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Partially inspired by art from Jakub Rozalski
VIVAT IMPERATOR IN AETERNUM
Year 280 of the Imperial Calendar, Year 393 of the Revolutionary Internationale Calendar
What do you want, child? Can't you see that I'm busy working?
A story? Oh fine. I guess an old man can take a bit of a rest. What kind of boring old story do you want from an old man like me? The war? What, are you planning to become a historian when you grow up? A fine, no use arguing with a child.
Burning hot sunlight shone from the clouds upon the city. Smoke billowed like tendrils from below. Bodies, heads covered by black bags, hung from posts; corpses, beaten and shot and mangled, lay scattered across the streets. Hanging atop the streets were massive yellow banners with black text in bold reading, "THEY SHALL NOT PASS!" It was supposed to be inspiring: a call to arms for the citizenry to join the army of the Democratic Republic in the Southeast. Some did, while some refused. The Democratic Republic had built an unstable structure in their haste. Their leaders were the architects of their own downfall. The Marshal's final assault on the besieged city made their entire front collapse. Thousands surrendered, thousands escaped the field. The unconditional surrender of the Democratic Republic was unavoidable.
Upon the ruins of City 004 marched the victors. The formal declaration of the Consulate was now unavoidable, and so was the coronation of the Grand Marshal of the Republic as Consul of the Novum Res publica Orientalis, and later, the Basileus, or Imperator, of the Imperium Aurorae. To many, it was a brave new world. But you may be asking how this happened in the first place. Why did the esteemed statesman and military officer Marshal Campana, revolt against the Republic? Was it for power and fame? Or were the reasons more philosophical in nature? I doubt you'll be interested in the answer to that, child. What matters is his ambition. He declared war on a stagnant world that needed radical change. He declared war on a world ruled by the Democratic International Earth Government, or the IEG. Within the span of two years, half of Asia was under his dominion.
His unbroken string of victories was propagated by the Imperium's creation of superweapons, which, at first, seemed irrelevant. However, upon testing them on the field against the IEG, it proved effective. It inspired fear and dread in the hearts of the enemy, and hope in the hearts of the Imperial legionnaires. These superweapons were collectively known as Azraeli, living representations of the angel of death. Some were big and slow, some were small and nimble, but they were all terrifying nonetheless. They helped revolutionise warfare. When, once, only infantry could traverse hilly terrain effectively, Azrael Constructs could do as well as tanks on the wide plains. When, once, buildings served as cover, the spider-like models simply climbed over them. When, once, vehicles of war could only carry so few armaments, the basic Walkers could carry a devastating battery. Similarly, the Imperium's reintroduction of the air war has changed strategy.
Unfortunately, his successes were short-lived. He died suddenly at the age of 40. Without an heir or an appointed successor, and with the corrupt Electoral Court of the Res publica having elected an inadequate Consul whose inadequacy in warfare lead to multiple defeats by the mobilising IEG forces, the Imperium shattered into four. One under the newly-elected Consul, another under General Karvanex the Traitor, another under General Lee Yew, and one under General Nicador. With the division, they waged civil war, whilst the International Earth Government ate away at the quarrelling states in their Wars of Liberation by using their own Constructs, taking away more than half of the lands acquired by Imperator Campana across Asia Minor and the Middle East, mostly from the Electoral Government, which was pushed back to the frontiers of the Gobi Desert. The people starved and thirsted in the desert wastes. Crime went rampant, death rates rose. The Electoral Government was nothing but a symbolic and powerless authority. Their food and water were incredibly reliant on trade.
With the Electoral Government nearly on the brink of extinction, a miracle came in the form of General Aleksandrov, who was elected Dictator for Life. He also reestablished order in the deserts. His industrial reforms increased food production capacity as he dug the Grand Canals, which flowed from the Yellow River, and into the major cities, granting, for the first time, agriculture in the deserts. His newly-constructed Aleksandrov Wall prevented any further incursions into Electorate territory until now. His capital is the Moon City, located somewhere in the southernmost reaches of the Aleksandrov Imperium. It has no state religion like the other Imperii, but its citizens are also deeply religious.
