Federal Republic of Orland

State of Wuringen

City of Eirhow

The Federal Assembly

December 10, 2024

Mere days ago, the Federal Republic of Orland was declared in the Halls of the Tershine Building, where the previous Provisional Assembly that represented all of Orland in the Provisional Government met. Yet even when they have decided what path the Provisional Government should take for a future Orland – that being a Parliamentary Republican Federation, they were so suddenly defeated in the Battle of Halia by the Royalists – mere days ago as well.

“Order! Order on the chambers!” Shouted the speaker of the Assembly, the former Army General Gulliver Richstoff. “The President has arrived!”

The shouts from the divided Federal Assembly stopped. The chamber itself was seated in a semicircle, similar to the Parliament in Halia. In fact, much of it was copied from the old Parliament. While many had found distaste over the fact that the Federal Republic merely copied the old Parliament, most moderates in the Assembly found it a better solution. After all, the Federal Republic was supposed to be a democratic and republican successor to the old Kingdom. It made sense, as the Parliament was the closest symbol they had of Orlish Democracy for centuries.

Yet, even with its unified seating arrangement, where nearly six hundred men and some women sat on the seats of the Assembly, they were clearly divided between party lines, with the two biggest forming the supermajority under the “Revolutionary Coalition”.

The Orlish Republican Party’s wing in the Federal Republic, and the National Redemption Front.

And then, underneath them, on the wayside, the minor parties bickered and fought them and each other. The Revolutionary Coalition…well, it was there, one could say.

Which only really existed by name anyway. Sure, the Revolutionary Coalition was “united” in a sense, yet here, the smaller ORP continued its nigh-endless criticisms against the NRF, the Armed Forces, and the President about their handling of the war. On the other side, the NRF, their “coalition leader”, staunchly defended the current government, as they endlessly passed law after law that solidified the control of Sullivan Rimpler and his Eirhow Directorate.

Why am I even letting these traitors speak their mouths? President Sullivan Rimpler asked himself as he walked to the podium. Ah, yes. Democracy. I forgot. A lovely thing it is indeed.

Before he even uttered his first word, the speakers already opened up, as the leader of the ORP in the Assembly stood up. “Would the President please explain this utter defeat we have suffered? Gentlemen, ladies, what indeed is this farce? This joke? He said the Armed Forces would have taken the Royal Capital in a few months. Yet we are here! What has happened?! The Assembly demands an explanation!”

Sullivan Rimpler stared him down and scanned the assembled members of the ORP. With nearly half of Orland captured by the Putsch, many women had no choice but to join the current Federal Government, as they were the ones who knew how to run things in the civilian government. Much of the state apparatus was still run by women with their bureaucratic expertise, but they had been mostly silenced by gunpoint. They worked, but their opinions didn’t matter.

Except in the ORP, where they joined in droves, “hoping” to represent themselves in the “Orlish Democracy” that Sullivan Rimpler was building. None of them really had the guts to join the real revolutionary party, the NRF. It still held zero women in its memberships, much like how the Arcanist Party in Eutstadt held zero men in its ranks.

But, getting rid of these fools would just give the Royalists a propaganda victory. He prepared for his response, placing down the papers that he would use in his speech. The Federal Republic championed democracy. Stamping down on it would be a nice temporary measure indeed in order to ensure total control and stability, but it would be foolish. Men were radicals, radical democrats. He would not antagonize his support base. That’s why, it would be better to guide them to vote for the right thing instead.

“Mr. Speaker, honorable members of the Federal Assembly. I stand here before you today after your requests to appear for your questions. Questions regarding the Armed Forces’ unfortunate…setback in the Grand Duchy of Ludendorf.” The Assembly finally turned silent, as his heavy words sank in. Act tough, but even the leader of the ORP knew well that he better hold his tongue. It was martial law, and the President had near absolute control, with the Assembly acting as a mere advisory body. Not even the most ardent ORP member would run his mouth too hard only to find himself disappearing after a “freak accident”.

Still, while President Sullivan Rimpler would admit that he did do such a thing to his political opponents, it wasn’t nearly at any scale that one would consider barbaric. And much of the “disposal” was done as clean business. He wasn’t going to be sloppy. He needed enough intimidation to keep them in line, but he wasn’t so sadistic to demand more only to threaten his position at the top if it backfired.

“Unfortunately, the reality is that our forces faced considerable opposition in the battle. Still, it should be clear to members of the Assembly, that the Grand Duchy is more of a symbolic target for us. It was merely a result of our cost analysis to abandon the assault on a province that had no economic, industrial, or resource value. Yes, it is the heart of the Kingdom, of Orland. But High Command has deemed it a secondary target from now on, and we shall focus instead on more important targets instead. Rebenslof, of the Free Confederation. And Thein, in the Archduchy of Löt. Targets that boast large technological and magical industries, that we now aim to capture and deny. We lost, but this is merely a temporary setback, and we shall refocus ourselves on our new targets.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The members of the NRF clapped in agreement with his words, all while the ORP booed him off the stage. He expected said reaction, and he hardly cared about it. Regardless of whether they supported him or not, the Eirhow Directorate was the one in control and the Executive Branch. The Presidency had powers almost absolute, somehow, even more absolute than the ones that the Queens of Orland wielded.

