am, no civilians are allowed past this point. Media, resident, and even international are all barred entrance due to martial law being declared. It is for your own safety. The influx of russians have led to them ransacking homes and killing people in the streets, we can not safely let anyone in until the situation has passed." He voiced, raising his hands up in order to ensure everyone was paying attention to him. The soft drizzle of an upcoming rainstorm having begun to stain his already black uniform. "Please, everyone return to your vehicles. Official represenatives will be contacted in order to ensure any questions you have will be answered. Until then, for your own safety, leave city limits."

"It took me weeks to get here from Ottawa, and I will not leave so easily!" She retorted. Stomping her heeled foot in the dirt.

"Come now Ms. Elizabeth, I'm sure they'll let us in soon. Let us just wait it out." Chimed in a small, meak little man. He looked like a rat next to a dog with the size difference between him and the woman. Klaus eyed him down, not even noticing his presence until now. He had an American Flag pin on his chest, so he must have been working along side Elizabeth as a joint report of some sort.

That or he just wanted to get into her pants, Klaus didn't care. He wasn't even sure why he was even thinking about this at this point. The 'rat man' as Klaus was calling him now, had managed to drag Elizabeth to her vehicle at this point. Arguing betwen each other just out of earshot. Thank god too, her voice grated on his ears.

It took several minutes for everyone to slowly begin to disperse, returning to their cars and trucks and gradually turning around, heading away from the city they all wished to be in. The woman in particular seemed to have trouble climbing back into her vehicle, her body shaking slightly with her own anger. The approaching cold wind most likely didn't help either.

"I do not like lying to the people, Klaus. It shouldn't be our way." Voiced one of the other guards, shaking his head in disaproval once most of the vehicles had gone their own way.

"No one wants to lie, Wilhelm, but it is better to live this lie then to know the harsh truth of what is happening in that city. The Russian savages should all be forced to live in camps, before they ruin more of our glorious nation with their disgusting ways. First they destroy themselves, now they run to destroy their neighbors."

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Three Hours Later
East Krakau, Galicia-Lodomeria/"Austrian Occupied Poland", Danubian Federation.

A heavy rainstorm had fully engulfed the city at this point, forcing most people to return indoors until it passed. Getting wet and dealing with the winds an unneeded trouble for anyone sane enough.

Yet here, no one was sane.

The constant thunk of rain against the paved road was being drowned out, the constant yelling and cheering of the mass of people silenced nearly everything else. Before them, stood a line of men. All of them dressed in all black military uniforms, the double headed eagle of the Federation on their shoulders. Behind them was a single halftrack, with a young man standing in the hole where a machinegun would usually have been. His once crisp uniform completely drenched, turning it a shade darker. The only thing making him distinct from the men before him was a yellow armband on his right arm, and the cap he wore, proudly showing the Habsburg Eagle. His expression was stoic, his brown eyes staring at the assembled mob before him, as unwavering as he was.

"You will disperse! All Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussians are to immediatly disperse and return to designated areas. Faiure to comply will result in force being used!" He shouted from the halftrack. His cap was barely keeping the water from his eyes at this point, and it showed no signs of really letting up at this point. The line of Austrian soldiers stood before him, armed and aiming at a large crowd of Russians and other minority groups from the now defunct Empire. They were screaming, shouting. Insults, demand for food, and of human rights. Rain would not deter them so easily.

"Oberwatchmeister Volker, sir, the Russians aren't bulging in the slightest. What are your orders?" exlaimed a private, looking up at Volker as he stood off to the side of the vehicle. One of his hands was held up in a futile attempt to reduce the water splashing against his face, and his head constantly turning to gaze at the crowd.

Volker eyed the people before him, as if analyzing a chessboard. Saying he was outnumbered was an understatement, there was nearly a hundred of them. He only had sixteen. His face contorted in a frown, as his own advantage lie in his weaponry. Shooting would solve the problem, yes, but would make things drastically worse in the long run. He already had to crackdown on several incidents already…

Most of the mob were in ragged clothing, the poor conditions of their refugee camps meant that many of them hadn't bathed in days. Their clothing was torn, shredded, and other types of damage. Inbetween the shouts, the coughs and sneezes that signal illness were easy to be spot. The storm wasn't helping that situation is the slightest.

Volker couldn't help but sneer, the mob stood defiant before him, as if confident in the knowledge that Volker wouldn't be able to stop them with the few men at his side. He shouted again, echoing his previous statement once again at the mob. His soldiers clearly getting nervous at the sheer size of their opposition.

They did not budge.

"Very well then, we shall scare them into submission." He noted. It was his best option, they were defiant and united in the knowledge that Volker wouldn't dare shoot. They were confident, headstrong… arrogant. If he could turn that around on then, make them doubt, then that might be all he needs.

Volker ducked out of the turret of the halftrack, climbing out the back and moving towards the line of men before him. "Men, take aim!" He shouted, walking down the line of soldiers. The cocking of a few rifles was heard, as they all rested the butts of their rifles firmly against their shoulder. Volker knew they were scared, many of them visibly shaking with their rifles.

