The Land of Sad Songs – Stories From Protect and Survive Finland

[DrakonFin]

What is degree of political pluralism and electoral democracy in the internal politics in PPO?

It is semi-democratic and heavily influenced by Sweden. The Provisional Province has had three "provincial municipal elections" after the War, since the mid-90s. As the Ostrobothnian system is considered quintessentially temporary and largely based on volunteerism, there are municipalities there that did not take part in all (or any) of them. The members of the "Ostrobothnian Council" are directly chosen by the municipal councils, so the "parliament" is only democratic in a second hand fashion. The Council tends to act in a low-key and informal style, as the Ostrobothnians have tried hard to not build any "state" level or "permanent" governmental structures.

The Ostrobothnians really don't see the Provisional Province as a "nation" but only a part of Finland, just one that does not recognize the government in Mikkeli as the legitimate national one. Rather than acting as a successor to the pre-War Republic of Finland, like Mikkeli does, the PPO is ostensibly only trying to build some sub-national order into (what it claims) is a political and military vacuum. This also reflects in the armed forces of the province considered only paramilitary and being called a Protection Corps rather than claiming to be the true Finnish Defence Forces.

There are several parties [the main ones being the Ostrobothnian Centre, the PSDP and the SFP(Ö)] which are successors to the pre-War ones (or offshoots), with somewhat interesting relations to the theoretical mother (or sister) groups in the FNA. The PPO has its own entrenched post-War political-economic (and military) elites, too, but they not so closed as in the FNA.

 

[DrakonFin]

Daddy's getting out of the slammer
Mommy's preggers with a new child
We last seen Dad a year ago
Mommy knows some dealers
And gets some pills for Dad
There's no way to disrupt their union

Today we don't need to be unhappy
Because we're again back together
A happy, happy family
A happy, happy family
A happy, happy family
Happy.

My little sister quits school
Big brother beats me blind
We take care of each other
The young 'uns keep starving
Every day Mommy turns
To the Social Service

Today we don't need to be unhappy
Because we're again back together
A happy, happy family
A happy, happy family
A happy, happy family
Happy.
….

Ne Luumäet: Onnellinen perhe (1991)


E4. Winter Games, Part II


The man sat in the corner, only partly in the light. He liked to have an open field of vision before him. And several avenues of advance and withdrawal. Such things came naturally to him – sometimes he thought that his mind was constantly weighing probabilities and tolerances, options and possibilities.

People often asked him if he played chess, as if it would have been a natural thing for a man of his predilections, in his line of business. Younger, he had tried his hand at the game. And had displayed some knack for it. But pretty soon, he had grown tired to the limitations and rules attached to it all.

It wasn't that he wasn't all for rules. The man was rather partial to rules, in general... Rules made life predictable. They kept society moving along. It was just that they were, in the main, made for other people. The man liked to think most fearsome player of all was the one who knew the rules inside and out. Had really internalized them. And then knew, just instinctively knew they didn't apply to him at all.

It was a pity how rarely he met people who could fit that description.

He looked around himself in the dimly-lit room, the men quaffing Finnish beer, the few women with drinks, the bearded man behind the bar. He listened to the music playing on the jukebox, a Finnish song in the the new style they called ”piikkilanka”.[1] The man didn't much care for it.

It was about time...

He didn't need to be disappointed, as just then the serving girl came to him and showed him to the little room in the back, where the man he had come to meet was waiting. From the look of him, he had just arrived.

” - Good to see you here, looking so well”, the military man said.

” - I am happy to tell you that all is going along the lines we have agreed to. The meet with you-know-who went as predicted and there were no complications. The plans will proceed as planned.”

The man in a suit, with steel-rimmed glasses on his nose nodded.

” - Thank you, Ahola. I am, as ever, impressed with your work ethic as well as your no-nonsense approach.”

The old General smiled to his long-time collaborator.

” - And I am again reminded of what a creepy bastard you are, Streng. But a necessary thing to have around, too, at that.”

It was time for the man with a plain, everyday face to smile.

” - If all pans out as I think it will, you won't need to see this creepy bastard ever again. And that is a promise, General.”

General Ahola gazed at the man opposite with a mock-horrified look.

” - What, and forever lose the chance to have these lovely meetings in back rooms and dark alleys? No, you can't do that to me, not after all we've been through.”

” - You keep mocking me, Ahola, but I am ready to tolerate that. It is a small price to pay for your cooperation.”

The General grimaced.

” - Don't mention it. But like I said, everything is ready and the men are standing by. At the appointed time, they will know what to do. If that is enough for you, I'd rather leave now. My son is waiting for me to watch an ice hockey game with him With two grandsons, imagine that.”

The other man nodded towards the door.

” - Yes, Ahola, that is quite enough. I know you are a man of your word.”

Sketching a ghost of an ironic salute, the Ostrobothnian general exited the room, leaving his old adversary/friend alone in the gloom. As he opened the door, still a lone melancholy chord drifted into the room.

The man with the steel-rimmed glasses smiled. It was so rare to meet people like Ahola - and that is why it was so satisfying when you had to chance to work with one. And in such an endeavour, no less. It was almost enough to make an old gambler cry tears of joy.

…

”...leads the game 2-0 after the second period. We will return to the ice hockey game at the St. Moritz Olympic Ice Arena after a small break. But now an official news bulletin approved by the State Information Office. The National Committee for the Continuation of the Government has authorized new extraordinary refresher training exercises for a number of reserve Army, Frontier Guard and Military Police units. The reservists liable for a call-up will be required to serve for periods of time not exceeding six months. All those called up during the first phase will receive an official order in the mail or one delivered by hand by Defence Forces personnel. Further information of the call-ups will become available via...”

...

The unions had been expanding their strikes for weeks, and now it was really starting to have a difference. For a long time the unions were just a part of the Committee's power structure, led by men and women who had seen the war and who owed their position to Mikkeli. Only during the last few years a new generation had slowly taken the organizations over and, bye and bye, started to transform them to opposition power bases. The Strike, as it was now being collectively called, was finally a potent proof that the unions were now a power unto their own and, as such, ready for their part to challenge the status quo in the FNA. They they wanter better pay, they wanted representation, both for themselves and their members. And they were not afraid to make their demands known....

…

”...And it's Miroslava Vernárska of the Czech and Slovak Federation next to shoot from the standing position. She's managed a perfect record so far, and let's see how she does this time... And again, no misses for the Czecho-Slovak!

C: She's been like a robot so far.

A: She seems perfectly calm doing her thing. But there is still time to go...

C: ...and Huttunen manages to hit all targets, too! She's, what, about 20 seconds behind Vernárska at this point. Can she bridge the gap during the last leg?

A: Skiing is her strong point. I have faith in Sanni.

C: So do we all, I believe. So do we all.

A: And there comes Cathy Sanderson. The seasoned American has been tailing Huttunen pretty close for...”

