Arma 3 Fanfic: Twin Dragons

[Hvymtal 1251]

Warning: If you are easily triggered by hastily slapped-together images in paint and Arma photography that only holds up thanks to serious application of duct tape, you're probably going to hate me. I have minimal skill with image editing software like Photoshop or paint, and I'm also not the best at creating Arma scenes, though I'd like to think my writing is one rung up the ladder from "Complete Train Wreck." I'm doing my best here, I'm doing this pretty much by myself. I'm also not a linguist, most of the gratuitous foreign language will be directly translated from Hungarian and German via the always-reliable (lol) google, and a lot of it was typed out by me on an English language keyboard, so don't expect any miracles and do expect a LOT of missing accent marks

 

So I've recently had a lot of free time on my hands, and the other day I was playing around with the newly updated NIArms stuff, and I started making some loadouts for a generic Blufor faction using the HK33s. I've always had a soft spot for HK blowback guns, and I felt that the HK33 could use a bit more love. I started playing around more with some of the mods I liked to use such as Wsxcgy's uniform retexes and Delta Hawk's US Military gear, and eventually came up with a fairly coherent mid-90's rifle platoon's worth of soldiers. Then I came up with a Redfor force using the criminally underused TTSKO Urban camo.

 

Then, I decided to write a pair of brief country profiles and histories. Before I knew it, it was 5AM the next day and I had gone completely overboard. Then I came back to it in a couple days after I had sorted my sleep out. For about the past week or so, I have been investing myself into these two little countries tucked away in the northern Balkans, coming up with complete histories stretching back into the 500s and entwining themselves in Arthurian legend, the long and troubled history of the Habsburg Austrian Empire, and the rise and fall of communism. and by the time I got it to the state where I was comfortable sharing it, I had successfully joined it up with both modern geopolitical events and the Armaverse.

 

Dear god I hope you all don't think my writing is shit.

 

I will start off with some simple country profiles, flags, maps, information, etc

 

WARNING: THE FLAGS AND MAP YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE ARE NOT FINAL AND WERE SLAPPED TOGETHER IN THE COURSE OF ABOUT AN HOUR. Consider it to be an artist's impression of what the flags and map look like

 

Map of Styria and Zalaeg

 

BLUFOR: Queendom of Styria (Koniginreich der Styria)

Spoiler

Pronunciation: STI-re-ah (rhymes with Sky, sometimes pronounced “SHTI”; both are correct in English and German)

Population: Approx 2,600,000

Formed: Originally 700s CE, current state shortly after WWI. Absorbed into 3d Reich 1937 w/ royal family banished, liberated by Allies, Royalists 1945 (after attempted “liberation” by USSR)

Location: Southern Austria, Northern Slovenia

Capital: Styrene, Palace of the Dragonslayers

Governmental Type: Parliamentary Monarchy (Hereditary/Semi-Elective), strong monarchy

Major Political Parties:

-Royalist (economic conservative leaning centrist, social centrism, pro-EU, vehemently pro-monarchy)

-Royal Socialists (economic liberal, social liberal, pro-EU, strongly pro-monarchy)

-Republican (anti-monarchy, general centrist, EU Neutral leaning for)

-National Party (far-right, strongly anti-EU, slightly anti-monarchy)

-Communist (far-left, pro-Zalaeg, strongly anti-EU, strongly anti-NATO, strongly anti-UK, strongly anti-monarchy, suspected to be a Zalaegian political agent)

Current Government: Royalist/RS coalition

Reagent: Queen Johanna IX (House of Styrene, strong ties to Houses of Windsor, former Habsburg-Lorraine, and Petra)

Language: Austrian German, British English, Arabic (recent) (Minor languages: Hungarian, Zalaegesh, Slovenian, Croatian)

Major Ethnicities: Styrian German, Arabian (recent), North African (recent)

Major Religions: Catholicism, Islam (recent)

Notable trading partners: EU (member 1957, original Treaty of Rome signatory), Great Britain

Notable Allies: Great Britain (special relationship), Austria (special relationship), NATO (member 1950, shortly after beginning of Korean War), Hungary (before 1937, after 1989), Croatia (after 1992), Slovenia (after 1992), Kosovo (guarantor of Kosovo’s independence independently of NATO), Bosnia-Herzegovina (after 1992), Romania (after 1995)

Notable Enemies: USSR (historical), Zalaeg (historical, ceased claiming as Styrian after Hofburg Agreement 1985, enemies duration of 1995 war, recent political tensions), Serbia (Yugoslavia collapse to 1999, recent diplomatic tensions)

Notable External Activities: Red Cross founder and major financial and personnel contributor, UN Peacekeeping major contributor, IDAP major financial and personnel contributor

Notable Military Actions post-1945: Suez, 1956 (Air, Coalition); Israel, 1967 (UN); Falklands, 1982 (British); Malden, 1985 (NATO); Croatia, 1991-1995 (UN); Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1992-1995 (NATO, UN), Styrian-Zalaeg War, 1995 (Defender); Kosovo, 1999 (UN); OEF, 2001-2016 (NATO), OIF, 2004-2010 (UN); Chernarus, 2008 (NATO); Libya, 2011 (NATO); Takistan, 2012 (NATO), Syria, 2012-2017 (NATO); numerous other UN actions throughout the world

