For those of you who are uninterested in history, history revision, politics and the like this post may be good reading material for you late at night. ^_~

When I learned of @TheOwlAce and his creations based upon a revision of history, where the Empire of Germania had been targeted by a enigmatic enemy, later identified by as "Raiderlin," I felt compelled to first start spiffing up some of his designs, recoloring them and adding national markings. (Though I goofed on the tricolor flag by giving it the modern tricolor rather than the one it should have had under a Kaiser.) When I noticed that he didn't seem particularly interested in adopting my designs as canon to his series I started thinking about his enigmatic "enemy" later identified by the equally perplexing name of Raiderlin. I took a look at the region and thought of where a turn in history might have created such a place that might be known by such an infamous name - and the technology that might have emerged.

This telling begins in mid-March 1954, but not in the world as we know it. In this world history has become skewed. Some Kingdoms and Empires long gone still exist, while others that exist today were long since absorbed into another Kingdoms and Empire.

The United States and Confederate States of America coexist, with the Confederate States of America consisting of everything South of 37 Degrees North Longitude, with the exception of all of SOUTH Virginia and none of NORTH Virginia. Both powers maintain ties with differing overseas nations while relations between them remain fairly close with a great deal of trade and a mutual continental defense pact. Slavery was outlawed in the South before the war ended providing more than enough manpower to reach a stalemate but a system similar to serfdom has replaced it through various workforce firms. Segregation is still a reality and more minorities are among the serfs that are under the employ of these workforce firms than caucasians, however the Confederacy has an open door policy to immigrants from Mexico, Central America, China and India for those seeking better living conditions and the prospect of saving money and starting their own trades.

IMPORTANT NOTE: MANY well known US aircraft manufacturers such as North American, Hughes, Douglas, Northrop, Lockheed and Consolidated were based amidst the booming economy of the Confederacy - many in Southern California. Look at your' history - SoCal wanted to leave the Union! Sikorsky, famed for pioneering helicopter development was a so-called "white Russian," who fled Russia to escape the Communist regime - thus with Imperial Russia still existing under the Tsar - he remains where his loyalty lies. (Can you imagine the direction of military aviation for these two distinctly differing powers, one content to trade and patrol its own territories while the other does the same but requires long range projection of force as well? Consider this a challenge to your' imagination! († I only ask that you either use the white, red and blue roundel or immediate pre-WW2 insignia for the Union aircraft and a blue square with a white or gold star on it representing the Bonnie Blue Flag rather than the Confederate battle flag which has become a symbol for activism among racist zealots in the years since, similar to the swastika.)

Colonialism is still a major factor for various "Empires," including the United States of America who claim Alaska and the Philippines as their territories while Hawai'i is divided between the USA and CSA.

Neither World Wars that occurred in our world occurred in this alternate reality. In 1902 †Se Imperiumi Suomi, the Kingdom of Portugal, Italy, Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire all secretly agreed to launch a simultaneous attack on the Mediterranean region that changed the political dynamics of the region dramatically. The southern third of Spain is now in Portuguese hands. Gibraltar, Corsica and Malta each belongs to Suomi. Spanish Morocco and Spanish Western Sahara are now Imperial Russian Colonies. French Algeria, French Tunisia and the Kingdom of Venice are now subjects of the Kingdom of Italy. Britannian Egypt and everything South of Bulgaria are again under the rule of the Ottoman Empire while Libya was ceded to the Ottoman Empire by the Kingdom of Italy. The battles of this 13 year long war were terrible and were waged against the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Venice, the Empire of Britannia and the Germanian Empire (Who interceded on Spain's behalf preventing the complete fall of the Spanish monarchy.) Chemical warfare made its major debut against fortifications, trenches and fortified communities in the region - resulting in hundreds of thousands of dead in the military not counting how the civil populace suffered.

Several years later, while some of the outcomes were still disputed, the League of Nations was created to replace "The Concert of Europe" in Brussels Belgium and an International Court was established in the Germanian Hague.

Thirty years later, 1935, Imperial Japan began its invasion of mainland Asia encroaching upon and invading the colonies of many great European powers, one after another, after having been extremely friendly with the USA, Germania and Britannia in the preceding decades thereby acquiring crucial modern technology.

