March 1956: Moscovia, Russian Republic

"Up with Kaiser! Down with the Liberators!"

Panic has grappled the capital of the Russian Republic as news of the death of Julius Kaiser on March 15, 1956 have spread. Kaiser was the victor of many battles, and the best known among his recent conquests was the American Wars (1942-1950), wherein he annex the entire American continent under Russian rule.

The following day, the sixty conspirators who assassinated Kaiser (labeling themselves as the "Liberators") vacated the Kaiser Palace and went to barricade the Capitol. The city police are undermanned and was kept occupied in maintaining the sudden crime wave. Some of the people wanted to attack the Capitol. Some wanted to leave the city. Some wanted to take advantage of the panic by looting. Some tried to shut themselves in their own homes, hoping to avoid conflict. Most establishments have closed up, and inflation has hit new peak levels. The atmosphere reminds the nobles and the common people alike of the counterrevolution of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who plunged the republic into civil war. Meanwhile, Kaiser's allies are on the move.

One of the more prominent was Mark Antony, who is being pushed by the remaining Kaiser allies to speak up in their late leader's funeral. The others are planning to flush the conspirators out of the Capitol and execute them publicly. However, Antony chose to wait it out. He figured it was not yet time, especially with the citizens being whipped to a frenzy. Then again, who is Mark Antony?

Born on January 14, 1917 in the Russian capital of Moscovia, Mark Antony was a member of the Antonov clan, a mixed family of nobles and commoners. His name, however, is an inheritance. Both his father and grandfather are named Mark Antony. However, while his family is politically involved in Russia, their record is not a favorable one. His grandfather, a Russian president (the highest elective office) in 1901, was a supporter of the Dictator Sulla during the latter's counterrevolution. Meanwhile, his father was a military commissioner (a government office allotted a military command to complete a specific task) who failed in his mission to protect the Black Sea from pirates. His father, already deemed incompetent by his nation, died while fighting against the pirates. His mother left with another man. As for Antony himself, he made a massive debt of 5,000 aurei, which forced down by his parents.

For those who are not yet familiar with Russian economics, one aureus (golden bill pegged with the price of gold) is equivalent to 25 denarii (silver bills with the price pegged at the ratio 1:25). Meanwhile, one denarius is equivalent to a day's wages. To pay off this debt with a denarius a day, Antony would have to work for more than 300 years.

To pay his debt, he tried to make easy money by doing things like gambling. However, he still ended up in the streets as a beggar. It was then when he was recruited to join the organized criminal group of General Publius Klodiy, a man known in the entire country for eliminating his rivals by having them assassinated. Klodiy's armed gang is considered a disruptive force in Moscovia. However, as Klodiy's political ambitions soared, Antony was able to escape the group, but not without facing a considerable number of Klodiy's guards and surviving. While Klodiy did not harbor hard feelings for his departure, Antony eventually fled to Japan in 1942, a nation annexed by Russia in 1854 but staged a great revolt in 1922. With Russian control in Japan still loose due to the last revolt, he figured it would be one of the best places to escape his creditors. In Tokyo, the Japanese capital, he took his formal studies. It may well be a crash course, for he took his studies within a single year.

In 1943, he moved to the Philippines. This is where he was employed as part of the military staff of Aulus Gabiniy, the Philippine presidential commissioner (the president's representative which directly works under the presidential office and was assigned to watch the governor of the area). Gabiniy served alongside Klodiy as presidents of Russia a year back (1942), but they supported different leaders in the Paramount Triad, a loose alliance of Russia's top military commanders assigned by the government as Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1940. Gabiniy supported General Ney Pompey, whose efforts in the east brought into the Russian sphere the Philippines and Indonesia (1937) as protectorates (and thus, no governor is being elected yet). Klodiy, after feeling betrayed by Pompey, shifted his support to General Lisiny Krassa and General Julius Kaiser, who was then beginning their military campaigns at the American Wars. With such different positions, Gabiniy figured he could use a deserter from Klodiy's group, and therefore, accepted Antony as a military staff even without prior military experience (Russia begins recruiting people into the military when they turn 16, but at this time, Antony is 26). Antony proved himself in battle soon enough, for in 1944, he led the Russian army to crush a rebellion in the Philippines led by Alex Taruc.