 

 

REDFOR: Peoples' Confederation of Zalaeg (Zalaeg Népi Konföderációja)

Spoiler

Flag of the Communist Government, 1950 to Present

 

Former flag of the Countship, ~700s to 1937

 

Pronunciation: Zha-laeg (often pronounced without the “h” or “ae” in English as “Za-leg”, though technically this isn’t correct)

Population: Approx. 2,900,000

Formed: Originally 700s CE, last iteration of Countship shortly after WWI as part of Styria, revolted in 1936, Absorbed into 3d Reich 1937, “liberated” by USSR 1944, Stalinist communist government formed 1950, reformed 1995

Location: Western Hungary, Northern Croatia

Capital: Zalaegerszeg (Zha-laeg-er-zeg) (Not the Zalaegerzeg in western Hungary, this one is farther south)

Type: Parliamentary Marxist with public voting and multiple parties, Historically parliamentary monarchy similar to Styria

Major Political Parties:

-Marxist (hardline communist, reform-neutral, anti-Putinist, anti-royalty)

-Communist Reform (pro-reform, democratic socialist, pro-EU, anti-Putinist, royalty-neutral)

-Nationalist (anti-Styrian, anti-EU, anti-reform, strongly Putinist, suspected to be Russian and/or Mafiya political agent)

-Royalist (pro-royalty, pro-reform, democratic socialist, pro-EU, anti-putinist. Accused by Nationalist and Marxist parties of being Styrian political agent, unable to confirm accusations)

Current Government: Reformist/Marxist coalition (upcoming elections 2020)

Head of Government: Prime Minister Jonathan Czabroja

Language: Zalaegesh (a dialect of Hungarian)m Hungarian, British English (Minor languages: Austrian German, Croatian, Serbian)

Major Ethnicities: Hungarian

Major Religions: Atheism (Official), Catholicism

Notable trading partners: EU (strained), Great Britain (strained), Former Yugoslavia, Russia

Notable Allies: Russia (unofficially), Republika Srpska (historical), Serbia (prior to defeat in Yugoslav wars), Warsaw Pact member (historical), Yugoslavia (historical)

Notable Enemies (currently all historical): Austria (Special Relationship), Hungary (Special Relationship), Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, NATO, Styria (stopped claiming as Zalaegian after Hofburg Agreement 1985, enemies duration of 1995 war, currently peaceful neighbors)

Notable external activities: Substantial Red Cross support (strained in/after 1995 war), UN Peacekeeping major contributor

Notable military actions post-1945: Czechoslovakia, 1968 (Pact); Afghanistan 1979-1989 (logistical), Stalinist Coup and Styrian-Zalaeg War, 1995 (aggressor); minor participant OIF, 2003-07 (coalition); minor participant OEF, 2008-2014 (coalition); Chernarus, 2009 (UN), Takistan, 2012 (UN)

[Hvymtal 1251]

RESERVED FOR TABLE OF CONTENTS

[Hvymtal 1251]

Prelude

 

Diary of Pte. Kristian Aachen Styrene, Prince Kristian Styrene, 1-C-2nd Battalion, 4. Panzer Brigade, Styrian Royal Army

18 April, 2020

 

24 October, 1995. Styrene, Styria

 

That was how my father died. Quickly and painlessly as the Sheksna missile from the T-62 detonated the secondary ammunition rack on the Leopard he was using to hold off the enemy. He held them at bay for an hour by himself while the ad-hoc unit he was part of evacuated the last of the civilians from the city center. My mother died less than a year earlier to cancer.

To slay a dragon by oneself requires three things to align: Limitless Willpower to face down the beast without fear. Unparalleled Skill to survive and weaken it. And a Turn of Chance for the slayer to be able to determine and exploit the dragon's weakness in the heat of battle. It is very rare that these things ever align for any one man or woman, but to have faced down the Zalaegian Red Army without fear, with the skill to defeat them, and the sheer blind luck to have lasted so long before perishing marked my father as a hero. A Dragonslayer. In the aftermath of the war with Zalaeg in 1995, he became the first person since the Great War to be honored with the Dragonslayer's Rites and be accepted into the order founded by the first Queen of our lands herself.

 

The story goes that Styrene was born a peasant girl in the early 700s, having fled her homeland at a young age and settled in the far south of the Germanic lands. The village, whose original name has been lost to time, was attacked by a Dragon when she was still merely 14. It had been wounded in the last attack, but as with all dragons, it would return. The loss of her adopted father to one of the attacks invigorated her with a determination to do something about the foul beast, yet she hadn't the slightest idea as to how to slay a dragon. By chance, she heard of the exploits of a legendary king of a far away land, one who had slain dragons and united the realms. King Arthur of England. Gathering what little resources she had, she ventured far beyond Germania, into the lands of the Gauls, and finally into England itself. She told her story to the King of England, and begged for his assistance. Arthur, not one to ignore a call for help, yet far too committed to England to leave for so long, decided to train her.

