NationStates Jolt Archive

I understood that the fascists had surrendered. I this is not the case, the 1st Expeditionary will advance on their positions, following the original plan.

Having had one-half of their population killed by a nerve gas attack launched by the retreating Loyalist forces, Freiburg is in complete disorder. The dead are pilled at every street corner in the eastern half of the city - roughly one in every two people died when the Loyalists attacked, and so the burial details are proceding slowly. All the workers are wearing gas masks at all times while working on burying the dead and reinforcing Freiburg's defenses. The entire populace over the age of ten has been mobilized, and barricades are being built throughout the city.
Children so young that they can hardly lift the rifles they carry are a common sight, and the Freiburg city flag is everywhere. All of the government buildings are either abandoned or repurposed as an armory, a hospital or a barracks.
Food is becoming a problem - less of one than it was before the nerve gas attack, but the territory that Frieburg holds just doesn't produce enough food for all the people who live there. Clean water is also a problem - the water purification system was hit by a Loyalist artillery strike, and so the city is slowly starving and dehydrating.
The "siege mentality" is everywhere, and, as they were elected not chosen on merit, the "civil defense commitee" seems more interested in guarenteeing that their consitituancy gets enough to remain happy than in securing a long-term solution.
Public order isn't a major problem - the populace is too scared of the Loyalists for any but the most hardened of criminals to prey upon the populace. Those who do commit crimes are all treated alike, petty thief to murderer - they are gathered in the "Public Defense Building", then shot in the morning, to be buried with the victims of the gas attack.
There has been little effort at preserving museums and the like - statues and paintings that could fetch a high price over-seas are warehoused until they can be flown out to be sold for the war effort, statues that can't fetch a good price are used to build barricades, and those paintings that can't fetch a good price are burned for fuel. As such, the defenders are going through the rich cultural history of Freiburg at an alarming rate.
What money they do acquire they spend on buying weapons and ammunition first, food and other such items second.
Should no change in the status-quo occur, people will begin dieing of disease and dehydration in six days, starvation in a matter of weeks. In other words, a humanitarian crisis is forming.

The fascists not only surrendered - in exchange for a pardon, they now fight for the Loyalists.

The Loyalists have again made use of international arms dealers, this time making a massive order... for one thing, and one thing only: nerve gas. They have ordered 100,000 kilo-grams of Sarin gas, enough to wipe out the entire populace of Southhaven. This purchase cost them something to the magnitude of 44 billion Confederate marks - almost a third of their defense budget for this year. As such, they are unlikely to be able to do something like this again. This shippment of nerve gas will arrive shortly, and, if it came into Loyalist hands, would represent a major shift in power, to the Loyalist's favor. As such, the interseption of this shippment is a top rebel priority, as it should also be for Sarmia, Kulikovo and all the other nations fighting on the rebel side.

The Duke rubbed his eyes and leaned his elbows on the stacks of paper infront of him. He'd only been up for three hours, and he was already regretting ever getting out of bed - amongst other things.

"Well, our people aren't dead and are back in our hands, at least."

"Should we still go along with the operation against the Fascists?"

"Normally I'd say no, but the most important part of that plan was to make sure people didn't think taking hostages would just get them a bag of money. With General Ostermann dead, it makes it a hell of a lot easier." The Duke sighed and leaned back into his armchair, reaching for a cigar. "Bertling is definitely anti-fascist in this instance, so we can be sure of help there. Though with Freiburg, God save what's left of them, we can't be so sure."

"We move against the Fascists, then?"

"They might be gone by the time we get there, but we will. Tell the Admiral and get me more coffee, if you would, Leeroy?"

Several hours of discussion followed, and in the middle of "intense debate" around lunchtime:

"I'm the damn Duke, all right? Absolute ruler. We are having Ethiopian today."

"Um, excuse me, Your Grace?"

"Ah, Leeroy, good. Send out for some -"

"Sir, the fascists surrendered."

The Duke blinked and stared at him for a few moments. "We haven't even got the fleet on the waters yet!"

"With the death of Ostermann, it seems they've lost any desire to hold together."

"Well, damn. Have they just split up into a bunch of warlords? We could always go in and restore order."

"No, sir, they've agreed to fight for the Loyalists."

"GOD DAMN THEM!" The Duke punched the marble table, winced and rubbed his knuckles. "Yes, right. I suppose we'll still be executing Part Seven of the plan, gentlemen. Call the Minister of -"

"Also, Hogan told me to mention that they seem to have ordered even more nerve gas. A hundred thousand kilos."

"... Ah. I see. Guess they like the stuff. Allright, shunt me over that laptop, I'm going to see if anyone has any heart left in Bertling."

----------------------

To: General Stoeregaard, Minister of Foreign Affairs
From: His Grace the Duke of Gwazzaria, Indrik Vandegraff <magnusdux@gwazzaria.co.gw>

Honoured General,

We remain eternally grateful for your attempt to liberate our people. Good on you there, and sorry about that whole 'negotiating with hostage takers' thing. We really wish our plan had gone down better.

Since the start of this war you've supported the Loyalists, citing them as the rightful governors of their nation. This is, in a legal sense, entirely correct. We respect your adherence to orthodoxy in many cases. However, what has been happening recently goes beyond that.

The Fascists are now allied with the Loyalists, and the Loyalists are slinging nerve gas around like it's nobody's business. They're attacking Freiburg, about the only people in this conflict who haven't been comitting some kind of atrocity.

We'd like to ask that you please at the very least use your clout with the Loyalists to get them to stop it with the chemical warfare. Freiburg at least deserves to not be slaughtered wholesale by such a horrendous weapon.

Respectfully,
His Grace (silly sounding, isn't that?) Indrik Vandegraff, Duke of Gwazzaria

P.S. We'll be observing that holyday, and I think a little memorial on the grounds of the Cloudspine is in order. Which do you think they'd prefer - bronze statuary, or marble column?

Locke had had an interesting conversation with the Harakian Prime Minister, one Jaime Wolfe, in which several things had been assured: Locke would receive one squad of CEF commandoes, the best in Haraki and who had been, before Haraki's decay, some of the best special forces troops in the world. Thy were there to investigate the labour camps. Also, Locke had the authority to intercept and delay shipments of any weaponry owned by any faction that was deemed 'for use against civilian targets'. Given the Loyalists' history with nerve agents and their use on civilian targets, this new order was passed almost solely to prevent the shipment of their new order, some hundred thousand kilograms of sarin gas.

Breaking off from the Harakian naval convoy protecting the transports was a smaller group of ships, on a direct intercept course with the freighters carrying the new shipment of sarin gas. This new task force was composed of the destroyers HNS Alpaca, HNS Murphy and HNS Maxwell, the light cruiser HNS Morose, the heavy cruiser HNS Ryan, and the missile cruiser HNS Great White. Their orders were simple: intercept the shipment and, with no loss of life (Or minimal should there be resistance) escort it to a safe storing area, where the sarin gas would be disarmed and gradually destroyed.

As soon as the Haraki vessels hailed the ship carrying the nerve gas, something unexpected happened - the people onboard started shooting each other.
Apparently, the Danteri Government Security men assigned to guard the stuff decided to detonate it as soon as the Haraki came within range, while the crew apparently didn't want to die.
All in all, out of the fifty DGS men onboard, forty nine were killed, and one wounded and taken prisoner by the civilian crew of one hundred, of whom eighty nine were killed and ten of the eleven survivors wounded.
No nerve gas was deployed, and the entire lot was captured. Nine of the wounded crew members and the DGS man all require emergency medical care. The other wounded crew man is only lightly wounded.
The civilian crew has requested asylum in Haraki, as, having shot Danteri Government Security personel, to return home would be suicide for them.
Speaking on behalf of his ten wounded comrades, the only unwounded civilian said that:
"A lot of our friends got killed making sure you could capture this stuff. We hope you remember that when the time comes to decide what to do with us."
As for the Danteri Government Security man, they were more than glad to hand him over.

23Eris Press Conference. Kallisti City, 23Eris

Prime Minister Hekatos stood before the podium displaying an air of confidence and strength she didn't feel. In her heart she knew that this was the only truly viable course of action now, the men of the Valiant who had sacrificed themselves to protect the refugees had seen to that. WIth their loss and now the attack with chemical weapons against civilians, the mood of the populace was turned towards intervention. At this point, she couldn't resist the flood of desire to aid the people of another regional power. She blinked once and flexed her stiff, scarred right hand behind the podium, a reminder to her of the horrors of war.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press. I stand before you today to announce with a heavy heart the decision to intervene directly in the Danteri conflict. Mass attacks against civilians, attacks against relief convoys carrying medical supplies and refugees, mistreatment of POWs, and now the deployment of chemical warfare agents against the populace are unspeakly barbaric acts which can not go unanswered. To this end we have offered full diplomatic recognition of the Republic of Freiburg as well as recognizing the Communist Rebel leadership as the rightful government of Danteri. We will begin immediate long range airdrops of supplies to the beleagured city, including shipments of nerve-agent antidotes, foodstuffs, and general medical supplies. Any interference with the airlift of humanitartian aid to Freiburg will be considered an act of war by our government. We are also announcing a general mobilization of all 23Eris armed forces including the 2nd and 4th Reserve Divisons, and the 23Eris Air Defense Force.

It is with much regret that we have been forced to reach such a decision, but the stalemate in Danteri must be ended and the psychotic and criminal regieme of the Loyalist camp must be brought to heel to prevent the continued slaughter of civilians. We urge all other nations currently involved in Danteri to reconsider their positions and to end their support for a leadership that abuses and kills its citizens rather than protects them. Thank you, goddess bless."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Headlines from 23Eris Newspapers
"23Eris recognizes Freiburg and Communists!"
"PM Hekatos drops the gloves!"
"Time For Us to Kick Some @$%!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Gwazzarian Leadership
From: PM Hekatos, 23Eris
Re: Danteri Conflict

Due to repeated attacks on our ships as well as flagrant violations of human rights and mistreatment of POWs we have determined that it is in our interests and that of the citizens of Danteri to intervene directly. We urge your nation to reconsider its neutrality as well. A joint Gwazzarian/23Eris task force could tip the balance of power enough to end the conflict with a minimal loss of life.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Report on 23Eris movements
-Convoy II puts into port in Southhaven, begins unloading medical supplies, taking on any refugees who wish to head for 23Eris.
-Convoy I puts into port in 23Eris, sick refugees are taken to hospitals for further care and other taken to nearby temporary housing while permanent housing is constructed for them.
-The government temporarily commandeers any and all planes useful for its long range air drop plan. Though the plan sounds good, it will be largely symbolic as 23Eris does not have the airlift capacity to supply millions of people.
-The First Mechanized Divison moves to the port city of Discordia to begin loading heavy equipment onto transport ships.
-23Eris sends the 2nd Fighter squadron to the city of Freiburg. This Squadron consists of 24 SU-27s and is primarily an air-superiority squadron. The planes are built with rough field capability so even poorly repaired airfields will be usable. In additioon the 3rd Combat Squadron consisting of 14 JA37 Mulitrole combact aircraft are being deployed as well.

The Loyalist army has launched an attack on Freiburg. Considering their continuing military action in Southhaven, they aren't able to spare much for the attack, but they are trying, largely because General Krieger won't allow such an event as Freiburg being recongnized as an independant nation go unopposed.
The attacking force consists of the following:
- 3rd Field-Artillery (43 guns, 430 men)
- 4th Field-Artillery (62 guns, 620 men)
- 14th Infantry (seven thousand men, 1,500 mortars)
- 12th Infantry (six thousand men, 1,000 mortars)
- 1st Armored (sixteen tanks, 37 APCs)
All in all, this comes to:
- 14,050 men
- 105 artillery pieces
- 2,500 mortars
- 16 tanks (a lot, considering the recent Loyalist losses against the rebels in Southhaven)
- 37 APCs.

All in all, this attack is likely to be beaten back... even before you factor in the force from 23Eris. However, this effort appears to be a "probing attack" - the main reason for this attack is to test the strength and disposition of Freiburg's defenders. Without air support, it stands little chance of success.

Do you need assistance against the rebels? The nation of The Futrue America is willing to donate some troops to destroy the rebels!

Thanks, Gfm. Ivanov

[Captain Corrol]
General Kreiger! I can send help for you to take down Frieburg, if you need. The Third Assault Force is ready to be deployed from Zukaria.

Once again, air raids were being performed by the Zukarians. This time, however, they weren't destroying small camps. They were dropping bombs on invading rebel territory. A large wave of rebel soldiers was coming towards the battle line. The first planes began dropping bombs. There were explosions, crators, and dead men. The amount of rebel deaths is unknown, but 6 planes were taken down.

The rebel commandos began leading the Haraki back towards the Haraki Safe-Zones a few hours later. Loyalist patrols were scarce, but the rebels did pause to cut the throat of a Loyalist sentry. While this might not have been wise, it appears to have been motivated by a need to get revenge against the Loyalists for the camps. As such, Johansson didn't reprimand the rebel who killed the sentry.
As the journey towards the Haraki Safe-Zones continued, morale remained low. Having seen such miserable atrocities, no one is in a good mood. Twice as the trip continues, the rebels conduct minor actions against the Loyalists, both times out of a sense of anger over the camps. The rebels had seen the camps before, but they still seem more angry at the Loyalists than they did before. They take pains to be sure that the Haraki are not involved in their little retalitory strikes, but the mere fact that three such incidents occur (counting the sentry whose throat they slit), means that their control is slipping. Before they saw the camps again, they didn't conduct any strikes against the Loyalists while the Haraki were present.
It was late in the day, it was raining and the mud was worse than usual when the Loyalists came upon them. The Loyalists were part of a unit heading for the front, about one thousand terrified conscripts. It was raining so heavily, and both groups, the rebel commandos and the Loyalist conscripts, were so tired and preocupied with their private thoughts, that they almost walked into each other before either group noticed the other. Considering the commando's reputation, that said a lot about their mental state.
When the first of the Loyalist soldiers appeared out of the rain, he saw the rebels, and made as if to wave a greeting. Then, he must have realized what they were, for his left hand went for his sidearm as his young, pale, face contorted in terror. A rebel shot him down with a single bullet, and then the rest of his friends appeared.
It was all over in less than fifteen seconds. The speed with which 1,000 conscripts, most under the age of sixteen, died was amazing. In a little over twelve seconds, the commandos proved that stealth was not their only skill. Within 15 seconds, a numerically superior force was cut down to a man, while the rebels suffered only two injuries and one casualty.
At that point, the rebel commandos demonstrated the savagery that they had also been famos for. Teenage conscripts, limbs shot off, lying in the mud, bleeding and screeming for mercy or for their mothers were killed with brutally efficient knife thrusts. As the Haraki watched, the rebels gathered ammunition from the fallen Loyalists. It had all been over so quickly... and yet, they needed to move fast.
Without so much as a backward look at their fallen comrade, the rebels set off for the south once more.
It was only later, when they had stopped to camp for the night, that Alexander Johansson came over to the Harakis. He sat beside them, and cleared his throat, before speaking,
"I told you we want peace... now, now you have seen why we want peace. Such misery as we endure, killing children lied to about the glorious rightness of a cause, cutting throats so that none could tell of our passage through... such things should not be necessary. Sometimes, when I imagine peace, I wonder... is there a place for a killer like me in a world at peace? Maybe it's like with Moses - he led them to the edge of the promised land, but God said that he couldn't enter. Of course, I'm not the leader, but... I'm doing my best to lead my people, the Danteri people, into the new land that is peace. If I have to kill to do it, so be it, if I cannot go into the new land with them, then so be it. Peace is worth it, even if I cannot enjoy it." With that, he tipped his helmet to them, adjusted his rifle on its strap, and gave them a tired, sad, smile.

The Zukariaan Air Raids have resulted in numerous deaths and much destruction within rebel territory. The rebel attack against the former fascist rebels has come to a slow, grinding, halt, as neither side can make much progress. However, as the Loyalist forces advance from the north, merely tying up rebel assets in the south has made the former fascist, now Loyalist, pocket usefull.

- Total Rebel Casualties: 2,500 killed, 5,000 wounded.
- Damage to Infastructure: 4 Anti-Aircraft sites destroyed, 1 radar station destroyed, 2 fuel supply centers destroyed, 1 armored vehicle yard damaged.

Yeltzin sat at his new desk in his new office. The Oomplian forces had 'obtained' a govermential building in Westgate to use as their Headquarters. It was a large and mainly concrete building. To any one else it would have seemed ugly, but buildings like this were common place in Oompli. Yeltzin liked it, it reminded him of home and he was glad to be out of that old canvas tent. He even had a filing cabinet, it was nothing special but he had never been in a posistion to have a filing cabinet. Back in Oompli if you had a filing cabinet you were somebody. The equipment in his office had been 'requisitioned' from the local library and museum, his new desk was from the 18th century or so said the curator of the museum before being shot after he disagreed with the 'requesistions'. He walked out of his offfice and wandered down the plain hall to the war room. It was the largest room in the bulding, the staff had not finished setting it up yet. The female aides were rushing to get the room set up, women in the Oompli military we basically like secretaries. They never fought on the frontlines unless the headquarters became the frontlines. Yeltzin looked a few of them up, he had not been with a woman for a long time. He wandered down to the cafeteria wondering whether the coffee was being served yet. A private approached him.
"Sir, the president sent this transmission" said the private as he handed Yeltzin a sheet of paper. Yeltzin scanned the document and then his eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped.
"He is sending the Black Stars, I can't believe it the Black Stars." Yeltzin gasped. The private watched the generals face go white, he wandered back down the hall from which he came.
Status:
-Oompli Special force team now ordered to rescue loyalist POW's and use them as commando forces behind rebel lines.
-12th infantry regiment sent to assist New-Lexington beachhead
-Elements of 6th air assault regiment to assist attacks on Freiburg
-Black Star Elite Special Forces to arrive in westgate soon, some elements already in place around Danteri as sleeper units (OOC: These guys are real bad asses, members are obtained from armies all over the world. They give hardened Spetnaz members nightmares, as for delta force dont bother. They are like a hybrid of the SAS, the French foreign legion and mossad. Lets just say you don't want to meet these guys in a dark alley, or even a plaza in broad daylight.)
-General Yeltzin has been admitted to the field hospital with a case of shock.

The Loyalist attack on Freiburg has failed miserably, leaving three thousand Loyalists dead in exchange for only a few dozen Freiburger casualties. Worse, due to an unexpectedly swift Freiburger counter-attack, the entire rest of the force was pinned against the Naem, and forced to surrender. That means that the Freiburgers have captured:
- 11,050 men
- 105 artillery pieces
- 2,500 mortars
- 4 tanks (the other 12 were destroyed in the fighting)
- 13 APCs (the other 24 were destroyed in the fighting)

All in all, this was a glorious victory for Freiburg, and amoungst the material rewards of victory, they recieved another one - a morale boost. They have quickly produced some propaganda films, such as one with grinning ten-year-olds with AKs they can barely lift leading hundreds of Loyalist POWs into a prison camp. All in all, a disaster.
Also, accoarding to a recent report, upon hearing of this disaster, General Krieger ordered the general who planned this attack hung, along with his entire family. Following that order, he sent a three word message to Oompli. That communique read: "Proceede as planned".

The effects of the bomb's detonation were horrific, and almost instantaneous. Every sewer grate beltched fire like a dragon, and then... and then, the streets blew themselves to bits. Buildings collapsed, a statue of King Danteri the 17th was thrown four miles into the air to come crashing down in Kulikovo territory, and the people perished horribly. In seconds, a force so great as to defy imagining tore a hole into the earth, and sent a massive mushroom cloud into the air.
Paniced Loyalist soldiers huddled on the other side of the Naem sent terrified radio messages to their HQ - Kulikovo nuked Freiburg! Yet, soon enough, the truth came out - it wasn't a nuke. Only a Fuel Air bomb, well placed within the sewers. In seconds, hundreds of thousands had died, amoungst them the huddled Loyalist POWs who had so recently surrendered.
By the end of the fire-storm, nine hundred thousand people were dead, and the entierty of northern and eastern Freiburg was reduced to a single burning crater.
Only minutes after the dust cleared, fifty thousand Loyalist troops attacked from the east. They charged forward across the vitrified ruins that had once been the heart of a city of two million people, charged across the ruin of the Naem tributary that had flowed through Freiburg, as it never would again, and prepared to slaughter the survivors.
The few scattered survivors, barely a tenth of the number who had held Freiburg that morning, moved to defend. With hastily moved machine-guns and field-artillery, they fired into the oncoming tide. Everyone who still lived fought - old women fired rifles, children as young as five, too young to hold a rifle, wept at burns and fired pistols into the oncoming Loyalist foce. Wounded men, their bodies covered in blisters, their eyes sightless and blind, fed machine guns from touch. Freiburg, what was left of it, prepared to die.
Then, something happened. The Loyalist officers who had ordered the attack had underestimated the depth that the crater created by the Fuel-Air bomb would reach - it even looked shallower than it was from their end. As such, the Loyalist forces weren't prepared for the task they met at the end of a corridor of artillery fire - they were facing a wall of rubble and glass fully eighteen feet high, with Freiburgers on top of it, firing wildly with machine guns, rifles, mortars, field guns, even pistols. In a matter of minutes, ten thousand Loyalist soldiers died. Another five thousand perished as breaching charges were brought up, still more perished as grenades fell like rain upon them as they were pressed to the wall by the weight of the men behind them. By the time that the breaching charges reached the "wall", thirty thousand Loyalist soldiers were dead.
Then, the breaching charges were set and used - dozens of Loyalists perished in the explosions, and the resulting rock slide, but the wall was down, the way was clear, and almost two thousand Freiburgers joined the Loyalists in death when the walls fell.
At that point, the remaining twenty thousand Loyalists charged up the wrekage of the Freiburger forward positions, firing like mad men, as the fighting came down to a close-quarters fire fight.
Thousands on both sides perished at that point. Children died weeping, calling out for their mothers as though they were lost... the fighting at the breach went on for fifteen minutes, teetering this way and that. In the end, the Loyalists advanced, forcing the Freiburgers back, taking the breach. By that time, out of the fifty thousand men who had advanced, only two thousand remained. In exchange for forty eight thousand Loyalist troops, the Freiburgers, women and children and old people fighting for their homes and for revenge against the murderors of their families, lost fifty seven thousand.
With less than fifty thousand survivors, it would seem that the Free Republic of Freiburg has failed. Exhausted and miserable, the few survivors of the force that took the breach lay down like dogs, unable to advance any further.

- Casualties to McPsychoville and 23Eris are unknown at this time.
- Following the Loyalist successes in the breach, nine thousand fresh conscripts were brought up.
- Danteri Government Security men came up with the fresh forces, and one Sergeant William Smith, the highest ranking survivor of the attacking force, who rallied his men and led them to victory over the Freiburgers when all looked to be lost, was shot on the spot by Danteri Government Security for treasonous incompetance as he "allowed his unit to suffer such casualties".
- As a result of his execution, his former command revolted. Those two thousand tired veterans killed the Danteri Government Security men and their nine thousand fresh conscripts with contemptuous ease, then fled into the city. Their casualties in this, the first action of their revolt, are believed to be around one thousand. Following their defection, the breach was left unguarded, and so fell once more into Freiburger hands.

The news of the disastrous assault on Freiburg (being reported by the Ministry of Propaganda, not wholly unfairly, as the Freiburg Massacre) had hit hard in the Gwazzarian chambers. The MASH unit there had been recieving the majority of the supplies, and was working hard to help the people in that city. As far as anyone knew, no one of the entire 4th Expeditionary Medical Company was still alive.

The Duke was sitting in his armchair at the marble table, his eyes rimmed with red from multiple causes. He fiddled nervously with an unlit cigar in one hand, occasionally setting it down to fiddle with a fountain pen instead. "This... this doesn't wholly change things for us, it only modifies the situation a bit. We can't yet throw in any forces against the Loyalists."

"Are you sure? We still have the fleet on stand-by, and could be on the shores within -"

"We're not doing anything, right? Bertling still needs to be sold on all this, and we don't have a response from Haraki yet. We have to wait, and see." He finally got around to lighting the cigar. "Also, across from the memorial to the Bertling forces, begin one for the 4th. The hedge maze was overgrown and useless anyways, may as well make that our memorial garden."

--------------------------

Gwazzaria has sent a very angry message to the Loyalists, condemning their recklessness. Other than that, no action has been taken.

OOC: Yes, Freiburg is still independant - they just have under fifty thousand people now, and so aren't likely to remain independant.

[Captain Corrol]
Due to recent losses of Loyalist soldiers; Zukaria is sending in the Third Assault Force as of now. We are going to crush these rebels!

-The Third Assault Force-an editional 20,000 men-is being sent to Danteri from Zukaria.

General Yeltzin looked at the satellite pictures, the explosion had literally ripped the north-east sector of Freiburg out of the ground and threw it into the sky only for it to reurn in bits and pieces. He smiled.
" Call yourselves independent do you, ha" He laughed.
"The idiots probably won't find out it was us that did it" He sat at his desk with an evil Grin upon his face. A corporal entered the room.
"Sir, the first units of the Black Stars are here." Said the corporal.
The General left the buliding and got into his private jeep.
"To the docks." He ordered his driver.

The Black Stars were the world elite, but the world didn't know about them because officially the didn't exist or weren't supposed to. They were all dressed in black combat gear, gas masks covered their faces and were not to be removed. Their weapons were the latest technology that other nations like Americos were trying to steal, to say they were well trained was an understatement. There were even rumours that the Black Stars were made from dead soldier reassembled and genetically engineered to be perfect killing machines. Nobody except the Black Stars themselves and a few others really knew anything about them. General Yeltzin had heard rumours about the Black Stars from when he was in his military training years but had disregarded them as nonsense and now they were here, under his command.

(OOC: This is what my Black Stars look like;
http://h1.ripway.com/xexe/Folder%20Name/hires3.jpg
http://h1.ripway.com/xexe/Folder%20Name/hires4.jpg
http://h1.ripway.com/xexe/Folder%20Name/hires8.jpg
They are from playstation game called killzone and are really helghast but they look so damn cool)

OOC: Danteri, I think a new map is needed

OOC: I agree. Working on it now.

OOC: The whole situation is a bit messed up, i think we should find out who is sided with who before any more events are posted. Agree?

OOC: I quite agree, Oompli. Here are the main Danteri factions, now who's sided with which faction?
Danteri Loyalist Government: General Krieger, lawful government of Danteri, lots of warcrimes.
Danteri Rebels: The People's Commitee on Revolution, communist rebels, occupy Southhaven
The Free Republic of Freiburg: Freiburg Militia, sort-of city-state, lost tons of people to nerve gas attack and fuel-air bomb. Now in bad condition, with only about fifty thousand people left out of two million originally.

OOC- This forum is strange, at times I can't post and there is no reason.

You can guarantee that Zukaria is with the Loyalists.

OOC: General Krieger and his Loyalist Troops have Oomplis support
New map;
http://h1.ripway.com/xexe/danterimapIV.GIF
I will try to clean it up soon, real world is dragging me down.

OOC: You can ensure yourselves that Haraki is currently neutral and only in the conflict in any way to prevent excess loss of civilian life.






The Harakian naval forces that had been dispatched to intercept the nerve gas shipment readily accepted the surrender of the ship's civilian crew, but as a precaution secured the entire ship with several squads of marine boarding crews and piloted the ship with a Harakian naval crew. It was to be escorted, not back to the Harakian island base but rather to an unspecified location where naval divers and weapons inspectors would take all precautions to ensure there were no sarin gas leaks or external threats such as bombs to ensure the destruction of the containers and the release of the deadly nerve agent. Only then would it be allowed to Harakian territory, where all the gas would be disposed of as carefully as possible.

The other naval task force had arrived at the Harakian-controlled port just north of the safe zones, and the convoy carrying the Harakian citizens and preparing to bring back the aid supplies on the ships had been dispatched, again under the command of Captain Lexington. Two companies of troops were dispatched to prevent any attacks by the group of bandits operating there or by any of the factions. Air cover from the HNS Kite was present in the form of two flights of Harakian planes overhead at all times and another one over the ships.

Meanwhile, a very special cargo had arrived from Haraki. One transport plane had landed in a Harakian-constructed airfield outside one of the safe zone cities, and unloaded ten Combined Expeditionary Force commandoes: Quite simply the best soldiers in Haraki. Highly trained commandoes, skilled in behind-lines logistical warfare. Of course, Haraki would never admit to their presence. They wore camouflage clothing that could make them from any of the present factions, and carried non-faction specific weaponry and equipment. If they were captured, nothing could give them away as being Harakian. They didn't even wear dog tags. Of course, the sheer level of training they went through meant that they most likely wouldn't ever be caught or come anywhere close to it.

They were there to investigate the labour camps and, if authorized, conduct behind-lines raiding on Loyalist targets. Communications stations, airfields, fuel depots - Anything that would stop the Loyalist onslaught. Primarily, though, theirs was a reconnaisance mission. They had enough supplies to last months in the countryside, and enough training to scavenge for years. They spent one night in the safe zone city before leaving with a routine Harakian patrol, breaking away, and disappearing into the countryside.


*


Official transmission
[From: Prime Minister Jaime Wolfe of Haraki]
[To: All nations siding with the Loyalist Danteri Government]

Although Haraki is neutral in this conflict and will remain so for the foreseeable future, I must urge all of you to reconsider your position in the Danterian conflict. Those of you supporting the Loyalists are supporting a faction that has willingly and gleefully slaughtered millions of its own citizens, imprisoned millions more, and is committing genocide on an unprecendented scale through the use of such weapons as nerve gas and fuel air bombs, the closest conventional equivalent to a nuclear bomb.

The Loyalists have, to date, counting only direct military attacks on civilian targets, killed in excess of three million citizens, more than the population of entire nations. Millions more have been imprisoned in labour camps to manufacture low-quality weaponry for the conscripted Loyalist soldiers. When they are no longer useful to the Loyalists, they are forced to dig their own graves and are systematically executed, looted and buried in mass graves. Satellite photographs of these camps are enclosed in this message.

For whatever reason, you have chosen to support the Loyalist faction. I am not urging you to support any other faction, and respect you may have ideological concerns preventing you from siding with any other faction. However, I urge you to withdraw all aid from the Loyalist government as retribution for their senseless attacks on civilian targets. In addition to their attacks on cities with nerve gas and fuel air bombs, they have attacked international medical stations, murdered political dissidents, bombed refugee columns, attacked neutral factions in the war, tortured prisoners and hostages, and suppressed protesting violently with military force.

All these things combine to make a regime that cares not a whit for its civilians, only for its capabilities to wage war against those who oppose it. We here in Haraki urge you to reconsider your stance in the conflict, if only by withdrawing your support from the Loyalist faction. That is all.


Jaime Wolfe









OOC: Danteri, the CEF commandoes won't attack unless attacked. They also, most likely, won't be discovered by any faction, and anything they do could probably be blamed on rebel commandoes anyway.

They reached the Haraki Safe-Zones just as dawn came over the horizon. As the sun light touched their skin, Alexander Johansson came forward, to speak with the Haraki one last time before they parted ways.
"I hope you have good lives, and all that," he said, seeming to genuinely mean it as he continued, "I want you to remember all of this. When I came and got you from the convoy, I had hoped that we would part our ways here as the rebel army shelled Danteri City into submission. I find I am mistaken. It now seems that, with our foreign allies inactive and the hordes of the Loyalist army knocking at the very gates of our fortresses in Southhaven, the war is lost. That might be the case, but... I have to say, I will keep fighting until the end. Such monstrous crimes as have been commited by General Krieger and his minions must not be ignored. Please, tell the world about what you have seen here, because... because, in the end, someone needs to know, needs to remember. It can't have all been for nothing, all that killing. Let it mean something. Please?" With that, he turned to go, a tear in his eyes.
Without a backwards glance, the rebel commandos melted into the muddy hills of Easthaven.

General Krieger was killed in bed by an assassin of unknown origin. The assassin was brought down in a hail of gun fire by Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers on guard at the Leader's Palace while she fled, the task done.
Apparently, Krieger was stabbed eighty-seven times in the chest with a small knife, his throat was cut, and the body was "mutilated" after death. Accoardingly, it is assumed that the assassin had personal motivations for the murder, whatever they were.
As General Krieger is dead, a new man is ascending to the rank of Supreme Leader, Paul Von Easthaven, head of Danteri Government Security, who is famous for cruelty and vicious sadism. Already, he has responded to his new power by purging the Danteri Army. Hundreds of officers, and their entire families, were rounded up and shot. It is currently assumed that this new man will be a more efficient and competant leader than General Krieger, but will likely be even crueler - if that is even possible.

[To: General Paul Von Easthaven]
[From: General Yeltzin]
I am sorrowed at the of the loss of general Krieger but am happy to see that you have taken his place. You seem to be a strong man and a capable leader, Oompli gives you its support. Leaders are being targetted by commandos too often now for my liking, I do not fear for my own life now as I have my Black Star body guards to protect me. I have been ordered to send a company of Black Star troops to be placed under your command, consider it a gift.

