Iron Nest

Setting

In an alternate history, the Iberian Peninsula sans Portugal is unified under the Kingdom of Castile and does not develop into Spain. In the 1920s, an anti-monarchist rebellion erupts throughout Castile. The rebels seize numerous cities, with the King and the royalist government forced to relocate to Aranjuez after rebels occupy the capital of Ciudad Real, and years of fighting ensue. At the behest of the head of Castile's military, a figure known as the General, a new weapon is created to break the stalemate: the Iron Nest, a 5,000-ton quadrupedal self-propelled artillery unit boasting a pair of 800mm guns taken from the battleship Alfonso XIII.

Elsewhere in Europe, World War I never occurred and the rest of the continent is at peace. The German Empire persists under Kaiser Wilhelm, and is rivaled by the British Empire and French Republic, together referred to as the Entente alliance. The Kingdom of Castile frequently accuses the French of funneling materiel and money to the Iberian republicans, but remains cordial with the British and regards Germany as an ally.

Plot

The player is the designated Operator of the Iron Nest. Under the General's orders, the Operator first conducts the Iron Nest's calibration by firing a shell at a Castilian civilian hospital, a false flag attack that the Castilian government propagandizes by branding it a republican terrorist bombing. Across subsequent missions spanning October 1927 to November 1928, the Iron Nest quickly proves its worth in battle and changes the tide of the civil war. Castile reclaims its lost cities and territories from the rebels, until only the city of Barcelona is left in republican hands.

In the course of Castile's campaign, the Operator is also ordered to sink a British warship, the HMS Rockingham, anchored at Gibraltar, as part of another false flag attack. The French warship Léon Gambetta is framed for the sinking, which claimed the life of the son of the First Sea Lord, and the incident strains the alliance between Britain and France to the breaking point. The German Empire takes the opportunity to invade the French territory of Alsace-Lorraine with the stated goal of re-annexing it. Britain and France reconcile to counter the German aggression, and Europe becomes embroiled in full-scale war. The upshot of these events for Castile is that the Iberian republicans cease to receive aid from the French.

The final mission takes place on November 10, 1928 and begins with the rebels cornered and defenseless in Barcelona. The Operator may complete this mission through various methods, leading to one of four different endings. In the "A City Silent" ending, firing an atomic shell on Barcelona ends the civil war in favor of the newly-proclaimed Royal Empire of Castile, and the General, who is implied to have usurped the King in a palace coup, declares his intent to march the army north into France to assist Germany. In the "A City Subdued" ending, firing a cyanogen, phosgene, or tear gas shell on the city neutralizes most opposition, and Castile captures it and weeds out the surviving pockets of resistance. In the "A City in Celebration" ending, firing an illumination shell or propaganda leaflet-filled shell causes the city to submit with no further bloodshed. In "The Road Not Taken" ending, firing an explosive shell on Castile High Command's location and then destroying all nearby Castilian artillery emplacements spares the city; a newspaper article published on the tenth anniversary of this event explains that the Operator's unexpected act killed the General and prevented a likely genocide of republican sympathizers, and while Germany, Britain, and France remain mired in a decade-long conflict, the Iberian Peninsula enjoys unity and peace under the vigilant protection of more Iron Nests.