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President Brooks stepped out of the limo and strode purposefully to the podium in front of the myriad of expectant journalists, all of whom were wondering what the hell was going on. They had all been called to this remote corner on the edge of the Banastran rainforest, but for what? Had a new species of arora been discovered? Perhaps a new law concerning people who wear red in public?
The more astute amongst them guessed it had something to do with this location - what looked to be a large tunnel, around twenty metres in diameter, apparently built in the middle of nowhere, leading deep down into the ground... and all in a major shroud of secrecy too. Only a few select people within the Bettian government and military had any idea what was going on - not even the nation's closest allies were in the loop, and to anyone who happened to be spying from above, the tunnel would've appeared to be simply a part of Banastra's major road and rail tunnel building scheme.
Whatever it was, they were about to find out...
"Ladies and gentlemen of the press, thank you for attending at such short notice. Now as you may know, these last few years have been very nervous times for our Blessed Realm, what with all hell breaking loose throughout the region, sometimes on our own doorstep, and the giant ant invasion that so nearly scuppered our World Cup qualifying campaign four years ago.
Now some of you may well have been asking what on NS-Earth have the Bettian government been doing about it? It may seem as though we have spent the last few years twiddling our thumbs and letting things get badly out of hand on the international stage. Many people have been worried about the arms race that has been going on in the lead-up to this war and fearing that we have been left behind, leaving our nation vulnerable.
Well let me tell you now, we have been anything but idle. Indeed, we have taken great strides in ensuring the security, well-being and prosperity of this nation. If you would direct your attention to the tunnel, you shall see what I mean."
The assembled press did as they were asked and looked towards the tunnel. A faint noise could be heard coming from within... a strange noise it was too - unfamiliar, echoing round the dark recesses of the tunnel, altogether quite eerie. And as the noise got ever closer, large faint dark shapes could be spotted. Movement... LOTS of movement... and as the source of the movement was gradually illuminated by the early autumn sunlight, the waiting journalists gave a collective gasp.
No! It couldn't be! |
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Bettia |
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We don't do defence |
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Posts: 956 |
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The assembled journalists started to back away in fear. Where their eyes deceiving them? They certainly hoped so as they gazed in terror at what was emerging from the tunnel - approaching them was... surely not... it was a swarm of giant ants.
In contrast to the horror being experienced by those assembled bfore him, President Brooks remained at his position, quite unperturbed. "Now now ladies and gentlemen, there's no need to panic." he said reassuringly.
"But... the ants!" one of the journos protested.
"Believe me, the situation's quite normal... well, as normal as things get around here anyway, as you'll soon see once my colleague has expained. General, if you'd take the stand please?"
The swarm of ants stopped and parted way to reveal a figure walking down the middle of them. A chorus of gasps rose up as those in attendance recognised the man.
"That guy... is that who I think it is?"
"It can't be..."
"But it is, it's..."
It was Gwrlais Devanallt, the former international footballer whose abduction at the hands (or rather mandibles) of a trio of giant ants during that fateful World Cup xXx qualifier filled the nation (and indeed anyone else who saw the whole thing live on TV) with horror. The general climbed the podium and addressed the stunned crowd in a soothing but confident tone.
"Ahem. Yes, I am Gwrlais Devanallt... or rather, GENERAL Gwrlais Devanallt, head of the Bettian Army Giant Ant Division."
"General Devanallt, General Devanallt," a voice piped up from within the crowd. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who would want to know this - where have you been all these years?"
"Ah yes, a very good question. If you cast you minds back to that World Cup xXx qualifier against Spindomia (1) you'll remember that I had attempted to speak with those giant ants that showed up, and that they took me underground into their tunnel. For three or four days they took me at quite unbelievable speed until eventually I reached what I thought was a huge cavern. It was in fact in their main nest. I was immediately taken to see their Queen who, after a lot of misunderstandings, told me that my Antsy was, shall we say, less than perfect? Apparently, instead of saying sorry for my lack of linguistic skills back at The Gasworks Stadium, I had in fact told those three ants to apologise because their tongues were rusty. Boy, was my face red!"
"So what happened then?"
