User:Brant/In Enemy Territory

Left behind after the retreat of Acadian forces in the Bow Tie War, five Acadian Special Forces agents must survive in hostile enemy territory, without any diplomatic protection. They must stay alive until the Acadian government is able to successfully retrieve them. In a city that is rampant with espionage, schemes, and no one to trust, they must also stay out of sight from the ever vigilant Dorkugese soldiers. A newly appointed head of the unit operating in Macradonia, Adrahil must be able to keep his unit alive, but also make sure they safely make it back to Acadia.

Prologue
"Macradonia."

"What?"

Adrahil was surprised. He was getting promoted, but his assignment was Macradonia? A barely established colony where war was still taking place.

"Yes," his commander said in a serious voice, "I'm sure you know that the island was recently added to our colonial empire. There are soldiers there, Adrahil, but we need intelligence. New colonies like to rebel, you see."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Your flight boards tomorrow, and your unit will be at the air force base."

At four in the morning, Adrahil walked down one of the many air force bases on the island. He was soon greeted by a group of penguins wearing civilian clothes, but stood out from the rest of the people at the airport due to the military issued duffel bags and rucksacks they were carrying.

"Ah, you must be our unit leader," one of them spoke, "Adrahil?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm Donovan, this is Fingolfin, Isaac, and Michel. But enough introductions, we have a plane to catch."

A few hours later, as the sun began to rise, Adrahil and his unit landed at a Macradonian airport, actually the main airport Testlonica before the war. This was a civilian airport before, he thought to himself. Below he could notice some military airplanes and a couple of armored vehicles.

As the group stepped out of the plane, they were greeted by a National Security Service agent standing in front of four unmarked black SUVs.

"Welcome to Macradonia, the most boring colony Acadia will ever have. I believe proper introductions are necessary? I'm special agent Jean Levigne, and you are?"

"Call me Adrahil. My team members are Donovan, Fingolfin, Isaac, and Michel."

Adrahil and his team members grabbed their bags from the plane and placed them into the back of the SUVs. Moments later, they were speeding down a Macradonian road leading to the center of Testlonica, the capital.

"So how's it been in Macradonia?" Fingolfin asked.

"Boring as crap", Jean replied, "and dangerous. Speaking of dangerous, you should all be careful. There are Macradonian resistance members and terrorists out there."

"Just arrest them all and be done with it already." Isaac said.

"It's not that easy, you know. You arrest one and you hear about five more. There's reports of Gendarmes just shooting suspected resistance members and terrorists in the countryside."

Michel inquired. "Isn't that illegal?"

"When you keep catching terrorists and it never seems to end the easiest thing to do is to just shoot them, as you will soon find. No one back home must hear about this, so don't go putting it into your reports you'll be sending back." Jean replied.

"Why the heck are we even here in this forsaken colony? Just leave the darn Macradonians to live in this wasteland they call home." Donovan scoffed.

Jean replied. "If it were up to me, I'd do that, but the politicians back in Delphi want to exploit as much of the natural resources as possible before we're inevitably forced out. A bad investment if you ask me. We're wasting too many troops on this."

A few minutes later, after speeding through the roads of Testlonica and the surrounding area, the team arrived at the former Acadian embassy complex in Testlonica. Since the invasion, the embassy now served as the Acadian administration's headquarters in Macradonia. The convoy was greeted by two Gendarmes at the gate who were serving as guards.

"Identification please? Okay open the gate."

The gate to the embassy open and the convoy of SUVs drove into the embassy before stopping in front of the main building. Adrahil and his team got out of the SUV and grabbed their bags from the back.

Jean instructed. "This is where you'll be living and working until your commanders back home decide it's time for you to go back. We set up living quarters inside the gym and your offices are in the NSS attache building on the side."

The team walked into the gym, where dozens of makeshift beds had been laid out for the soldiers and agents who had come to Macradonia recently, as there were few barracks in the capital. They set their bags down on the makeshift beds and walked towards the main building.

"Who's hungry?" Isaac asked.