…

The demonstrations were growing because they now included a large cross-section of the people. The revelations about wartime and immediate post-War history had served as a match, but the fire that had been started now spread through several metaphorical piles of dangerously dry wood. It was not only the ”cultural revolutionaries” who rallied behind the memory of the Lahti Free Area and the decried the suppression of the freedom of expression. It was not only the old underground left who pined for the heavily curtailed freedom of association and assembly. It was also the newly politized, newly young unions and along with them, even big parts of the proscribed political parties, the long-suffering left wing of the SDP chief among them. It was the students of the precious few institutes of higher learning in the nation, awakening the campuses that for many years were just breeding grounds to perpetuate the military-bureaucratic elite. It was all those who demanded a political voice to the people – a return to free elections and a representative parliament.

…

Maria, Mikkeli, March 9th 2014.

We have been living in the barracks together with the soldiers two days now. I think the novelty and excitement is starting to wear out. Our duties are heavier than ever, we have been making food, carrying heavy things, even going out on the stretys, to paint out illegal scribbles on the walls. I am exhausted, and at least I get a good night's rest every night – I know I will be lost to the world as soon as my head hits the pillow at night. Damn the Strike!

The young soldiers, despite all the work they do, still find the time to try to get to our barrack rooms in the evenings. Some of them are cute, but it is kind of a drag. Noora, our leader, has been guarding the door like a fire-breathing dragon! It is rather fun to see her dressing down the soldiers verbally, and then seeing them withdrawing, red-faced. But it is not like their lines have been thinning yet!

Just now as I looked to out the window I saw the young soldiers carrying rifles on the yard and then heading out. I had not seen that before, they were not even Dog... I mean Military Police, just ordinary infantry. What would they need rifles for?

...

Things were getting rather interesting in Badgerdom. In the places of hiding and assembly available to the people who wanted to break the Committee's rule, a lot more was happening than ever before. In the abandoned old shelters, in derelict factory halls, in out-of-the-way bars, the revolt seethed and grew. The people found alliances, they made plans and new associations formed. Phone calls were made in code to summon people to meetings and demonstrations. The word went around in hushed conversations about what was happening and where. What would be happening and how. Soon, they could let the old men in Mikkeli know the will of the new generations. Soon, they would be ready to show the Committee what they could do.

Soon.

…

” … all alone, the rest of the competitors left long behind, the two young women battle for the gold.

C: Who would have thought this will be a stiff battle until the finish line? Sanni looked almost beaten there for a while, but she managed to find another gear in her somewhere.I think she was as surprised as we were.

A: And the last 400 meters to go now. Vernárska leads but Huttunen is only two kicks behind. We will get silver at least, bringing the national tally to four medals so far! But which of the two terribly, terribly strong...

C: Terribly strong.

A: Which of the two strong young women will get the coveted Olympic gold? It all hangs in the balance now!”

...

The Committee was divided. Some men were demanding decisive, overt action against the protesters and strikers, none more than Major General Varis himself. Others were only supporting a gradual stepping up in the number of troops. They were apparently hoping and believing that things would soon calm down and all would return to normalcy. ”There is no need to rock the boat”, these old men said. They feared too heavyhanded action would alienate the moderates in the parties and the bureaucracy, and that would be dangerous. The moderate faction was supported by old General Halonen, and as Chairman, his word still carried a lot of weight. In ordinary circumstances, it would have been Koskelo, the conciliator, that would have probably built a compromise between the two factions. But as he was away, the rift continued. The night's meeting ended, like it had a few times before, in heated words and Varis storming out of the room in disgust.

...

The line of men in black and blue riot gear tried to hold back the growing tide of demonstrators near the Joensuu town centre, but the outnumbered men were slowly being pushed back. There was no room to swing their truncheons, so they just pushed with their sheet metal covered riot shields. Many a shield carrying the legend ”SOTILASPOLIISI” was already spattered with blood.

On the side of the square, a Military Police officer scanned the scene from the hatch of a APC in a sandbagged position, speaking on his radio set all the while.

”... Can't hold them back with these troops, General! Absolutely not! We need reinforcements and we needed them two hours ago! If we can't get more men here we have to break off to regroup and leave the square and town hall to the opposition!”

He cocked his head to listen to the answer, his expression changing as he heard words that followed.

” - Yes, General! I'd still rather have more troops, any troops! No, General! Yes, General!”

Shaking his head, the officer put down the headset and summoned four of his men nearby. He had to shout to make them hear his words.

” - Orders from Military Police Command! We are to hold back the crowds with any means necessary! There will be no reinforcements! As of right now, we authorized to open fire with live ammunition if it seems a tactical necessity!”

The men saluted and fanned out on the square. The officer kept watching his men being pushed back. Tear gas had not been enough to disperse the crowd. It took all of five minutes for him to hear the first gunshots.

” - God help us,” the officer thought, watching the first protesters falling to the ground and his men partially turning the tide, for a while at least.

…

Jan Holmén, Mikkeli, March 9th 2014.

The square was packed again today. The word among the Badgers was that after the morning, in several towns the demonstrators had taken over central buildings and the strikers were holding their own against the Dogs. There had been next to none about it on the YLE, though, only notices about the Curfew being moved down to 7 p.m. in Lahti, Savonlinna and Joensuu and oblique references of ”lawful authorities acting against illegal strikers and criminals to ensure the public safety”. And the military call-ups, which many agreed was an ominous development. I had been expecting someone from the Committee to hold a customary radio speech, exhorting unity and calm but there was nothing along those lines yet.

Instead, the Olympic coverage continued unabated. And here on the main square in Mikkeli, the showcase of all that was well and good in the Republic of Finland, the daily patriotic rallies continued. People in white and blue clothes and ice hockey jerseys waved flags and sang songs to support the Finnish athletes far away in Switzerland. To three directions, the square was flanked by silver screens where Olympic events were being shown in the evening, recorded from the Swedish TV and only an hour or so behind the actual competitions.

Here, the curfew was waived and here, the police were civilian, that rare breed of non-military law enforcement that still existed in the heart of the FNA, subordinated to the military authorities as it was. Today, the peak excitement so far was felt here when the second Finnish Olympic champion, Sanni Huttunen, was awarded her medal in the victory ceremony on the St. Moritz ski stadium. Seeing the waving, clapping and singing crowd here it was for a moment hard to believe this nation was maybe just moments away from revolution – to hear the Badgers talk about it. Or a then a brutal crackdown by the military authorities, like I increasingly believed.

In the side of the square I had again seen one of the features of the rebellion laid out. Together with the ubiquitous rough-and-ready posters, the Badgers also made their issues public through paintings on the walls. This one was a rather good quality caricature with many meanings, consisting of a crow with an officer's cap sitting on the back of a somewhat demented-looking dog, a German shepherd, and a chimpanzee in a full general's regalia, with rather familiar facial features. Both the crow and the ape held a phone handset, with a tangled phone wire running between them. The caption said ”Contact the Ape!”, and in between the two figures, a triangular black-and-white head of a furry creature was enthusiastically chewing its way through the wire.[2] As I passed the painting, a group of young Lottas had started to paint it over with white paint, watched over by a Lotta leader and a civilian policeman.

I moved along in a small crowd of Badgers, all dressed up as avid sports fans, carrying flags and singing merrily. That the words might be a bit different from everyone else's – well, who could hear that here (or care) in the middle of this patriotic tumult around us. Surprisingly many of them were women, of these people who were infiltrating this bastion of national feeling and at least theoretical support for the government.

