Journey to the West
The Journey to the West is what media in Shireroth called the surprise teaming-up of Prince Rubin and Prince Ichirō, both claimants as heirs to the throne after Salome, by Salome. She had ordered them to head to 's Koningenwaarde to meet with the Batavian nobles, particularly the different branches of the House of Vinandy.
Issues
There were several issues that Salome hoped the journey would solve.
- Succession crisis instigated through the non-imperial Secunda Divisio, a set of division of property and imperial and non-imperial titles decreed by Hendrik Leopold des Vinandy in 1717, that had not received imperial sanction. Problematic in particular was the by-passing of imperial law over how imperial peerages were succeeded to (relevant for the titles Duke of Gascony, Duke of Brandenburg, and Duke of 's Koningenwaarde). This was interpreted by Raynor's Keep as a deliberate snub of imperial authority and was deeply embarrassing to Kaiseress Salome.
- Aurangzeb Hakimi bin Alsalam, Prince of Shireroth, Duke of Brandenburg and member of the Imperial Family of Shireroth married in 1730 Lucy Myksos without having asked for or secured the Kaiseress's assent. As such, the marriage between Aurangzeb and Lucy is considered illegitimate in Shirerithian law. Any of their children will not be in line of succession to Aurangzeb's Shirerithian titles as they will be considered illegitimate under Shirerithian law.
The trip
On the morning of 35.XV.1730, Princes Rubin and Ichirō set off from Shirekeep airport. The plane was luxurious electric private jet belonging to the Imperial Family, seating 50 people maximum. Today, the crew consisted of 5 crew (2 pilots, 3 cabin crew), the two princes, five men from their Shirerithian security teams, sixteen esquires from their Order of the Holy Lakes retinues for comfort, ease and safety, as well as two private secretaries, and four assistant private secretaries. In total, the flight included 34 people on board (16 Shirerithian citizens, 2 dual Hurmu/Shirerithian citizens, and 16 Hurmu citizens).
The flight had been challenged by the Ardashirshahr Air Defence Sector from almost the moment it had gained altitude on departure from Shirekeep-Foley Aerodrome. Interrogations by Benacian air traffic controllers of Shirerithian flights in and out of Shirekeep had become an onerous fixture of civil aviation in the "confluence" region ever since work had begun on the Alalehzamin Security Line earlier in the year. Hurriedly the aircraft was obliged to confirm its acknowledgement of and adherence to the standing no-fly policy covering Elluenuueq. On two separate occasions, as the aircraft gained altitude over the Imperial County before dipping across the River Elwynn into Shirerithian airspace over Brookshire once more, the onboard ES-13 threat warning system activated, indicating that an unidentified radar system had illuminated the plane as though a target lock-on had been acquired. The aircraft's pilot captain duly squawked a warning to Shireroth's own air traffic network of being targeted by an unknown party over Imperial airspace. The message was duly relayed to the Department of the Confluence air defence network and, for whatever unknown reason, the lock-on attempts abruptly halted.
Due to Benacian Union rules of valid flight zones, the flight had been obliged to take a less efficient trip than what geography might warrant. As such, Flight plans had been shared with the civil authorities in Chryse and Benacia Command in Merensk. Notably the feedback from the External Service of the Benacian Union had nixed the initial flightpath which had planned to arrive in Batavia via Mishalan and the Governorate of Absentien.
The 3 Air Defence Observation Regiment, whose batteries were assigned to cover the Ardashirshahr metropolitan area and the Alalehzamin Security Line, had noted what it termed to be a suspected intrusion flight originating out of Shirekeep-Foley on 11:15 and again at 11:28. Advised by Ardashirshahr Air Defence Sector Command that the target was non-hostile, the battery commander covering the confluence airspace nonetheless proceeded with acquiring a target lock on both occasions, in order to test the integration of the Kalgachi "Burdock" SAM system into the command and control network. These calibration efforts were abruptly terminated upon receipt of angry verbal communications from regimental command, relaying orders from Air Defence Command to immediately cease all operational activity in that sector until further notice.
The contact next reappeared on the radar screens of the Ardashirshahr Air Defence Sector on a course towards the Governorate of Austland. The flight had first straddled the southern bank of the River Elwynn as it flew westwards from Shirekeep. It then crossed into Austland and passed Fiorecittà. As the flightpath taken was conforming to that filed previously with the civil and military authorities, no further action was deemed necessary, and the flight was marked as "compliant", with the Merensk Air Defence Sector being notified of the same.
Upon crossing the frontier into the Governorate of Lachdolor the flight passed into the airspace of Merensk Air Defence Sector. As it had been deemed "safe", the flight was directed on the next stage of its journey by civilian air traffic control, based at Verkehrsflughäfen Merensk and operated on behalf of the UGB by the Honourable Company. At about four hours into the flight, air traffic control at Merensk noted a temporary glitch in the transponder code of the Imperial flight, which marked it as "unidentified hostile" on the system for approximately eleven seconds before resetting. This incident was logged by the duty flight control officer with a recommendation for a system diagnostic and defragmentation during the next maintenance cycle.