The CSA have been selling the French "Aircraft Components"; prefabricated aircraft they must arm and engine themselves and ship hulks they must fit out themselves. The USA is directly involved due to its Philippines oil supply which has fallen into Japanese hands, operating primarily out of Australia, and has been providing the Empire of Britannia with aircraft and ships.

The year is now 1954 and the battle for Asia, Indochina, Indonesia, New Zealand and potentially Australia or India still continues. Contra-rotating propellers have been in common use since the mid-late '30s and have since begun to lean more towards Turboprop propulsion. Turbojets are gas guzzlers and frequently fall short of producing the same performance as propeller driven aircraft. Turbofans have made their debut but only to the extent of the lesser of the two available on SimplePlanes, with the latter type likely to emerge within the next 2-4 years.

Meanwhile in Europe a long standing tradition in a certain Empire that became its own Kingdom a few short years before the US Declaration of Independence is coming to pass once again and this time the crosshairs are on "Das Germanische Weltreich." This is the introduction to this enigmatic enemy, its history, the circumstances and tradition that led to this war and the strategy that has led up to the escalation of its campaign of conquest.

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Notes:

Germania (Das Germanishe Weltreich) is considered to be present day Germany, with few border differences, in addition to Austria, the Czech Republic, Holland, the Netherlands and Switzerland - in addition to the colonial holdings each may or might have possessed prior to the world wars.

† Finland (Se Imperiumi Suomi or Se Suomi Imperiumi) is considered to be Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and northward to encompass the Murmansk peninsula in addition to Madagascar, Gibraltar, Malta, Corsica and finally Santa Maria Island amidst the Azores.

I do not claim to be a historian. Many of my dates may be off and I may have failed to take many international and political matters for the times into account in this history revision.

The direction of technology may seem somewhat "off" for the time frame. Flying ships are a reality. Aircraft engine technology, aviation engineering and guided missiles are a few years ahead of where we were in the same time frame yet heavy bombers cannot carry half the payload externally that they could internally by the 1940s in our world. Atomic weapons were first researched in Germania but were deemed too dangerous for development or use in any capacity.

If you would like to pick up on this role-play of aircraft design, remember the situation and status quo at present. The major war at hand is in the Southwest Pacific while this other conflict is happening behind the scenes.

Parts wise, as a general rule we do not use modded parts but in some of my designs I've cheated a little bit with tilted wing guns in turrets and cosmetic parts but refuse to delve into modded engines for this series of builds to create aircraft competetive but not overpoweringly so with those TheOwlAce creates. (He only recently placed a minigun on one of his aircraft freeing up that as a potential weapon!) Interceptor missiles are still off limits though but the others are fine. Meanwhile have fun and let your' imagination run wild!

A further disclaimer, despite the tie in to TheOwlAce's story arc my own designs are also non-canon and have been produced without permission.

Finally, none of this material was written with any political agenda, racial/religious bias or any intent for disrespect to any individual, nation, race or religion.

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Se Suomi Imperiumi

Known to the Empire of Britannia by the traditional though spiteful nickname of "Raiderland" for so long it has become the source of its commonly used name beyond its borders; "Raiderlin." Its true name, of course is nothing so shallow but is in fact "Se Imperiumi Suomi," or in English, The Empire Finland. Due to certain traditions held since the rebellion against the Swedish Empire however it IS occasionally referred to by another name within its borders, "Se Viikinki Imperiumi," The Viking Empire.

Long prior to becoming an Empire, however, it was recognized as "Se Suomi Kuningaskunta," The Finland Kingdom, after the twenty-year long war of independence that ended in 1792 with the signature of a ceasefire and treaty by Emperor Gustav I of Sweden.

During the long and bitter war though, food, material and weapons became scarce during this bid for independence. It was at this time that King Kaarlo I flippantly uttered a line that perhaps influenced national policy more than intended when he said, "Let us resolve what we are lacking in the way of the vikings! No! Let us become the Kingdom of Vikings!" Thus during the war it was commonplace for merchant vessels under numerous flags to be pillaged and for incursions into Sweden as well as Imperial Russia to acquire food, weapons and munitions to take place to enable Suomi's survival. (Europe had forsaken Suomi as to recognize them would incur the wrath of the Swedish Empire.)

