12 June 1913
At the grand exhibition of the Empire's latest works of art, Nestorius and Kyrene Thaddas both appeared in regular formal attire. Unlike the previous exhibitions, the two felt as though they had to show some normality, especially with realism being a major movement represented. Nestorius' favorite movements were Expressionism and the new Surrealism, while Kyrene's were Impressionism and Realism. Nestorius, however, is still looking to see how the avant garde develops.
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July 1913; Aeteorea
The arrival of the Empire forced those loyal to the new government to rush and brace themselves. However, they never expected the legions to be as prepared as they were fast. Soon, one of the legions arrived in the Central Otago region. They rushed into the many camps in the area, horrified by the absolutely fascistic atmosphere. Some of the camp leaders had committed suicide in their offices after hearing that the Empire was close. Such camps were easier to liberate, as the guards were forced into guerilla warfare - something they hadn't been trained for. The combat at the camps which still had leaders lasted slightly longer, but only slightly. They had also received messages regarding the Waata family, which should be in the area.
One by one, the camps fell, but no sign of the Waatas. A Kontoubernion split from the legion to search one of the few remaining camps. While the camp appeared as the rest when they entered, the deeper they got, the more horrifying it became. Mutilated bodies in the name of experimentation, immured people which barely any access to food and water, and even the most brutal methods of capital punishment, including decapitation, burning, flaying, gas and even crucifixion! And under close inspection, it seemed as though it wasn't only prisoners who suffered - the guards had killed themselves as well! According to some chained prisoners, guards dragged several enslaved people to their deaths as well.
Soon, they arrived at the main office, where the camp leader should be. Where they expected to be a corpse hanging from the ceiling, they found an empty office. Identifying the leader as "Tipene Parata", they searched inwards.... to discover Tipene's gynaeceum. While they had found such enslaved women in other camps, Tipene's took the cake. Chained women, lined up as though he could just go from one to another. Some had lost their legs from fighting back, others their tongues for speaking back - there were even some that were dead, but looked as though they had just recently been "used". As they passed through, they heard something; the sound of struggle. They rushed inward, following the sound of fighting, to find two guards, a chained woman and a man with his pants down. The woman was fighting back with all her strength, and the guards seemed ready to cut her legs off, as to allow the man to..... do what he wishes.
The Kontoubernion rushed in, pointing their guns at the four. The woman stared at them as though she was dreaming, the man with his pants down as though he was in a nightmare. The guards got in fighting position, as guns were aimed to their heads. There was silence, as everyone waited to see who'd make the first move. A minute would pass before the depantsed man attempted to make a run for it. One of the men bashed the butt of his gun against the man's face, thrusting him to the ground and pinning him. One of the guards charged, only to get shot. The other threw his native blade at the men, only to miss and be shot as well. With all hostiles seemingly identified and defeated, two of the men rushed to call the legion while the others stayed to free the campers. The woman revealed herself as Hinewai Waata, who then pointed out that the man with his Honetana hanging out was Tipene. While Tipene is brought to the rest of the legion, Hinewai leads them to Anaru and Anahera, who were extremely worried when Hinewai was taken from them a few weeks earlier. The Waata family, along with everyone else at the camp, is taken to safety.
By the end of the Aeteorean campaign, there were papers upon papers of documents, revealing all the horrifying acts that had occurred on the islands, to both natives and foreigners. The dictator Tane himself was unable to kill himself in time when he was captured by the legions. All those connected to the Tane dictatorship were going to get their punishment from Constantinople itself, while all those who suffered were put in intense care. When the news of Tane's surrender arrived at the HQ of the Aeteorean governorship, everyone celebrated, except Nestorius and Kyrene, who worried over the latter's family. Only a few days later would they know that they were fine, leading to Kyrene to collapse on the ground, crying. Nestorius joined her in her crying almost immediately.
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18 May 1914
It had been a year since the last time the senators had gotten together, and almost a year since Aeteorea returned to the hands of the Empire. Kyrene had decided to go to Aeteorea to visit her family, informing them of everything that had happened while she was gone, and how worried she was. Anahera was happy her daughter had gotten married, especially to someone who cared for her so much. Kyrene was currently touring Aeteorea, making sure that people were feeling the Romanity that was spreading on the mainland, as well as making sure everything was ready for the Aeteorean governorship to move to the islands proper.
Back in Constantinople, the Aeteorean governorship was working its tail off, making sure everything was ready to move to Aeteorea and let their HQ once more just be the Thaddai estate. As a result, no one was able to watch lil' Timon, forcing Nestorius to take his son with him.
Nestorius was glad to hear that the grand exhibition from a year prior was a success, and was waiting to hear what else could pop up in relation to movements in the meantime, especially from the avant garde. Better health care and acceptable minimum wages were a positive for him. Adal, Luang Prabang, Makassar, South Africa and Khiva are being defeated, along with Aeteorea, really showed that things were moving along nicely. Scandinavia and Hungary attempting to take advantage of the global situation made him chuckle for a bit. He hoped things were going to go swell in Australia, and that things aren't as messed up as they were in Aeteorea. He was shocked by the communist revolution in Ukraine, to say the least.
When the atrocities in Aeteorea were mentioned, Nestorius spoke: "Yes, the things found by the legions were...... quite bad, to put it lightly. I myself do not wish to speak of any of the sordid details, both because I wish to never hear or read anything related to them again, and because I'm currently with my son. If any of you really, really wish to see any info, please go and request the documents that detail the atrocities. That is all that I will say on the matter."