At four hours and forty-five minutes, the transponder glitch recurred, with the flight being shown on Benacian systems as an unidentified hostile aircraft. This time the codes did not reset. Air traffic controllers, upon noticing the error hurried to notify the Merensk Air Defence Sector, which in turn issued a warning to all air defence observation regiments under its control that the hostile target should be marked as a friendly and not engaged. A further signal was immediately flashed to the 2nd Air Division of Fighter Command at Sansabury requesting that the Quick Reaction Alert be scrambled to escort the Shirerithian flight for the remainder of its journey. A pair of F-9 Ashavan III fighters were duly scrambled from Sansabury Aerodrome and vectored to intercept. Merensk air traffic control next attempted to contact the flight to advice it of the incoming escorts, and to request that it as a matter of urgency investigate the condition of its onboard systems. Worryingly, no response was forthcoming.
Unfortunately, whilst the warnings within the Air Defence Command of the Aviation Forces of the Benacian Union had been communicated swiftly to air observation regiments, the compartmentalisation of information that was so routine within the Benacian Union meant that these warnings first had to be verified by a designated information security officer attached to the General Inspectorate before they could be copied to the Land Forces of the Benacian Union. The unfortunate aspect in this instance was that it meant that the warning was only being approved to send for land forces when the flight passed within the range of the area defence assets attached to the 13 Bergsfördelningen "Mishalanska" at Fort Clarence, the training centre of the BUDF. The air defence battery commander of the 38 Luftvärnsregemente was no doubt astounded to be suddenly confronted with a hostile contact, so far into the interior of the UGB. Indeed, the communications log of the division would show that the supposed hostile was queried by the battery commander at regimental and then divisional level. Ultimately it would be the division's legate, Jon Marenai-Eqlarion al-Osman, who would give the fateful order to engage the target with every means at their disposal. At his subsequent court-martial the legate would explain that the projected course of the contact would put it perilously close to either the population centre of Sansabury or the industrial facilities of Stonetree. He had considered it his positive duty to engage whatever the Panopticon Nexus directed him to. By the time the warning not to engage the misidentified hostile had appeared on the legate's viewscreen four S-2 Standard Missiles were already lofted towards their target, and only two would respond to the abort code hurriedly broadcast by the battery commander as the magnitude of the mistake was now realised.
The Ashavans meanwhile would arrive in time to see the private jet struck by the first of the two S-2 missiles to close on it from behind and below, detonating in an airburst that would see the rear of the aircraft shredded by shrapnel and immediately burst into flames.
Aftermath
Shireroth
Kaiseress Salome was interrupted from a good book during one of her many "quiet time" hours in order to be told the news. Her first instinct was that it was part of some elaborate joke, telling the messenger that he was a day early. Once the seriousness of the occasion had sunk in, however, Salome summoned the leader of the Benacian Union's mission to Shireroth, Abner Shas, to the Great Hall. Courtiers scrambled to Raynor's Keep, it being otherwise an inauspicious day on the calendar and thus no court functions had been scheduled for it. The event cut into regular broadcasting on all stations, with a chyron that read "B.U. Representative Summoned to Her Magnificence: A. Shas arriving at the Great Hall to deliver message of condolences, apologies for downing plane carrying Princes Rubin, Ichiro."
Microphone stands were positioned so that the voices of the Master of Ceremonies and Benacian Legate in Shirekeep were each audible on the news feed.
Upon receiving the scripted response, Salome, instead of standing and providing the pundit-expected platitudes of reconciliation, continued to sit and summoned "that Tribune who carries the suitcase" to the dais.
To the shock of the few courtiers in attendance, Tribune (Narrow Grade) Emmy Noether, ascended the dais without pause or demonstration of respect, producing the Mobile Command System "Chrysos" and setting it up in front of the Golden Mango Throne. Cursing under her breath while fishing out some reading glasses and her ID card from a pocket, Salome nonchalantly began logging into it. A black hood preventing anyone but her from viewing the screen, but her half-heard mutterings (not picked up by the microphones and thus not transmitted via the live feed) indicated that she had achieved a secure linkup and was reviewing Strategic Directives options.
One courtier broke with protocol and lunged to the foot of the dais, pleading with her not to take the nuclear option. Instead of responding to his words directly, she merely spoke her thoughts out loud: "Every nuke in the arsenal, boys. What's the point in having them if they don't get used?"
"We use them as deterrents, your Magnificence," he responded, being pried from the dais by the day guards, who had been momentarily slowed by the courtier's entourage of two Men-at-Arms.
Finally looking up at him, Salome responded directly. "Nukes are only a deterrent if they deter. Let no weapon be left at home."
