Liberation of Planet 1984


 * See also: Saviors from Above

Operation: Salvation, or better known as the Liberation of Planet 1984, was a military operation undertaken by Shops Island to set free the peoples of Planet 1984, who were suffering under three brutal regimes. It has been regarded as one of the greatest military conflicts in Antarctic history, especially considering the odds placed against Shops Island.

Prelude
The liberation of Planet 1984 was preceded by a period of observation and spying on the planet by Shops Island.

Discovery and Exploration of Planet 1984
In late 2014, Shopper astronomers working for the SIA discovered the planet during a normal observation routine. They marked the planet, and labeled it "Planet 1984". As astronomers looked more closely into it, it drew more and more speculation. The planet closely resembled Earth. It was large, had continents, seemed to have water, and it seemed mostly habitable for penguin life. This lead some to believe that there must have been life on the planet. Research continued, but soon the Shopper Economic Crisis of 2015 hit. This turned the Planet 1984 project on its head. President Lavender personally became interested in space and space exploration, and saw it as a viable means to end the economic crisis. He visited the Beaker Hill Observatory in the Mario Mountains, and personally ordered Planet 1984 to be looked into. Research was stepped up. Scientists soon saw that there were active explosions occurring throughout Planet 1984. At first, this was thought to be volcanic eruptions or something of the like. But, the military, after seeing the footage, confirmed that these explosions were artificial. This was concrete proof that there was not just any life, but intelligent life on Planet 1984.

Soon after, the SIA set up a probe to go explore the planet. When it reached Planet 1984, it descended into the atmosphere. Then, suddenly, it was shot down by a missile. That was further confirmation of intelligent life on the planet. The SIA then sent up another larger probe, this time armed, and with more storage capacity, to Planet 1984. This time, the mission was successful. The probe picked up rock, sand, air, water, and plant samples, as well as an intelligent, living subject, named Wilson Schmidt. He and the other materials of the probe were soon brought back to Shops Island for examination, as many more armed probes penetrated Planet 1984 to do even more research.

Shocking Truths
The living subjects from Planet 1984 gave the SIA a good picture of what life on the planet was like. All subjects gave horrifying accounts of how they had lived their lives up until that point, pointing out the atrocities committed deliberately by their governments, and the state of life in these three countries. Meanwhile, more armed probes explored the planet, taking pictures, recording data, and finding many disturbing sites, including concentration camps and open displays of brutality to citizens, and many worse things.

It was obvious that something had to be done. LMGT, director of the SIA, confronted president Lavender regarding the subject, personally giving the president some of the shocking evidence. Lavender realized that his dreams to go without war were as good as fruitless. The next day, he ordered an invasion of Planet 1984, to liberate it from itself and its self-inflicted atrocities.

Invasion
The Shoppers first invaded Planet 1984 in the narrowest point between North and South Orwellia. From there, troops under the command of General Broseph pushed north, while another column push south through the jungles of South Orwellia. The first confrontations were harsh, but it soon became obvious to Orwellian troops that they couldn't hold their ground. They soon retreated, with the Shoppers in hot pursuit. On the way, they liberated cities and freed those who were in prisons and concentration camps. Meanwhile, Baron von Broseef commanded his forces, pushing south from the northeast of North Orwellia. This fighting on two fronts against the modernized Shopper military turned the Orwellian retreat into a total rout. A new tank, the High-Speed tank, was designed to blitz across enemy territory faster than any other vehicle, making sure that no gaps could be left. In a matter of days, Broseph's and Broseef's forces met up not far from North Orwellia's biggest city. From there, it was Broseef's responsibility to finish the job.

But this is where the freewheeling blitzkrieg came to an abrupt halt. The Orwellians had dug in, and turned the city into an impregnable fortress. Broseef calculated that the potential casualties were too high. He ordered his troops to fall back, and opted instead to obliterate the city with a Squarium attack. North and South Orwellia subsequently fell. Fronts had also opened up in southern Verpomia and in the archipelagos of Ouestland. The fighting here was slow and brutal; it became obvious that another landing would have to be staged to relieve pressure on the invading Shopper forces.

Operation: Tele-screen
The troops who were occupying enemy territory soon became well aware that the citizens were incredibly indoctrinated, unlike anything ever seen before. Normal propaganda and military force wouldn't suffice; it was clear that the Shoppers would have to take an unorthodox approach at deprogramming the minds of those living on Planet 1984. The solution they came up with was quite novel; immerse them in Shopper culture.

