NationStates Jolt Archive

The commandos crossed the border in force almost as soon as the massacres started. All day long, they fought the Zukariaans, launching little raids here and there, destroying isolated squads and even the occassional company... they seemed to have little time for saving civilians, though, and concentrated on ensuring that the Kravenite Zukariaans retreated under fire, suffering as many casualties as they could inflict.

- The commandos have inflicted an unknown number of cassualties on the Zukariaans, setting mines, sniping, blowing up bridges, setting ambushes and so on.

The guards came for her a few hours later. They took the tattered remains of her clothes, and gave her a grey prison uniform. They were cruel, but only out of practice - all guards were the same, reguardless of whether the government served the left or the right...
Yes, all governments were the same - fascist dictatorships, communist states, theocracies... democracies... all were the same, the only thing that changed were the justifications they gave when you were being killed, whether it was the will of the Supreme Leader and the State, or that of The People, always capitalized, or the will of God, or that it was being done because you were a threat to the system... Sara von Freiburg sat in her cell, freezing and shivering in the cold, and cursed all governments. Perhaps, in the end, she should have been an anarchist...

[OOC: WOW! that all happened really quickly!]
---
To: All national leaders
From: Party Leader Zbigniew
In light of recent events, I am compelled to announce my intended course of action. With regards to Miasto Liberalnych Ofiar Nałogu; it will remain a protectorate until we have decided that the United Danteri Government established in the peace meetings (in which we wish to take part) is acceptable.
With regards to the withdrawl of the Zukariaan forces; we will send medical professionals and supplies to help take care of any surviving Danteri in the zone.
---
Stan Krow Liliowych has sent several industrial-sized aeroplanes containing medical supplies, and two 747s full of doctors, mostly EMTs and ER docs.

As many planes as possible were launched off of the sinking ships, and most of them did. Even the CIWS guns could not take them all. This was, afterall, not a battlefleet. All of the planes were Axim warplanes, and they each flew head on at full speed towards the Solorian craft; they fired air to air missiles, fired their 30mm cannons; whatever was possible.

Father had decided that these men needed to be purged along with Danteri, and they each knew that they would die. They were determined to take down as many Solorian fighters as possible.

534 Axim warplanes were able to launch, as the entire fleet was destroyed. 40 of them streaked towards mainland Danteri at Mach 3, ready to carpet bomb as many advancing Solorians as possible.

The others quickly tried to overwhelm the Solorian fighters, they were matched in speed and ceiling, and now it was a matter of supersonic dogfighting.

Thousands of Kreigsmarines died. It was something that happened often in the Supreme State. Zukariaa and Kraven had plenty to spare, and as those men died, they began screaming,"Hail Father!"

Sturmkreig furhrer Kyler was long gone, and that was all that mattered..

OOC-I'm not worried about it, really. OOC'ly I'd rather you didn't, but the truth is, the map I have is de facto mainland. Zukariaa, like all of Kraven, has no real mainland. We're everywhere. XD In case you're wondering, Father is the super intelligent AI who commands the Supreme State.
It was fun here in Danteri, but in the end, I killed off 149 million Danteri people and caused around 500,000 of my soldiers to be slaughtered.
I'm just cool like that. :p

OOC: Well if i can get about twenty or thirty Zukaarian officers, i have some rather groovy things i want to do with them, that can be done without having to invade Zukariaa :D

As the planes screamed past each other the Solorien pilots died with screams for blood on their lips, far below the sea burned as the spilt oil from the sunken ships burnt with a hellish glow, that illuminated the clouds above with an orange and red glow. The screams of hundreds of sea-men resounded over the waves as they were consumed in the napalm fires that burnt all that remained of the ships above the water. All of these scenes were being transmitted to the Solorien High Command from the planes onboard cameras, and recorded for future transmission to the troops in the field. Planes exploded into flames but the pitiful airforce of the Zukariaa was no match for the sheer numbers the Soloriens had on their side in this engagement, as soon as one was shot down another three took its place...

Far away and on the ground the Solorien troops continued the ordered and systematic eradication of any opposing force that chose to stand in their way the bodies were thrown in the trucks with the others and transported to the southern borders where the Stormtroopers took over the grisly job of erecting a horrifying edifice built from the bodys of fallen Zukariaans. The troops began lining up on the border to South Haven, behind them Artillery began deploying and facing the communist south, tanks and other armoured units lined up and held their positions, whatever was going to happen would happen soon...


Shortly after the troops began taking position along the border a mesage was sent out to the commanders of all the army still left stationed in Danteri.

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To: All Field Commanders of Nations within the borders of Danteri.
From: Solorien High Command
RE: Governmental Responsibility.

We the Holy Empire of Soloriel request that the nations within Danteri to immediately transmit the location of one Sara Von Freiburg, she is hereby decreed as the official representative of Soloriel to the people of Freiburg and Central Danteri. We request she is delivered into the hands of the Imperial Stormtroopers as soon as is possible, if she has come to any harm whilst we have been absent then the nation/s responsible shall be dealt with in as expedient a manner as is possible, regardless of the consequences of said actions.

Solorien Losses:

Almost 661 SuF-8S Strike Aircraft have been lost.

Solorien Actions:

1. A Huge force of almost 136,000 troops have mobilised on the border to South Haven, backing this force up is an enormous amount of armoured units and aircraft. So far all they are doing is waiting, but with more troops arriving everyday on the western coasts only time will tell what their intentions are.

OOC-For what? TG me what you need, but the chances are low. All of the officers were evacuated before the others and launched with the ships you just destroyed.. XD

Danteri

Sara was about to respond when her secure radio link began to buzz. "Sorry James," she muttered, xtepping away from the Admiral and fishing the small cell-phone like device off her belt.

"Yagger," was all she said, then followed a series of, 'Yes' and 'No' answers and ended with a 'Yes, Ma'am'.

"James, that was my commander, Lieutenant General Lillis, I'm to inform you so that yo can relay to your superiors the behaviour of Sara Von Freiburg. After your forces left, she orchestrated the massacre of the Unified Danteri Government that we supported. Then she betrayed the communists in Montegrande, trying to set up some kind of fascist government there. While our nation condemns the death penalty we feel it would be best if she remained in prison and not freed. She's dangerous and unpredictable, though who wouldn't be with their home in ruins."

"I'm also to inform you that 23Eris and Montegrande have signed a non-aggression treaty. Unless Montegrande attacks your forces first, we are treaty bound to maintain a benevolent neutrality with Montegrande and we will be unable to, in any way, support Solorien forces."

"Now, what did you mean by things might turn grim?"

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To: Montegrande
From: Foreign Minister Chilkevich, 23Eris
Re: Danteri

To the leaders of the Communist Party in Montegrande, greetings. I wish to address the situation in Danteri and reassure you that our forces intend to respect the non-aggression pact signed with your nation only a short time ago. While it is true we have rekindled our alliance with the Soloriel forces that have returned to Danteri, we are not actively aiding Soloriel in any aggressive maneuvers they are undertaking or plan to undertake.

Also, having recieved the same notice of their intentions towards Sara Von Freiburg, our military attache has been ordered to inform the Soloriel of her actions since the time of their withdrawl. However, I suggest strongly that you ensure her safety and care as we can not guarantee the reaction of Soloriel should Frieburg come to harm. In addition, our own government condemns the use of the death penalty and would prefer to see Sara v. Freiburg tried in an international court of law, adding international legitamacy to the trial.

I also would like to assure you that despite your increased vigilance along our shared border, Erisian troops in Southhaven have been ordered not to take any aggressive action towards your forces. They will only respond to direct attacks made upon them. I, and all of 23Eris hope for a quick return to normal relations with your proud nation.

Hethran sighed and gestured for Sara to follow him, as they made their way onto the ship "You had Best send that message yourself Sara." Before them a series of Imperial Stormtroopers lined the pathway to the main hatch into the ship, they all snapped off a salute as the aging Admiral passed. As she drew level he leaned over to her and whispered. "Imperial Stormtroopers, Fanatically Loyal, fearless, and utterly dedicated to the destruction of whomever they are ordered to fight, they are something that no'one in Danteri has faced yet, and something even the standard Infantry are afraid to fight alongside." Hethran leaned heavily on his cane as he walked onwards, and led Sara through the myriad hallways of his ship, leading her finally towards a huge ornamented hatchway, with his name emblazoned on it, as he placed his cane to one side and turned the handle to open it. As he stepped through he flicked a switch and lights came on, as he waited for Sara to step through he swept the room with a strange looking device, when seemingly satisfied with the readings he gestured for her to sit down as he closed the hatchway and turned to face her. "Things are not well in my homeland Sara, after we were all called back. I was picked up aboard The Truth, her sister ship the Reconciliation crewed by my protege Admiral Yerrith. On the journey back they stopped engines and refused to acknowledge radio transmissions. By the time we had stopped we detected the launch of a series of Torpedoes. We got a series of shots back, and started to scramble aircraft into the air but it was too late, the first torpedoe ripped into the Truth's stern blew open the port engine bays, the red alert sounded and i ordered the evacuation of the ship. the Reconciliation exploded as her main magazine storage was hit, she went down rapidly, small explosions tearing her open. I fought my way to the engine bays to evacuate my men still trapped in there. The fires were too hot Sara.. I... couldnt save them all. When the main Oil reserve blew i was getting the last of the ones i could save out, i was caught in the blast, my face was burning and my leg had been shattered, it was only when the sea water hit my face that i thought i was going to die down there." Hethran stopped talking his face a mask of pain and grief, his shoulders shooke slightly and his breathing was laboured, small beads of sweat had gathered on his face, and he withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket to dab it away, after a moment or so he continued. "A young Crewman, she couldnt be anymore than 17 was lying against the wall, her face was covered in blood, and a large piece of metal had pierced her shoulder, pinning her in place. I couldnt leave her there, not with my ship going down, not my crew DAMN IT." Hethrans face had become flushed with anger, and a grim sense of failure, his eye burned with a sense of righteous fury and his fists had clenched on the arms of his chair. "I pulled the metal out and she started screaming, and then the deck shifted i put my hand out to brace myself and my ring finger slipped through a gash in the steel wall, as the ship egan to tear herself apart the metal twisted, all i remember is a burning pain in my hand as i tried to pull it free, when it did, id lost my finger. I grabbed the crewman, shed passed out again at this point, and i threw her over my shoulder and half ran half fell towards the exit hatch. As i got there i saw my Communications officer John. He lay against the wall, his legs sheared off, but he was still breathing. I grabbed him by the collar and dragged him with us, we barely made it to the last life raft leaving the ship, i got them both aboard and then i saw them. My First mate Siegren, and his Fiancée Crewman Jurren. They were running towards the raft screaming for us to stop. i climbed out and ran as best as i could toward them, and dragged them back towards the raft they ran and got aboard as another explosion knocked it loose. The raft managed to get clear but i was trapped on the flight deck. I dived into the Ocean and it all went black." Hethran sighed and his face washed over with grief, his shoulders shook and it was evident he was fighting a losing battle with his emotions. "I came to floating amidst the wreckage and bodies of my ship. She had held on as long as she culd to get us, her crew, safely away. But the strain had been too much. And she'd gone under. For days i lay on a piece of wreckage, sure i was going to die, and then i was picked up by the rescue helicopters that the Emperor had sent to find us. For months I lay in the Imperial Hospital. When i was well enough i was presented to the Emperor, he commended us all on our actions to protect the Empire. We were all presented with that same medal ive given to you, the Emperors Tear, for protection upon the seas. That was Johns, he..he died a few days after receiving it. Since then the Empire has gone on a series of purges and we discovered a massive plot led by some key members of the Imperial College for Culture, they planned to betray the Empire to our most ancient of enemies, The Taydr Pnehkanc. The Emperor and the Imperial College for War decided that the corruption had spread from the moment of our arriving in Danteri. And that only the Purgation of our Enemies would cut the cancer that was growing in some our peoples hearts out. He has authorised the full deployment of our Stormtrooper Regiments, and there are hundreds of thousands of them Sara, Brutal, Lethal, without a shred of emotion save glory and honour. They are kilers Sara, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their aims. The Emperor has decided that the only way to Purify this continent, will be through the total subjugation of any who stand in the way of our forces. He has mobilised the Entire Fleet, ready for travel to the homelands of any who attempt to prevent us. Things as I said, are Grim."

Montegrandean Headquarters,Dreil, Danteri

The Solorien request wasn´t possible to fulfill for the Montegrandean troops as for Sara Von Freiburg was a criminal, and also a traitor. Because of that, more montegrandean soldiers, aircraft and tanks were arriving to Danteri if the solorien in their arrogance attacked the communist zones... Commander Moncada ordered that Sara Von Freiburg should pass from Red Army control to the Red Guard, the best montegrandean military force... In all Danteri the security measures were tightened (more in what concerned Sara Von Freiburg´s prison). However he asked firmly to the Commitee to suspend the trial, at least temporarily. Even when the montegrandean apreciated erisian telegram, the border remained closed, mostly for safety. The montegrandean leadership sent a telegram to Soloriel

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To: Solorien troops in Danteri
From: Salvador Guevara, Comisar of Foreign Affairs, Montegrande

Your request for delivering Sara Von Freiburg to your troops, we cannot comply it, for she is guilty of crimes against humanity and high tration. She was recently captured by the Red Army and is waiting for trial in a prison. Even when the trial was temporarily suspended, we can only offer to intercede to the Communist Danteri government to judge her in an international court, but only if we see if the trial is fair and not just an invention to set free the dangerous criminal she is. Any intervention in the held zones would be seen as an act of war . We gave signs of our goodwill and now we humbly ask you to do the same in this affair for she commited crimes against civil rights and also against the communist government.
Greetings
Salvador Guevara. Comisar of Foregin Affairs, Montegrande


the new war planes and all the montegrandean army in Danteri and Red Army were preparing for an arrogant Solorien attack, although they hoped the diplomatic solution would do for now. A conflict of foreign powers in Danteri would destroy more danterian lives, and the Montegrandean were trying to avoid this....
Also, Moncada ordered the Red Guard regiment to kill Sara Von Freiburg if the solorien attacked or tried to liberate her by force....

OOC: Soloriel, if you want to start a war against Montegrande, please do it this Friday, before of that I have a huge test and won´t have much time to answer properly... Also I think I´ll have to clarify how is my weaponry and army and I need time to post that. Thanks for understanding :p
Zukariaa left, New- Lexington is inactive, it seems that just Soloriel and Montegrande last like the psychotic dictatorships involved in Danteri.....