With Russian troubles in their eastern areas cleared, they turned their sights to China. The legitimate ruler, Emperor Tuo Lei Mi XII, was removed from power by his daughter. He fled to exile in Moscovia, where he appealed to the Paramount Triad about his problems at home. The Russian government chose to recognize Tuo XII but not to act yet. However, Pompey (by this time serving as President) gave Gabiniy permission to march into China. It was a quick campaign, and in 1945, Tuo XII was restored to his throne. His daughter and her allies were publicly executed. Thereafter, he incurred a large debt to Russia, leading to rising debt servicing for the Chinese government. The Russians were also allowed to keep a base in Shanghai, which can house up to 20,000 soldiers.

As Gabiniy went back to the Philippines, he saw disorder reigning as the aftermath of the last rebellion. After trying to restore the peace, he handed over the commission to Lisiny Krassa, who seemed interested to the military developments in the east, as well as developing industries that may prove profitable to his business. Krassa, by this time, is Russia's richest person with an estimated net worth of four million aurei, although financial analysts say it may be higher. Thus, he earned the distinction as Russia's only millionaire. With Gabiniy out, Antony was sent back to Moscovia and finds himself unemployed once more. Soon enough, Klodiy contacted him and recommended his transfer to the American front. Antony was initially suspicious, thinking that it was a ploy to have him killed in the field after deserting the gang. However, when Kaiser himself visited to recruit him, he was compelled to go. Imagine a member of the Paramount Triad leaving the front line to get someone like you? He cannot forget one of Kaiser's words:

"I know you've had a tough life. My family may be of noble blood, but I experienced hardships. I was forced to head the family at 15, but was persecuted during the dictatorship. I fled to another land. I was captured by pirates. I was in great debt, just like you. I'm still persecuted until now... All because I'm intending to change our nation to the core. Mark, if we'll not do it now, when else can we move towards a better world?"

Antony felt it was a great appointment, and proved himself well in battle.

In 1948, Kaiser sends back Antony to begin a political career. He was elected senator, but with some in the Russian government thinking he might be Kaiser's watchman in Moscovia, approved his appointment to go back to the American front within the same year. He was with Kaiser when the Russians crushed the largest American force mustered during the war at the Battle of Virginia. The American president was captured and forced to surrender. However, it would still take two more years to complete the campaign. By this time, Kaiser's greatest fund source, Krassa, was killed while campaigning against the combined Indian-Khmer forces in Cambodia. Meanwhile, with Krassa dead, Pompey felt that he had a new rival with Kaiser. This led him to break from the Populist Party of Kaiser to the Republican Party, a political party once headed by Sulla. The populists sided with the commoners, while the republicans sided with the nobles.

Before Kaiser could return to Russia, Pompey moved quickly after Krassa's death. His supporters assassinated Klodiy in the same year, resulting to riots instigated by Klodiy's gang. Even the Senate was burned, resulting them to transfer operations to the Capitol. To restore the peace, the Senate figured they could elect Pompey as sole President (by this time, Russia elects two presidents to balance power), although they were careful not to grant him dictatorship, which was gained by Sulla after his counterrevolution. The position of dictator is granted by election of the Senate in times of national emergency, such as rebellion, invasion, or civil war. Pompey did his job well by defeating the remnants of Klodiy's gang. Meanwhile, Kaiser was ordered to disband his army and return to Moscovia. By this time, Kaiser commanded at least eight Russian divisions (160,000 troops), a force as large as contemporary standard national armies.

