By: Hoaseng Thao

Note: This story goes over the themes of war and crisis in a different world

THE ZONE

The Arcerium Rising Exclusion Zone is a designated exclusion zone established by the Organization of Nations, or the ON, and is located on the Arcerian continent, dividing the habitable zones from areas contaminated by Arcerium and Arsoulium. The Arcerium Rising Exclusion Zone is commonly referred to as “The Zone”.

The Zone is a highly contested region that is mainly contested within the borders of the Federal States of Arcasia, with many factions fighting for control over specific regions.

ARCERIUM AND ARSOULIUM

Arcerium is a natural element that is used to power mega structures such as mega cities, ships, and spacecraft. Arcerium also acts as a propellent to its sister element, Arsoulium, which has side effects that can rapidly heal dead cells and is commonly used as an opioid to treat cancer, however it can place users into a rabies like state in prolonged exposure.

BACKGROUND

The cause of the exclusion zone was due to the rapid eruptions of multiple Arcerium pockets across the continent, which resulted in Arcerium and Arsoulium contaminating the majority of the continent. The nations of Arceria, The Republic of Krinia, The Federal States of Arcasia, and The United Republic of Alakis, were all affected heavily by this event, with an estimated 1.5 billion people being left in the zones. This event is commonly dubbed as the “Arcerium Rising” event.

KRINIA

Before the Arcerium Rising Event, Krinia had engaged in a war against its neighbor, Alakis, after their invasion into Krinian territory, with both nations calling upon their allies to join the war, resulting in the start of the Second Continentals War. This war would be forced to a ceasefire after the Arcerium Rising Event occurred, and with the presence of Krinia’s allies, The Polaris Alliance Treaty Organization or PATO, was able to quickly respond to the crisis, and evacuate millions of refugees to safe zones.

ALAKIS

Having started the Second Continentals War, Alakis was unprepared to fight a defensive war as they had poured all their resources to their Krinian offensive, which left large populated areas to be contaminated by Arcerium and Arsoulium. Alakis’ allies, the Croatoke Defensive Pact or CDP, did little to help with the contaminated areas as they were mainly focused on keeping PATO forces at bay, resulting in millions perishing as a result.

ARCASIA

Arcasia, having not involved itself in the war, had other issues at hand. A month earlier, Arcasia’s government brutally suppressed protests against State Controlled Arcerium refinery plants, and on the onset of the Arcerium Rising Event, the people of Arcasia began calling for independence against the government, and started the Arcasian Civil War.

This civil war was kept under wraps by the federal government, as they had installed a nationwide firewall and lockdown to prevent information from getting out. For ten years, Arcasia had kept everything under wraps until a coup led by General Tomia Lukoskiv, overthrew the government and called for an immediate intervention by the Organization of Nations (ON), to which they accepted.

ARCASIAN CIVIL WAR

The civil war is still waging on, with the Arcasian government being supported by the ON to fight a brutal campaign against rebelling groups, such as the Independent States of Arceria Organization, a collective of rebelling states joined in a combined effort to gain independence from Arcasia.

It is unclear if there will be resolution to the civil war, but it is clear that it will continue for the foreseeable future.

By: Hoaseng Thao

*Note: This is a work of fiction. This story is set in a fictional world where there are countries at war.

Background

On July 9th, 2020, the Republic of Nashua declared war on the island nation of Foseta on the basis of the nation harboring anti-Nashuan militant groups which threaten Nashua’s national security. But from the beginning of the war, the Nashuan military were unable to set foot on the Fosetan mainland due to the large Fosetan navy that constantly defended the western coast.

The main naval defenses of Foseta was concentrated on the western coast, which saw the majority of fighting during the war, however this concentration of ships and military personnel in the west would see the eastern coast to be left undefended by the main fleets of the navy. This factor would be exploited by the Nashuan navy as they were getting desperate for a victory after countless defeats off the western Fosetan coast.

Prelude

At 400 hours, Central Vaserian Time, on September the second, 2020, two ships belonging to the Ridge fleet of the Nashuan navy, the dreadnought NRS (Nashuan Republican Ship) Vitician and the landing ship NRS Julupe, are ordered by Admiral Se Gull to capture the Fosetan coastal defenses on the southern tip of the island of Hosi, which would allow the Nashuan ships to cross the Tsuvuki Strait and land troops onto mainland Foseta.

“Flag of the Fosetan Commonwealth”

“Flag of the Republic of Nashua”

Stationed on the island are a small detachment of Guardsmen from the Fosetan 110th coastal battery unit of the Coastal Corps, and a company of 200 marines from the 8th Marine regiment. Despite the low number of stationed troops on the island, the small detachment was armed with an array of artillery pieces, including two 305mm twin turret coastal artillery pieces but only one was operational.

At the time, both the NRS Julupe and the Vitician were unaware of the presence of the two 305mm pieces stationed on the island as the artillery pieces were originally meant to be decommissioned a year prior in a public press conference, but for unclear reasons, one piece was left intact and operational.

Battle

At 700 hours, the NRS Vitician, just 16 miles off the coast of Hosi, fired its four fourteen inch caliber guns off its port side, their intended target being the coastal guns located on the island, not including the two 305mm artillery pieces. As planned, the NRS Julupe began to depart from the Vitician but due to miscommunication between the Viticians captain, Karl V. Dimo, and Julupe’s captain, Diamon Gein, the NRS Julupe’s path coincided with the path of the Viticians next barrage from its guns.

Realizing that the Julupe was in the incoming path of the Viticians guns, the Vitician ceased her firing, giving the Fosetan marines and guardsmen time to prepare a counter barrage. One Lieutenant from the Fosetan Coastal Corps, Lieutenant Viron Ick, was asleep when the first barrage from the Vitician was fired; however the ceasing of her guns gave him and his men enough time to arm one of the 305mm coastal guns.