OOC: No worrys ill just RP the mass build up of troops along the border, as well as the usual Solorien Shock Tactics ;)

Solorien Troops loaded the last of the bodys from this area of Danteri into the cargo plane. Ten minutes later it was flying over the border to South Haven, as it circled its position over the gathered Communist forces, the rear door opened, and the bodies of hundreds of dead Zukariaan troops floated through the air to the ground below. Each of them had been mutilated, their eyes cut out and their mouths carved into Grisly smiles that cut back to their cheek bones. As their grisly payloads slammed into the dirt the plane flew back over Solorien lines, its mission accomplished. At the edge of the Solorien militarys build up, a series of enormous speakers were set up and the horrific screams of long dead people floated out towards the Communist lines. Further inland of Danteri Imperial Engineers began erecting massive Video Screens in the towns and cities that they had captured thus far and were secure. As soon as they were all online they were connected up to massive generators and radar towers. A few hours later they were switched on, and signals began coming in from a Solorien Satellite in geo-synchronous aboard Danteri, as the Screens flickered into life as many of the civilians who could were gathered before these massive screens, Imperial Troops began handing out blankets and warm food to these people, seating them all on the huge benches before the screens. They flickered into life and the Imperial flag appeared on the screen gently wavering in some computer generated breeze, the national anthem of Soloriel began blaring out, a loud ad rousing piece of music, and although none of the Danterians would be able to understand the words, the music itself was enough to rouse the spirits and bring tidings of honour and glory into the hearts of all who listened to it, the Solorien troops stood to attention, their faces unreadable behind their masks, but from their stiff posture and the hands they held clenched over their hearts it was clear that this was indeed a moment that was too reverent to be broken by Idle words. As the last notes of the song died away, a man appeared on screen, his withered face filled with nobility and pride.

"People of Danteri, we are your new rulers, we bring not threats and violence. We do not bring empty promises of a free and open country. But we bring shelter, and food, and the truth that we shall bring justice. We shall restore your Honour. We shall give you a life free of the Oppressive bullying and death that so many others have left in their wake. As proof ofthis let me show you what became of those Murderous Demons that slaughtered your familys, murdered your brothers and sisters, your Wives and Husbands, your SONS AND DAUGHTERS. THIS IS THE FATE OF ANY AND ALL WHO HARM YOU WHILST UNDER OUR CARE."

The wizened figure faded away, adn at first the screens were black, and then they filled with an orange and reddish glow, and faint screams could be heard. And then it exploded into full colour, and the screams filled the air, the camera angles swithced, and at one point they zoomed in revealing the burning hull of a Zukariaan Vessel, switching over it revealed another vessel this one of Kraven design. As the view flicked over the burning environment it took a moment to register that this was the sea that was burning. The view focused on a soldier in a Zukariaan Uniform, he screamed waving his arms in the air and then with a roll of the wave he was submerged under a wave of living flame. When the sea rolled back the man was still there screaming into the air, his entire upper body burning, in moments he had stopped flailing and his body floated on the ocean burning. For almost 25 minutes the cameras floated overthe sea, revealing thousands of dead or dying Kraven and Zukariaan troops. They had all burned to death or were still burning. The camera Darkened and cut to another scene, the image of hundreds of dead Zukariaan troops being impaled on spikes that were then hoisted into the air by Imperial Stormtrooper's. After 5 minutes of this grisly scene it cut once more to the site of almost 20 Zukariaan troops, they were nailed through the wrist biceps thighs and calves to a long plank of wood, Solorien Stormtroopers moved in close and held their heads, these men groaned in agony, and writhed gently unable to free themselves, and then the troopers moved in close, the cameras focused, and the crowds were treated to the site of these troopers cutting out the enemy forces tongues, then their eyes were cut from their bodys, most of the men were gurgling in pain, blood flowing down their uniforms, the troopers moved lower and proceeded to emasculate all of them. the last scene the people witnessed was that of Solorien soldiers tearing the lower jaws of the Zukariaan soldiers away from their bodys. As the screens went dark that final time, the Wizened face appeared on screen again.

"These people dared to hurt those that we had sworn to protect. They butchered your familys, destroyed your homes, and tried to enslave you! But we say NO MORE! No more shall you flee before the cowardly soldiers of a decadent and heretical nation! No more shall you be subjugated by those you have placed in power! No More shall you lay awake at night in abject fear of what might happen! No More shall you be abandoned and left to Die! Under Solorien Protection YOU WILL PROSPER! Under Solorien Guidance YOU WILL BE FREE! Under Solorien Forces YOU WILL HAVE ETERNAL PROTECTION! HAIL THE EMPEROR! HAIL SOLORIEL!"

The scene cut away to the Solorien Flag, and the National Anthem blasted out once more its rousing tune filling all with pride, the Imperial Troops began moving among the Civilians, handing out little luxurys here and there, a bar of chocolate, a small toy for the children, and yet more food and blankets. It was clear that Soloriel was not content with ruling the lands of Danteri, but the Hearts and Minds of its Citizens as well. As the Soldiers escorted the people safely to their homes, all over Central Danteri the Imperial Engineers had begun the construction work of beautiful ready built barracks, raising them quickly they were constructed before the screens had even been raised. This night in Central Danteri, the people were treated like kings, given warm food and shelter, privacy, and at least some of the dignity that they had lost was returned to them.

"Oh my goddess," Yagger gasped in horror as Hethran recounted the story of his ordeal on the ship and how he came about his injuries. "Why would the College of Culture want to betray your nation? What could that serve? Your people were finally just starting to open themselves up to the world, and now, now you're armies are going to lash out at anyone whom they wish?"

Yagger stopped, grabbing James' arm and turning him to face her, "You can't be serious about this purification of the continent. What will that accomplish? Just more needless deaths. Think James, these people have suffered enough, they don't need more death, they need peace. Your emperor must realize that. You have to make him understand that Danteri can't take more war. It is already becoming a wasteland in parts."

High Commander Corrol sat back in his office in Zukariaa. He watched the video several times. Sturmkreig furhrer Kyler stood behind him.

"I hope the Solorians don't think we care." he said, and he said it humorously,"I'm guessing they don't realize that this was part of our purge of incompetants?"

"I don't know, sir." came the reply,"Whatever the case, they made our job easier."

"Am I the only one who finds this video humorous?"

"No." replied Kyler,"I wonder how they would like a few hundred thousand Sardaukar invading their country?"

"No, no. We don't need to annihilate any more populaces. Have a message sent to the people in Danteri.

...I want them to know how foolish these people are."


To: Nations Involved In Danteri
From: The Kraven Slave State of Zukariaa

The Solorians are fools.

They did our job for us. We had planned to purge the men in Danteri long before we ever actually retreated. They prevoked needless war between us. They have threatened war against nations who would claim land that is unclaimed.. they are fanatic to the point of idiocy.

Know that they have had no victory in Danteri. Not against us or anyone.

The High Command

James sighed and pulled Sara close to his chest, he held her tightly while he spoke softly in her ear. "Sara it is too late, unless evidence that the conspirators aboard the Reconciliation were acting alone came about then the Imperial College for War, will use their betrayal as the Galvanising force behind their military Build up. Sara, The Emperor knows of the state of Danteri, already he has dispatched the best men that we have to clear up and start rebuilding this shattered place, already food and medical supplys are filling the country, clothing and blankets distributed 5 - 6 times a day, regardles of how many the people already have, the Imperial Engineers are rebuilding the citys, upgrading the Power and Water Supplies, and re-establishing basic order. The Imperial Architects are working around the clock to get Agricultural Centers cleared and ready for the spring. Although he knows that Death and Destruction have ravaged thisland, he will not rest until the entire continent is under Solorien or 23Eris control." James pulled back a single tear rolling down his cheek, he held her for a moment his face close to hers, and then softly kissed her on the lips...

At the Borders to South Haven yet more Imperial Stormtroopers formed up with the Regiments, more and more arrived every day, and the amount of Imperial Armour was staggering, they were arrayed at the front, ready for the initial charge forwards into South Haven. The Screams still rang out over the Communist lines, and every day Solorien troops impaled more and more Zukariaan Dead on the spikes that they raised in the ditches along the coast. Solorien Atrocitys against the Zukariaans were immense, they slaughtered all they found, often torturing them to death before they finished them. But for some reason they have captured almost 150 Zukariaan Kriegsmarines and brought them to a remote location, their reasons as yet unknown...

Sara let herself be pulled close and held by Hethran, somehow it just felt, right. His words though, Solorien or 23Eris control... Before she could think upon that, she felt his lips pressing against hers. Sara closed her eyes and met the kiss, letting her body melt into James'. She forgot his words, the problems of Danteri, and even the Solorien Shock Troops that lined the hallway. For at least one moment, nothing else mattered.

The kiss finally ending Sara slowly opened her eyes and let herself rest against him. She had missed him dearly all the while he had been gone, had waited for this moment for so long. It didn't matter to her anymore that they were on a ship of war, with a conflict brewing, and the vanguard of the Soloriel forces around them in the hallway, silently watching. "Oh goddess James, I think I love you," she murmered all the while her mind swirled and her heart raced.

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Central Danteri

Though the Soloriel claimed the territory, Erisian troops still ventured across the terrain savaged by the brif Kraven domination. The land had been turned into a wintery wasteland. With no trees to offer a barrier, the wind tore across the landscape. Fortunately for the Erisians, the battlesuits provided to their troops were meant for this kind of environment and they were well protected from the elements. The few suvrivors they found in these isolated parts of the former Kraven lands, weren't so lucky. The lucky simply suffered from exposure, the unlucky perished, even with the aid of the high-tech Erisian medical equipment. Unfortunately the unlucky seemed to outweigh the lucky.

And so it went throughout the bitter north.

James held the kiss for a long moment and when it was over he gently pulled back slightly. He looked Sara in the eyes, "I Love you Sara Yagger, and this war be damned."He removed his cap and lay it gently on the floor, before he removed his jacket laying it neatly on the floor. He looked her in the eyes, and spoke quietly. "There is hope Sara, if you help me now, to find evidence that the Reconciliation was not influenced by any of the nations still in Danteri, then the Emperor will call a halt to the invasion." James stroked her face gently and looked deep into her eyes. "There is time yet, without the final order from the High Command then Soloriel will hold off until it is given, but for now Sara, we havetime, and that is more precious to me than a thousand precious diamonds." Hethran moved closer and kissed her again, gently lifting her in his arms whilst doing so. he reached out toward the door and pressed a button, the clang of the lok was muffled, and he gently took her over to his bed, before he lay her down softly and dimmed the lights...

OOC: Right whilst Sara and James get 'Diplomatic' Im gonna crash for a few hours, please dont roleplay anything major happening that involves my troops or the civilians they are protecting just yet, ive got an interesting sub storyline that Danteri 23Eris and Zukariaa might be interested in when I return, but for now Ladys and Gents, G'night ;)

OOC: If it´s war, it will be a tough one. My country has increased military spendings and I have been preparing for a war against Zukariaa. Also, the brutal totalitarian discipline of my troops will make them fight to the last man (or woman) if necessary.
I still believe in diplomacy, though, for a new war may spare more danterian lives and between no Kravenites there is still a chance to begin conversations....

When Sara awoke, she felt rejuvenated, like anything was possible. She had tried drugs once, and the high she felt was similar to that, but even better. She could feel James' arm laying over her side and she smiled at that. She took his hand, and turned over so that she could look at him. In sleep, he lost all the lines of worry, the strain of his rsponsibilitites didn't weigh on him, and his face seemed to be serene.

She turned again, to face him, and craned her neck forward to kiss him. There was much to be done, and despite how much she simply wanted to stay here and forget the world, she simply could not ignore her responsibilities.

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Southhaven, Danteri

Roros had been busy, his candidates had been extremely active and by all accounts were doing well. Every 23Eris triumph was trumpeted to the Danteri. The aid distributed and the rapid economic growth of Southhaven was used as an example of how prosperous and free the Danteri could be under 23Eris rule. Still, it needed something more, a martyr to energize his movement. Roros could think of none better than his nemesis, the man who commanded all the Erisian forces here in Danteri.

The refugees were pitiful. They wandered into the camps in their tens and twelves, many mutilated and whimpering. They were starving and freezing, shivering in the cold, emaciated from hunger. These pitiful walking skeletons, who looked like concentration camp victims, were the survivors who had, for one reason or another, managed to avoid the Zukariaan forces that were destroying their nation.
There was plenty of relief supplies for all of them, since there were so few of them... perhaps that was a sort of dark blessing...
In the Solorielan zones, these people wept to see the propaganda videos - they had already witnessed such bloodshed that more acts of vengence seemed pointless to them. Still, they clutched gratefully at any straw in the rough waters, and the Solorielans could truthfully report a record number of conversions to the Imperial faith in those first few days.
In the 23Erisian zone, thousands have volenteered for the Danteri Regiments to help - most of that motivation comes from hatred for Kravenite Zukariaa and its crimes... but there is also a feeling of thankfulness towards 23Eris, for all that it has done to help Danteri.
In the Haraki zone, the people have taken to the streets to call for a war with Kraven - they seem not to care about anything but revenge... The Cult of The Second Coming seems to be gaining support, but it now directs all of its hate towards the Zukariaans and their Kraven allies. It appears that their doctrine has come to be that the "Father" computer of the Kravenites is the anti-christ...

They came for her again at midnight. They pulled her from her bed, and dragged her through the cold stone corridors, to a small room with a metal chair in it, bolted to the floor... there were all sorts of hooks set into the walls, to hold chains.
They left her there, and after what seemed like hours, a large man came in. She actually recognized him, this man in the uniform of the Danteri Red Army Security Service - she had seen him before, back when he had worn the grey of Danteri Government Security. It seemed that his politics could shift from right to left as easily as anyone elses, so long as he was allowed to continue hurting people...
He grinned at her, an evil, evil grin, then stepped into the room. She managed a bit of defiance:
"I see that they offer the same services here as they did back then - new management, same great service, eh?" he didn't reply, and she stood, facing him, afraid but not showing it. She asked him,
"What do you people want with me, anyway? It's not like there's anything left that I know that you want to know... why then all of this? Why not just take me outside and put a bullet through the back of my skull?" the security man laughed then, an evil sound, and spoke:
"Well, you seem to be under a misaprehension - this isn't an interogation - there's nothing left that we need to know, that's right. This little get together... this is just to make you bleed before you die."

Undershi Navy Command Vessel Descartes - off the Coast of Northern Danteri

Admiral Simon Randolph stood at the observation deck, looked out across the sea towards the black bulk of the Danteri continent, and frowned. Undershi had remained in isolated seclusion for so long for a reason - they were building up their strength.
To launch the Empire into the world now... it seemed foolish, as though whichever minister had thought it up was more insane than most of the True Undershi nut-jobs out there.
Sighing, the admiral turned back towards the quiet wood panneled room. He idly wandered over to the drinks cabinet and poured himself a glass of something or other - he didn't know much about alcohol, merely that it was illegal, and therefore something that all of the top officials had some on hand for whenever they wanted to show off their wealth.
Taking a sip, he pondered the present situation - he had a task force of the Undershi Navy, two carriers, six cruisers, twelve destroyers, one submarine and ten troop ships, each loaded with one thousand True Undershi shock troopers, plus medical personel of course - it would hardly do to come openly saying that all they wanted were colonies.
Which group of norms was it that had territory here? He picked up the reports that had been made by the spies stationed outside of Undershi, and read.
After a few minutes worth of reading, he chuckled darkly. It was almost a shame that the Zukariaans had abandoned their territory so suddenly - it seemed that they also made use of genetically alteration.
Although, when he read of the specifications of their Capitol Police, he laughed again - these soldiers were dumb brutes, while True Undershis were supermen with minds to match their muscles. Still, the Zukariaans were gone, so he had to worry about other groups - Soloriel seemed a threat, with its expansionistic theocratic government, while Haraki seemed not worth bothering about - they looked like they could be bought off fairly easily, convinced to let the Undershi Empire claim its share of the pie. After all, they simply stood by and watched while New Lexington helped itself to its little slice, and they looked set to do the same as Soloriel took an even larger slice.
Still, it payed to be sure of things. Taping a button on the table, he commed the communications officer. Taking another sip from his glass of amber poison, he gave the man instructions:
"All right young man. I want you to get me a channel to the Haraki commander. Tell him... tell him that the Undershi Empire is sending a major naval force, plus troops and medical supplies... all to 'maintain order' of course." he paused for another sip, then continued, "Inform him also, that this... comodore Locke, isn't it? Well, inform him that we will begin deploying our land forces to secure a section of the former-Zukariaan territory. We don't want a fight with Soloriel, so let's put down the 98th Division just ahead of their advance. If possible, we want an excuse to fire a few shots at the Zukariaans before they withdraw - that would make for a good PR play back home - 'Heroic Undershis Chase Cowardly Kravenites into the Water', yes, I can see it now..." he trailed off, and looked out the observation window again.
Somehow, the thought of setting foot on that foul, war-torn, land made him feel physically ill - he couldn't help but recall one of the books he had read in school - some book on the old colonists and their techniques, what was it... Heart of Darkness, that was it.
A passage from that text was brought to mind, something about heading deeper and deeper into the jungle... in towards the heart of darkness. Still, superstitions were illogical, especially in an Undershi. He would just have to deal with whatever came his way...