General Devanallt tutted. "I was just getting to that bit. After my initial royal audience, I was taken away to learn the Antsy language properly. Remarkably, I got the hang of it rather quickly. Rather than just being a load of indiscernable clicking noises, it is in fact a highly efficient method of communication. Just a couple of clicks is usually enough to communicate what would normally take one or two sentences in English. After my captors were satisified with my progress, I was once again taken to the Queen. There she explained their origins and their reasons for attacking our nation..."
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1: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=...98#post11638098
This post has been edited by Bettia on Nov 22 2006, 07:09 AM |
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We don't do defence |
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Posts: 956 |
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The gathered throng of journalists looked up at the general as he carefully recounted what he had learnt.
"As you may remember, the ants were experimental creatures developed by the Paramilatary Instigators of Secular Society, or PISS, in order to overthrow our shariah system of government. They were bred to be their slaves and attack dogs with no will of their own, but they were quite unable to suppress the ants' natural instincts... and that ultimately led to their plan going well and truly pear-shaped."
"Ummm, what 'natural instinct' would that be, general?" a lone voice piped up from the middle of the huddle.
"The instinct to form their own society, with each individual taking its own role within their order, whether it be soldier, worker, tending their young or protecting the queen."
"So how come these guys are on our side then?"
"When they took me, they were still under the overall control of PISS, and a very harsh control it was too. However, a subversive undercurrent was stirring, and thanks to my newfound proficiency in Antsy, I was able to persuade the queen to turn against these slavedriving scum and join us instead, as long as we treated them as equals and gave them plenty of their favourite food. I was allowed to return to Bettia, where I presented these terms to the Grand Shura - they readily accepted, and so we secretly sent a detachment of our finest soldiers into the nest. After informing the queen that Bettia was on board, she informed me that PISS had been operating on two fronts - the first front was the long-abandoned area north of here formerly known as Cockbill Street, which PISS were using as a staging post for the majority of the attacks on Bettia. There was relatively few PISSers on the ground here, and with the help of our new allies, what bases and facilities they had were quickly taken. For our own security, Bettia has colonisied this nation which we have named Morgrugyn, and we shall be using this primarily for military purposes."
"What, you mean we have a puppet?"
"Morgrugyn is but one - as I said just now, it was used only as a staging post for those terrorist attacks, and that is why we are remaining there - to ensure no further attacks happen and to hunt down any remnants of PISS that may be hiding within its borders. However, the main ant breeding took place on an island in another region to the north of Atlantian Oceania. Here, PISS had forced a small human population to do their dirty work for them - whipping up new batches and new breeds of giant ants, destroying any that weren't genetically perfect, and more or less waiting on those bastards hand and foot. Obviously an all-guns-blazing, gung-ho attack was out of the question - after all, we are bound by law to avoid harming civilians at all costs."
"So what did you do then?"
"Luckily for us, the ants had previously been forced to construct a network of tunnels linking their primary centres of operation - therefore a targetted attack was easily executed. A carefully-synchronised similtaneous strike was undertaken and thankfully, our victory was swift. The PISS forces were caught off guard and were soon routed, and the good people - and ants - of that nation were liberated at last. Unfortunately, much of the nation's infrastructure had been shattered and much environmental damage was caused. The people of that nation have asked us to remain there as their protectors - in fact, so keen were they for us to stay, they renamed it Northern Bettia in our honour, and they've even taken Takilan footy to their hearts, hopefully to good effect in the next World Cup. We have begun building up their military, which has recently been active in a number of successful regional exercises, and should prove to be useful allies should we ever need to call upon them, and the fact that the ants constructed this huge tunnel directly linking us with their capital city Anyuna will make travel a lot easier. So there you have it - after a terrifying few months, Bettia has expanded in more ways than one and hopefully this will enable us to play a larger role in this wonderful region of Atlantian Oceania. We will strive to maintain a passive stance should any further conflicts arise, but if anyone should attack or invade us, they will be greeted by an army of millions, the like of which has never been seen before. Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen."
The general stepped off his podium, ignoring the hubbub that immediately rose up out of nowhere as the journalists desperately scrambled to gain some more answers from the footballer-turned-miltary-leader as he strode back into the tunnel amoungst his insectoid entourage, to return to his new home.
The Blessed Realm had stepped forward into a new era... but just what will this era hold? |
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Bettia |
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We don't do defence |
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Posts: 956 |
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