Slowly getting myself entangled in the Finnish underground and being considered a honourary Badger now (some of them now called me ”Mr. Truth”) I felt something like a ridiculously low-rent Carl von Stedingk[3]. It seemed my role was to act as living proof that the claims out forward through the parts of the Minne 1984 material that had been made known were true, and that the Movement had a sound basis for its actions, as well as at least theoretical foreign support. I had already forgotten how many different opposition figures I have met (and boozed with) these last three months. It was only sheer luck I had not been caught by the Military Police the Finns called the Dogs. Or maybe I had unseen angels watching over me, I don't know.
...

Zürich International Airport, March 9th 2014.

The Finnish charge d'affaires and the pilot in a blue Air Force uniform looked blankly at the Swiss official before them. They were stumped, but there seemed to be no way getting through to the officious man.

” - No, this is not a diplomatic issue”, maintained the man sporting the red and white symbols of the Swiss Confederation on his jacket.

” - Our national weather service is predicting a blizzard that will last until well into tomorrow, and we are grounding all planes until further notice. This is a question of public safety, you see, as well as the international air traffic regulations. The rough weather might hit any minute now – you don't want to be airborne over the Alps when it does. I am sorry, but I am not allowing your... aircraft to take off today.”

The pilot looked to the clear blue winter sky above the Zürich airport but said nothing. He knew the local officialdom would not budge. The two Finns were already beaten. The General was adamant in getting back home as soon as possible, to get his hands on the growing protest movement, but it seemed well-nigh impossible that the venerable, lovingly maintained Learjet would be flying anywhere right now.

The Swiss official smiled disarmingly and assumed a conciliatory tone in his speech.

” - I am sure the Swiss state will help you and General Koskelo to weather this delay, so to speak, in comfort. Relax and attend an Olympic event. We'll make sure you have all that you need to enjoy the Games.”

His smile grew wider.

” - I am sure the General would love another photo-op with the delightful Miss Huttunen, say. You know, for the benefit of the Olympic audience back home. People do love the Olympic heroes.”

…

Jan Holmén, Mikkeli, March 9th 2014.

The festive feeling on the square had now started to transmute into something as boisterous but different in tone. The change was so slow that it took me almost two hours to notice it. The screens still played highlights from the week's events, but the music that was bening played had changed noticeably. The songs the people were singing now were starting to be shockingly critical of the government. I could see it was the Badgers who were leading the choir, and I could as well perceive that the young conscripts and Lottas running the food stands and small kiosks selling Olympic knick-knacks were getting confused. So were the civilian police, it seemed, though some of them were also openly singing along.

And then they started another song, even more explicit than the last.

Who wants to be a dick?
To take away what little the poor man has?
Who'd want the reputation of a bloody cheat,
And still sit on the fucking Committee?

There are those, joined together by power -
Those are unlucky that do conceive them.

Their talk is always the same,
Only us Finns lap up that shit.
They call for us to work together,
We dress up in blue and white.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Dress up in blue and white.

It would be a long and interesting night, it seemed.

…

Colonel Vartia, Mikkeli, 20.00, March 9th.

My old friend looked at me with some relief in his eyes.

” - You're sure about this, Tommi?”, he asked,

” - Absolutely. Me and the new kids can handle things around here. You just go and get some rest, Reino, and take tomorrow off, too. You've earned some free time after these last days.”

My colleague wore a military uniform like me, with the tabs of a Major, but he was not really a soldier. The man in his late fifties could spin words with the best of them, thought, and that had earned him his spot in the SIO. I was sure he knew what was coming, he had to, in a general way at least. He wasn't dumb. It thought it was only fair to allow him to bow out of it while he still could.

After Reino left, I was he only man above the rank of Captain left in the building. It was all set. I looked at my watch. Now, let us get to work.

In the briefing room, the Night Shift waited for me. Hand-picked men and women, most of them hired by me during the last year or so.

They would have to do.

…

”...two gold, one silver and one bronze after the first week of events. The Finnish Olympic Committee has released a glowingly positive statement about the Finnish performance so far. We also tried to reach the Chairman of the National Committee for the Continuation of the Government for comment, but he was unavailable at this time. There is no doubt at all that even among the highest offices in the land, all expectations of Finnish success in these games have so far been exceeded..."

...

”All across our beloved Fatherland
We celebrate when we are winning!
Let the blue-white flags fly,
And soon the medals are brought home!
All across our beloved Fatherland,
We hold hands together and support Finland!
Suomi! Suomi! Suomi! Suomi!”

….

The night between March 9th and 10th was a clear one with the glimmering winter stars visible, with temperature falling to just -5 degrees centigrade in the small hour of the morning. Those men and women awake at that hour saw some of the most brilliant northern lights in the winter sky for many years, lighting up the heavens from the Gulf of Bothnia in the west to Lake Ladoga in the east. For some of those craning their heads towards the sky, it all made for a cold, electric tingling sensation in their bodies that was hard to shake off.

…

A FNA military post in Karstula near the Temporary Administrative Border (the unofficial border dividing the PPO from the FNA), around 5.30 a.m. on March 10th 2014.

The young Corporal stepping in to the command post wiped snow off his coat before addressing his superior. The older man was sitting down, drinking hot tea from a steel mug. The Corporal looked anxious, the Staff Sergeant thought.

” - Staff Sergeant, Post Three reports a convoy arriving from the West on Highway 13. Private Mäkinen counts at least ten trucks and three jeeps.”

The Staff Sergeant jumped up hastily.

” - Have you phoned the Battalion, Liikka?”, he asked the Corporal who was starting to drip water to the floor as his coat thawed out.

” - No, Staff Sergeant, we...”

” - God damnit, Liikka, you're useless as usual! Do I have to do bloody everything myself in this godforsaken outfit? To Hell with you...”

The Staff Sergeant picked up the phone on the table and made to dial the number. There was no dialtone.

” - It's not working...”, he muttered to himself.

” - Yes, Staff Sergeant, that is what I tried to say. The phone lines seems to be down, and the radio is not...”

Another man, this time a Private, barged in.

” - Staff Sergeant, unscheduled trucks coming up Road 77. There's a good number of them, too.”

The currently ranking man in the post looked around him, his mug of tea steaming alone on the table.

” - All right you numbskulls, take the UAZ and bloody drive to Battalion! We need to get the word out, or the Eltee will have our nuts off!”

The Corporal hesitated a second and only then opened his mouth.

” - The UAZ, Staff Sergeant... It's the strangest thing... Someone's emptied the tires. ”

As soon as the Staff Sergeant heard this and thought his head will explode, all the lights in the building went out, leaving the three men stranded in perfect winter darkness.

The Staff Sergeant sighed heavily in the dark.

” - Let me guess, Liikka... No batteries in the flashlight?”

….

...and as had been traditional, the Olympic gold won by a Finnish athlete, this time by Sanni Huttunen in women's biathlon, had been celebrated by playing the March of the Pori Brigade on the radio...

