In War
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Written by Westinor
Years ago, a little-known nation rose from the tides and, in a cosmic twist of fate, seized the delegacy of the Pacific. Their reign of tyranny, however brief, would come to define the name of despotism and evil across NationStates for decades to come. That was the story of Francos Spain.
When oppression and malevolence gathers, you can be certain that the righteous and the wronged are not far behind. In the early days of NationStates, where the chaotic and wicked roamed free and communities were swallowed whole by the pitch dark of night, a brave few dared to stand. Former members of the Pacific, exiled by Francos Spain’s New Pacific Order (NPO); fledgling regions, encircled by dead neighbors felled by threats in the dark; and residents of the feeders, who lived with targets on their backs, would band together in the first real, big-tent, coordinated effort against invasions. This was the Alliance Defense Network, or the ADN.
In what would become known as “The Great War”, these two titans of antiquity would clash for years; a tug of war of colossal proportions until the bitter end. And until the bitter end it went. The NPO would outlast the ADN, and with it, the war; the very strangleholds of tyranny and injustice that the old alliance fought against still strong at the time of its collapse. The ADN didn’t even fall because of the effects of war; rather, a series of wider shifts in 2006 that hurt a wider swatch of NationStates players — and thus, the far more assorted ADN — who were left it to fall on shaky foundations. For all its pomp and glory, did The Great War even amount to anything?
Such is the paradoxical nature of war in NationStates. Particularly in times passed since The Great War, conflicts have been waged between organizations and regions which posed little to no threat to each other; just as bizarrely, vulnerable founderless regions have declared war against the unassailable walls of the founder-protected, most particularly in the defender hostilities against regions like the New Inquisition or the Land of Kings and Emperors in the 2010s.
These wars are relics of a time long gone — few players likely remember them in any length or detail today. And yet, for the past few months, the waters of NationStates Gameplay have bubbled ominously with tidings of war. Now, those tides are upon us, and at its head is Europeia’s declaration of war against Lone Wolves United.
Again, it is hard not to question the purpose of such a war. Lone Wolves United is a raider region protected under the watch of its founder and governor, Evil Wolf. No attack upon the region will prove lasting, nor any assault on its properties or trophies possible due to the passwords beset on them long ago. There is naught to take from or to give to Lone Wolves United. In contrast, Europeia is one of the world’s largest Frontiers. It has since relieved itself of a governor, and stands more vulnerable than it ever has in over a decade of history. The ambitions and arms of raider forces, as any interregional observer has surely seen, have expanded tenfold since Europeia and its allies were first threatened by a resurgent Brotherhood of Malice. Since then, anyone and their allies who stand against the forces of raiderdom are swiftly struck against. Here, it seems Europeia has everything to lose and nothing to gain.
There is talk that the purpose of this war is to support our allies, who have been wronged time and time again by Lone Wolves United and their belligerent colleagues. It has been said that the purpose of this war is to force others to take a stance, a sore reminder of the caustic Gameplay we know far too well today. And, without a doubt, some are right, in that war is what raiders want — as a trophy of the destruction they’ve wrought, a reaction from the communities they hate so dearly, and that we are playing right into their hands and adding fuel to the fire.
Legends are forged in fire. Heroes are born in battle. Victory comes only in war.
In the few years that The Great War was waged, stories that have been passed along through the decades were written. The liberations of the North Pacific from Great Bight and Pixiedance, which set in stone not only the foundations of TNP’s modern community, but the willingness of so many to fight against a tyrannical few that guided continued resistance against subjugation at every corner of NationStates history, were fought in those years. The Puppetmaster Attack, which lives in the hearts of any defender commander and any liberation against seemingly unassailable foes today, was born in the chaos of conflict. The many attempted liberations of the Pacific, which banded together nations from every corner of this world in unison for one common, incredible, impossible cause, were drawn on the steps of war. Even as defenders of old struggled against a foe they would never break, they wove the threads of history. No great action, no endeavor, no legend or myth or tale to be told around a campfire was ever undertaken without incredible commitment to see through what is right.
War is not a tool. It is not a means to an end nor a promise for more. Declaring War will not force others who have already chosen to choose nor ease the fears of allies who stand at far less risk than us. If we wait and expect consequences without action, we will be waiting for more than just a while. This war is a conviction to more than what already stands. It is a declaration of more than just support; it is devotion to a cause.
War will mean exactly nothing if all we do is stand by. War will remain exactly what it is — transient, futile, words in wind, if none take on the cause.
War is more than a single step. Oftentimes, that single step is the hardest to take. But without the second step, the first means nothing. In this declaration, we have taken our first step — towards victory, towards sacrifice, and towards peace. We fight this war not just to advance a strategy or in hopes of defeating an enemy, but in light of something greater. We fight for a greater cause, for a hope of a tomorrow that sees our citizens and our allies safe and sound, for the glimpse of a future free from the threat of unprovoked retribution, and for the chance that the Europeians of tomorrow will hold firm the fires of liberty and defiance.
But that all will not matter if we do not fight. So the next time you hear the liberation pings, the cries of battle, or the calls to arms, answer.
We’ll be waiting.
