[Livonia] The Winds of Change

[VinegarStrokes]

Sergeant Ivan 'Jack' Barbarič adjusts the frequency of his AN/PRC-148 handheld radio to a public frequency, after a second he clears his throat and begins to speak into it after applying some pressure to the PTT button.

"Survivors of Livonia, this is Sergeant Barbarič with Section: 20. In the early morning hours of 17 February the Civil Affairs team lead by myself conducted an early morning raid on a possible hostile Compound of Interest after noticing an unusual amount of foot traffic in the area, after gathering intelligence I made the call to breach the building and seize any goods present; however, after an internal investigation it is clear that the intelligence we had was not a complete picture and this has resulted in an unlawful seizure of civilian property in terms of self-defense items, edible perishables, and other items. Moving forward we will implement more quality control measures into our intelligence gathering process. That being said, this is in no certain terms an apology for the events that unfolded. The raid was conducted with good order and discipline and was carried out with the best of intentions. Thank you for your time Ladies and Gentlemen, and sorry to interrupt your day... that is all."

Jack releases his hand from the PTT button and thought to himself and came to the sudden realization of what had been conflicting him for what felt like forever, it may very well be us versus them out here in this godforsaken country. He had dedicated a third of his life towards serving the people and in his mind building a better future and when he arose from the bunker after so long it became clear that this world may not want saving... or worse yet stability. His soldiers had been held up at gunpoint simply for approaching and offering help more times then he cared to admit, for this reason he saw it fit to take action first and then sort the situation out later, and while he felt remorse he knew he made the right call. Still yet he couldn't help but feel like he was falling down the rabbit hole of the iconic good versus evil side as he skirted the greyer side of that line, perhaps a rougher approach may need to taken to ensure the lives of his men are not put at further risk.

Edited February 20, 2020 by VinegarStrokes

[Peril]

Teddy listens to the radio broadcast and finds himself nearly physically cringing at the message.  He responds with audible disbelief in his voice.

"Let me get this straight.  You surveyed our fucking house as a 'possible hostile compound,' made the call to fucking ROB us of nearly everything we own, conduct an internal investigation on a raid that you, Sergeant, called for, and your reasoning is that you didn't gather a 'complete picture,' of what you were sending your armed fucking soldiers into?  That's it?  We lose our means to defend and feed ourselves, and the best you have for us is a 'We didn't look into it enough'?  Are you fucking serious?"

The anger and disappointment from Teddy's voice seeps through the radio.  He sighs before resuming.

"The issue here isn't your apparently blind, deaf, and dumb intelligence gatherers, it's the fact that you literally destroyed and ransacked a civilian home, then fucking lied about it!  How the hell is that ever going to be conducted 'with the best of intentions'?!  Fuck, man, you found a civilian in the home and STILL kept raiding!  We had a deal, between your shoddy excuse for law and the people in my home.  You'd return some, not even all, just some, of our things and you'd apologize publicly for this disgusting transgression of human decency.  Instead, you offer some of the things you stole from us as 'humanitarian aid,' then somehow continue your cover-up like you're still the good guys.

Pacing around the room, he carefully thinks about his next requests.  Not of NATO, but of anyone listening.

"You all fucked up.  Bad.  I don't know what kind of mental gymnastics are required to say that a military incursion on civilian property was ever done with good intentions, but shit, that's a gold medal routine there.  You don't even have the human decency to apologize.  This isn't the old world, man, you can't just flex governmental power to cover up wrongdoings.  You don't get to not be sorry.  You don't get to cover up the fact that you fucked over people you're claiming to protect with your fancy military speech and bullshit internal investigations.  You had your chance to make amends for this, and you decided you'd rather try to save face than do the right thing.  I hope everyone listening to this broadcast sees you for the piece of shit invaders you are.  I hope everyone listening remembers the Sergeant saying that they raid people with good intentions, as if they get to decide who is worthy of not being ransacked and violated.  Remember this broadcast the next time Sergeant comes knocking on your door.  Chances are, he'll be knocking it down instead."

"Fuck NATO."

The radio falls silent, the voice of the teenage American fading away into static.