Tele-screens, which were installed in every room in Orwellia and Ouestland, were great methods of communicating with the conquered peoples. The SIA hacked the systems that the Orwellian and Ouestian governments normally used to transmit propaganda to the tele-screens. The tele-screens normally used to brainwash those on Planet 1984. The Shoppers instead used them to transmit normal television programming. Every genre, such as news, documentaries, comedies, cartoons, drama, and more was aired over the tele-screens. Alongside with this, the Shopper military distributed multiple different types of food to those in the occupied territories, and promoted business. The military slowly began to rebuild Orwellia's and Ouestland's crumbling infrastructure. All of these acts of generosity and globalization started to pay off. People started to drop their old ways of life and embrace the occupying Shopper forces. As time marched on, other things such as businesses and factories also popped up in the occupied territories to put people to work and to give them goods.

Unfortunately, this method couldn't be used to turn over those living in Verpomia. Verpommians were injected with a neuro-toxin at a young age that hard-wired their brains to be unconditionally loyal to king, The Divine, and country. It would take a special antidote to solve the Verpommian issue.

The Malabar Front and Verpommian Frontier


Soon after North and South Orwellia fell, General Broseph organized another major invasion of the embattled continent of Malabar, which was always contested by both Orwellia and Verpomia. Broseph's forces landed in the deserts of middle Malabar, an area actively fought for by Orwellia and Verpomia. The landing was tough, but a foothold was established that could be expanded upon. The Malabar Front constituted some of the toughest and most unique fighting ever endured by Shopper soldiers. They had to fight in temperatures never experienced by penguins before; new outfits had to be designed, and military equipment had to be re-outfitted with engines and parts that could withstand high temperatures. Despite these unknown battle conditions, the Shoppers were able to move swiftly north, all the way to the northern shores of Malabar. Meanwhile, the going was a little slower on the southern flank, as the Shoppers had to navigate through vast jungles, with Orwellian troops who were well-dug in and looking for revenge for what happened in North and South Orwellia. After General Broseph's forces had conquered all of northern Malabar, the next move was unclear. However, the Shoppers would be soon provoked against. In the midst of the Shoppers' involvement in 1984's perpetual war, the Verpommians had made an amazing technological aircraft: flight. They were the first to invent aircraft, and used them to target their enemies. Orwellian and Ouestian troops retreated in great fear whenever the aircraft would appear on the battle scene, so it made sense to the Verpommians that the same would happen with the Shoppers. They were wrong. Verpommian planes flew low over Shopper lines and strafed Shopper troops. They had provoked the menace of the Shopper air force.

The reaction was typical of Shops Island, or at least General Broseph: Broseph decided to muster the full might of the Shopper bomber fleet in Malabar and target the Verpommian homeland in retaliation. Over 5000 Heavy and Super Bombers gathered on the northern coast of Malabar, and flew north to target the Verpommian homeland. The first target was Köpenick, the largest city in Verpomia. The 5000 bombers, carrying millions of bombs, absolutely devastated the city; over 100,000 civilians were killed in this heavily populated city, and countless more were injured and homeless. It was obvious to Broseph that this tactic could be used to hasten the end of the war once and for all; he ordered the complete bombing of the Verpommian homeland. This went directly against president Lavender's orders, which specifically stated that carpet bombing was intolerable in the conflict, and that the deliberate targeting of civilians would be met with severe consequences.

Change in Command
When Lavender caught wind of the bombing raids carried out by Broseph, he was furious. Lavender had been at odds with General Broseph throughout the Shopper economic crisis, and throughout the early stages of the war, but now it had come to a head. Lavender ordered the removal of General Broseph from his position of command for criminal negligence and dereliction of duty and honor. Broseph was to be replaced by a rising star, and his cousin, Baron von Broseef.
 * See also: The Broseph Leaks

Broseph's replacement also resulted in a checking off all SIA files pertaining to Broseph and his closest comrades. Some of the information found was truly shocking; they included plans for new wonder weapons, and a plot for total Shopper dominance in Antarctica after the war on Planet 1984 had ended.