OOC: Hey there Undershi, as the unofficial mapkeeper could you let me know where you plan to land your troops so I can make a note on the next map update?

WU Walters calmy sat in the hotel lobby. He was waiting for the extraction Teams to finally rendezvous with him. The shit hit the fan a few weeks sooner than the Melii had planned for... still it wasn't so bad. He had finally been able to send some of the poor daemons to visit Yama. It was a pity his meeting was canceled by the High Command.

WU finished cleaning his blade and sheathed it. Stupid barbarians.

He had been forced to gut a few of the more aggressive daemons. Many of the less aggressive had left him alone after the superior officers indicated that he was under "diplomatic immunity." Well that and after the Zuuk Commander had personally shot three of the bastards, before being ripped to shreds by the Bottle Daemons. He and the remaining officers had improvised... it was a bit messy but it worked... well it had worked for him.

Now he listened to the reports as the younglings guarded the entryways. There were still plenty of hidden caches and now there were plenty of sheep that had nothing to lose but their chains. The wolves would kill them either way, might as well die fighting back.

***

Melii forces trailed behind their Haraki allies. The agreement with the Zuuks and Kraven had said that the Melii would let the daemons alone. The agreement with the Haraki's prior to Melii's entry into this war was that the Melii would help police and administer the Haraki Safe Zones. Thus, it was through the tiniest legal cracks that they were slowly fanning out behind the Haraki forces. Technically, they were not waging war... the Haraki's Safe Zones had just grown a few millon square miles was all.

The Melii were not shooting Zuuks or their precious bottle daemons... they were shooting banditos that were killing innocents. No government would ever sanction such brutality; not even the crazy Zuuks. Obviously, this was a mistaken group within the Heiarchy that had corrupted the Order and were possessed by daemons.

So trailing a few meters behind the Haraki troopers were the Melii forces. They were there purely for Defense of the Safe Zones. Wouldn't hurt a fly.

LG. WU shared a grin with Isobelle.

Amongst the Solorien Safe Zones, all who came forward to Profess their Belief in the Imperial Faith were welcomed with open arms, they were clothed in the finest the Solorien forces had to offer, they were taken to one side, and Imperial Engineers interviewed them to discover which homes were theres, and as they were pointed out they swarmed over them, working all out to rebuild the burnt out husks. They were treated to luxury food, and as soon as they were able to reside in their homes again they were provided with a small reimbursement from the Empire to help them rebuild the lives that had been destroyed. Those citizens that had joined the Imperial Faith were treated as any other citizen of the Empire, and the Empire always looks after its own. The Imperial Infantry had begun to arrive and they took over from the Imperial Stormtroopers, these soldiers looked Glorious in their battle dress, and they began to immediately work to clear the streets of rubble and bodys, even taking the time out to dig individual graves for as many as they could, interviewing citizens to discover who as many of them were as possible. When a name was given they relayed it back to the Engineers who proceeded to make a gravestone with the name engraved upon it, they began recruiting drives into what was to be called the Imperial Solorien Danteri Army, training them in the ways of Solorien Combat, and outfitting them with weapons and equipment, so that they could help protect their countrymen. They also began to send out patrols into the countryside aboard Solorien Search and Rescue Helicopters, looking for any who might have fled from the Kraven and Zukariaan advance. Far out to sea the Soloriens had detected a large fleet of some kind from the Spy satellites they had directed to orbit Danteri and the surrounding seas in case of a Zukariaan return. Although these ships seemed not to be of Zukariaan make, they were still concerned that another major player had arrived, they diverted some of the arriving fleet resources to stay at a distance and watch for any attempts to land on the Territorys they controlled, if any such attempts were made, they were authorised to respond with lethal force. All over the country thousands of Imperial Engineers and Workers were working on getting as many of the roads and power-lines and water supply back up and running as they could, where there was no feasible way to do so, they destroyed the ruined pieces of equipment and built up new Solorien ones. In the camps the Architects expanded their designs and there were shispers amongst some of the populace that Soloriel was planning on building something, something big.

James opened his eye and smiled at Sara, he lay there for a few moments, and studied her face before stretching out his hand to stroke her face. "By the Emperor your Beautiful." He sighed slightly to himself, knowing that there would be no time for them to be together like this for a good while to come. But for now he lay there, content and happy in her presence, feeling a strength return to his heart that he had not felt for a long long time.

On the Solorien Front Lines, the troops had almost hit critical mass, Armoured Vehicles were poised and ready, Artillery was in position, and had checked and rechecked a thousand times the enemy armour positions and trenches that would be of most threat to the invasion force. Aircraft screamed through the air overhead and passed over the troops, like great birds waiting to feast on their enemys. For days now the Screams of the Tortured had rung out over the Communist Lines, played at all hours of the night, sometimes stopping for 10 minutes and other times ten seconds. The Soloriens knew that the enemy forces could not hold out forever against this continual onslaught against the senses. They had begun flashing lights at high speed over the enemy forces at night from the high altitude aircraft, and every day more and more dead bodys were added to the spikes, and dropped over their lines. When this battle came, the enemy was unlikely to be able to put up much resistance if this continued for much longer...

The NNDEF had done what it could - they had set up medical centers and emergency housing for the refugees, and were doing what they could to feed and clothe the survivors.
It was such a horror, to see so many dead and dieing, it shocked one to the core and made one realize how fragile humanity really is.
Patrols of Neue Neue Deutsch soldiers are making use of the Haraki trucks to move quickly from place to place on patrols - they are looking for any and all survivors, and are trying their best to help them.
Basically, the NNDEF is doing all that it can do. (Although it isn't engaging the Zukariaans.)

OOC: 23Eris, the Undershis plan on landing just behind the retreating Zukariaans, on the west coast, and move in to seize territory while engaging the Zukariaans in low-scale skirmishing.

Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes
A thought came into Admiral Simon Randolph's mind as he watched the landing occuring through the armoured glass of the observation deck. It was a bit of a poem:
"Rome was given to rule the world, but got of it little joy. Now we are given to rule the world, the whole wide world a toy."
Undershi would rule the world one day - that was a fact to any True Undershi you talked to - they all believed in that, in their own manifest destiny to rule the world.
Sometimes, he wished he shared that total belief... but, he had seen things as they were, and not through the eyes of a True Undershi, who saw everything as he wanted to see it.
Still, he had work to do, and so he stopped his mind from wandering, and began composing a note to the Solorielans. It would be hard to convince them of the sincerity of the Undershi request, but he thought they would manage.

To his excelency, Commander of the Solorielan forces in Danteri, Admiral Simon Randalph, Janissary to the Undershi, would like to extend his greetings. As the situation in Danteri is worsening, the Undershi High Command has decided to deploy an Expeditionary Force to Danteri. We hope that conflict between our two nations might be avoided, and we make no great requests - we simply desire to aid you in punishing the Zukariaans, and then to be given a single port city along the west coast of Danteri, for use as a harbor for our fleet. We await your response with anticipation.

Of course, the fact that the letter was sincere only made it more likely to be believed. The Undershis might have been given to rule the world, but they could wait before they took it. Only time would tell what sort of people these Solorielans were... and when they knew, then things could change.

Montegrandean Army, Danteri

The very own montegrandean commander Moncada and 5000 montegrandean soldiers (including 500 Red Guard veterans) presented to the prison where Sara Von Freiburg was kept. When the former Danteri Security men stared at the Commander and his heavy armoured troops, commander Moncada yelled at them, visibly irritated: " I want you to give us the custody of Sara Von Freiburg inmediatly. We wish to keep here in a more secure prison where she has a decent treat. Any dissobeyance will be punished by death, and if I hear again you´re torturing the prisoners here you know what to expect from us. I know the enemies of the system deserve death, but all of this has to be after trials and without degrading them by torture..."
The convoy to take her to a higher security prison was powerful and protected by all montegrandean power. It was unlikely she could flee from there , and also, the montegrandean imprisonment meant some minimal standards she visibly didn´t have in the Danterian prison. Before the montegrandeans left with the prisoner, the Commander wanted to talk with Sara Von Freiburg. The idea taht she was being tortured (like some others prisoners) always hit his socialist mind, and also after her prolongated scape he respected her as a worthy enemy.
Also, the montegrandeans were planning to reopen temporarily the border with 23Eris to let all danterians in communist zone that wished to flee. Also the government saw to instruct the navy to transport refugees to the zafe zone and to Montegrande. If they decided that, they could contact with Haraki and 23Eris with this purposes in the incoming days. Despite they mistrusted any one Soloriel trusted in (like Haraki and 23Eris), they didn´t want more innocents to die in a hypothetic war against Soloriel

The Undershi military is fairly similar to any standard military - Navy, Air Force, Army, Marine Core and so on. However, all of their branches of service are broken into two sub-categories: Janissary units and True Undershi units. These units differ in that the Janissary units are made up of "norms", that is to say, normal humans, while True Undershi units are made up of True Undershi super-men.
The term Janissary is borrowed from the Ottoman Empire - there, Janissaries were Christian children, taken form their parents and raised to serve the Islamic government as soldiers and administrators.
In the Undershi system, the Janissaries are also taken from their parents, but religion plays no role - only the fact that the Janissaries are "norms", normal humans.
Most of the Undershi military is made up of True Undershis, as is the entierty of their government, in spite of the fact that True Undershis make up only about 25% of the populace. However, the entierty of that 25% is constantly "in reserve" - it operates similarly to the Swiss system. Janissaries can achieve senior posts (our Admiral, for example), but that is rare. Most Janissaries are combat engineers or support staff - if someone has to clear mines or dig latrines (or trenches), then Janissaries will likely be doing it.

Amongst the Solorien troops was a severe sense of anticipation. All over Danteri they were readying themselves for combat on a scale few could imagine. The Imperial Stormtroopers moved methodically and quickly, readying equipment and ammunition. Practicing hand to hand combat skills, as well as target practice. They were prepared for the invasion to commence, and amongst the officers in charge of these brutally efficent men thwere was a sense of glory, that they were fighting so many thousands of miles from home meant little to these men, secure in their unwavering belief in the Emperor. As yet more troops piled up on the border into South Haven, Imperial Destroyers and Aircraft Carriers had also moved into place near the achipelago, ready to begin the long range bombardment of their enemys. There were almost 700,00 Solorien troops in Danteri now, all working to secure the coasts and city's as well as moving towards the new front into South Haven, there were mass numbers of support troops in charge of tearing apart anything of the former Loyalist Government and Zukariaan and Kraven that remained in this country. There were also reports of Solorien Stormtroopers moving to the north, and the boundary between their new territory and that whick held McPsychoville. Imperial Troops had already begun moving toward the boundary with New Lexington in Central Danteri. It appeared as though the Soloriens were spreading out now they had the troops to hold this province in place.

As the message from the Undershi was received it was re routed and sent off to the Solorien High Command. After hours of debate over what this could mean they wired a response to the Undershi:

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

To: Admiral Simon Randalph.
From: Imperial Solorien High Command.
RE: Danteri.

We of the Holy Empire acknowledge your requests, and are unable to allow such a course of action to pass. We are currently allowing no troops from an unknown foreign power to step foot on Soloriels new Colony or enter our new territorial waters. However you are free to land in the Mei Lii held province at the tip of South Haven, but we advise that you do not attempt to get yourselves embroiled in the conflict with Montegrande, if this happens we are unfortunately required to engage your nation. Eternal Service to the Holy Emperor!

Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes
The fields were burning, ripe crops sending up huge pillars of black smoke, obscuring the noon-day sun. The door-gunner on the Crusader gun-ship overhead was howling with laughter as he fired his machine-gun, scything down the fleeing rebels as they tried to run.
A True Undershi, with a machine pistol in each hand, was leading a rush attack, chasing the damn natives as they fled, leading the Janissaries on, screaming the glory of the empire...
Mud huts were burning, and as he walked amoungst them, a much younger Simon Randalph retched to see soldiers kneeling to messily hack grisly trophies from the fallen with their knives.

Admiral Simon Randalph woke sweating and shaking at memories from long ago, back when the Empire had expanded at the expense of a bunch of neo-lithic primitives. It had been a joke, but that didn't stop it from being bloody...
It was all over now, though - those few of the tribesmen who hadn't been killed were slaves now, and labored in the fields or the mines with iron collars on their necks...
The comm buzzed, and he answered it grogily, pushing the horrors of long ended wars out of his mind. The comm officer quickly filled him in on the situation with the Solorielans. He cursed - it always got messy, when the Empire was on the march... still, he could always try the other major powers. Grimly shaking memories from his mind, he moved to his desk, and began to write.

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

To: The 23Erisian and Haraki governments
From: Admiral Simon Randalph
Re: Alliance

Gentlemen, on behalf of The Undershi Empire, I would like to extend warm greetings to our honorable friends. It appears that our attempts at humanitarian intervention have gone over poorly with the Solorielans, but we still hold out hope that you might be more reasonable.
We would like to request a port, for our fleet, along the east coast if the west coast is impossible. In return, we would be willing to assisst the humanitarian relief efforts, and to aid in the deployment of peace keeping forces - our troop ships carry some 10,000 odd soldiers, plus armour, support units, artillery and enough construction supplies to set up a permanent base. Additionally, we have close to 500 air craft onboard our two carriers, and would like to begin helping in any way we can.
We await your replies with anticipation.

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

Meanwhile, another message was sent to the Solorielan government, this one making a simple request - our pilots are out of practice, let them sharpen their skills flying raids on Zukariaan units.

Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes

Admiral Randalph had hurridly dressed after he had been awakened, and then hurried to the command deck of his ship.
The Descartes was one of the new carriers, built to carry almost 250 air craft, of which 50 were Crusader pattern helicopter gun-ships.
Along with her sister ship, the Nietzche, they made the Undershi task force quite formidable.
Upon reaching the command deck, he idly nodded a greeting to the captain, mentaly thinking True Undershi mutant as he smilled a false smile. He was getting old, he thought, as he idly paged through the recent reports that had just been handed to him by a junior ensign, perfect of body like every other high-cheek boned, blonde, blue eyed, super-human thing produced by the mad men back in the Empire.
No wonder they took it for granted that they would rule the world, when they delt with only such sniveling norms as made up the slave populace... after all, supermen couldn't till the fields, could they?
Snapping out of thought, Admiral Randalph had the comm officer send a request to the Haraki, that he might meet with one of their senior officers.