… just before 6.30 a.m. on March 10th, those listening the early morning coverage of the previous day's events were surprised by the following announcement.

”...for surprise tests to find out the possible use of prohibited substances to enhance athletic performance. Now, however, we have to interrupt ordinary programming to give you a special broadcast approved by the State Information Office in Mikkeli.”

What followed was not a propaganda spot or a passionate patriotic speech, as one might have expected, but an instrumental music piece that left many people stumped as to its meaning and purpose.

But there were also those who knew exactly what it was.

…


”...This is Ptarmigan to all units, are you in position?”

”...Capercaillie One in position, over.”

”...This is Capercaillie Two. We are in position and all is ready, over.”

”...Capercaillie Three in position. We have the vehicles lined up and we are ready to go, over.”

”...This is Ptarmigan to all units, the word's come down from On High. All units, you are go for ENDGAME. I repeat you are go for ENDGAME. Give them the goods. Ptarmigan over.”

...

On the roof of a three-story building, a man in a military police major's winter uniform opened the case he was carrying and pulled out a high-powered Dragunov SVD rifle with a sniper scope.

He didn't even have to kill anyone to get up here. This is one of the problems this country has, he thought. Wear the right uniform and enough metal on your collar, act cocky enough, and nothing is impossible. The thirtysomething man with a military haircut shook his head slightly.

He settled down on the roof, into the pre-planned position facing the office building. Below on the square, the protest was getting underway. It looked to become the biggest yet in the town.

The man fixed his sight on the door in the Western corner of the building. The morning was still dark, but the street lights provided him all the light he needed.

Only two minutes after the estimated time, the man he was waiting for walked out of the front door, flanked by others.

The man on the roof was well aware of the distance and the speed and direction of the wind. The necessary corrections were accounted for.

As the man in a military uniform, his target, stepped out from behind an armored car that had been partially obstructing his view, the man on the roof squeezed the trigger.

...

The shadows do tread their own paths
But won't take you with them
The shadows do tread their own paths
But won't take you with them
The group is led by sadness and longing
In the end, the weight of love
They tread their paths in silence
Taking the others with them


Refrain:
The moon shines in the sky of longing
Even in the lands of frost the sun will rise
The stars of judgement are glimmering


The ghosts do inhabit their houses
But it would be in vain to knock
The ghosts do inhabit their houses
But it would be in vain to knock
The attic is filled with dead dreams
Near the cellar you can hear the broken strings
The inhabit their houses alone
But it would be in vain to knock
They won't come and open


Refrain:
The moon shines in the sky of longing
Even in the lands of frost the sun will rise
The stars of judgement are glimmering
For some, the stars of judgement are glimmering

…

Viikate: Hallamaat (2007)


Notes:

[1] Literally ”barbed wire”. Traditional Finnish slagers intertwined with dark, heavy rock music. The genre has heavy following in the PPO and in the FNA, though not officially condoned in the latter. The most notable ”piikkilanka” groups in 2014 include such names as Tuoni, Valimo, Kanki and Väinö Pohja & Viimeinen Pisara.

[2] The more skilled of these wall ”graffiti” were often signed with ”RR”. It is not known who made them. The more common theories point towards a lone painter with the pseudonym ”Repe Rotta” (”Ronny the Rat”) or then a collective group called ”Rikos ja Rangaistus” (”Crime and Punishment”).

[3] Refers to a series of spy novels written by the Swedish author Jan Guillou. Their protagonist Carl Alexander Napoleon von Stedingk is a refined Swedish nobleman ”superspy” who protects the Realm and the world peace on missions around the world (and in Earth's orbit). The von Stedingk novels are part of the so-called ”counter-historical” genre, as in the books' world the War of 1984 never happened and the adventures mostly happen in a prosperous, technologically advanced imagined Europe still experiencing the Cold War where the Kingdom of Sweden acts as an important balance between the nefarious Soviets and the boisterous, often careless Americans. As escapist fiction, Guillou's books have been very successful in Sweden and many European nations.

 

[Archangel]

Was the target Varis, who seems the most opportunistic member of the Committee?
The Swiss and Swedish governments seem to be supporting a change in power for the FNA, and it looks like the trigger for popular revolution is a song like we did in Portugal in 1974.

 

[Lord Insane]

Evidently Hamilton emerges despite nuclear war, historically themed name-change aside.

 

[Petike]

One minor nitpick: It's Federation, not Confederation.


Interesting to hear about what some post-war popular literature is like. Major game change with the assasination attempt !

And so, we approach the inevitable end of this story... How many chapters to go ? One ? Two ?

 

[DrakonFin]

Evidently Hamilton emerges despite nuclear war, historically themed name-change aside.

And as explicitly AH. The von Stedingk novels in part supplant the Swedish spy for James Bond as the most well-known name in the genre in Sweden - that is why in an earlier chapter a young member of the oral history project couldn't understand a Bond-reference.

One minor nitpick: It's Federation, not Confederation.

Fixed.

And so, we approach the inevitable end of this story... How many chapters to go ? One ? Two ?

A couple or so.

 

[Bernard Woolley]

I wonder what the international reaction to events in Finland will be? All of the countries in Western Europe and North America did pretty unpleasant things to maintain order in the immediate aftermath of the war and the years that follow, however by 2014 normal ideas of conduct have pretty much returned.
For example it is no longer considered acceptable for the police, or military to use the level of force seen in Finland against protestors, even if they are rioting. With our connections to Scandinavia in TTL the UK might start to put pressure on Sweden to 'do something' about how the Finnish authorities are behaving.

 

[Archangel]

I wonder what the international reaction to events in Finland will be? All of the countries in Western Europe and North America did pretty unpleasant things to maintain order in the immediate aftermath of the war and the years that follow, however by 2014 normal ideas of conduct have pretty much returned.
For example it is no longer considered acceptable for the police, or military to use the level of force seen in Finland against protestors, even if they are rioting. With our connections to Scandinavia in TTL the UK might start to put pressure on Sweden to 'do something' about how the Finnish authorities are behaving.

In all the countries that have normalized, this might look excessive use of force in time of peace.
It would be interesting to see how are politics in the southern hemisphere.

 

[General Tirpitz]

I have been rereading some older updates and catching up with newer ones today and the story is still as exciting as always.

One thing I have been thinking is the status of Torne River Valley ITTL. I have many relatives living on both sides of the river so it's somewhat a personal interest of mine. While much more limited in its scope, I could very well see some sort of PPO style solution adopted in order to bring law and order to the area. People in the area are anyway quite used to dealing with each other regardless of their nationality or which side of the border they live so there wouldn't be too much opposition even if Swedish control on some issues would increase in Finnish municipalities.

Interestingly, while other areas of Finland have suffered great population loses compared to OTL, Mikkeli's population might have even ballooned ITTL, first due to refugees and later because of higher standard of living in the city compared to many other areas. Even if the civil and military administration is probably significantly slimmed down, the state's bureaucracy will still have (tens of?) thousands of employees who must live somewhere. Hard to say how much bigger the town would be but the population could be very well doubled if not more. Most of these people would probably live in a rather poor conditions in quickly (and cheaply) built "commieblocks" around OTL Mikkeli's urban area somewhat reminiscent of OTL Europe's "problem suburbs". Mikkeli is familiar to me only from Google Earth so I can't personally comment how the city would look like ITTL's 2014 though. (We had a family trip to Eastern Finland few years ago but curiously were able to completely avoid Mikkeli while visiting pretty much every other town there.)