Baron von Broseef was also in a precarious situation. He had assumed the position of Broseph, and was now in the place to do something drastic about the continent of Großverpomia. Broseph's bombing campaign had softened up Verpomia, and now something had to be done before the full force of the Verpommian army could be brought to bear where it mattered, against the Shopper military. It was obvious that from his position, the only place Baron von Broseef could go was north. He decided it was time to strike an enemy where it hurt; it was time to invade the continent of Großverpomia.

The invasion of Großverpomia
While Baron von Broseef was preparing his invasion plans, other things were unfolding on the home front. Wilson Schmidt, who was the first from Planet 1984 to be brought to Shops Island, made a rally call to his people and the Shopper population, announcing the creation of the Notronean Liberation Movement, which was devoted to setting free the peoples of Planet 1984, or Notron in the words of native Notroneans. Shops had made itself a new ally in the battle. The Notronean Liberation Movement quickly got to work recruiting those still on Planet 1984 to fight for their cause. The invasion of Großverpomia was preceded by civilian uprising in the country; the Notronean Liberation Movement claimed responsibility. Such actions were also carried out in Orwellia and Ouestland. Any suspected members of the group were summarily executed by the Verpommians, Orwellians, and Ouestians. Members of the movement met in secret; many members of the SIA Special Forces were also intertwined with meetings inside enemy territory.

The civilian uprising had also paved the way for a relatively easy invasion of the continent. Civil disturbances had caused the army of Verpomia to be put to work, thwarting the actions of the Notronean Liberation Movement. Verpommian forces were now occupied, and Baron von Broseef knew it was time to strike.

On the far eastern coast of Verpomia, in Oberfranken, Captain Swaggins commanded a battle and a phoney invasion, which was designed to distract the Verpommian army. As a result, tens of millions of Verpommian troops raced east to confront the Shoppers there. This left a path of no resistance open for Broseef.

Verpommian Surrender
The Shoppers advanced into Verpomia very quickly. They had met only patchy resistance, thanks to the Shopper invasion in Oberfranken and the Notronean Liberation Movement's actions elsewhere. This had split the front multiple ways for the Verpommians, and they could not hold off a Shopper advance. Broseef's armies rapidly advanced north from the Romisch Peninsula, and bypassing the large mountain ranges that separated the Romisch Peninsula from the Verpommian heartland. Most Shopper troops made a bee-line for the city of Größer Königburg, while others fanned out to secure the rest of the continent.

The city of Größer Königburg was well defended, however. The Verpommians had dug in deep to protect their king and people; many of Verpomia's most important noblemen lived in the city. The Shoppers began their invasion of the city with a heavy bombardment by artillery, before sending troops in to engage in house-to-house fighting with determined Verpommian soldiers. Almost the entire city was destroyed. Remarkably however, the 1000-year old castle, where King Svend lived and which was the centerpiece of the city, went mostly undamaged except for one shell that hit a ballroom.

Inside that ballroom, many of Verpomia's top generals were meeting and frantically planning a method to save face. The entire room was in chaos, before King Svend came in and made an unprecedented statement, saying that he thought Verpomia should surrender. Most generals disagreed, but could not argue with the king's authority, even if he didn't exert his power very often. Svend sent a surrender party to confront the Shoppers. The party consisted of General Wahnsinn, who was Verpomia's top military leader, a few soldiers, and the king himself. They walked down the main street of the city holding a surrender flag and the flag of Verpomia, where they were encountered by Baron von Broseef and his forces.

King Svend spoke for his people when he said that he wished to surrender to the Shopper forces. He started to list out conditions for the surrender, before Broseef interrupted. He stated that only "unconditional surrender of all Verpommian forces everywhere" would be acceptable. Svend realized that he had no better choice, and decided to sign the instrument of unconditional surrender for Verpomia.

Verpomia was now out of the war. Many Verpommian citizens were ecstatic, and pledged to help Shops fight off its two other enemies, Orwellia and Ouestland. They would be the target of Shops' next blitzkrieg actions.

Heading East
Orwellia and Ouestland had both considered Verpomia to be their greatest enemy, and with the Verpommians now out of the picture, the Orwellians and Ouestians realized that they were the next to be attacked. So, they made an unprecedented move. The Orwellians and Ouestians decided to void an intense rivalry that had brewed for almost twenty years, for the cause of fighting "The Alien [Shopper] Menace". As a shock to everyone, the two nations decided to put aside their difference and form a military alliance to stave off the Shopper threat. After Verpomia surrendered, everyone considered their territories to be up for grabs; both the Shoppers and the Orwellian-Ouestian Alliance were quick to capture vast swaths of former Verpommian land and resources.