After the war it did not take long for Portugal, Britannia and Ireland to quickly establish trade with the new Kingdom. Kaarlo I was not a foolish man and he was skilled both as a courtisan and merchant. Thus through these new diplomatic relations the economy of Suomi emerged as a new financial power in Europe thanks to rich resources in Tar used to seal ship hulls at the time among other commodities. Meanwhile the presence of vessels flying the colors of these Empires gave Imperial Russia pause in their intended plans.

Everyone knew Imperial Russia had been, metaphorically speaking, chomping at the bit to invade Suomi. However King Kaarlo I had plans of his own. Fully half of the ethnic peoples of Suomi lived and died within the borders of a foreign Empire - Imperial Russia in what was known as "Old Finland." Though they had risen in revolt several times the Tsar had quashed it each time. After a decade of recovery just as Suomi's ports were closed off as a result of ice, in November 1802, Imperial Russia made its move.

Two successive over land invasions were made by Imperial Russia, targeting the coastal region and then the heartland where the bulk of natural resources could be found. Foolishly, however, the Tsar had underestimated Suomi by only deploying 24,000 soldiers and fewer than fifty cannon towards the campaign - basically the defensive army of Northeastern Imperial Russia. The twenty year civil war had created three generations of hardened veterans. Ten years of peace and trade had allowed Suomi to build a large and modern standing army. Both invasions were soundly defeated and by Winter's end "Old Finland" had been liberated and the Army in coordination with Britannian and Portuguese fleets were encroaching upon St. Petersburg forcing the Tsar to flee the capital. On May 19th, St. Petersburg fell into Suomi hands which they then fortified with earth works, spike lined trenches and palisade walls which were later replaced with masonry. Repeatedly the Imperial Russian Army and Navy attempted to take the city back and besiege the city but each time their attempts were thwarted either directly by the occupation force, forces from Suomi or her allies. A decade passed with St. Petersburg in Suomi's hands, the Imperial Russian Army weakened by ten years of sporatic fighting and with a new threat looming on the horizon the Tsar was forced to cede "Old Finland" as well as additional territories including those leading to and encompassing St. Petersburg and sign a peace accord with Suomi.

The same year, 1812, Napoleon launched "The Grand March", with his allies of Sweden, Germania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and invaded Imperial Russia even as France was at war with The Kingdom of Spain. The following year, Crown Prince Juhanna of Suomi hatched his own plan to invade Eesti (Estonia), Kuurinmaa (Courland - a territory of Imperial Russia under the auspices of attempting to cut off Napoleon's retreat,) and Saarenmaa (Osel Island.)

Late the following Spring (1813) Oland, Gotland, Dago, and Avenanmaa (Aland Islands) - all Swedish holdings - were attacked and occupied with little resistance. Following the end of the Napoleonic wars, these territories were ceded to Suomi as all warring parties involved in this massive war required time to recover. At this time the Kingdom ceased to be a Kingdom but became instead an Empire or Se Imperiumi Suomi, with Crown Prince Juhanna I having earned the crown, becoming the first Emperor of Suomi.

From this point forward the crown of Se Imperiumi Suomi came to be known as the "Scarlet Crown" for one only seems to obtain it after enough blood has been shed in the course of campaiging for conquest. Around 1850 the coat of arms of the Nikula dynasty changed to an escutcheon (shield of the heater style) of chausse division of the field (inverted triangle down the middle), with Argent tincture (Silver center) flanked by blazons of azure on both the dexter and sinister sides (blue on either side of the triangle) and a sanguine tres-corona at the honour point of the field (a tri-pointed scarlet crown at the upper middle point of the shield where its far edges just barely fall short of meeting the blue portions.) The flag would later appear in a vertical stripe arrangement of sky blue-white-sky blue, with a scarlet tri-point crown at the middle of the white portion.

The nation fought several wars with Imperial Russia and the reformed United Kingdom of Sweden & Norway over the following years acquiring the Murmansk peninsula from Imperial Russia and most of the rest of North East Russia, Belarus and several parcels of land whittled away from Sweden between 1813 and 1872.

During the so-called "Rush for Africa" Suomi invaded and conquered the Merina Kingdom that ruled over what we have come to know as Madagascar in 1880 over the course of a six month campaign and has since held this as its waypoint towards the Indian Ocean, privateering headquarters, built shipyards and created a grand trading point naming it Merinaa Saari. (Unlike our history in which France invaded two years later, Suomi treated the locals as they treated their own, mediated disputes between tribes, provided education and elevated many to positions of power both in Suomi and Merinaa Saari.)