OOC-I think there is some confusion now.. All of my men are dead. Father had them purged. ;)

OOC: All as in all period, or all as in all in Danteri?

The convoy made its way to the new prison without incident. During the entire trip, the prisoner remained silent, rocking back and forth, either defiant or... destroyed? Still, she accepted water and food when it was offered, and seemed almost grateful, although not in that pitiful way prisoners often are.

OOC-Lol, all in Danteri.. XD

OOC: Soloriel, I wish to ask Harakian and 23Eris first to send refugees there if we go to war I.... have no options but ordering Sara Von Freiburg´s execution if you start a war and that means a war to the last dead and my communist psychos really care about the people..... and I don´t know if I could have time tomorrow or friday morning just for asking that. Also, I want to negotiate with the Emperor when I have time to post... If not, your religious lunatics and my communist psychos will have to die fighting, hahahahahaha.

Melii troops deploy from both the northern and southern ends of the central bulge. The divisions found nothing of the daemons save the smoking husks of several depots. Here and there an injured bottle daemon could be found and was mercifully sent to Yama realms. Of the Zuuks there was little to be found. They had fought and died. They had fled and died. The golems destroyed first their masters and then themselves. This was truly a hell hole... An Armpitia of the Gods.

ooc: Isles of Mara Safe Zone claims basically east of a line from Haraki Safe Zone to the Island. The Haraki Elections have essentially given their Zones local self rule. We are not really absolutely needed there. We are needed in the south and west. S. and M. And U. Me Li will remain neutral until directly attacked. We will also accept refugees in the new zone.

OOC: Whew, lot to reply too.
On Board the Solorien Vessel

Sara smiled at his words, "Flatterer," she teased. Though she quickly grew more serious as she thought about all that needed to be done. "I really don't want to get up, I just want to stay here and not worry about anything else."

"But we have to. I need you to communicate the messages from my government to yours, I have to talk to my people, and then we need to find a way to stop these wars before they start."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southhaven, Danteri

Papadakis was busy. Communications with other nations and reports were coming in non-stop. The tension between Soloriel and Montegrande was so thick it was hard to see past it to anything else. And then he just recieved a message from Yagger, now under the direct command of Lillis and once again serving as liason to the Soloriel forces. Apparently, the Soloriel were completely serious. They planned to remove everyone from Danteri that wasn't Solorien or Erisian. Thank the goddess for the latter, for while the Erisian military was no pushover, he knew that the sheer weight of Soloriel's forces would overwhelm the best defenses he could muster. Plus they had a penchant for using WMDs when facing setbacks.

Cautiously, he prepared a series of telegrams and fired them off.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP SECRET - ENCRYPTED
To: Undershi
From: Lt. General Papadakis, Commander 23Eris Forces, Danteri
Re: Ports

Regretably, we are unable to comply with your request. Our territory in the north, at least any that lays along the coatline, is jointly controlled with Soloriel and their permission would be needed to allow your forces to land.
In Southhaven, the situation is rather stable and we have a surplus of goods, foodstuffs, and medical aid. Also, given the volatile military situation with Soloriel, we can not allow a foreign power military access to the province.
I apologize and offer my thanks for your offer of aid. I suggest raising the matter with Haraki or Montegrande, the former which has successfully led a multinational force and done a quite remarkable job to date, and the latter facing a serious threat from Soloriel already and probably would welcome the aid.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP SECRET - ENCRYPTED
To: Haraki, Montegrande
From: Lt. General Papadakis, Commander 23Eris Forces, Danteri
Re: Soloriel Threat

Please note, before I get into the heart of the matter on this note, that my government has not authorized me to disclose the information contained herein, however, I feel that I must, for the sake of your troops and the innocent lives under your care.
According to our sources, Soloriel is on some kind of holy quest to 'purge' Danteri. The exact meaning of this is unclear, but that they mean to drive out all nations other than their own has been made very clear. Our nation, 23Eris, has so far been exempted from this decision, as to the why, that is not certain, but we believe it is because of our former alliance.
We are attempting to restrain the Solorien forces diplomatically, but I am unable to report any success in that field. We can not intervene militarily to aid you, for fear of the losses of lives, both of our troops and of the civilians in our zones.
I am telling you simply to prepare you for the inevitable. There is nothing more I can do. I hope you appreciate the risk I am taking by sending this. If it were to be made public, undoubtedly my career would be over, not to mention the potential risk to the Erisians in the northern zone.
I wish you luck, and pray to the goddess for peace in this land.
May Eris smile upon you,
Lt. General Papadakis.

this is a weird thread...

Papadakis wired off a second telegram to the Montegrande forces, this one with far less security (standard encryption).

To: Commander Moncada, Montegrande
From: Lt. General Papadakis, 23Eris
Re: Odd Request

Sir, I have a request for you from one of our national news agencies. A reporter from the Hodge-Podge National Gazette is requesting a border visa to conduct an interview with Sara von Freiburg. Reports of the Solorien interest have leaked to the press in 23Eris, and the people want to know more about her story. I ask as a personal favor to do what you can to allow this interview.

Also, having considered the 'benevolent neutrality' clause in our non-aggression treaty, I wish to inform you that in the case of conflict with Soloriel, Montegrandian vessles will be welcome to dock at Erisian ports (for a period not to exceed 48 hours) to load or unload essential supplies (but not troops or weaponry) and conduct repairs. Also our border shall remain open (at least on our side) to allow such supplies to pass through.

OOC: JUMPING IN NOT HAVING READ THE WHOLE THREAD

1645 Hours June the 9th in the Year 0001 PR (post revolution)
Office of The People’s Commissioner in The Hall of Government; The City of Lenninstal
People’s Commissioner Patrick J D was standing on the balcony outside his office smoking a cigarette watching the comings and goings in the courtyard below. When he heard somebody enter his office
“Commissioner” said a young captain in the Red Guard. The insignia above his rank indicated he worked in the clandestine intelligence services. “We have just complied a dossier on an ongoing revolutionary struggle”.
“Thank you Comrade” The Commissioner said as he put out his cigarette and took the MicroCD from the captain. “I shall review this at once, and call a meeting of the Clandestine services, you are dismissed Comrade”
“Thank you sir!” the captain said as he saluted and backed out of the office. Closing the giant wooden doors behind him.

OOC: Map Update! (http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/renthas/danterimap10.jpg) Of course, keep in mind these are just my best judgements of the current lines based on what I see posted. And of course these maps are unofficial, unless Danteri says otherwise.

After the intial landings, Melii troops began redeploying into Beta Zone. They handed over most of the authority of Alpha zone to Victoria City Auxilaries and the local Danteri Government. They sent out a request for aid shipments from neutral parties...these will be co-ordinated with the Haraki as Imperium and the Commies were heading for a showdown and Foriegn Taskforces were appearing to enter the vacuum left by the Zuuks' termination.

Actions:
Bases being established at points opposite the two primary Melii holdings.
Lines are still loosely held by Melii Marines. Patrols sent East to secure rear. Salvage teams to follow behind in the comming days. Flanks are secured by the Island and the Haraki Zones. Deep Recon patrols sent as far as 100km of the Commie lines looking for survivors.


this is a weird thread...
You've read the whole thing? I agree...
Welcome Fathor... I think... You should read it when you have the chance... history repeating itself... You aren't that crazy computer or that messed up Plato nut are you? They both use that same name...
Apologies. Tired will write better next time.

Montegrande City, Montegrande

The government of Montegrande had decided what to do about the very probable war against Soloriel. Despite the government decided Solorien were a great danger to the rest of danterian population and to counterstrike if in their arrogance and prepotence the Solorien attacked them, no more innocent civilians had to die in the war, for they were really protecting them from the exploitations of democracy, fascism or theocracy, not trying to opress them, what they seemed was happening when they received the message from Commander Moncada about danterian prisons condition. The orders of what to do were inmediatly sent to Commander Moncada and some telegrams were sent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Harakian Government
From: Salvador Guevara, Comisar of Foreign Affairs, Montegrande

As you know, the arrogance of the solorien is driving us to a war against that theochratic despotism. We will answer any attack of them for we think they are a great danger to danterian people. However, no more innocent danterians have to suffer the ravages of a new war so I´m asking you to let us to carry some refugees to your safe zone, that is not now a direct objective of the Solorien. However, their claim to drive anyone who is not erisian or solorien from Danteri is totally dangerous (not very different from Zukariaan intentions) and sooner or later, you shall have to face them too, just remember it.
Greetings,
Salvador Guevara
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: 23Eris Government
From: Salvador Guevara, Comisar of Foreign Affairs, Montegrande

The situation is getting darker in Danteri, thanks to the Solorien this time, and as you know, we cannot give them that criminal of Sara Von Freiburg and for that we are preparing for a total war if we are attacked. However, because the montegrandean people doesn´t want more innocent danterians to be killed, we ask you to let the refugees to pass into the Province of Southhaven. Our troops will not only reopen temporarily the border for that purpose, but also carry as many as we can carry in the shortest time possible. Also, we wish to request to let us to use the postal service to take messages from our soldiers to their families and resend them to Montegrande. As we thank your cooperation, we understand your practical situation of vassals of the Solorien Empire and you´re clearly benefited from them, and may be neutrality is more comfortable. Long live the revolution!!!
People´s Republic of Montegrande

To: Solorien leadership
From: Salvador Guevara, Comisar of Foreign Affairs, Montegrande

As you see, we cannot give you a dangerous criminal like Sara von Freiburg and we will fight you back if we were attacked by your servants of the thechratic tyrants. However, if you really care about the lives of the civilians, you will agree that we need time to evacuate innocent danterians from our controlled zone to our homeland, Harakian and Erisian safe zones. Also, we suggest you to retire the civilians under your charge to the Freiburg province, to avoid further deaths of innocent.
Salvador Guevara, People´s Republic of Montegrande.

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The montegrandean territory seemed now like a totally militarized zone. Wlateswja, Volksburg and Dreil were nothing now but gigantic military fortresses. The montegrandean soldiers now showed their brutal discipline, their absolute loyalty to the Cause, not too different to what the Solorien felt about their Emperor and their religion, and their determination to fight a total war. After all, they were a communist totalitarian army, ready to fight for their ideology. However, the montegrandeans, who didn´t mind killing traitors and enemies (like the same Sara von Freiburg) were very conscious that no more danterian innocents shuld die in this new war in their already destroyed nation.

An official communique was emmited in all Danteri Communist Zone:
High Command of Montegrandean Army, Danteri
Because of the incoming war with the Solorien opressors, the Montegrandean High Command in Danteri hereby dissolves the government of the Commitee and also asks to all true members of the communist party or Red Army to stand with us and fight back if we were attacked, for Sara von Freiburgs deserves at least permanent prison, if not death penalty.
However, we believe that no innocent has to die in this war, so to any and all danterians who are not engaged in criminal acts and being judged for that, we want to know you are free to go. If you go to Wlateswja or the Archipellago you would be sent to Montegrande. Also, we asked the erisian and harakian governments to accept you. All that we like to ask to the ones who are leaving is that you do it in complete order because if you don´t, it would cause unnecesary deaths to yourselves.
We came to free you and we are doing it, and whoever who wants to die defending Danteri from the crazy theocracy in the North, you are welcome. Long live the revolution
Commander Moncada and Montegrandean High Command

Vessels and trucks were preparing to carry the danterian civilians who wished to flee to safer zones, letting only the ones who freely agreed to fight the Soloriens to stay. Of course, the prisoners should stay too.....

OOC: Me Li, you are far from my lines or inside my lines? because if you´re inside my lines my military would shoot you down... However, we want to sent far away the ones who want to flee from our territory. We didn´t ask you anything because you are holding territory the solorien had claimed theirs....

To: Commander Moncada
From: Lt. Gen. Papadakis
Re: Your Requests

Of course we shall keep our borders open and welcome any refugees that wish to enter our territory. We shall also continue to operate the postal service via our previous agreement, however if the situation becomes to dangerous we will of course discontinue flights directly to your territory. That said, if such a situation occurs we will then be happy to carry any correspondance you are able to bring to us in Southhaven to its final destination.

Also, any Montegrandian citizen currently in Danteri, civilian or soldier, is welcome to seek refuge in our province. Though they will have to turn in any weapons they posess.

I do wish to object to the labelling of us as vassals of Soloriel. We are not nor will we ever be vassals of another nation. We are a totally free and independent people. Too much blood was spilled during our revolutin to ever surrender our independence and freedom. We are simply on good terms with Soloriel due to cooperation with them early on in the Danteri conflict.

I hope for the sake of the Danteri people, it does not come to war.

OOC: hey, by the way, what about that reporter who wants to interview von Freiburg?

To Soleri Government
ATTN
We represent no threat to your nation and we request a simlpe honest peace
New-Lexington

To: Me Li
From: Wladyslaw Maslowski, head doctor in Danteri

We do not seem very wlecome in the formerly Zukariaan held zone. It has come to our attentin that you are not only accepting the refugees whom we have come to aid, but also plan to hold a Peace Conference. Therefore I request that you sill accept us into your borders, where I hope to serve as an ambassador at the proposed Peace Conference.

OOC: 23Eris, the map is fine.

The Cult of The Second Coming has resumed its terrorist activities, this time by conducting a suicide bombing against some Danterian Emperor-worshipers, killing four of them and wounding a dozen more.

Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes

The Undershi fleet was preparing for war. The Thunderer fighter-bombers, all 400 of them, were being prepared for launch, taking on loads of shells, missiles, bombs and fuel, while the Crusader helicopter gun-ships were also being loaded out.
The flight deck looked like a busy ant hill from the command deck, high above, and Admiral Simon Randalph looked down on it with some satisfaction. Still, he had things to worry about...
He turmed to the comm officer and asked:
"Still no reply from Haraki?" the comm officer just shook his head, as that was the ninety-somethingth time he had been asked that question by the admiral in the last hour.
Sighing, the admiral left the command deck for the observation deck - he found that he could always do better thinking there than anywhere else on his flag-ship.

To: Me Li
From: Wladyslaw Maslowski, head doctor in Danteri

We do not seem very wlecome in the formerly Zukariaan held zone. It has come to our attentin that you are not only accepting the refugees whom we have come to aid, but also plan to hold a Peace Conference. Therefore I request that you still accept us into your borders, where I hope to serve as an ambassador at the proposed Peace Conference.



<encrypted medium>
To: Wladyslaw Maslowski, head doctor in Danteri
FR: RWEFHQ, Insulis Avolonis

Be Welcomed in our zone...
Provided that you are Honourable, you will be left alone if that is your wish.

Your offical government can co-ordinate with RWEFHQ now transfered to The Island. Your unoffical represantives will still be welcomed. So long as the Mafia plays according to the unwritten rules they will not be molested. If they transgress limits then they will be liquidated... they are afterall illegal.

The Peace Conference? We had planned on discussing a Unified Danteri, yet the main participants seem unlikely to accept compormise. East Haven will likely be joined to Beta Zone after a few years of rebuilding and "protectorship." The Commies have stated their intended goal of a Communard Danateri. 23Eris Zones vacillates for the present between union with Soleriel and confederation with East Haven. North Lund is divided and now essentailly satrapies of the various powers. In truth Peace is unlikely.