Shops Island, however, was unfazed. They had already begun their blitzkrieg east; the Orwellian stronghold just to the west of Großverpomia would be bypassed, as would the continent of Serran (for the time being). But, the fighting would be tougher than before. Baron von Broseef had devised a new plan to keep Shopper momentum going. Instead of fighting in cities as part of the advance, cities and large concentrations of enemy troops would be taken separately. The cities would be encircled and then encroached on, as opposed to stopping the advance to capture a city. He would segregate the Shopper Armed Forces based on experience. Veterans and experienced soldiers would go into the cities and towns to flush the enemies out, as inexperienced soldiers drove tanks and vehicles across the largely empty front. It worked wonders, as the momentum was kept up and Shops had soon fanned out over the entirety of former Verpommian territory, which, even though it had been invaded by the Orwellian-Ouestians, hadn't been fortified and enemy troops hadn't had time to dig in. Within a week, Shops had made one huge foul swoop over the entirety of Verpommian Oberfranken; advancing from both the west and the other landing site in the east.

Despite their vast superiority in troop numbers, the Orwellian-Ouestians were hopeless. Over a third of their armed forces had already deserted, and almost half of their troops had been diverted to deal with civilian uprisings. The Shoppers also had superior technology compared to the Orwellian-Ouestians; Aircraft were able to drops munitions and paratroops behind enemy lines to disturb enemy troop movements and to disrupt their forces. Paratroops played a major role in the Eastern Campaign, as they were able to spread the numerically superior Orwellian-Ouestian forces so thinly that they were made no match for the Shoppers.

After capturing all of Verpomia's former territory, the Shoppers stopped to secure their winnings and to take a breather. It would be a few days before they would make their next move; they were going to thrust south to attack Constance, a military stronghold on the southern coast of Ouestian Oberfranken. It was where "Notre Dirigeant" and "The Captain" of Ouestland and Orwellia respectively were expected to be hiding.

The Battle of Constance and Capitulation


"I am the greatest builder of fortifications of all time."

- Notre Dirigeant

Constance was a place with Romanesque architecture and with fortifications which were considered impenetrable. It had become a heavily contested area back when the area was still in Verpommian possession. The Ouestians made it into the most heavily fortified place on the planet. An original Shopper landing just outside of Constance had been repelled, with over 2000 Shopper soldiers dying. So, Baron von Broseef decided that the Shopper forces would have no choice but to do a complete flush-out of one of Orwellia-Ouestland's last strongholds.

Shopper and Notronean Liberation Movement intelligence had concluded that there were no civilians in the vicinity of Constance. Broseef concluded that the most comprehensive method of taking Constance would be through bombing followed by a swift invasion. On the morning of May 30th, a large squadron of Shopper Super Bombers flew over Constance and paved way for the invasion by dropping incendiary bombs and explosives. As dawn came, a large armada of Shopper warships could be seen on the horizon. Most Orwellian-Ouestian ships went out to meet them before they reached Constance, although many Shopper ships punctured the defenses and put troops on the ground, while also laying waste to the area. Shopper troops began to flood into the ornate complexes of Constance, with specific orders to capture important enemies such as The Captain and Notre Dirigeant, preferably alive. Constance was systematically destroyed as all of the remaining Orwellians and Ouestians either took their lives or surrendered to the Shoppers. By dawn on June 1st, the last of the enemy forces at Constance had surrendered.

Shops now did to Orwellia and Ouestland as it had done to Verpomia before. They demanded unconditional surrender, and would not accept anything short of it. After much deliberation inside of what command structure there still was, the top generals of Orwellia and Ouestland who had not yet been captured decided to surrender. They went to Constance flying the white flag of surrender. On noon of June the first, 2015, the instrument of unconditional surrender for Orwellia and Ouestland was signed. The great conflict was now over, but there was much to be done.