Donovan replied. "I think all of us are. No one here has eaten since we got on the plane early in the morning."

Chapter 1: Dark Times on the Horizon
One month later

Adrahil walked through the streets of the Acadian part of Testlonica, close to the Snowinian part, towards the mess hall. Though Macradonia, and Testlonica, was divided into Acadian and Snowinian sectors, there was virtually no border between them, and citizens of both sides would continue to go on each others' sides.

My assignment has been pretty easy, as predicted, he thought to himself as he walked into the mess hall. The secret Macradonian resistance was a rather small threat, and aside from some protests, there was little threat to Acadian rule. Yet ruling this new territory was proving to be hard for Acadia, But that's the army's problem, he thought.

Sitting down with his lunch, he pulled out a newspaper he picked up from one of the stands along the street from his jacket pocket.

The headline read: "As controlling Macradonia begins to get tougher for Acadia, Department of Colonial Affairs orders for stricter measures".

As he read through the article he was rather shocked. The Department of Colonial Affairs, recently founded, had suspended a couple Macradonian rights, and had authorized military personnel to use deadly force against rioters in Macradonia. Additionally, speaking about the Buddy Troop in a heroic way warranted a six month prison sentence for "praising terrorists".

Adrahil supported Acadia in their actions, and barely sympathized with Macradonians, but he felt the DCA was going too far. They're only going to cause more problems, he said to himself. ''Things won't get better from here."

Two Months Later

It was now nearly four months into Acadian rule, and four months into his assignment, and things were getting difficult. The DCA's reforms were only complicating matters in Macradonia, as the firmer the military was, the harsher the populace would react. Riots, and often simple brawls and fights were breaking out almost daily, and the Acadian Defense Forces were having trouble. The situation was the same in the Snowinian sector, where the rebels and citizens would often bother the Snowinian soldiers as well, with some arguing it was worse over there.

Adrahil walked down a Testlonica street with two Acadian soldiers and one Snowinian soldiers. The military was much less involved in the city than they were in the countryside, but with nearly daily riots and insurrections, soldiers were regularly deployed into the city. Armored cars and even tanks were increasingly common in the streets. Despite the allowed use of deadly force, it did not deter the rioters, who continued actively resisting Acadians. As the rebels and populace began targeting soldiers, usually picking fights with them in the streets, soldiers now had to travel in groups.

"These insurrections are getting tiring. Honestly I hope the government will be able to cement their hold so we can all go home." One of the Acadian soldiers said.

"Probably won't happen anytime soon", the Snowinian soldier said. "I hear Dorkugal and the Geek Empire, and some allies are preparing a force to invade here."

The second Acadian soldier spoke, almost sarcastically. "I don't think Dorkugal of all countries poses a threat. And the Geek Empire we can take on as well."

"That's not the case," the Snowinian solder spoke again, "You see, the Free Republic Union and UAN are threatening to invade as well. On the terrorist side."

That can't be good, Adrahil thought to himself. The Acadian and Snowinian forces on the entire island wouldn't be able to resist the UAN and the Free Republic Union.

There was silence as the group continued to walk towards the mess hall, where dozens of soldiers and civilians gathered outside. The mess hall was one of the largest buildings in the Acadian part of Testlonica, and was often used by the military for multiple purposes.

"Out of my way!" yelled a Military Police officer with a rifle strapped on his shoulder, who had some other MPs following behind him.

"Ugh, it's those guys", one of the Acadian soldiers scoffed. "I didn't think they were going to be here."

Another Acadian soldier responded, "I guess the government thinks we need babysitting now. As if we didn't have enough problems to deal with now we have to worry about MPs breathing down on our necks for every little thing we do."

The other Acadian soldiers shared looks of approval, while the Snowinian soldiers seemed to give a look that implied, "Not my problem". Adrahil believed the soldiers could use a firm hand to keep the soldiers in line, as some of them were particularly rowdy.

Adrahil quietly walked back to his office in the previous embassy complex, not finding any trouble as he was wearing civilian clothes. Previously the Acadian embassy in Macradonia, the complex was turned into a government headquarters after Macradonia became an Acadian territory.