We had thought that Gwazzii was attempting another round?

It matters not.

We welcome both your aid and arms.


High Commander SINGH Vaya
<end>
ooc: Montenegro: The patrols Stop about 100km from your borders. They aren't actually attempting to engage in any firefights...If they are fired upon then they will call in for fire support. They are wearing prominent Red Wheel Armbands and Headbands. They are obviously not trying to hide... well not very much. They are cleaning up pockets of Bottle Daemons and attempting to save civilians, Danteri, Zuuk or anything else that they find.
To whom it may concern in Melii Zone Alpha feel free to have a handover ceremony... the Naval Yard, Hospital and Airstrip will remain in our possesion until there is a Unified Danteri Government...
Undershi: you damned fascist bastard... :p Invade someone just not me!
Haraki: That was short? :p

OOC: I had a nice post written up a little while ago but it was murdered by the Microsoft Corporation. Suffice it to say that the rest of the 58th Infantry is now being deployed to Danteri to help cover the rest of the new area and the ex-Melii-occupied area. I have not time, so this post will be quick.



The Harakians had established a new perimeter with the Solorien troops and Locke had managed to get the rest of the 58th Infantry DIvision out of the government back in Atherlon. It wouldn't be enough if the Soloriens were to attack, but at least they could hold them off for slightly longer.

The Soloriens and the Harakians had been on good terms the last time they had spoken diplomatically, but now they seemed bent on subjugating all of Danteri. Commodore Locke had taken a 'If they want a war we'll give them one' stance, knowing that Haraki was a larger, more powerful nation with many powerful allies, and that most likely Soloriel could not afford a war with them. He was gambling on that and good relations in the past.

Inside the Harakian safe zones, things were settlign down. The series of CEF raids against the Cult of the Second Coming seemed to have wiped out most of the militant members of the cult with no Harakian losses, and thus stabilized the Harakian zones. The elected representatives were doing their jobs, taking polls and surveys and reporting what the people wanted back to Neil. So far he'd discovered that the people wanted food, clothing, and houses.

With a light snow falling on the Harakian zones, the crops that they had raised were hurriedly being harvested and made into food for the tens of millions of civilians inside the zones. More Harakian food shipments were arriving every day, with Harakian stockpiles being tapped to feed the Danterians and Neo-Harakian agricultural projects being used to make food for the Danterians over the Harakians. Locke had begun instating a rudimentary economy, with people opening shops to sell handmade clothes and other items useful to the civilians, and the trained joint Harakian-Danterian construction crews had rebuilt nearly everything in the five original safe zone cities. Since they were practically untouched by the civil war since they were occupied by Haraki from the beginning, when they were far from the fighting, there had not been much to do. Many crews had moved on to the sixth city, with others staying behind to build houses and housing projects on the outskirts of the cities so they could dismantle the tent cities the refugees were living in.

All in all, inside the Harakian zones, life was improving rapidly. Food was no longer a scarcity, security was almost guaranteed, and people could actually do things with the money they were issued. Many people were being relocated into proper buildings, and all the civilians were supposed to be inside buildings by the end of the next summer, a very ambitious schedule. With the planned release of the Dantmark, the new Haraki-zone currency, only a month away, people were being employed printing new currency. The Danterian police were being attacked less, and new recruits joined every day, helping them keep order in the streets.

The problem was not the inside. On the inside, people were getting happier, and coniditions were rapidly growing better. The problem was outside, where a brewing war of conquest by the Soloriens threatened the safety and security of the Harakian zones. The problem was that 70,000 Solorien soldiers were facing off against slightly over 20,000 Harakians, and the Soloriens seemed eager to conquer even the progressive Harakian zones.

Locke was scared. He was scared for his troops. He was scared for the people he was protecting. He was scared the projects he had worked so hard on, to protect the people that had come to them for protection, would all be dismantled so easily by a war against the Harakians. They had emerged from the original civil war nearly unscathed. They had emerged from the Zukariaan conflicts nearly unscathed. They had emerged from internal strife nearly unscathed.

Only time would tell if this new budding war would prove too much for them.

Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes

Admiral Simon Randalph cursed softly as he balled up the latest orders from the High Command and tossed them into the trash. It seemed that he wasn't making enough progress for them. It seemed that they needed something concrete.
Sighing miserably, he walked over to his desk, and pressed the comm button. He spoke to the comm officer, saying,
"Contact the Haraki. Tell them that we want to be their friends, and that we wish a meeting with them. They've ignored us so far, but they should listen soon enough - they have a reputation for reasonableness, after all... get me the Montegrande commies too - lets let them know that we are looking for allies, and want a port on Danteri. If they are willing to play ball, then we might find our selves on the opposite side of the oncoming conflict with the Solorielans than we thought we would. If so, then that's too bad, but we can always conquer the Montegrande commies later." he finished, and pressed another of the buttons built into his desk, ending the conversation with the comm officer.
It seemed that the High Command wanted a "show of force" to convince the recalcitrant foreigners that Undershi was significant, and they had even given him an order... still, he just hoped that it wouldn't lead to war by mistake. Perhaps if he sent a comm ahead... yes, that was what he would do...

Recieved by the Haraki fleet a few moments later:

This is Admiral Simon Randalph of the Undershi Navy. We have been ordered by our High Command to conduct excercises designed as a 'show of force' near your units. I'm alerting you to this in the hopes that we will not come to blows over this by accident. You have been for-warned.

A Few Hours Later:

100 Crusader helicopter gun-ships flew low on a least-time course to the Haraki command ship, flying in a spear-tip formation. Less than a mile away, each and every one of those gun-ships fired a single dummy training missile, that glowed hot and red on the sensors of the Haraki fleet, obviously a dummy missile, before exploding like fire works over the Haraki command ship. As that was happening, all 100 gun-ships broke formation to form 10 squadrons, operating with remarkable manuvering skill.
The 10 squadrons then performed a series of manuvers, flying in near the Haraki command ship, although not threatening it. It seems that these Undershis are quite insistant about being taken seriously...

OOC: I'm sorry, Haraki, if this gets too much on your nerves.

OOC: Fascists? Well, I guess we are fascists, although I prefer to think of the Undershi system as "Militaristic trans-human authoritarianism".

The kids sat on the Victoria City Civilian Port Authorities Civilian Yards. They were watching the build up of forces and the redeployment of the crazy foriegners. They would miss the bears and horses and candied dragons, griffons, and mild explosives... Now were would they get proper noise-makers? Would the New Haraki 58th be as much fun as the Isles Expeditionary Forces? They hoped so.

Jaismina whooped and cheered as the fighter craft squadrons buzzed the bayfront. The sonic boom rattled the old buildings and shook them to the bones. Still, it was an awesome sight as the jets took to the air and began to dance... the contrails drew fantastic fractal swirls that were ripped apart by the high altitude winds and the passage of their siblings. She would fly one day...

As free as a Seagull or no a Tern she would be... an pity the fools who would enslave the People. The group of five swore eternal Revolution and Brother/Sisterhood. Two would die within the coming years. One of Food Poisoning and the other of pneumonia. One emigrated to the Isles and became a simple school teacher. One would die defending the Homelands. Only Jaisima would live long enough and remember her vow...

Southhaven, Danteri

Papadkais was happy finally, at least for a short time. His wife had arrived from 23Eris and the pair, escorted by two Erisian servicemen were making the rounds at one of Hermia's marketplaces. Despite the chill, it was quite pleasant out despite a thin layer of snow that had fallen in the morning, and most people went about their business in light jackets.

Papadakis' wife stopped to look at some wares being sold by one of the street vendors, and the two servicemen took up positions a few feet behind the couple. Only a few yards away, two Danteri began to argue loudly in their native language, temporarily drawing the attention of both security men. One nodded to the other who moved to break up the scuffle, while the second remained behind to guard Papadakis.

Unfortunately, what transpired next was too much for just one person to handle. One of the two Danteri pulled out a handgun, prompting the Erisian guard to draw his weapon and shout for his partner. As the second guard turned, another Danteri who had been passing pulled his own weapon, complete with silencer, took aim at the guard who remained behind to guard Papadakis and pumped two quick shots into the back of the man's head. Papadakis, hearing the popping of the silenced gun, swiveled about on one leg and moved to shove his wife away, but he was too slow. The man emptied a half dozen bullets into the couple, shouting 'Death to the Oppressors!' before the last guard cut him down in a hail of bullets.

As the Danteri scattered and the guard radioed for aid, Papadakis and his wife lay on the cold ground of Danteri, their blood mingling with that of their killer to turn the street an all too familiar shade of red.

Sorry about Papadkais... too bad, that.

The Cult of The Second Coming has launched an attack, this one in the Haraki zone (although they aren't able to launch as many attacks as they used to, it appears that they still have adherents).
This one was a street shooting - four Danteri Police officers were killed by three men with automatic weapons. (the Danteri Police only carry sidearms on patrol unless riot is expected or violence has been done... they thought the worst they would have to deal with would be maybe a thief, and so didn't bring their own heavier weapons.)

Following the most recent attack, a question remains: what is to be done about The Cult of The Second Coming? They seem to have recently gained adherents following the Zukariaan atrocities, since in such terrible times, religion, especially a religion focused on vengence, can attract adherents. Still, the question of what is to be done about them remains a valid one - how can a religion be supressed?

Southhaven, Danteri

Roros was elated. The attack on Papadakis went of perfectly. Not only was Papadakis killed, but his wife as well. Already blame was being directed at the scattered remnants of the Cult of the Second Coming. His candidiates in the election were giving rousing speeches for unification with 23Eris as the only sure way to security and freedom (and the few female candidates he secretly backed continually reminded the Danteri women how they had recieved sufferage and a remarkable change in status under the Erisians). In addition, the candidates were calling for a disqualification of any and all candidates with any ties to the Cult.

For Roros and his backers, things seemed to be going all according to plan, and with the election only a few days away, he was feeling very confident.

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Freiburg, Danteri

Lillis read the private dispatch in some shock. Papadakis had been murdered, shot down by the people he had come here to protect. It was disgusting. She had been given full command of the Erisian forces in Danteri and she certainly couldn't manage them from the north, Southhaven contained the primary Erisian zone and all Papadakis' files. She arranged for a transport within the hour, her own personal files and belongings would be transported behind her, she herself would be catching a supersonic transport flight to Hermia to take charge.

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To: All Nations Involved in Danteri
From: Lt. General Amanda Lillis, 23Eris
Re: Command Change

I am sending you this note to inform you of a change in command here in Danteri. After the untimely death of our former commander, Lieutenant General Papadakis, I have been given full command of the the 23Eris forces deployed. I hope that we can continue to resolve our differences diplomatically and can work together to ensure a safe and prosperous future for the Danteri people.

I wish to take this moment to reaffirm the open border policy of my predecessor. We will continue to welcome any Danteri refugees into our areas of control and continue to offer asylum in 23Eris to any who wish it.

On a side note, given the recent increase in tensions, I wish to reiterate the peaceful intentions of my nation. Our forces are not on alert, we are not increasing military strength at our land borders, and our only military activities are intended to combat criminal elements in our zones and to find and rescue suvivos of the Kraven occupation. We of course welcome military observers from any nation who wish to confirm those statements and our peaceful intentions.

Regards,
Lt. General Amanda Lillis

OOC: Im not looking for a war guys honest!

As the final messages were sent from the other nations, along the Solorien Lines the order was finally given, Armoured units fired up their engines, and the high altitude bombers screamed towards the Montegrande lines, the first wave of the plains dropped napalm on the enemy troops and bunkers, before the second wave of planes swept the armoured and artillery units with high explosives. The artillery roared and the ground shook as thousands of pounds of explosives whistled through the air and impacted amidst the Montegrande lines. The Challenger 2 MBT's led the charge, their crews screaming insults and war chants at the enemy forces, they fired with every gun they had active, and the horizon in front of the Solorien charge turned red with fire and explosions. To the north Imperial patrols of helicopters hunted down all troops that were not Solorien or Erisian, and brutally massacred them, the coasts were turned into fortified citadels as troops and artillery were entrenched, the seas protected by vast carrier fleets which launched aircraft hourly to keep the new colony safe from the air. In the citys the Imperial Infantry along with the Imperial Engineers continued the massive reconstruction project, and began the first steps towards getting this continent back on its feet. Houses that had been burnt out or destroyed were rebuilt, with the typical Solorien flair for design, leaving them now as beautiful sweeping masterpieces, each one unique. Along the Harakian lines the Solorien forces sat there encamped, to keep watch for possible invasion from that quarter, and along the Me Li lines the case was the same. Throughout the country the roads were being rebuilt and power and water was restored to most areas of the country with suprising speed. The Holy Order went from town to town spreading the word of the Emperor, promising them protection and comfort if they would just come to the temples and pray. After the Explosion that killed some of the new converts, Imperial Purgation Officers began an immediate policy of extermination, and began to hunt down this Heretical church, after all, send a thief to catch a thief.

Hethran Sighed and pushed himself up, he knew that Sara was right, but that didnt mean he had to be happy about it. As he began pulling on his shirt his phone on his desk rang, swinging out of bed he grasped the phone and answered it. He nodded once or twice to himself with a short Yes, or No, and then his face drained of all colour. He stood there for a moment and listened to whatever was being said and then just said "Of Course my Lord, i shall begin giving the orders immediately." before replacing the handset. He looked at Sara, his face a mask of agitation, "Its Begun Sara, Imperial troops have begun the advance, and Imperial Hunter Killer choppers have swept the new territorys, killing anyone who is not in an Erisian or Solorien uniform. Ive been given orders to begin Immediate Tactical deployment of the new Red Sword missiles if the Invasion does not go as planned. By the Emperor Sara, the High Command are Insane, if we want to stop this before it ges any further you wil have to come with me now, to the one place we can find the evidence that Danterian Elements were not responsible for the Reconciliations betrayal, the Wreck of the Reconciliation." After he said this he reached into his closet, and pulled out a strange uniform, one that Sara had never seen before, It was jet black all over, with his admirals markings picked out on the Bicep, as he placed it on quickly he buckled his belt and holster into place, and then attached a Sword sheath to it, reaching into the closet again he withdrew a long and lethally sharp sword, he sliced it once or twice through the air, and twirled it before sliding it into its sheath with a definitive snapping sound. He reached once more and withdrew an officers Peaked Cap that was black like the rest of his uniform, except the symbol that dominated the crest was that of two white panthers rampant, against the Imperial Throne, and the words: S.I.N Warlock beneath. He turned to Sara once he was dressed, "Come Sara, we will be travelling aboard my old submarine, the IN-65 Warlock. If we hurry we can abort this war before it consumes us all."

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To: 23Eris
From: Solorien High Command.
RE: Command Change.

We send our deepest regrets for the loss of Lieutenant General Papadakis, he was a fine man, and led his men with Honour and Distinction. In light of his Death we of the High Command have decided that we should fulfil a promise made to the General, we are prepared to begin talks for a full Diplomatic Alliance between our two nations, in the hopes that together we can bring this shattered country back into the world anew.