Status;
-Black Star teams have become active all over Danteri, the small groups of men had been in hiding all over the country long before Danteri began this civil war.
-The Black Star teams have begun operations in friendly as well as enemy territory, their main aims are to destroy fuel depots, command posts, anti air installations, airfields, radar stations, port facilitys and small concentrations of enemy units. Secondary objectives are to disrupt communications, troop movements, destroy infastructure and harrass medical and pow camps.
-There are over 5000 Black Star troops in Danteri not including those that just arrived. The units range in size from groups of 5 to company size units.
-Black Stars are trained in stealth and operate best at night but are deadly during the day, they can destroy a company of troops with a force one tenth of the size and then slip away leaving no trace.
-Black Stars have been reporting many succesful attacks on the Rebels camps, fuel depots, ammunition dumps and command posts with no casualties so far, Rebel casualties are unknown at this time.
OOC: If you have any problems with this I can change it

OOC-that kind of sucks. I really like General Krieger. :( I do like how you don't guarantee that leaders will survive, though. Hehe.

[Captain Corrol]
Damned rebels!! This is the ultimate insult to Loyalist and Zukarian soldiers alike!! It is time we finally destroyed these bastards! The Third Assault Force is now in Danteri, and will be at the lines within two days. As you are now leader of the Loyalist forces, I give you full rights to order these men. It is time these rebels, as well as whats left of Frieburg, die. Each of their deaths will be all the worse because of this mutilation of General Krieger's body. When we win this war, we'll make sure he has a great memorial.

-The Third Zukarian Assault force has arrives, consisting of:
-20,000 Zukarian soldiers
-A small company of Special Ops
-100 Tanks
-200 Planes
-150 Artillery Guns

OOC: Oompli, I have problems with the sheer number of Black Stars you have deployed, and the fact that you claim they were in Danteri before the war broke out. First of all, having 5,000 special forces troops at all is a bit extreme. Most nations in real life have much less than that, even the ones bigger than your nation. By comparison, Britain's SAS (Although I can't find an exact number) is a couple of hundred people in the active division. America's Navy SEALs have about one and a half thousand active troops, Delta Force has around 2,500, and Canada's JTF2 has about 2-300.

So besides the fact that having 5,000 elite troops is an unreal number, there's also the fact that with that big a unit, people are going to know about it. You cannot keep complete secrecy with a force that big. Hell, JTF2 has a couple hundred people and the Canadian government has a hard time keeping it under its hat.

Third and finally, you claim to have had these 5,000 troops in Danteri since long before the war actually started. First of all, why? Do you just keep five thousand armed and dangerous men in every nation around the globe? Did you even know Danteri before this conflict started? How did you get them in, with the government on such high alert? And if you have 5,000 men in one nation just to keep tabs in case your government decides to intervene in a war that doesn't exist yet, how many do you keep in other nations? How many are there overall? I shudder to think of it.

Listen, we all want to 'win'. Everybody in this conflict wants their side to come out on top. But using just huge numbers isn't the way to do it. And everybody wants to have an edge, and in your case it seems having them in the country for a while is that edge. But claiming to have 5,000 invisible troops that can destroy forces ten times their size just takes any fun out of roleplaying the game. I hope you'll change it. Because really, that's just nuts.

OOC: Yeah, I have to agree, having that many people waiting in Danteri is a bit unrealistic, but other than that, if your troops were just "moving in", with the rest of your military, then it might be OK - you're a great RPer, just consider realism. Your stories are good, so I can understand why you get carried away in them, but I have to agree with Haraki - that many troops simply is godmodding.

OOC: Since he's the new Loyalist commander, here's something on him, an intel file, shall we say?

Paul Von Easthaven
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Age: 37

Born into an upper-middle-class family in Oston (a small city now in the Haraki Safe-Zone), Paul Von Easthaven showed, even at a young age, the cruelty and sadism necessary for a career in Danteri Government Security.
After torturing one too many cats, he was arrested on charges of animal cruelty. The Security Police wanted to send him to rehabilitation, but their decision was overruled by Danteri Government Security. At that point, apparently at around age nine, he became a Cadet-Agent.
The next six years of his life are unclear - aparently, he recieved schooling along with other Cadet-Agents. After those six years were up, he was immediatly promoted to full Agent - that in and of itself is unusual. It appears that he killed three of his fellow students in fights during his time there - rather than be punished, he was rewarded.
After his elevation to full Agent, Paul Von Easthaven apparently was assigned to root out "traitors" in Freiburg. He did this quite well, serving under General Krieger during the Freiburg supression. Following two years of that, he was reassigned to the "Labor Camps" in Nord-Lund, where he apparently recieved commendations for cruelty.
After that, he rose rapidly to become Camp Director, a post which he maintained until his sudden elevation to the rank of head of Danteri Government Security following General Krieger's equally unexpected elevation.
It appears that he had performed (was performing?) some personal favors for General Krieger, which is likely a reason for his sudden elevation to such a high rank.
All in all, Paul Von Easthaven is a cruel, sadistic monster of a man, believed to have been born sociopathic, who was delibrately molded into a more cruel, more sadistic being, rather than reformed. His record speaks of brutal efficiency and total ruthlessness. Worst of all, he is unlikely to be corrupt, as General Krieger was, or the first Supreme Leader. This is so because, it appears that Paul Von Easthaven is a genuine patriot, a genuine True Believer in the glory of Danteri. That, perhaps, is the most frightening thing of all.

"So we have a man with all the fanaticism of Ostermann, and twice the cruelty of Krieger? That's just fantastic." The Duke was lying in bed, while Leeroy read him the news. Vandegraff had decided he'd only get up if the day seemed worth living in, and this day wasn't shaping up that way.

"He's also relatively young - about as old as you, sir. No health problems that promise to do him in anytime soon."

"Hopefully this'll cause relationships with their allies to deteriorate further. Though if the atrocities so far haven't already caused them to start reconsidering, I don't know what will," Vandegraff scratched his nose while he thought. "Tell Hogan to find who would be the successor to this von Easthaven, if he happened to pass away, would you? Freiburg is in ruins and we lost an entire Company, I don't want to see things get worse. Also, have the Ettenbach on standby to extract any companies still in Loyalist territory."

--------------------------------------------

The Expeditionary Medical Companies still in Loyalist territory (one between Westgate and the McPsychoville territory, and one in Danteri City) are getting twitchy. They've begun keeping the cargo helicopters ready for departure at any time, but have been acting very polite to Loyalist soldiers.

In honor of the man who I consider to be my real role model, I would like to inaugerate the new Danteri national motto - "WWSD - What Would Stalin Do?" This motto apropriatly shows the level to which we should aspire. Stalin had the right ideas - he just didn't take them to their full, correct, extents. Sure, his gulags were a nice attempt, but, all in all, he was a rank amateur! We, of course, are doing our best to do a far better job than he ever could do. After all, we have Danteri Government Security on our side! All he had was the NKVD...

- Thousands of suspected rebels, their families, their friends and their friends families, are all being rounded up and shot in a major purge of the civilian populace. Around eighty thousand were shot today, and it is believed that as many as one hundred thousand are being held for later execution.
- A major purge of the Army: Dozens of senior officers are being arrested and shot be Danteri Government Security. This will, of course, have a negative effect on the performance of the Danteri Loyalist Army.

OOC: I agree with your arguments and believe I was going a bit over the top. Would around a hundred men be ok and the reason the were already there was that they were sleeper units. Like the sas they are in small groups in countries all over the world and there is no reason why I could not have known about the war before it started as countries intelligence agencies are able to recognize these things. After 9/11 in the damaged part of the pentagon there were pulling russian bugs out of the rebel and theres rumours that the whitehouse is bugged too.

Status;
-100 Black Stars are now active in Danteri

Two thousand Loyalist conscripts, barely able to lift their rifles, too young to shave, marched through the mud of southern Nord-Lund. They were tired. They were hungry. They were miserable. It had been two days since the last time they had eaten, and then it had only been hard bread made from equal parts turnip and saw dust.
Danteri was starving. Already, most of the men of military age had died, and those who hadn't were already fighting. Now, both sides were pulling together every scrap they could find, conscripting ten year old boys. Already, in spite of Danteri's generally backward views on womens rights, both sides were using women as soldiers. This war had gone on too long, had been allowed to last too long.
As the Loyalist collumn passed in between two clusters of rocks, the rebel commandos struck. Machine gun fire cut down Loyalists, cut down boys in tattered uniforms whose fathers had already died in this same war. The Loyalists died in great numbers, unable to fight back against an enemy they could not even see.
The rebels moved in, firing assault rifles as they advanced slowly. Loyalists died terribly, blood flowing into the soupy mud of southern Nord-Lund. Then, as the last few Loyalists died, one of them fired a burst that hit a target.
It was quiet, the fighting had ended. Two thousand Loyalist soldiers, children really, had perished. In exchange, only one rebel commando had fallen. They found him in the mud, face down, the last burst from a Loyalist gun, the Loyalist bullets that had hit, those that had found their mark.
He lay still, and when they turned him over, they saw that he was Alexander Johansson. His face was covered in mud, a bit of blood stained what had once been pale flesh. Yet... upon that face, that face of a man who had hoped for peace, there was a calm, serene expression, as though he was almost glad that the end had come.

- Two thousand Loyalist conscripts have gone missing.

OOC: OK, 100 is a much better number!

Two thousand gallons of diesel fuel exploded as the tanker truck was hit with an Anti-Tank rocket. In seconds, the Loyalist vehicle repair yard was filled with screams, gun fire and the sound of grenades going off here and there. Terrified technicians ran about, guards shot each other and the technicians they were supposed to guard as they paniced, and no one thought to check the fuel storage out back.
By the time the loud and open rebel commando attack had ended, six dozen Loyalists were dead, and a tanker truck and two supply trucks had been destroyed. All in all, enough of a disaster for one day...
It was only later, when the supply trucks they had fueled up tried to start that they learned the real reason for the attack. The entire fuel supply in the bunkers this base had guarded had been contaminated. Every vehicle that tried to start with that fuel not only didn't start, it blew up. All in all, over twenty thousand gallons of fuel had to be discarded. In a war where both sides were begining to starve for resources, such a blow was a major one.

- Rebel Commandos hit a vehicle repair and supply base deep inside Loyalist territory, killing a few dozen men, destroying a few trucks... and, contaminating twenty thousand gallons of fuel.
- Fuel Shortage: The Loyalists were already short on fuel, this situation only worsens their need. As is, Loyalist vehicles will start running dry in a mere eight days.

Von Easthaven, the Danteri Supreme Leader, had the following to say about Haraki accusations of warcrimes:

Warcrimes? Those camps, where political prisoners, rebel prisoners of war, and rebel sympathizers are sent? I do not deny that we are systematically killing our prisoners after making them do work - in fact, I proudly and openly admit it! There is nothing there to be ashamed of - most nations have the death penalty! There is nothing different here, between executing a few rebels and shooting a few murderors! They are all the same!
This Message Approved by The Office of The Supreme Leader

Rebel Response
(The People's Commitee on Revolution)
Paul Von Easthaven says that there is nothing wrong with his death camps. That is laughable. He doesn't care about public opinion, he doesn't care about human decency, and he doesn't care how many people have to die so that he can maintain power. Both sides are crumbling in this war - there have been, by the last count, 10 million Danteri deaths. Such a death count is a horror that cannot be ignored! Simple humanity calls upon all who have seen these horrors to act! The enemy has strong allies, that is true, but, we have allied with the remnants of Freiburg! They act alongside us! We only hope that when the time comes, good people do not do nothing, and allow evil to triumph, but rather, do something, and prevent this monster from winning. He worships Stalin as a role model, he bows before the altar of hatred and death, and he feels no human compassion. How can such a man be tolerated as a leader? Even those dictatorships out there that are benevolent, how can you tolerate a man who murders children, then calmly talks of it as though nothing were wrong? How can you tolerate a man like this as a ruler, a leader? Paul Von Easthaven is a murdering tyrant who knows nothing but cruelty, and cares nothing for however much human suffering he must inflict is he is to rule! Paul Von Easthaven, Supreme Leader of the Loyalists, is not a man, but rather, a monster.

OOC-you really are a good writer.

[Captain Corrol]
The situation here in Danteri is getting worse and worse as they days go by, ever since the death of General Kreiger. Easthaven, sir, I advise that you stop killing your own men. I can only do so much for you. I'm willing to send you the supplies you need, but you can't keep doing this. I don't wish any insult, but you are hurting the Loyalists more than helping when you kill off your own men.

-The Third Assault Force has arrived at the lines. Until Easthaven needs them somewhere else, thats where they will be.
-Zukarian forces have continued air raids all across Rebel territory. Rebel deaths are unknown.
-A barrage of 40+ artillery shells hit all across the rebel held side of the battle lines. Rebel deaths are unknown.
-Zukarian casualties lay at 2845.

New News:
- Likely reflecting their decreasing man power, the Loyalists have started conscripting every male over the age of ten and every woman who would be conscripted under normal circumstances if male. This will likely give them a new advantage in man power, although ten year olds likely won't be high quality troops.
- Rebels: The rebels haven't gone this far yet. However, they are still conscripting women too - they just haven't started on children yet.
So:
- Loyalists: Every male from age ten and up who can walk, every woman from age sixteen to forty who can walk.
- Rebels: Every man and woman from age sixteen up who can walk.
(By walk it is meant that they aren't bed-ridden, confined to a wheelchair or blind.)

OOC: Thanks.
As a result of the air-raids and artillery bombardment, some eighteen hundred rebels have perished. As a result, further Loyalist advances were possible.
As for their request that Paul Von Easthaven stop "killing his own men", they got this reply:
"I am not killing loyal Danteri officers - rather, I am having traitors and incompetants arrested and disposed of. However, if it suits your desires, I will cease in this effort until later on, perhaps even after the war is won. I need your help too much to argue!"
This Message Approved by The Office of The Supreme Leader

[Captain Corrol]
So long as we make those you suspect fight, it is ok. Once they are not needed, you can kill them all you want.

[Captian Corrol]
[To The People's Commitee on Revolution]
You claim that the Loyalists sent children to their deaths, but was it not your men who killed them? If you did not wish for children to die, could you not have taken them prisoner? Your people claim that Loyalist forces are cruel and corrupt, yet you have done what you claim is wrong. Your people are hypocritacal fools.

OOC: Oompli, that's a much better number. Although also, probably only about a dozen of them would be sleeper agents, while the others could have arrived with your other troops. In any case, all's well that ends well.





Lexington's convoy had reached the ports and dropped off the Harakian civilians, who were taken onto the ships, which left back for the island base and their tickets back to Haraki. At the same time, Lexington's convoy loaded yp the supplies dropped off by the transports and headed back to the safe zone cities, where the new humanitarian aid could be put to good use.

The impounded ship carrying the massed amount of sarin gas has been escorted to a remote location, where navy divers and weapon disarmament teams are thoroughly checking every part of it to ensure there is nothing which will set off the gas.



The ten CEF commandes are making their way rapidly towards the labour camps. They have so far avoided combat with any of the factions or any columns of refugees. Also, an entire flight of large, long range, high altitude stealth bombers is ready with smart bombs and long range missiles in a Harakian airfield. The range of these bombers is more than enough for them to get to Danteri and back to Haraki, the onboard stealth technology makes them nearly invisible to radar, especially outdated kinds such as the Harakians assume the Danterian Loyalists are using, and their maximum altitude makes them untouchable by all but the most advanced fighters, allowing them to drop large payload smart bombs with precision accuracy from above fighter range in the upper atmosphere.

So the advertisements claim, at least.

[To: Paul Von Easthaven]
[From: General Yeltzin]
I am pleased to tell you that the President of Oompli has answered my request for reinforcements and is sending the 3rd infantry division, with these extra numbers we shall press forth and destroy these rebels. With the recent reorganisation of our forces we have a large surplus of fuel and supplies that you are welcome to.
Status;
-Oompli 3rd Infantry division will arrive in a few days
-Black Stars strike rebel forces behind enemy lines, they have orders to take no prisoners, one casualty reported.
-Black Stars stage rescue attempt on rebel pow camp, initial reports indicate no casualties with a high number of pows released.
-Westgate 'rebel sympethisers' rounded up by Oompli forces in order to prevent assasination attempts.
-The Oompli carrier Venator was damaged when it hit a mine, 2 casualties reported.

[To: The Rebel command]
[From: President Packard]
It is with great displeasure that I have to tell you that due to anti-war rallies in the streets of Americos's fine cities we must remove our forces from Danteri. Our forces will be removed over a three day period, we have supplies that we can give you and military advisors will remain for your use. We hope you succed in your efforts.
Status:
-All Americosian forces are being removed from Danteri, the evacuation will take place over three days.
-Supplies of ammunition, medical kits and food are being transported to rebel supply depots.

2 Weeks Previously

As the man kneeling before the golden throne finished his summary the God-Emperor's serene face creased in an expression well known to those in his court as one of agitation, and displeasure

"Rise General Khalith, know that thou hast delivered most unsettling news to thy Emperor. However Know that thou shalt not be punished for such an indiscretion, only thy superior shall be brought to justice for his inattention to this 'Situation'. Send forth the Decree to my loyal Admirals, Mobilise all
currently active ships in the Imperial Navy. They are to immediately begin the transferral of food and supplies to the shattered remnants of that place they called Freiburg. We are most Displeased with the actions of the Danterian government, and as such we also decree that the Imperial Armour and Infantry Divisions are also to be mobilised. This my will, and so it shall be done."

The Lord High Chamberlain rings a gong three times, its chime filling the room, a signal to the messengers to light the Holy Fire. At last The Holy Empire of Soloriel was mobilising for war

Today

The Imperial Navy group "Sanctity" sculled across the water gracefully, proudly displaying the flag of Soloriel aboard each ship. From the largest Carriers to the smallest Frigates, each man under Soloriels service was proud and Honoured to serve the Immortal God-Emperor thus. as the coast line of North Eastern Nord-Lund slowly came into View.

In the Ships command center, Admiral Hethran studied the map, the Solorien Spy Sattelites had provided him a few hours previously, he did not anticipate any problems yet, but he knew as well as any other officer aboard his ship, that what he 'Anticipated' and what was more likely to happen was often wildly different. As such he relayed his orders to the hanger bays of the Reconciliation heavy Aircraft Carrier:

"All flight crews to report to stations immediately, this is a general quarters alert, all flight crews to report to stations immediately, I want three squadrons of planes in the air within the hour. For the Glory of the Emperor!"

As he placed the microphone back in its stand, he turned to face his bridge crew, noting the look of pride and excitement on there faces, he spoke with a firm tone "Know now that we are here for the full evacuation of all remnant Civilian assets from the blasted remains of Freiburg, we are to provide long range naval support to that effect. Under no circumstances are we to deploy heavy Munitions unless fired upon by the Danteri government, our orders are clear people out of that hellhole, and to protect and purify if need be. You all know your dutys, now attend to them immediately. Dismissed."

As his bridge crew dispersed he sent a short burst wave transmission to the rest of the Fleet, ordering them to drop anchor when within 200 Miles of the coast of Nord-Lund. Afterwards he sent out an all frequency message to whoever may be listening to declare his intentions:

"To those engaged in this conflict, I bring you tidings of great displeasure from the Holy Palace of our most mighty and Esteemed Emperor. We are here to evacuate the remaining survivors of the brutal attacks on Freidburg. We are siding with nobody in this conflict as of yet, but be forewarned that we are prepared to answer any attacks upon our fleet with immediate Force.

ooc: I hope nobody minds me joining this little party do they? My ships troops and airforces are currently on standby and readouts are as follows:

Naval Assets:
13 Heavy Aircraft Carriers
9 Destroyers
7 Frigates
5 Heavy Troop Transports
4 Typhoon Class Submarines

Military Assets:
20,000 Imperial Infantrymen
500 Tanks
200 Heavy Artillery Guns
300 Assorted Support and Logistics vehicles

Airforce (Currently stationed aboard the Carriers):
21 Avro Vulcan Bombers
104 MiG-29 Fulcrum Fighters

I know this is an excessive number of troops ships and aircraft, but the Empire prides itself on its military strength and with over 20% of the population Conscripted into the armed forces at a population of over 2.09 billion.... Well thats a lot of muscle to throw around. :p

OOC: Sorry for the delay, busy weekend and a new computer ;-)

The FAE explosion in Freiburg damaged but did not destroy any planes from 23Eris, though many sustained moderate to heavy damage. The real loss was in human life. Over 100 men and women were killed or injured during the explosion which also damaged the runways of the airfield. Fortunately, both aircraft 23Eris used in Danteri were designed for rough take off and landing, and the JA Multirole craft was built with the ability to use hastily built dirt or ice runways. The JA's were able to provide much needed air support during the loyalist attack on Freiburg, each plane flying dozens of sorties. Even the air superiority SU-27s were loaded with free fall explosives and sent to bomb the attackers. One of each type of aircraft was destroyed during the attack, but the planes continued operation ensured at least temporary air-superiority in the sector.

Midnight, sometime after the attack, a trio of JA-37 attack aircraft flew low, skimming the terrain as they headed southwards towards their target. Each aircraft was armed with a single guided missile as well as a few air to air and radar seeking missiles. As they neared Danteri City each plane popped up, reaching a height of one thousand feet where they launched their guided missiles. Two were programmed to strike at the headquarters of the dreaded Danteri Government Security, while the third headed for a building determined by intelligence to be a chemical weapons installation (whether it actually is, who knows for sure...). The planes then launched their radar homing missiles at the anti-air radars that tried to lock on them before returning to a few hundred feet above the ground for the trip back to base.

Airdrops of food, supplies, and other goods continue in Freiburg, as does the unloading of one brigade of the 3rd infantry, transported via air.

In the south, Convoy II begins taking on refugees and seriously wounded who need treatment back in 23Eris.

It was cold and rainy, just like any other day in northern Nord-Lund. The few survivors of the populace of the once-mighty city of Freiburg huddled in ruined buildings against the cold, preparing themselves for the end that was to come.
In one ruin, the shattered reamins of what had once been an apartment building, two men sat on the edge, looking down on the breach that the Loyalists had blasted into the wall yesterday. With them, they kept a 23Eris-made machinegun, ready to fire should the Loyalists attack. It had been a hard night, knowing that the Loyalists would attack at dawn, if not sooner, and many had not had the strength to ready themselves to fight - it had been a long, cold night, waiting for a dawn that promised only death.
Already, a priest went from man to man behind them, hearing confessions, absolving the men of their sins so that they could die... everyone knew they were doomed.
The first man, who had once been a teacher, turned to the man beside him, a large man who rarely spoke and had once been a factory worker. With a little bit of hesitancy, he asked the larger man,
"Do you want to go and pray? I mean, I could watch for the enemy..." the other man interupted him,
"No. I don't see much need for prayer. If things are this bad, then God must have lost His war with Satan. This world... this world can't go on like this much longer..." Then, the Loyalists began to advance, firing innaccurate artillery, sending waves of terrified conscripts forward with boxy, poorly made rifles... sending boys of age ten forward with fine words of glory and whispered threats of violence echoing in their ears.
The man who had been a school teacher whispered a prayer, one that pleaded for forgiveness from the sins that this war had forced upon him... and then, he began firing the machinegun.
Boys like those he had taught crumpled and died as his fire found them, boys who he might have helped to find their ways, little children, they died. He fired, tears in his eyes, as young boys who had never been taught, who would never be taught, perished. These children he killed for no reason other than that they wore tattered rags that merked them out as Loyalists... these boys who might have been artists, poets or saints... so many murdered in the snow drifts of Nord-Lund, killed so that Freiburg might live for a few seconds longer.
Finally, as the oncoming tide of screaming flesh rushed nearer, the man who had been a teacher stopped firing, could not bear it any longer. Tears still in his eyes, he released the grip of the machinegun, and looked up into the uncarring sky, screaming a question at the top of his voice: "Why?!?"
Then, the 23Erisian bombers came out of nowhere, and the rushing tide of weeping, bleeding, humanity was halted. It was over. Already, the few Loyalist survivors were surrendering, yielding in hope of mercy. It was over, but... what was the use? The mad men of the High Command would only attack again tommorrow... what was the use of all this killing if it only bought one more day of life. Turning to his friend who had fed his machinegun, turning to ask him the question of why they fought, that man who had been a teacher, who had taught and then killed, could not help but feel a fatalistic sense of the uselessness of continued existance... if it was to be like this.

- Freiburg Resists: In spite of the latest Loyalist attempts to take Freiburg, Freiburg has held for one more day. The defenders suffered around 1,000 casualties, three or four times that many wounded, the Loyalists lost around 2,000 men killed, 6,000 captured. Such an event indicates the generally low morale present in the Loyalist forces.

The War Room underneath Danteri City was silent. All attention was focused on Paul Von Easthaven, as he screamed obscenities at a cowering young man. Finally, in a fit of rage, he drew his sidearm, and aimed it at the man. The young man, an officer who had brought disappointing news from Freiburg, cowered even more so, and even whimpered a bit.
With an inhuman shriek, the Supreme Leader emptied his pistol's magazine into a computer that happened to be sitting nearby. The officer relaxed, then was rewarded with a bare handed blow to the face.
Paul Von Easthaven, psychotic war lord of Danteri, screamed to the assembled high ranking officers, spittle flying as he foamed at the mouth like a mad dog: "I want advances! You hear me, advances?!? I demand servitude! You say you stopped advancing when 8,000 men were killed or captured?!? From now on, no one breaks off an attack without personally checking with me! I would have gladly given eight hundred thousand men, yourselves included, to have taken that position! Freiburg is a blight upon our proud nation's soil - it must be cut out, made to serve, or better yet, reduced to rubble! As the Romans did with Carthage, so shall we do with Freiburg!" At that, he reloaded his sidearm, then holstered it.
Smilling, he added, "Oh yes, and fetch a new computer... I seem to have broken this one."

- Having seen that Paul Von Easthaven is a total friggen psycho, the morale of the Loyalist General Staff will suffer... and, through them, the morale of the entire Loyalist army will likely be affected.

As the Haraki convoy returned to the Safe-Zones, four hundred bandits armed with a wide assortment of weaponry attacked the convoy, apparently intent on robbing it.
Most of the bandits were high as they attacked, and so were not the best sort of fighters... however, they all kept on fighting until they were killed. In the end, with unknown Haraki casualties, 397 bandits were killed and three wounded and captured. None of the attackers managed to run away.

- Note: Four hundred bandits exactly is an odd number - too even to be normal. Perhaps this attack was staged?

[Captain Corrol]
As we can see you are in need of help with Frieburg, we can send soldiers to aid you. If you need it. I can assure you that my men will not give up until Frieburg is nothing more.

Admiral Hethran studied the latest reports and images from the Imperial spy satellites once more, it seemed as though the loyalists were willing to keep the attack up until there was nothing left in Freiburg that could still breathe. Taking a deep breathe he considered his next move, to land troops now, could draw the Holy Empire into a war, and while he did not doubt that such a conflict would be easily resolved, he did not want to be the one responsible for any actions which may be the precursor to a full war. As he removed his peak cap and wiped his forehead free of sweat he considered his other options, to do nothing would surely end in more civilian deaths, and there orders were clear, do not engage heavy munitions unless fired upon first, and to evacuate and resupply any civilians possible. With these troubling thoughts in his mind, he reached for the microphone, and after placing his Officers Cap back on his head, he flicked the switch that would connect him to every other ship on his fleet.

"Men and Women of the Imperial Navy, We have heard nothing from the Danterian government as to our location here. All ships are to proceed at full speed to within 10 miles of the northern Nord-Lund coast and weigh anchor. I want all flight crews to prepare planes for immediate takeoff as soon as the carriers are in position. Men of the Imperial Army, I speak to you now with the authority of our most Glorious Emperor, your duty in his service requires that some if not most of you shall die, but i do not hold you to that yet. You are to land on the troop carriers on the beaches, you shall be watched over by our glorious airforce, and our mighty armour shall lead you safely into battle. Fear not your place in all this, we are here with HIS Divine Approval, and we shall carry out his orders to the letter! Long Life To Our Glorious Emperor!"


first actions:

- Wait for a rough idea of how many troops and guns are at the coast
- Bombard the coast with HE Shells from the Destroyers
- Sweep the Area with 52 of the MiGs to ensure no major enemy threat remains
- Land the troops and heavy armour establishing a beachhead into Nord-Land

Lexington's convoy was not badly damaged. With double the men he had had for the much longer trip to Danteri City, and more armed and armoured vehicles, including a dozen military jeeps and several wheeled APCs armed with light cannons and autocannons, he had been much better prepared for any attack. Adding into that the close air support air cover he had only minutes away, and the attack was over almost before it even got started. While travelling past a large hill, the bandits had attacked from over and beside it, and from a ditch on the other side of the road, some way away from it. They outnumbered the Harakian soldiers by a hundred men, but their shoddy equipment and poor training proved their undoing.

The Harakians were as prepared for the ambush as could be under the circumstances, and as their way was blocked by a makeshift barricade to prevent a quick escape, they pulled off the road to create good cover from the high ground. The main difficulty was the crossfire from the ditch on the other side, but the APCs managed to lay down covering fire with their 40mm autocannons, 50mm cannons and several machine guns from the jeeps, and keep the bandits in the ditch's heads down from several minutes until air support arrived and two attack planes cleared the entire ditch with several passes with their cannons and a laser-guided bomb sweep on any major pockets that remained. That quieted down the ditch quite a lot, until two squads could clear it easily.

The soldiers took cover behind the trucks, APCs and jeeps to return fire against the enemies on the hill and behind the roadblock. The APCs managed to demoralize the bandits enough that although they were drugged, they still did not fight as well as they could. The close air support destroyed the roadblock and the bandits hiding behind it, and the soldiers themselves beat back the bandits on the hill. One sergeant Alexander Erkhart distinguished himself by charging down a firing machine gun nest, sustaining multiple shots to the chest, and throwing a grenade beside it, which disoriented those inside enough that he could run up and kill all three of them with his pistol, his rifle having been lost in the mad dash up the hill towards them. At that point he turned the machine gun on its former allies and gunned down at least two dozen of them before he was relieved by two squads of troops that could only make it up to him thanks to his covering fire.

The Harakians' main casualties came when one of the military jeeps with a machine gun firing on those on the hill was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and exploded, sending bits of shrapnel everywhere. It hilled all three of the vehicle's inhabitants, including its gunner, and another two men who were using it as cover. Three more were injured by the explosion and five more by the shrapnel, only one severely. Besides those casualties, the Harakians sustained four deaths due to gunfire and a further dozen casualties, several of whom were critical and one of whom died on his helicopter ride back to the safe zone and the Harakian field hospital.

Lexington's convoy had lost nine men dead with a further eighteen wounded, one of whom died later, and one jeep lost, in exchange for an estimated four hundred killed enemies and three captured. Lexington himself was unhurt.



In addition to the CEF commandoes who were rapidly making their way towards the labour camps, the Haraki Intelligence Agency began its first involvement in the war, with a group of two computer hackers making their way through dozens of proxy servers throughout the world to mask their original signal location, and hacking into the Danteri Government Security files to discover when and where Paul von Easthaven and his entire command staff would be alone in a place with no civilians. It would be a perfect target for a bunker buster bomb dropped from the high atmosphere. Alternately, it would be a perfect target for the CEF troops to test themselves on.

(Paul Von Easthaven)
All right. We appreciate your offers of troops. Send as many as you can, but better than any number of cannon-fodder, send high quality artillery! Currently, our foreign M119 105mm Howitzers, the only good artillery pieces we posses, are tied up in Southhaven. Your army uses a lot of artillery - use some here! The Danteri Government thanks you for your offer.
This Message Approved by The Office of The Supreme Leader

The Loyalist men at the beach were not the best sort of fighters - they paniced, they screamed, their fire wasn't accurate, they weren't well enough trained to know how to react. In fact, it seemed that all they knew how to do was die.
The beach was held by sixty thousand conscripts with sixty mortars and fifteen low-quality Danteri-made field-guns. They also had, perhaps the most dangerous of the whole lot, one hundred Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers with twenty of the forty Anti-Shipping missiles that they had bought from abroad. All twenty missiles were fired, with unknown damage to the Solorielan landing forces.
In the end, by the time that the MiGs did a fly-by, fifty thousand of the un-trained, poorly equipped, Danteri soldiers were dead, along with the 100 elite Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers. The other ten thousand conscripts either cowered or broke cover in panic to fire small arms at the MiGs. Of course, they were easy targets for the Solorielan pilots - it was a "turkey shoot", and few Danteri soldiers actually retreated.
When the landing forces arrived, around two hundred Danteri soldiers surrendered to them. Most of these soldiers were either extremely young, not old enough to shave, or extremely old, barely able to hobble around with their rifles. Almost none of the conscripts had recieved any training at all - rather, they had been rounded up, given a gun and pointed at the enemy.

- A formation of sixty thousand Loyalist conscripts and 100 Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers was dispersed by the Solorielans. Most were killed or captured, and those who ran away have taken to the hills, likely to resort to banditry until they can return home.

