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KEVATUUL: FIFTY YEARS ON
2 January 2025
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the single most devastating act of genocide the world has ever seen.
Kevatuul was a space-based nuclear weapons delivery system that was deployed in the fourth and penultimate year of the Auroran Imperial War by Noroist Axdel. Less than a year later on the 2nd of January 1975 it was ordered to strike the Ethalrian capital city of Ribenstadt, and with immense precision it killed an estimated 350,000 people, leaving millions of others injured and displaced. The people and the infrastructure of one of the most magnolious cities in the world was devastated in the blink of an eye. This unthinkable and barbaric use of weaponry is widely considered the most defining event in modern history; not only was it the most despicable eradication of a people in one fell swoop, but it has become infamous for how it defined a post-Kevatuul world.
Kevatuul orbited the globe for over four months before it became known by the Morstaybishlian cabinet. Up until this point the weaponisation of space had been the subject of science fiction and space operas. The public were not told of its existence and the Morstaybishlian government was frenzied to establish how they would deal with such an imminent threat of unfathomable wrath. Anticipating a strike on Sani Bursil that would bring Morstaybishlia to its knees within days, the royal family were quietly evacuated and the cabinet began convening in a secret location outside of the city. High Elderthane Ian Crowcasa authorised a covert strike team into the heart of the Kevatuul command centre which was discovered the previous day by Embertian intelligence. The special task force for this mission consisted of three brave men and two women who knew they were on a suicide mission into the heart of the Noroist war machine. When they arrived at the command center their attempted sabotage led to the breakdown of communication between the outpost and and Axdelian high command, and Captain Ñaaŕu effected the launch of Kevatuul on their own terms, believing that Ethalria was responsible and about to expel Axdel from the Ribenstadt Pact.
Kevatuul’s nuclear strike had a drastic impact on morale on both sides of the war. The devastation it wrought on Ribenstadt was realised immediately by both sides. Ethalria’s high command was obliterated by its own allies Axdel and its armed forces became factionalised and was unable to effectively reorganise. On the flip side, Morstaybishlia and her allies were paranoid that a second Kevatuul strike was imminent and news of Kevatuul swept the population into mass panic. Armies on both sides of the war became lame and the frontlines entered relative stagnation, with Morstaybishlia making only some ground.
The war crawled on for another six months before it formally ended, though fighting had been stagnant and some battlegrounds had not seen action for weeks. The world convened in Cynebury, Tretrid on the 14th of November 1975 and signed the Treaty Establishing Guidelines to Secure the Continued Peaceful Usage of Outer Space. It established the fundamental laws of space militarisation, exploration and sovereignty, and was signed by representatives of countries from around the world. Kevatuul has had an unintentionally profound impact on the functions of our modern world to this day.
It cannot be stated enough how important it is to remember the sheer destructive power of Kevatuul and the lives that were unjustly snuffed out of existence at its hand. It is nothing shy of mass murder, it is genocide in its most wanton form. It’s memory, however painful, must serve our world as a reminder of how close we can be at any one time to global extinction at the hands of the few who wield such power. It must be taught in schools around the world. Our children and their children must understand why we should never repeat this dark chapter of world history.
We must never forget.
Article written and published by Samminel Johannes.