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TOP SECRET

To: Lt. General Amanda Lillis
From: A Mutual Friend

Greeting most Noble Ally, we are representatives of the Imperial College of Culture. We have lost face recently in our most Noble and Holy Emperors eye, but we strive to make recompense for the acts that have occured in Danteri since we were betrayed. Included within this message are the frequencys and deactivation codes for the Tactical Nuclear Missiles carried aboard the Submarines of the Glorious Empire, should the need arise you may be able to prevent this war exploding into further blood-shed. Also for the future empowerment of our two most Noble Nations, we have arranged for a transport ship to dock in the city of Hermia, this will contain something that may be able to halt the invasion of South Haven altogether. Have faith our Ally, And the God-Emperor in his Eternal Wisdom will guide us free of this Heretical course of action that the Imperial College for War is guiding us upon.

Eternal Honour In the Name Of The Emperor!

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To: Commander of the Harakian Forces.
From: Solorien High Command.
RE: Your Forces.

We send this Telegram to inform you that we will not invade your Safe Zone as long as foreign powers other than those of 23Eris do not dock in your ports or land on your coasts. Until such a time as this condition is Breached we will merely provide you with 'Protection' against foreign influences along your border.

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To: New-Lexington
From: Solorien High Command
RE: Your Presence.

We formally request that you begin the evacuation of your forces from our new Colonial lands and our Territorial Waters. In light of your Support of Zukariaa, we hasten to add that should this directive be ignored then we have complete authorisation to destroy and and all resistance, starting with your Carrier Fleet in the Western Ocean. You have one week to begin the Evacuation of your Forces, after which if we have seen no reduction in your military forces here in Danteri we will be left with no other option but to remove you ourselves.

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Solorien Actions:

1. Solorien Forces have begun the invasion of South Haven, they are moving ferociously fast to everwhelm and destroy the Communist forces on the border in the hope that they can push through quickly and minimise the damage done to the Civilian Popiulation. In the initial attack an uncomfirmed number of Danteri Communists and Montegrande forces have been killed. Almost 400,000 men have begun the attack in South Haven, led by almost 2,000 SuF-8S Aircraft and almost 6,000 Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks.
2. Solorien Hunter Killer Patrols have begun exterminating any soldier in Danteri who is not in an Erisian or Solorien Uniform, only those who are obviously in charge of relief efforts or are civilians seem to be safe from this massacre.
3. The Imperial Purgation Forces have begun an in-depth eradication of the Cult, starting with the attempted capture of one or more of these cultists in order to interrogate him and attempt to locate the ring leaders of this dangerous cult.

OOC: Undershi, can we say that there was some time between your message being sent and your attack on my fleet? Because, you know, the message Locke sends is kind of important in that case.

Also, Danteri, would you mind giving the six Harakian safe zone cities names? It would make this a lot easier.








Locke was overwhelmed. The pile of messages on his desk was so high that he could no longer count how many he'd received and not replied to. He assumed anything important would be retransmitted, and focused his attention on the more pressing, incoming things.

First was one from an Admiral Simon Randolph, from Undershi, requesting that his forces be allowed to fire missiles at the Harakian ships as a show of force, and also requesting a meeting. Locke hurriedly typed up a return message. While he was typing it, a new message from Solorien high command came in, and he sighed as he read it. It clearly stated the intent not to attack the Harakians, provided no foreign ships docked in their ports. There would have to be exceptions. He would have to establish that. He would also have to establish that the Soloriens were not in command of the Harakian zones.


[From: Commodore Felias Locke]
[To: Admiral Simon Randolph]

No, request denied. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to fire anything at my ships, whether as a show fo force or not. Anyone attacking Harakian ships will be fired on in an attempt to destroy them by all guns and planes mounted on Harakian ships and bases in the area.

As to your meeting, I would be happy to meet with you and discuss how we can work to better the situation in Danteri. I will establish right now, though, that the Harakian forces are not here to fight a war. If at all possible we will avoid a war with Soloriel, which means you will also not be able to dock or resupply ships in Haraki-controlled ports. I apologize for any inconvenience, but I am forced to look out for the interests of approximately thirty-five million people over yours.

Felias Locke



Sending the message, he sent an immediate message to the Harakian Danteri Area Fleet to be on guard. The three carriers and one battle-carrier all launched a fighter flight to provide constant security over the Harakian naval forces, for a total of forty-eight fighter planes in the air plus ground-based fighters on active standby. As well, he sent a request to the Prime Minister for additional forces. The rest of the 58th Infantry, along with its commander, Major-General Labert Hinckley, was arriving that afternoon. But the naval forces included only one battle-carrier and three heavy cruisers for close-querters fighting, plus one light carrier and two escort carriers. Given the large size of the Harakian navy, he was sure they could spare some extra forces. He made an official request for at least one battleship or battlecruiser, at least one regular or heavy carrier, several cruisers, and several submersible craft, either submarines or Haraki's new revolutionary Hobbes-class submersible cruisers. Once that was done and sent off, he turned his attention back to other matters.


[From: Commodore Felias Locke]
[To: Solorien High Command]

For the time being, I am willing to accede to your request with two extra exceptions. In addition to Harakian and Erisian ships being allowed to land in Harakian safe zones, Neue Neue Deutsch and Gwazzarian forces must also be allowed to land. These nations both have troops stationed as part of the joint Harakian-allied forces, and both are evacuating refugees who wish to emigrate as well as bringing in supplies for the civilians.

I hope that in the future we can work together for the good of the Danterian people. I think they've been through enough.

Felias Locke


*


Even as his new counterpat, Major-General Hinckley, unloaded into the main Harakian port with four brigades of troops, Neil was overseeing something new and vital. Harakian construction crews had been working for some time on getting the old Danterian power stations and water treatment centres working again, and schedules had resulted in them both finishing on the same day. Although the power stations were coal-powered and thus both inefficient and environmentally unsound, they would still provide power until more secure hydro and nuclear ones could be established.

Of course, these facilities would be under heavy guard by Danteri Police and Harakian military forces, with possible Gwazzarian or Neue Neue Deutsch forces taking over in the future. But for now, as both centres switched on, with trained Danterian workers operating the two facilities, an entire city was suddenly with power and clean running water again.



-Clean running water and electricity have been turned back on in one of the six main Harakian safe zone cities. Construction crews are working on establishing the same things in the other five before moving on to the countryside.

The montegrandean response.

In the first accounts of deaths, there were just 2000 cassualties inMontegrandean army, but may be the number of cassualties of the less organized and equiped Red Army were greater. Just a bombardment couldn´t be truly effective against defenses that were prepared for a loing time precisley for an air bombardment. Also, the well placed antiair artillery and the 500 MSA 33 (very similar to Su-47) they could deploy must reduce the damages Solorien thought they could cause. The montegrandeans were longly preparing for a war against Zukariaa and the measures were carfully taken. The Solorien should have to get into hands if they wanted to drive awaya very organized and well equiped Montegrandean army that knew perfectly to fight unvcovered by air. It would be a slow and painful war to conquer all the Montegrandean tunnels and bunkers.
However, a great ammount of civilians that couldn´t get into the Erisian border must have been killed by the ones who claimed to protect them. Also, the menace to harakians about not letting foreing ships to dock made the situation more desperate for civilians in the communist zone. The conversion of the former communist territory in the gigantic base of an army couldn´t help for that. Also, more than 500 non tripulated old planes loaded with explosives were sent to cause damage to the stormtroopers. the very well hidden artillery pieces couldn´t help also for a Solorien rapid avance... The montegrandean were prepared for a long term war and they knew how to inflict damage to an army in movilization....

New measures had been put in effect:
The order that all prisoners in communist hands should be executed inmediatly. The prisoners were just an obstacle for the army. For Sara Von Freiburg´s execution, it was planned not only for her to be shot by the montegrandean troops but also burnt down with great ammounts of oil. There wouldn´t be for her any chance of survival.
The movilization of all the troops. Montegrandean were ready for a total war and also sent a telegram to all the powers in Danteri and one secret one to New-Lexington
----------------------------------------------------------------
To: All powers in Danteri
From: Montegrandean High Command
Solorien attack not only is an act of arrogance that should be nopticed but also doing it without giving time and also trying to avoid the scape of innocent civilians from our held territory show us how the "freers" really are: opressors like the same Zukariaans. In response of this uncalled agresion, Montegrandean troops will try to evaquate as many civilians as we can and also advices all the enemies of communists already in our hands shall be dead when you receive this message, including Sara von Freiburg... We tried to avoid the conflict but Solorien psychotics showed their genocidal real face..... Reports of civilian killings because of Solorien terrorism are attached. We shall defend with all we have to save danterians of this further massacre......

---------------------------------------------------------------
To: New Lexington
From: Montegrandean High Command

As we warned you, Solorien are prepared for attacking new lexington as well as us. The only posssible response is defend united against this genocidal agression. Also, you would be happy to know that your former danterian enemy, Sara Von Freiburg is probably dead now......
Shall the invaders be massacred....

OOC: I didn´t want the war, but oh well... Soloriel won´t be reasonable and fopr that my psycopaths are making what communists should do: execute prisoners, begin a total war and transform the Danterian communist Government into an army... Also, is obvious that in a war the commies won´t be very carefgul about civilian´s lives (that´s why I wanted to evacuate them). The ones who aren´t in erisian zone or near there will be salughtered by the bombing because my troops will be concerned just in surviving themselves and fighting back. As simple as that.....

The screams of the dead and dying filled the air, and the ground shook like an earthquake as the tanks poured more and more fire into the Montegardne lines, the Stormtroopers charged in with bayonets, shooting at anything that moved, trying to close in for the hand to hand combat that they excelled in. Out on the sea the first of the two carrier groups began the heavy bombardment of the rear of the Montegardne lines, missiles and shells were launched en-masse to pin the enemy in place as the Solorien ground and air forces hammered them back. In the center of the Montegardne lines the ground started shaking, and large clods of earth exploded upwards, as massive drill pieces burst amongst the troops dragging massive armoured hulks behind them. As soon as these things were clear of the earth they began firing anti-personnel and anti-tank rounds in wide arcs around them, clearing the ground as the rear hatches exploded open and hundreds of Imperial Stormtroopers rushed out screaming in their native tongue charging into the heart of the Montegardne forces. It was brutally efficient, as all three elements of the assault timed themselves in perfectly. Some of the drilling machines that had erupted merely sat there however, for untold minutes, until they started exploding, they had been stuffed full of Sarin Nerve Gas, The Imperial Stormtroopers charged amongst the enemy forces, their masks protecting them from the deadly nerve agent, and still they kept coming, despite losses, despite the bloodshed the Soloriens advanced in a massive armoured black wave, behind the initial force were yet more troops lined to advance if the initial attack should fail. And with word that the Montegardne were executing prisoners, they fought like madmen to break the back of the Montegardne army, and win through to the prisons they had captured with their Spy Satellites. Most of the Initial Artillery fire been aimed at the troops and armour, but now they turned their attention to the more dug in and hidden artillery pieces, all of the information they had spent weeks collecting was now to put to a deadly use, pinpointing their fire at the most dangerous spots for the Imperial advance, whatever happened next wasnt going to be a battle, it was going to be a slaughtering ground, one way or the other...

OOC: I wish to retire from the Danteri conflict. In first instance, my time will be reducing until july 9th or 10th and for that I don´t want to fight with time shortage a conflict in which each party has to agrandize its power to convince the others of their power (like the current montegrande-soloriel war). Also I won´t have time to struggle with my latin english and clarify my forces and each little thing to make the thing entertaining for everyone.
Other thing is I realized danterian idiosincracy isnpt fit for a communist regime and I don´t want to kill my psychos for no reason... i wish to kill 50 thousand more of my men, retire the remaining and end this war. Unfortunately, Sara Von Freiburg has to die, and that. But the reds will be gone, at least for a time..
I prefer to use my posting time to clarify Montegrandean idiosincracy and armies and all the things I need for a more entertaining future war.... Soloriel. So Soloriel, the war is over and you´ll have Southhaven. In the current conditions, it´s boring and stressing for me the war (untiul I have enough time and have time to read about the enemy´s military and also post how exactly is my own military....)

OOC:Ok no worrys Montegrande, ill write up my losses in my next IC post and then leave it up to you as to how you withdraw. Hopefully next time we meet, it wont be on the field of battle ;)

OOC: Yes. I will read your factbook when I have time and also clarify my own communist country. I think before involving in outside conflicts I have to create the montegrandean world, and doing the both simultaneously with my lack of time it´s impossible... I will continue reading the thread, the story of Danteri is interesting, but reds are out of place. In fact, Danteri should be fascist or theocratic seeing how is the nature of the danterian people as shown in the thread....

Solorien Fleet, Off Danteri

Sara nodded, pulling the identity card out of her small laptop style computer. The card, along with a series of bio-metric encoding allowed the computer access to the Erisian communications network. It was how she had relayed the information Hethran had given her, for which she felt terrible, as he had not given her permission to relay what she knew, but she had to do her duty.
Killing the power on the computer and shutting the screen she looked up and nodded. "You were a submarine commander?" She asked, curious. The thought of being confined in a steel tube underwater was somewhat unnerving to her, she wasn't navy after all. "Won't they question my presence on the sub?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southhaven

Lillis slid into the seat behind the unfamiliar desk. It felt almost wrong to be here, sitting where Papadakis had sat and successfully led the Erisian involvement in Danteri for so long. Papadakis had used a mixture of personal messages and assurances as well as sabre-rattling to keep the Erisian zones safe and secure. She hoped that she could do the same, after all, Papadakis' job was different than the invasion she had executed only a few months prior.

She read through the dispatches, movements of troops, and reports. The latest report made her sigh heavily, reminiscent of the worn, resigned air that Papadakis seemed to fel when events spiraled out of control.

Soloriel had attacked, refugees were pouring across the border. It was almost as bad as the situation during teh original conflict if the reports were accurate. And then there was a report from a usually reliable source in the Montegrande zone that the Soloriel troops had used nerve agents. 'Damn them and their insistence on using unconventional weapons!' Lillis thought.

She then noticed the secret dispatch from someone in Soloriel, it contained codes that could be used to prevent the use of nuclear warheads in Danteri. 'Thank the goddess someone in Soloriel has sense,' she thought to herself, putting those codes in her private files. She sent out a brief message to the commander of the docks in Hermia to look out for a special arrival from Soloriel. She had just the place to put whatever it was. A single covered dock had been constructed to make satellite spying on the dock impossible, it wasn't really useful since the Erisians weren't building anything top secret there, but it made for good disinformation.

She called for her aide, it was going to be a long day, and she was going to need some coffee.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Soloriel
From: Foreign Minister Chilkevich, 23Eris
Re: Talks

We would be pleased to begin negotiations on a full alliance with your esteemed nation. However, before such talks begin we wish to raise the following points with your nation.

Your use of weapons of mass destruction in Danteri is troubling. We have recieved reports of deployment of nerve agents in your recent attack on Montegrande. We ask that you cease using such unconventional methods given the high likelihood of innocent civilian casualties as a result.

We also ask that you use restrain in your attacks on Montegrande, avoiding when possible, engaging Montegrandian forces in highly populated areas. The loss of civilian lives could range into the millions and after the recent actions of Kraven, losses on that scale again would be intolerable.