He walked to his desk, turned on the computer, and sat down, looking through files relating to rebel and terrorist groups in Macradonia. It was boring and tedious, for every day the Acadians made more and more arrests of suspected rebels, but nothing came up. Adrahil was looking through another file when he heard a knock on his door.

"Come in", he said.

Two people, one of the people working in the office, and what seemed to be a female Macradonian civilian walked into his office. The woman seemed distraught, while the person who had escorted her in said, "Aleksandra Petrovski. You're not one to work on a case like this but the others are busy", before leaving him with the woman.

"Have a seat, Mrs. Petrovski. Now can you tell me why you're here?"

"Yes. Uh, yesterday night four Gendarmes came by my house and arrested my husband. I would like to know why, and to get him released", she replied.

"Mrs. Petrovski, I'm sure you're aware that your husband was arrested for terrorist activies, correct? We can't simply release a suspected terrori-"

"He did nothing wrong! I am sure of it!" She sounded angry, although Adrahil could sense fear and worry.

"Calm down, Mrs. Petrovski. We can only move forward if you cooperate. If it is determined that your husband is innocent of his crimes, he will be released." Adrahil pulled out a file from his desk cabinet and opened it. "This file here talks about a plan to bomb the building we are currently standing in right now. Your husband was listed as a planner for the attack."

"He's innocent, he wouldn't do such a thing. My husband was a soldier in the old army before it was disbanded, that is all."

"If what you are telling is the truth, then it will come up. For now I'm afraid there is nothing I can do. Priyaten den, Mrs. Petrovski."

The woman got up from her seat and opened the door, but before she left, she turned around and said, "Dali zboruvaš makedonski?"

"Da, malku", Adrahil responded, before saying, "Doviduvanye".

After the short meeting with Mrs. Petrovski and looking through some more files, Adrahil decided to take a break and left his office, walking down one of the streets in central Testlonica. Here he could see life going on as usual, as if nothing changed despite the occupation. He walked on further.

Adrahil approached a small store located on one of the smaller streets and went inside, where he ordered a burek, an example of Macradonian food, and some coffee. He sat inside the shop for some time, pondering about life, before finishing the burek and coffee and left the store.

As he walked down the street, Adrahil wondered what it would've been like to travel here as a tourist, and before all this war and occupation. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion in the distance, followed by screams and car alarms. He noticed some Gendarmes rushing towards the explosion and pulled out his pistol and followed them.

"What happened?" he asked a Gendarme that was rushing towards the scene of the explosion.

"I have no idea. I just heard an explosion. Oh no, it's the Gendarmerie building."

Adrahil looked up and saw the front of the Gendarmerie building, or at least what remained of it. The front was completely destroyed, and Adrahil could see the damaged interior full of debris. He looked at the crater left behind on the street and noticed what remained of a truck and a few Gendarmerie cars.

"Look for any survivors!" Adrahil shouted to the other Gendarmes in the vicinity. In the distance he could hear sirens.


 * whack*

A few days after the Gendarmerie bombing, Adrahil and an NSS agent was interrogating yet another Macradonian resistance suspect who was refusing to provide answers, claiming he didn't know anything.

"I need answers", the NSS agent said, with a hint of anger in his voice. "Give us answers and we'll set you free."

"But I swear, I don't know anything. I-" *slap*

"We've heard that at least five times. Enough of this crap." Adrahil said.

The agent paused and then spoke, "Well, if he doesn't know anything, I guess he's of no use to us." He turned to the window that looked into the interrogation room. "Get rid of him", he said.

Two Gendarmes walked into the room and untied the suspect from his chair, before dragging him out.

"Wait! I can give you something!"

"Stop", the agent said.

Adrahil said, "Speak quickly, you have ten seconds."

"There's uh, a safe house for the resistance in Testlonica. If you give me a paper I'll write the address."

"Fine", the agent said, before pointing to the Gendarmes. "We need a pen and paper in here."