Choosing a starting point

Michael was trying to figure out what he could do right now to prepare for his empire. He knew that empires could not be built overnight; although he still had a long way to go before he could establish a sovereign nation, he could start laying the foundation.

The first thing Michael needed was followers that he can trust. There was nothing wrong with the employees at his business; it's just that their relationship was not the same. Michael needed people who would die for him. He did not think he will find anybody like that in America.

It was best to go to a third world country where he would have more purchasing power. Essentially the opportunities he could offer would mean more to people that have no opportunities at all. In this sense, anybody from developed countries was out of the list. So he was able to narrow down the recruiting range to certain countries.

The second thing Michael determined was the type of people he would recruit. His first batch should be soldiers; he intended to first form an elite group that would act as his guards. After all, there was no point in recruiting soldiers for an empire if the emperor was left unprotected. Michael was confident in his skills and abilities, but the one thing he sorely lacked was the experience. He needed men that have spent decades in battlefield honing their instincts and skills.

With those two criteria in mind, Michael looked up the ongoing armed conflicts around the world. There were several indexes maintained by volunteers that tracked conflicts and listed accumulated casualties. There was a huge cluster of conflicts in the Middle East. Nearly every state had civil wars with terrorists or civilians. Michael decided to ignore the middle east. He knew that America was involved and might even be behind all of those conflicts. Michael thought it was suspicious that America kept finding terrorists in countries right after they discovered oil there. They would come for the terrorists and leave with the oil.

Michael had to do everything to avoid attention when building his security force; He did not want to be put on a watch list for interrupting some secret plans or meddling in affairs that were beyond his scope.

Africa was another conflict zone; nearly every country on the continent had some sort of armed conflicts. Furthermore, most of those countries did not have any oil so Michael could avoid attention from the Keepers of Freedom. However, the downside to the conflicts in Africa was that the level of professionalism was low.

Michael would not be able to recruit soldiers that were on the same level as the special forces from developed countries. These soldiers were underequipped, undertrained, and underpaid. Simply speaking they rarely had the motive to improve their skill; most of the conflicts were one-sided with the government forces overwhelming the rebels. He still kept Africa in the back of his mind but was on the lookout for a better option.

Eastern Europe and Russia were next on the list. Ukraine and Russia had bad blood that they were still fighting over. The Ukrainian soldiers definitely had the expertise that Michael was looking for. Although Ukraine was not as poor as the countries in Africa; the opportunities he could present would still seem like a chance from heaven. However, the downside to Ukraine was the presence of Russia. Russia had an intelligence network that could easily rival America so it would be unwise for Michael to meddle in Ukraine. Furthermore, he knew that anytime Russia was involved, America would also start to develop interest.

The next zone was South Asia. Although China has been trying to poach land in the region; there has not been any armed conflict yet. Almost all the southeast Asian countries had civil wars revolving around religion. Michael was not too interested in these soldiers for the same reasons as Africa: the soldiers were not professional enough. Furthermore, he really did not want to get involved with religious zealots.

India and Pakistan were actually the most interesting players in South Asia. The most amazing achievement was that these two countries built nukes secretly. The most important priority for countries with nukes other than building more nukes was to prevent others from developing them. Honestly, Michael predicted that nukes were the only other issue that could move the American military other than oil. However, the fact that India, and later Pakistan managed to develop nukes in secret said a lot about the special forces of those countries.

Michael was more interested in India because of its extensive history fighting wars. Indian soldiers fought for the British in both World War One and Two. More Indians fought and died than actual British soldiers; one could argue that India practically carried Britain in those two wars. India seemed to check all the boxes Michael needed; however, there were some problems.

For one the distance was rather large; If Michael chose to build a base in India then it would take nearly a whole day to reach it from Austin. Michael would frequently need to visit the base, in the beginning, to check on his followers; the time wasted in flight would definitely add up over time.

The biggest issue was certainly the problem of national pride. Michael was actually astonished that Indians continued to serve in the military even after the poor treatment over the years. The pay and benefits have certainly increased over the years however, it paled compared to first world countries. This would mean that the soldiers had a lot of national pride; the age-old rivalry with Pakistan also made the situation worse.

In fact, the issue of national pride would be a problem for any soldiers he recruited that were once a part of their country's army. One day they would serve as the soldiers of his empire and might have to fight the very nations they used to serve. The problem would be exacerbated if his followers had friends or family in the military of their ex-countries. Michael had a couple of ideas on how to fix this issue but it would be best to take things slowly. He would have to foster and examine their loyalty over a long period of time before he could fully trust them.

The last region was the Americas; specifically the Southern hemisphere. Nearly every country was at war with the local drug cartels. Mexico was a prime example; America kept donating money and equipment to the Mexican army to help them fight the cartels; there were even units that were directly trained by American special forces. Mexico had several special forces that drew Michael's attention. They met all his conditions; the commute was also great; Michael could be there within a couple of hours from Austin. Everything seemed to be perfect with Mexico.

Michael considered each country in his head and after some brainstorming, he finally picked a country.