Istapali

[Svetlana]

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It has been 6 years since war broke out in Istapali following a double coup led by the Young Officers Clique which kickstarted the Istapalese Revolution and plunged the country into bloody infighting which even an invasion from foreign powers under the pretext of "stability and peace", yet as the forces of the National Reconciliation Junta retreated and were forced into corners by GNC, the junta has been growing more erratic and tyrannical for last year or so.

The news about the ratification of the GNC-BKE treaty of Tahaba which formally dissolved the kingdom and integrated it as province of the Istapalese Virtuous Federation of Labour. The peaceful dismantlement of the BKE fed the paranoia of the NRJ because now instead of the GNC having to fight both the BKE in the north and NRJ in the south, they could fully focus on retaking Namaji and ending the rule of the Junta swiftly.

Immediately after the news broke, the NRJ's army raided NLF hideouts in the south and managed to capture important NLF figures such as Muchero Olonga, nicknamed Black Widow who led and operated a massive spy network across Namaji that helped orchestrate sabotage operations against the Junta, General Terereai Rusere, leader of the ANL's V region in charge of burning down the NRJ's agricultural and narco traffic operations they use to fund their military effort, Commander Nhambo Mutasa, leader of ANL's VI military district and was initially the one running the strategic port of Lazi after its liberation but resigned to let civilians run the city, Marshal Muzukuru Manyika, leader of the VIII military region and helped launch a series of popular revolts and raids that weakened the grip of the Junta over the capital, and Doctor Matiroya Kabweza leader of the VI region and responsible for the treatment of prisoners of war and defense against Nsanlosan incursion.

Shortly after their arrest, the NRJ's puppet supreme court led by Supreme Justice Onke Ntini held a mock trial of the captured leaders accusing them of treason, "insulting the founding institutions of the Republic", "Implosion of the social contract", and "Anarchist and communist terrorism" before sentencing them to be decapitated live and broadcasted across the nation as a form of psychological and moral death for the GNC and their supporters. Furthermore, Istapali's Aurorian Archbishop Tapiwa Malianga was present during the executions to perform prayers during each decapitation to guarantee "the salvation of those innocent people that strayed from God's light", his presence didn't land well with the population at all since the GNC alongside smaller organizations have accused the Aurorian church of facilitating the Junta's crimes under the guise of divine punishment.

The reactions to the executions were both immediate and radical, Interim People's President Nduma Takawira vowed to "rain hell, purgatory, and judgement day on both the mad junta and the spineless clerics of the Aurorian church", already the GNC had disagreements about the status of religion in a post war Istapali, many wanted it gone and replaced by an atheistic society while others wanted the government to weaponize the religious zealism produced by both Hosianism and Ahmadism to solidify the standing of the Federation. Yet with the involvement of the APC in the executions, the GNC has officially declared war against that religious institution while other clerical classes such as the Ahmadists and pagans have been spared and even elevated due to their successfully fueling of Revolutionary fervor within their followers and the fact that there isn't a unified clerical authority in Ahdmadism that could stop the GNC from puppetting their imams and uleymas.

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Written by @FreeIstapali