...the Long Détente marked the longest period of peaceful coexistence between the forces of revolution and those of reaction, both sides worn down by decades of constant skirmishing and political mudslinging. With the greatest period of instability occurring during [illegible writing] that saw the world brought to the closest it had ever been to war, the Doomsday Clock practically only seconds away from the brink. Both the Comintern and the Alliance of Free States saw the wisdom of releasing the proverbial pressure valve on relations, declaring peace in their time, but neither expected it to last for more than a generation.
"Peace", however, would be a relative term, as while the men of Whitehall shook hands with the heads of the Comintern, small scale skirmishes throughout the Globe would remain a permanent fixture of the Long Détente, though it would never escalate to such heights as in the past. Thus, beneath the aesthetics of doves and olives, lay the unspoken deaths of hundreds and thousands, the Blue Helm clashing with the Red wherever they still could...
- A History of the Cold War by John P. Sterling, 20XX.
May 15, 2013
People's Union of Azania.
The convoy of APCs and tanks rumbled its way through the savannah of northern Azania, coughing up dust as they went, the great stretches of uninhabited desert revealing naught but shadows of rocks and the occasional gazelle galloping in fright. Aircraft and helicopters strafed overhead, giving reconnaissance reports wherever possible at a constant rate, giving the division-sized force its target's locations with pinpoint accuracy without much worry.
The RIVA force assembled, men and women grizzled from years of experience, was if nothing else, a talkative bunch. With the all-Nipponese force leading the charge, it would be easy to forgive a common observer for thinking that they were about to run straight into Rhodesia itself, such was the haste they moved.
"Comrade Captain Ken, if it doesn't pain you for me ta ask, but have we-"
"No, comrade Yoshiro, we have not, and the next person to ask that damn question is being sent for company latrine duty tomorrow." the Captain replied in brisk Nipponese, eyes still glued to the monitoring stations in the vehicle.
"Geez, was just tryin' ta break the mood over 'ere." the private grumbled in his Kyushu accent, checking his rifle as he went on, "Rhodesians or not, High Command's already told us ta make camp before we engage them on the 'morrow anyways, plus whose ta say they don't just decide ta run back across the border like the last group?"
The Captain grunted, the private made a good point after all, even with the speed their motorized formations afforded the RIVA forces, it was all to easy for the insurgents to simply slip away back across the border as they always did.
"One day Colonel Kanji'll kick up enough of a fuss that we won't have to worry about that border issue. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she ordered us to ignore command's guidelines regarding shit like this." Ken said, reaching for some water.
"Wouldn't be the first time a Kanji decided to ignore national borders for their own military expediency." one of the other soldiers smirked. The crew chuckled, it was a long running gag amongst the troops at this point that the Captain was more than willing to ignore.
"That was a godawful joke comrade Pyotr, and you know it." Yoshiro tittered, punching the man right in the arm.
"Worse comes to worse, I could just jump the border, it's right there after all!"
Their radio sets suddenly blared to life, the soldiers returning to a solemn professionalism with surprising speed.
"Comrades of the 5th RIVA Division, our intelligence has informed us that unfortunately, our targets have managed to cross the border yet again." Colonel Kanji spattered out through the communications, earning a collective sigh of disappointment from the whole convoy.
"Take a rest comrades, we'll be RTB in a few minutes." She continued, managing to stay upbeat, though all could tell the tinge of anger leaking through her cheery attitude.
"Get your spirits up though comrades, I hear the base cafeteria has some damn good curry waiting for us all once we return. And no, there will not be any milk provided."
That got some silent laughs from the crew, but not enough to forget the sinking feeling in their stomach.
The ride back was a silent one, the rumbling of engines sputtering through the night.
Hours later, the 5th RIVA Division would be declared MIA, alongside its operating base in Azania.
May 27th, 1853
The Border, Socialist Republic of Chosun.
Colonel Kanji Minato inhaled the good cafeteria grub that was provided like a vacuum cleaner, absolutely exhausted after the prolonged debriefing of the operation. It had taken the winds out of the young officer, but she was still not quite spent yet.
She walked out of the building for a moment, deciding to take a blunt from her stash as she looked at her surroundings.
It still felt quite bizarre, feeling the cool air of northern Chosun bearing down on her face, it'd been quite a while since the Nipponese officer had been in the Far East, the constant deployments of the Volunteer Army leaving little time for her to return to her homeland.
...though the fact that she had decided to apply for those deployments was better left unsaid for the militant workaholic.
Well, hopefully we get some action soon. She mused to herself, the flash had at least made it easier for her to reconnect with the other RIVA commanders, having been basically dumped into the same spot without any real consideration for space.
She glanced down towards the rest of the field, the engineers were hard at work raising anything and everything for the reservists being moved in with a haste that she'd never seen before. The constantly updated timetables finally kicking into effect, though perhaps not where they were expected to deploy, meant that the new troops would be armed and ready in short order.
The Colonel rubbed her fingers on the bridge of her nose as she took another whiff of the blunt, letting the fruity scent roll over her tongue, it would be a busy few months.
June 2nd, 1853.
Mokpo, Socialist Republic of Chosun.
Hiroshi was more than a little incredulous as he gazed across the bridge of the carrier, the promotion to navigations officer on the
Jeju was quite a surprise for the young officer, but shortages had been noticed across the fleet as ships reported MIA sailors gone ashore in Zhongguonese cities before the flash, the multinational force had seen a multitude of manpower simply gone, while manpower that was thought lost had suddenly reemerged in Chosun or Nippon, it was chaos on the administration.
But now, after a few weeks, INTREV was out for blood yet again, the fleet had been assembled in southwestern Chosun, though the reason still remained unknown to most of the sailors, rumors spreading like wildfire as the fleet was soon joined by land forces.
Troops were being boarded onto their amphibious craft, tanks and men, supplies and guns, all rolling into their assigned positions, at least a corps' worth of strength in the base.
"Comrade Captain Kim, are we finally heading out for the mainland?" Hiroshi asked as he looked over the fleet, missile cruisers and supercruisers flanking the prides of the Comintern fleet, the 6 fleet carriers. It was all that was left, but it stood proud and tall over all other navies of this time period, even a simple destroyer would have no trouble devastating whatever the imperialists could throw at them.
"No, comrade Lieutenant Commander, that comes later." Kim replied with a muted tone, constantly checking the radio.
"Then why exactly are we here then?"
"Our task now, comrade, is to prepare for that."
The Captain smiled, "Say, comrade Hiroshi, have you ever visited Taipei?"
A/N: And we are back! Sorry for the hiatus, I kinda forgot that exam season was right around the corner when I first got this out as an idea hehe. A bit of a shorter chapter since I wanted to get something out for you all and as new characters are being introduced for the next phase. Hope you enjoy it!