We remind you that our nations intervened in Danteri not for the glorification of our own nations or their leaders, but to restore hope to the peoples of this shattered land.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Montegrande
From: Lt. General Lillis
Re: Sara Von Freiburg

Sirs,

Given the current situation and the necessity to se ethat Von Freiburg recives a fair trial in court in order to ensure she does not become a martyr, leading to further instability in Danteri, we request that the prisoner be turned over to either our care or that of Haraki.

My government has authorized me to offer a one time subsidy of Five Hundred Million Chaos (the Erisian equivalent of a dollar) in order to secure her transfer.

Admiral Herrmann's battlefleet stopped 30nm's from the Solorien coast in Danteri.

His orders were clear:

1) Land an armored legion consisting of 100,000 Capitol Police, 200,000 Kreigsmarines, several hundred tanks (Leman Russ main battle tanks, Imperator class ultraheavy battle tanks, Diablo light battle tanks, and Emperor class superheavy battle tanks) and several hundred Basilisk class artillery pieces.

2) Carry out secret mission specifically ordered by the High Command.

His fleet was made up of:
1x Abyssus class Dreadnaught (flagship)
4x Emperia class battleship
5x Emperia Mark II class battleship
10x Immortal class battlecruiser
10x Marduk class missile destroyer
10x Mayhem class destroyer
10x Mimir class tracking ship
5x Apotheosis class cruiser
10x Pulsar class arsenal ship
10x Pulsar class II anti-air cruiser
2x Corporate class carrier

Immediatly, before he began his invasion, he sent in a message to the Solorien highest in command in Danteri.

From: Admiral Herrmann
To: Soloriel

We have come back to reclaim what is ours. We give you the chance to pull away before we begin destroying your cities and killing your men.

Father has finished the purging of undesirables, and now we are taking back our land.

OOC-Hello, everyone. You're going to have to get used to me being back and just as evil, cause I'm seeing this thread to the end. I've been here to long to just leave!
I'll get some land back. ;) You ready for a fight Soloriel?

ooc: Stupid Fascist! 500,000 of your troops Already deep in this cesspool! Go Back Home! :p

Zone Beta, East Haven, Danteri
The Melii ignored the ongoing battle between the godless Commies and the crazy worshippers of a Celestial King... they were too busy dealing with the new influx of refugees. The original refugee centres were still not fully finished. The small cities that were originally in the Beta Zones had been systematically destroyed by the retreating Zuuks. They had already been ravaged by the decades long conflict.

In short, it was a clusterfuck from hell.

The Melii had been caught off guard by the ferocity and speed of the assault. The Seers had predictated another two months! Things were veering from the Path that they had planned on... Now they would have to change the dance. The Carrier Group 3 Taingou (Heavenly Peace) had been detatched to GASN exercises with the Gaijin House Cravan after the Treaty of Neutrality with the Zuuks. Now only one medium carrier group and the Victoria City Littoral forces remained to guard the new zones.

Suprisingly. Vaya was very calm when the satelittes picked up yet another fleet entering Vahalla. He sent a note to the Haraki allies in cased they did not notice it with all of the troubles. He turned to his immediate headaches.

Dead Center of the Beta Zone a grand-provincial capital is being laid out. It will be a new city not yet named. Constrution had been diverted to expanding yet again the refugee centers. Danteri soaked up too many resources! Still, the Melii would see it to the end or at least an acceptable ending.

The Refugees were currently being segregated according to immediate health care needs. The Melii attempted to keep family groups together. Skilled personel among the people are being tapped for aide positions in the Provisional "Goverment"... Unskilled were being drafted into helping build and prepare the minicities. The Melii had learned something of relief efforts while working with the Haraki. Now they began to show it. Time later to indoctrine them with what would be expected of them in an honourable Danteri spiced with Melii Memes.

Along the perimeter a few hardened fortlets have been established.
Deep Recons have been pulled in closer to the Melii lines...they are even more careful to avoid contact with Soleriel forces than they were with the Zuuks. Any refugee coloumn IDed heading towards the Melii Zones are noted and wings are in the air waiting for any attack on the convoy lines. The Melii would not allow another Zuuk-like slaughter of innocents.

***
South Haven, Danteri
The Melii "tourists" in 23Eris South Haven began working with their contacts... the Melii had liked the Grub... they would dig a little shallow grave for his killers and their masters...

ooc:
Curses! I knew it was too good to be true... freaken albatros is the Peace of Danteri... I'll edit this post later when I am sober and able to write in complete English.
I think welcome back you damn Zuuk running dogs! :p Why not just invade Mcpyschoville? ... they seem to have abandoned the thread. Maybe Danteri you ought to ask 'em?
Because I prefer a war.

Besides, what would this thread be without me? :p

OOC: Damn, man. 100,000 capitol police? How is anyone supposed to stop that with anything short of a clusterfuck of tactical nukes? Yes, I know Kraven uses them and you're a puppet state of Kraven and all, but this is not a thread with Kraven in it. This is a thread with a bunch of MT stuff happening. I'd prefer if you didn't bring in PMT/FT supersuits and tanks.

Could you maybe just keep it to the people, without remorseless supersoldiers that are impossible to kill?

OOC: Soloriel since when have i been an ally of Zukariaa?
Telegram to leaders of Soloriel


ATTN
We are sworn enemies of the Kraven Corporation and its puppet states. We pledge to aid you in case of a war with Zukariaa. We have currently 775,000 troops on the ground in Danteri and more in our of-shore fleet ready to help.
SP Drew Harris


OOC: Is Oompli in this any more?

Westgate New-Lexington Tactical Forward Command
General Leaphart looked over the map over the situation with a concerned look.
"So Soleriol thinks we are allies of the Zuuks do they?"
"Yes sir" replied General Daniel Good.
"Well then have we sent them a telegram informing them otherwise?"
"Yessir."
" Good then, have the third and fourth motorized division deployed to the west of the city. If the Zuuks mean war with Soleriol, where will they attack?"
"Good question sir, im nto too sure though"
"Hmmm think about it and report back to me in an hour"
"Yessir"

OOC: Damn, man. 100,000 capitol police? How is anyone supposed to stop that with anything short of a clusterfuck of tactical nukes? Yes, I know Kraven uses them and you're a puppet state of Kraven and all, but this is not a thread with Kraven in it. This is a thread with a bunch of MT stuff happening. I'd prefer if you didn't bring in PMT/FT supersuits and tanks.

Could you maybe just keep it to the people, without remorseless supersoldiers that are impossible to kill?
OOC-They're far from impossible to kill. A well placed sniper shot or hitting it's weak points at the back of it's waist can kill one. They rely on fear to get what they want. When someone sees a huge column of Capitol Police, they're likely to shit their pants, they arn't meant to think about,"Hey, if I shoot one enough, it'll just die!"
Besides that, Soloriel has his Stormtroopers, which will be a nice fight. :p

Also, I think Danteri approves. If not, well.. I guess me AND Soloriel would be out'a luck.

Somewhere in a testing facility deep inside New-Lexington's Mainland
A raspy voice spoke
"Supreme President Harris, they are almost ready"
"Very good Jackson, very good"
"And how have the tests gone Jackson?"
"Very good sir"
"And how do they compare with foreign units like them?"
"Well sir, they beat the heck out of Kreigsmarines, and are about equal to Capitol Police and Stormtroopers"
"Very good"
"When will the be battle-ready?"
"Within a week or two sir"
"Very good ill stay in touch"
"Yes sir"
The line went dead

Strategic Command Center Lexington City
A strategic meeting of all of New-Lexingon's major military leaders, including Generals Leapart and Good via video conference.
"Gentlemen, I have an announcment to make" said Sp Harris
The other men in the room stared with puzzled expressions on their faces
"Our top secret weapon that most of you are familiar with has been completed. The soldier of the future is here, the Black Cat, has been completed”
The other men stood to cheer
“ I shall announce it to the public later today, as it is their tax dollars that have funded this project.

Strategic Command Center Lexington City
A strategic meeting of all of New-Lexingon's major military leaders, including Generals Leapart and Good via video conference.
"Gentlemen, I have an announcment to make" said Sp Harris
The other men in the room stared with puzzled expressions on their faces
"Our top secret weapon that most of you are familiar with has been completed. The soldier of the future is here, the Black Cat, has been completed”
The other men stood to cheer
“ I shall announce it to the public later today, as it is their tax dollars that have funded this project.
Seeing that you now have a super soldier, before you bring it in to fight, could I see the stats and such on how it is created, what it is capable of, and what equipment it has?

OOC: Actually, Haraki - the Undershi also have Super-Soldiers - we call them True Undershis, and they run the country...

Admiral Simon Randalph watched the 400 Thunderer class fighter-bombers launch. They were loaded for a fight - 300 with one mini-nukes, 100 with air-to-air missile loads.
The Crusader helicopter gun ships had been called back from a futile "show of force" against Haraki that would only have provoked a war, and now were being refitted to fly ground support... ground support for whichever side would accept their bargain.
A coded message had already been sent to Soloriel, asking if they would accept a "Treaty of Alliance" in exchange for which the not-inconsiderable Undershi force would come in on their side, against the not-so-nice Kravenites.
Meanwhile, the High Command had given him the go-code to use "whatever force is deemed necessary", so a one mega-tonne city-killer was being preped for launch on board the missile sub.
The 300 Thunderers that had already launched would fly in to attack in three waves of 100 nuke-armed craft - the first would launch all of their nukes to blind the Zukariaan sensors with EMPs, while the second, coming in just behind, would actually target the outer Kravenite perimiter, taking out the picket ships with their load... and the last wave would all go straight in for the flag ship, intent on launching their atomic payload to its destination.
These mini-nukes were light by WMD standards, but were much heavier than any conventional bomb that size would be - and, they were built to be as dirty as it was possible to make them. Even if they didn't kill the Kravenites outright, they would be making sizable chunks of precious Kravenite Danteri uninhabitable for generations.
The comm officer was just finishing transmitting the comm to the Haraki command as the Admiral turned to leave the bridge. He would watch the oncoming devestation via the nose-cameras of the attacking fighter-bombers - seeing such power used at his command was, in his opinion, better than sex.

Message to the Haraki:

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: Commodore Locke
Re: Massive use of atomics

Commodore - the Undershi Empire is about to come into this war between the Solorielans and the Kravenites. We will launch an opening salvo via the ue of a strategy labeled "atomic carpet-bombing" by our War College. 300 "mini" nukes, launched by our carrier complement, will be employed against the Zukariaan fleet.
We understand that a nation with your nations reputation for respect for international law, enviornmental damages and so on might react negatively to such an event, but we would like to point out that the atomic arsenal of the Undershi Empire is being used here in defense of your sacred freedom - the Zukariaans must be stopped, and they will be - by the purging fire of The Sacred Atom. You have been warned. Needless to say, any attempt to stop this attack will be considered an Act of War.
Transmitted with sincere hopes that there might be peace between our two nations, upon this day, on the grounds that none of us want a war at this time.

The total tonnage of the atomic weapons used against the Kravenite fleet comes to about three hundred kilo-tonnes, but much more dispersed than that many standard war-heads would be.

OOC-Undershi, check TGs.

Admiral Herrmann was being flooded with reports of nuclear strike from the Undershi fleet.
"Everyone, shut up!" he yelled, the command room became quiet,"Shit, we're not even engaging them.. send them a message, immediatly!"

To: Undershi Commander
From: Admiral Herrmann

Call off your nuclear strike, now! You don't want to be pulled into a war with us, especially not at this point in our assault.

If you wish to carry out this attack, I'll give you an offer; an alliance between Kraven and Undershi. Allies are needed in a time of war and hate, especially when everyone hates Kraven. An alliance would be more useful to both of us..

Admiral Herrmann

He didn't know how an alliance with the Undershi would blow over with the High Command or his other.. allies.. But he had no choice, it was an attempt to keep his fleet from being nuked, and causing a nuclear war in Datneri..

Black Cat Super Soldier Preliminary Stats
Armor: Full black double kevlar ultra-lite
Weapons: AIMS 20 (standard) XM107 (snipers) Joint Combat Pistol (standard)
XM320 Machne Gun (gunners) 30 micro-grenades (standard)
Other weapons may not be listed that are used

Montegrandean retreat

In the current situation and knowing the corrupt and psychotic idiosincracy of danterians, the M;ontegrandean High Command had decided it didn´t make a point to fight to stablish communism if communism would be a pretext for the same fascist style governments the Danterians used to put in power. It was worthless for true communists to die fighting if it wouldn´t really change the wicked soul of the danterian whole society. The core of montegrandeans soldiers retreated fastly taking as much communist party and red army members they could carry after blowing up Dreil, Wlateswja and Volksburg. In the smaller towns, the montegrandeans left the danterians to survive alone (which could be more thoughtful knowing how soloriens were). Covering the retreat 50,000 montegrandeans kept fighting with more pride and determination as for in their damned backs they would carry the hopes of total salvation of the retreating forces. Thge excellent planes and more non tripulated planes attacks and also the using of the heavier artillery and the best tanks to fight back the soloriens, who were probably more worried about New-Lexington, Zukariaa and Undershi now.....
The order of executing the prisoners wasn´t taken back. Sara von Freiburg should die, specially now they didn´t care about stabilty of a country that montegrandeans thought damned, not for civil war or foreign powers but because of their own...

Locke had been flown back to Haraki on urgent business. The Prime Minister had asked to see him to discuss matters in Danteri, and had asked to talk in person. Locke had, of course, agreed, and a supersonic jet took him back to the capitol of Atherlon, where he was rushed to see Prime Minister Jaime Wolfe in his office. After formalities and greetings, Wolfe bade Locke to take a seat, which he gladly did. Wolfe assumed his chair on the other side of the desk and looked across it at Locke.

"Listen, Felias. There's a few reasons why I've asked you to come here." Without waiting for a response, he launched straight into them. "First of all, Danteri is the only conflict Harakian troops are involved in at this time. Undoubtedly there will be others in the future, but with other matters all settled, us no longer in any alliances which require a donation of forces, the only other place we have troops is in New Haraki, where Cassella launched his mad revolution.

"This leads us to an interesting dilemma. Haraki has a lot of troops and a lot of materiel not being used. It sits in port or in military bases. With forces already dispatched to reinforce New Haraki, we're left with a lot of divisions sitting around with a lot of equipment. There are heavy tanks that haven't ever seen action and will most likely soon be obsolete. We have ships that are of the brand new classes with nothing to do with them. We send them around the world to various bases, on diplomatic missions, but they never see war.

"Since Danteri is the most likely place for Harakian forces to actually see action, I'm hereby authorizing some rather large deployments. First of all, on the gorund. We already have the entire 72nd and 58th Infantry Divisions on the gorund, with units from the 8th Airborne and 2nd Armoured as well. I'm authorizing the deployment of the rest of the 2nd Armoured, plus the entire 4th Mountain Division and half of the 3rd Infantry."

Locke's face lit up at hearing of the near-doubling of the troops he would have at his disposal. He knew Neil would be happy as hell, too. But the Prime Minister wasn't done yet.

"After talking to your boss, Admiral Blaine, we came to the conclusion that our naval forces in Danteri are far outclassed. Either one of the two major belligerents - Zukariaa and Soloriel - could defeat our present forces without so much as blinking an eye. Since this meeting happened on the same day as your request for naval reinforcements came, Roger was in a particulary susceptible mood to give in, and together we authorized -" he flipped through a paper on his desk to see what he had scribbled down in pencil, "-the Susa, the Pethic, Triumph, Adder, Squire Dart, Perseus and Shrike, plus numerous smaller vessels including a submarine group, the Hobbes, and the Holmes."