The Federal Assembly after all was a mere circus for now. There was a revolution for Sullivan to fight. The Federal Republic would not be distracted by the childish bickerings of their so-called “democratic” institutions. But that would be it for now, yet of course, when he gave one last look at the almost brazen arguing sessions of the members of the Federal Assembly, he gave a brief smile.

Sure, democracy had no place for now, and perhaps this war was destroying its eventual foundations. But, the revolution desired democracy, did it not? Still, such a luxury would not be afforded to men, not until they won.

And so, until he and the Federal Republic won, the voice of the people would only be heard by a brick wall. That was merely a political inevitability. And he would leave it at that.

For now.

+++

Kingdom of Orland

West Orland

County of Wittfield

City of Eutstadt

December 11, 2024

The economic and political fallout of the Grand Duchy Campaign could not have been more visible than what Amelie witnessed when she arrived in the City of Eutstadt today.

The City of Eutstadt itself was situated in the massive County of Wittfield, ruled by, well, as evident by its name, Marie’s House. House Wittfield was a strange case, as they managed to turn the City of Eutstadt, after centuries of near-perfect handling and investments, into a bustling technological and magical hub. Uniquely, House Wittfield also championed an extremely egalitarian policy, unlike most other polities inside the Kingdom. It was thus one of the few places in Orland where political divisions between men and women weren’t as extreme.

Even then, the reality was that men were still heavily disadvantaged in the city. None of them really survived the draft, with many of those in the age group of eighteen to twenty-one gone from the city, almost as if they were completely wiped out. When she looked at the pristine streets of Eutstadt as they drove through its well-managed roads, where young women carried on their business as if nothing was happening on the sidewalks, parks, and the establishments that bristled the districts of the city, there were rarely any men and much of those that guarded the garrisons and checkpoints were of the Royal Guard.

Security was heightened, yes, but the war left it untouched. Quite frankly, much of western Orland was untouched by the war. Yet she could see the effects. No young men. Just news about their mounting casualties in the large screens and panels that were at every building and establishment. News that most women largely ignored.

What they didn’t ignore, however, was clear. When they stopped in front of the Astral Square, where the screens of the Eutstadt Stock Exchange Building broadcasted the current speech of the Prime Minister, Jacqueline Heiss regarding their victory in the Royal Capital, the inhabitants of Eutstadt stopped and watched. The words about “victory” and “pushing the rebels back” – it was what took their attention.

But not the cost. They only care about the victory.

Even now, indeed, women found the war as a distant affair. The RGO conscription didn’t really extend out of the Grand Duchy. And so, in much of Orland, the same business before the Great War continued. Men go to war to die, women read the news about their victories – and ignore the casualty counts.

“You seem quite sour there again, Amelie,” William said as their convoy stopped during a sudden traffic jam. “I mean, as far as I can tell, Eutstadt seems like a breath of air.”

“Indeed. No damage. No tanks or armored vehicles parked on the streets. No rubble. No air strike. No deaths…”

“So why the long face?”

“It’s almost like they’re celebrating, William. All because they’re so far away from the fighting. They’re ignoring everything again…” She looked up at him. “Don’t tell me you don’t find it distasteful?”

“Eh, it’s business as usual. I mean, what would I expect, you ladies crying a river over seeing, ‘one hundred thousand young men dead’ on some news screen? Come on. I’m used to it.”

“You’re so jaded at this point…”

“Well, who wouldn’t be.”

The way he shrugged almost annoyed Amelie. She found it ironic, that even those who were supposed to find the most problem about the state of things appeared nonchalant about it. Used to it. Way too used to it. She didn’t know what she found more distasteful – women’s apathy, or men’s jadedness at their struggles.

Their convoy continued without many hurdles through Eutstadt’s extremely well-designed road systems. Every damned road was connected logically and she noticed trains and subway stations at a significantly higher rate than what she had always seen in Rebenslof or Halia before the war. It made sense. Eutstadt, while a significantly smaller city than the industrial and economic giants of the West Coast, was the shining symbol of West Orland’s smaller but more advanced cities. One of the best examples of modern Orlish urban planning.

Untouched and in pristine condition, it was now the new natural center of the Royalist political center. Where Her Majesty’s Government, the Parliament, and the Orlish High Command relocated themselves, and where they would stay until the situation on the East Coast was stabilized, it would also be here where Amelie planned to lead the Kingdom back on its feet for the next campaign.

The political fallout. The Parliament. The Orlish High Command. The Orlish economy that was being mobilized for wartime. The next phases of the general mobilization. And most importantly, the reforms would both improve her chances in the civil war and drive the people of Orland to her side.

Their convoy stopped in front of the November Palace – one of House Ludendorf’s main properties on the West Coast. Until the Ivory Palace was fully repaired and secured, this was where she would rule for now.

Amelie tucked her jacket as she left William’s SUV, feeling the cold air breeze past through her as she looked up at the new center of her administration.

“Seems like it’s time to get down to business then,” William said, standing beside her.

“Indeed it is.” She sighed to herself. “Time to resume fixing Orland then.”