In 1902 the Mediterranean War described above began with the aforementioned endings.

The next conflict involved aiding Portugal in putting down a political rebellion among their colonial holdings in 1931, for which Santa Maria Island amidst the Azores was ceded to Suomi as a reward, renaming it Saari Pyhimys Maria. This became the home to the westernmost naval base and later - air base.)

Next in 1932 the Colonial Wars began between several major European powers and the USA pitted against the Imperial Japanese Empire, the Kingdom of Siam and rebellious elements in Manchuria.

In 1935 the United Kingdom of Sweden & Norway attempted an invasion of Southern Ireland with Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth support which drew repercussions first from Portugal and then Se Suomi Imperiumi under Prince Kaarlo VI. Between Portugal and Ireland most of the UKSN fleet was destroyed, captured or scuttled while much of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth fleet escaped into the North Atlantic where they found safe harbor in the neutral United States of America until the end of hostilities in that region in 1939. Meanwhile Suomi stormed over the border and began a bloody two year campaign of conquest that resulted in the defeat and annexation of the Kingdom of Sweden & Norway when King Gustaf V signed the official surrender after he and his immediate family had escaped to Britannia in 1937. Prince Kaarlo VI was not yet finished however as he redirected the might of the military towards the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. While unable to conquer the territory before the Emperor asked that the war be abandoned with the current gains by September 1939, a peace accord was drafted but not before a priceless amount of weapons, war machines, industrial tooling, paintings, sculptures, gold, silver, jewels and gems were seized as war prizes from previously occupied territories in addition to a wealth of information regarding both current technology and projected technology of their nation and those of others in Europe.

It is now 1954 and while atomic weapon theory was explored by Germania its repercussions deemed it as too dangerous and inhumane to use as a weapon of war both by Germania and the League of Nations (A reconstruction of the old Concert of Europe after the Mediterranean War, to encompass global powers beyond Europe's borders,) Since then new weapons capable of nearly the same level of destruction with only moderate contamination of surface soil with various chemicals, without the production of radioactivity, have been developed by Germany and possibly one or two other nations.

The fighting in Asia has reached a deadlock. Germania lost her holdings in New Guinea and the East Indies to the Japanese forcing them to fight from Britannian soil in Australia and far Eastern China. Manchuria and Mongolia are in Japanese hands and they continue to encroach on Siberia. Most of China is in their hands but it is now in a deadlock. The Ottoman Empire has pledged its support to Imperial Russia on the condition that Mongolia become a protectorate of their Empire, to which the Tsar has agreed. Britannia has lost most of its coastal holdings near China as well as New Zealand and now fights from India, Far Eastern China and Australia. The United States of America lost the Philippines fairly early but retain a presence in Australia and India - mostly in a transport and logistics capacity but with some combat units.

Meanwhile a new war has begun in Europe with Prince Juho, the second son of Emperor Karlo the VI of Suomi waging a war against Das Germanishe Weltreich commanded by Kaiser Ferdinand III. Prince Juho had a three phase plan he intended to follow. The first of which was to feign weakness by hiding the true strength of Se Imperiumi Suomi while using outdated and foreign designs instead of state of the art equipment.

Towards the end of this first stage an attack by a squadron of obsolescent UKSN-Suomi War Medium (Light) Bombers were unable to correctly target their three objectives due to electrical interference over Dresden and bombed either a civilian sector of the city, a petrol depository that when detonated destroyed more than 300 structures and killed an estimated 2,000 Germanian citizens of a city of 750,000, in the process or perhaps one of the intended targets were struck and resulted in the civilian casualties - the truth is often hard to find in war when propaganda is the Lingua Romana. Germania reacted with an attack using large scale state-of-the-art Fuel Air Explosive, White Phosphorus and Napalm Ordinance on the cities of Turku, Espoo and Goteborg to crush and firebomb the cities. An attack on Stockholm and Helsinki were utterly repulsed by previously unseen aircraft - or the losses would have been catastrophically higher, the successful bombing of those cities mentioned above resulted in the civilian deaths of an estimated 135,000 and an approximately 9,000 more missing and presumed dead. Furthermore, 368,000 are estimated as being wounded and/or homeless as a direct result of Germania's reaction. Espoo, obviously mistaken for another community, was completely obliterated by the attacks. This does not include the aircrews of the squadron that were put to the sword as a result of the civilian losses in Germania, as Emperor Kaarlo VI put it, for not aborting the mission and costing the lives of 2,000 potential civilian subjects to the crown.

