BORDER BATTLE ERUPTS AT CHECKPOINT BRAVO! WAR DECLARED WITH UTEMBOThe army mobilises!At 13:42 today, Checkpoint Bravo, on the Utemban-Medinese border, the Sultan has now confirmed the first violent clash erupted after Utemban protesters ignored Medinese warnings and marched on the border, arms linked together.
The Utemban government insists this was an act of peaceful protest, but the Sultan says they ignored repeated warnings and approaching quickly while shouting at the troops, which was perceived to be an act of aggression. Journalists on scene say the report is not inaccurate, but say whether or not it was a peaceful act or not is unclear.
Regardless, Medinese guards on the border decided to fire what they called a warning shot at the protesters, but hit one protester in the foot. The Utemban government insists this was intentional, and backs their troops decision to open fire on the Medinese troops. Soon, the scene had erupted into chaos, with both sides facing heavy casualties and one protester and one Utemban journalist being killed in the conflict, with many others wounded. The two checkpoints were closed down, with reinforcements from the Sultanate forcing the Utembans to retreat.
The Sultan has defended his troops' actions, saying the Utemban government has repeatedly ignored his requests for a ban on protest, while the Utembans have claimed that there was insufficient warning and that the troops should have known this was a "peaceful protest."
In fact, their Foreign Affairs department has even gone as far as to suggest that the Sultan's actions so far have all been "designed to force a conflict," with the rapid increase in tension in the past 12 months, Medina's recent military developments, and the Sultan's refusal to back down and agree to lessened military investment pointing to "a clear attempt to create a dangerous situation so the Sultan can exploit the story and make his invasion seem justified," referring to rumours of the Sultan's imperialistic ambitions, which he strongly denies. They claim that the Sultan's "unrealistic demands that we move away all troops from the border while he continues to rapidly arm his military are absurd and again designed to make us seem unreasonable. But we did not want war -- they simply refused to negotiate."
The Sultan however blames Utembo for taking issue with "our domestic military expansion" and said they "simply don't want to let another power grow."
Utembo has said that the "brazen attack on peaceful Utemban protesters leaves us no choice but to enter hostilities, though we would like to avoid this if a peaceful agreement can be found," while the Sultan says the "unjustified slaughter of our troops in response to an act of aggression from their citizens, which we have repeatedly warned of, means that great Medina has no other option except to defend our right to secure borders. We will only settle for an honourable peace." In the Sultan's book, this seems to mean that Utembo must make concessions and take responsibility. But with neither side looking to do so, it seems likely that this minor conflict is quickly spiraling into an all-out war.
But is the rapid breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries all a conspiracy by the Sultan to force a war, and engineer a cassus belli for an invasion? Or is that merely a crackpot Utemban conspiracy theory?
I go by Ashley now and use she/her pronouns. This is a really old account, I don’t play now.
I was a mod in classic for a bit, then I helped make Marcapada and WM there for a while. As of 2020 I’m co-ordinating Pachapay’s development.