At around 715 hours, the Julupe landed the 28th Nashuan Marine Regiment onto the shores of the island, but their landing point was facing towards a steep hill that made it difficult for the marines to overrun, leading to the deaths of many marines as they were gun downed by the few Fosetan marines that dared to fire down the hill.

While the 28th Marines began to make ground around the shoreline, Lieutenant Viron Ick quickly calculated the distance and elevation needed to target the NRS Vitician and at 730 hours, the 305mm gun fired at the dreadnought. One shell missed the ship completely, however one did hit the stern of the Vitician. Completely caught off guard by the 305mm gun, the Vitician, whether it be out of fear of being hit once more or to target the 305mm gun, began to blindly fire at the coastline, damaging the 305mm gun but also committing several friendly casualties as the impacts would hit near the 28th Marines position.

Although damaged, the 305mm gun was able to fire once more upon the Vitician, this time both shells hit the lower parts of the hull, sealing the fate of the dreadnought. Captain Karl V. Dimo, assessing the situation, quickly orders his men to abandon the Vitician and at 750 hours, the dreadnought sunk to the bottom of the strait. With the loss of the Vitician, the remaining marines of the 28th alongside the NRS Julupe and the Vitician surrendered to the Fosetans at 800 hours.

Aftermath

Within only an hour of fighting, 62 Fosetan military personnel were killed in combat while 45 Nashuan Marines and 5 Nashuan sailors of the Vitician were killed. With the failed landing of the island, the Fosetan navy quickly began to protect the eastern coastline to prevent any more Nashuan ships from exploiting the low numbered coastal defenses. For his actions at the battle for Tsuvuki Strait, Lieutenant Viron Ick would receive the Hernikan Cross for his actions in sinking the NRS Vitician.

Facing humiliation, the Nashuan naval command fired and publicly executed Admiral Se Gull for his failure for not accounting for the presence of the 305mm gun. Just five weeks after the battle, Nashua would sue for peace with Foseta as they had failed to conduct landing operations on the Fosetan mainland.

On November 9th, 2045, the Vaserian Federation Defense Forces would declassify a document that contained information about a Vaserian submarine, the VSS (Vaserian Sailing Ship) Commerth’s role in stalking the NRS Julupe and the NRS Vitician before and during the battle of Tsuvuki Strait. The document would note that the submarine was well aware of the Nashuan ships destination but did not notify Foseta of this information, which would sour relations between the two nations.

By: Truman Vang

*This article is completely satirical, so do NOT actually follow this guide to bake cookies.

Have you ever been bored with life? From its endless monotonous qualities to its hurtful truths, life is just harsh. If yes, then baking should be the solution to all of your problems; the careful crafting of pastries and delicate touch on these delights always bring a smile to one’s face. Bring out the best in you through baking! Let all of your issues and anger seep out in this guide on how to NOT bake cookies.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials!

The first step to baking cookies is to gather the ingredients. Add whatever you want to these delicious pastries! It’s sometimes common to add flour, sugar or eggs, though let your imagination run rampant. For myself, I like to add the uncommon vanilla bean alongside flour and eggs with a side of crushed CD for some musical flavor! Though it’s your decision what you want in your cookies!

Step 2: Mix the Ingredients

While some may say that the order that you mix the ingredients is important, it really shouldn’t be taken into account when preparing the batter for your cookies. Mix whatever you want first, and just add what just looks right. You could mix it by the increasing or decreasing amounts of each ingredient, or to be fancy, by a color gradient from red to blue. Whatever order you choose to mix your ingredients, you’ll always be left with batter in the end, so it should be fine in the end.

Step 3: Prepare the Dough

One important step to making cookies is to prepare the dough. Once you finished creating the batter, you might have a consistency of play dough. If you don’t, just add flour, as it usually helps to stiffen the dough. Once you’ve got that figured out, roll out the dough with anything cylindrical that you can find around you. It’s not usually recommended to use something made out of wood, but anything works at this point.

Step 4: Cut the Cookies

Create a design that you want to cut your cookies in! You could use a cookie cutter, but those are often already pre made and quite boring in their designs, so choosing a design of your own would help in this aspect. For instance instead of a regular boring old star, you could instead cut the cookie into a dodecahedron, the American flag or a cube! Anything works to your desires as long as you follow your heart’s content.

Step 5: Prepare the Oven

Set the oven to preheat. Often cookies roughly bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit taking 15 minutes to fully cook. In this guide, it’s completely optional to wait. Instead, set the oven to preheat at 5000 degrees Fahrenheit and wait for those cookies to be ready in under a minute!

Step 6: Place Cookies in Oven

Grab some oven mitts to be safe around the hot oven. If you don’t have any, then plastic should suffice for this baking. Place the cookies in the oven, shut the door and prepare yourself. Make sure you always have water to put out electrical fires! Though of course, you should be completely fine following this guide and its safety precautions.

Step 7: Prepare Cookies

Woohoo! Now that the cookies are finally finished, make sure to let them cool down. They may be a little hot, so it’s recommended that you wait about 30 seconds before handling them with your bare hands. Once that time has passed, the honors are in what you end up deciding to do with your cookies!

Optional: Decorate those Cookies!

Using some type of frosting, spread or sprinkles, lather your cookie in those sweet substances. Make sure to drench the whole cookie within the covering and ensure that there are no spots left on the surface of the cookie. Now let your imagination run wild when decorating these pastries!

Cookies are a delicious pastry to make anytime of day. Whether it be morning, day, Mid-day, they’re enjoyed from all sources and labeled as delectable by many.

Now that you know how to make cookies, let yourself run rampant with your decisions in cookie preparation and baking. Good Luck on your endeavors and don’t burn any ovens down!