A coup was underway in an infant democracy. If successful, it would destroy decades of diplomacy, subject millions to the rule of a despot, and completely destabilize the region to the point that all out war was a real possibility.

It could not succeed.

Our only course of action was suppression by force, but regional politics prohibited us from acting in the open, so conventional troops were not an option. Covert forces were, but the necessary resources were either too far away or lacked sufficient leadership to handle the job with the sophistication it required.

It seemed we were stymied again.

Or were we?



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