Kerolsima

Socialist Republic of Kerolsima 4 other official names Serbian (cyrillic): Социјалистичка Република Керолсима Serbo-Croatian: Socijalistička Republika Kerolsima Albanian: Republika Socialiste e Kerolsima
Flag Coat of arms
Capital and largest city	Belgrade
Official languages	Serbian Bosnian Albanian
Demonym(s)	Kerolsimar
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
• Secretary-General	Velimir Vlahović
Establishment
• Independence	2024
Currency	New Dinar (ND)

Kerolsima is a fictitious country in Europe, and is the main antagonist in the DEFCON video game series. In DEFCON: Ravnice, the player is sent to Kerolsima as a Special Operations unit to help overthrow the Kerolsimar Government. Kerolsima takes the boundaries of present-day Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A screenshot of DEFCON: Ravnice during a pan between characters. Note that Montenegro is shown as part of Kerolsima, but when shown in other maps, it is not.

History

DEFCON

Main article: DEFCON (2014 video game)

In 2024, a joint coup d'état in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina causes the Socialist Republic of Kerolsima to be established. Somewhere between 2024 and 2026, a period known by players as the "Limbo Period", Kerolsima launches an invasion of Garetolia, hoping to capitalize upon its rich natural resources and tropical climate. After a successful takeover of Filan, its invasion of Novi'isida is met with stronger resistance. In the first game of the DEFCON trilogy, the player is sent by the Armed Forces in an attempt to push back the Kerolsimar. At the end of DEFCON, the player is tranferred to Filan, where the final objective is to liberate a fictional town known as Ono'ulu (meant to be a pun on the name Honolulu), and save a former army brigadier named Jason Kullan from death. The player, along with Kullan, return home safely and the player is honorably discharged.

DEFCON: Echo

Main article: DEFCON: Echo

Ten years after the events in DEFCON, Kerolsimar forces had been completely isolated to northern Filan, where the player is ordered to fight. As a result of northern Filan's rocky terrain and sparse population, similar to that of the Channel Islands of California, mountains and other geological obstacles such as lakes provide cover for the Kerolsimar forces that are used to the Dinaric Alps and Balkan Mountains. As such terrain is not provided in largely inhabited places in Garetolia, the player is forced to create makeshift barriers and take cover in unusual places, such as caves. In the middle of the events that happen in DEFCON: Echo, the Secretary-General's son, Slaven Vlahović, is killed in action by the player. At the end of the game, the final objective is to kill the last remaining Kerolsimar on the island, and free the country.

DEFCON: Ravnice

Main article: DEFCON: Ravnice

In the third and final installment of the DEFCON series, Garetolian forces, along with Romanian forces, are sent to invade Kerolsima and overthrow the current regime. When the player lands in Neum, they discover all wildlife and nature burned, in an attempt by the Kerolsimar forces to starve the Garetolians, a process known as scorched earth. As a result, The Garetolians are forced to rely on the Romanian forces' supplies of food and water. After difficultly traversing the terrain of the former Bosnia and Herzegovina, the player finally arrives in Sarajevo, where the brigades can regroup and start campaigning towards Belgrade. Once the player is 72 kilometers (45 mi) away from Belgrade, they receive an unexpected call from an unknown source that only says "Kerolsima is coming for you." However, the call is ignored and Belgrade is sieged. Once the forces close in on Belgrade, Secretary-General Velimir Vlahović attempts to escape on a helicopter to Geneva, where he cannot be extradited. The final objective of the series is to shoot Vlahović's helicopter with a heat-seeking missile and assassinate him. Once the player copletes the mission, an international announcement is made saying that Vlahović has been killed and that peace and justice may be restored to the Balkans.

Controversy

A few years after the first game's release, the Serbian diplomatic mission to Garetolia was revoked and the Serbian government lodged a formal complaint to the Garetolian embassy in Belgrade, stating that "[they did] not wish to have [their] beautiful country portrayed as a warmongering, leftist state." This controversy was soon resolved after a series of agreements between Serbia and Garetolia, but Serbia's embassy in Garetolia still has not been restored.