 

[DrakonFin]

I wonder what the international reaction to events in Finland will be? All of the countries in Western Europe and North America did pretty unpleasant things to maintain order in the immediate aftermath of the war and the years that follow, however by 2014 normal ideas of conduct have pretty much returned.
For example it is no longer considered acceptable for the police, or military to use the level of force seen in Finland against protestors, even if they are rioting. With our connections to Scandinavia in TTL the UK might start to put pressure on Sweden to 'do something' about how the Finnish authorities are behaving.

Yes, especially the Swedish, the British and the Swiss will put pressure on the FNA leadership over the issue. Both the Swedish and the Swiss have been trying some rapprochement with the Finnish leadership recently - the Swedish out of Bodström's initiative, the Swiss in the framework of the Olympics. Having General Koskelo over in the games has been one of the more overt examples of the main powers now, for the while, electing to have more to do with the Eastern Finnish leadership. There was a point of Bodström being seated in between Koskelo and Queen Victoria, though, as Victoria is known to be very critical of the Committee for Continuity of Government. Sweden can of course put some very real economic muscle into action in Finland, and that is also one reason why the some members of the Committee are advocating against escalation.

Interestingly, while other areas of Finland have suffered great population loses compared to OTL, Mikkeli's population might have even ballooned ITTL, first due to refugees and later because of higher standard of living in the city compared to many other areas. Even if the civil and military administration is probably significantly slimmed down, the state's bureaucracy will still have (tens of?) thousands of employees who must live somewhere. Hard to say how much bigger the town would be but the population could be very well doubled if not more. Most of these people would probably live in a rather poor conditions in quickly (and cheaply) built "commieblocks" around OTL Mikkeli's urban area somewhat reminiscent of OTL Europe's "problem suburbs". Mikkeli is familiar to me only from Google Earth so I can't personally comment how the city would look like ITTL's 2014 though. (We had a family trip to Eastern Finland few years ago but curiously were able to completely avoid Mikkeli while visiting pretty much every other town there.)

I have also given this some thought. Despite Finland necessarily having a lot less people than IOTL, Mikkeli must be bigger. There is a real "capital region" around it, too - I mentioned the "Greater Mikkeli area" in some semi-recent post. The population of the capital region might be over 100 000. Any new residential buildings built would have been very modest well into the 00s, so I think the region would have barracks-style emergency housing from the 80s and 90s, often wooden, and then modest-sized concrete apartment buildings, built around Mikkeli and the surrounding municipalities. In 2014 many of these suburbs would still look like, well, glorified refugee camps. Especially Pieksämäki the transport hub would have also grown considerably. On the other hand, the other Savonian regional centre, Kuopio, would have been depopulated with its surroundings like Siilinjärvi due to Rissala being nuked.

 

[General Tirpitz]

BTW, are Finnish nuclear power plants still working? Reactors in Loviisa probably have been abandoned for the time being but those in Olkiluoto can probably continue to produce electricity.

 

[DrakonFin]

BTW, are Finnish nuclear power plants still working? Reactors in Loviisa probably have been abandoned for the time being but those in Olkiluoto can probably continue to produce electricity.

That's a good point. Rauma and the surroundings survived, and at some point I considered to mention Olkiluoto but didn't get as far as that. It would have been in the interest of the surviving Satakunta authorities to get the power plant back online as soon as possible. I assume this would have been done with Swedish support. Later area might be one of the more substantial industrial hubs in (Western) Finland ITTL, led by the Rauma-Repola company assets as for example the Rauma shipyard would be one of the pretty small number of surviving shipyards in Europe that could maintain ships (and later build new ones).

Loviisa, on the other hand, is gone. I might have given some contradictory information about that in things to do with the Battle of Porvoo...

 

[DrakonFin]

E5: Snow


Mikkeli, March 1987

Three men stood silently next to the bed. The dead man before them looked about 60, even if they all knew he was yet to turn 45. Even his hair had started to turn grey. There was something like a sad little smile on his pale face. Apparently he had died in his sleep.

Something held the three men there, immobile, not one of them daring to move. Behind the window, it had just started to snow.

Finally it was the dead man's young aide that took action, grabbed the sheet and pulled it over his face.

” - We need to think about a, um, funeral...”, said the man in a military uniform, standing near the dead man's feet, now partly bare due to the sheet pulled upwards over his head.

The man in the suit, somewhat under 50, looked at him from under heavy eyelids, deliberately slowly.

” - With military honours?”, he growled from between his teeth.

The General turned his steely eyes towards the Minister.

” - A state funeral will be expected. He was the Acting President of the Republic.”

The young aide could see anger boiling inside Minister Lipponen. It was probably only a sense of decency and respect for the dead man that he didn't raise his voice to the General.

” - The Republic, he says... I am sick and tired of your idea of what is expected of us, Halonen”.

His voice was icy.

” - Look at the man. Dead at 43. We just had drinks to celebrate his birthday, for God sakes. He is due all commemoration, remembrance and posthumous honours we can lavish on him.”

There was something moist in the corner of the Minister's eye.

” - But all that will not change the fact that we are responsible for his death, responsible for crushing the little bit of hope that kept him going the last three years. And you...”

He pointed a finger towards the military man.

” -...you are responsible more than others. Only now I realize that. The elections, the return to normalcy he kept talking about... That was the thin thread that kept him attached to reality. Attached to life, in the end. And you cut it. Just like that. You cut it and looked him into the eye while doing that.”

The General squeezed the metal bedpost with both of his hands, knuckles white. When his words came out they had the same steel as his eyes.

” - It would have been impossible, and you know it. Elections? Please. We don't even have reliable census figures to base any elections on. We don't know how many of our citizens are alive. The people are starving this winter, like every winter since the exchange. We don't need... politics and election campaigns. We don't need uncertainty. What we do need is stability and unity of command. A clear direction and a sense of duty. It is the only way to get us through this. We are not going to shirk that responsibility by handing it over to a new, spuriously elected and probably non-functional government. It would be tantamount to dereliction of duty. It would be very nearly treason to do that during this National Emergency.”

The General glanced at the silent figure below the sheet and quickly turned his eyes away.

” - Leppänen did all that he could. All that was expected of him. The nation can and will be proud of him. I promise you it will be.”

He raised his right hand and smoothed the front of his grey military tunic.

” - But we can't base our actions on his fantasies and pipe dreams. We are still living in the reality, even if tenuously so. Leppänen... Leppänen is now in a better place. If we are to believe after all this that such a place does indeed exist. Death has released him of his responsibility towards Finland. We the living don't have such a luxury.”

The Minister looked at the General with darkened brows and gestured towards the dead man.

” - You call this luxury? Dying all alone in this room, trapped in this filthy bed and then getting buried alone under the frozen ground, his only company down there the untold millions of people that have died during and after the War? You have a strange fucking idea of bloody luxury!”