Reconstruction
After the guns fell silent, it became obvious that Notron could not survive and flourish as it currently stood. For the past sixty years, the governments of Notron had deliberately starved and dehumanized their populations. There was no public infrastructure. There was little plumbing, and most of the water supplies were contaminated. Electricity was scarce. Every city looked like a post-apocalyptic war zone, regardless of if the Shoppers had laid waste to the city or not. The populations would have to be modernized quickly. There was much work that had to be done.

The Shopper government decided to put forward an aid plan to help the peoples of Notron, Just like they had done with the Pink Heart Plan the year before. Shops Island put two trillion WB$ towards repairing the embattled planet, the largest sum of money put towards any cause in Antarctic history. The money went towards improving infrastructure and introducing the population to technology. Operation Tele-screen that had been implemented earlier in the invasion had had great impact on the civilian populations already, and now the entire planet was to be westernized to fit Shopper values and way of life. Many factories popped up and employed Notroneans everywhere to build products for themselves. It didn't take long for Notron was rapidly industrializing itself.

There were also major social changes to be made. The introduction of technology allowed for a great liberalization in the general population. Notroneans began to dress and speak more freely. For the first time, democratic elections were held. Entertainment and news was put on television instead of propaganda. People could choose their livelihoods, and most did, abandoning their old jobs to try their luck at new professions. It would take a long time, however, to erase the scars of tyranny and war from the face of the planet.

Spoils of War
The Shoppers had invested incredulous amounts of money into liberating and rebuilding Notron; there was no doubt that they would want something in return. Most Notroneans lived fearful that the Shoppers would take their vengeance out on civilian populations. Many expected there to be mass looting and pillage by the Shoppers. Instead, the Shoppers made it clear that they wanted Notronean resources. Notron was rich in iron ore, timber, gold, silver, platinum, and other metals that didn't exist on Earth. These elements would all become a great asset to the Shopper economy, and would give Shops Island the economic boost that would definitively bring it out of its recession that had dragged on since February. President Lavender made sure that the military industry would not get a foothold on Notron as it had on Shops Island, closing Notron's resources off from the military and leaving it open for other businesses to exploit. Notron would become a hotspot for Shoppers explorers and for those all over Antarctica. It was the next frontier for the penguin race to explore.

A New Order
See main article: Dominion of Notron Shops Island knew from the start that it would be too much responsibility to handle Notron as a colony. Handling other colonies and territories such as New Delphis and the Frosian Islands already used up lots of resources from the Shoppers, and so it became clear that it would be a near impossible task to admit Notron as a colony or territory. So, the Shopper government decided to make the entire planet its own state, with Shops having only loose power over Notron, much like the situation with Puffle'and and Calada or Austiceia. The new Dominion of Notron would hold democratic elections, have its own government, take care of its own internal affairs, and maintain its own military, albeit with the Shoppers being able to intervene when need be.

With the liberation of Planet 1984 also came the concern among many Shoppers that it would be seen as an example and excuse of other countries to go ahead and wreak unwanted terror on other countries. In anticipation of such aggression becoming a real threat, Shops Island and the other Axle Powers nations assembled, and collectively framed what would come to be known as the "Notronean Doctrine". It stated the following:

"From this moment forwards, the territory of outer space is not to be considered a sovereign subject of any international power, nor is it to be the subject of colonization of any Antarctic country."

Many politicians of other countries criticized this declaration, saying that it was hypocritical due to Shops' intervention on Notron.

Legal Consequences

 * See main article: Vonkouver Trials

Throughout the conflict, there was always the question as to what would be done with enemy generals and war criminals. There was popular opinion among the Shopper military that all enemy commanders should be summarily executed, as had been played out during the Frosian War. The Shopper government disagreed, and decided to instead put war criminals on trial for their crimes. The trials took place in Vonkouver, in what would come to be known as the Vonkouver Trials. The trials would later be dignified as the "greatest trial in Antarctic history" by many legal experts and historians.

Collective Memory
For the Notronean population, the liberation of their planet is considered one of the greatest moments in their history. It is and the Shoppers are greatly celebrated for freeing the peoples of Notron from the grips of fear and tyranny. Notroneans have become well known for their warmness and gratitude towards Shoppers. The Shopper population, on the other hand, barely seems to remember the events of the liberation. There were other problems on the home front which seemed more pressing to most Shoppers, and so the liberation of Notron has become largely a forgotten event to the populace of Shops Island.