The mob flinched, at last. Several members starting to duck away in the back, running down the street away from the firing line before them. Volker sighed with relief as quietly as he could, and signaled for his men to lower their weapons for now. "Fear can break the will of even the must stubborn of animals. Men, move forward and escort the survivors back to the designated refugee areas."

The Russians were getting more bold, and the lack of adequete supplies for such a large refugee population was increasing their militancy. His men were too streched thin to handle it all, but this was the first 'organized' attempt by the animals.

"Oberwachtmeister Volker, sir! Reports of fighting in the northern part of the city!" Volker recoiled at the news, turning to the man informing him of this. Not that man could even describe him, he could barely even be eighteen, his solemn face was pale and contorted from all the running he just had to do. Yet still, his inexpirence showed. As well as the baby face he sported.

"Who? Is it our police units?" The soldier shook his head, pointing his hands north as if it would help him explain the situation easier to Volker.

"Nein, it seems Polish citizens couldn't take it anymore, and they're fighting with the Russians in the city there. Worst is, their armed!"

Volker turned towards his men, shouting at them to load up into the halftrack, as well asordering someone to get on the radio and to request additional forces to move into the northern districts. Something wasn't right here, there wasn't any military armories in Krakau, and no munitions deliveries to the forces here were stolen from. How did either side get armed?

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

A party? With Africans? Please, we have standards here ;o

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Vienna, Austria, Danubian Federation

"His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the Danubian Federation, Kaiser Franz Joseph the Second!" Those words bore into his head, before being drowned out by the thunderous applause drowning out all noise across Michaelplatz. He stood on a podium, look down across the thousands of people who had come to hear the speech he had been preparing for far too long.

"My people! Citizens of Vienna and the Federation! For years we have worked together, rebuilding and reforming our great nation into one where all people and religions may live with the same rights and liberties as all others. Though we are still recovering from our economic downturns, the damages of the civil war, and the severe issue with Russian immigration… we must continue to stand strong in the face of these adversities." He proclaimed into the microphones before him, the cool wind moving his hair and tie ever so slightly.

"I, and the Imperial Council, will continue to work with the Principalities across the Federation to tackle their problems individually instead of continuing our broad reforms that only fix a few issues and cause more elsewhere! This will tie in to the "Infrastrukturreparaturge setz" enacted in 1958, allowing us to focus bringing up the Bundesautobahnen to standard everywhere in the Federation. However, to our east in Gallicia-Lodomeria, our people are dealing with a new challenge. The collapse of the Russian Empire has caused turmoil through out their lands, and tens of thousands of people illegally enter the Federation every month. Rape, stealing, and murder are starting to become rampant. I will not tolerate our people being forced to suffer for this, and I am of this moment enacting an Imperial Decree that the Federation's borders are officially closed to all successor states of the Russian Empire and the 'Kommando Militarstreife & Militarpolizei' to be deployed to enforce this."

Several reporters immediately began yelling questions at the Kaiser, their pens scribbling fanatically in their notebooks. "What of the Russian and Ukrainian people that already are inside the Federation? What will be of them?" Asked on of them, with several other reporters vocalizing similar questions of their own.

"All civilians that entered the Federation legally, and have family who are citizens of one of the Principalities, are allowed to remain and live freely in our nation. If they have entered legally but do not have family, they will remain in Galicia-Lodomeria. Otherwise, all others will be deported. Because of this decree, the Federation has now officially declared it's support and recognization of the Ukrainian State as the official state of the Ukrainian people in the collapsed empire."

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Krakau, Galicia-Lodomeria/"Austrian Occupied Poland", Danubian Federation

It was a quiet morning in Krakau on this day, the sun's rays just barely starting to creep over the horizon to start their job of illuminating the world. A faint mist clung to the damp air, ever trying to reduce visibility. Several people were already up and awake despite the time of day, either on their way to work or conversing on street corners with friends. A group of four men were doing just that, smoking cigarettes and making idle conversation while a young boy walked up to them.

"Morning Mr. Kus! I have your paper today." He said, his Hungarian Accent already showing despite being quite young himself.

"Thank you Varga, what tells of the Pawie's today?" The largest man said, taking the paper from the lad and giving him what could best be described as a fatherly head pat.

"The Pawie's and their Szkop's are busy in the eastern city with the Kacap's, who are causing a stir over "rations" or something. I didn't pay much attention about the reasons since I figured it wasn't important." He said, nodding at Kus as he took another drag from his cigarette. Kus would look over to the left, at another member of the group who was just putting out his own cig with his shoe.

"Looks like my group will have an easy time in the north then, Kus. Need to stay alert though, the Pawie's are stupid but even they'll notice large movements of weaponry no matter how hard I try to hide them. I say we keep avoiding the west of the city. Even if the Szkop's are busy in the east, they still pay more attention in their neighborhoods."

Kus would nod, tossing his own cigarette into the street behind him before turning back to the group. "Just remember to keep everything you write down in Russian or Ukrainian, it'll keep the eyes on the troublemakers and not us if they happen to find out. Alright boys, let's get moving. Cracow and Poland aren't going to liberate themselves without us guiding their way."

