BNN: We bring to you live across the Balkans a shocking broadcast of a news conference by Slavic Byzantium Defence Minister, the Right Honourable Brother Nikephorus Phokas.


"...due to a worsening situation in which the Mostarvian interim government (which has been left to its own devices) there has been a power vacuum that has turned a relatively peaceful situation outside of Srebniya into a potential war. Various political factions are at arms against one another due to the previous government's great emphasise on violence and weapons to reach political goals. HRH Constanstine XLIII has declared Mostarvia a protectorate of The Commonwealth and invoked the War Measures Act for the region. A temporary government under our watch has been instilled and we are meeting minor resistance to this.

We have reached a crisis in Srebniya as elements of the Carska Garda legion reached one of the nuclear silos held there and found SIG units attempting to recover several nuclear warheads. After the gunfight which ensued, resulting in the deaths of 7 of the SIG men and wounding of one of ours, the senior ranking SIG was interogated and it was discovered that one silo that has not yet been secured was stripped of a nuclear warhead and the group intends to use it to gain the independance of Srebniya as a Muslim nation. We are moving in multiple legions including the rest of the Carska Garda and Varangian Guard legions(recently arrived from Lesbos) into Srebniya to sweep the entire region for areas capable of holding a nuclear warhead.

It is clear now more than ever that without the influence of The Commonwealth, the Balkans is falling into chaos with multiple governments abandoning the region, their peoples, and leaving multiple power vaccuums. We will do everything within our ability to bring chaos into peace under the sphere of influence of the Commonwealth. We are fully mobilizing all remaining legions and the regular army to be transported to all regions starting with the most volitile ones. "

BNN news reporter: Sir, this appears to be little more than an attempt by the CoSB government to regain its imperial glory before the Final Great fall of the 1870's. Don't you think that these regions are capable of sustaining themselves without the influence of the Commonwealth?

Nikephorus: We have seen what has happened without the protection and peace of the Legions and the Pax Byzantium. We are not absorbing these regions into our borders. We are merely making them protectorates until order is restored.

Mostar News Network reporter: How long is "until order is restored?"

Nikephrus: That remains to be seen.

***ZNN***The area of former Mostarvia is not the only conflicted area in the Balkans which coulod become a war situation. Raska region of former Kosovo Srpska has become fairly restless. RAZ has had to step up operations on the Zahumlje-Former Srpska-Kosovo Former Grand Serbia border due to smugglers and gangsters who have taken advantage of the situation. 'Right now it's not a situation of terror but soon it will be if a new government doesn't replace the Former SK former GS failed state. Besides the gangsterism and people trafficking, there have been tensions between Zahumljani Serbs liveing in Raska, Kosvo Serbs in the rest of the region and the growing number of Albanians who don't like either party. Zahumlje is pledged not to ask for Raska back so that solution is out, the only possible solution is an active peacekeeping presence until a new government forms.

MNN: Reports are filtering through from Makharovsk-occupied Mostarvia that open warfare have broken out between hostile forces identified as members of the SIG, and elements of the Makharovian government's peacekeeping troops. SIG troops are advancing dangerously close to missile silos held by the peacekeepers. These silos have been partially disarmed, but all indications are that they remain capable of launching an ICBM. The national military has gone to red alert, and we are expecting the President to make an address shortly. Special Forces are now deploying to the area, but their action was somewhat delayed by their commander's absence on leave. More news as the President makes his address...

Zahumlje, maybe you could exert temporary control. Or right-govern the region for a while. Just in case of emergencies liek this, and we amongst ourselves could debate it. Because, even though it maybe going against something, all humans prefer order to chaos, any kind or degree of order to outright chaos. You know? so we maybe able to get a coalition of nearby nations to watchover some Balkan hotspots that resulted from Failed States. We could call this the Balkan Order Coaltion. And it could be a non-violent group of mixed offcials and the like to establish some form of administration, a basic one, basic enough to hold down order and provide some streamlining to services that have been disrupted by the chaos.

This solution is probably a good itnerim one, the problem is that we have no exit strategy, but well I guess at a time like this who needs an exit strategy?
We will assume temporary power in that area and in Mostariva. We need to figure out how to handle territorial issues for the time being, since otherwise there will be chaos. Chaos might be fun but it's never really good.

What of our legions and regular forces units? we were the first ones on the scene with our Disaster Assistance Relief Team and legions to maintain the peace and prevent the power vacuum from sweeping the region. We provided an interim government and declared the region a protectorate for the purposes of eventual relocation/expansion (ooc: doesn't matter to me) and security. We are the ones along with Makharovsk special forces securing all WMD caches and searching for the nuclear warhead that went missing before we could secure a silo.

MNN: After days of silence from the government regarding the situation in Mostarvia, MNN has received reports that elemts of the SIG have taken over a missile silo in the former Mostarvia, and may have the capability to attack Makharovsk itself. The President and senior government officials have been evacuated away from the capital, and emergency services are preparing for damage control in the event of nuclear attack.
* * *
10 miles away from the capital, Captain Feodor Luschenko was preparing his group of special forces on the tarmac of a Makharovian air force base. The troopers had been called in at short notice. The only intelligence they had was an approximate location of the silo. Makharovsk's security services had not been able to make an accurate estimate of the SIG's strength, and as the Captain watched the troopers make their way onto the transport aircraft, he could see the conflicting emotions on their faces. Some hid it better than others, but the fear was evident in all to some degree. Few talked as the aircraft lifted off and began its journey to the troubled land of Mostarvia. No-one knew how long it would be before the SIG was capable of firing the ICBM the peacekeepers had not yet disabled, or even if it was capable of firing at all. The troopers would just have to hope that luck was on their side.
OOC: Sorry for the delay, I had to work that into the story. I hope this is dramatic enough for you. ;)