The Gwazzarian government has recently issued another plea, based on the reports of its personnel in Danteri, for all sides to stop fighting. This plea requested nations assisting the Rebels keep in mind that most of the Loyalists they are killing are not neccesarily even willing soldiers, and certainly vastly under-aged in many cases.

"... this is another case of the old man's war being fought by the young. The Loyalist brass are not the ones on the front lines, and those who are don't even understand why they fight. ..."

Covertly, in a series of encrypted messages, the Gwazzarian government has suggested to nations such as McPsychoville that a project be taken to begin assasinations of Loyalist officers, while making special effort to capture instead of kill Loyalist soldiers.

Results:
- Electronic Warfare: In spite of the best Haraki efforts to breach the Danteri government computer network, they have been unable to do so - largely because Danteri is so backwards that it has no real computer network, rather, most of their files are on paper. However, they have been able to easily penetrate what passes for the Danteri computer network - there isn't much to be found there. Nothing on the meeting sites of the General Staff, at any rate.
- Haraki Commandos: The Haraki commandos have made excelent progress, and have been able to avoid contact with any hostiles... so far.
- Traitor: A Colonel in the Loyalist faction has contacted the Haraki, and has made an offer to assassinate Paul Von Easthaven in exchange for political asylum in Haraki for himself and his family, plus ten million Haraki dollars in a bank account in Haraki.

(The People's Commitee on Revolution)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
We feel that it must be pointed out that while the new conscripts the Loyalists are using are barely more than children, in fact, in some cases are children, they are still armed. We are not going to risk our men to take them prisoner when we are fighting a war we are already losing. Quite simply, while we would like to simply pat them on the head and send them home, we can't - we need to win, and they are armed. Have you not considered the rebel soldiers that these Loyalist child soldiers have killed? In the end, we have no choice but to continue on our present course of considering anyone who is armed and in a Loyalist uniform to be hostile - regardless of age. Unfortunately, that is the result that circumstance has forced upon us.

23Eris Movements in Danteri:

The 1009th Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division begins taking up strong defensive positions along the Freiburg line, reinforcing the Freiburg citizenry holding their positions. 23Eris has also established a field hospital and has begun evacuating the young and seriously injured on the planes delivering men and equiment to the airfield.

Meanwhile, Erisian planes begin attacking known loyalist artillery positions around Freiburg, hoping to reduce the Loyalists heavy weapons advantage. In addition, elements of the 1010th Brigade begin arriving in Freiburg, though with a lack of heavy weapons.

OOC: Any word on the 23Eris missile strike against Danteri City?

[Captain Corrol]
Easthaven, sir. I advise that we leave Frieburg to starve, to rot on its own. We should take care of the main threat, the rebels, first. Once they are dead, we can come back for Frieburg, in full and undivided force. However, if you wish to keep on with the assaults, I will send 10,000 troops from the Third Assault Force and 25 artillery guns. I also advise that before you go sending in new soldiers, or having them assault our enemies, you give them a proper training. Loyalist soldiers are being gunned down because they don't know how to fight. Even a child can be a dangerous enemy if he knows how to shoot.

-10,000 Zukarian troops are on stand-by, along with 25 artillery guns.

OOC-Note that messages between Captain Corrol and Easthaven are not public.

Results:
- Attack on Danteri City: The missile strikes against the Danteri Government Security HQ building failed (who knew they'd actually build an aircraft carrier's CIWS into a building?!?) The strike against the Chemical Weapons Plant went well - however, due to the strike, a quantity of VX gas was released into Danteri City - several thousand civilians and several hundred Loyalist soldiers have perished as a result.
- Freiburg: The unloading of the new soldiers in Freiburg continues, and is progressing nicely. The locals are eager to help, and the only problem encountered so far is that some children schedualed for evacuation are apparently so heavily indoctrinated that they are refusing to leave, saying that they need to "keep fighting against the southlander aggressor". However, most of them have "seen the light" and gone along with the evacuation when their parents / superior officers told / ordered them to do so.

Admiral Hethran Watched through his binoculars as the far away beach seemed to blossom once again with fire, he felt hi sheart fill with joy that the mighty forces of the Emperor were once again raining his divine justice upon the wicked. Thus he was shocked when his sonar specialist called out to him "Sir twenty unknown contacts inbound! They read as torpedos Sir!" The Aging Admiral grabbed the microphone and began to relay orders to the submarines to try and destroy as many as they could with counter-fire.

Within Minutes the calm surface of the water was ripped with a series of explosions, and Aboard the Reconciliation the sonar specialist called out his latest report "Eight contacts destroyed Sir and we read a further six that are likely to miss Sir!" The Admiral began to Order all ships to brace for Impact, when he felt the entire ship lurch with a bone shuddering force, and then panicked reports began pouring in from the engine bays. "Admiral direct hit to starboard screw! Ships hull is breached Sir!" The Admiral frantically yelled down the microphone "Seal off the area and prepare pumps!" All of a sudden to his left he saw a massive explosion tear through the water, and he realised with grim horror what had occured. "This is the Reconciliation to Submarine T114 Respond Over" after a few seconds of silence he repeated his message. "T114 Are you ok? Over." With a numbing shock he gantly placed the Microphone down in its slot and removed his hat. Turning to his crew he saw the grave looks upon there faces, as he informed them of the loss of Typhoon class Submarine T114 The Protector, he noted that they alll held there composure admirably. As he turned back to the microphone he ordered the launch of the Troop Carriers, and the Launch of the MiGs. As they roared away from their protective Carriers they screamed toward the Enemy filled with thoughts of bloody vengeance.

"This is strike leader Alpha 1, beginning strafing run over." Pilot James Lethris flew low releasing round after round of fire from his forward mounted cannon, noting with a certain sick pleasure the numbers of troops that fell before him and his squadron, as he completed his second run he noted that nearly all the enemy was fleeing toward the hills, there mission complete the MiG squadrons began the flight back to the carriers.

As Captain Jonathon Kirell finished his last checks of ammunition and equipment, he looked down with pride at his squad. These were the finest men he had ever had the pleasure of commanding. And as they approached the beaches he called out his final orders, as the did the myriad other Captains and other Officers aboard the troop transports that had taken them so very far from hom. "Men listen up! We are inbound on the beach, E.T.A 5 minutes, you are not to engage unless fired upon first do I make that clear soldiers! You are to stay in formation and allow the eavy armour to deploy first, stay behind them and spread out. we dont know how many well be facing here today. In HIS glorious name we are blessed with the chance to do Righteous Battle against those who would punish the Innocent and Harm the weak! Eternal Glory to the Emperor!" As his men repeated his declaration, the Tank Commanders were relaying orders to all in the Imperial Armoured Divisions, and the medical staff they were escorting prepared final checks, unsure of how many people they would be here to save today.

As the first Carrier slammed into the beach its might forward door slowly lowered onto the sand. As the Armoured Divisons began to trundle out all of the crews were on high alert, and formed a defensive crescent around the front of the troop carriers. the troops began pouring out, and as the first of the remaining Loyalists began to stream forwards the Commanders of eachBattalion called for cease-fire. They waited until the soldiers left threw there weapons to the ground, abd raised there arms in the air before they dispersed to capture them. The Medical teams were loaded aboard modified APC's and were sent out to see how many lives they could save, and out of the thousands of dead littering the beaches, they saved barely 20. As soon as the wounded were loaded upon the Troop carriers for treatment the Solorian's began to process them and register them, before sending them off to be treated inside the makeshift hospitals that were located aboard the carriers.

As the Beach began to form some kind of order, 300 Troops were ordered to start clearing the dead, to place them together in mass graves that would be marked by the army for later collection and proper reburial. Most of the soldiers began there duty without question, but Lance-Corporal James Ellik, found himself mourning the loss of so many innocent lives, and when he reached out with his hands to turn over another body, he realised it was just a young boy, barely 13, and his body was burnt beyond recognition. As the smell of cooked flesh assailed his nose he fell to his knees and retched until his stomach was empty. Other troops around him, looked at the display with little emotion, most of them having been trained so sufficiently that they saw these not as children and old men, but as enemys of the Holy Emperor.

Admiral Hethran allowed a small smile to spread across his features, as the news that the beach was secure reached him. "Well Ladies and Gentleman we did it. We took the beach and our first steps onto this land of bloodshed. I want you all to stay at high alert, well have half of the MiGs protecting us here, whilst the troops are occupied with securing more territory and pushing onto Freiburg." He turned away from the still solemn faces, and spoke into the microphone "Fleet we have taken the beach, prepare landing craft and get some of our logistical equipment over there to begin constructing our forward command post." Placing the microphone upon its stand he looked out again, at the patch of sea where the men and women of the Protector, had lost there lives.


Solorian casualties as follows:

1 Typhoon class Submarine T114 "Protector" with 168 crew on board.
6 Members of the crew of the Reconciliation were sealed in when the hull was breached. Bodies Yet to be recovered

(Paul Von Easthaven)
My dear friends, I feel that you must be reminded that I am fighting a war right now. The men you speak of are expendable cannon-fodder, not real soldiers. Their deaths are something that must be allowed for! After all, by merely stopping bullets that otherwise might have killed real soldiers, they do their duty.
As for your men, I would hope that you trained them at least a little before you sent them over here! However, if you are refering to some sort of training on conditions in Freiburg, then I will have your men given the same MOUT (Mounting Operations in Urban Terrain) courses that my own Danteri Army Special Operations units have recieved.
Those matters concluded, I shall simply say good luck against whatever enemies you face, may all your battles be easy ones, etc. After all, you deserve that if you have come to my aid! Well, goodbye and goodluck, etc. Here in Danteri, there is much that needs to be done.
This Message Approved by The Office of The Supreme Leader

[Captain Corrol]
My men have all the training they need. But, sir, even cannon fodder need to be able to kill enemies. And as far as I see, you are only sending in cannon fodder. Once my men arrive in Nord-Lund, I hope to see real men, rather than boys.

-The 10,000 Zukarian troops are on the move and should reach Nord-Lund soon.
-Because of the rapid population boosts that have been happening in Zukaria, a force of 40,000 is ready for deployment. They will only be sent to Danteri when direly needed.

The Loyalists have panic-built defenses just out of artillery range of the Soloielan landing zones. So far, it is believed that some eighty thousand conscripts have been deployed - including the first women to be used as combat troops by either the rebels or the Loyalists (OOC: Danteri is just backwards like that...)
The defenders are digging in as fast as they can, digging trenches, setting up mortar and machinegun positions, and deploying around eight hundred thousand anti-personell and one hundred thousand anti-tank land mines.
In addition to the low-quality conscripts, some thousand "real soldiers" from Danteri Army Special Operations have been deployed, along with ten (low quality Danteri made) tanks and eighty (low quality Danteri made) light fighting vehicles.
The defenders have been ordered to "hold to the last", and Danteri Government Security agents have been positioned behind the lines with machineguns and orders to kill anyone found to be retreating. As such, resistance is expected to be fierce.

(Paul Von Easthaven)
Thank you once more for the ten thousand men. Of course it is nice when cannon-fodder can kill "real soldiers", but when isn't it nice for a pawn to be able to take a "real" chess piece? Some things are just as they are, and cannot be any better. However, thank you for your advice, none the less. You can rest assured that, once this war is over, there will be major changes in the Danteri Army... however, until then, there just isn't enough time to train the cannon-fodder as well as they should be.
As for your reserve force of forty thousand men, I would like to point out that the Solorielans have just forced a landing. They have the strength to turn the tide of the fighting in Nord-Lund... as such, I would say that the present situation most certainly qualifies as dire!
Lastly, as for Freiburg, the mere fact that a rebel city still holds out in Nord-Lund is an affront to the six million dead Danteri. We must have a victory in Nord-Lund if we are to have any satisfaction at all! That much I feel with all my heart and soul, and must beg you to understand. Freiburg is an affront to the Danteri people, to me, and thusly, it is my moral obligation to crush Freiburg as soon as is possible. I just hope you understand.
This Message Approved by The Office of The Supreme Leader

The HIA was disappointed with their results. Danteri's government's computer network was one of the least advanced they'd ever had to break in. They had found nothing with no challenge, downloaded the entire system to sweep for any clues, and left without a trace. There was nothing. Nothing on the whereabouts of the new leader and his General Staff.

However, a secret message was sent to the colonel who offered to defect:


Although it is against both our moral principles and rules of engagement to condone either an assassination or the paying of anyone for such an act, we can promise you and your family asylum in Haraki for an indefinite amount of time as with any other Danterian citizen with no questions asked, and you may find that those who choose to go to Haraki find new economic opportunities and windfalls upon their arrival.



The HIA briefly considered sending a team to investigate the locations of von Easthaven and his general staff. However, it was decided it was too dangerous for anyone but military operators, and that the CEF forces could accomplish any of the such needed operations if they were needed.

Far above the beaches of Nord-Lund the first 3 flights of the Vulcans were beginning, having had there standard "Blue Steel" Nuclear missiles removed, they were instead carrying 21 1000lb bombs each. As they circled once, they began there sweep inland looking for pockets of Loyalist resistance, as the navigators aboard marked each one off they relayed information back to the fleet.

"Copy that Archangel 1, we read you loud and clear, targets confirmed. Hold fire until further orders, over." As the Admiral updated the tactical map aboard the Reconciliation he placed a series of red squares in the areas of most resistance, as he hummed softly to himself 'When the saints go marching in' As the last reports from the vulcans came in confirming enemy positions, he calmly looked across at communications Officer Uhtren, and nodded once. "Uhh we have a Green light for Deployment Archangel 1, repeat we have a green light." The Admiral looked over the map once, noting the positions of troops and equipment, letting out a deep breath, he half mumbled to himself "Its truly Begun."

Archangel 1 far above the ground nodded to the Co-pilot and together they began to maneuver the huge yet graceful plane into position to release their payload of explosives. In various locations dotted in the sky the other Archangel flights followed suite, and as they approached the targets they dropped down to optimal bombing height. As the final confirmation order came through all the pilots in the 4 Archangel Squadrons launched there deadly payload onto the enemy positions below. In all 12 Vulcans dropped their payload onto the target areas before climbing to their highest ceiling and veering away. The flight crews aboard each plane, could only wonder at the amount of damage to be caused so far below...

[Captain Corrol]
I understand. My men have orders to try and keep as much cannon fodder as possible alive. As per request, 40,000 men have been deployed from Zukaria. They should arrive at around the same time the 10,000 soldiers arrive in Nord-Lund.

-40,000 men have been sent from Zukaria to help in Nord-Lund.

The Loyalist defensive line has held in spite of massive Solorielan bombing - thousands died, and defensive positions were wreaked, but the Loyalists managed to get an impresive ammount of AA fire off (several hundred low-quality Danteri-made AA missiles), and have been reinforced with ten thousand new conscripts (entire villages are now being emptied, their inhabitants simply given a gun and a grey arm-band and told which way to point their gun), plus the 40,000 Zukariaan troops who are arriving even now.
In addition, twenty seven Talon class fighter-bombers and ten Loyalist MiGs are moving in to act as interceptors. (The Talons are formerly of the fascist rebels, the entierty of the land-based Danteri air force) (The Talon class fighter-bomber is an exemplar of low quality Danteri crap - it isn't worth much.)
All twenty seven Talon class fighter-bombers went down, as did eight of the ten MiGs. Solorielan casualties are unknown as of now.
Also: The Loyalists are asking Oompli, Bertling and Zukariaa for more air craft, as they are running low (six MiGs, a half a dozen incomplete Talon class fighter-bombers).

OOC-I guess if the 40,000 Zukarian soldiers have arrived, that means the original 10,000 was already there. Which means that 50,000 Zukarian troops are helping the Loyalists. I'm thinking that for the Loyalist conscripts to see real soldiers would help their morale, even if its just a little bit.

[Captain Corrol]
You have requested more planes, and Zukaria is willing to send what they can. We did not have many to begin with, and most are busy air raiding in Southhaven rebel territory. I can spare 17 Zukarian Fighter-Bombers. We can also send in more planes from Zukaria.

-Now that the Zukarian troops are in Nord-Lund with the Loyalists, the Loyalists have 25 Zukarian artillery guns, 15 tanks, and 17 Zukarian Fighter-Bombers (which have not arrived yet)

Archangel 1 ducked and weaved as another missile screamed passed him, his Vulcan was already heavily damaged and leaking fuel. The rest of his flight wing, 3 Vulcans in total were already dead and if it werent for the MiGs escorting the 3 flights he was sure he would have died.

Aboard the Reconciliation Admiral Hethran swore vehementtly as the casualty reports came in from the Archangel Flights, at least 1 entire squadron was down and another one was almost wiped out. Swearing to himself he turned to Officer Uhtren "Wire the following message back to the Imperial War College: Beachead Established, current Losses are minimal. Send second carrier group "Purity" to these co'ordinates." As he turned away he let out an exasperated sigh, who would have thought these foolish Infidels would be able to put up any kind of resistance! He cursed them and vowed that they would be quickly crushed in the name of the Emperor.

On the Beach, now codenamed Stronghold, Field Marshall Frederik Gautren surveyed the construction of the new command center a little further inland of the beach. Already the outline was taking shape, with a POW camp also being constructed to hold the current prisoners, and the ones he anticipated arriving soon. As soon as he heard the low roar from the returning Vulcan squadrons he smiled to himself and hoped that they had rained Fiery Death upon the Heretics. He watched with pleasure as the AA Defenses were erected around the Base, and Motioned for his 1st Lieutenant to come over. "Lieutenant Gerin Mobilise the 1st Imperial Mechanised Battalion, I want them to make a clean sweep of the the Grid coordinates surrounding us extending outwards of 2 miles. The latest intel indicates heavy resistance, so I expect your men to proceed with caution, we do not know how many traps have been laid in our path. As Lieutenant Gerin Saluted him he spoke with a rising sense of joy "Purify and Protect Field Marshal, Purify and Protect"

Solorian Casualties:

7 Vulcan Super Heavy Bombers
11 MiG 29s
3 Flight Crew from Archangel flight 3 considered MIA

The Solorielan mechanized units advanced up the hill... and were immediatly met with a veritable hail of machinegun fire and (low quality Danteri made) anti-tank rockets.
In spite of the Loyalist conscripts inexpert use of their heavy weapons, the sheer volume of fire was daunting - add into that the mortar barrage that began seconds later, and things began to look bad.
Then, the Zukariaan soldiers showed up, and the fighting got to be really bad.

- One thousand and eight Loyalist conscripts and 12 Loyalist Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers were killed as the Solorielans moved out to perform their recon mission.
- Over eighty anti-tank missiles, three hundred and fifty mortar rounds, two hundred artillery shells and several hundred thousand rounds of ammunition were employed against the Solorielan force. Most was innacurate panic fire, but with that volume...
- The Zukariaan forces particularly distinguished themselves, and suffered only light (but still unknown) casualties.
- Solorielan casualties are unknown, but presumed to be significantly lighter than those suffered by the Loyalists.

Note: The Loyalists have just given away the locations of a lot of their fixed defenses...

The sound of Heavy gunfire screamed through the Air, and as Lieutenant Gerin watched in horror the first lines of his Tank division crumbled away, Despite the overwhelming Odds against them, All men here Knew there Duty, and with Fire in his belly and hate in his throat Gerin Screamed into the Radio "Advance Without Fear! Purify Without Question! All Armour Engage!" And the 1st Imperial Armour Division Let rip with a devastating torrent of Depleted Uranium Shells into the Loyalist Lines, before charging forwards toward the enemy Positions.

Aboard the Reconciliation, Admiral Hethran, updated the tactical map once more, and gave the order for another flight of MiGs and Vulcans to Eliminate the Confirmed Defensive Positions so that the Infantry and Artillery could finish them up. No sooner had he Finished speaking then the scream of of Jets filled the air.

Archangel 1 Led his reformed flight group toward the Battle raging beyond the beach. For this bombing run they were flying at a much Higher ceiling then before to Avoid the devastating AA fire that had winnowed away his fellow pilots before. As soon as they saw the devastation on the ground below he swore vehemently. And as the Order for launch was given they launched their entire payload, some 63,000lb's of High Explosives streaked toward the positions, as they scrambled to get clear of any return fire.

Solorien Casualty:

1st Imperial Armour Battallion:
43 Challenger Battle Tanks
23 BMP Armoured Transports
14 HMMWV Jeeps

Sgt. Kyler was one of the 50,000 Zukarian troops that had been sent to Nord-Lund. He was expecting things to be much easier than in Southhaven, but as soon as the Zukarian soldiers arrived at the Loyalist front, they were already being shot at. What was worse, the Loyalist soldiers were far too panicy. They were firing randomly, missing the enemy by a mile. After things ended, most of the Zukarians realized that the Loyalists were going to need more help than back-up fire. After setting up the artillery guns behind the Loyalist entrenchments/fortresses/whatever, the Zukarians began help with reinforcing defenses. Not just by being there, able to shoot straight, but they also started helping dig, set-up guns, build, whatever was needed. Eventually the planes arrived, and the planes coming in from Zukaria were set to arrive soon. The Zukarians began showing the 'cannon fodder' how to shoot a gun, and how to keep from freaking out. However much it helped with their actual ability to shoot, the Loyalists appreciated it.

-Zukarian artillery guns have been set up
-Zukarians have been helping with reinforcing entrenchments/fortresses/whatever
-Zukarians have been trying to help the freaked out Loyalist conscripts to shoot a gun straight and not freak out, however much this has actually helped is unknown
-Tanks and planes are ready

Zukarian deaths from battle -- 156

The Loyalists have moved up some SAM launchers, and set up an AA defense around their defensive lines. (OOC: For the Loyalist defenses, think of muddy, shell and bomb blasted terrain with trenches, artillery, mortar and MG pits etc. dug in, and lots of mines in front.
The entire Loyalist air force was launched to oppose the latest Solorielan aerial offensive (six MiGs, 17 Zukariaan origin fighter-bombers). During the fighting, four MiGs and 12 Zukariaan fighter-bombers go down. Solorielan casualties are unknown.

- Loyalist casualties on the ground are relatively light, only about two thousand more Loyalists die - and, another twelve thousand Loyalist conscripts have been brought up.
- Solorielan Recon Force: The Solorielan recon force is under heavy fire for the entire time it is out on recon. It manages to inflict another thousand casualties before withdrawing - whether it took further casualties is unknown.
- Some Zukariaan casualties were sustained, but they are unknown at this time (but are presumed to be much lighter than those suffered by the Loyalists, as Zukariaan soldiers actually know how to use cover, etc.)

The bunker underneath Danteri City was quiet - General Krieger had seen to that, when it had been his command bunker. Now, it served as Paul Von Easthaven's command bunker, but the quiet had remained.
The entry-way to Von Easthaven's private quarters was guarded by two Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers... but, paranoid that Von Easthaven was, they carried only hand weapons. In all of the bunker, only Von Easthaven had so much as a sidearm... or so he thought.
Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers might be the toughest soldiers in the entire Loyalist Danteri army, but they weren't bullet proof. As he rounded the corner and approached, they stiffened to attention, and prepared to ask him his bussiness... but then, his officer's sidearm, so carefully smuggled into the bunker, came out.
The first guard never knew what hit him - two .5 caliber bullets to the head can do that to a man. The second managed to get his knife out, to scream a bloody challenge... and then, he died too, as the colonel fired once more, sending a .5 caliber bullet into the guard's neck, an instant kill.
Seven bullets left. The door came open - it wasn't locked, the presence of two Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers at the door had been seen as precaution enough. The colonel entered Paul Von Easthaven's private sleeping chamber, gun drawn and at the ready. He never saw the man who fired as he entered the chamber, never saw the Black Star soldier who had been waiting for assassins... but, as he fell, his spine cleanly severed, his eyes filling with blood, all he could think of was his wife, his daughters, his precious three year old son... and the terrible things that would happen to all of them because he had failed.

- A traitorous formerly loyal Loyalist officer made an assassination attempt on Paul Von Easthaven. He killed two Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers, but was stoped by a foreign elite soldier, a "Black Star" from Oompli.

Gerin spat blood onto the floor of his Tank, they had taken a glancing blow to the left side armour, and as a result he had been thrown quite violently to one side. As the tattered Remains of the 1st Imperial Armour Divisions pulled back to Stronghold, he cursed the vile Infidels. Never in his career had he been forced to withdraw from an engagement, and the humiliation seethed in his gut. "Damn them!" He screamed as his armoured column retreated steadily back to the camp.

Aboard the Reconciliation Admiral Hethran paced across his Tactical room, cursing the sheer Bull Headedness of the Imperial Army. This was an engagement where outmoded forms of glorious charges were of no use, only overwhelming firepower and precise surgical strikes would drive the enemy back. Turning to Uhrtren, he relayed the following orders to his fleet. "All flight Crews to Stations. Engagement has been upgraded to Level 3 Status. Prepare To load one Blue Steel warhead for Deployment. Imperial Submarine Group begin sweeps north and south to ensure clear areas of Deployent for Carrier Group Purity."

As the last of the AA Defenses were Erected Field Marshall Gautren grimaced as the reports from the 1st Division came in. He immediately began organising the Medical teams to deal with the incoming casualtys. And as soon as they were sent to there stations he turned to his communications officer. "Have the Towers begin Broadcasting the following message: All troops of Danteri. We have come here to Aid you in throwing of the Shackles of oppresion. Rise up now, and aid us in the Liberation of your country. Or face Death in the hands of our forces. The choice is ultimately yours." As the comms officer finished noting down the message he ran to the radio technicians, and withing minutes the Message was being broadcasted to the opposing forces.

Archangel 1 smiled as the last of the enemy aircraft pulled back to safety. he was glad that this time, the Admiral had seen fit to send them a proper Escort. All that he wanted now was to reload and get back out there, oh yes, he was going be the Divine wrath of the Emperor, and then these heretics would see the true Might of the Holy Empire.

3 Miles out from Carrier Group Sanctity

Admiral Yerrith reviewed The latest Spy Sat Images, it appeared that the Loyalist forces were entrenching themselves deeper than he had expected. No matter. His carrier group was fresh and ready, and the forces they were bringing would be more than enough to turn the tide of this war. Oh yes, they would soon show these Heretics, the Glory of the Emperor. As the first of the ships of Sanctity came into view, Admiral Yerrith reached for his Microphone. "Men and Women of the Most Glorious Emperors Armed Forces. Never Before has such an opportunity arisen, we are here on this day, to bring the emperors wisdom to this forsaken land. And his Wisdom they shall See! All Flight Crews prepare Planes! Troops Ready your Guns! Ships Prepare for Battle! Tonight there shall be a Red Moon rising over the bodys of these Vile Heretics!"

Actions:

Carrier Group Purity has arrived, relying upon the defenses of the planes from Carrier Group Sanctity, they are launching the entirety of there Airforce, to strike at the Loyalist fortifications.

Carrier Group Purity Consists of:

Naval Assets:
13 Heavy Aircraft Carriers
9 Destroyers
7 Frigates
5 Heavy Troop Transports
4 Typhoon Class Submarines

Airforce (Currently stationed aboard the Carriers):
21 Avro Vulcan Bombers
104 MiG-29 Fulcrum Fighters

Military Assets:
20,000 Imperial Infantrymen
500 Tanks
200 Heavy Artillery Guns
300 Assorted Support and Logistics vehicles

This leaves only three more such Carrier Groups in Soloriel. (These are required for Soloriels personal defence.)

Solorian Losses:

1st Imperial Armour Division:

12 Challenger Battle Tanks
7 BMP Armoured Transports
2 HMMWV Jeeps

As the new Solorielan flyers came in for their latest attack run, only a very few Loyalist planes opposed them - 2 MiGs and 5 Zukariaan fighter-bombers. It appears that the Solorielans are wearing down the Loyalist air force. However, SAM sites are now positioned on the ground, so they can give the Loyalist flyers some support - several hundred Surface-to-Air Missiles (low quality Danteri made) are launched at the oncoming Solorielan flyers. The Loyalists appear too terrified to retreat, and are holding - so far.
Assuming one mini-nuke is used:
- 12,500 Loyalists are killed in this latest raid. (Aproximately 5,000 by the nuke alone.)
- Massive damage is delt to the Loyalist defensive network.
- Both MiGs and 4 of the 5 Zukariaan fighter-bombers are downed fighting the Solorielan flyers.
- The Loyalist government has called upon all of its allies to send it fighters, supplies, etc. - it needs them!
- The nuke-created gap is plugged with ten thousand new conscripts - the possibility of the conscripts suffering long-term health problems due to excessive exposure to radiation doesn't seem to be a big worry for the Loyalists.

Note: The Solorielans used a nuke - while the Loyalists, the fascist rebels and New-Lexington have all used nerve gas, and this is only a mini-nuke, it's still a nuke!

The Loyalists have fired off two hundred and fifty gas shells filled with VX nerve gas at the Solorielan positions in response to the Solorielan use of a nuke. Around ten thousand kilo grams of the stuff was used - that's as much as was used to wipe out one million people in Freiburg... and that was Sarin gas! VX gas is supposed to be even more deadly...

- Solorielan forces suffer an unknown number of casualties due to the Loyalist use of a nerve agent against their troops.

(Paul Von Easthaven)
Gentlemen, fellow members of the world community, I am both shocked and distressed to have to report that the Solorielan military employed an atomic weapon against my forces today. This is a black day... such horrors as this will not go unpunished! Already, I have authorized the use of nerve agents against his military, with unknown results, and I must plead with all the world to send air craft, supplies, maybe even men with which to fight this agressor... Bertling, New-Lexington, Oompli, you have long been my loyal allies, please, come to my aid. Danteri needs you.
This Message Approved by The Office of The Supreme Leader

The atomic cloud was fading into the night, but the message it transmitted to all who saw it was clear - the war in Danteri was getting a heck of a lot worse.
Backlit by that nuclear glow, a rebel commando slipped into the Loyalist trenches, leaving behind him three Loyalist sentries with slit throats. Calmly, he walked down the trench line as though he had every right to be there. As he came to a sleeping area, where some hundred conscripts lay in one shivering, exhausted, terrified mass, he threw a gas grenade in. It detonated without more than a little "pop", but its effects were almost instantly visible - 100 plus sleeping conscripts thrashed, then fell silently into unmoving death.
The commando continued along, passing sentries at the parapet with brisk nods, letting them think he was just another of their number.
He walked along that trench line for a long time, until he found another sleeping chamber - there he threw in another gas grenade, with simiar results. He continued along the Loyalist trench line, unchallenged, until he heard the alarm coming up from behind him. With that, he drew his combat knife, and drove it into the spine of the machinegunner just behind him.
The Loyalist flopped dead, and the commando seized the machine gun, blessing shoddy Danteri design as he easily twisted the machinegun around, and began firing into the oncoming mass of mewling enemies. Dozens fell as their ineffective return fire somehow failed to cut him down... then, a random bullet struck his shoulder, and he was thrown back. With a grunt, he freed the last three gas grenades from his belt.
As the conscripts who had downed him came rushing forward to inspect their prize, he set all three grenades to go off... and then, he lay back, calm inspite of the pain. For him, the war was over.

- 500 Loyalist conscripts are killed in their sleep (in about 200 of the cases) by a single rebel commando - needless to say, this demoralizes the Loyalists - after all, now they fear that death might come for them in their sleep...

Situation Room, Kallisti City, 23Eris

"Solarians Ma'am, they've entereted the fray as well."

"Whose side are they on?" replied Prime Minister Hekatos as she reached for the current briefing file on the table before her.

"They appear to be on their own side, but are currently engaging Loyalist forces."

"Good, thet gives us more time to reinforce Freiburg before the loyalists can move in more troops. What's the status of our positions in Danteri?"

"Well, we have about 6500 troops in Freiburg. That represents one full battalion plus elements of a second. Planes are continually landing more troops and we've been reinforcing Freiburg positions, distributing gas masks and anti-toxins. We've also been supplying the Freiburgians with weapons and ammunition as requested. We have a field hospital set up at the airbase and we've begun sending in some heavy equipment on the transport planes purchased with the military budget increase. We also shipped 24 new JA-37s to Freiburg and we have the option to purchase another dozen if we need them."

"Are our positions secure?" Asked the PM as she browsed through the files.

"We've no heavy armor as you know, but we have plenty of portable anti-tank weapons and air-superiority. As long as we hold the skies, our position should be relatively secure."

"How about the First Mechanized?"

"We've got her equipment almost fully loaded and we're finalizing our options on where to put her ashore. We've no direct sea access to Freiburg and we're not sure how far the ships could follow the Naem river. Our other option is to land near the Naem and cross overland to the city. That would probably be slower and could mean exposed supply lines. We also have an option to put ashore in Southhaven with the communists."

"Nix that idea. I don't want our forces scattered all over Danteri. We don't have as many resources as some of these other countries gobbling up landscape. I want our units able to reinforce one another." The PM shot back, leaning forward in her chair. "Okay, here is the deal. As long as the Freiburgians want to hold out in their city we will continue to aid them. The communists have our support as well, but right now we can't do more than send them a few supplies and offer them some monetary subsidies. I want parliament to push through a grant of 50 million for the communists. It's not a ton, but it should help them somewhat. Also, tell our 'volunteers' that are aiding the rebels they are fully reinstated into the Erisian defense force and they should do whatever they can to increase the efficiency of the communist rebels."