Looking back at the screen, she selected the option code-named TYMARIAN SUN.
"how many passwords do I have to input into this thing?"
While Tribune Noether pointed to the appropriate line on Salome's ID card, the head of the Benacian Union delegation, Abner Shas, was forced to his knees along with his senior aides in front of the dais. After clearing straggling courtiers away, the captain of the guard unsheathed his sword and beheaded each one of them. The chyron was thereafter updated to "B.U. Representative Beheaded in the Great Hall: A. Shas and entourage executed after delivering message of condolences, apologies for downing plane carrying Princes Rubin, Ichiro."
Upon completing the command input, Salome handed the mobile command system back to Noether and, standing, waved for a microphone to be hoisted up to her lips. Removing her reading glasses, she declared: "as smoke vanishes, so let them vanish, as wax melts before the fire."
The live TV feed ended thereafter.
Hurmu
In Hurmu, the Senate was called to session of grief and mourning, and investing Ichirō's senatorial seat in his heir and younger brother, King Audon II.
Meanwhile, Vahid al-Osman, Master of the Hurmu Fyrð, was dispatched to Chryse to seek understanding and reparations for the loss of 16 soldiers from the Fyrð.
Benacian Union
As the most senior officer in the hierarchy to authorise the engagement of the Shirerithian aircraft, Jon Marenai-Eqlarion al-Osman was immediately taken into custody by troops from the Land Forces Inspectorate, pending full court martial in Merensk. If found guilty of criminal negligence it was expected that the legate would be transferred into the custody of the Magisters-Carnifex and obliged to face the Wheel of Misfortune.
Final communications from the Benacian legation in Shirekeep prior to the arbitrary arrest of the head of mission, Abner Shas, indicated that Raynor's Keep was seriously contemplating a massive military retaliation against the Benacian Union.
In response to the dire warning, Benacian Security Council raised the alert status of the Benacian Union Defence Force to "Kreigaregat Alarmstufe 2".
At this level, military forces across the Union-State were placed on a war footing, with combat units undergoing heightened readiness checks and preparations for potential deployment. Key military facilities implemented additional security protocols, and the Benacian nuclear deterrent forces was directed to an elevated readiness status as well.
By raising to Kreigaregat Alarmstufe 2, the Benacian military braced for the possibility of full-scale war with Shireroth while still seeking to avoid escalating the crisis further if possible. It signified that the defence of the Union was the top priority and that Benacian forces were ready to respond forcefully to any Shirerithian aggression or first strike.
Whilst this drama played out, Jon Marenai-Eqlarion al-Osman was transferred into the custody of the General Inspectorate of Benacia Command upon his arrival in Merensk. The tribunal before which the legate was arraigned on 6.I.1731 AN would consist of the Lachmeren Troika (Reinbold Fischermeister, Gundwin Netzemacher, and Harmann Angelfürst) with the officer commanding of the Central Banner Group, Zacharias Avon-El presiding as president of the court.
The murder of Abner Shas by order of the Kaiseress in Raynor's Keep would lead to the substantial Day of Rage, held on 12.I.1731 AN, a series of intense anti-Shirerithian protests across the Union-State.
Amidst the sound and fury, the execution of Jon Marenai-Eqlarion al-Osman, carried out on 14.I.1731 AN at Merensk, was almost forgotten. Unusually for the Benacian judicial system, a petition for his posthumous pardon would be permitted to be heard by the Congress of Chryse at its next session.
Sanama
Following the events in the Benacian Union and Shireroth, the armed forces of Sanama were placed on high alert with all standing forces assuming a potential war posture. Senior military leaders attempted to contact their counterparts in Shireroth.
Repatriation flights and mediation
The death of princes, and the slaughter of emissaries, would hardly prove conducive to the maintenance of amicable relations between the Benacian Union and Shireroth. As matters stood, the entire continent was balanced on a precipice, in danger of toppling into a cataclysmic abyss of atomic destruction that would forever displace the Scouring as the defining horror in the collective memory.
Worse yet had been the signalling, from both sides, of an intent to pursue "endsieg" to the point where even a full countervalue nuclear exchange would not prevent the waging of a full conventional war for possession of the ruins.
But not every Benacian power was delighted at the prospect of being invited to a shared doom. For Qerelzhan Shagul, President of Sanama, the prospect of another scouring was sufficiently appalling that directly reached out to her counterparts in Chryse and Shirekeep in the hope of averting calamity.
The Benacian Union, for all its choreographed fulminations during the Day of Rage, was receptive – albeit cautious. As a sign that mediation would be a path worth pursuing, the Szodan of Benacia, on the advice of the Commission for Foreign Affairs, requested that Sanama facilitate the return of the mortal remains of Abner Shas and the other slain diplomats. In exchange the Benacians would transfer such remains as had been recovered from the wreckage of the downed aircraft.