Prince Juho thought to obliterate Berlin, Dresden and Geneva but the Emperor put a stop to this emotional reaction and threatened to remove him from the succession of the Scarlet Crown if he is unable to think clearly in a crisis.

Instead phase two opened with an attack by high-altitude heavy strategic bombers, escorted by Long Range Escort Fighters in attacking Rostock with intense aerial bombardment of the shipyards, ships at port as well as the vast industrial complexes of both Arado and Heinkel. Patrol Bombers have been scouring the Baltic Sea for Germanian commerce, military transports and what airships are not involved in the Southwest Pacific. High altitude reconnaissance aircraft have been photographing military installations beyond SAM range and maximum fighter altitudes. Attack drones have been attacking SAM sights prior to long-range fighter sweeps accompanied by attack aircraft sweeping enemy airfields. Two anomalys events occurred in South-Central Germania however. The Bismarck Kaserne and Hardt Officer's Academy, located outside of Schwäbisch Gmünd, were both destroyed in what was described as a pair of terrible thunderclaps and two billowing plumes of flame that from which the heat could be felt up to three miles away and the pressure wave shattered windows as far as five miles away causing a few hundred injuries but no fatalities. In total 3,662 members of the Imperial Wermacht and 2,548 officer's cadets were killed in addition to 106 faculty members. The locals of the community saw no aircraft in the vicinity after the explosions and radar did not detect anything, though the region has many blind-spots due to it's hilly terrain thus it may have been something that could have slipped under the radar.

The ruins look to have been crushed from a great force from above but the granite used in its construction shows signs of melting and silk thin streamers of glass could be seen waving in the breeze from various pieces of debris. Only vague cinders of organic materials could be found. Iron, steel and aluminum structures are highly deformed and melted from high temperatures. The ammunition depots were effected by the heat of the blast enough for the rounds inside to have detonated, creating deep craters - especially at the Bismarck Kaserne where reserve artillery pieces were kept. Had these two facilities been the heart of an urban center the number of deaths would have been in the tens of thousands; Potentially hundreds of thousands depending on the population density. Initial fears of the use of tactical nuclear weapons were alleviated however when geiger counter readings showed normal baseline readings in the area.

Air defenses over Suomi have strengthened tenfold with turbojet powered fighter aircraft that had previously been kept out of sight in the Northern reaches of the Empire, a catastrophic ruse that if not having been done, fewer cities would have successfully been attacked by Germania.

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Meanwhile in the international community;

An emergency meeting of the League of Nations was declared by King Leopold the III of Belgium, to gather at its traditional location in Brussels.

As the one who organized the gathering, King Leopold the III began by stating the following;

"In this past week, due to the use of advanced Germanian weaponry, more civilians in Finland were killed than the Imperial Russian Army lost during the entirety of Napoleon's invasion of Russia. To put it in a better perspective closer to home, nearly twice the number of the Germanian army losses during that same war under Napoleon's command. This ... method of war, is not acceptable. As your' neighbor, a neutral party, I must think of my people and the potential for this conflict to escalate to the use of even more devastating weapons that may have an effect on my Kingdom. I understand the desire to fight in a way that will make an enemy think twice about continuing a conflict - but to react through the use of weapons of vast and impartial destruction in return for a weather induced and localized episode of colateral damage during the course of war is a far too dangerous precedent to go unnoticed or unmentioned. I feel that we, among The League of Nations have the right to demanded technical information on the source of this weapon's destructive capabilities so that we can make an educated decision as to whether this form of weapon should or should not be included under the same wartime charter that has forbidden the use of indiscriminate destructive weapons and substances since the Mediterranean War."