"Excuse me, Ma'am, Gentlemen," a harassed looking aide spoke up as he barged into the room. "There is an important development in Danteri!"

"Who joined the war now?" PM Hekatos asked wearily.

"No Ma'am, its worse. The Sol- Sul-" He paused as he stumbled over the word, "Solarians have deployed a tactical nuke and the Loyalist troops responded with chemical weapons."

"WHAT?" PM Hekatos almost screamed, alarming everyone at the table. "Are these people insane? We need to stabilize the region, not bathe it in radioactive fall out! Defense Minister, double the flights, I want the 3rd Infantry fully deployed within two days, do whatever you have to do. Beg, borrow, steal aircraft if you need to. Heck, lease them from our allies if you can. And get the First mechanized moving ASAP. We need to get this war over before it gets uglier."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Official 23Eris Press Release

The government of 23Eris condemns the use of weapons of mass destruction by all nations in the Danteri conflict. We urge the nations involved to show restraint and think of the long term effects the use of such weapons will have on the survivors of this terrible tragedy of a war.

We again urge all parties to agree to a truce with the aim of finding a permanent settlement of the conflict based on the status quo in Danteri.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Movements:

23Eris deploys 24 more JA-37s to Freiburg
Aerial transport of troops increases
First Erisian artillery units and helicopters begin arriving in Freiburg

A nuclear weapon. They'd actually set off a nuclear weapon.

The Duke watched the film, relayed by satellite from Danteri. The lack of electronics in Danteri meant that one could usually get fairly large amounts of information in and out if you could conceal the satellite dish. This was something he'd rather hadn't been sent through.

The logical part of him said that this wasn't significantly worse than the nerve gas. It was small, and well-aimed. No civillian deaths had been reported, though at this point, he thought, there was little difference between the Loyalist military and its civillians. Still, the nuclear explosion seemed like a dire herald of God, sent to tell everyone that the entire septic plant had hit the windmill.

This was not what anyone had been expecting. Not this, not nerve gas, not millions of deaths. At first it seemed like any other AK-47 slinging peasant revolution, and it had now grown into a conflict that would assuredly ruin the nation it was being fought over. Isn't that just like us, we get so wrapped up in the fight over something we forget that we're stepping on it during the scuffle?

He switched the screen off and shut his eyes. Either this would escalate things into a Ragnarök for everyone involved, or this marked the climax. All that remained now was falling action. Still, falling action can cost just as many lives as rising action.

He was beginning to lament General Krieger. Now that he was dead, he was irrationally remembering Krieger as an honourable patriot, against all evidence. Oh, for a dictator that could be reasoned with. He'd considered attempting an evacuation of as many civillians as he could, but the Loyalists would never allow it. He was surprised enough that they were allowing the Expeditionary Medical Battalions to stay unmolested.

The Rebels, though...
------------------------------------------

Gwazzaria has issued a request to all neutral, Rebel-allied, and (despite the assumed futility) Loyalist-allied nations proposing an evacuation of civillians from Danteri at least until a ceasefire is signed. It requests that 23rd Eris keeps to its open-border policy for refugees, and that other nations which can handle the influx adopt the same policy.

It has also issued a broad condemnation of nuclear weapons, nerve gas, and the ongoing increase of hostilities.

From the Govt. of 23Eris:

The Government of 23Eris has no intention of revoking its open border policy. We welcome any refugees from Danteri, meaning rebel aligned, loyalist, or neutrals, or indeed any people from any nations, suffering from the burden of oppression in their homelands. That has been and will continue to be the policy of this government.

OOC: Well i wasnt planning on using Blue Steel just yet, but hell when in rome...

As the Atomic fire cleansed the land of the Heretics Admiral Hethran smiled in delight. No doubt many heretics had died withing its fiery blast, merely a taster of the torment that awaited them in the pits of hell itself. As the squadrons of planes from the Purity group flew overhead head he noticed minimal losses, and he nodded to himself in contentment.

Field Marshal Gautren nodded to himself in satisfaction as the huge cloud filled the sky, he knew his men well, and this would merely bolster their spirits somewhat. As soon as was safe, he ordered his men to don their radiation and chemical suits or RaC Suits for short, he intended to move troops forward the following morning, and he doubted whether the area would be completely safe by then.

As night fell Lance Corporal Ellik walked amongst the POW's, contrary to orders he had not donned his RaC suit yet, not wanting to scare the children. As he sat with a group of them telling them the story of how the God-Emperor was born and his deliverance of the soloriens, he noticed what appeared to be a strange star falling from the skys, he considered it an omen, a blessing from the Emperor, he bowed his head and told the children to do the same, and pray for forgiveness from the God-Emperor for all their mistakes. With his head bowed he thought of his wife so far away from here, and his 3 year old son, as he prayed he prayed mainly for the Emperor to guide his sons footsteps and make him grow into a strong man, a good man. With their heads lowered none of them noticed the Gas Canister slamming into the ground behind the mock up prison camp....

As dawn broke across Camp Stronghold, Field Marshall Gautren looked at the small corpses before him in disgust. So many dead, for so little reason, these Heretics were heartless monsters, with no sense of duty or honour! "How many of our men died Captain?" The officer next to him turned away from the grisly sight, and through his chem hood looked the Field Marshall in the eye "So far we have only found one body captain, a Lance Corporal Errik, it appears he disobeyed orders Sir and did not don his RaC suit." Gautren cursed his luck, he was lucky that this time only one of his men had died, although he was sure that many more would perish before the end of this conflict. "Notify the Admirals, and give them my Recommendation that this conflict is considered for Stage 2 Deployment."

Aboard his flagship Truth, Admiral Yerrith consulted with Admiral Hethran concerning the latest field reports. "Hethran I know your position in all this is awkward, but we have no other choice, Gautren is right, if they are using Chemical weapons, we must be prepared for the launch of another Blue Steel." Hethran shook his head sadly, and looked up at Yerrith. "Dont you understand Sam? We cant afford to escalate this confict any further. Its alrewady too far out of hand, from here on out we rely on Gautren and his forces to move further inland and clear the path to Freiburg, our Airforce will provide them with cover, but we cant just go around Nuking the place! Its Insane!"
Yerrith looked at his old mentor with a sense of sadness, the old fool was weak in his old age, he was not prepared to do whatever it took to follow out the Emperors will. "As you wish Hethran, but the Imperial War College sent this, this morning in fact, for immediate broadcast to all the partys in this onflict. If they do not heed these words we are to escalate this engagemnt to Status 2." Yerrith slapped the telegram down on his table and stormed out of the room to order his squadrons to begin secondary attacks...

Gautren Moved his troops into position, with the Reinforcements from Soloriel, he now had over 40,000 troops under his command, with a further 160,000 on their way aboard troop transports from home. He had to breach the enemy defensive line. If he did not do so they would be forced to hold this position, and after that it would just turn into a turkey shoot. As he turned to watch the 7th Imperial Armour Division move into position he waited for the last few vehicles to move into the assigned formation. And as they Did he gave the order to advance.

Solorian Casualtys:
1 Soldier Lance-Corporal Errik from VX Nerve Gas release.
28 MiGs from the Purity.
200 Civilians in the POW Camp

Next Actions:

- The Solorian 1st Armour Will hold camp stronghold.
- The Solorian 2nd through to the 10th Imperial Armour will advance upon enemy Positions some 980 Challenger Battle Tanks.
- As soon as the enemy opens fire, the combined strike force from the Sanctity and the Purity will hit the enemy artillery and SAM sites.
- As soon as the majority of enemy fire has been drawn upon the Tanks, 20,000 Men from the Imperial Army will split into 2 groups of 10,000 and maneuver into position forming a pincer shape.
- When Imperial Armour rushes forward The two Strike forces will come at the enemy from both sides.
- Aboard the Reconciliation, a further 2 Blue Steel Missiles are Armed, and ready to be deployed, at Admiral Yerriths Discretion.

Our most Glorious Emperor has shown his Divine Wrath. If you continue to oppose us we will Rain his Holy Fire down upon you until this land is nothing more than a scorched wasteland. We call upon you now, to cease this Futile Opposition of us. Surrender to us now, and we will promise you the Emperors Forgiveness, and you will be treated well and with Honour. Refuse, and you will be ground into the dirt beneath the tracks of our Mighty Armoured Divisions.

Eternal Joy To the Immortal Emperor!

The Danteri Loyalists brought up an impressive initial volume of fire, but were simply unable to resist the combined Solorielan forces. As the armored wave neared their positions, their panic became more extreme, until finally they broke and fled. The Zukariaans and the "real soldiers" of the Danteri Army Special Operations batalion deployed to support the conscripts managed to withdraw in good order with few casualties, but Loyalist losses were excessive.

- 30,000 Loyalist conscripts were killed.
- 50,000 Loyalist conscripts were captured.
- 12 Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers were killed, none were captured.
- Zukariaan and Solorielan casualties are unknown.

The Haraki soldiers were surprised by the sheer number of Loyalist soldiers coming forward to surrender. It appeared that, as the Loyalist forces in Nord-Lund were crumbling, as many as could flee the "sinking ship" that was Danteri were doing so. In one case, an entire division of 10,000 men surrendered to a single patrol. It was... impressive.

- Some 50,000 Loyalists, mostly conscripts, have surrendered to the Haraki, requesting that they be allowed to flee to either 23Eris or Haraki.

As Archangel 1 touched down aboard the Reconciliation, Pilot Harlan Rettan stepped away from his chair, his mind danced with the images of thousands of loyalist troops fleeing before the combined might of the Imperial forces. Truly on this day, the Emperors Will was with them.

Admiral Hethran studied the tactical map before him, it appeared as though the Loyalist defense had, had its back broken by the combined Imperial forces. Now all that remained was to get the troops through to Freidlund, before they too were eradicated. As he threw his cap onto the table he wiped his face with his hands, and reflected upon the earlier decision to prime 2 more Blue Steel warheads, they appeared to be superfluos now, and he was tempted to order them de-primed and stowed away. However he was not fool enough to pass that order along yet. Instead he relayed his congratulations to all the ground and air forces, before handing command over to his first officer and retreating to his cabin, to get some well earned rest.

Field Marshall Gautren stalked among the smoking remains of the Loyalist defenses, he was pleased mightily with his actions this day. Soon they would bring the word of the Emperor to the oppressed people not only in Nord-Lund, but the rest of Danteri as well. Looking to his right he noted the stream of humanity that was falling back to the POW camp, already orders had been given for its extension. Turning back to his men, he climbed aboard his tank, and reaching for the radio relayed his next orders. "Men we have fought a glorious battle today! The Emperor himself is with us! Now heed my next words closely, within the hour we ride aboard our mighty engines of destruction toward the fallen citadel of Freiburg, with the Loyalists broken we should encounter little resistance in our path. However I want the Imperial Mine Disposal Squadrons to move ahead of the main column, we need to sweep this area clear of any mines that may still lie in our path. I also want the Imperial Artillery moved forwards, and brought with us to the front lines. We will push the Cursed Heretics back into the teeth of hell itself!" As the cheering picked up along the line Gautren smiled and felt his heart rise in his chest, at the prospect of more glorious battle...

Solorian Casualtys:

306 Men from strike battalion Fury were killed, with another 183 wounded.
507 Men from strike battalion Anger were killed, with another 223 wounded.
87 Tanks from the 2nd 4th and 7th Imperial Armour were destroyed.
36 MiGs from the Combined Srike force were shot down.
3 Avro Vulcans from the Combined Strike force were shot down.
8 Flightcrew are currently MIA further beyone the point of Solorian advance.

Next Actions:

- The Imperial Mine Disposal troops will sweep forward with there support tanks and clear the road ahead, whilst the Imperial Armour Divisions follow.
- With the last of the troops brought by the Purity now landed the total Imperial Presence now stands at almost 39,000 troops.
- 10,000 Troops will remain behind with a quarter of the medics to tend the POW's.
- The other 29,000 troops will follow the armour divisions escorting the heavy artillery

Freiburg Defensive Positions, Freiburg, Danteri

Lieutenant Sara Yagger looked across the no-man's land to the loyalist positions only a few hundred yards away through her field binoculars. What she saw made her heart sink, children armed and forced to fight. These young were no longer playing at war, they were being slaughtered by it. Danteri was throwing away its future in a vain attempt by its leaders to hang onto its past.

Behind her, a group of 23Eris soldiers was finishing erecting a stand of speakers in order to broadcast to the Danteri soldiers. Up and down the Freiburg line in areas where 23Eris had taken over the defense, such speakers were being set up. Earlier, planes had dropped leaflets among the enemy soldiers urging them to surrender and assuring them of fair treatment and safety.

In less than an hour, the first broadcasts began as the sun began to set. It called on the Danteri Loyalists to throw down their arms and surrender. It detailed the atrocities committed in the name of their leaders, the estimate of how many innocent lives had been killed and told of how many prisoners were being treated well and many had been granted asylum in 23Eris.

On a hill behind the defensive positions, the first of 23Eris' heavy artillery rolled into positions, ready to assist in repelling any future attacks by the loyalists. In the trenches, Lieutenant Yagger sighed and looked over her own soldiers, this wasn't war, it was slaughter, but they had a duty to protect the people being evacuated, and she was determined to do her job well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
23Eris HQ, Freiburg, Danteri

"Colonel, we've recieved reports that the Soloriel forces have broken Loyalist resistance." reported a rather young looking captain who sported a deep reddish scar on his face.

"Damn, I was hoping the Loyalist troops would tie them down until the rest of the 3rd Infantry arrived. Still, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, until he shoots at me. What do we know about the Soloriels?"

"Not much I'm afraid. They have a massive amount of troops and a willingness to use WMDs. They also have a large number of aircraft and heavy armor. From our recon flights, they appear to be heading straight for the city here."

"So what you're saying captain, is that should they attack us, we're outmatched."

"It looks like it sir."

"Damn. Get me the general on the phone, we need to inform him of what is going on. Hopefully, he can get the diplomats talking, I'd rather have the Solowhatevers as allies instead of having them attacking us and our Freiburg allies, and kicking our asses all over this goddamn country."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Diplomatic Correspondance
From: 23Eris, Office of the Foreign Minister
To: Soloriel Leadership
Re: Danteri & Freiburg

Our reconnaisance aircraft show your troops heading for our positions aiding in the defense of Freiburg and protecting the evacuation of civilians. We demand a statement of your intentions as to the Nation, the Freiburg Militia, and the Erisian troops aiding in the defense of said nation. We will not fire upon your troops unless attacked first or your troops try to force their way into the city without a declaration of intent.

If your intentions are friendly, we welcome your aid in protecting the nation of Freiburg, if hostile, we will aid the Freiburgians in their resistance against any attacks by your troops. We hope, for the sake of Freiburg and all of Danteri, that your intentions are not hostile.

The Imperial Armour Divisions continued their merciless path toward Freiburg, Field Marshall Gautren stared forwards from his commanders seat, scanning the horizon for signs of hostile intent. All had been quiet this far along the trail, and the Imperial Mine Disposal Units had left the path ahead clear for the Solorian troops. Radioing his latest Sitrep to the admiralty he awaited any further instructions.

Aboard the Reconciliation, Admiral Hethran studied the telegram that had come in an hour ago, although the tone of the letter assured him that these people were not seeking a fight, he was unsure of how best to proceed withoout provoking an even larger engagement. As such Admiral Hethran decided to play it safe, and ordered the following message relayed to these 'Erisians' in Freiburg:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diplomatic Correspondance
From: The Holy Empire Of Soloriel
To: Erisian Government
Re: Danteri & Freiburg

We approach Freiburg upon the orders of our most Glorious God-Emperor, our orders are clear. We are here to aid in the liberation of Freiburg from the forces of Danterian Loyalists, and to provide medical and humanitarian relief to the Civilians throughout Nord-Lund.

Our troops will assist in the purging of these Heretics, through the Purifying Fire of our most Holy Emperor. We extend the Hand of Welcome to you, and offer you the use of our Heavy troop transports Docked in the Installation now known as Stronghold, in order to further facilitate the evacuation of Civilians from this land. But know that any acts of aggression on your part will ensure a swift and brutal reprisal from the Imperial Forces.

Eternal Honour to our Glorious Emperor!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Danteri Loyalists have launched a massive counter-offensive against Soloriel, stripping away every available soldier, depleting their reserves and pulling men away from the fighting in Southhaven. All in all, they have assembled a force of 100 tanks, 250 lighter AFVs, 16,000 experienced "real" soldiers, and 60,000 conscripts.
They have asked Zukariaa for help, and it is believed that Zukariaa is supporting them.
All in all, this looks to be a last desperate attempt to stem the tide of Solorielan attackers... should this fail, disaster will follow, as the Loyalists will have lost too many men to continue with present operations.
Needless to say, the Oompli, New-Lexingtonian and Bertlingian forces have been contacted and asked to send some units to Nord-Lund... as has the Imitorian government, although their mercenaries are already taking part in the attack as another few thousand elites.
Whether this attack succedes or fails, it looks to be the last, and largest, action of the war.

- All the aforementioned ground forces are attacking, plus both Zukariaan fighter-bombers, and 24 Talon class fighter-bombers.

As the explosions ripped the ground surrounding the Tanks apart, Field Marshall Gautren screamed into his Radio, "All Armour fire forwards, infantry move up to assume flanking positions! Get that artillery deployed and firing!" Flicking over to the general command channel he desperately radioed the Admiralty. "Admiral Hethran this is Strike Force Vengeance, we are under heavy enemy fire, and are requesting immeidate Air Support! Over!" As another shell screamed toward the lines Gautren began directing Counter Fire toward the enemy forces.

Aboard the Reconciliation Admiral Hethran, began immediately scrambling all available air forces to the co'ordinates of the strike force, this was a last ditch attempt, they had to push through to Freiburg to prepare for the reinforcements due through from home. "All flight crews aboard the Truth and Reconciliation, launch immediately to the location of strike force Vengeance. Archangel 1 Hold and wait for deployment of Blue Steel to your Aircraft, Sunraven 1 Also hold for deployment. Do not, i repeat do not launch Blue Steel until final confirmation orders come through." Replacing the Microphone in its stand he began arranging the tactical map to reflect this, the final conflict in this engagement.

Solorian Casualtys:
Unknown at this juncture, expected to be high.

Actions:

- The entire Air Force has been deployed from both the Truth and Reconciliation, total 197 Aircraft
- Soloriel Army holds the line and begins deployment of Heavy artillery against enemy units total 100 Artillery Units.
- Medics are pulled back from the front line whilst the Infantry move forwards to engage enemy troops
- Carrier Group Truth after launching of its aircraft has begun movement to Buil Bay to begin Long range Missile Strikes against Danteri City

Colonel Jacobs slid the report across the desk and looked to the air force major and other assembled officers in the room. "We've heard back from the Soloriel government. They appear to have friendly intentions, though they seem to be a bit, extreme in their religious views. We've also heard intel reports of a massive loyalist counter-attack against the Soloriel advance. If this attack can be defeated, we just might break the back of the Loyalist military and end this damn war, now, here is what I want to do..."

Within the hour, a dozen Erisian air superiorty planes (SU-27s) screamed towards the Solorien front, escorting 24 JA-37 fighter/bombers. The bombers were to seek out and destroy any Loyalist armor, artillery, or depots they could find in an attempt to aid the Solorien troops. After the planes did their jobs, only 22 of the JA-37s returned home, with an additional three heavily damaged. Of the dozen Su-27s, 11 survived. Fortunately all the pilots ejected safely, with the pilot of one SU-27 landing behind Solorien lines. The two JA-37 pilots landed behind Loyalist lines, their condition is unknown, though their emergency beacons are active.

Back in Freiburg, three thousand Erisian troops, supported by limited artillery and air-strikes begin to advance against Loyalist troops, hoping to apply enough pressure to force the Loyalists to redirect some resources from the Solorien front.

Ten thousand Loyalist conscripts died in the opening moments of the fighting. Most of those who continued fighting against the 23Eris forces for more than the first few minutes were the female conscripts - they had been lied to, told lies about all the horrible things that would happen to them if they were taken alive by 23Eris... it was actually quite sad - most of those who fought to the death were just too scared to try surrendering.
Within thrity minutes, the entire Loyalist army besieging Freiburg was in full retreat, surrendering in some places, fighting on in a very few others. By the end of the day, the forces from 23Eris had linked up with the Solorielans, and only a few pockets of "real" Loyalist soldiers and their Zukariaan allies still fought on, although most of them had made it back to the south, where the Loyalists were still fighting on.

In the end, the Loyalists lost the following:
- Ten thousand conscripts killed, mostly women who kept on fighting.
- Sixty thousand conscripts captured.
- Three thousand Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers killed.
- 83 tanks and 243 lighter AFVs have been destroyed.
- All 24 Talon class fighter-bombers and one of the two Zukariaan fighter-bombers were shot down.
- Zukariaan forces suffered unknown casualties as they made a fighting withdrawl in good order, allowing most of the "real" Danteri Loyalist soldiers to escape.
- Solorielan and 23Erisian casualties are unknown.

The Solorielan advance has uncovered something terrible - the first definite proof of the death camps that the Haraki had spoken of. As the Loyalists retreated, the camp guards had mahcinegunned the prisoners, killing about 1.78 million and leaving thousands of others seriously hurt.
They stopped only when they ran out of bullets, at which point they joined the general retreat. Out of the around two million inmates who were reported to have been housed in the death camps, only some two hundred and twenty thousand starving, beaten and abused prisoners remain for the Solorielans to free.

Note: The Haraki Special Forces got a good look at the retreating Loyalists as they systematically slaughtered the prisoners... what they are going to do with the records they made remains to be seen... (I'm assuming that they wouldn't throw their lives away attacking several divisions of battle-ready Loyalist soldiers, even if those soldiers were slaughtering prisoners.)

The Erisian advance went much better than expected, what had started as a probing attack turned into a full scale attack and then a rout of enemy troops. Reinforcements were pulled from other sectors of the Freiburg defensive line to deal with the massive influx of prisoners and to help secure new territory. Thousands of prisoners were simply disarmed, pointed in the direction of the POW camps and told to be on their way.

Lieutenant Yagger who was in the lead elements of one assault barely managed to fight back the tears as she examined the remains of one Loyalist strongpoint. A handful of Danteri women, too scared to surrender had fought to the death. If they had known that a third of the forces assulting their positions were women as well, perhaps they might have surrendered instead. As she bent down to examine the bodies, a low moan rose up from one of the women. She quickly moved to examine her and found a deep wound in the young woman's abdomen. If they hurried though, they might be able to save this girl before she lost too much blood.

Yagger signaled for a medical evac and at the same time began to apply pressure to the wound. The girl screamed and struggled to move, to fight, anything, but was far too weak. Yagger smiled at the young woman and removed her helmet, uttering some soothing words. In a few moments, a team of medical personnel, male and female were on the scene and took over the care of the Danteri soldier. "She'll live," one of the medics pronounced to Yagger, who nodded and slipped her helmet back on. Ahead the sound of bombs exploding could be heard as a trio of KA-50N attack helicopters, a new Erisian introduction to the fight streaked by overhead.

Yagger started forward, her squad was a hundred yards ahead, ready to engage the next Loyalist position. She might have saved one life, but how many more had to die today to find an end to the conflict?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lead Elements, 23Eris Assault, Freiburg

"Ranger One to Ranger command," Corporal Harrison radioed from the cockpit of his KA-50N attack chopper. He was happy to be in the seat of an agile and dangerous weapon such as this. He also enjoyed the dominance and importance he played in this fight. With a serious lack of armor or heavy weapons, the Erisian troops relied heavily on their air support to blast through entrenched enemy positions and counter enemy armor. He had just knocked out two Loyalist tanks that had been laying in wait to ambush Erisian forces rapidly advancing.

"Ranger command, go ahead one." the voice cracked over the radio.

"Unknown forces ahead. I see heavy armor, and a buttload of troops command. Orders?"

"Do not engage unless fired upon, those might be the Soloriens. Monitor and report only."

No sooner had the words been uttered then the lead tanks of the new force began destroying what remained of the Loyalist armor. "Holy crap Command! Whoever they are they're blasting the hell out of the Loyalist armor. Looks like they're on our side. Tell the infantry to avoid firing at these guys, we've both broken through. Ranger one returning to base."

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Erisian losses:
1 KA-50N due to engine failure
600+ infantry dead or wounded
Several dozen light vehicles destroyed or disabled
2 Self Propelled Artillery pieces destroyed

Field Marhsal Gautren lay pinned in the shattered remains of his command Tank, he had been in the front line of the Solorian Charge. A huge shard of twisted metal had pierced his side and he knew that he was dying. As he heard the heavy tank fire subsiding, he heard a ragged cheer amongst his men. Reaching for the remains of his radio, he flicked a switch and was relieved to hear the static indicating it was still functioning. As he felt the darkness creeping up on him, he took a few pained breaths and pressing the send button sent out a message on all frequencys. "Purify and Protect, Purify and....."

As Archangel screamed above the carriers some 100 miles away, he was relieved when he heard the reports of surrender, radioning through to command he was ordered to set down on the Reconciliation and prepare for de-armament. Among his flight crew a ragged sense of relief swept through them.

Admiral Hethran Stepped away from the Tactical map and removed his Cap, as a cheer went up amongst his bridge crew. Ordering the rest of the forces to disengage he began to prepare provisions for the wounded and captured heading his way, and began shipping vast amounts of food and supplys to camp Stronghold. As he began to leave the bridge he wondered what Admiral Yerrith would have to say about all this.

1st Lieutenant Gerin watced with amazement from the command tent as thousands of POW's began streaming toward the small POW camps that had been set up. He felt a sense of joy filling him that they had managed to smash the enemy in such a fashion, yet he still mourned the loss of Gautren. He was a good man, and he had died with honour. As more of the bedraggled Prisoners began streaming through the gates, under the watchful eyes of the Imperial Troops, he began shouting orders to prepare medical care for the new Prisoners.

As the Medical divisions moved amongst the troops and surrendering enemy forces, Field Lieutenant Frederick Juhn oversaw the immense rescue operation of the people held in the Death Camps. After the death of Field Marshall Gautren, he had assumed command of the entire Solorien Ground Forces. He seethed with anger at the thought of so many innocents dead at the hands of their countrymen. As the terrified Bedraggled mass of humanity began to be directed back towards Stronghold, Juhn headed back to the front line. And led the remnants of the Imperial Armour Divisions toward Freiburg.

Solorian Casualtys:
1,258 Men Killed, 496 Wounded.
143 Tanks Destroyed.
68 MiGs Shot Down.

Next Actions:
- Continue Bombardment of Danteri City
- Continue Advance toward Freiburg
- Get Logistics Vehicles to expand the POW Camps.
- Direct Light Recon Units to the outskirts of the battle and search for survivors that may have been wounded when the Airforce engaged the Enemys.

[Captain Corrol]
Dammit!! I have lost 3000 men to these people who call my men 'heretics'. If anyone is a heritic, it is those who think of themselves as holy! You Solorians are ignorant, egotistical fools. And your use of atomic weaponry will not go unpunished. You want to fight like that? We'll fight like that. Loyalists! Hear me now! You do not trust those above you, you believe you are being forced to fight? Danteri will be a better place, because of you, when this is over!! von Easthaven may have some quirks, temper maybe, but he is not evil! Under him, Danteri will become a better place! I ask you now, for all of the lives of your country men that have been lost; because of the government, rebels, or anyone else; to fight now to prevent any more!! Fight to keep Danteri its own!!

-Because of the large number of Zukarian deaths, Emperor Zuka has ordered in 100,000 Zukarian troops from Zukariaa:
-100,000 Troops
-500 Tanks
-300 Zukarian Fighter-Bombers
-200 Artillery Pieces
-Fuel, food, and other supplies for the loyalists, including guns
-The Zukarian Special Forces, 150 men who are trained in stealth and assassination, have been sent to Danteri with the other troops. 50 of which will guard Loyalist officers all across Danteri.

The Loyalists have commited another atrocity in their effort to prevent further Solorielan advances - around five hundred thousand civilians have been delibrately displaced, have been driven northwards towards the Solorielans in the hope that the refugees might slow them down long enough for a real Loyalist defense to be formed.

OOC: hey is it at all possible to get an updated map posted here, i need a rough idea of where i am in comparison to everyone else before i make any major moves.

OOC: Sure, I can e-mail it to someone... I can't post it, however.

OOC: Can you email it to me? ill send you a telegram with my email address in a second

The Loyalist army was reeling from its recent defeats, but it was already reforming around the elite Zukariaan units... already, 100,000 men were en-route from Zukariaa, and so the time to act for maximum effect was now.
This particular village had been transformed into a strong point, after its inhabitants had been evicted, forced to flee northwards towards the Solorielans.
The only building in the village made of stone had been the church - it had been torn down, its heavy granite blocks used to build a quick wall that had been augmented with sheets of corragated iron or tin that had once been roofs on the villagers houses.
Heavy wooden furniture had been hauled outdoors to act as further elements of the ramshackle barricade, which had further been augmented by some rolls of razor wire and a few good trenches. Several hundred conscripts defended the village, led by a DGS agent who was backed up by four large Cadet-Agents with sub-machineguns.
However, in spite of the ramshackle defenses, in spite of the machinegun positions and the SAM site in the village square, Klaus Von Osterton couldn't help but grin - this village was no match for the commandos.
They struck without warning - a sentry let out a brief howl as a knife cut deep into his throat, and then a hail of flash grenades fell into the Loyalist trenches. Boys of eight shrieked as they were temporarily blinded by the flash grenades, and a woman in an ill fitting grey Loyalist uniform, who apparently had had enough sense to cover her eyes, rose with her rifle already firing, screaming incoherently.
She hardly had a chance to aim before three bullets from three different rifles slammed into her head and throat - she was down almost as quickly as the sentry.
By then, a few dozen other conscripts were rushing towards the noise, but they were inexperienced... they made perfect targets for the machinegun. Within seconds, every Loyalist who had responded was either dead, wounded, or curled up in the fetal position, weeping and calling out for their mother.
At that point, Klaus Von Osterton couldn't help but grin once more - he loved few things, but a job done this well was one of them. Turning to his men, he called out a simple, but shocking, order: "No Prisoners!" They were only too glad to comply.
The village had fallen in minutes, with only one rebel wounded and none killed. In exchange, they had killed four hundred conscripts... and four of the five DGS men.
The DGS Agent thrashed about wildly, screaming threats and obscenities as the rebel commandos wrestled him to the ground, tieing his hands, and beating him until his shouts and threats became weeping moans.
At that point, they forced him to his knees, and Klaus Von Osterton drew his sidearm. With a flourish, intended for his men, he pointed it at the bound, beaten, DGS man. With a vicious grin, he began to shout, saying,
"So, not so tough now, are you? You might be able to kill old men who dare to look at you the wrong way, might be able to beat women and children savagely as they weep and plead for mercy, but what are you without your gun? What are you without men at your back to avenge any insult we deal out to you ten-fold? I can tell you," he said as he leaned in forward and cocked his pistol, "you are nothing." With that, he shot the DGS man.
How could he have known that Haraki eyes were watching? How could he have known that men even more skilled at stealth than his admirable companions lurked in the trees? How could he have known about the cameras...

ooc: Im hosting the picture on my Photobucket account now, just click the link below to view guys.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c352/SerratedSmile/danterimapV.jpg

Admiral Hethran studied the latest Satellite Images, the maps indicated an increase in loyalist defenses along the border. With most of the current ground forces deadlocked in a holding action around Freiburg and the main roads to Stronghold, he had no men left to push the advantage. When suddenly, something struck him. Looking in more and more excitement at the updated spy sat pictures. And reaching for his microphone, directed the incoming Soloriel reinforcments.

Relief Ship Deliverance

Captain Ireff studied the updated orders wired through to him from the Reconciliation. As he studied the maps he thought they were sheer madness, but as he struggled to understand the Admirals orders a light semed to dawn upon him. Reaching for his Radio, he began relaying the new Co'ordinates to the rest of the fleet, and they slowly came within view of Danteri.

Naval Group Purity

As Yerrith watched another Barrage of missiles streak off into the sky he pondered what the old dog Hethran was up to this time. He was a wily one all rigght, and he always seemed to know what he was doing. And maybe he owed the old sea dog one last leap of faith. He allowed a small smile to creep across his face as he turned to his communications officer to re-direct the firepower of the ships, to a new location...

Next Actions:

- Soloriel Relief Forces have arrived Consisting of roughly:

160,000 Imperial Infantrymen
500 Tanks
200 Heavy Construction Vehicles
200 Heavy People Carriers
100 Various Logistics Vehicles
2,000 Tonnes of food and medical Supplys
150 MiG 29 Fulcrum's
100 Avro Vulcan Strategic Nuclear Bombers.

- Carrier Group Purity is Re-directing its fire toward the Loyalist positions near Soloriels southern most held territory, near Buil Bay to provide covering fire for the incoming relief ships

- Deliverance will begin launching planes to the Carriers of Purity, so that they can engage in high level bombing raids against Loyalist positions.

