The phone rang. A half-asleep, frazzled man stumbled as he sat up in the Executive Bed. He glanced at his clock and then his calendar. Sunday, 20th of November 2010, 3:06 AM. He swore under his breath and picked up the phone, partly because of his desire to know why someone was calling, but more so because he wanted to put an end to the painfully loud and sharp ring--which he momentarily suspected was so loud purely to give the newly inaugurated President a headache and sleep deprivation. "What do you want at this ungodly hour?" he asked. He let his words, laced with bitter annoyance, fall off his tongue and land almost unintelligibly into the phone. "My apologies, sir, but we appear to have a situation in the Surd region." The President smacked his forehead and groaned. He knew this day would come if the situation hadn't been fixed. He also knew that he'd have to get up.
* * * Sunday, 20/11/10, 3:27 AM Local Time, Insangruento, capital of Setiwiktra* * *
The President walked into his office, the place where he had hoped to sit one day so he could analyze the nation's problems and attempt to fix them. He shook hand with his ministers and then sat down in a chair nearby. "This had better be good." he grumbled. The ministers seemed somewhat uneasy and didn't talk for what seemed like minutes. The President grew impatient. "OUT WITH IT, ALREADY," he bellowed, making the ministers thaw out of their temporary freeze. The defense minister gathered his composure and flat out told his President, "Sir, almost all of the Surd region is in open revolt to us, and they've seized key military bases throughout the region. We have little information right now, but it appears so far that the locals have destroyed key roads and bridges leading into or out of the region. We've yet to establish communication with anyone from there in the last 4 hours and we can't event tell which military bases we've lost to rebels."
Tomás Mateo Graetz Martínez has finally woken up, yet remained inert. He sat in his chair for a moment, frozen much like his ministers had been. "Sir? Your orders?"
Tomás looked up and into the eyes of his ministers. "Mobilize the army. And get me any and all information about this uprising and those involved in it. We'll have a meeting to discuss strategy and information in here at 5:30." They left Tomás with himself while they went to go do their task. Shots had been fired. Tomás knew that this revolt would--not could, would--lead to outbreaks of revolutions all around Setiwiktra from the hardcore Separatists. He had to act quickly, act strongly, and act intelligently if he wanted to keep the nation from fracturing.
* * * Sunday, 20/11/10, 6:00 AM Local Time, unspecified military base and armory bordering the Surd region * * *
Young twenty-something soldier scurried throughout the base, gearing themselves up for war. Some bombers escorted by fighters had already taken off from nearby air strips in an attempt to attempt to take out any artillery, armored vehicles, or aircraft the Surd rebels had taken. However, they had little to know idea where targets where. If the rebels were smart, and they had to be to be able to revolt so powerfully so quickly, stockpiles of arms would be moved to locations more discreet.
Marco was a soldier who'd lived on the border between the smart, cold, and distant government in the center of the nation and the passionate, hot, and tangible angry farmers who filled the Surd region. He knew little bits of Inglish, lots of Middle Setwikan, some High Myrorian, and some Delfian. He had been a conscript for the required 6 years and went back into the military to later end up as an NCO. He'd never seen battle and while enjoying the fact that he'd never had to stare death in the face, he continuously felt bored. Today, however, he'd get to go to the front lines and participate in a mission that'd lead the offensive into rebel territory. The fact that people were going to die hadn't hit him yet. Right now, he was filled with excitement and tried to help his brothers in arms to clean up any careless mistakes and errors they'd made in their quick preparation. Infantrymen and Tanks readied themselves for war.