Underking Karvanex the Traitor, named so for giving the IEG the secrets to Imperial success, as well as openly rebelling against the Imperium under Campana, had turned himself virtually immortal with the help of abominable machinery, and has made others revere him as a god. He had taken with him over a quarter of the original legionnaire force, known as the Traitors in Imperial territory. Mutants, demoniacs, Imperial undesirables, and supporters of the old system flocked to his side. His is the largest state of all four former Imperial states, constituting majority of the Siberian Wastes after being banished for his rebellion, unable to return. His capital is the Beacon, a circular city surrounding the Red Tower, upon which he is imprisoned. However, his power and influence grows again. Reports from the Lee Imperium show worrying signs of shadows in the Siberian forests moving about, watching closely. Many call him a demon, for his influence extends beyond the Northwall that prevents his escape.
The Lee Imperium is known as the Zhongguo, a reincarnation of the Chinese Empire from centuries past. It is ruled by the enigmatic Shi Yao Xiaoling, ruling from New Shanghai. He rules over much of China's eastern half, with his rule extending to the Northwall, which defended the First Imperium from Karvanex. It is the richest culturally, whilst having the most disciplined army and the most ingenious of generals. Despite its initial animosity with the Electoral Government, the strained relations have been relaxing, with a ceasefire even being signed. It is the most technologically advanced of the four Imperii, having modernised Azrael Constructs, and even the occasional jet fighter, which had almost gone 'extinct' centuries ago. Due to its history of taking Middle Eastern states, it has achieved great knowledge regarding culture. Its society is also deeply esoteric, and its people deeply religious, believing in a faith brought about by the Coptic peoples.
The Nicador Imperium is a very odd lot, with dozens of mixed cultures. It constitutes the islands of Japan, all the way to Australia, as well as a large portion of Southeast Asia, the birthplace of the Imperium Aurorae. It is ruled by the pragmatic and strong-willed Shi Zhou Ong Li, who is of Chinese-Singaporean descent. Despite its cultural diversity, it functions just as well as the Zhongguo. It is relatively obscure. Its natural hilly and mountainous lands serve as natural defences against its invaders. Its fighters, though well-disciplined, are savage and unrelenting in battle, turning their soldiers into the most feared warriors in the battlefield. Unfortunately, it suffers from its own civil war, with republican rebels in the jungles of Southeast Asia fighting a brutal war of secession against the Imperium. Similar to the rest of the Imperium, the Nicadori are also deeply religious, subscribing to the same faith as Campana, which was a branch of the same faith that the Lee Imperials practice. Its capital, meanwhile, is the City of the Sun, once known as City 004, and the first capital of the Campana Imperium.
The International Earth Government is the democratic government ruling over much of the Free World's countries, including rebel states in Loyalist Imperii. It is not lead by any single person, but by a council of delegates from each nation. Centuries ago, it ruled the world, forging a false peace and order in the guise of utopia after the War to End Wars. Its Free Armies are massive in size, but with mass comes the difficulty of logistics. Such is their case. Due to their preference of the civilian market and technologies based on pleasure, their soldiers are not given top-notch equipment. Unlike most of the Imperium, the IEG prides itself on its technological advancements. They have a basis for that pride. An overwhelming majority of their workforce is mechanised, and therefore, a lot of their armies also include machine soldiers. They wave the banner of freedom and democracy in a land of emperors, and seek to liberate the world again.
To top it all off, there are the Outcast Tribes based around the world. They are relatively harmless, and were hunted down by the Imperium in its early days because they had abandoned their humanity willingly to live as beastly non-humans in the limits of Democratic Cities. Those that still remained human were as animalistic and barbaric as their mutant brethren. Many, of course, flocked to Karvanex, but many also flocked to the Pacific Islands, as well as the West Coast of the American Continent. These mutants are barbaric in nature, but are the most numerous. Many thought they were too afraid to invade human territory, but the truth is much different. It has begun its raiding of the North American Union under the IEG, as well as the coasts of Imperial settlements along the Pacific. Some might think that the raiding parties are just pirates, and are minor threats, but some reports conclude otherwise. The attacks are rather well-coordinated.