- 10,000 Troops from the initial Landings will move towards the point where the Purity group will be firing, escorted by the Imperial 1st Armoured Division.

- Both the Initial Troops and the 1st will move upon Enemy positions once they are under heavy fire from the airforce, and the destroyers.

- After which the fresh troops from soloriel will come at them from behind led by the fresh Armour Divisions from home.

OOC-I think 5000 tanks is a bit much..

OOC: sorry that sounds wrong there, that 5000 consists of not only tanks but heavy construction equipment to aid in the rebuilding of Freiburg, people carriers to speed up the evacuation of any Civilians wishing to leave, and various logisitics equipment, ill edit the post the reflect this

OOC-alright, I was just thinking that 5000 tanks would be nearly impossible to move with one carrier group, plus 160000 men. Also, I was just wandering, because I never saw, why did Soloriel join the war? I was looking and couldn't find it.

OOC: They came in to help Freiburg, for some reason. (At least, that's what I got out of their statements...)

OOC: Aye the numbers were off for the armoured units, the men are basically being ferried over in vast transport ships, each designed to hold about 5,000 men each, theres roughly 35 of these ships ferrying them all over. And as for why i joined the war, well two reasons:

1, Saw the post one fine day whilst bored at home, read from the beginning all the way up, and thought it sounded like a fine time to break my Army in a little.

2, (IC) Soloriel keeps an eye out for situations such as these, and when they crop up, they tend to do things the entirely wrong way. They have the political aptitude of a goat, they barge in expecting everyone to do things their way, and then SEVERELY over react when they dont (Read: Tactical Nuclear Deployment :p) They are easily excitable and highly defensive, and besides that. Well...their Religious Nutters, they believe totally in the Emperor, and are willing to throw their lives away in his name. As such they take every precaution to only die in glorious battle against the 'Heretics' they suspect are round every corner.:rolleyes:

Named after the city it protects, (Danteri City, the capital), this line is the new Loyalist defensive line. It isn't as strong as their old line was, but it's the best they can do for now. (OOC: That's the line of Loyalist Strong-Points on the map.)

OOC: Sounds like another bunch of people I know about (well, a mix of two, to be exact...)
The Danteri Line is manned by one hundred and fifty thousand conscripts and fifty thousand "real" soldiers - plus Zukariaan allies.
All along the line, villages and hills have been transformed into defensive strong points, defended by machineguns, mortars, artillery and mine fields. Also, Surface-to-Air Missile sites have been set up all along the line, and man-portable AA missiles are being passed out to the "real" soldiers.
Also, some rebel commandos have been hitting the Loyalist positions, with terrifying results.
(Those rebel commandos really are something...)

OOC: Aye just think of them as Islamic Fundamentalist Americans :p

Sgt. Kyler had been pretty roughed up. The nuke, the commandos, the retreat. The damned retreat!! If it weren't for all of these weakling conscripts that they had tried at every level to keep stable and alive, they would still be bck out there killing enemies. Now, the Loyalists continued to try. As the first of the Zukarian reinforcements began to arrive, it was apparant that the government was pissed. Sgt. Kyler was glad for that. One more chance to blow someones brains out. Yippy. It was a gigantic force, really. Thousands of men marched under the Zukarian flag throughout the Loyalist lines. They, as the original 50,000 had done when they first arrived, began helping build, set up guns, whatever. The tanks and planes arrived, then the artillery guns began being set up. Zukarian rifles, pistols, guns of all kinds, were being distributed throughout the Loyalist ranks.
Sgt. Kyler really hoped that they wouldn't surrender as they had been. It was insane. He had never seen so many people surrender at once. He had always been told that he could retreat, he could fight, but surrendering was suicide. The Zukarian government had been giving speeches for a long time to boost morale, hell, they had hoped that the arrival of Zukarian troops itself would help. The troops were also trying to help. Everything possible was being done. Sgt. Kyler only hoped it was enough.

-The Zukarian Reinforcements have begun to arrive at the Loyalist lines.

Captain Randolph Bret kept his head bowed in prayer as the sounds of the immense cannons of the Purity fleet reached them. He knew that they were Here to do the Emperors will, and by all that he held dear, that was exactly what he was here to do. Finishing the last of his prayers he noticed other members of his squad, the 66th Imperial Deathcorp, doing the same. These were hardened men, finely crafted implements of War. They had dedicated their Lives toward furthering the goals of the Empire. Each man here had been finely honed in the arts of stealth and death. Forged into implements of sheer destruction through countless missions, and had emerged upon the other side, as the Will of the God-Emperor made manifest. Unlike the other troops of the Imperial Army, these men were trained for one purpose and one purpose alone, to deliver swift unmerciless death to all who faced them in battle. Equipped with the finest tools available to them each man in this squad could fight their way out of any situation, and more often than not, had actually done so.

Standing up, he finished sliding the last Kevlar plates into his tactical suit, each one covered in paragraphs from the Book of Truths. Captain Bret was an intimidating sight to anyone who met him, when dressed in full battle gear, as he was now, he appeared to be some spectre of death. He wore a Jet Black figure hugging Jumpsuit, with High military boots dulled down to a deep penetrating darkness reaching his knees. Front and back of his legs were protected by two Kevlar plates, and around his waist he wore a standard Imperial Equipment Harness. This bristled with extra ammunition for his rifle and pistol, with a series of flashbang and thermite grenades strapped in. Looking further up and he wears a thick Tactical Kevlar Vest, each pocket cntaining some myriad tool with which to do his duty. His arms have Four pockets sewn into each, containing yet more Kevlar, his hands are protected with a pair of black military issue gloves, with the finger on his right hand removed above the second knuckle, a sign of his profession as a sniper. He was a clean shaven man, not unpleasant to look at, save the scar that ran along his left jaw line from an old wound. He had strong features topped by a pair of mercilessly cold blue eyes, his dark short cut hair was cropped into a standard military buzzcut.

Captain Bret placed the holy symbol of the Emperor inside his vest as he placed the short ear and mouth piece radio around his right ear, and adjusted the microphone so that it sat comfortably near his lips. Pulling his black balaclava over his face he reached for his helmet, "Men, you all know your Duty, and the Mission Objective, we are here to distract and destroy. Do not allow yourselves to be killed! If you do, ill bring you back to life and kill you myself for being so damned stupid the first time! Gear up, we leave in 5." his men smiled at the old tirade they had heard so many times before, and like the Captain began making final weapon checks. Captain Bret placed his helmet on his head, and tightened the strap below his chin. Looking one last time ove his shoulder to ensure his men were ready, reached up to his storage compartment, and grabbed his rifle.

As the rest of the Reinforcements continued toward the landing zone, a single small boat sped away from one of the hulking transport ships, heading towards what appeared to be a fairly empty patch of coast. The Deathcorp, had Arrived.

Solorian Actions:
- The 66th Imperial Deathcorp has been deployed, they consist of one squad of highly trained stealth experts, total of 9 Men.
- Captain Bret and his men will begin making there way overland to the Danteri Line, using optimal cover at all times. They consist of 2 Snipers (Including Bret) 2 AT Specialist's, 2 Demolitions Expert's, 2 Electronics Specialists, and 1 Squad Medic.
- These guys are the best of the best of the best, their main objective in all this is to make their way to the line, and assasinate any DGS Officers, and any other 'Viable Threat Locations' before making their way overland toward Danteri City, to eliminate Paul Von Easthaven, or his General Staff if he is not a viable target.

The Loyalists haven't given up yet - they lanched a massive artillery and mortar bombardment all along the Danteri Line, throwing several hundred thousand shells of various calibers at the Solorielans, McPsychoville and 23Eris. This represents a major dedication of Loyalist resources - unexpected, as they are so low on equipment...

Also: Paul Von Easthaven has announced that Danteri will "Defend itself from foreign aggression by any means necessary"... what exactly that means is unknown at this time...

The mud. The mud was everywhere, as much a part of Danteri as anything else. Nowhere was clean... in all Danteri, it seemed, there was no real, solid, earth.
The rebel commandos had some sort of connection to the mud, or so it seemed... they could move through it with such ease that anyone else would be shocked. Sure, they weren't as well trained as Haraki Special Forces were, and most of their equipment was looted from slain enemies, so it varied widly. But... they could not be matched for the fear they inspired in their enemies. It was almost unnatural... but, it was how it was.
This night, this wet, miserable, Danteri night, the rebel commandos were on the move again. They slipped past sleeping sentries, crawled through the waist-deep mud so that only their necks were above its level, avoided rusted barbed wire, cunningly evaded land mines, and made their way towards Solorielan lines.
The first Solorielan sentries they passed didn't see them - no one saw them unless they wanted to be seen. They snuck with stealthy step and stride through the shadows... until they saw the rank pins of an officer.
At that point, a certain lieutenant got an unusual surprise as some thirty rebel commandos, covered in the mud of Danteri, came out of the shadows, and said to him, "Hello there... the rebel army wants to talk."

- Rebel Commandos have slipped through the Danteri lines in order to open lines of communication between the Solorielans and the rebels in Southhaven.

The Loyalists posed no problem for them - slitting a few sentries throats was easy, as was penatrating by stealth the Danteri Line. From what they can see, Von Easthaven is serious about holding this line, but... he just doesn't have enough man power or proper material to hold off a major armored attack from Soloriel for very long. It seems almost too fragile, this line meant to hold the problems of Nord-Lund out of Danteri City and the other cities of the south... as though, perhaps, it was meant to fail...
Whatever the case, they have found a key weak point, where there are no Zukariaans and only a few Loyalist soldiers who aren't just conscripts. In fact, they're even short on anti-tank weaponry there...

- The 66th Deathcorp has made its way through the Danteri Line.

Lieutenant Kris Parkin, was busy smoking her cigarette, in the peace and relative quiet outside her tent, she was in charge of the troops at this point along the line. As one of the few female officers in the Imperial Army she was not at all prepared for what happened next "Hello there... the rebel army wants to talk." She span around for her hand on her service pistol, and then she took in the sight of all the men before her. Pulling herself straight, she kept her hand firmly on her pistol. "I am Lieutenant Parkin of the 15th Imperial Infantry. Who are you and what are are you doing here?" Eyeing the men uneasily she gazed directly at the one she assumed had spoken before.

"There. Don't knock it down!"
Commander Harris couldn't help but smirk. He didn't laugh. The Loyalists were steadily trying to build up defences. They weren't the best, any well trained stealth soldier could move through them with ease. They could, however, pose a threat to an average soldier. He, along with 24 others, had been hiding in the shadows ever since the Zukarian reinforcements had arrived. No one, not even the Zukarian soldiers, knew that they were there. They had hidden in the shadows. They were the Zukarian Special Forces. The HellShadows. The Rebel Commandos that had recently passed through hadn't noticed them, but they had noticed the rebels. They had watched them weave through the Loyalist ranks with ease, and grinned at their sloppyness. Harris and the others wanted to see what they were up to. It was obvious they were going to the Solorians. For what purpose, though? They had chosen not to attack. Harris wandered if that had been a mistake.

Sgt. Kyler also had to hold back a smile. For different reasons, however. He and a group of other Zukarian soldiers had been rounding up small groups of Loyalist soldiers and teaching them how to use a gun. Many of them made major improvements, many of them didn't. It depended on the person. Many of them had gone from missing by a mile, to keeping steady and actually hitting the target(not well, however). The new guns that the Zukarians had given them helped with this, however, as the old Loyalist guns were dirty, busted, and prone to jamming and misfires.

-The Zukarian Special Forces has sent a group of 25 men to the lines.
-The Zukarian Soldiers have been rounding up small groups of Loyalist soldiers and teaching them to use guns right, instead of wasting ammo and not hitting anything. It is unknown if this is helping very much.

Lowering the last of the guards to the ground as quietly as he could, Captain Bret lay down and placed his rifle in front of him, flicking up the protective cover he scanned the point ahead of him for enemy defenses. Noting tat unlike the rest of the Defensive points they had seen so far, this one was relatively weak. His suspicions were aroused immediately, and signaling his squad back into a small copse of trees, spoke softly. "We found the breach, Imrath radio back to the Admiralty, give them the co'ordinates of those other defensive positions weve seen so far, and then relay this location to them." As his radioman sent the message Bret scanned the camp again, something was wrong here, he knew it in his gut.....

The lead figure spoke again: "What do we want? We want to talk to your general, of course! We have six thousand elite infantry in the enemy rear area, and we want to talk about coordinating our strikes with your attacks!"
He stepped forward, and she could see his mud covered face, his almost inhuman face that appeared to actually have a bit of fungi growing on his left cheek. He spoke again, saying "You see, we want to help your dear army... of course, there will be something in it for us, but that's something I want to talk to your general about. So? What will it be?", he asked, smilling faintly.

Thanks to their "target practice" lessons, the average accuracy displayed by the Loyalist conscripts has improved - not much, but a definite improvement. The real problem, however, is that most of these poor excuses for soldiers haven't had much training at all - many had never even seen a real gun before the Loyalist Army had rolled in and conscripted them... and then, the first time they had held a loaded gun was when there were Solorielans charging at them... well, you get the picture. However, they are improving... thankfully!

The conscripts were moving around a lot, desperatly doing their best to get machinegun positions set up, to create a defensive perimiter that could last through being sneezed on by a Solorielan. It looked as though material was finally flowing into this site... even if the soldiers here were mostly incompetant, and the mortars and machineguns that were being deployed were even more obsolete than those normally given out to the Loyalist army... perhaps that was a sign that the Loyalists were altogether running low on equipment?
Whatever the case, this site remains the least well defended site on the entire Danteri Line... by a long shot.

Lieutenant Parkin held her position for the moment, despite the overwhelming urge to back away Slowly She came to her decision. "We have no officers of the rank of General amongst our forces here, however the nearest we have is Field Lieutenant Juhn, if you would like to follow me we can head to the comms tent." So speaking she turned briskly, and made her way to the Communications tent.

Admiral Hethran studied the map laid out before him. The communications from Bret had arrived a few moments before hand, and the area he was now looking at was reported to be the weakest point in the Line. Sipping his coffee he thought his next actions over carefully. The reinforcements would not be here until the morning. And the effectiveness of Admiral Yerriths continued Bombardment of the Loyalist lines was unknown. This could be there best chance to break this line, and push on through. Reaching for his Microphone he began to relay his orders.

Field Lieutenant Juhn, shifted uneasily in his Command Tank, the latest orders in from the Admiralty, suggested a weak point that the army could exploit. Juhn disliked the Idea of facing his enemy in anything but a Glorious Charge to smash them back, the idea was..... Dishonourable. Reaching for his radio however he began to relay the Admirals Orders: "All troops, we have received new intel. I want all Challenger Battalions to form into attack positions , we move out in an hour.

Solorian Actions:

- Move Tank divisions into place
- Form up 7,000 troops behind the armour
- Charge the enemy position with support from the long range artillery In three hours (NS Time).

I guess I should give a description of my forces and what equipment they each have.

Zukarian Infantry:
Zukarian soldiers usually wear cloth full body suits underneath a plate armor on their chest, back, legs, and arms. Over that is a thin layer of a bullet proof substance. (its supposed to make ther bullets less painful and such) Over that is their dark brown infantry suits. They carry a pack full of food, water, camping gear, backup ammunition, and medical supplies. They have a belt around their waste with pockets of ammunition, grenades, and water. Their helmet is also dark brown, but bears the Zukarian flag. Many of them have personal items in their helmets such as pictures. Each soldier carries a standard Zukarian-made JP800 Long Range Assault Rifle. They carry a standard side-arm pistol. They also carry a knife.

Zukarian officers are basically the same.
Zukarian Special Forces go without the plate armor, and pure black uniform instead of dark brown. They also have a mask over their entire head, besides the eyes, which is also pure black. Their Assault Rifles are customized by each operative, but all have a sniping ability.

Initially it had been a defensive measure - a few of Gwazzaria's most elite agents, disguise as medical professionals of varying proficiency. They were assumed to be just as good as several readily armed guards, in case the MASHes were attacked for whatever reason. Obviously this had been a major error - it hadn't helped with the fascists. They weren't trained to defend large quantities of people against larger quantities of heavily armed people. What they did know how to do, however, was be very efficient killers.

The Admiral and Hogan had both hoped that they could get the other countries to do this for them. The last thing they wanted was to indicate Gwazzaria as anything but neutral - though how could you be neutral in the face of all this madness?

Four agents in Danteri City were now ready, and would look for the nearest possible opening for the assassination of Von Easthaven, in addition to any other officers they saw fit. The explicitly stated goal was to minimize casualties on all sides, by destroying any obstacle to surrender.

((OOC: Danteri - I'll TG you the profiles and specifics of each agent. I hope this isn't god-moding at all, I was just hoping to get a bit more in on the action in this. If this seems like a pretty big ret-con, I'll be happy to delete it.))

23Eris HQ, Free Republic of Freiburg

Lieutenant Yagger stepped out of the Jeep that pulled up beside headquarters and briskly made her way inside. Her squad had been one of the first to encounter the Soloriens, and once they did, both forces turned southwards. Though the troops from 23Eris had since pulled back from the front lines to avoid overextending themselves, Solorien troops seemed more than adequate for the task, and indeed there were reports the strange force was planning a major push to Danteri City.

"Greetings Lieutenant, at ease." the Colonel said. "Lieutenant, reports are that you've managed to prove yourself multiple times in the battles around Freiburg. Now that the city is secure we aren't expecting any more major action in this sector, at least that will involve our forces in any major fashion. We've now landed three full brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division with the fourth and fifth brigades landing now. I'd like to send you to meet with the Soloriens to coordinate our relief efforts and to, reduce any potential for... incidents among our respective troops. This position would come with a price though."

"Sir?"

"A full promotion to Captain," the Colonel responded with a grin.

"Sir, I'd be honored to accept." Lieutenant, now Captain Yagger replied, beaming widely.

"Wonderful, should the Soloriens accept, we'll provide a chopper to take you asap."
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To: Solorien Command, Danteri
Fr: 23Eris Commander, Freiburg Defense
Re: Military Coordination

Commander, we wish to express our congratulations on your recent successful landing and offensive operations. While my forces are unable to press our attack forward as such an operation would exceed my operational authority, I propose an exchange of military attache officers to coordinate our forces and reduce any potential friction between our troops.

In addition, I would like to request on behalf of my troops and the Freiburg Militia, permission to unload supply ships in territory held by yout forces. We would also seek permission to move Danteri citizens seeking asylum in 23Eris to port facilities in Solorien held areas as well where they will be loaded on Erisian transport ships.

We look forward to working together with your forces to end this conflict as quickly as possible.

OOC: Guess i should describe my infantry and camo schemes the Soliran Forces are using in this conflict, so you guys actually know what they look like :p

Imperial Infantrymen:

All Solorian Infantrymen wear a standard full cloth body suit, dyed a unniform, Dull Grey colour, over this they wear black Knee high military boots, with armoured Knee Pads. A Tactical Kevlar Body Piece that straps around the thighs, and crotch, stretching up to a tactical vest with overlapping plates of Kevlar underneath to provide flexibility and protection. On the arms they wear Elbow Pads, and a pair of Black Military Gloves. Head pieces consist of a standard Imperial Gas Mask covering the lower portion of the face, Helmets are of the standard WW2 German Infantry Design, much upgraded to be on a par with todays military helmets. each trooper wears a standard ear piece with which to receive orders. All Solorian Ground Forces are equipped with Solorian Produced K92 Automatic Assault Rifles, with standard AP Rounds, they also carry a standard Solorian K12 Personal Defence Pistol (or PDP for short).

Imperial Officers:

Solorian Officers wear basically the same, however they also wear over their Uniform, a long Field Trenchcoat with the rank sewn onto the right bicep. Instead of the Usual K92's they instead carry the lighter K89 Semi-Automatic Rifle, with Optional Scope. Again they also carry the K12 PDP.

Imperial Armour Camoflage scheme:

Lighter Grey in tone with Mottled Green and Brown Tones.

IC:

Admiral Hethran Nodded to himself as he read the telegram through again. He was still unsure of these Erisians, but they had not undertaken any hostile action as of yet toward the Imperial forces. He called over his Comms Officer to send a return message to the Erisians.

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To: 23Eris Commander, Freiburg Defense
Fr: Solorian Command, S.I.N Reconciliation
Re: Military Coordination

Your Congratulations are welcomed Commander, we are most grateful for your assistance in the last engagement. Even as we speak our mighty Armoured Divisions prepare to roll into the Heart of Danteri, and cut this cancer free. We agree to your proposal of an Exchange of Officers, in fact i have the perfect one in mind.

Permission is granted to begin undocking at the Area Known as Stronghold. You will be guaranteed the Personal protection of the Emperors finest Soldiers, and as a gesture of good will, we also offer into your command the Imperial 3rd Armour Division, consisting of some 120 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks, these men will be informed of their new duty, and will arrive with 1st Lieutenant Harlan Anunnziata, at Freiburg Shortly.

Eternal Joy to the Immortal Emperor!


Hethran glanced at the clock on the bridge, only 2 more hours to go until Field Lieutenant Juhn began his sweep into Danteri

Captain Lexington's convoy had made it back to the safe zones untouched apart from the one ambush, and with all necessary medical supplies intact, only to find over a hundred thousand new refugees, bringing the total refugees inside the safe zone area somewhere near double digits in the millions of people. The Harakians, with only 6,000 troops deployed, are somewhat overwhelmed trying to keep the safe zone safe with the overwhelmingly huge numbers of people flocking into the safe zones, including Loyalist conscripts (The Harakians confiscate their weaponry so as to keep it out of anyone's hands) and refugees.

As such, the Harakian government has ordered three large and well-protected convoys of transport ships which will make their way to the safe zones, load as many civilians as can be safely and humanely carried, and leave again, taking them to relatively unpopulated areas of Neo-Haraki, Haraki's second-largest colony (There's New Haraki, which is the largest, then Neo-Haraki, which is fairly large but pretty unpopulated, and then it's down to smaller islands) where large relief and refugee camps are being set up. Of course, only those who wish to leave will go, but there they will find free food, water, actual hygiene, confirmable safety, and procedures for eventual immigration to Haraki proper. Also, the Harakian government has announced that the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Armoured Division will be deployed into the Haraki safe zones in order to protect the refugee columns heading for the coast. Although this breaks Haraki's ceasefire agreement with the Loyalists, it will ensure much better protection for the refugees.

Please note that the refugees in the safe zones also include the family of that colonel, who was smart enough to get them to safety before launching his suicide mission.



Meanwhile, the CEF commandoes had taken video recordings not only from themselves but also from satellites, of the mass slaughter of the labour camps' civilians. Many copies were made, of course, and once the CEF commandoes were well clear of the area and heading back towards Danteri City, copies of the videos were issued to all involved nations, including all current Danterian factions, as an example of the Loyalists' disdain for civilian life.

The CEF commandoes, their first mission completed, had a new one: Find Paul von Easthaven. They were to go to great lengths to accomplish it, and being extremely well-trained in urban warfare as well as that in the countryside, stealth being one of their greatest assets, and infiltration being one of their greatest focuses, they were skilled enough to, most likely, find whenever he would be changing locations, preferably along with his general staff, or at least the location of his next meeting with them. (Please note that as soon as the CEF men find when Easthaven changes locations or has a meeting with his general staff, they will be bunker-bustered/smart bombed, depending on where they are, by the Harakian high-altitude bombers.)


And, last but not least, the Harakian government issued a blanket statement condemning the use of any sort of nuclear, biological or chemical weapon, counting the Loyalists' nerve gas and Soloriel's tactical nuclear attack, as well as the most recent suicide atomic bombing by Danteri. In this statement, the Harakians also reaffirmed their neutrality in the conflict and urged all involved parties to respect it.

Given the rapid escalation of the warfare, the new Harakian refugee extraction convoys will be heavily guarded by Harakian naval forces.

The mud-covered men followed her, moving with almost inhuman quiet... it was eerie, like when you knew something had to be there... and yet, you couldn't see it... whatever the case, they followed her, blinking, into the light.
In the light, they didn't seem quite so fearsome - rather, they seemed like muddy, dirty, ragged and proud men... like a hunting beast that stalks its prey for days, sleeping in the mud... these men were like wolves in men's bodies, like predators who saw those weaker than them as prey... yet, there was some humanity to them, some diferentiation - five were female, some wore Zukariaan kits, others Loyalist Danteri, still others Bertling, Oompli or New-Lexingtonian... by their very lack of uniformity, they somehow managed to seem more dangerous, not less. The unspoken thing was, that in order to get most of that equipment, they would have had to have killed the previous owners.
However, now they were here to talk, not to kill.

OOC: Sorry about "letting the cat out of the bag"...
Paul Von Easthaven, Supreme Leader, Fuher, whatever else you want to call him, is a busy man... however, he spends most of his time in a radiation hardened bomb-proof bunker underneath the Danteri Government Security HQ building.
However, he does leave occassionaly - this is one of those occassions:

The road was cleared hours in advance, Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers is full battle array lined the streets, and Paul Von Easthaven left the DGSHQ building in a black limo, bound for the Bertlingian embassy.
The limo moved continuously, but slowly... all in all, a perfect target.
(Only one problem: He's riding with his wife and two daughters - one's eight, one's twelve.)

Armed Forces Coordination Meeting, Kallisti City, 23Eris

"With the northern sector secured by the Soloriens and the forces of McPsycho, we don't need to send the First Mech to that area. The Communist rebels are falling back constantly and our troops would be of huge assistance in that sector." General Taylor said.

"The navy has your unit fully loaded, we just need a destination. If we're going to put into Southhaven, we need to move fast whle there are still port facilities open. I'd also like to have air superiority in the sector, those damn Loyalist planes already sunk a few of our ships in the relief convoys."

"We don't have much left in our airforce Admiral. Most of our planes are deployed in the north as you know. We have 14 F-16 aircraft remaining in 23Eris and 6 SU-27 planes. We can deploy those but we'll be stripping our homeland of nearly its entire airforce." Answered Air-General Wainright.

"Given the success of the SUs to this point, I suggest we send those, they're excellent air to air fighters. We could redeploy most of our airforce in northern Danteri to the southern sector," added a Colonel.

"Let's do it." replied Wainright.

"Then we're agreed? The First mechanized moves in support of the Rebels in Southhaven?" asked Admiral Weber.

"Yes, we've no choice really. If the rebels in Southhaven are defeated, we've got a humanitarian crisis the likes of which we've never considered brewing. We can't evacuate millions on our ships, so we have to stop the loyalists from overrunning the communists." General Taylor stated.

"Okay, I'll present our report to the PM and Defense Minister. I'm sure they'll sign off on this easily"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
23Eris Convoy 3, Discordia, 23Eris

Under the cover of darkness, dozens of ships from 23Eris put to sea in the largest operation undertaken by the nation since the war for independence. The twenty thousand men and equipment on the transports and other comandeered or converted ships were bound for Southaven, determined to help save the Rebel cause and prevent the slaughter of millions of innocent civilians in Rebel held territory.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Movements:
-23Eris First Mechanized Division begins heading for Danteri.
-23Eris Submarines redeploy to waters off Southaven to try and keep them clear of enemy shipping.
-20 JA-37 and 15 SU27s from Freiburg redeploy to Southhaven, while 6 SU-27s from 23Eris arrive in Southhaven as well.
-23Eris Losses from loyalist Artillery- A few dozen troops near the lines are killed or injured by Loyalist artillery. For the moment, 23Eris does not counterattack with its airforce, in the midst of redeployment it suspends all but defensive air operations.

OOC: Gwazzaria, your Special Ops guys are fine.
The Loyalists put up a fierce resistance, fighting with feroicty that almost made up for their lack of skill, with courage that almost made up for their vastly inferior equipment. In the end, however, they were forced back as soon as enough heavy armor was brought up... and then, the Loyalists did something entierly unexpected.
The bomb sent a mushroom cloud high into the sky - the blast waves caught the fleeing Loyalist troops, killing almost as many as had died acting as bait in the trap. At first, it seemed as though the Solorielans had used another nuke, but then... then, as the Solorielan casualty repostrs came in, it became obvious - in order to make up for their air inferiority, the Loyalists had planted their atomic bomb, a ten kilo-ton warhead, inside of the village, manned by a suicide team that had been ordered to set the bomb off as soon as enough Solorielan armor showed up.
One almost had to admire the ruthless briliance of this latest Loyalist ploy... until, that is, one began to worry about just where the Loyalists had gotten the nuke from...

- 5,000 Loyalist conscripts and 1,000 Loyalist "real" soldiers are killed in the fighting or by the bomb. Solorielan casualties are unknown at this time.

This last action by the Loyalists represents the second use of atomic weapons made during this war - as such, things are looking bad...
(The rebels have condemned the whole thing of course, while the Loyalists have basically stated that "While you might question our right to use an atomic weapon, we do not question our right to defend ourselves...")

Commander Yean led the Imperial 5th and 6th Armoured Divisions on the forward push to the Weak Point he had been directed to by Juhn. He disliked being used in such a manner, as Bait for the larger force behind, but he knew his duty, and would follow it through. As the short battle progressed he felt a Sense of victory overcome him. Unfortunately it would be the last thing he ever felt.

Juhn waited with the rest of the Armour Divisions for the Signal from the forward Group, soon his men would rush forwards as Yeans men pulled back and crush the enemy in a counter.... In a bright flash he screamed in pain, all thoughts knocked out of his head. And as he slammed down the protective cover on his viewport he waited for his vision to clear.

Captain Bret and his men were many miles away when they saw the skys light up behind them, they had continued on with their mission, to move inland as soon as the message was broadcast to HQ. All of the Squad following, watched with satisfaction, as once again their Holy Emperor rained his fire down upon the Heretics. As there Radios were switched off to avoid detection, none of them heard the frantic screams for information from Admiral Hethran.....

Lieutenant Parkin led the men toward the Comms Tent to patch them Through to Admiral Hethran, when the night lit up with an incredible light. Turning to look at the sight unfolding before her, she was shocked at the sight of the mushroom cloud gently rising into the sky. Unable to speak she merely fell to her knees in front of the radio equipment, letting the microphone fall from her grasp...

Admiral Hethran Looked on in Disbelief, at the sight unfolding so far away. Never had he thought these wothless foes of even posessing the holy fire. Reaching for his Microphone he began to scream orders to the front lines for all troops to pull back immediately and give him casualty reports....

Solorian Casualtys:

the entire 5th and 6th Armour is gone some 240 tanks in total, also 2,000 Men from the Solorian Forward Attack group were lost in the initial blast.

Another million or so people have fled to the Safe-Zones following the latest disaster (the Loyalists using a nuke against the Solorielans). It appears that Danteri City has suffered panic riots as a rumor that the Solorielans are going to nuke Danteri City spreads.

- Another million (yes, all at once - think of the overcrowded roads...) refugees have fled into the Haraki Safe-Zones.
- The Loyalist government appears to be too busy trying to hold off Soloriel and 23Eris to even notice that the Haraki have violated their treaty by bringing in heavy armor.
- A group of 20 Loyalist terrorists have conducted a terrible atrocity against the civilians in the Harkai Safe-Zones - using smuggled in small arms, they killed some hundred refugees before they could be brought down. (With more than two million rifles and more than two million pistols collected, I'm assuming a few could have been slipped by...) This attack appears to have been motivated solely to make the people who have fled to the Haraki Safe-Zones feel unsafe, likely as part of an attempt to cause panic or provoke a riot in order to make Haraki look bad.
- During the riots in Danteri City, the Danteri Government Security HQ building was attacked by an angry mob of some ten thousand citizens with hand weapons, a few pistols and rifles, and some improvised explosives - they were gunned down mercilessly by DGS men with machineguns and chlorine gas (as chlorine gas can be protected against with gas masks, unlike nerve agents). All in all, eight thousand rioters were killed, along with 35 Danteri Government Security men.

Admiral Hethran felt all of 48 years catch up with him as the casualty reports filed in. He had never in his entire career seen so many come through all at once. "Any contact from Captain Bret?" the comms officer shook his head. "No sir, nothing." Admiral Hethran Sighed deep in his chest. For now they would have to assume that the 66th were gone, consumed in the explosion which had put such a large chink in the Solorien forces, Reaching for his microphone he began to relay the update. "All forces, this engagement has been escalated to Status level 2, use of heavy Munitions Authorised. Archangel and Sunraven, prepare for deployment with Blue Steel, Strike orders will be forth coming. Lieutenant Juhn, prepare your Men, i want everyone in RaC Suits ASAP, prepare to push forward with the men you have left, reinforcements will arrive within the hour." Replacing his Microphone in its stand, he gazed out toward Danteri. Soon this s**tstorm was going to turn into a tsunami.

Archangel 1 flew some 80 miles out from the target zone. Their Orders Clear, Deploy Blue Steel from 18,000 Metres, and 75 Miles out, toward Danteri Held Positions along the Line. Closing his eyes and praying for forgiveness, he radioed back to HQ. "Targets Locked, ready for launch in 3, 2, 1." With a shuddering Jerk the Blue Steel Warhead screamed away, its inertial guidance systems would direct it into the target, with a margin of some 30ft. "Emperor forgive us." He whispered to himself

Lieutenant Juhn Readied his men, as soon as the Explosions were registered, they were to proceed forwards and link up with the reinforcements landing in Buil Bay. Smiling to himself he prayed for vengeance upon these Heretics.

