Surveillance Report - Quirks of the Eastern Mediterranean
Introduction
The Eastern Mediterranean is a part of the world that seemed to have lost its relevancy, as the conflicts of nations and powers and history moved further west and inland, with the main players being England, France, Prussia, and even Russia. Long forgotten was the land that once played home to the stronger half of the Roman Empire, long ridiculed was the "Sick Man of Europe", the world forgetting that the invincible Sultans once shook two continents to their very core.
The matter did not ease with the rise of the new powerblocs in the 20th Century. The United States and the Soviet Union both had bigger concerns and interests than what the Greeks and the Turkish and the Egyptians could desire, their battlefields extending throughout South Africa, through Asia, and and even through South America. Further exarcebated was the situation with the United States emerging as the clear victor, and the world's eyes focusing only on that hyperpower that now stood above the rest of the world. What importance would a collection of states whose effect on the global stage ceased centuries ago? They were discarded and forgotten, the part they played in the history of humanity no longer granting them any modicum of importance.
And yet today the world finds itself pulled by its hair, hard enough to almost rip it from the scalp, its eyes made witness and observers in a play where the masters of the world are turned into the sacrifice to summon figures almost revered as Gods. It is impossible to say whether this is the second breath of life or the dying gasp of a land that once had the world make way where it walked, but the truth remains that the words on people's lips are not those concerning Napoleonic France, or the British Empire...
But the Hero-Monarchs' Creta.
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Much will be said about the obvious facts. Crete is a rich nation, with a fabulously strong army. Its people are proud and patriotic and will not easily submit. Major General Rogers, one of the now-retired commanders of the invasion of Afghanistan, has already sworn that to invade the island is to invite chaos. The Republic will simply close upon itself, arm a quarter of a million men, and, if God stands with them, perhaps even close the rest of the world from the whole of the Med. NATO will be tested- France -- nor Christine -- cannot countenance an attack on so close a partner, Turkey will laugh only to later cry, and perhaps the Middle East will be irreparably lost to the West.
But that is not our concern. No, instead we will talk of something else, of topics that may seem to hold little relevancy, to not matter in the current schemes, but as we have explored above, perhaps those are the ones that we should focus on the most.
The Queen's Guardians
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| Home of the Guard, photographed in 2015 |
The Queen's Guardians are both simple and complex. It is a group of people that claim descent both from the Lightning Queen's Royal Guards, those few dozen Varangians made witness to her might, and part of the refugees that found shelter in Crete following the fall of Constantinople.
The Cretan Government does not seem to mind them, and they are paid little care. The Guardians claim themselves to be simply people who honor Crete's long-gone founders, and that they have few other concerns. They maintain a museum in their network of homes, exalting the acts of both the Heavenly Queen and the Draconic King, including supposed relics kept in their care since the former's death and the start of the latter's quest. These include several bandons, claimed to have once belonged to Nikephoros Phokas, a marble statue named the 'Venus of Crete', a massive crown, nearly the size of a whole room, supposedly belonging to an ancient wonder of the world. These things are all available to the public, and the Guardians seem more than willing to share what knowledge they claim to have with anyone that is willing to listen.
In truth, the Guardians' acts seem like those of an order of scholars.
On the other hand, the Guardians are not only reciters of ancient legend. When the Mongols invaded, once, the Guardians were in the first line of spears. When the Humble Revolution came, the Guardians had meals and beds for all the displaced. And when the monstrous Reich came not only to Crete, but to the Queen's resting place, they gave them instead more than ten thousand dead.
The Guardians have proved themselves capable fighters not only willing to jump for Crete's defense, but hardened, reliable killers when it comes to the defense of the one they 'swore an oath to'.
And yet that is not all. A willingness to kill does not equal ability, after all. Especially in today's era, where the implements of war and battle require an state's machinery to be properly made. But what little has been seen of the Guardians's drills and training, they have a gun for every member, and bullets enough for all of them to be well-trained. They have rockets, and explosives, and all the other accoutrements you would see in a military force. They may lack vehicles and armor, yes, but as far as pure infantry goes, they have all they could possibly need. This is not possible on their own. They need a backer.
Who?
But the rumours cannot be discounted, either. First is the fact that the accepted size of the Guardians is 600, but there is the not-entirely-uncommon claim that more of Crete is with them. Men and women and all others who believe the words but live in the cities. Doctors, lawyers, accountants, constructors, and... and old, retired soldiers, no longer fit for Crete's mighty army, but willing enough still to defend the land they call home.
And second is... Second is the fact that half of Greece's powered do not live in Greece, a tenth of Egypt's does not live in Masr, and Crete has them both.
Aegean Cataclysm
TBD, INVESTIGATION STILL IN PROCESS.
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