Narco-War: Cildania
A Special series of Reports from the Kalistani Beacon
Post 1: The Past as Prologue
By Francine X
March 17, 3936
I became a journalist right out of school. I had no idea that my interests in guerrilla movements would land me a job at the most prestigious newspaper in Kalistan. But, on a dare, I answered an ad I read in the paper, seeking young journalists with a sense of adventure, tolerance for danger, and eagerness to present the truth. It's not bragging when I say I won out over 75 other applicants for the job- I worked hard for the appointment, jumped through a lot of hurdles, and answered a lot of very strange questions from some fairly terrifying individuals, only some of whom, I suppose, were on the Paper's staff. Most, the hiring staff told me, didn't feel up for the task when they discovered what the assignment was, and I was one of the few who expressed enthusiasm. We'll see if that enthusiasm was misplaced, but for now, I have been assigned to cover the syndicate front in the rapidly developing Cildanian civil war. My reports will be filed online and will be reprinted in the Beacon. This is an opportunity of a lifetime!
Why the syndicate front? My research has uncovered a tenuous connection between Kalistan and the criminal elements in Cildania's breakaway province of Aheblun. Well, to be completely accurate, these criminal elements represent the active arm of Cildania ODEN, which is a member of the drug exportation cartel founded in Kalistan. In Cildania, due to a long history of organized crime which was officially tolerated, though not actively encouraged by the fundamentalist government in Aheblun, the "criminal" organization involved in drug smuggling took root as one of many suppliers of drugs to the population in Cildania and in Majatra. And now, within the past few months, that group has taken advantage of the chaos around the so-called "Cildanian Spring" to resolve old disputes and bring most of the organized crime world on the Island to heel, under Syndicate leadership. It was only last week when the Syndicate officially changed its name to מוות למחבלים in Yehudi, "Death to Terrorists" in Luthori, or simply ML. Over the last few weeks, ML has claimed responsibility in the execution of 14 high ranking members of various local organized crime associations, as well as at least 45 kidnappings of lower ranking criminals. In all, through execution and intimidation, ML has established something close to hegemonic control of the local crime scene in Aheblun. It is not entirely clear how ML was able to accomplish this feat, why they finally decided to commence this war on their criminal rivals, or what their plans for the future are. But they have invited the Beacon to embed a reporter with them, to document their activities, in an attempt to legitimize their rise to prominence in Cildania.
With that, I depart to the Island in the northern Majatran Sea. I go as a civilian and a journalist. I will file my reports on my blog and they will be reprinted in the Beacon. I look forward to understanding this criminal movement, and learning both what their plans for Cildania are, and discovering something about the mind of a criminal cartel which we will simply call "ML". Stay tuned. This promises to be an excellent series.
Fr. X