Solorian Actions:

Confirmed launch of 1 Blue Steel Warhead.
Sunraven is standing by on the Truth, for launch and deployment of 2nd Blue Steel Warhead when given clearance by Admiral Yerrith.
Unknown number of Enemy casualtys caused with launch of Blue Steel

To: Haraki Military
From: Major Graham Murphy <madmajmurph@miniwar.co.gw>
Subject: Safe-Zone Safety

Honoured Sirs,

In light of the overcrowding in your safe-zones, we have made some revisions to our plans in Danteri. The Ettenbach, our mobile naval hospital, will be docking for the forseeable future on the coast of the safe-zone in order to provide additional medical support. We will also be sending a good deal of other supplies (i.e., food and clean water) - although these will take a considerable time to arrive.

The true subject of this message is to offer support for your beleagured few thousand. Gwazzaria is by no means under threat of attack by any force, and our army hasn't had anything to do since the First World War. They are a primarily defensive force, heavily armored and stalwart. We would like to offer them as a possible way to assist. We could also provide them with stun batons or tasers like our own police force carries.

We pray that this war ends as soon as possible, and hope we can assist in your admirable work minimizing human suffering.

Best regards,
Major Graham Murphy
Minister of War

Erisian Defense Force Chopper, Solorien Territory

Captain Yagger sat in the rear of the Mi-8 Hip that carried her and her assistant, a young Corporal towards the Soloriel fleet and her rendezvous with their leader. She hadn't met any Soloriens save th efew infantry she had encountered when the units of the two countries first encountered one another. They had seemed a bit cold and standoffish, not suprising considering the lack of knowledge about one another and the fact that they were mopping up after a serious operation.

The corporal nudged her shoulder and handed her the built in phone. It was a secure connection, at least as secure as they could hope for. She was no fool and she knew, as did all the Erisian commanders, that their encryption systems were not the best. Ths was hardly suprsing given the size of their nation and small percentage of the budget directed towards the military and research. She spoke with her commander for several minutes before hanging up with a sigh and looked out the window once more at the scarred Danteri countryside. She couldn't help but feel pity for these people, the war here in Danteri was already more bloody and vicious than the Erisian war for independence. Her country was still trying to heal the scars from that war, this might take decades to overcome, and the irradiated zones...

When the helicopter touched down, Yagger was escorted to a room where she was given a cursory search, unsuprising that, and then made to wait several mintes befor being brought forward to whom she assumed was their commander.

"Sir," Yagger started, saluting. "I offer greetings and thanks from my commanding officer for your granting our requests and for giving us the use of some of your troops. However, my government wishes me to express our concern over the use of nuclear weapons. We urge you to refrain from their use, even in retaliation for loyalist attacks with WMDs. The serious political costs to our mutual cause outweighs any temporary military benefit from their deployment."

Captain Yagger stopped and stared at the man before her, waiting for what she expected would be an angry or at least annoyed response, not how she had hoped to start off this assignment.

Admiral Hethran Turned to face the woman who had been brought to the Tactical room aboard the Reconciliation. "Greetings, I welcome you aboard his Majestys most Magnificent Ship, the Reconciliation." taking her hand he bowed his head toward her. When he stood back up he gestured at the room in which they stood. "Hardly the most comfortable of places im sure, would you care to join me in my Ready room... Miss?" He released her hand and looked her in the eyes, awaiting a response.

"Yagger sir, Captain Yagger, this is a truly remarkable ship. My country has nothing like it." (Her name is pronounced yay-grr) She was impressed with his manners, she hadn't expected a senior officer to offer a bow of any sort. Though her uniform was clean and neat, it was not the dress uniform of the EDF ground forces, her uniform consisted of combat fatigues in good order, black boots, and a light fatigue jacket with a captain's insignia on the front left. The jacket unfortunately had no name stitched on it and the uniform wasn't ideal for her new assignment, but until her other uniforms arrived, it would have to serve. "I was just reassigned to this duty from the EDF ground forces in Freiburg, so I'm used to uncomfortable surroundings. However if you prefer your ready room, I will be happy to continue our discussion there Sir."

"Of course Captain." Turning to his comms officer he spoke briefly. "Send a message to Admiral Yerrith, Carrier Group Purity to assume Tactical Fleet Command for the forseeable Duration." Turning Back to Captain Yagger, he offered her a short smile. "Well captain if you would like to come with me I shall show you the way through." Glancing around at his Tactical Room he smiled at the myriad computers and and the large back lit tactical projection unit located in the center. "Yes it is a bit Impressive, Captain, but we have many more of these ships available, unfortunately none are as Impressive as our Flagship, the Requiem. Anyway i Babble. Please, follow me Captain." Admiral Hethran led the way out of his Tactical Room, up the corridor and down a flight of stairs. Turning to his left he stood in front of a non descript door. Turning the wheel that would open it, a loud thunk noise echoed out as the door unlocked. Opening the door and stepping through he showed her into his ready room.

As this was going on, the Soloriel 3rd approached the outskirts of Freiburg, As soon as they were sure they had been sighted, the lead tank Commander, Lieutenant Gerin Lifted the top hatch, and called out to the Erisians. "3rd Imperial Armour Division Reporting for duty!"

Solorian Actions:
The 3rd Armour Division has arrived, they are now completely under the command of the Erisians until the end of this current conflict.
Total of 120 Tanks
30 BMP Personnel Transports
30 Heavy Artillery Cannons
10 HMMWV Jeeps

OOC: Admiral Hethran is a man in his late 40's, he has rugged yet purposeful look to him, and his short curly black hair is shot through with grey, although when he has his officers peaked cap on, this isnt as noticeable. Currently he is wearing his standard officers uniform, Dark Grey Trousers, with a white shirt underneath, a pair of shin black shoes, and his Admirals Jacket, which is Dark Grey, on his chest he bears 4 medals of commendation, and on his right upper bicep sleeve Is his symbol of rank. His Officers Cap is again Dark Grey with a black brim, with the Symbol of the Soloriel Imperial Navy emblazoned upon it, (A Silver Circle, with twin crossed swords in the center.)

His ready room is actually quite impressive, he has faux wood panelling on the walls, a large oak desk in the corner of the room, and on one shelf near the door a series of models, each one representative of the ships he has served upon. the floor is covered in a dark crimson carpet, and in the other corner is a small coffee table with two plush chairs. adorning the wall behind his desk is the Solorien Flag. and the others are filled with framed pictures, of various young men and women in Solorien Naval Uniforms.

"Thank you," Captain Yagger replied, looking around the room and taking everything in with a quick sweep of her eyes. She waited for the Admiral to be seated before sitting herself, and tried for a moment to adjust herself to the too comfortable chair. Finally she spoke again, "Sir, I have to reiterate my country's distatse for your use of nuclear weapons. We believe that restraint should be shown on your part. The WMDs used by the Danteri loyalists are a result of the poor choice by an increasingly desperate and insane leadership who is losing their grip on the country. Nuclear weapons used by your forces increases the radicalization of the Loyalists and turns world opinion away from our cause. It also increases the likelihood that other nations will deploy WMDs of their own, which would leave Danteri an ecological disaster and huge portions uninhabitable. I believe we're both here to protect as many of the people as we can, not irradiate their homeland Sir."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Freiburg:

"Colonel Papadakis, Lieutenant. A pleasure to see you and your troops. I want you to deploy your forces southward with the 1009th Brigade. They're the closest to the Solorien zone, and I think your troops being there would help minimize any chance of misunderstading between our forces. Keep one company of your tanks in reserve, just in case." Colonel Papadakis ordered. He was a short gruff looking man, clean shaven with dark hair which was just starting to thin. He appeared to be in his thirties, and in fact most of the Erisian troops appeared to be young, which while generally expected of the grunts, their officers were generally younger than one would have expected. This is a product of the ravages of the Erisian war for independence, most of the older officers were killed during that conflict.

"Once you get your men in position, report back to me. I'll detail one of my men to show you to the position I want you to occupy, and he'll show you back to my HQ." As he speaks, a flight of fighter planes with long range fuel tanks attached takes off from the Freiburg airfield and begins heading southwards. "Just so you know son, about half our airpower is heading for Southhaven to help the rebels there, so I hope your air force can pick up the slack."

Some 10,000 conscripts and 2,000 "real" soldiers were killed by the Blue Steel warhead, the third atomic weapon deployed so far in this conflict.
Following the detonation, further rioting occured in Danteri City as the populace sought to overthrow the government.
Thousands of citizens and hundreds of Loyalist Security personell were killed in the rusultant fighting, and much of the city was burned. Rioting still continues, as the Loyalists desperatly try to maintain order.
Many of the rioters appear to be motivated by a fear that the Solorielans will use a nuke on Danteri City, others by a hatred for their opprsessive regime, still others by a desperate desire for peace. Whatever the reasons for the various rioters feeling as they do, they are still burning the city, still clashing with Danteri Government Security and the police, in a larger-scale repeat of the events that began the Danteri Civil War.

Loyalist troops in Southhaven have shot their officers and rebelled, acoarding to recent reports. They appear to be fed up with the massive cassualties they have been suffering, and so have taken the rioting in Danteri City as a sign to revolt. Rebel units advance as their former enemies embrace them as brothers, joining with them in a common desire to overcome the corrupt government that has thrown so many lives away.

- Some 75,000 Loyalists in Southhaven have gone over to the rebel's side, allowing the rebels to make massive advances virtually unopposed.
- As the rebels advance, still-loyal Loyalist units conduct a "scorched-earth" policy, burning crops and villages, ruining wells and slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians. It will be a hard winter in Southhaven...

Recent reports from Danteri City indicate that large quantities ov gold bulion are being loaded onto several ships of the Bertling navy, and also that several key officials have been sending their families overseas, either to Oompli, New-Lexington or Bertling. Needless to say, having their superiors loot the treasury has a negative effect on the morale of the average Loyalist soldier...

The Loyalists have fiercly resisted the Solorielan attempts to advance, throwing tens of thousands of conscripts onto the fire, but holding their positions. It appears as though this war is going to get ugly...

-Some 30,000 more conscripts die as the Loyalists hold the Danteri Line against Solorielan (and Freiburger, and 23Erisian) attempts to advance. Also, some 50,000 more have been taken prisoner by Soloriel, and 75,000 by 23Eris and Freiburg.

-In Southhaven, 34,000 of the original 40,000 Zukarian soldiers that were in Southhaven are retreating with the Loyalists.
-Zukarian forces in the South are helping burn villages and crops as they retreat.

Admiral Hethran looked the woman in the eye, "Captain, I appreciate your govenrments concerns, but this situation has been designated a status 2 Engagement. As much as I wish things had not come to this my forces have been authorised for deployment of any and all Blue Steel weapons." Reaching toward the coffee table he pours both himself and Captain Yagger a glass of water, "Our orders from the Emperor are clear, we are authorised to use any of the 40 remaining Blue Steel warheads to attain our objectives. We are evacuating Civilians back to Soloriel, for the forseeable future." Sighing as he sits back, for a moment he looks every inch the tired man that he is, before bringing himself back into his formal naval bearing. "At the moment with the status level of this engagement being raised, all troops are to proceed upon very specific guidelines for this conflict." Flicking his eyes away for a second before continuing "No Retreat No Surrender." Placing his glass down on the table, he removes his cap before gesturing to the pictures surrounding them. "All these fine men and women, are officers trained by me, even now our second carrier group in the Buil Bay is commanded by Admiral Yerrith my Prótege. All of these men and women, know the emperors will. It is not our place to question it." Sighing again he placed one hand over his face. "I only fear Captain, that with the deployment of the reinforcements from home, this situation just got a whole lot more complicated." Reaching for his glass again he sat back a troubled look upon his face.

Lieutenant Gerin led the 3rd Armour to pre designated zone, leaving them under the command of the Erisian forces, following the young man who had led his divisions into place toward the command tent, he felt the pain in his side return again, the result of three cracked ribs after the disastrous first engagement of the 1st. Looking around him he wondered how the rest of the Solorian forces were proceeding.

Field Lieutenant Juhn, marshalled his forces, word had reached them that the Reinforcements were landing, and it was his job to link up with the heavy armour divisions and lead them into battle, allowing more free troop movement across the borders of Nord-Lund. Grabbing his radio, he paused for a moment, preparing himself mentally for the battle ahead. His Radio suddenly Crackled into life. "Sir this is Lieutenant Parkin of the 32nd Infantry, there are some men here, that are very Interested in speaking to you." Juhn sighed once agitatedly before responding. "Alright Parkin, but this had better be damn important."

Archangel 1 led the remnants of the Solorian Airforce toward the Airfield that was reported to be held by the Erisians "Come In Control Tower this is the Solorian Imperial Airforce, Do we have clearance to land, over."

In Buil Bay, the 35 Heavy Transport ships carrying the troops and armour were preparing to land, the area ahead had been bombarded for the past 2 days by the carrier group Purity. As the men began to ready themselves for the upcoming conflict, all made sure that the RaC Suits they were wearing over their Battle Dress, was secured. as the first craft began crashing over the beaches the heavy doors began to slam into the sand. The air was suddenly filled with screamed orders as the troops and armour began to pour out onto the shores of Danteri.

Solorian Actions:

- Field Lieutenant Juhn is preparing to lead the assault on the line. But is engaging in discussion with the rebel commandos at the field base with Lieutenant Parkin, befor beginning his assault to support the reinforcements.
- The Solorien Airforce Staioned aboard the Carrier group Sanctity has been re assigned to provide air defence for the Erisians and Freiburg.
- The Imperial Reinforcements have landed, some 160,000 fresh troops and 500 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks have begun the assault forwards on the Danteri Line from behind
- The 7 remaining Submarines have been tasked with patrolling the coast line from Nord-Lund to South-Haven, and to prevent any ships from leaving that still fly the loyalist flag.

[To: Major Graham Murphy]
[From: Commodore Felias Locke]
[Subject: Re:Safe Zone Safety]

While I would be very willing to accept your nation's aid for the safe zones, I would prefer that it be done in the following ways, so as to ensure the greatest safety for the civilians inside. As you will have more combat-ready troops deployed, we would need for your troops to take more risks than you may like.

Firstly, Haraki has six brigades of troops in Danteri: Five of infantry and one of armour, with one infantry brigade at each safe zone and the armour guarding the routes to the sea that we are using. We would appreciate it if your military forces could sweep the area between the safe zones and the northern coast from east to west and then establish a perimeter slightly further out than the Harakians. This is for multiple reasons:

For the time being, Haraki has the civilians under control, and can keep them relatively safe from outside threats with the troops we have deployed. Thus we do not need any extra assistance at this time in civilian protection. However, with the violation of the Haraki-Danteri treaty, the rapidly retreating Loyalists and the millions of refugees flocking towards us, it is quite possible further attacks may be inbound.

As such, your troops will sweep the northern area to ensure the lack of bandits or raiders such as those that attacked a Harakian convoy several days ago. Once the sweep is complete, they will establish a perimeter guarding the roads outside into the safe zones, to ensure extended protection against any external threats. This will also keep your troops from spooking the refugees. As they have been in Harakian care for some time, the presence of another military force close to them may cause a wave of panic.

Any military police you wish to send into the safe zones are also greatly appreciated, using non-lethal weapons, of course. However, they must bear in mind that the safe zones have been relatively incident-free as yet, and so not to overreact to small instances inside.

We have a port set out that is Haraki-controlled and which we have been sending our refugee columns to to be evacuated. It is in the small bay to the north of the most northerly safe zones (OOC: On the map, there's a little bay just above the zones, and that's where the port is), and this is where any naval forces you wish to send should go, including aid convoys, extraction transports, and naval hospitals.

Thank you very much for your support,
Felias Locke



*


With the imminent threat of a nuclear attack on Danteri City, the top officials evacuating their families, and the looting of the treasury, the covert Harakian operation running inside Danteri knew that the Loyalists were panicking. Although they could not make an attack with innocents in the car, they knew it would only be a matter of time before von Easthaven evacuated his own family and left the city, at which point they could take him out with the high-altitude bombers.

However, with the imminent threat of an atomic attack on Danteri City, the CEF men were ordered out of the city, and left stealthily during the night, managing to avoid major patrols, especially with so many troops tied up quelling the riots. Once Paul von Easthaven left the city to evacuate, they could track him and order their strike, provided he did not take his family with him, most likely as human shields.



OOC: Does von Easthaven's limo have a car phone? Also, does his wife have a cell phone?

The sun rose over Danteri City, as it had done every day since that day in the thirteen hundreds when King Danteri the First had said that he wanted to establish a city here...
Of course, there had been that time when it was Frederiksburg, but that didn't really count... the point was, the sun rose over Danteri City. It rose over ruins, burned and burning buildings, machinegunned bodies pilled on streetcorners, and the occassional grey uniformed body, usually hacked to bits, that marked where a Loyalist had died.
Still, even with some fifty thousand people dead at the hands of the Loyalist security forces, the rioting went on, now into its second day. By now, the only two sectors of the city that were still standing were Government Square, where the DGSHQ building was, and Palace Hill, where the Bertling embassy and the Supreme Leader's Palace stood. The entire rest of the city had effectively been reduced to rubble.
Some million odd civilians, fleeing either the riots or the Loyalist atrocities launched in response, were choking the roads to the Haraki Safe-Zones as they fled for dear life, carrying what few possessions they could.
Paul Von Easthaven knew that the sun rose on all of this, but he still found a moment to consider how, in spite of it all, the sun also rose on a Danteri City where all the Loyalists looked to him for orders. Danteri wasn't as strong as it had been in the days of King Danteri the 17th, long past though they might have been, when Danteri was the terror of its neighbors, and Danteri soldiers had marched across half a continent... until all that had been brough crashing down when all of Danteri's neighbors finally united and brought down the giant.
Since then, things had been going downhill for Danteri. Yet, Paul Von Easthaven could not help but feel proud - 23Eris, Soloriel, McPsychoville, Sarmia, Kulikovo and St. Happenin had all united to support the rebels. Whatever the outcome might be, he had already earned himself a place in Danteri history - he had now, on this day, kept the foreign invaders out of Danteri City for longer than King Danteri the Seventeenth. It was almost a moment to be relished... in spite of the fact that his regime was crumbling, in spite of the fact that his dear friends, General Krieger and the First Supreme Leader, had died before their glory could be brought to fruition... with a smile on his face, Paul Von Easthaven turned towards the door to the hallway that led to the dinning room, cursing the fact that he had had to walk for two hundred feet almost to reach a window... the palace had been built be paranoids, and the inner areas could withstand anything short of a one kilo-ton atomic blast... as he turned, he saw his eight year old daughter, standing in the doorway to the dinning room, and he gave her a smile.
Then, the Haraki bomb hit the palace a few feet from where he was standing, reducing the window, the 15th century furnishings from when this had been the Imperial Palace, and one Paul Von Easthaven, into so much ash and dust. The last thought on the mind of that man, Paul Von Easthaven, that killer of thousands, was, as he never knew the bomb was coming, a feeling of happiness that he would be able to go and eat breakfast with his family, that he could enjoy their company after so many days hiding in a bunker.
Meanwhile, as the smoke cleared and fire fighters and security men came rushing in, one Sara Von Easthaven clutched her doll in horror, and could not understand why anyone would want to take her father away from her.

- Paul Von Easthaven has been killed by a Haraki bomb.
- There is no clear successor to Paul Von Easthaven, but his wife, Juliete Von Easthaven, has started giving orders. Whether the overly traditionalist Danteri Army will take orders from a woman remains to be seen...

Following the Haraki assassination of her husband, Juliete Von Easthaven, now the Supreme Leader is all but name, has sent the following message to Haraki:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danteri Government
(Juliete Von Easthaven)
You got him. In spite of your claimed neutrality, you murdered my husband. As such, I have no option but to order retaliatory strikes against your "Safe-Zones". Prepare as you will... what vengence I might have will be mine soon enough.
This Message Approved by The Office of The Acting Supreme Leader
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note her use of the title "Acting Supreme Leader". What that implies remains to be clarified, but, as for the vengence of which she spoke:
- 1,000 kilo-grams of VX gas were deployed against the Haraki Safe-Zones by land-based missile (large, inefficient rockets, like V-2s but larger.) Around eight hundred thousand civilians and an unknown number of Haraki soldiers have been killed.
Note that this VX gas is a relatively impure form produced in Danteri. (The labs have been destryed by 23Eris, so this is the last of it...)

The CEF commandoes watched carefully from over a kilometre away through a set of thermal binoculars, and watched as the target identified through a window by their sniper as Pual von Easthaven. The bomb had been targetted and guided directly into the room where he was walking across it. Giving his co-ordinates to the pilot of the high-altitude bomber flying dozens of kilometres above him, into the mid stratosphere, the targetting computer analyzed it and dropped the bomb precisely. With the package away, the bomber turned to return to its base, so far away back in Haraki.

The bomb smashed through the ceiling and hit half a metre from Paul von Easthaven, killing him in an instant and moving on the reins of Danteri's leadership. The CEF commandoes watching saw a sudden burst of heat, then confirmed through visual and thermal sights that Paul von Easthaven had been killed. Verbal congratulations were passed back and forth for only a split second, as the CEF were already packing up their equipment and leaving, as quickly and quietly as possible.





OOC Note: Most likely, the only person with a chance of knowing where that bomb came from would be Soloriel. And still, the bomber has no symbols on it and is stealth, bringing its radar signature as low as possible. A visual confirmation will show it's a plane. No flag painted on it or anything. Knowing it was there will be hard. Knowing where it came from will be even harder.

OOC: Danteri, I have to say that most radar probably won't have detected the bomber, especially Danterian radar, as it will probably be, as with many Danterian projects, inferior, and it was a very high altitude stealth aircraft. And unless you did detect the bomber and identify who it came from, your people are probably more likely to think the explosion was the result of Soloriel, who the Loyalists are actively fighting, as opposed to the Harakians, who are still technically neutral.

OOC: Well, I do have allies... (Oompli, New-Lexington, Zukariaa...) their radar isn't obsolete Danteri crap, in fact, Imitoria is on my side, and they've got spy satelites... so, I didn't think it would be godmodding. (wouldn't they have told us?)

OOC: But also, these bombers are the culmination of a lot of Harakian research into the best possible high altitude stealth bombers. They're designed to be undetectable. Yes, spy satellites would register a plane, but with no markings to identify it as Harakian and the best stealth technology available in Haraki to let it dupe radar, I still don't think it would be detected. And with the bomber able to fly back thousands of kilometres and the satellite unable to follow, it should be able to avoid identification by finding its base as well.

I don't know. I don't think they would've been detected, but if you're deadset on the idea, we can work around it. Also, the Harakian radar stations on the ground probably would have detected the nerve gas missiles and tried to have them intercepted and shot down by either planes or anti-missile missiles. Definitely not foolproof, especially with columns of refugees inbound to the safe zones, but worth a shot.

Captain Bret signalled his men to drop down into cover. Another column of refugees was leaving the city. Earlier that morning they had seen the explosion in the city. And after radioing back to the Truth, they had confirmed it wasnt one of theirs. After receiving the news from Admiral Yerrith that Paul Von Easthaven was dead, they had been ordered to finish this mission, in no way were they to allow anyone of the Von Easthaven line to remain in power in Danteri. Waiting for the oppurtune moment they began to slowly make their way toward Danteri City.

The Gwazzarian Military hadn't had a military deployment of this size since WWI, and never a deployment this far from home. An impressive amount of planes had been used to transport the battalions and supplies to the other side of the world with relative speed.

The seven battalions of soldiers (accompanied by seven hundred military police) had never seen an actual battle, though the intensive and improved simulations (thanks to new perspectives from the Danteri War) had made them significantly more confident. The 5.56mm-stopping heavy body armor and just-off-the-racks Bertling assault rifles didn't hurt, either.

A significant amount of time had been spent on making this as non-lethal and operation as possible. The soldiers were equipped with filter-masks and gas grenades, and a large amount of riot equipment was also readily on hand. The general consensus among the infantry was that none of them wanted to kill some ten-year old conscript, even in self defense.

They began disembarkment, with Major Murphy himself at their head. Part of him was looking forward to actually proving he had some worth compared to the Admiral, while the rest dreaded the hell that Danteri had become.

ooc: I'm sorry for not having posted for a while. RL keeps interfering.

Port Skogheim, Bertling
11:33 a.m.

Pox and pestilence! Minister Stoeregaard cursed. His wife had said that after the Danteri Situation, he had taken to foul language. He could not disagree.

He had just come from a meeting with the Council, and he had his work cut out for him. The civil war had evolved from a diplomatic conundrum, via a strategic cul-de-sac, to a diplomatic hot potato. He had managed to escape with his career intact, more or less, so far. Now the king had decided to bring the boys home. And the only strategy they had was a French exit.

The whole shoddy affair had started with good hopes for a low-intensity crisis, resulting in a profitable trade agreement, the opening of a new market, and a permanent military base or two. Then the bloody Danterians threw a wrench in the plans by deporting a million people, who were not seen again. Unless you took the various reports about genocide into account, that was. Stoeregaard was rather sure that these reports were true. Then the stupid sods started using nerve-gas indiscriminately (this also torpedoed the plans for going humanitarian in the conflict, according to Minister Goebler), not to mention the nuclear exchange! And if this wasn’t enough, each new leader was more rabid than the next. Satan! And now Gwazzaria had sent troops! He felt more tired than he’d done in years.

Stoeregaard knew that he could make a difference here. If he managed too stay alive long enough. For what I’m about to do he thought I’m not convinced that my resignation will suffice. If this works, Bertling will save face in this, and I might still be in office tomorrow.

The Minister started dictating the communiqués.

---------------------------------

-encrypted transmission-
To: His Highness Indrik Vandegraff , Duke of Gwazzaria
From: Gen. Jonas Stoeregaard
Re: Humanitarian Aid to Danteri

Honoured Duke,
As discussed earlier, I wish to inform that the Kingdom of Bertling will revoke its support for the Loyalist fraction in the Danteri Civil War. We still wait for a reply from the Haraki Government, but it is my hope that as soon as they agree to our neutral status, the 1st Expeditionary can lend its assistance to amending the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding before our eyes.

Respectfully,
Gen. Jonas Stoeregaard
Minister of External Affairs

***

-encrypted transmission-
To: Haraki Government
From: Gen. Jonas Stoeregaard
Re: Humanitarian Aid to Danteri

As mandated by our Most Just and Righteous Majesty, HRH King Harald II, I hereby inform you that as of midnight today, we no longer support the Loyalist faction of the Danteri Civil War, covertly or overtly. As a result, we ask that you will let us lend our assistance in amending the humanitarian disaster resulted by this war.

Our forces may be in your sector within a week.

Respectfully,
Gen. Jonas Stoeregaard
Minister of External Affairs

***

-encrypted transmission-
To: General Meyer
From: High Command

Initiate Samaritan. Move towards Safe Haven.
Evacuate Danteri City.

Authorization Code : #### - ## - ####

---------------------------------

Other news:
Two hundred soldiers are dead or wounded in various skirmishes with minor enemy elements.
Two F-16’s have been shot down. One pilot has been rescued by Blackcuffs.
Six MBT’s are out of service.

The foreign refugees flown to Bertling way back are now beeing shipped back.
The Danteri officials are on Bertlingian ships heading back to the fatherland.

OOC: Okay... let's say that they don't know it was you - they just sort-of think so, so they also fire off some convenional attacks at Soloriel. (Since Soloriel has their entire military equipped with Nuclear and Chemical suits...)
So:
- Twenty Nerve Gas Rockets fired at Haraki Safe-Zones, seventeen intercepted. Three hundred thousand civilians and some Haraki soldiers dead.
- eight thousand plus shells fired at Solorielan troop concentrations with an unknown effect.

Danteri City was in chaos - it was obvious to anyone that even the much-feared Danteri Government Security couldn't stop the rioting. Tens of thousands were dead, their machinegunned bodies pilled thirty deep in the alley-ways, but most of the city was on fire by now.
The soldiers left the Supreme Leader's Palace at eight o'clock local time. Out of three hundred guards, only fifty hadn't deserted by then. Out of those fifty, thirty were sent with the two daughters of the murdered Von Easthaven to board the last transport to Bertling, while the other twenty remained behind to guard Juliete Von Easthaven as she desperatly tried to hold her country together...
The rioters found them just three blocks from the Bertling embassy where there was a helicopter, where there was safety... they attacked with sheer hatred on their faces, screaming madly as they rushed forward to attack the men who had oppressed and slaughtered them for years...
The soldiers hadn't joined to shoot their own people. They hadn't joined to... to do a lot of the things they had been ordered to do. They fired their rifles, killing dozens of the rioters, but there were always more. Finally, they were surrounded, and then the bombs started falling onto them...

It was an hour later, deep in the bunkers beneath the palace. Juliete Von Easthaven wept for her murdered daughters and her slain husband... and told the soldier at the door that it was time for Ragnorak... she didn't care enough to live anymore, and the citizens who had murdered her daughters did not deserve life anymore than she wanted them to have it...

Several minutes later, just minutes after dawn, a second sun rose over Danteri City. Juliete Von Easthaven lay on a bunk in the command complex below Danteri City, and held tightly to her a doll that had belonged to one of her daughters... as the atomic blast burnt away the meters of concrete and steel between her hiding place and the surface.

Around one and a half million had died when the nuke went off in Danteri City. Another ten million died over the next few hours as all Loyalist commanders recieved orders to use all their weapons, launch every attack they could... and, to kill every civilian they could find.

It took several more hours for order to be restored - during that time, the rebels had advanced significantly in Southhaven, as had 23Eris and Soloriel in Nord-Lund. Finally, though, order was restored amoungst the Loyalists by the dreaded DGS, now acting directly under the orders of Zukariaa. Danteri City was lost, much else was lost, but the war wasn't over yet.

- Some 12.5 million people die all throughout Danteri as nerve agents are used against the Haraki Safe-Zones, a Loyalist nuke takes out Danteri City, and Loyalist troops burn almost every population center they still hold. After that, order is restored, but... by that point, the rebels, 23Eris, Soloriel and Haraki hold most of the country, and the highest ranking Loyalist survivor is now taking orders from Zukariaa, Oompli and New-Lexington.

- Bertling takes an unknown number of casualties when their embassy is nuked, as does Oompli and New-Lexington (OOC: Just how many people did you have in Danteri City?)

OOC: Haraki, here's a reason for the chemical weapons launches...

OOC - does this occur before the arrival of Gwazzarian forces, or right after?

[Captain Corrol]
Well, now.. this is a strange turn of events. The death of Von Easthaven family wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was devastating. Nearly all of Danteri City has been destroyed. Now Zukariaa has been thrust to the lead of Danteri. As so, we will of course need more men here, because this makes Loyalist held Danteri a Zukariaan Territory. [OOC-thats not to say that its owned by them]

"What?!!" Emperor Zuka punched the large wooden table.
"Sir, the Loyalist Supreme Leader is dead. Zukariaa is expected to lead them."
"Yes, Corrol, I know.. we cannot abandon our allies, no matter what has happened in Danteri."
"Yes, Emperor. We are being pushed from all sides by enemies. According to the DGS, we control Northern Southhaven, Western Easthaven, and basically all of Westfall. All in all, we have about 180,000 men in Danteri."
"Is that enough?"
"No. Not according to intelligence. There are enemies at all sides, so we're going to have to cover more area."
"What do you need?
Captain Corrol bit his lip,"Damn.. 100,000 at least."
Emperor Zuka jerked his head,"Is that possible?"
Corrol wanted to be rude, to ask whether or not the Emperor even payed attention to his own army,"Yes, sir. Our army is nearly a third of our population. Its not men that is a problem, its the fact that we're in a hostile country, expected to act. If we're going to, we need to fast."
Zuka stood up, paced for a second, then said,"Take what you need, but I don't want any reason to have a war in Zukariaa itself."
"Thank you, sir."

-High Commander Corrol has sent in a force of 150,000 Zukarian troops to Danteri. This many men, and most likely more, [although Corrol is trying to use every excuse not to bring in too many men] are needed to cover the amount of ground that the Loyalists/Zukariaans control.
-300 Tanks, 300 Zukariaan Fighter-Bombers and 50 Zukariaan Stealth Bombers have been sent in as well.
-100 Artillery Guns
-Supplies

Zukariaa is going to do whatever is neccasary to keep itself and its allies in power and alive. They will not be using any WMDs unless they are used on them, and will try to keep mass slaughter to a minumum. It wishes to reinstate the Cease-Fire between Haraki and The Loyalists, as well as make some type of treaty with the rebels.

0733 Hours Local
336 kilometres South-East of Danteri City

General Sir Josef Meyer, wearing his trademark grey overcoat and high leather boots, stood by his brown and grey camouflaged IVECO LMV. He studied a map on the hood together with two other officers. Thirty minutes ago he had received reports from the embassy grounds that an escort with the von Easthaven girls had been intercepted by a mob of armed individuals. The report laconically stated that the convoy had not made it to the parameters.