On January 1, 1951, Kaiser, still based in America, let Antony assume office in the Senate for the first time since his election three years ago. As the Senate resumed session that year, Antony raised a proposal concerning the dissolution of Kaiser's army. If Kaiser shall disband his army, he proposed that Pompey disband his army as well. In his own words, "Let public officials remain civil servants, not feuding warlords."

While most in the Senate saw this as a good proposal, the Republican leaders saw this unfit, and the pro-Pompey Presidents (Claudius Marseille and Cornelius Lenticelle) ended up vetoing it anyway. Thus, Antony was forced to remake his proposal. Elect Kaiser as President in exchange of his commission in America and the dissolution of six divisions. That would mean two divisions remaining under Kaiser's command. While the proposal seemed good to Pompey, the Republican leaders still rejected the proposal. On January 7, Antony was expelled from the Senate and was forced out of Moscovia by President Lenticelle himself. After this rejection, Antony returned to Kaiser. After being informed of the Russian government's decision, Kaiser decided he will cross the Atlantic Ocean and return to Moscovia in three days.

As Kaiser famously said, "The die is cast!"

Meanwhile, as Kaiser launched another civil war, Antony was promoted as his lieutenant by becoming second in command. Within the year, Pompey was out of Moscovia and Kaiser marched triumphantly in the capital. Moscovia saw one of the largest crowds ever assembled in the city when more than 400,000 people flocked to see Kaiser's triumphant entry. Soon enough, Kaiser had to leave the capital to flush out all Pompeian elements in the Russian Republic. However, before leaving Moscovia, Kaiser oversaw his election as President while Antony was elected as governor of the Moscovia Province, the region which included the capital. As for Pompey, he fled to China after being defeated by Kaiser in Japan. At haste, Kaiser left for China, only to find out that Pompey was killed by the Chinese. He may be his rival, but it was said that Kaiser cried because of Pompey's death, although reasons behind this action may vary.

As soon as Kaiser left the capital, Antony saw how popular he was with the people, as well as how unpopular he was with the politicians. He is of mixed noble and commoner lineage, after all. A half-caste like him stands in stark contrast within a government filled with feuding nobles and commoners. In addition to this, he had to face the rising debt caused by the wars waged by Kaiser at home and at abroad. As military expenses kept increasing, the resources to fund them are not. Meanwhile, the populist senator, Cornelius Donabelle, proposed a tax relief, especially for the veterans of the American Wars. The national budget is becoming constrained, especially after the death of the nations biggest taxpayer, Krassa. Considering this, Antony decided that the fiscal policy of Russia is more important, and thus moved towards the rejection of the proposal. In turn, Donabelle was furious and sought to get even with Antony. When Kaiser learned that Antony is not handling politics well back at home, especially with the Populist leaders fighting about the tax relief bill, he removed all of Antony's government positions in his capacity as President. From 1954 to 1955, Antony lived as a citizen in Moscovia.

While living as a private citizen, Kaiser visited him once more to reconcile. Antony understood that it was all politics, and Kaiser is only doing his work towards the same goal. Russia has been undergoing great change. Land reform began implementation. The calendar was reformed. Public works projects were contracted. The constitution was amended. The provinces were being reorganized. A plan towards poverty reduction was enacted. A lot has been going on. Then, it was settled. To repay Antony for his fortitude, Kaiser made Antony Russia's President in 1956. Of course, Antony would be ruling with him. By this time, however, Kaiser is elevated to a much higher position. He was not only elected as dictator, he was made perpetual dictator (Dictator for Life). This very appointment led his rivals to eliminate him as soon as possible.

Antony himself confided with Kaiser about such attempts as soon as he was elected President, but Kaiser was confident.

He told Antony, "There's still so much to do in our country... I can't leave just yet. Believe me."

Now, Kaiser is dead. The populists looked towards Antony to take their late leader's torch, but will he even take action? With the Russian Republic in chaos, who will rise up to fix the mess?