With that, Lipponen stormed out of the room, leaving the General alone with the young aide. The military man didn't say anything for a while, prompting the man in the ill-fitting business suit to say something to lighten or at least disrupt the leaden mood in the room.

” - I'll get started with the funeral arrangements”, the young man uttered quietly.

The General nodded, slowly, his eyes lingering on the picture on the wall, a guardian angel helping two small children to cross a perilous bridge over a torrent of water.

” - Yes, you do that, Soini. You do that.”

Still deep in his thoughts he wandered out of the room, leaving the young man behind. The Aide looked at him go, thinking that he had never seen the General like he was just now. Lost, somehow.

Maybe what Lipponen said had rattled him in some way.

Two nurses entered the room. The older one of them, an unyielding picture of tenacious female strength, her face vaguely familiar to the Aide approached him and offered him her condolences for his loss. Then, courteously as well as firmly, she told him it was time to leave and escorted him out of the room.

When the young aide stepped out of the building's front doors, the big, sheet-like snowflakes were still falling down from the gunmetal-coloured sky. They hung suspended in the air, floating slowly towards the ground appearing so massive and still light as to seem unreal. The young aide stood there for a good moment, letting his shoulders be covered with a white layer of fresh snow. Only then he walked towards the waiting car and driver to take him back to the offices where he until recently worked for the Acting President of Finland.

...

The winter's coming again
It lights up the sky
Covers you in shrouds
Burns your skin with cold
Smiles with wise winds

A winter that's more tender
Than any summer would be
The winter whispers a tale
That no longer has anyone to tell it

Refrain:
I'll go to sleep and I wish
That I'll never again wake up
To a spring morning that would tear me apart

The form sleeps again
In its soft clothing
You don't have to wait
To participate to do your part

If the brook runs quietly
In the cold in the brightness
Under strange stars
Singing out its sadness

Refrain:
I'll go to sleep and I wish
That I'll never again wake up
To a spring morning that would tear me apart
...


CMX: Vanha Talvitie (1998)

 

[Karelian]

This has been insistently playing on my head since reading the last updates - and it's within the timeframe as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut2DgVcJRUE

 

[DrakonFin]

This has been insistently playing on my head since reading the last updates - and it's within the timeframe as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut2DgVcJRUE

It is very fitting indeed. Very likely something the Badgers are listening in their hidey-holes while plotting their next moves - I am sure some copies of Alavilla mailla hallan vaara would have survived, on C-cassette at least.

 

[Petike]

Can this become one of the main theme songs of the timeline ? Maybe as a closing theme after the last epilogue chapter ?

I know the subject matter of the lyrics is still quite grim, but the more upbeat/ironic nature of the music could be fitting for the timeline's derniere. Kind of a symbol for Finland slowly emerging from the thirty years long shadow of the nuclear war that nearly shattered the whole country and its efforts to preserve a semblance of democracy after the nukes fell...

 

[DrakonFin]

Can this become one of the main theme songs of the timeline ?

It has come up before. I think I haven't used it because it is possibly too obvious, at least to me.

That said, pretty much all the things in the song's lyrics can be found in the TL and vice versa, so it has been an inspiration. Sir Elwoodin Hiljaiset Värit is a fantastic group, really an epitome of Finnish melancholy in its lyrics by Juha Lehti. I think the updates feature two Sir Elwood songs so far. Viimeisellä rannalla definitely will be among the extended soundtrack list, when I get around putting one together. There are a lot of songs I have considered for the updates, but ones that have not made it, and if I can remember even some of those I'll list them too at some point.

 

[Archangel]

Good update, DrakonFin!

 

[DrakonFin]

I'll say your name once and imagine it is still enough
But you won't care to listen, the room is a dark forest, the house a dark land
And how did we get here, I don't know, remember or want to believe
That after these years we again end up in this hell

The eye sees but doesn't feel a thing, and the feet just trample below them
Come here, I want to know who you are, where are we going

Chorus:
I am just a book of stone, known for its empty words
The lie carries you and the pain soothes you
Actions speak truer than words

You drop my name from your lips, whisper like you'd want to crush me
But I can't listen, I am a blind forest, a dry land
And that's how we got here, by always moving forward
As if going somewhere, a promise and a curse the shadows of each other

The eye sees but doesn't feel a thing, and the feet just trample below them
Come here, I want to know who you are, where are we going

Chorus:
'Cause I am just a book of stone, known for its empty words
The lie carries you and the pain soothes you
Actions speak truer than words

CMX: Kivinen kirja (2008)



E6. To Stand Against the Dark, Part 1.


The old man woke up from another night of troubled dreams. Of dead eyes in the deep... Of corpses watching his every move and judging him. Always judging him. Dead and alive, in wholly unnatural but oh so real ways...

Shaking off the recurring dream with a violent jerk of his head, the old man sat slowly up in the bed and turned on the bedside lamp. There was the usual pain in his back when he moved. Taking two pills from the little box on the table and washing them down with the small glass of water waiting next to it he stared at the wall opposite until the last rotten threads of subterranean black were banished from the fringes of his field of vision.

The room was small and simple, with just a few personal effects in evidence. A picture of a smiling fair-haired woman in her forties on the table, framed in black. The old man brushed the picture softly, absentmindedly with his fingers, dry lips showing a hint of a subdued smile. He looked to the left and saw the uniform tunic hanging on a peg on the wall. It was immaculately clean, with the wartime and post-War decorations marching in neat ranks across its chest. Light glinted off the three golden lions on the rank tabs, denoting a full General in the Finnish Defence Forces.

The old man stood slowly up, steadying himself by the bedpost, waiting for the pills' effect to take hold. In a minute, someone would knock on the door telling the old man it was time. It was the beginning of another day in the service of the state of Finland.

…

Sven Blomqvist, Mikkeli, the morning of March 10th, 2014.


The journalist from Gothenburg sat in the hallway of Hotel Varsavuori, used by foreign press correspondents in Mikkeli. He shared the room with another Swede and an Englishman, and of course the bored-looking desk clerk. The radio was on in the corner, tuned to the YLE's main frequency. The man hadn't really slept during the night. Cursing the temporary unavailability of coffee in the hotel, he grabbed his notebook and started writing again.

”The rumours going around Mikkeli this morning say that in several towns across Eastern Finland the protesters and strikers have taken over multiple buildings and that conscripted military units have in many places started disobeying the orders to attack them. This has been confirmed by our sources from Joensuu, for example, where the student-led protests have been very successful.

Some small units are also rumoured to have actually joined the rebels, and there has been talk of at least one firefight between a mutinying military unit and the Committee's Military Police in Lahti. There seems to be some confusion as to who is in control of the troops attempting to put down the rebellion. Along with the ubiquitous Military Police, also ordinary infantry and Engineer units have been seen on the move. The most recent news say a convoy of Russian-made APCs the Finns call ”hearses”[1] have been seen moving towards Mikkeli from the north. It is not yet known to what unit they belong to.