All that remained in the capital, turned battle ground, was to get the men out. His orders were clear, and he had no objections. This whole war had been a disaster since they got involved. He had still not gotten clearance to rebase the fighters to airfields within the safe zones, but he was sure that the troops in Danteri City could hold a few hours more. The blasted Harakians could not delay answering much longer. They needed the support of the 1st Expeditionary if they were to hold the civilians safe now that the entire theatre came apart in…

General! Sir!

Meyer turned to see who was shouting. Before he could say anything, the North-Western sky lit up like a sunrise from back home. The entire scene was bathed in light, the two suns battling for the right of way. It was beautiful…


-----------------------------


Losses:
2nd Battalion, 3rd Mechanized Infantry – 479 men
1st Battalion, 2nd Artillery – 321 men
12th AA-battalion – 319 men
Diplomatic staff an Intelligence staff – 34 men
Six F-16 fighters on ground.
Ground crew for the 4th and 13th Fighter Squadrons – 122 men
All in Danteri City.

The “Lucky Thirteen” and six planes from the 4th were airborne, and unless they receive clearance to land on a Gwazzari or Haraki controlled airbase within few hours, they will have to eject near the Bertlingian forces.

OOC: wow, you lot have been busy!

IC: [earlier] Colonel Papadakis cleared the Solorien planes for Erisian airspace, welcoming the reinforcements into Freiburg. So far, the Soloriens, aside from their strange obsession with their emperor, which he could not understand, most seemed quite pleasant. He strode out of his command bunker and shielded his eyes to look at one of the Erisian planes taking to the sky armed with bombs and missiles. In his other hand he held a copy of his latest order to the troops. They would advance southwards in coordination with the Soloriens. He only hoped that this would be the final battle to end the Danteri war.

[now] With the recent string of events and the rapid unraveling of the Loyalist government, the arrival of the First Mechanized Division in Southhaven seemed almost Superfluous, until the Loyalists announced their intention to fight on under the guidance of Zukariaa, a nation which continued to pour troops into the nation of Danteri.

On board the Solorien vessel, Captain Yagger coordinated relief efforts with the Soloriens and tried to coordinate the advance of Erisian forces with those of the Soloriens. After the meldown of the Loyalist leadership and the detonation of warheads she met immediately with the Solorien leadership, practically begging them to not deploy their WMDs despite their authorization to do so.

Back in 23Eris, Prime Minister Hekatos was not relieved at the new turn of events, though she was hopeful that Zukariaa would listen to reason and agree to a ceasefire and peacetalks. Along those lines she held a meeting with her highest cabinet members and military staff to plan a statement.

Prime Minister Hekatos looked worn, her face had acquired several new lines of worry and her eyes were somewhat more sunken and darker than before her nation had become involved in Danteri. Still, as she walked to the podium she felt proud that her nation, while they had not been able to protect all the Danteri civilian populace, had taken steps to save a large number of them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Prime Minister Althea Hekatos
To: All Nations and Factions Involved in the Danteri Conflict
Re: An End to the Conflict

After the terrible events in the past few days across Danteri, with the fall of the Loyalist leadership and the slaughter of millions of innocent lives, I renew our call for an immediate ceasefire between all parties of the conflict. I suggest the ceasefire to begin at Midnight, tomorrow night, should it be agreeable to all factions.

I would also call for an immediate discussion between our nations on a permanent peace settlement for Danteri. The people of Danteri have suffered enough, and their nation should not be made into a playground in which we should make further war upon one another.

Should it be agreeable to them, I suggest an immediate meeting of high level officials from our respective nations to take place in Gwazzaria, should hosting such a meeting be agreeable to them. I further suggest that such a meeting should take place within two days of agreeing to, and successfully maintaining, a ceasefire in Danteri.

For the sake of all our people, and especially the ravaged nation and peoples of the honorable nation of Danteri, I implore all nations to agree to the ceasefire and to talks for a permanent settlement of the conflict.

OOC: Oh and of the approximate 19,000 troops of 23Eris in Danteri when the nukes and so forth went off, about 1/4 are casualties. Also large amounts of ground equipment were destroyed or disabled, as well as a half a dozen aircraft and three helicopters.

OOC-Well, to tell the truth, I don't want this war to end. We're going to have to wait for Danteri, though. :(

[High Commander Corrol]
Before I agree to come to any meetings, full of leaders of hostile countries who could attack me at any second, I'll have to discuss anything and everything with the DGS. We are working together, and will have to come to a decision together. No matter what, Zukariaa will see this war through!!

Captain Bret and his men considered themselves blessed. This was the second time since they had landed on this cursed place that they had managed to narrowly avoid death. After the explosion at the breach of the line, they had determined to move as fast as possible, in an attempt to complete their objectives. "Yes Admiral updated orders confirmed. Mission will commence immediately." Bret gave the radio back to his radioman. Listen up men, we got new orders....

As the rest of the Reinforcements from Soloriel landed, they began the building of a secondary base camp on the coast of the Buil Bay, codenamed: Vigilance. As the vast numbers of troops began to co'ordinate themselves they began to link up with elements of the initial landing force. After fresh supplys were shared out amongst the troops, Field Lieutenant Juhn, took full command of all the relief forces.

That evening Admiral Hethran stared out over the sea toward that cursed Land he had been to sent to protect. But who are we protecting it from? He sighed to himself as he considered Captain Yaggers request to refrain from the use of the Emperors Fire. Finally deciding on a course of action, he called for Captain Yagger to join him in his ready room. As he made his way there to settle behind his desk. He began to draft the first copy of a Cease Fire Agreement.

The Gwazzarian soldiers never expected what had just happened. An assault by badly trained conscripts, a nerve gas attack, or something similar was what they were prepared for. They were unprepared for total deterioration of the Loyalist government, and subsequent mass deaths - including another company of Gwazzarian aid workers in Danteri City.

After the chaos of the nerve gas attack, the news had sunk in with the soldiers. There was now a total of 813 Gwazzarians - all of them humanitarian aid workers - dead in Danteri, and no one left to blame. The people that had caused it had died in the atomic blast. There was nowhere to channel the anger and despair that the Danteri hellhole had caused. Everyone who set foot on its soil, it seemed, was affected by the same plague of despair and rage.

A tendril of the same had touched back into the Gwazzarian motherland again. Through all the national self-pity, people constant had to remind themselves that the people of Danteri had suffered the worst of anyone. One comfort was the proposal by 23Eris, which had an air of finality for this evil situation.

--------------------------------------------

To: All Nations Involved in the Danteri Conflict
From: Gwazzarian Administration

We are open to holding the conference in Cauthaqua, to whatever parties agree to this. Like any sane people involved, we only want to see an end to all this destruction. If there isn't, we fear there won't be anything left to destroy. We pray that Danteri can be rebuilt after this massive atrocity.

To: All Parties of the Danteri Civil War
From: Johan Pedersen, Minister of External Affairs
Re: Ceasefire and Post-War Conference

Sirs,
The Kingdom of Bertling wholehartedly agrees to the proposed ceasefire, and will meet with all parties, both former allies and former enemies in a conference hosted by Gwazzaria.

Respectfully,
Johan Pedersen
Minister of External Affairs

Reports of Erisian casualties have been grossly overreported thanks to the errors of a few panicky members of the 23Eris Headquarters Staff. When Colonel Papadakis returned to base he ordered a revaluation of losses. Apparently the number of casualties was just over a thousand, though a good number of the Erisian light equipment was still lost in the last desperate attacks by the Loyalists (the price of not having enough heavy equipment). Air losses were unfortunately, reported with some accuracy, only 5 fighters were lost, not six as initially reported.

Soloriel....

The Holy Emperor listened as his Chamberlain read him the latest reports from the front. "Dost thou agree with mine Admirals?" He inquired as the Chamberlain finished reading the reports. "Most Holy One, I feel that we have indeed achieved our goal of freeing Nord-Lund and Freiburg. Maybe now is the time to begin talks for a cease-fire." The Emperor stayed silent for a few moments, pondering what to do next. Finally he stood up from the Golden Throne and stepped toward the Balcony at the side of his throne room, the Chamberlain followed him a discreet distance away.As the Emperor paused looking out over his country, the sun gently set in the distance, bathing the land in its gold and red light. "Lord Chamberlain, thou shalt give these orders to mine Admirals, and also we wish a message sent to this Captain Yagger, that serves aboard the Reconciliation." As the Emperor looked at his Chamberlain, he smiled his beatific smile. "Mayhap it is time for us to allow an outsider to... visit us, at last." Turning back to face the sun as it continued setting in the distance, the Emperor smiled in its warm embrace.

Aboard The Truth

Admiral Hethran finished reading his latest orders from the Emperor. He had not touched the letter addressed to Captain Yagger, he did not dare. To break the Emperors Seal, was punishable by death. He reached for the phone on his desk and called his Comms Officer, asking him to bring Captain Yagger to his Ready Room.

On Board 'The Truth':

Captain Yagger sat at her desk writing out her latest dispatch to Colonel Papadakis, still technically her direct superior, though she also comunicated with the Generals back in 23Eris and the Defense minister himself; a lot had changed in the last few weeks. A knock at her doro startled her from her reverie and she brushed the hair from her eyes and looked over at the door. "Come in, it's unlocked."

"Captain, Admiral Hetran wishes to see you." the Comm offcier informed her.

Yagger nodded and stood to follow the man who she had come to know somewhat. She had spent a godd deal of time talking with Hethran and communicating between the two governments. It was odd, this old country based on tradition and service to an emperor, and her own country founded in revolution and preaching individuality and breaking from tradition working together as allies. Part of her was very glad they had ended up on the same side, Colonel Papadakis had been worried about crossing these Soloriens, they let nothing stop them in their determination to fulfill a mission. At times they seemed almost robotic which seemed both a blessing and a curse to Yagger. Hetran seemed like this as well, though he hadn't used more nuclear weapons after the Loyalist collapse when he could have, and probably could have secured nearly the entire country for his troops had he done so. This had certainly helped endear the Admiral to Yagger, so had his seemingly genuine concern for the refugees of this war, wrapped up though it might be in this holy mysticism for their Emperor.

She let herself be shown into the Admiral's ready room by the officer and saluted the older man. "Sir, you requested to see me?"

It seems as though peace might be on the verge of breaking out in Danteri, as all the factions seem to be coming near to an agreement for at least a temporary truce...

Other News:
- The rebel Commandos have spoken with Solorielan leadership, and it now seems that they are coordinating their actions, at least to a degree...

Millions of people are now inside of the Safe-Zones, hundreds of thousands more are arriving each day. This could be a problem, as the five cities that the Haraki took over only had a total combined populace of four million...

However, things are looking good, save for the nerve gas attack which killed some three hundred thousand civilians and an unknown number of Harakis... that attack has caused some panic, and it seems likely that there could soon be panic riots...

[High Commander Corrol]
[To All Treaty Signing Parties]
Ok, we will agree to come to this meeting held by Gwazzaria, however, I myself will not be there. I'll be sending a representative of Zukariaa. The risk is too great.

Zukariaa has issued a request to meet with the leaders of the rebels. They wish to make a truce between the two factions and give each faction its own section of the country, whether its temperary or permanent.

Following Zukariaan endorsement of a possible two Danteri solution, that option looks even more likely... one just has to wonder what the future will bring.

- As of one hour ago, all Loyalist and Rebel units have recieved orders to not fire unless fired upon. As such, a truce can be considered to be in effect.
- If a two-Danteri solution is to take effect, borders haven't been decided upon yet.

Locke sent a hurried reply to the Bertlingians, telling them they would be welcome to take the same approach as the Gwazzarian troops, by establishing an outer perimtere, but that the Harakians would prefer not to bring other military forces (Other than military police) into the safe zones. Also, Bertlingian aircraft were given clearance to land at the nearest Harakian airfield, although the Harakians were ordered to keep a close eye on them. Also, while more refugees arrive every day, convoys carrying thousands of refugees leave on a regular basis heading to the port and the evacuation transports. However, given the new ceasefire, these convoys have all been put on hold.

Given the radar early warning system, the ground forces had managed to avoid any significant damage. With nearly ten minutes' warning and a reduced number of impacting nerve gas rockets due to interceptions by missile defence screens and fighter planes, the soldiers had plenty of time to put on protective gear and get to safer areas. Although some Harakian equipment and bases have been contaminated and may take some time to be cleared again, the only Harakian losses due to the nerve gas attacks were one squad of thirteen which was out on patrol with a broken radio and did not know about the attack. All thirteen were found dead in an apparent position attempting to flee back towards the base.

Given the state of panic in the safe zones following the nerve gas attack, and the recent ceasefire, the Harakian ground forces have begun taking all possible steps to ensure a feeling of safety and security takes over the safe zones once more. News of the ceasefire is announced loudly and clearly, and the civilians inside are assured that there is no further danger to them.

Ten beleaguered CEF commandoes have made their way back to the safe zones, having avoided contact with any involved parties, and are already back on a plane to Haraki. No one even knows they were there, but they accomplished both their assigned missions.



[From: Commodore Felias Locke]
[To: All involved nations]

I would be pleased to accept the offer of a universal ceasefire in this conflict that has claimed countless lives, and Haraki will be in attendance at the peace conference. We would also like to offer the city of Susa, in Haraki, as an alternate location for the conference itself, should Gwazzaria ever feel the desire not to host such a potentially volatile meeting.

Also, I would like to propsoe the following additional term to the current ceasefire: No further forces may be deployed to the Danterian mainland by any faction for the time being. We do not want this ceasefire to simply turn into a chance to wait for reinforcements and allow troops to regroup.


Felias Locke

With the exceptance of the temporary truce for negotiations, the possibility of a two-Danteri solution looks more and more likely. However, for the first time in far too long, peace appears to be at hand.

Following the cease-fire decleration, a group of Loyalist officers against such a truce apparently struck at the pro-peace Loyalist government, attempting to seize power.
Also, Loyalists have kept sending their families overseas during this entire time, and a bank account, funded with the looted contents of the Danteri Treasury, appears to have been opened in the name of a Colonel Dietrich of the Danteri Army, who appears to also have fled the country. He appears to have been originally in charge of using the looted gold to buy weapons, but appears to have decided to use the gold to live well himself instead.
More details on the coup attempt to follow...

Westgate, the capital of the Danteri Loyalists, was filled with Oompli, Zukariaan and New-Lexingtonian troops. However, they could not be everywhere...
They struck at the Danteri Government Security building, men in the dark-grey uniforms of the Danteri Army. They were carrying assault rifles and grenades. As the guards shouted for them to stop, they opened fire, cutting down the DGS men and a slew of random civilian by-standers. They stormed into the building, using demolition charges to blast the heavy doors open with practiced ease, throwing flash grenades into every corner, sending the DGS men in the entry-way into confusion. They stormed in, firing with practiced precision, cutting down the so-called elite infantry that was supposed to guard the building as though they were children, storming up the stair-wells, shooting down all who opposed them...
They were met at the 2nd floor landing by DGS men with sub-machineguns and assault rifles. There were some thirty Danteri Government Security men, and only twelve of the soldiers, and yet... within seconds, every DGS man was dead.
They kept on advancing, a terrifying team of one dozen men, as another dozen held the blasted front doors against disorganized rushes by conscripts and Danteri Government Security men... it was a slaughter.
By the time that they reached the thirteenth floor, the dozen elite soldiers had killed over two hundred Danteri Government Security men and guards, plus over a hundred unarmed bystanders. They had done all this in some thirty minutes, all without losing a man. The other team wasn't doing so well - eight men were down, as the Zukariaans had finally arrived, but they were holding.
The first of the team storming the tower died when the defenders started throwing grenades down the stair-well - he was killed with a bit of schrapnel from a fragmentation grenade that caught him underneath the jaw, almost severing his head.
The others responded by opening up with a grenade launcher, using a special kind of grenade - a gas grenade. All of the attackers wore gas masks, but even the paranoid Danteri Government Security didn't wear gas masks at their desks. Soon, the poison gas had men droping from the higher stairs, falling down onto the rapidly advancing team.
By this point, they were at the fifteenth floor, which was really one big defensive position to keep them out of the sixteenth and highest floor, forty five minutes had passed, and only one of the men who had remained behind to guard the door was still alive. That one man stood off the Zukariaans for a full three minutes, firing a grenade launcher on full auto, sending some hundred and eighty fragmentation grenades flying out of the door... that was enough to make even brave Zukariaans keep their heads down. Finally, though, even he was brought down, as he broke cover to grab up an assault rifle, and made himself the perfect target for the Zukariaans... but, the team at the entry way had held that door for a full 48 minutes, even if the Zukariaans had taken some thirty of those minutes getting here...
By that point, as the first Zukariaans stormed up the stair ways, the assault team had penetrated the fifteenth floor with three casualties, leaving another hundred odd DGS men dead behind them.
The men guarding the sixteenth floor were the best soldiers the Loyalists had. There were one hundred of them. They had the best weapons and gear that money could buy. They lasted for two minutes.
However, by lasting for those two minutes, they saved the Loyalist High Command. Just as the traitors prepared to blow the doors to the last room on the sixteenth floor, where the Loyalist High Command cowered, the Zukariaans stormed up the stairs, caught the traitors against the door, without a shred of cover, and shot them down. The coup attempt failed at that point... all that was left was to round up and shoot the treacherous officers behind it.

- Upon further analysis, it has been determined that the soldiers who took part in this raid were rebel commandos in Danteri Army uniforms. The faction responsible was easy to discover, and a few Loyalist officers are going to be shot, but this has revealed a problem - there are men with guns on both sides who want the war to go on... and, they are apparently even willing to work with each other to make that happen. If rebel commandos and Loyalist officers can work together to prevent a peace they do not desire... well, that incident is thought provocing.
- Some 500 Danteri Government Security Agents and Cadet-Agents were killed.
- Some 200 Loyalist Army soldiers assaulting the door-team were killed.
- Some 150 civilians were killed.
- All 24 rebel commandos were killed, none were taken alive.
- An unknown number of Zukariaan soldiers died taking out the rebel assault team.
- Some 75 treacherous officers were rounded up, interogated and shot. When they were questioned, it was revealed that they didn't want peace, and were working with a group of rebels who also do not want peace.

A group of rouge bandits has begun preying upon civilian refugees who are trying to enter the Haraki Safe-Zones. Reports on this group varry widely, from "Fire breathing demons riding monstrous lizards" to "a bunch of drugged up punks with some AKs"... (OOC: I'll leave it to you to figure out which is closer to reality...) However, they number several hundred, and have killed a few dozen refugees, terrorizing others and robbing the fleeing civilians of whatever possessions they might have. Reports of their treatment of any refugees they encounter generally read like horror stories - these guys are bad.

Bombed out village
36 kilometres from Haraki Safe Zones
2002 Hours Local

General Sir Josef Meyer got out of his LMV and saluted the seven officers in dirty brown and grey BDUs. They stood to attention and answered his salute.

Gentlemen, the General started, we have our job cut out for us. We are to establish a perimeter outside the Safe Zones. The Gwazzarians will be on our left flank, the Harakians behind us, and the full madness of this godforsaken country in front. As you know, a cease-fire is in effect, but not all the parties have validated this. This makes the situation sticky. We will also have civilians passing through to get to the camps and aid stations.

What we need to do is to keep ourselves visible, while retaining the grip on the situation. If one of our men slips, this powder keg might blow up in our face again, gentlemen. So, we will send Major Sorenson’s men out in front of our position. I want to know about any movement closer than fifteen clicks from the lines. I want one corridor leading to the Zones, here. he pointed to a shallow valley on the map No one, and I repeat, no one crosses the line on any other point.

First picket will be in plain sight, and make sure the men behave politely, second picket will be in prepared positions. Do not fire unless there is no doubt that we’re under attack. I want mobile reserves on these three locations. And tell Haraki and Gwazzari command that we need to coordinate this. I want one of my men with them, and one of theirs with me. Look sharp now! Dismissed.

-----------------------------------

General Meyer requests that Haraki radars and AA be moved forward to cover the 1st Expeditionary as the bulk of the Bertlingian AA was lost in Danteri City. He further requests that Bertlingian planes are alowed to operate from Haraki air bases to support the tri-nation humanitarian contingent.

The last of the grey F-16 fighters landed on the Haraki-controlled air base. The eighteen planes had been running on fumes, and their weapons were jettisoned to buy those vital extra minutes. Two of them hadn’t made it all the way, and they had ejected right outside the Gwazzarian pickets.

[High Commander Corrol]
Because of the recent rebel attack on Loyalist lands, we will be adding conditions to this cease-fire. Should any of these be violated, we will take it as an act of war.
First, no military forces besides Loyalist, Zukariaan, Oompli, and New-Lexitonian may enter any Loyalist controlled lands without athourization.
Secondly, no planes may enter airspace over the Loyalist controlled areas. We will have to assume the worst.
Thirdly, whatever agreements come of this meeting, Zukariaa will not withdraw from Loyalist held areas until Loyalist land is reconstructed. We are directly connected to the DGS, now that we are temporarly in power.

To: Zukariaan Leadership
From: 23Eris
Re: Conditions

We are willing to agree to the first two terms stated in your last missive, however much we believe that demanding terms as a precondition to peace talks is a mistake. The third term we are willing to accept with the caveat that we wish to make foreign troops inside Danteri one of the topics at the peace conference.

[High Commander Corrol]
I am aware that this will be one of the topics at the talks, but we cannot and will not pull out of Danteri until the Loyalists can stand on their own two feet. If we were to pull away at this point, I'm afraid there would be rioting, maybe even war. We are holding the Loyalists together at this point.

Major Murphy has been in close contact with the other Bertlingian and Haraki commanders, and Gwazzarian soldiers have been moving quite efficiently, if slowly. The heavy armor and large, bulky APCs aren't at all suited for moving through mud.

Major Murphy has also requested that more supplies of non-lethal gas grenades be flown in, to be distributed to all three nations' soldiers.

-------------------------------------------------

To: All Nations Involved

Gwazzaria is prepared for the conference. It will be held in the Bismarck Building at 722 Ericksson Avenue, in the Barony of Inglestine, Viscounty of Cauthaqua.

A strict no-arms policy will be in observance for the main hall, though any nations are welcome to send their own armed guards for general security. Foreign guards will be accompanied on a two-per-one basis by Gwazzarian security.

((OOC: New thread in Int Incidents for the conference, maybe?))

OOC: A new thread for the conference sounds good. Just be sure to put open only to nations in the danteri war in the title somewhere ;-)

OOC: Plan to follow this up with an IC post, but for now:

I'd rather keep it either to this thread or the NS Forum. I don't spend any time in II and I seriously will forget all about the thread if you put it there. Personally, I'd rather just keep it in this thread so any developments in the nation itself will also be kept relevant and involved.

OOC: I just want to say you guys are awesomely entertaining. I've been following the whole war for a while now and it's easily one of the most entertaining threads I've had the pleasure of reading.

OOC: It is a bit late but i had about three hundred men in Danteri city, guess they are just dust now)

General Yeltzin sat at his desk, he was reading through his morning reports. One took his attention as he scanned through it. They want peace now he thought to himself, they have taken one hell of a lot. He stood and stared out of his window, he had a good view of the city from his third floor office. Half of it was in ruins some still burning, smoke raised into the sky from the abandoned buildings. He could see soldiers patrolling the streets and a column of T-90's rolled down a road into the main square before leading of down another road and a pair of Mi-24's hovered over the city. His men had done a good job turning the city into a fortress, security was stepped up after that incident with that government building. Road blocks set up at city entrances, SAM's were spread all over the city, an artillery regiment was positioned on the high ground north-west of the city, around 12,000 mines had been placed in the country side around the city and local villages. The engineers had constructed three airfields around they city. The Oompli fleet was spread around the port and the islands west of Westgate. The Black Stars had been recalled from the countryside and were now rebased in Westgate. Yeltzin sighed, he did not like what he was going to have to do.

[To: Commander of Danteri Loyalist forces]
[From: General Yeltzin, Commander of 1st Danteri Guard Army]
I am aware of your peace efforts and support your efforts, I am displeased with the inabilities of the Oompli armed forces in assisting your forces. Our military has undergone some restructuring and is now a fit fighting force but it is only too late. I have been ordered by the President of Oompli to defend our current territory from any agressors and will do so.
Status;
-Oompli forces in Westgate area exceed 50,000 Men(excluding logistical personnel and vehicle crews), 7,500 tanks 35,000 other vehicles (includes APC'S and IFV'S), 8,000 helicopters, 15,000 artillery pieces and 750 aircraft (Fighters and Bombers).
-Oompli forces have secured civilians in the city, they are not permitted to leave.
-The city of Westgate has been turned into a fortress by Oomplian forces, soldiers have also fortified surrounding towns and villages.

Danteri Government
(Danteri Government Security)
To Oompli, we offer our thanks for your support of our government. We need all the help we can get! As for peace... we will see what there is to do. Also, thank you for helping to protect us in Westgate. We certainly don't seem to be able to protect ourselves!
This Message Approved by The Department of Approving Things

OOC: I have to agree with Haraki - this should all remain on one thread.

OOC-so how is this conference going to work?

New-Lexitonain forces have now swelled to 1,000,000 in a tiny part of South haven. we await orders to continue an advance inland..

OOC: I am interested in how this conference is going to work:)

If you want we could do it here;
http://nsalliednations.proboards105.com/index.cgi

OOC: We just run it here, in this thread, with us arriving at/speaking at the conference.







Commodore Felias Locke, the commander of Harakian forces in the Danteri Area, has once again restated his previous request: That all factions currently involved in the conflict in any way limit their troops in the nation to those that are currently there, so as to prevent a massive arms buildup and the threat of the breaking of ceasefire by trigger-happy soldiers eager to carry on the war.

The proposed act is also to prevent in any way the use of the current ceasefire as a means of reinforcing troops in the area to make the ceasefire more of a temporary break from fighting so both sides could strengthen their position than as an eventual end to the war.

Admiral Hethran looked up at the Captain as she entered the room, "Theres no need to salute captain, im sure we know each other well enough not to insist on formalitys" Hethran let a wry smile cross his face as he gestured for her to sit in the chair in front of his desk. "Well Captain our orders have come in from the Emperor, it seems he is willing to talk about peace. His flagship The Requiem will be arriving in a few days with the Imperial Chancellor aboard, they have formally requested that you and your superior join us on the Requiem to discuss a matter that seems to have arisen quite recently." Looking across at her he reached into his drawer and withdrew a letter sealed with a single blob of wax. Imprinted onto this was an ornate looking symbol of two large cats reared on either side of a crown, the entire piece was surrounded by a sun. "The Emperor himself wishes for you to read this, it was handwritten by himself, and intended for your eyes only, I have honoured his request that you receive it forthwith, and as such i release it to you now." The Admiral slid the letter across the desk to her, a look of what appeared to be awe upon his face. To him, as it had been to the pilot who had carried it here, this was a living relic, a symbol of the God-Emperor himself.

The Mainland

Field Lieutenant Juhn surveyed his troops with pride, they had composed themselves with honour during this engagement. And now they were to fulfil there dutys in this land, and secure it for the citizens of Danteri. As his troops protected the borders of the Nord-Lund, so too did the aircraft and tanks protect the interests of the Empire.

Aboard the Requiem

The Imperial Chancellor reclined in his quarters, they had been gone from Soloriel for almost a week now, and he was pleased that tings had calmed down enough in Danteri for him to even consider attending this meeting. He had his orders, directly from the Emperor himself. And as he studied the intelligence reports he had on the other factions involved in this he gently stroked the head of a large White Feline, curled up on the floor next to him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: All forces in Danteri
From: The Holy Empire of Soloriel
RE: Ceasefire.

To all that this concerns. We agree to the Cease-Fire, and hope that we may be able to come to an agreement as to the future of this Nation. All Imperial Forces in Danteri have been reduced to Status level 3, we will continue our policing actions of Nord-Lund and other Solorien held interests in Danteri. And have ordered our soldiers not to open fire on any troops, unless provoked to do so. However we warn as well, should ANY other nation break this Cease-Fire Agreement by firing at Imperial forces or those of our Allys 23Eris, we will wihdraw current orders, and drive you into the sea, where you shall remain until we have decided what to do with you. That is all.

May the Emperor smile upon you.

OOC-Soloriel.. the way your people think of their emperor is.. creepy..
[High Commander Corrol]
The sooner this conference gets done, the better. My representative, Lieutenant Craig, will be sent by aircraft to Gwazzaria soon, along with a Loyalist representative. I will repeat myself, though; Whatever is discussed and decided at this conference, Zukariaa will not be able to pull out until Loyalist Danteri is stable. To Haraki's request that no new soldiers arrive in Danteri: your request is understandable. I cannot guarantee anything, as the Emperor has the last say in all things [curses], but I will say that no new men are being brought in at this time.

Jonathon Chilkevich climbed the steps to the four engine transport bearing the Golden Apple of 23Eris. He had been until two days ago deputy foreign minister, but found himself thrust into the role of heading that section of the government thanks to an unfortunate stroke which left the former Foreign Minister in a coma. Accompanying him was a small staff of clerks and five security agents whose only job was to see to the safety of any sensitive documents and codes used by the 23Eris diplomatic corps. With a breif look back at his omeland he stepped through the doorway of the plane, hopeful he could secue a permanent peace in Danteri. Not long after the plane took off down the runway, heading for Gwazzaria, and with luck, peace.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
On Board the Solorien Vessel

Yagger nodded, "Admiral, I'm sure I can arrang efor Colonel Papadakis to meet with you and the Chancellor on the Requiem."
She leanded forward in her chair and pulled the letter towards herself, noting th reverence with which the Admiral had passed it to her. Not knowing the specific protocol for recieving a message from the Emperor of a nation, especially an Emperor revered as much as this one was, Captain Yagger simply broke the seal, opened the letter and began to read the contents for herself.

OOC: Yeah its a tad bit... worrying, but they arent that bad overall, just very very very dedicated to the emperor :P

The Message

Dearest Captain Yagger, my good Admiral Hethran hath sent us most proud reports of the good dutys you do your homeland. Truly thou hast elevated thyself in both our nations standing. It is with this that we are pleased to offer thee an interesting proposal, as thou art the first representative of any nation with which we have had dealings for a considerable period of time. We wish to offer thee a place, as representative of thy nation, to ours. The details of this shall of course be decided upon at a later date. But know this We are most pleased with the reports we have heard of thee, and the words of our Admiral Hethran rarely ring false. We look forward to meeting with thee.

Emperor Valanar Soloriel.

Beneath the Emperors name is 5 words written in High Solorien, and beneath that is a stamp of the Emperors Symbol, the rest of the letter is unremarkable, save the gold edging around the letter which is of itself made of a very thick and soft kind of paper, almost an off white colour.

Captain Yagger read through the message, then stopped and read through it once more just to be sure she had read correctly. She looked up at the Admiral with a dumb look on her face and passed the note to him to see. "He wants me to come to Soloriel," she said plainly, her mind racing with the idea. "I-I don't know if I can, I'm a comissioned officer and there is the diplomatic corps and...." She stopped talking for a moment, realizing how ridiculous she sounded and leaned back in her chair, "I think I had better contact Colonel Papadakis, he'll want to know about this."

Hethran gave Yagger a friendly smile, before passing the note back to her. "He intended for you to keep this." Leaning back in his chair Hethran paused for a moment to reach into his lower desk drawer, before producing a smal bottle containing a rich dark red coloured liquid and two glasses, placing the glasses before him he poured them both a glass. "Solorien Rose Wine, I think you may enjoy it, and need it." Hethran shot her a slight smile as he pushed the glass toward her. "As for his Holyness asking for you to come to Soloriel, I will tell you now, this is not something done in light humour, the Empire has had no diplomatic dealings with outside cuntrys, in almost 300 years. We have aided other countrys and at times been forced to deploy our forces, as we have here in Danteri, but never before have we even made an overture toward any other countrys." Hethran paused for a moment to sip at his drink before continuing, "I understand that this is a difficult thing the Emperor has asked of you, but please at least consider his request. It would be important to us... I mean him, if you were to at least visit our nation." Hethran sipped at his glass again as he looked her in the eyes

Captain Yagger nodded and took a deep drink of the wine to help steady herself. "I would be honored to go, but as far as any diplomatic status, that would have to be arranged by my superiors. Only our Prime Minister can appoint an ambassador, though I think my nation would be more than willing to establish diplomatic relations with yours."

Yagger smiled and took another sip, this one much smaller of the wine, "I admit, I am curious about your country, and would I think, enjoy seeing what it is like."

Gwazzaria's airports were mainly large helipad complexes, as large areas of flat land were generally dominated by protected temperate rainforest or buildings. As such, most planes had to dock on one of the floating runways built off the coast.

Cauthaqua was the center of population for Gwazzaria, and might be seen as Gwazzaria itself. It contained almost half of the country's population, stacked atop one another in its numerous skyscrapers. Skywalks and monorails weaved between buildings, sewing the city together. Iron, glass, brick and concrete comprised most of the city, with rooftop and back-alley gardens providing a much-needed contrast and helping to reduce the heavy pollution.