Now, the pieces are set. Are you prepared to hear the rest of the tale? Good.
THE PLOT
Like the snow melting as winter ends, peace dissipates again. The Imperium wants to unify, but unification at this point can only be brought about by hardship, and if necessary, blood and iron. The Internationale does not want to negotiate with those that it considers fascist dictator countries. Its terms are unconditional surrender. Likewise, the Imperii wish to break what they consider the anti-human, nihilistic, and degenerate Internationale. Likewise, the Imperii only accept unconditional surrender. The Underking, meanwhile, stirs from his prison. His forces of mutants and humans alike are prepared to ravage the world and take it for their maddened god, and proclaim his dominion over the Earth. Those mutants that did not join the Underking, however, have started to stir, as well, their attacks increasing in intensity day by day. This is the work of a great King of the Outcasts, one with strategic knowledge that one would not expect from animals.
Off to the western fringes of the Electorate, war has officially begun once again. The Internationale has initiated an offensive with two million men, aimed at the overthrowing of the Electoral Government. It was a southward push, initiated after they bypassed the northern Aleksandrov Wall by means of the nimblest Constructs they had. By the third week, the enemy had advanced over two hundred miles, creating a vast salient threatening to bisect the entire desert in two, but before they could advance any further, they were stopped by an encircling force that cut off their supplies. Their spearhead was halted as the legionary tanks stopped their advance through the Great Emperor Basin. However, the Electorate's forces are still heavily outnumbered. For the first time, the infighting Imperii helped each other, as one month after the beginning of the Electorate's liberation, the Lee Empire struck against the cities in Western China, a large portion of which were taken by the Internationale in their Wars of Liberation. In Southeast Asia, rebel forces backed, armed, and supported by the Internationale have begun a revolution. Its failure turned the revolution into a civil war. It has been waged for five years, but for the first time in those five years, Internationale troops have begun to participate as volunteers.
For the first time in two hundred years, total war has been waged.
INFORMATION
INSPIRATION
Ave, and welcome to Vivat Imperator in Aeternum. This roleplay's story was conceived when I started mashing different historical events together, put them in a Brave New World-esque utopian future where war is no longer present, but military institutions exist nonetheless to "keep the peace." The IEG was conceived as a democratic society, where people are freed from responsibility by machines, so that they may exercise freedom to nearly their fullest extent, which was created after a not-so-devastating nuclear war. Some humanists considered this an abomination, and rebelled, with the most successful, of course, being Grand Marshal Campana's revolt against the Democratic Republic of the Southeast very much tailored in a similar fashion to Franco's civil war against the Spanish Government. The method of warfare, too, is inspired by the mobile warfare of the Second World War, with the added bonus of Azrael Constructs (mechs inspired by Nazi Superweapons that actually work, and Jakub Rozalski artworks), as well as guerrilla and fourth-generation warfare.
PLAYERS
I tailored this to be a military and political roleplay. Participants may play as simple soldiers, commanders (of armies or ships), pilots, or even leaders of countries (though for the latter 3, I would rather keep them at a minority, compared to the amount of regular soldiers). Warfare and diplomacy are important factors of this roleplay. Note that there are also minor factions (that might play big roles nonetheless) to be introduced should this RP get off the ground.
For the soldiers, soldier types and rankings will be introduced soon. Each player who plays as a soldier will be assigned on the most relevant fronts depending on their chosen faction and unit. It is similar in the case of players who choose to play as commanders. The maximum possible rank at the start of the RP is the Brigadier General for the IEG players, and Legatus Minor/Strategos for Imperium players. These commanders control 3,000-5,000 men each, and will be under the major units, so the amount of commanders will be strictly limited for each unit/front. It is the same for naval commanders, as well, but Admirals have more freedom in choosing the amount of ships they will have, as well as the freedom to choose whether to join the Sky Navy or the Surface Navy.
Leaders of countries are the Generalissimos of the armies, and the heads of both state and government. They decide what happens in their country, and they decide on the movements of entire fronts.
So, any further suggestions? Anybody interested?