-A round of agreements and confirmations indicated a majority concensus on the matter-

Gosudarev Namestnik Sasha Tovstogan of the Azov Gosudarev, subject to Tsar Peter the III of the Imperial Russian Empire spoke next;

"His Imperial Highnesss, Tzar Nicolas the II, was personally contacted by Emperor Kaarlo the VI of Suomi soon after the first cities were bombed to pass word along through our ambassador in Berlin to Kaiser Ferdinand the II of Germanishe. His wording was course but it certainly sounded like a warning against continuing this campaign and the use of these new weapons, promising mutual destruction if it did not come to an end. What made this warning of such great concern is that Okhranka, our intelligence organization, has reason to believe that Suomi possesses a similar if not identical "wonder weapon," but had not yet employed them at the time of the Germanian counter attack. The population density of Suomi's holdings is far less than that of Germanishe thus I shudder to think of what will happen if Suomi responds in a like method. Naturally I second the motion that the technical details of this new weapon be released so that it can be determined if it should be added to the list of weaponry prohibited under the Indiscriminate Destructive Warfare Clause, layed down in the Brussels Protocol established in 1922, following the end of the terrible Mediterranean War."

Mozny Eduard Lezuchowski of Lezuchow, subject to King of Poland & Archduke of Lithuania, Stanislaw the XI of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth followed with;

"It is possible that Suomi may have gained critical technical details of Germanishe weapon projects at the offices of Dwojka Dwa (Section II) during their occupation of Warsaw in 1939, but we cannot say for sure..."

Conveniently he did not mention how or why his Kingdom would have such data. Furthermore he neither denounced or applauded Germania's recent actions.

His Grace, the Duke of Kent, Prince Edward, subject to Queen Elizabeth the II of the Britannian Empire expressed sincere surprise over the photographs of destruction in Se Imperiumi Suomi and issued the following question to Germania's representive;

"Was this reaction truly a necessary measure, in relation to the actions of Suomi, when we have such critical matters to attend to in the orient? Britannia's wounds still run deep from the Mediterranean War in regards to international relations but should the civilian population be forced to pay such a heavy price for the actions of so few? Surely you have not forgotten the number of civilians killed by indiscriminate weapons of destruction during the Mediterranean war on both sides?"

His Grace, the Duke of Bavaria, Albrecht, subject to Kaiser Ferdinand the II replied;

"Our citizens were savagely attacked without reason and so his Imperial Highness saw fit to return that pain to them many times over - so that this will hopefully end this pointless conflict and allow us to focus on the conflict in the Southwest Pacific and Imperial Japan. I am in no position to question his Imperial Highness' decision nor do I feel it was at all uncalled for - thus I will make no apologies for this matter done in the course of war. As the English prefer to say, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."

Prince Edward quipped back, "My dear Albrecht, were we all to live by that saying, I should think we would all here be quite blind and toothless!"

His Honor, Antonio o Bario de Arede Coelho, Antonio, subject to Dom Duarte I of the Kingdom of Portugal chose to to take this awkward lull after Prince Edward's quip to speak;

"If this conflict is "pointless" as you say, why not hear the reason for this conflict, from Se Imperiumi Suomi, declared openly against the Das Germanishe Weltreich? If their reason has merit, some members of this council may see it necessary to exercise our honor and obligation as members of this league to lend aid to and act on the behalf of Suomi."

His Majesty Prince Brian, Duke of Ulster, subject to King Cornelius the IV of Ireland chimed in;

"I concur, we should all have a right to hear the reasons behind this sudden flurry of fighting between two large European Empires. I suggest an internationally mandated ceasefire while civil sectors are investigated and pending the results, international intervention by members of this League may be necessary."

Ambassador James L. Marrs to President George Sparks of the Confederate States of America stepped up and said, "The Confederate States of America offers to serve as a neutral investigative party for foreign investigation in both Germania and Suomi to deem whether war reparations are in order for the deliberate and intentional destruction of urban areas without establishing the presence of targets crucial to Germania's or Suomi's war effort or need to employ such weaponry to create the desired effect."

Gosudarev Namestnik Sasha Tovstogan of the Azov Gosudarev, subject to Tsar Peter the III of the Imperial Russian Empire spoke once more;

"Emperor Kaarlo VI clearly admitted that the attack on Dresden was intentional and planned by his second son, Prince Juho, however their targets were the following; Lehman die Firma, a manufacturer of anti-aircraft and field artillery, Koch und Sterzel Elektronik die Firma, a manufacturer of components for missile guidance, radar and other electrical instrumentation and finally was the Das Arsenal von Dresden, the third largest arsenal of munitions in Germania. Initial reports from Germania is that the explosives set off underground fuel lines which in turn raized civilian sector of the city and claimed approximately 2,000 lives, all on account of poor weather conditions and failure to turn back while retaining their payload. However some have begun to voice the possibility that Das Arsenal von Dresden's destruction may have been the source of the massive destruction that led to the deaths of allegedly 2,000 civilians and that this number may have been boosted by military personnel guarding the arsenal and nearby barracks as a source of propaganda."

Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. to President Dwight Eisenhower of the United States of America had this to say;

"If it was my country being attacked out of nowhere by a neighbor I'd rather hit him hard and fast to make him think twice about continuing," he continued however by saying, "Though it is shameful that it was the civilian regions of communities in that grand slam operation rather than a military base or strategic war industry that was at the heart of the destruction - that's not the way to win a war, that's a way to instill hatred and potentially a blood feud that can only end in tragedy for both sides. Judging by the photographs of the destruction I do think it necessary to consider the possibility of adding this new advanced weapon to the Brussels Protocol."

His Honor & Excellency, Fabrizio, Count of Cortellazzo, subject to King Umberto II of Italy sang a very different tune;

"If Suomi felt it was strong enough to pick a fight with Germania it should have been prepared to protect its cities first! Germania and half of the representatives here are at war in the orient and yet Suomi starts a war with a Grand Empire while Germania's strongest air services, navy and army are on the other side of the world and yet they complain after a few of their cities are razed? This is a joke made in poor taste. Finland was the aggressor in this event and though both are members of this League, according to Article X a founding principle of this League, Finland should be sanctioned and if further actions are taken the "Peacemakers" should take actions against them!"

His Grace Luois de Crussol, Duc d'Uzes, subject of King Henri the VI of the Kingdom of France had this to say,

"Although we of France denounce the actions of both Suomi and Germanishe, Article X cannot be applied in either case as both are members of the League of Nations. However as it seems both intend to destroy one another I suggest international sanctions to keep critical war materials for our real enemy, Imperial Japan. Once that is through and we have divided Germanische's and Suomi's colonial territories we can discuss how we will divide the war torn region of the two here in Europe."

Khedive Omar of Egypt, subject of Sultan Ahmed of the Ottoman Empire, through his Dolmetscher (Dragoman) stated;

"Your' European Kingdoms too frequently fall to barbarism and escalate their wars through unleashing horrors Allah would never forgive. I condemn Kaiser Ferdinand the Second as a barbarian who would think nothing of killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people whether man, woman or child and whether of the cross, the star of david or of the crescent. He is no ruler and he is no man, he is a murderous monster who should be shut up within a cage in some corner of hell. How can your' "Good Christian Kingdoms" permit this monster to paint the cross on his machines of war and embroider his flags with it? Se Suomi Imperiumi has treated us as equals since our first contact and there are many good men among them that have chosen the path of Islam. No doubt among those killed, wounded and out in the cold are some among their people. I say this now, were we not fighting to liberate Mongolia from the Japanese I would make a declaration here and now I could not take back!"

-loud murmurs and nervous voices echoed throughout the chamber for several minutes before King Leopold the III of the Kingdom of Belgium called for order-

His Excellency and Honor, Erik Herttuan Karjala, (Erik Duke of Karelia), Subject of Emperor Kaarlo VI of Se Suomi Imperiumi had sat quietly bearing the questions, glares, insults as well as supportive statements before he finally arose and addressed the League of Nations;

"Several among you have asked for a reason behind this war. I have been granted special permission from his Imperial Highness Emperor Kaarlo the VI as well as his Highness Prince Juho, to speak on their behalf at this emergency meeting. Many of you have asked why we have chosen to wage war against our neighbor, Die Germanishe Weltreich, a nation which we have only crossed swords few times briefly previously. Why would we have engaged in conflict with such a powerful Empire now? Some have postulated that it is due to Germanishe's preoccupation with the Southwest Pacific under the auspices that his Highness, Prince Juho, is seeking to earn the "Scarlet Crown," in the antiquated fashion of conquest while Germanishe's sizable military is divided," he paused to take a drink of water before continuing.

"I declare here and now that this is pure falsehood, defamation of character and liabel against his Highness Prince Juho and an insult to Se Imperiumi Suomi! My second declaration is a vote of NO confidence in the Permanent Court of International Justice."