Rising above the buildings was the Clouspine tower, with the red, white and black sigil of Gwazzaria glowing brightly through the haze.

A group of Ducal Enforcers (rarely seen outside of the Cloudspine itself), not visibly armed (though you could hide a rifle under their heavy coats), waited for the diplomatic contingents at the runway, to escort them to the Bismarck Building.

Hethran smiled slightly as he settled back in his chair, topping up both of their glasses. A far away look came into his eyes as he began talking. "At this time of year it is most beautiful, the trees are shedding their leaves, and the grass grows deep and thick. With the decrees the Emperor has laid down, much of our country is still realtively untouched, and will always remain so. To the north the Khulith Jarkell mountains are almost a deep purple in colour as the snows and ices begin to re-settle. People all over the country are gearing up toward the the date of the Emperors Blessing. And people all over the country are preparing for the winter ahead." Hethran sighed softly to himself as he paused to take a sip of his glass "Ahh it is most beautiful at this time of year indeed."

OOC-I wander where Danteri is..

Lieutenant Craig came down the steps of his plane. Two guards came behind him. He started towards the Ducal Enforcers waiting for him. They bagan leading him to the Bismarck Building.


OOC-Can't think of much at the moment..

The Imperial Chancellor raised himself from his seat behind his desk, and as he did so the huge White Cat padded softly over to him. As he stepped past it he gently scratched it behind its ears distractedly. Pressing the button on his desk that would summon the head of the Holy Guard, he glanced down at his pet, a smile crossing his face. "Soon my beautiful one, soon." As the door swang open the Imperial Chancellor looked up. "Ah General Khalith, we are almost at our target now, I want you to launch the 'Diplomatic' helicopter to the Reconciliation, your orders are to pick up Admiral Hethran and Captain Yagger, then make haste to Freiburg to pick up this womans commanding officer. I trust all is ready for their arrival?" Genral Khalith rose from his kneeling position in front of the Chancellor. "His will be done Chancellor." Khalith stood up and closed the door before dispatching the helicopter that would carry its precious cargo back to the Requiem.

Stuff:
-The Loyalist Representative has arrived in Gwazzaria.

OOC-The Conference should begin on Monday, when Danteri gets back..

OOC: Well hopefuly by then the Solorian representative will have arrived with Captain Yagger and Admiral Hethran, i just need to roleplay out something with Yagger forst before i attend the conference

"It sounds wonderful. My homeland is basically a large island, though we control several small islands suround the main as well. The climate can range from tropical to well, rather cool. Unfortunately, much of the country was ruined in our struggle for independence. We are still rebuilding and repairing damage from that war. The scars of our own war for homeland are very fresh, which is why when your nation chose to use its, blue steel I believe? weapons, we reacted so poorly."

"Perhaps your people could visit my homeland someday as well, it will be beautiful again someday, like it was when I was a child." She put down the wine and reached for the letter, scooping it off the desk. She glanced at it again and then looked up at the Admiral, "I had better send this note to my commander, this is too important to delay any further."

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Situation Room, Kallisti City, 23Eris

"She's only a Captain in the infantry for goddess' sake! And that was a field promotion!" Objected the Interior Minister, Alexander Kirilenko.

"A field promotion that was well deserved," replied Helen Markham, 23Eris' Minister of Defense. "And she has served as the military attache with the Soloriens quite admirably. Her reports are excellent and she has good relations with their commander. Thanks to her we've learned a lot about these people, and kept them in our camp. They've even prodivded us with one of their armored units and air cover!"

"Yes great, she can deal on a military level, but this is diplomacy! She's just an amateur!"

"Maybe that's why she is ideal for this, besides she was specifically requested." Noted Markham.

"If they're serious, they'll accept another-"

"Enough." Interrupted Prime Minister Hekatos. "I agree with our Defense Minister. Captain Yagger is perfect for this role. We will allow her to be sent to Soloriel with full diplomatic privledges. In case you forget, I became Prime Minister with no experience in polotics, just in warfare. I was and still am, quite an amateur myself. Anyway, let's not get ahead of ourselves, we still have this peace conference to see through."

"Right, in the meantime, the First Mechanized is in Southhaven, and we're distributing newer weapons and more supplies to the rebels there. Our transports are returning back to our homeland and will be loaded with equipment and supplies so that if the conference breaks down we can send the 2nd Division within a few days." Defense Minister Markham explained.

"Sounds good. In the meantime I want the air-transports of food and supplies to continue, the damn Loyalists burned half of Southhaven when they retreated, and we've a lot of people to feed amd care for. I also want the rebels to begin training with our troops. Lets get them up to date on tactics and improve our coordination." PM Hekatos answered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gwazzaria

Foreign Minister Jonathon Chilkevich arrived with a retinue of 8 assistants and a handful of security men who were assigned to guard the briefcase cuffed to the FM's wrist, a case which contained the highly sensitive codes for 23Eris' Diplomatic Corps.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
- 23Eris continues to fly in food and medical aid to Freiburg and Southhaven, though the focus is startig to shift mainly to the south as the north begins to stabilize and the Solorien, McPsycho, Freiburg area becomes fully secured.
- The First Mechanized Division holds maneuvers with Rebel Troops and distributes improved radio set, small arms, and AT weapons in an effort to improve the efficiency of rebel troops.
- The convoy which delivered the 1st Mech, departs Southhaven, loaded with asylum seekers, wounded, and others who wish to leave Danteri.

OOC: for anyone interested, here's a map of 23Eris (http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/renthas/23eris.jpg)

OOC: Im going to attempt a little hijack and fast forward 23Eris, I hope its not too much of a problem but we'll never get to the conference in time otherwise :P

As the helicopter rouched down on the flight deck of the Reconciliation, Admiral Hethran ducked his head against the downdraft from its rotors. Over his arm he carried his Naval Issue bag which contained his spare uniform and some clothing for the conference. As soon as was safe he ducked down and hurried over to the open door of the helicopter, as soon as he reached there he waited for Captain Yagger to join him. As soon as she was safely aboard he climbed inside, closing the door behind him. As the helicopter finished refuelling it took off gracefully into the sky, heading toward Freiburg. As the war-torn country of Danteri passed below him Admiral Hethran saw for the first time how destructive this war had been, great gashes from heavy shelling covered the countryside, and burned out hulks from various tanks, Solorian and Danteri littered the hills and fields. In his heart Hethran knew that he had done the Emperors duty But does that excuse us for our actions? Shaking his head sadly he waited for the Helicopter to touch down in Freiburg.

As the Helicopter gently touched down in the Airport held by 23Eris, its rotors slowing down and then stopping as it was refuelled for the return leg of the journey to the Requiem. The doors were slid open, and Admiral Hethran watched as a man in neat Field Dress trotted smartly up to the Helicopter and pulled himself inside. "Colonel Papadakis Sir, a pleasure to finally meet you." Admiral Hethran offered him a polite smile before replying "Admiral Hethran, Colonel, a pleasure im sure." As the helicopter span its rotors up and took off back to the Reconciliation.

As the Helicopter began its final leg toward the Requiem, she had already set sail for Gwazzaria, so as the helicopter touched down on its pad they were almost there already. As the rotors stopped spinning the door was slid open by a member of the Holy Guard in his traditional uniform. As the three passengers were escorted to the Imperial Chancellors Quarters Hethran could only hope that Yagger and Papadakis, were impressed with the size and grandeur of the Requiem.

As the door to the Chancellors quarters opened Hethran Led the way with Yagger behind him and Papadakis behind her. as All three faced the Chancellor a gigantic deadly looking white cat padded out towards the Admiral, who allowed a huge smile to cross his face as he gently knelt down and held it gently in his arms, scratching it behind its ears, and whispering to it in a strange language. The Chancellor merely smiled at this display of affection, and as the Admiral was engaged with his pet, introduced himself. "Greetings, and welcome to the Requiem. I am the Imperial Chancellor Xavier Pourath. I have been assigned to this conference to represent the interests of our Emperor, I have taken the liberty of preparing quarters for you both, but before then however there is a matter i wish to discuss with you Captain Yagger, in private with Admiral Hethran, if that would be agreeable?" Without waiting for a reply, the Chancellor continued "Also Captain we have taken the Liberty of preparing a new Uniform for you, based upon the reports Hethan sent us as. You will find that it is a copy of the Uniform you wore when you attended us as our attáche. However it is of far superior Solorian make. I dont know whether or not you both packed a spare change of clothes, but we have also arranged for the ships Tailor to attend you and make any clothing that you feel you may require." As he finished talking the Chancellor smiled at the sight of Hethran still engrossed in his pet. "And Admiral, your quarters have been made available, feel free to take She'ar with you, I feel she has missed you greatly these past few months." Hethran shot him a look of joy, "Thank you most noble one!"

Actions:

- The solorian Troops will continue redistribution of troops, and continue strengthening points along The Line, forming an effective first defence.

- Imperial AA guns have also been moved forward along with the Heavy Artillery that came in with the Reinforcements. and deployed at strategic poinst along The Line.

- Half of the heavy Logistics vehicles have also been involved, fully reinforcing The Line (if theres one thing the Solorians are excellent at, its building defensive measures.)

- Camp Stronghold has been expanded further, and the Solorians have also built enough shelter for the Civilians in their care, Effectively turning Stronghold into a fully operational Township with appropriate fresh water utilitys being implemented.

- Imperial Troops have also been engaged in training all the Rebel troops of an appropriate age, (17-28) in how to act as proper soldiers, the intensive training should give them at least basic training in modern warfare, as well as placing each platoon of Rebel Soldiers under the command of and Imperial Officer, who will continue their training and teach them further Solorian Tactics.

- Captain Bret and his men have continued infiltrating closer to the Zukariaan lines, their mission at this point still unknown.


OOC: for anyone interested heres the NSWiki entry for Soloriel: http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/index.php/The_Holy_Empire_Of_Soloriel

OOC-if they do anything it will be a violation of the cease-fire. Anything at all, really. It doesn't matter if the Loyalist/Zukariaans know what faction they are from, they'll declare war if anything happens.

As the Von Easthaven had done, the Zukariaans have been rounding up thousands of conscripts, however, they arn't simply giving them a gun and telling them to shoot. They are training them hard. Very hard.

-The Loyalist/Zukariaans have started to reinforce their side of the line. The Loyalist Line sits across from the Frieburger line about ten miles. Ten miles of no-mans-land. The Loyalist Line is filled with thousands of conscripts and Zukariaan soldiers, armor, guns, artillery. Their is a large mine field spread out across the Loyalist Line. The only people to be aloud across the no-mans-land are diplomats.
-In Southhaven the Loyalist/Zukariaans have been doing the same thing. A huge line full of soldiers and equipment.
-Roads leading to the Haraki Safe-Zones are being closed off. Soldiers are stating that they must recieve a pass to leave. They can get them from the working Capital City, a few miles outside of former Danteri City. Citizens must fill out a form to recieve the pass. This is mainly to prevent things being smuggled out of Loyalist Danteri.

OOC: At the moment they wont do anything, but if the talks break down at the conference then they will finish their preset mission objectives.

As the supplys of food continued coming into Danteri, so too did a small influx of Solorian Drill Sergeants and Equipment from home, the Solorians were determined to defend Nord-Lund at all costs.

As the Rebels were trained, so too did the construction work continue along The Line, Heavy Earth Movers deepened the trench seperating the two portions of the continent to a depth of almost 26 feet deep and 3 miles across all along the line, mines were laid in the trench shortly before Soloriel Collapsed the breachworks after completion of the trench, effectively cutting the continent in 2. Solorien forces have established a large number of concrete bunkers along their side of The Line, and all Solorian troops have been moved forwards to hold against any possible incursion.

Solorien Actions

- The Solorian Imperial Construction Corp have completed the massive defensive works along the line, cutting the Continent in half.

- The Solorian Drill Sergeants have begun the Intensive training course afforded to all conscripts of Soloriel, also as a sign of unity amongst the Rebels they have brought 300,000 Uniforms from home that have been designed as the new standard Uniform for the Nord-Lund Defense Force (As the Rebels have been renamed.) This new uniform is of dark brown appearance, with mottled green and earth tones.

- Soloriel has also provided the N.D.F With Solorien made guns and equipment, at this point this is not a breach of the Cease Fire conditions.

- The Solorien Airforce stationed at the 23Eris Airfield continue to fly patrols along the line watching for any sort of incursion from the south

OOC-well, it goes to show that the Solorians arn't very trustworthy. <_<
Also, you couldn't have cut it in half, to cut in half would mean cutting through Danteri held lands, do you mean you basically cut Nord-Lund out?
And the people in Nord-Lund weren't rebels, they were the Free Republic of Frieburg.

The intesive reinforcements were happening on both sides of the fight. The thousands of newly trained conscripts were being stationed all over the lines and all throughout Loyalist Danteri, and they are watched over by Zukariaan officers.

OOC - Nah were trustworthy, just not very trusting :p
Aye basically along the border of Nord-lund that was held by 23Eris McPsychoville and Soloriel is where the digging was performed. Aye but if i remember correctly we had a s**tload of rebels and civilians sent up north when the old loyalist government got desperate, those are the ones im referring to, the Frre Republic of Freiburg (Freiburg City) Is currently held by 23Eris, so Soloriel is training up the civilians and rebels caught up north when the cease fire was implemented.

Ah. Ok. The Zukariaans are just grabbing people and training them to be soldiers. They're even thinking of grabbing people who are on their way to the Haraki Safe-Zones if they don't have a pass.
<.<

>.>

OOC: Soloriel is being a bit more selective in its choice of recruits, but then again with the 2nd Carrier Group Purity still stationed in Buil Bay and enough reinforcements of men and armour holding position outside of Danteri Territorial Waters to bury this continent if need be. They are fairly confident that they can hold Nord-Lund against any attacks. Plus Soloriel just confirmed the Purchase of 860 SuF-8S Phoenix Advanced Naval/Land Air Dominance/Interceptor Fighter/Fighter-Bomber Strike Aircraft (yes they really are THAT versatile :p) They are quite confident in their own abilitys at the moment, although Admiral Yerrith seems to have his own agenda in all this...

Enough men to bury the continent? Thats kind of cheap.. :(
That a lot. O_o Its a good thing that Zukariaa has a big military.. V_V

OOC: Just think yourself lucky, they havent even deployed HALF of their military forces for this conflict, barely a third is currently mobilised for deployment to Danteri. Its one of the joys of having a huge ass nation, you can afford to deploy a few million troops if you need to :p

Im trying to limit how many are coming in at a time atm though, so as to avoid too much stress later, i mean come on, who here is going to be happy if i deployed 6 million troops to Danteri? Plus do you have any idea how much of a logistical nightmare that would be? :p

Although i did find a useful little tool that calculates how many members of your population are in your armed forces, i take the number that gives me and i half it, to find out how many i can send abroad and how many are keptat home to defend the Nation itself. It even calculates how many reserve soldiers you have which is cool, the URL is: http://www.bananadine.co.uk/dine.php?pagetype=useful&pagefile=nationstates

Oh, the joys of having a country where everyone is a soldier. XD

It says 640,000 troops and 19 million reserves, but thats not considering that Zukariaan government states that anyone and everyone is in the military.

OOC: Population isn't the only factor for deployment. Even when you can freely deploy anywhere, there's still food, water, and shelter to consider. The Danteri farming industry wouldn't be robust enough at the moment to support all these soldiers or the civillians, so we're all importing most of our food. That's a heck of a lot of air and sea traffic already!

And how's everyone housing people? Bombed out buildings are fine for when on the move, but spending weeks in tents can't be great for soldier morale. Then there's sanitation issues.

Further, just how loyal are your soldiers? Do you have enough uncorrupt military police to make sure they don't start deserting? And disease, too - that's even more stuff on the freighters, and even more professionals you need to shelter and feed...

And that's not mentioning distribution in a war-torn, desperate and disorganized country.

Then there's all that fuel for your guys' armor...

Anyways, I think maybe everyone should tone it down just a bit?

OOC-Well, if we're able to get this many people to Danteri, it wont be very hard to get supplies in. Also, the lines are full of tents, bombed out buildings, and make-shift forts. The men on my side of the conflict are fine.

I'm not going to tone it down, having these large scale wars is part of what makes this fun. And I really would rather not have to worry about how much fuel make vehicles have. :rolleyes:

OOC - I was more referring to New Lexington's one million troops. Your stuff so far hasn't been too bad, I just jumped when I saw the '19 million reserves' and wanted to pre-empt things.

OOC-oh, hell no. I'm deffinantly not going to just randomly send in 19 million people. Thats insane. O_O

Yeah, I gues your right. The main thing with the armour, though, is that it hasn't been used much since it arrived just before the cease-fire. I'm sure some of my men would try to dessert, but would rather not be shot in the back of the head. :rolleyes: Also, the conscripts are deffinantly going to be a problem, as they always are. Just not for the moment, seeing that there are no battles.

ooc: yeah things on the Solorien side hasnt been too bad so far, one of the first things we started doing was building a proper camp for our troops, admittedly its mainly long buildings with sheet steel and tar over the top with concrete floors and walls at both ends, but we started shipping in supplys as soon as we were able to hold the beach. With the Imperial Logistics Regiment maintaining the supply lines and building a fresh water irrigation system throughout Stronghold we have more than enough troops equipment and supplys to keep everyone safe and happy on our side for a while yet. But I agree with Gwazzaria, New Lexingtons 1 million troops is a bit of an insane number, i was worried about bringing in the additional 160,000 which is why i havent really been engaging in many military maneuveurs recently, all my efforts have been geared toward securing somewhere for everyone to stay, and keeping the supply lines open. The men in my army are fanatically loyal to the Emperor, and as such while desertion isnt unknown, it is highly uncommon.

For the meantime however the troops we have outside Danteri Territorial Waters will remain there. I dont want to drag too many more troops into this, theres enough there already to deal with any major threat, and with the securement of Nord-Lund, they see their dutys as all but done. Only an out and out attack at this point will convince them otherwise.

What if the conference went wrong somehow?

Also, yeah. I didn't notice it before, but 1 million troops is a lot.

ooc: well if the conference went head ove rheels crazy, adn the military engagements began again, then we would fight to kep Nord-Lund independent. And utilise Captain Bret and his men to neutralise any and all opposition leaders, either by calling in a tactical nuclear strike from one of our cruisers, or our aircraft. and then when we had caused enough damage we would simply land a hell of a lot of troops and armour on Danteri and fight and fight and fight untill all opposing forces either yielded, or were prepared to talk things over and get this mess straightened out properly.

OOC: Zukariaa, everyone in your nation is in the armed forces? What are you, a nation of nomad mercenaries? How do you raise crops, run stores, and have a good economy back home? Sure, you can say that everybody is technically a member of the armed forces and therefore technically possible to be deployed, but I'd say almost all those people would be reservists with little training. Having everyone in your nation be a pure soldier would lead to a complete economic breakdown. I'd think having a nation with, in name only, everyone in the armed forces, would b pretty much like having a regular nation with conscription only a phone call away. However, that would generate a lot of dissent and a lot of hunger, in any case.

Personally, I'm against pure numbers-based roleplaying, such as saying "I deploy 2 million troops and 5000 tanks, plus a whole carrier group," although I'm also against "I'm sending 2 divisions of troops with 10,000 men each and the HMS Fitzgibbon ... [proceed to list every single ship you own]." I try to make any roleplay I have have people, so I'm not just saying what my government does. That's why I have Neil, Locke and Lexington, and they each have their own character flaws and attributes.

However, I'm okay with the numbers-based roleplaying. I prefer not to do it myself, but it's fine with me. But what really gets me is the overwhelming numbers roleplaying, i.e. sending five million troops to a conflict where each other side is sending one or two divisions. For example, I sent in one division of infantry and one brigade of armour. On the other hand, across the nation is New Lexington with one million men, who are most likely supposed to be trained just as well as my forces. And up north a bit is Soloriel, with hundreds of thousands of men, nukes and tanks. Over across a little ways is Zukariaa, with hordes of conscripts. Do you see what I'm saying here?

I try to go for quality over quantity. But when people start saying "Hmm, my nation has 100 million people, so I can have about 3 million people in my armed forces at most. Oh look, a little country having a civil war! I'd better devote my entire economy to switch over to wartime production and send in my entire army of one million men! Who cares that it's basically a peacekeeping expedition? My country has 1 million men in the army and the army's being deployed, so I'm deploying 1 million men!" it really gets to me.

Not to mention the sheer idiocy of the above statement, people also don't care about the logistics of deploying an army that size. For one, how does it get there? Magic teleportation? Or do you send a massive armada of thousands upon thousands of ships, guarded by your entire navy? For comparison, the largest amphibious invasion in real life, ever, was D-Day, involving thousands of ships crossing the English channel, only a couple dozen kilometres of water. Guess how many people they were landing. Three divisions. About 30,000 men. Can you even imagine how many ships you'd need to transport a million men halfway across the world? Not to mention how many supplies you'd need to carry with you for the initial invasion alone? How are you going to feed that many people?

Oh, that's nice. You're devoting your entire navy to sending convoy after convoy of food to your army which you deployed, just so your men don't starve to death. That's sure a good idea.


Yeah. I think you all see what I mean. I think if we all (Well, all of us with really huge numbers of troops) toned down the numbers we have deployed, it would be a good thing.

OOC: I can appreciate entirely your point Haraki, and were it not for the Insane numbers of troops already in Danteri i dont think that i would have deployed the 160,000 reinforcements that i did. In fact i stalled for as long as possible before bringing any more troops into the country. Until the Peace conference gets under way, Soloriel will be limiting its troops to rebuilding the infrastructure of Nord-Lund, at which point there will be a dramatic decrease in the numbers of deployed forces, at most there will be 10 - 15,000 soldiers there to keep the peace. I know the difficultys a real military force would run into in a conflict of this magnitude, which is why ive tried to create enough characters to reflect the size of the forces engaged over there, for instance: Gautren, Juhn, Hethran, Yerrith, Errik, Parkin, Yean, Bret. Some of these characters have only had minor roles to date, but they are there to be used when i need them.

I never said I was deploying my entire country. And just because most of the country is in the military(and thats not saying they are IN THE MILITARY thats saying they can be called on when needed. They have training, but they live normal lives. And to say they have training does not mean they are pure soldiers, they are people that know how to shoot a gun the right way, basically.

And the conscripts? They were started and are still maintained by Danteri. We're working close enough together that we've agreed that we can control some of each others troops. When I said Zukariaa was gathering conscripts, I meant Loyalists. I'll change it.

And your comparing the RP world way too much to the real world, in my opinion. I really see no fun in saying,"I send 10,000 troops while the started of this topic has 50,000 people die in almost every post." I'm following the lead, here.

I'm done. Once Danteri tells me to stop what I'm doing, I'll stop, but I see nothing wrong with anything I've done as of yet.

Sorry, though, not trying to be rude.

Oh, and for the record, I was just joking when I said everyone was in the military. I just thought it was cool that the site said I had 19,000,000 reserves. <_<

OOC: And here I stil barely have a military of 80K soldiers with only 40K deployed. I ddin't even realize they were facing 1 Mill Lexingtonians. Yikes. I may need a few tac nukes if the conference fails. ;)

IC: Yagger nodded to the Chancellor, "I would appreciate that very much. I've only a pair of uniforms at the moment, and my combat fatigues, which I hopefully won't be needing."

Papadakis, who looked a bit uncomfortable nodded absently and looked around the room briefly. "If you could have someone show me to my quarters Chancellor, I have some reports to prepare and a few orders to issue to my second-in-command."

OOC: I have a total of around 100,000 men in Danteri in the form of two divisions, they are mainly situated in Westgate city area (feeling pretty small here, but according to the military calculator this is what my army is like;
The number of people in your military is: 6,800,000
The number of reservists in your nation is: 40,800,000 )
I was trying to be realistic in the deployment of my forces as the United Kingdom only has 5 divisions and theoretically I could have 136 Divisions with a hell of a lot in reserve. I personnaly would only send over a quarter of my forces to a warzone, I would like to know I would still have the ability to defend my nation, after all with the technology levels we are at today just think what 100,000 well equipped men could do!
I do think it would be well cramped in Danteri right now.

Oompli is reluctant to send a representative to Gwazzaria for the conference, but already has authorised it. She will arrive shortly.

The Chancellor nodded absently, "of course Colonel" he clapped his hands and a naval rating came through the door almost immediately and gestured for the Colonel to leave. As they both left the Chancellor clapped his hands again and two more Naval Ratings came hurrying through. "Chairs please gentleman, and wine with glasses, oh and ensure the chef prepares some food for our guest, Colonel Papadakis, I feel he may be hungry." As the two young men hurried to follow his commands he turned his attention back to Captain Yagger and Admiral Hethran. "Well I am sure you have many questions Captain, perhaps now would be the time to ask them?" As the chancellor said this the huge White Panther padded up to Yagger and began nuzzling against her hand purring with a deep throated growl. "Dont mind her Captain, I think she likes you." Hethran said with a smile on his face.

OOC: Sorry if I offended anyone. Truly wasn't my intent. I wasn't insulting anyone or saying anyone's roleplaying is bad, I was merely saying I think most nations are devoting too much of their resources to what would most likely be considered a peacekeeping mission in your government. And yes, I do know that most nations' military sizes are closer to those deployed at the peak of World War II than those nowadays. Hell, I deployed the 72nd Infantry Division, that should give you an idea of how big my army is.

Sorry for any offence. You're all great RPers.

OOC: Well, things have been interesting while I was gone...

New News:
- Loyalists and Rebels: The Loyalists and the rebels have both sent delegations to the Gwazzarian peace conference. The Loyalist delegation consists of four "diplomats" (read: DGS men...), eight secretaries, and two dozen Danteri Army Special Operations soldiers as "guards". The rebel delegation consists of ten diplomats (real ones in this case...), eight secretaries and one dozen elite rebel soldiers (but not commandos).
- Loyalist Actions: Over the weekend, a massive retraining program was initiated - the massive numbers of Loyalist conscripts are being trained to the point where they can act like real soldiers... also, every conscript under the age of eight has been sent home - some progress at least...
- Rebel Actions: The rebels have reinforced all of their forward positions, moving up some lightly trained reserve forces, and cycling back some veteran elite forces to conduct training of the new conscripts.
- Terrorists: Three anti-peace terrorist attacks have occured: in one, three dozen civilians were killed when the terrorists opened fire with machineguns on a crowded market in Loyalist territory, in another, fifty children were killed when a school was hit with four heavy artillery shells, (a heavy field-gun had "gone missing" from the Loyalist army only a few days before...), and lastly, four Loyalist conscripts were killed by an IED. All in all: 86 civilians dead, 50 of them children, and 4 Loyalist soldiers.
- Arms Shippment: The Loyalists apparently recently recieved another load of weapons - some 1,000 Eryx anti-tank missiles and a whole load of small arms. Whether this violates the truce remains to be seen, but all the factions so far seem to be ignoring the "no reinforcing" clause in the truce.

The Loyalists sweated a lot in their heavy dark grey coats. They all wore heavy military uniforms without insignia, even the civilian secretaries. The guards even carried sub-machineguns, although they handed them over without incident at the Gwazzarian airport.
It was an interesting sight - the Loyalist delegates arrived on a Zukariaan transport plane, which probably gave some sign of the status of their air force...
The Loyalists looked tired. There was none of that "blood and iron" fanatacism that had so marked the Loyalist leadership at the start of the war - rather, they looked drawn out, tired, like men who had sent hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths, and now knew that they had done so for little reason... they were tired. That was the best word with which to describe them - tired of war, tired of lossing, tired of having insane leaders sacrifice millions of their countrymen... even the Danteri Government Security men shared that tired look. This war was getting old... it was eating their nation, killing the young and the old alike with equal disdain, consuming billions of Confederate marks that might otherwise have been spent on development... peace would be welcomed by these men, but... there was a defiance even in their exhaustion - they would not give up for nothing but peace.

The rebels wore buissiness suits. They dressed like diplomats, and didn't sweat like their Loyalist counterparts in heavy military uniforms. Another distinguishing feature of the rebel delegation was the relative youth of its members - only one was over thirty, and several of the secretaries were under twenty.
They gawked at the shops in the airport - they had been born in a nation that was already at war with itself, into a nation where goods for the civiliand market were scarce, and intentionally kept that way. They had grown up with their mothers standing in line for bread, had grown up in a world where a bit of salty sausage was a luxury... and is showed.
They stared at bright neon, these men in suits who had never seen a free country before... even a country only as free as Gwazzaria.
These young men were inteligent, brave, some had fought in the infantry when the first riots exploded through Danteri City... yet, they were painfully inexperienced.

Transmission
[From: Commodore Felias Locke, Harakian Commander - Danteri Area Forces]
[To: High Commander Corrol of Zukariaa]

We would like to request that you officially disarm all arms that have been shipped to Loyalist troops over the past day and hand them over to neutral Gwazzarian or Harakian forces as part of the 'No Reinforcing' clause in the ceasefire. This will not onyl show other nations you and the Loyalists are genuine in your desires for peace, but will also stand as a measure of good faith and will keep these weapons out of the hands of ten year olds. I doubt any of the factions would send children to war without weaponry, and by denying the faction most guilty of using child soldiers of having weapons is equivalent to saving the lives of every child who would have used one of those weapons. We also request that you hold off any more conscription of Danterian soldiers and convince the Loyalists to do so themselves as well, again as part of the No Reinforcing clause of the ceasefire and to save the lives of those being conscripted.

I thank you for your time,
Felias Locke




Haraki will be represented at the peace conference by Zachary Mitas, one of Haraki's most experienced diplomats. He is of course accompanied by a two-man bodyguard of HIA Security agents specifically trained for dignitary protection. They are lightly armed in person but carried a large, bulky bag to their hotel room with them. Should the discussions break down into fighting at the conference itself, the HIA men's first and only priority will be to get Mitas to safety. He is unarmed and getting on in years. He requested an extra bodyguard from the usual one, as he has seen his fair share of negotiations break down into squabbling, and his research into the conflict has shown that squabbling here with squads of soldiers present for protection could lead to an all-out firefight and a resuming of the brutal war back in Danteri.

The Loyalist soldiers marched down the streets of the small village with a slow, unsteady, demoralized, step. They wore tattered uniforms of grey, many were wounded, some wore only rags, some lacked limbs, some wore only rags... but they were marching away from the front. This sad, pitiful remnant of a battalion, 200 men left out of 1,000, were going home.
The crowd that gathered didn't cheer, but didn't throw stones either. They just watched, as those 200 survivors marched by. Men with missing legs limped on rough crutches, men without arms grimly trudged forward... it was like the emptying of a hospital.
Here and there, men left the collumn. They glanced nervously here and there, almost afraid of being pulled back in, of being dragged back into the war... but, no one stopped them. They had all seen enough to be able to ignore the little treasons that might occur amidst all the death.
The deserters found warm beds and bread. They were welcomed by a tired people who wanted peace more than anything else... and who still hoped that their own sons and fathers and brothers might come home safely. Through their kindness, they almost prayed - if I help this wretched soldier, let another help my son.
Soon enough though, the ragged collumn had cleared the horrizon... going off to some unknown location. The war might have temporarily halted, but it was not over, the beast was not yet dead.

Solorien Vessel

"I do have questions Chancellor, mainly, why me?" Yagger asked. "I'm no diplomat, I'm a soldier from my nation, and a junior officer at that. One of our senior officers or diplomats would make more sense as far as representatives to your country."

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Discordia, 23Eris

A series of freighters flying the flags of a third nation began to dock in the large harbor of Discordia. Within the hour, the masive doors that made up the bow of the ship began to open and tanks rumled out of the hull. In the end, 300 Leopard II variants arrived in 23Eris to replace the aging T-80s used by the 4th Armored Division. The tanks moved to a staging area outside the city where EDF officers began to familiarize themselves with the new vehicles. There were no plans to move them from Discordia for the present, after all, should the peace conference fail, they would be needed in Danteri.

It was a very pleasant early spring in Gwazzaria, windy and 22°C (or about 70°F), with the numerous little pockets of nature in Cauthaqua beginning to bloom. A light drizzle occasionally fell from the clouds.

The Bismarck Building was built to fit in with the ornate 19th century buildings around it, and had been made of brick and large grey blocks of stone. Its windows at the front opened onto a large wrought-iron balcony that stretched out over the street, supported by two monolithic stone columns. A clocktower rose from its top, out of a central dome surrounded by a rooftop garden.

Before the owners had left during the coup, the Bismarck had been Cauthaqua's best known five-star hotel. The owners had made sure to take a lot of the late 19th-century furniture and art with them, so the past year had been spent restocking it. It would re-open in a month as a hotel again , but for now it was going to be used for the conference. Its bottom floor, which had been a restaurant, would serve as the conference room. A round oak table, with an ornate version of the ducal coat of arms inscribed in the center, had been moved in there for that purpose.

The street had been closed off to traffic, and the Duke's car was the only one parked for several blocks. Most of the delegates, however, would be brought there by intracity helicopter.