Ksehersonos

The Reclamation
After years of exile, the Demokratikans return to their motherland.

The Restless General
Ivan Seriozha Ayatskov sat in his office, squinting at his computer screen through the darkness. He had turned off the lights earlier because he enjoyed the all-encompassing complete darkness of the outskirts of Revolution City. It reminded him of the nights in the Demokratikan sector of Valhalla, which he had spent as often as possible with - but that was a lifetime ago.

He had been just a boy then, scared for his life, scared for his country, and the very existence of his people. But somehow passion had found its way into his life... and was cruelly stolen away by those despicable traitors. His lover's body had lain rotting for over half a decade before The Reclamation, when Comrade Damon led the Demokratikan refugees back from Isokratia to re-colonize the land stolen away from them during the Civil War.

The events leading up to that moment were very precise... come to think of it, if they had happened any other way, he would not be living in his homeland once more, as he was now. A series of events - so random, but put together...

Ivan's mind slept into the past as he recalled the five years spent in exile in Isokratia...

A Soldier Remembers
Ivan had met the Comrade on the Exodus, and through their conversation, Ivan, a mere 20-year old Corporal in the Demokratikan People's Army, came to relate his experiences in the Army to The Comrade, or as he was called then, after the abolishment of the Demokratikan State, Citizen Damon.

He told of his role in the siege of Valhalla, Volksfront, and the following occupation. His close encounter with a bomb blast while driving through the Demokratikan Sector. His chance meeting with the boy, only two years younger than himself, who became his everything for the next year. Until the Civil War, and the Battle of Proletarian Stronghold, where the Demokratikan Security Forces had won, but Ivan had lost his companion, the only soul whom he loved unconditionally and without falter.

From that moment onward, Citizen Damon became Ivan's mentor, and his most trusted friend. He would come around the villa in the mountains of Isokratia to play chess and talk philosophy, but only when The Citizen wasn't busy writing. He did that a lot during his exile. He published several books criticizing the revisionist tendencies and lenient policies towards the bourgeoisie in supposedly socialist nations, earning him many allies and many enemies.

Assassination
The Citizen enjoyed his retirement from the world of politics, and was always grateful towards his brother for granting him amnesty within his nation. Meanwhile, Ivan joined the Isokratian Army, and quickly rose through the ranks for his valor shown in the wars with the Norden Verein and later, GATO. Soon enough, as a gesture of unity with the Demokratikan refugees, Comrade Pythias made him the Commander-in-Chief of the Isokratian Armed Forces.

Ivan would never forget the day. He stood facing the Citizen's brother, listening but not hearing his words, happy for the first time since the death of his beloved. And then, a shot rang out - the head of the man standing in front of him exploded in a shower of blood and bone. Security grabbed him and pulled him down. He didn't remember much after that. He must've fainted or gone into shock.

When he awoke in a hospital bed, the first thing he heard was the voice of The Citizen. Ivan opened his eyes and looked about him, seeing no one - until his eyes focused on the television screen in the corner of the room. The Citizen was giving a speech. He decried the assassination of his brother as the cowardly act of a dangerous minority of counterrevolutionary traitors. And he announced the re-establishment of the Demokratikan Communist Party...

Multi-National State
In the years that followed, The Comrade gained power through the electoral system, finally achieving a super-majority in the legislative body. It wasn't long after that that he re-instated the Demokratikan constitution, abolishing the Isokratian one.

A month later, the ships set sail for the Homeland, without knowledge of what they would find there. Thus began The Reclamation. Ksehersonos.

That year, Comrade Damon established a trans-continental Demokratikan State. And he had also made Ivan the Marshal of the Ksehersonian People's Liberation Army. Only this time, the man presenting him with this title didn't get shot.

It took the colonists years to find and identify every body left behind in the wake of the Civil War. Hundreds were still unknown. But one day, they found Adrik. Ivan made sure that they found a nice plot in a park in the Demokratikan Sector of Valhalla, and had him laid to rest there.