 

For the next two years, she trained under Arthur, working hard to grow beyond her limitations as a refugee commoner girl. She learned fast, almost faster than Arthur could teach her, and by the end she was a formidable warrior. Her final test was to slay a dragon guarding a clue to the location of the holy grail. She stalked and analyzed, watched its every move. When the time came, she fought with great skill and vigor, and was able to slay the foul beast. Before she left for Germania again, the great wizard Merlin forged a very large sword made from the scales of the dragon she slew, the Schwarze Scherbe or Black Shard. She may have killed a dragon, but she was still young and fairly inexperienced, and Arthur wanted the odds stacked in her favor as much as possible. He believed that just as diamond can cut diamond, perhaps dragonscale could cut dragonscale. Now prepared, she began to make the long trek back to her village. When she arrived, the village was -- surprisingly -- still there, but it had been devastated by more attacks from the dragon. Putting her newfound skills to use, she stalked the dragon. She could not determine a weakness, but she found it to have a much smaller neck than the one the slew in Britain. She goaded the dragon into attacking the village one last time, and after much maneuvering, she leaped from a rooftop and buried her sword in its neck, decapitating it in one blow.

 

What happens afterward, and what happens to the sword is a story for another time, but Styrene the Dragonslayer would go on to become the first Queen of our lands, slay more dragons, and founded the Order of the Dragonslayers. She would not be the last queen, and certainly not the last woman to protect our lands. To slay a dragon, real or (after they disappeared) metaphorical, is a mark of the truly extraordinary. In our over 1000 year history, fewer than 100 have ever been given the rites and accepted into the order, most of them posthumously. The last person before my father to receive the honor was Kristina von Weiss, who in 1916 held up a Russian division during the Brusilov Offensive for six hours by herself with nothing but a Maxim gun, a modest pile of ammo, and a very disciplined pair of thumbs, and lived to tell the tale. Those who are inducted will be granted the honors of a royal funeral and burial in the catacombs under the Palace of the Dragonslayers, the royal palace of the Styrian Queendom, as if they were the Queen or King.

 

During the funeral, I was presented my father's Sword by her majesty Queen Johanna IX. I was still very young and trying to grapple with the loss of both my Mother and my Father in less than a year. I asked her why my father had to die. In all her eloquence and grace, she responded: "War doesn't have to happen, therefore nobody has to die to it. Most who die in war die by force or chance. But your father was special. He died by choice."

"Why did he choose to die, then, your majesty?" I asked.

"He chose to die so that you could live," she said with a tear running down her eye

 

Those words stuck with me for a long time. I broke out into tears, and hugged her, looking for any comfort I could find and she instantly embraced me.  I will never forget that hug, it was warmer and more soothing and loving than any other I have ever experienced. It would also be the last hug I would have for a while. Long story short, the foster home put me through hell for two years, and I could have been stuck there and eventually beaten to death by the owners had I not written to the Queen asking for help. A week after I handed the letter to the mailman directly to ensure it was sent, the police and a man claiming to be from the Royal Guard. I was then taken to the Palace once again, where I met Her Majesty once again, who personally adopted me to prevent any further harm coming to the only child of an order member.

 

I then had a decidedly un-royal-like upbringing along with Queen Johanna's own two children, Prince Adolphus and Princess Erika, who I had met and sat next to at the funeral. We dressed like normal kids, went to public school, made normal friends, and Johanna treated us like any mother would her children. She was careful not to spoil us and was careful not to let the whole Queen's children thing interfere with the normality of our lives any more than necessary. The real differences were that we were either treated very respectfully or cautiously, or we had to prove ourselves capable of our undertakings much moreso than anyone else. That was especially true when I joined the Army, as whenever anybody else screwed up, I was the only one in my platoon who got punished. This got old rather quickly as there were two anti-royalists in the platoon who seemed to have a hard-on for making my life miserable, and the drill instructor (as all do) seemed to share this. They only stopped after I nearly shot one of them for dropping a live training grenade at my feet during the live fire tactical course and the Sergeant tried to blame me for it. He tried to get me discharged, but the base commander held me over until the next cycle made sure to assign me to a platoon led by a sergeant who didn't make my life a next-level hell like he did.

 

I've successfully completed my first year beyond training, and I have just returned from a UN deployment in Central Africa. A lot of the older guys said there would be much more action than there was. There were some close calls and a couple attacks, sure but it was mostly useful for helping me work on non-combat skills, and I have been humbled by the kindness of the people I met when they aren't shooting at each other. I've yet to be granted leave to return to Styrene and see her Majesty and my siblings. I do have some stories to tell.

 

Adolphus always told me the importance of minding our history. I've always wanted to go back through some of my old history textbooks and storybooks and learn a bit more about our history. Maybe I'll write what I re-learn in an entry.