-Several loud cries of anger and gasps of surprise filled the room before they were again silenced by King Leopold the III as Erik calmly produced a thick manilla folder from his briefcase and began reading aloud-

"September 6th, 1934, Article 622, Se Suomi Imperiumi vs. Das Germanishe Weltreich und Das Kaiserliche Marine. Cause: A foreign warship ordering a maritime commerce vessel belonging to R. ja J. Kuljettaa under Se Suomi Imperiumi's flag, in the international waters of the Baltic Sea by the SMS Deutschland of Das Kaiserliche Marine for inspection, abuse of the crew and keeping them detained at sea for more than 12 hours," momentarily he glared at Albrecht before continuing. For nearly two hours he presented a total of 122 articles stamped has having been received, reviewed and refused by the Permanent Court of International Justice between 1934 and 1954. The sheer numbers of infringements were staggering including infringement on territorial waters, boarding commerce vessels for inspection both within international and territorial waters of various countries, firing upon commerce vessels that refused to stop in international waters, seizure of valuable cargo, assault, illegally approaching civilian and military aircraft without keeping the mandatory International Civil Aviation Organization regulatory 5 miles Separation, simulating attacks on both civilian and military aircraft and vessels and one case in March of 1946 when a mailplane en route to France reported being harrassed by an aircraft that remarkably fit the description of the Bf-133, the standard fighter of the Luftstreitkrafte, over Se Salmi (Finnish name for Oresund, a channel that runs between the tip of Sweden and Denmark a mere five miles wide,) just prior to loss of radio contact."

The assembled dignitaries remained silent he rested his hoarse sounding voice before continuing;

"Why were each of these clear violations of international law ignored by the Permanent Court of International Justice? The answer is perfectly simple. The PCIJ is located in Haagin .. or I'm sorry .. The Hague. A territory that has been a part of Das Germanishe Weltreich since 1852. Before you begin to claim these are forgeries or some ruse remember one thing. I am the Herttua, or Duke in your' tongue, of Karjala a large coastal Duchy within Suomi. One does not become Duke of Karjala and remain ignorant of sea vessels, fishing, international trade, the tales told by experienced seamen and evidence of damage from military weapons. We have colonies like many of you which need supplies and which we require supplies from. We have mail, freight and trade wares that go out to tens of ports and locations. As the PCIJ has obviously come to favor Germanishe over actual justice what choice did we have but to wage war to protect our sovereign rights?"

His Majesty, Don Juan III of Spain, the only other attending Monarch countered, "Is this not truly just a convenient excuse for Prince Juho to make his bid for the Bloody Crown of Suomi?"

Erik replied tersely, "Even if it earns him the Scarlet Crown and with it the throne, our reasons and purpose in this conflict are perfectly justified."

His Grace, the Duke of Kent, Prince Edward, subject to Queen Elizabeth the II of the Britannian Empire quietly said this to the Duke of Bavaria;

"Bad form, Albrecht. Seems Germania has grabbed a tiger by his tail and tried to club him over the head to silence his roars only to make him louder. If this proves to be true, your' Excellency ... your' precious Empire might might find itself at the business end of much of Europe. Make sure you report everything you've heard here to his Imperial Highness."

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The gathering of influential members of the international community continued to debate the matter for several hours after. The Duke of Bavaria gathered information from the international community to deliver to the Kaiser, including the alleged corruption within the Permanent Court of International Justice, the possible infringements of both the Luftstreitkrafte and Kaiserliche Marine.

However, what will the Kaiser do? Will he dismiss the possibility that his subjects have been harrassing foreign craft and participating in unsanctioned privateering? Will he use diplomacy to attempt to diffuse the situation - or will he instead thumb his nose at the League of Nations, abandon his colonies in the Southwest Pacific and prepare for what could conflagrate into another gigantic European War?

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This is the situation as it stands at the present moment, March 20th, 1954, 13:22 GMT.

Sources; Primarily Wikipedia; You have NO idea how difficult it was to track down the successors or so-called pretenders to crowns of Kingdoms that are no more or identify the names of intelligence services serving Imperial Russia and 1918-1939 Poland. ^_~ I tried to use official titles, introductions and the actual names of people who would likely serve in these respective roles. The Ottoman Empire ranks and system confused me but I did what I could. It seems there was no Kingdom of Ireland but rather a bunch of feudal kingdoms nor could I identify who the proper pretender to the crown would be.