The Reclamation and Liberation

[Tivona Shneider]

Eretzoran Alsterenis being evacuated from their homes in the Yarv Valley.

Evacuation procedures were implemented almost immediately after Prime Minister Chava Svetlova had been informed that a Belay attack was imminent. Eretzoran Defence Forces units already stationed in the Yarv Valley began assisting residents of the largest Alstereni communities to evacuate from their homes, which proved to be more of a challenge than anticipated. Some ideological settlers - those residents who decided to make the Yarv their home for the sole purpose of thwarting the peace process, effectively acting as human barriers to the very prospect of an independent Belay-majority state in the Yarv or the region being ceded to Belayazemlya - resisted attempts by EDF soldiers to escort them from their towns. The success of the left-wing Katzist Union at the last election and the formation of a centre-left coalition had left many in the most ideological communities feeling rather nervous about the future, with many convinced that their communities would be dismantled in an effort to broker a peace deal with Belayazemlya. The order to evacuate immediately was thus, naturally, viewed with suspicion and contempt. Some barricaded themselves in their homes whilst others even got physical with EDF soldiers. In the end, the EDF units responsible for evacuating the residents succeeded in forcibly removing them from their homes, forcing them to join the rest of the Yarv's Alstereni residents in heading to safer territory. More units from elsewhere in the country arrived in the territory to assist in the evacuation procedures, especially since the region's Belay population would undoubtedly resist the evacuation order. Alstereni residents of smaller towns were instructed to leave immediately and make for safer territory - a coastal city far from the volatile frontier. The Alstereni community of Karakova - a community of Alsterenis, numbering around 3,000 individuals, residing in the majority-Belay city of Karakova, with a total population of 120,460 persons - was the first community evacuated as it was feared that the evacuations elsewhere in the Yarv could have caused a panic in the city, potentially resulting in the community being attacked by the city's ethnic Belay majority. After the vast majority of Alsterenis had been cleared from the Yarv, the EDF prepared for the next stage of the evacuation plan: moving the Belay residents. As it was feared that the invading Belay forces from Belayazemlya would likely recruit ethnic Belays in the Yarv to fight alongside the Belay army, the security cabinet agreed that it was vital that the Belay residents be moved to another location and be closely monitored. Just as the EDF began to initiate this stage of the evacuation, the first Belay missile penetrated the border...

Since the prospect of a future conflict with Belayazemlya had dominated the discourse of consecutive Eretzoran governments since at least the early 30s, it was made an issue of the utmost importance to develop a system capable of defending the country against the aircraft and rockets possessed by the Belay state. The warming of diplomatic relations with Severyane by the mid 40s made way for the government at the time to explore the possibility of cooperation in the field of defence with their new Severyan allies. The partners worked on joint-ventures aimed at minimising the threat that Belayazemlya posed to the civilians of both nations for the next three decades, developing systems capable of meeting the needs of both parties in the event of war. Magic Wand -  as it is known in Eretzora - is the latest military system developed by the Eretzoran defence contractor Avital Advanced Defence Systems and its Severyan counterpart, being in operation for less than a year. The system is capable of intercepting enemy aircraft, drones, medium-to-long-range rockets and cruise missiles. A similar system by the name of Adar's Sling - developed to intercept short-range rockets- had been developed several years prior and would be used alongside Magic Wand to combat the Belay threat. These systems had been developed and put in place for this sole purpose; their effectiveness in actual armed conflict would today be tested for the first time. As the first rockets pierced through the skies above Eretzora, the Adar's Sling defence system prepared to intercept them.