According to our sources, the military and state authorities are suffering from communication problems, whereas the rebels that are now commonly called ”Badgers” for some reason seem to be very well organized. Some speculation has surfaced among the international correspondents in Mikkeli that the rebellion against the Eastern Finnish military government is perhaps too well-organized to be an entirely domestic phenomenon, and there have been suggestions of a foreign element behind some of the events as well as the overall coordination.

And so we're left with the question – is the Swedish state, or at least some organizations thereof, like the Security Service or Military Intelligence behind the anti-government activities in Eastern Finland? So far this has been denied by government spokesmen along the corridors of power in Gothenburg, but evidence is mounting against the official line being peddled by those...”

Blomqvist stopped writing and crumbled the paper into a ball. ”No, no, no. I need something better”, he thought.

In the corner, the radio played the jingle for the news. Blomqvist glanced at his watch. 7.18. So a special news report, then? He stood up, walked up to the radio and turned up the volume.

”...This is the YLE in Mikkeli. We are interrupting the Olympic coverage to bring you this special news report. We are now able to tell you that at least four people have died and over ten more were seriously injured in Joensuu last night when the Special Military Police attacked student protesters with automatic weapons. Open and vocal criticism of the Military Police's heavyhanded actions against protestors in several towns has led to calls to be made by the political opposition in Finland for the National Committee for the Continuation of Government to withdraw the military units from the towns. Marko Saaresto, a representative of the opposition party Free Democrats condemns the use of armored vehicles..”

Blomqvist's eyes went wide. This was the first time the YLE had openly addressed military troops being used against the rebels – and that in critical tones, no less!

He started scribbling furiously into his notebook.


…

A uniformed junior officer opened the building's front door and the old man stepped out, facing the chilly morning air and the lingering winter darkness, pulling his fur hat lower on his head. He could hear the sounds made by the protesters two blocks to the north. Descending the three steps to street level the old man winced as he felt a sharp lance of pain down the left side of his back. Seven steps away, his aide-de-camp was standing next to the waiting armored car, and now he was pulling the car's door open for the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces.


...

Karstula, near the Temporary Administrative Border (the unofficial border dividing the PPO from the FNA), around 7.30 a.m. on March 10th 2014.


Three more non-descript, reasonably new military-style trucks flying the Finnish civilian flag rolled past the three soldiers standing by the side of the road near the small village shop. Several villagers were also in attendance. The driver of the first truck, wearing a camouflage uniform with a Red Cross armband, waved his hand amiably to the civilians and well as the men in FNA uniforms. One of the trucks had stopped next to the shop and two men were unloading crates from the back. Two more were setting up an apparatus of some kind.

The Staff Sergeant had managed to get the portable radio working with a spare battery. As his comrades stared after the passing trucks, he was trying to make sense of the situation to a superior officer.

” - Yes, Lieutenant! Twenty-four trucks so far. And four jeeps. They're unarmed, Lieutenant! And flying the Finnish flag!”

The Staff Sergeant looked troubled, listening to the barrage of orders and swearing issuing from the handset. He held it somewhat further away from his ear.

Behind the three men, a queue had started to form next to the truck. Waiting in lines was nothing new to the citizens of the FNA, but this was something extraordinary. Noticing that the Staff Sergeant was not looking, Private Liikka started slowly sidling up to the line.

” - No, Lieutenant! I don't have the men to... Yes, Lieutenant, I understand! But they wear Red Cross symbols, Lieutenant! And they are...”

He went silent for a moment, and looked back to see Liikka standing in the line. He turned his head away as he caught the Staff Sergeant's eyes looking at him. There was a delicious smell in the air.

There was no way around it.

” - No, Lieutenant”, the Staff Sergeant said, his voice now desperate.

” - No, we can't open fire against them. Not when there are civilians here, too, and they are giving away FREE COFFEE...”

He looked again at Liikka, who now raised a steaming cardbord cup to him in lieu of a salute, taking a big bite from something in his other hand.

”... and sweetrolls...”


…

Joni, Mikkeli, 8 a.m. March 10th 2014.


We spent several hours in the old shelter under the industrial building. I had never been there before, but it was like I had heard, with all the music and stuff. Big H wasn't there, which was disappointing as we knew this was one of his usual haunts. But I guess he had important things to do, given everything that was happening, and anyway we were grateful to get away from the streets, somewhere safe for a while. Some of us were hurt and we had had to leave Three-Finger and two others behind. We assumed the Dogs had arrested them, or worse. I had a nasty cut on my arm but it was bandaged by deft hands. After a bit of food and some hot tea I felt almost good.

Before seven we heard that the Signal had been given. All the joint plans were now go, it was said. Suddenly a flurry of activity was started by the older Badgers and everyone got ready to go. Go where, we asked, we recent arrivals who were sort of confused and out of the loop.

An older woman, looking like a factory worker or or an old nurse, looked at us with a measure of pride and excitement on her face.

” - Boys,” she said, ”stand up now and follow me. This is where we go and take it back.”

We stared at her, not understanding.

” - Take what back?”, Väänänen asked her.

The smile on her old face was beautiful, making her look decades younger.

” - Everything, boys. Everything.”


…

”...from St. Moritz. Our very own Olympic gold medalists Timo Kiiskinen, Sanni Huttunen and other members of the Finnish Olympic Team have released a joint statement calling the actions of the Military Police a crime against the Finnish people and demanding the National Committee to take immediate action to address the grievances of the unions and the protestors calling for popular representation in government and the general restoration of democratic rights...”


…

The armored car rolled slowly through the wintery streets, with the three occupants listening to the YLE broadcast in silence. The old man looked out of the small window, eyes fixed in the snowflakes slowly falling down towards the icy streets, white fleeting specks under the street lights. His expression was blank. Here and there one could see men in uniforms around, often military police. This part of town was locked up tight.

After a while, the aide-de-camp coughed slightly, and seeing the older man had turned his gaze at him, ventured to open his mouth.

” - General, I believe these is not the issues the YLE news should be broadcasting at this time. They should be concentrating on the Olympics and any commentary on the protests and what ever the Military Police is doing should be kept off the air as a matter of course...”

The old General nodded tiredly. His aide thought he could see a flash of anger in his eyes.

” - Yes, Korhonen, I know that. We need to take some concrete measures as soon as possible.”


…

Colonel Vartia, YLE broadcast centre, Mikkeli, 8 a.m. March 10th 2014.


My hands shook as I put the mugs of coffee on the table. A few drops were spilled. Captain Koivu looked at me reproachfully but said nothing.

I pushed the mug towards him. He reached out and grabbed it.

” - Thank you, Colonel. I never thought you could drink coffee out of big mugs like this. You sure have it good here at the SIO.”

He took two spoons of sugar and stirred the mug noisily with his spoon. I could feel the sweat rising on my forehead. Koivu looked at me with that same concerned look on his face.

” - You still look a bit under the weather, Colonel...”

I assured him I was fine.

” - As you say. But there is something important I need to speak with you – that is why I asked you to meet me privately here in your office...”

I had guessed he would get around to it eventually. This man was not stupid.

” - I listened a bit to the broadcast, just now, and it sounded – off. It seems the YLE is now preaching rebellion.”