Then, in one voice, they all proclaimed "To hell with the Kaisers!"

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Two Hours Later
Eastern Krakau, Galicia-Lodomeria/"Austrian Occupied Poland", Danubian Federation

"Get moving, back to your designated areas. Move!" Shouted an Austrian MP, who was standing in the back of an old military flatbed. "All Russian Refugees are to move to their designated refugee zone, or you will be arrested!"

Here, the streets were chaotic. Trash and broken glass littered the entire area, let alone all the people. The situation had started to get worse over the past few months, and now MPs were forcing the refugees to move at gunpoint. Many Russians put there hands up whenever one of them came up to him, shouting in German or Czech, depending on their nationality. Many of them simply didn't know what to do most of the time, due to neither party having many speakers of the other's languages. Which led to many Austrians beating Russians down, before handcuffing them and leading them to nearby trucks.

"Oberwachtmeister! Most of the Russians have been moved to their zones or arrested, but a squad Bohemians report that a group of them has holed up in a house, evicting the residents. They're armed too!" Shouted a corporal, running up to the man in the truck. "Wachtmeister Schleibaum, take additional men with you and get them to reinforce the Bohemians. Then, remove those Russians through any means nessecary. Vienna is sick of these inbred wichsers, and wants them dealt with." The Sergeant nodded, and rushed off to gather more men.

The Czechs were already positioned outside the building, which was a communal housing building on the corner of a less-travelled back street. Some were hunkered down in nearby buildings, rifles aimed at the occupied residence. The Czech sergeant glanced down as his watch, and back at his men, and then at Schleibaum who was approaching with another squad behind him. "Schleibaum! Good, with you here we can storms the building if we must." He said, his thick accent making his German a bit off.

"We're going to have to, the Oberwachtmeister gave us the order to remove those Russians. I want you to provide cover for us should they attempt to resist." He responded, the Czech Sergeant nodding.

"That won't be a problem, they seem to mostly be hiding. We've tried to get them to peacefully exit but we've had no response."

Schleibaum nodded in return, motioning for his makeshift squad to move towards the building, their boots much louder to his ears as they moved forward. One of the Gefrieters under his command looked around him for a moment once everyone was in position around the door, and quickly forced the door open. The rest of the Squad pouring into the building with their rifles raised.

There were screams almost immediately, dominantly of children as the squad found themselves in a group of unarmed refugees. Elderly, Mothers, Children. The few men who are with them immediately surrendered themselves, and were checked by a couple privates to see if they were armed. "All unarmed, Schleibaum. What do we do?"

"Line them up outside, so we know who to send where."

It took several minutes to coax the elderly out of the building, but eventually they were escorted outside where they were all lined up against a wall. Arranged from youngest to oldest, and separated between sexes. Schleibaum paced down the line, reading the makeshift refugee papers that were issued to all of them. He handed the papers back to all of them, and stood before the children. "Find your mother, then I want you to head to your zones." He said in broken Russian, but thankfully the children seemed to understand and the majority of them left with their mother. "All elderly are free to move to their zones as well, if you need assistance moving, a truck will take you there."

They also nodded, able to gauge through his lack of complete knowledge of what he wanted them to do and they left as well, boarding one of the trucks the MPs had parked for the occasion. Once Schleibaum had seen the children and elderly were away for several minutes, he motioned for the rest of his squad to move up. The only refugees left were three adult males, and a single young male child. "Do you have any parents?" He asked, before nodding slowly as the child shook his head no.

He looked back his squad who had joined him mere moments ago, and returned to speaking German. "Alright, shoot all four of them and be done with this. Make sure they're dead too."

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

N-no its mine ;;

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Define "strong" @Pepperm1nts

Also I don't have Transylvania

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Seeing France with Elsaß-Lothringen 🤔🤔🤔

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Romania could have a cool storyarch dealing with the territory they lost to the Austrians. Lot of nationalist stuff could brew up down there. And although a bit strange, they could even lead the Balkan resistance to Austrian occupation. Take advantage of the fact that many of the minorities in the empire are probably longing for independence and reunification.

@Pepperm1nts

Thats currently happening for Romania since they took Transylvania back during the Civil War. Ethnic Romanians still outside are pushing for full reunification and withdrawl from the Federation, which they see as Austrian-dominated still

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

I guess that works 🤔

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Fascism doesn't really exist, it never gained much popularity due to many of it's biggest pushers either dying(Adolf) or probably staying Socialist in a desperate attempt go fix the utter collapse of economics at home(Mussolini)

The Socialist vs Capitalist thing also is nowhere as it was OTL. Communism only exists in China and France atm, in terms of "powers" and they haven't pushed their wills onto neighbors like the USSR did. Nor is there a major capitalist superpower fighting them.

The USA just finished a civil war, and is fixing themselves up. The UK is standing up again and only just now streching their legs probably. Likewise with Italy.

Germany and Austria are pretty heavily state-buisnesses with interventionism, so calling them "capitalist" wouldnt be perfect.

PoW is more of a "Imperialism vs Independence" at the start, as Monarchies and Europe try to get back into the swing of things as socialist movements erupt in force and colonies enjoy their new independence.