Spanish Inquisition

The Spanish Inquisition was a widespread, decades-long campaign of tyranny led by the Combine in Western Europe.

## Do Not Question The Spanish Inquisiton

After the King of Spain was sentenced to death by Manhack (publicly) by an elite squadron of Combine forces, the area quickly fell under Combine control. With M.T.O. forces stretched thin in North America, Europeans could expect little to no help from the United States and its allies. Portugal, Spain and France soon became Combine-occupied satellite nations.

General Grievous arrived on Earth in 62 B.B, and quickly began facilitating the eastwards expansion of the Combine's foothold in Europe.

## Questioning the Inquisition

In 61 B.B, a coalition of freedom fighters formed in secret in Western Europe. Comprised of French, Spanish, Swiss, and Portuguese, these individuals were willing to die for their countries and their planet. On June 9, 61 B.B, they successfully overthrew the Combine Advisor satellite government which had been installed in Madrid, Spain.

General Grievous, forming a cunning and sickening plot, ordered all ground forces out of Madrid. The freedom fighters celebrated their great victory. It didn't last long, however, as they were soon blown to smithereens due to extraorbital assault.

On Grievous' behest, Admiral Amonger ordered a heavy orbital bombardment of Madrid and all but exterminated the last of the freedom fighters in Spain and Portugal. A flock of 50 Combine Gunships was deployed from City 9 to Western Europe, and so the Suspicions began.

## The Suspicions

The Suspicions was a dark time for Europe. With Madrid and Paris under Combine control, General Grievous assumed the role of de facto dictator of these territories, much as he would during the Combine Conquest of Mexico. Grievous ordered all Combine troops to execute anyone they suspected of being a loyalist to Earth. Citizens were offered payment in the form of 1 loaf of bread and a bottle of water. The starving and impoverished citizens were quick to jump at this opportunity, desperate for food and drink.

### A Grievous Pyramid Scheme

As you can imagine, chaos ensued. General Grievous held nightly "Suspect Meetings" in the Royal Palace in Madrid, in which all of the city's denizens were rounded up and made to sit in a room together. Grievous would then select someone at random and murder them. Any citizen who reacted negatively to this would immediately be executed as well. This often had a domino effect and was one of the most deadly pyramid schemes in Omniversal History.

## End of the Inquisition

In 20 B.B, the M.T.O was on a winning streak, after striking a massive blow to the Combine with the death of Corporal Wallace Breen and hundreds of other troops (and civilians) in the Bombing of Columbus. Additionally, the Combine was rapidly losing influence and power in Mexico after a successful civilian coup of General Grievous' Mexican puppet government. After regaining a large amount of territory in North America, and the Combine's retreat to City 9, Many in Europe felt emboldened and optimistic at their chances of taking back their homeland.

By this time, children born at the start of the Spanish Inquisition were 45 years old. The only ones left in Western Europe who remembered a time before Combine Control were the few elderly individuals left in the decrepit area.

### Cat and Mouse

M.T.O Forces began a massive pilgrimage towards the Alps. Combine Governor-Admiral Trench was puzzled by this maneuver. He suspected perhaps they had prepared artillery cannons in the mountains, so he ordered an orbital bombardment of the snowy peaks. The M.T.O fores pushed forward, into the snowy passes of the Alps. Soon, Trench lost track of them in the thick snowclouds which cloaked the area.

Trench, not to be outdone, sent a battalion of Combine forces into the Alps. He needed to know what the M.T.O were up to.

The battalion never returned. Trench, intrigued, sent another battalion and several striders into the alps. They all disappeared. Both times, his troops lost contact shortly after nearing the summit of Matterhorn. Trench, growing frustrated, ordered another orbital bombardment of the Alps. This one continued for over a day, though thick storm clouds made the surface impossible to see.

When the clouds finally parted, Trench saw, to his great displeasure, that the M.T.O forces had stolen a Suppression Field from Madrid and cranked the intensity up 10 times, transforming it into an energy shield. None of his attacks had even dented the M.T.O troops. Most of the Combine striders had died trying to ascend the treacherous snowy slopes.

## Unforeseen Consequences

Trench was suddenly and violently squished to a pulp by the Titanic III, which had been sent flying around the world at mach speeds by the Eye of Sauron. With their leader killed, and much of the European Combine force dead or dying in the Swiss Alps, the Earthmen swiftly took back control of Europe.