He sipped his coffee, his worried face becoming harder.

” - Colonel, are you sure the YLE is under your control and you know what you are doing? It seems to me that the radio waves are now being used to support the uprising rather than the legal govenrment and law and order!”

With a non-committal tone I assured him that I would look into it. Choosing my words carefully I launched into a long-winded argument, only stopping to wipe the cold sweat off my forehead with my still slightly shaking hand.

Damn my nerves.

Now, gradually, I could see the Captain starting to look a bit disoriented. I knew the effect – eyelids getting heavy, and the warm blanket effect embracing me.

I had put three pills into his coffee.

” - Colonel”, he started, his voice sounding even more alarmed and now also a bit slurred.

He tried to get up, and stumbled to the left. I caught his arm before he fell.

” - Captain,” I told him, ”I think you better lie down.”

Koivu was turning his head from left to right and mumbling something, but he let me walk him to the couch. Sedately, he sat down and I helped him on his side.

He was asleep before his head hit the cushion. I covered him with a blanket like I would have a child. Looking back, it was sort of, well, daft – but force of habit, you know.

As I left the office, turned off the lights and locked the door behind me, I knew he would be out cold for at least five hours.

When the younger ESP officers came looking for their superior for orders, I told them the truth: Koivu was dreadfully tired and had to lie down for a moment. But no worries, I told them, the orders of General Varis were to lock up the broadcast centre.

” - You are professionals, Second Lietenant and, ah, Second Lieutenant”, I reminded them with my best officer's voice.

” - You know what to do. This place needs to be airtight. Nobody – nobody gets in without my word. We don't know what shananigans the opposition has planned and who has defected to their side! General Varis left me in charge here, and you are under my direct command - you remember that! You know there is a rebellion out there.”

I paused for effect and looked them directly into the eye, each in turn.

” - The YLE must stand. The fate of the nation depends on it. Now, go out there and make me proud. You're dismissed!”

Making sharp salutes, the two men departed to their duty. Me, I thought all this stuff will be the death of me yet, and probably in short order. Only if the young officers had seen how much my hand was shaking behind my back.


…

”...continuing news coverage about the crisis. This is the YLE, Mikkeli, the voice of Finland. We have received news that volunteer units from Western Finland have started large scale humanitarian operations in the central part of the country, bringing in foodstuffs and medical supplies to help the local people who have been targeted by the aggressive operations of the Military Police under Major General Varis and the National Committee for the Continuity of Government. These unarmed units can be identified by Red Cross symbols and Finnish flags on their uniforms and vehicles...

...a related development, it has been announced that a democratic interim council has been set up by the opposition groups to act as a platform for making their voices heard. Timo Soini, a former junior member of the National Committee and the administrative aide of Acting President Urpo Leppänen after the Exchange has been appointed the spokesman to the interim council by a vote between the major opposition groups two hours ago...


...

The old man stepped into the conference room through the door held open by a young Sergeant. The nine men around the oval table stood up, as was customary, to honour the arrival of the Chairman of the National Committee for the Continuation of Government. The pain still lingered in the old man's back, and now that made him irritated. He saw that two of the seats around the table were empty.

” -Sit down, gentlemen,” the old man said, indicating one of the empty seats with his right hand.

” - I know Koskelo's still in Switzerland, but where's Varis now?”

A Lieutenant General in an Engineer's uniform answered when nobody else would.

” - Mr Chairman, Varis has got tied up with the security arrangements. He has sent word that his presence is vital for suppressing the demonstrations in Savonlinna. All the crow... er, the Special Military Police have been now mobilized and the Major General is proposing measures to arm the ordinary MP:s with heavier weapons...”

” - Thank you, Väistö, it is just as I thought. I think we can well begin without Varis here. In fact it might be better he is not present for the while.”

The mostly old men around the table looked to each other in puzzlement. Five were in uniform while three wore dark civilian suits. One man had a civilian police uniform. All still had military or civilian decorations on their chests.

Settling on his seat, the Chairman of the Committee had again a flashlike vision of dead eyes in the dark, ever watching, ever judging. Luckily it was gone before none of the other members of this august body realized something was wrong with the General. The old man exhaled slowly and reached for the gavel.


…

Savonlinna, 8.45 a.m., March 10th 2014.


The squad of Military Police were surprised to find the officer alone in the top-floor room. He greeted them with a stern look.

" - Good work men, getting here so soon. Two of you should get to the roof immediately to get the rifle, and the rest of you secure the perimeter ASAP!"

The Sergeant leading the squad looked at the officer, aghast. He had no idea what this young Major was on about.

" - You don't know what has happened here, Sergeant?"

The Major looked furious.

" - Someone just took a shot at a General, a bloody member of the National Committee from this very building! And you just stand there holding your dicks in your hands!"

He shook his head and pointed to two of the men.

" - You two, to the roof. Take custody of the rifle and do bloody remember it is evidence! And the rest of you, search the premises! Get to it NOW or you are in so deep in shit Ukko Himself won't be able to dig you up!"

Leaving the confused squad in the room, the man in a Major's uniform, bearing the insignia of the Special Military Police on it cursed quietly his target stumbling a bit on the last second. He had hit the man, the would-be assassin was sure. But he was as sure that the General was still very much alive. And the hapless squad arriving on the scene just then had stopped him from completing the job.

The job failing was a complication, and his boss didn't like complications.

...


Notes:

[1] The name, known to most FNA conscripts, refers specifically to MT-LB armored personnel carriers but is also used of other Soviet-made vehicles still used by the Finnish Defence Forces. Many of these old vehicles were recovered in Central Lapland during the reclamation operations of 1985 when elements of the Finnish Northern Command infantry came upon the remains of what was determined to be the Soviet 54th Motor Rifle Division, along Highway 4 near the Porttipahta and Lokka reservoirs. Upon investigation, the orderly lines of collapsed tents and parked vehicles were found to contain the mostly decomposed remains of the majority of the soldiers of the division. The tanker trucks were found to have ample fuel, and spoiled food was likewise found. As the men of the 54th had not likely died of malnourishment or been immobilized due to the lack of fuel, it has been speculated that the snowbound Soviet unit had succumbed to a combination of brutal cold and radiation-related ailments. However due to various questions that have yet not been answered, including the causes for the signs of extreme violence among the deceased, the true fate of the so-called ”Frozen Division” remains a mystery to this day. All usable vehicles were recovered by the Finnish military and many are still in use in 2014. (Today the ”hearses” remain a subject of ghost stories about quiet, pale passengers in Soviet uniforms seen travelling along on exercises, mysterious accidents involving the vehicles and bony limbs still being recovered in storage compartments. This horror lore is often used by NCOs to scare or play practical jokes on impressionable young conscripts. - S.B.)

 

[Karelian]

The plot thickens!

...a related development, it has been announced that a democratic interim council has been set up by the opposition groups to act as a platform for making their voices heard. Timo Soini, a former junior member of the National Committee and the administrative aide of Acting President Urpo Leppänen after the Exchange has been appointed the spokesman to the interim council by a vote between the major opposition groups two hours ago...

Oh, you