Republic of Cascadia
Katarina Papadoulos was weeping as she recounted her harrowing tale to a Cascadian military officer, Major Paul Lykos, who served in the Air Force JAG office. The three JAG officers on post at Van Halstoff were working overtime to interview those of the freed prisoners they could communicate with to provide a formal report to the Cascadian government. The interviews also permitted them to determine who was from where and make suitable arrangements for repatriation.
After Katarina finished telling Major Lykos what had happened, he offered her a meal and drink. By the time she consumed it an officer of the CSR's Air Force had come for her. He smiled at her, gave her a re-assuring hug, and brought her back to the massive Tu-160 bomber that had taken up position near one of Van Halstoff Air Base's largest runways, landing there specifically to return Katarina to her mother country.
Within twenty minutes, the Tu-160 was airborne - completely refueled by courtesy of the Cascadian government - and bound for the Old Continent, carrying Katarina back to her Motherland and away from the continent where she had suffered so much misery.
In another part of the base, Amber Sanchez was recounting her own experiences to Lt. Commander Harriett Sims.
After the Gunda tribe of Bissauru had abducted her and twelve Peace Corps workers from the Andashi village in wester Bissauru, Amber and the other girls had been raped repeatedly. Such was the ways such people behaved. After that they were taken by canoeboat to an off-shore vessel which sailed them to Astaria's South Veleria colony. Landing in a port on the eastern end of the territory, they were processed by Astarian inspectors who accepted without comment the paperwork claiming them to be established slaves. Whether it was apathy on their part, criminal negligence, or perhaps fear that the traffickers would get rid of any whistleblowers, an investigation from Cascadia would not be able to determine.
From there Amber and the others were put through a series of invasive and humiliating inspections. Strip searches along with complete cavity search, a violent delousing, and finally being forced into skimpy clothing - a plain green cloth brassiere and underwear, which the overseers said was necessary to prevent them from getting too hot in the tropical climate - before the group was loaded into a sweltering container and taken by rail to the western coast, where they were put through another inspection and bought by a company - Amber did not know the name - that would sell them in a market on Astaria. Their forged paperwork claimed them as educated by prior owners, and so their value was much higher than that of the other Velerians - they were routinely fed better, though in limited ways for the women, who were informed they would probably end up bought as domestic servants and their personal attractiveness would determine their market value.
Any complaint at all, any protest of foreign citizenship, was answered by threats and orders to be quiet. Amber recalled that one of the men, Jason Baker from St. Louis in the Shinra Republic, was picked to provide an example. A big guy, clearly meant for physical labor as well as any other things an owner might want an educated slave for, the overseers who had accompanied them across the colony spent the night alternating between beating and shocking Baker. The warning was implicit, especially from the intensity of the shockings: behave or you're next.
Amber was crying hard by the time she described the final indignities as they were stripped again. This time one of the inspectors even told the girls in the group point blank that when their owners wanted sex, they would give it however it was wanted, and resistance would only make things worse for them. "'Be a good slave', they told us," Amber repeated for Commander Sims. "'If you're obedient in every way, your owners will treat you well.' We were told to forget our old lives. Nobody would believe us, nobody would even care, that we came from other countries, that we were abducted and sold like this."
The end of the story was about their time on the ship, the first day and then the mutiny. Amber recalled in broad steps her and John Colicos putting the directional transceiver together. "Thank God you came for us," she wept. "Thank God you found us."
Commander Sims had finished writing her notes - Amber's testimony was being recorded - and was nearly in tears herself by the end of it. "You were very brave," the smiling blond tried to assure the crying Rosarian woman. "You helped get everyone to freedom."
"I just want to go home...."
Excerpt from Cascadian blogosphere
"The Dispatch Heard 'Round the World"
That was the text of the dispatch, now made public, that Rear Admiral Michael Waverley sent to the military command in Van Halstoff Territory upon being informed of the situation about the Star of Sweethaven. After that his entire carrier force turned to the southwest and went to high speed, racing to save the innocent people kept aboard the slave carrier.HAVE BEEN APPRAISED OF ASTARIAN SLAVE SHIP STAR OF SWEETHAVEN CARRYING CASCADIAN AND OTHER NATIONALS AS CAPTIVES. SHIP IS NOW SAILING NORTH UNDER CONTROL OF FRIENDLY NATIONALS SEEKING RESCUE.
I AM MOVING TO INTERCEPT. REPEAT. I AM MOVING TO INTERCEPT.
A little over twenty harrowing hours later, the helicopters from the amphibious operations ship Concordia were landing on the Star of Sweethaven to evacuate the mutineer slaves, including over twenty-five foreign nationals from nations as far away as the Crimson Star Republic and the former Sargonia (now in the USSR), while aircraft from Intrepid held an Astarian destroyer at bay (unofficial reports, I'll add, say CSR bombers were also in the area to support the operation). Their number included six Cascadians. All of them free because of the daring action of Admiral Waverley.
According to the Department of Defense, the freed persons are being resettled to Van Halstoff. Those from foreign nations are being repatriated at Cascadian expense as a gesture of friendship to the countries they hail from. Those hailing from Astaria, or from Bissauru, are being offered a chance to join the small but growing civilian population in Van Halstoff. Already several philanthropic groups are offering money and equipment to help them begin cultivating land cleared from the jungle, along with advice from agricultural experts to ensure they are able to replenish the soil.
Little has been said by the "Free" Republic of Astaria at this point. And what can they say? For years they have told us that they don't permit importation of slaves. They have all the slaves they need, they insist. But now we see the truth. We see their lies for what they are.
The civilized nations of the world, of every political ideology, of every political system, MESS or non-MESS, Japanistani and Shroomanian, they must all stand together and declare that Astaria must stop this abominable trade. The slave trade must be ended, if necessary under international supervision (whatever supervision the Astarians do clearly isn't cutting it).
And if the Astarians resist? Well, maybe it's time the world finally got off it's collective ass and did something about Astaria. Who knows, maybe they'll finally catch up to the 21st Century when they're given the alternative of emancipation or being bombed into submission.
"
- PeZook