Locke couldn't take it all in, especially because he hadn't memorized all the navy's ship names. He went through the ones he did know, the famous ones. "The Susa and Pethic - two battleships, the Triumph battlecruiser, and the Shrike - That's one of our newest carriers. And the Hobbes and Holmes ... I can't believe you're giving me two of our latest project."

"We have two more launching in a month, we can afford it. You forgot two Raptor carrier-cruisers - the Adder and Squire Dart - and the Perseus carrier," Wolfe added. "We also decided to include the rest of the 3rd Air Wing, which basically amounts to a fighter squadron and a bomber squadron."

Locke was astounded. He was not only getting a massive overhaul on the ground and sea, but he was back up to airplane levels not seen since the beginning of the war, when Haraki had been making air strikes against Loyalist installations, including the now-Harakian carrier Danteri's Pride. Still, he did not see the next thing Wolfe had for him.

"You're also being promoted to Rear Admiral."

"What? Why?"

"We figured that since Commodore is technically a lower rank than Major-General, even though Neil was fine with it, Hinckley and the others from the divisions being deployed might not be. Besides, with the increasing amount of forces under your command, it didn't seem right for you to be such a low rank any more. Congratulations."

"So ... Is Neil staying in command on the ground? Are you promoting him too?"

"Neil will still be in command of the ground forces, yes, even with the new numbers. He's senior ground commander in the area, so since no highger-ranked people are being deployed, he will stay in command. And no, he's not being promoted. We're considering a promotion to Lieutenant-General, but most likely he will be given the as-always-temporary position of Commanding Major-General, to establish official authority. "

Locke simply sat there. "When is it official?"

"This afternoon. There will be a brief ceremony. We told your family under condition of secrecy from you, so they're here. Blaine and I will be there and then you'll go back to Danteri. We're sure you'll have a lot to deal with."

"When do my new forces arrive?"

"Mobilization will happen tomorrow morning. They've all been informed already, so then it's just down to travel time. The transports carrying the troops will travel with the warships, which will probably make it a little over a week for them. The planes will just fly, so they'll probably be tomorrow afternoon."

"I don't know what to say, but ... thank you."

"It's not a problem, Felias."

"One more question ... Does this mean I'll have a commodore under me?"

"In Danteri? Not for now. Maybe later."

The meeting ended with Locke dumfoundedly leaving. It was a good day.


*


On the plane back to Danteri, the newly-promoted Locke typed up a message.

[From: Rear-Admiral Felias Locke]
[To: Admiral Simon Randolph]
[Subject: Re:Massive use of atomics]

I must protest the use of atomic weaponry in any form by any power in this conflict. Although you may be thinking only of the damage you can cause to Zukariaan forces with your atomic rain, it will cause massive impacts on several different levels: Diplomatically, politically, militarily, ecologically - all areas will suffer. This could well reap a larger nuclear response from Zukariaa, as well as threaten any alliances you have with forces in Danteri. Not to mention the severe damage you are causing to the people of Danteri and to the environment that has already been so damaged. Nuclear strikes over water irradiate the water, causing all sorts of terrible things. In a nation so currently dependent on other nations for supplies, damaging the fishing industry as well as limiting routes ships can take due to radiation, not to mention the severe effects this will have on climate change in the region, possibly causing a dramatic swing in conditions that could cause everything we currently know about Danteri to shift, this seems to have no upsides.

Please, I urge you to stick to conventional weaponry now and in the future. If nothing else, I suggest fuel air bombs. They have often worked quite well in the past, as the conventional equivalent of a nuclear bomb without fallout and radiation. If you have to use giant bombs, at least use safe giant bombs.

Felias Locke

The Thunderers were in the air, flying towards glory and near-certain death at the hands of the Kravenite fleet when they recieved the abort code.
Peter Adams, First Flight-Commander and True Undershi, actually considered violating the order at that moment, as his flyer pushed through the air at many times the speed of sound... but he didn't.
Four hundred Thunderer fighter-bombers turned around, and three mega-tonnes worth of atomic fire were not unleashed.

Meanwhile, back on board the Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes, Admiral Simon Randalph composed a comm to Rear-Admiral Locke:

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: Rear-Admiral Locke
Re: Meeting

Rear-Admiral Locke - congradulations on your recent promotion. As you likely have already seen, the schedualed atomic strike against the Kravenites has been called off - the Undershi Empire will sit out the fighting, for now.
As for relations between our own two nations, one would hope that they will soon improve? Perhaps a meeting might be schedualed between yourself and I? As was previously suggested, we might come to some sort of agreement on a mutually beneficial alliance - we are no push-overs, but seek a port for our navy on the Danteri continent. If you were to give us a port city, or a site on which we could build a port city, we would agree to sign a document of Alliance - and perhaps to pay your government a sum in gold bulion? That sum would of course not be a bribe, but rather a compensatory payment.
All that the High Command wants in this situation is that port - anything else is negotiable.
On a side note, I'm sure that you would find 10,000 True Undershi soldiers who can match Capitol Police one to one a worth while addition to your military presence.
In the end, we can only wait for your response with some anxiety, lest this wonderful opertunity for friendship between our two peoples is lost. We wait for your reply.

The Undershi High Command doesn't take kindly to having its wishes defied - a new task force is en-route, this one consisting of the carrier Hobbes, two cruisers and six destroyers.

With the new force, Undershi assets now total:

- Three carriers (The Descartes, the Nietzche and the Hobbes), which carry a total of 600 Thunderer fighter-bombers and 150 Crusader helicopter gun-ships.

- Eight cruisers (big ships, with long range missile armament and some close-in guns).

- Eighteen destroyers (smaller versions of the cruisers, with extra CIWS stuff, meant to picket the fleet and provide AA support with SAMs and CIWS fire).

- Ten troop ships, each carrying one battalion of True Undershi soldiers. (10,000 in all.)

- One missile submarine, capable of launching one mega-tonne city-killer missiles, of which it carries six. (And of which only one is currently armed).

OOC: Wow - you don't go on for a while and everything changes.

The NNDEF is continuing to do what it can - it is continuing to work on securing the civilian populace from the potential ravages of a war between Soloriel and Zukariaa.
Currently, although the NNDEF is on high alert, and would like nothing better than to kick some Capitol Police rear, they have no plans to do anything other than follow Haraki's lead - if Haraki fights, they fight, if not, they don't.

The mob was angry, the mob was vicious and the mob wanted blood. The Politzei had either turned tail and ran or joined the rioters as they marched on the Bundestag, smashing aside barricades, climbing over wrought iron fences.
The delegates in the Bundestag had hastily assembled for an emergency session as soon as they saw the writing on the wall, and, as the mob smashed down the doors and came into the chamber of government itself, they were greeted not by machine-guns and defiance, but by a grim opposition leader announcing that the Bundestag had voted to disolve itself, and to hold new elections then and there.
The rejoicing was instant - the party spilled out into the streets, where Politzei officers in riot gear joined would-have-been rioters in singing the national anthem, as beer that someone had found some where was passed out.
Soon enough, a bonfire had been started, and the mob, no longer a mob, now just people, happy at their blood-less victory, gathered round, arm-in-arm with former members of the Bundestag, to sing joyous songs of victory.

Still, one man was missing - the Chancellor, having seen the writing on the wall as well, had vanished that morning, and now moved secretly, while the people celebrated their victory.

The new chancellor, unelected but democratic, a former economics professor, called the first session of Der Neue Bundestag, The New Bundestag, into order.
He spoke gravely, to an audience that listened with rapt silence:
"My fellow Neue Neue Deutschlanders - we must now deal with one of the great crimes of our predecessors - they abandoned our comrades, our fellow citizens, the Neue Neue Deutsch Expeditionary Force, to die. We must correct that decision - I move for the decleration of a State of Emergency, that I might make use of the powers granted the chancellor during such a time to radically improve and enlargen our military - we need to be able to defend ourselves from the enemies that lurk out in the world. What say you?" to that speech, the response was imediate and extreme - yes, they would postpone the elections that they had fought for, if only their comrades, the soldiers of the NNDEF, could be saved.
Perhaps at the start, he even meant to have elections later on, for such is the road to damnation - it is paved with good intentions.

Hauptmann Luisa Rhurlunder felt, well, weird. There was no other way to put it - she had commanded the NNDEF without outside supervision for weeks, for months, and no one had cared, because she and her people had been sold out, forgotten.
Now, some revolution put some new order in control back home, and out here in Danteri, she started getting orders again. Still, she supposed that she should be glad that they were no longer being abandoned, but it still felt weird to take orders from, well, some civilian back home who, if the rumors were true, had been a professor of economics until the revolution came around.
She shouldn't hold that against him - after all, Vessermann, poor, murdered, Vessermann, had only been a Primary School Teacher before he had gone into politics and gotten elected, and gotten placed in control of what passed for a military in Neue Neue Deutschland.
The fact that she wasn't in power anymore, that was no reason for her to be angry - if she had wanted to rule, she'd have gone into politics, not the army.
Still, in the end, it felt weird to have everything back to the way it had been before the events, that was weird, with no other word to discribe how it had been.
Sighing, she sat at her desk and composed a letter to Major-General Niel, describing the recent events - and focusing in on her fear that such a populist as this professor of economics, who declared a State of Emergency and thereby suspended the constitution as his first act upon achieving power, could not be trusted.
With that letter done, she began working on a less enviable task - writting letters to the families of the Neue Neue Deutsch soldiers who had died for their country.

Southhaven, Danteri

Roros was overjoyed. The election resukts wer ein and his pro-unification party had won a majority, on its own! His party had won 56% of the popular vote, while others had garnared another 11%. The Anti-unification Liberal Democrats stole 20% of the vote, while conservatives took 10% and other conservative parties, the Muslins, Fascists and other extremist parties took less than 3%, leaving them with no parliamentary representation.

Roros sent out a message to his candidates informing them of their first piece of legislation; a measure to petition 23Eris for acceptance as a full province.

OOC: Results courtesy of Danteri
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erisian HQ, Southhaven

Lillis cursed, Zukariaa had returned, bringing back the Kraven menace and guaranteeing that 23Eris would be dragged into a war against Kraven. How could they not be, allied as they were with Soloriel. They could avoid the war with Montegrande on the grounds of their nn-aggression pact with that nation, but if Kraven attacked Soloriel, as it appeared they intended, the Erisians would have to join the Soloriels to fight the Kraven beast. This certainly was not what Lillis wanted. Her predecessor had gone to great lengths to avoid war with the Zukariaans, but if her government ordered her to support Soloirel, there was no choice but to do so.

Lillis ordered her troops back to full mobilization and moved most of the units near the coastline in Southhaven. In Northhaven, Erisian troops were placed on high alert and prepared for the conflict to come.

Meanwhile, Lillis requested orders from her superiors back in 23Eris.

The first Zukariaan units to land came under fire not from any organized resistance, but from snipers who just hated Zukariaa so much that they were willing to die if they could take one or two Zukariaans with them.
The commandos showed up as well - they fired a few mortar shells at the landing zones before running before the massively superior Zukariaan numbers. Zukariaan casualties from these tactics are unknown.

Undershi Navy Command Ship Descartes

Six hundred Thunderer fighter-bombers sat waiting to launch, armed tactical nukes loaded into the missile racks of four hundred, Air-to-Air missiles for the other 200. If any power picked a fight with the Undershi, they would regret it.
Meanwhile, on board the ten massive troop ships, hundreds of True Undershi soldiers checked their weapons for the oncoming landing... they just didn't know where they were going to land, merely that they were, and that when they did, they would fight for The Empire.

The Undershi task force waited, watching as events unfolded, waiting to see what it would do - they would not act without a reason, and they were willing to wait to see what they would do. It remained to be seen if they would launch themselves into war with Kravenite Zukariaa, although they defnitely leaned towards Soloriel - if Soloriel would be willing to offer them the port that they wanted, then they would gladly go and strike a blow against the only foreign power that they saw as a long-term threat - the Kravenites.
After all, some sort of super-human would soon rule the world - the only question, as far as they were concerned, was whether it would be the True Undershi or the Kravenite Capitol Police soldier.

The com screen glowed in a dull blue that soften the creased wrinkles around the Commander's eyes. Vaya had at least one grin for the day full of headaches. Melii diplomatic contacts were beginning to bear tangible fruits. The Cravan barbarian allies were sending much needed relief supplies and material to this hole. Other Not Enemies would be approached.

Cravan is sending three container ships filled with humanitarian supplies. They are escorted by seven destroyers, three cruisers, and an aircraft carrier. Also being wired is $500 million in monetary aid to the Melii. We hope these come in handy.

Perhaps they would catch the Albatross afterall.

Answering Me Li's request The Ustian goverment well send several thousands of pounds of food and water. Medical supplies well also be sent by C-17 Globemaster's and C-5 galaxy's. F/A 35 Talons well escort the transports to the areas needing supplies. Do you have an airfield were my transports can land?

The Danterians are panicing as the Kravenites re-invade - dozens have been killed in panic-riots in the safe-zones, and spaces on the refugee ships are going quickly.
Already, millions of Danterians have fled their homeland for other nations, and millions more look to be dead set on doing so as well.
Additionaly, many of the people in the areas closer to the fighting between Zukariaa and Soloriel are running for the east coast - that's where the largest refugee concentrations are.
At this point, the western half of Danteri is effectively uninhabited (only about ten percent of its population is still there, the rest has fled to the east).
Literaly hundreds of millions of Danterians have become displaced persons at this point, as they flee for their lives towards any zone where they have a chance of getting out alive.

OOC-I haven't actually landed my forces yet..

I'm waiting for Soloriel.

Answering Me Li's request The Ustian goverment well send several thousands of pounds of food and water. Medical supplies well also be sent by C-17 Globemaster's and C-5 galaxy's. F/A 35 Talons well escort the transports to the areas needing supplies. Do you have an airfield were my transports can land?

"Message Recieved... please standby..."

Melii's message boards light up as the VIPs are informed.

<high burst low encryption to Ustia commander>
"The Kravenites and the Wars have majorly messed up the Native Airfields. The Old Feilds are being rehabilitated and New Facilities are still under construction on the Mainland. They will be completed in a few weeks.

For now you will have to land on the Island. Kill speed and approach on this vector. [blah, blah, military jargon]"

The tech sighed... another fool had joined the Melii's efforts. Best to give the New Guys a proper laugh before the shit smacked them in the face. He reactivated the Comm.

"Oh yes one more thing Sir.
Welcome to the Devil's Armpit."
<end>

Private Headquarters of SP Harris
"What kind of name is 'Black Cat'" spat SP Harris.
"I dont know sir" said his chief aid, Michael Dingba.
"Well its gay sounding and im going to change it"
"Whatever you like sir"
"How about the 'Dark Legion'"
"Very good sir"
Somewhere in Lexitonain held Danteri
The first of the Dark Legion soldier where arriving. They were soldiers from birth, New-Lexington's best and battle tested. Many had fought the Zukariaans in the streets of Westgate, and the Danteri rebels in Hell's Valley. They wore complete dark green armor, with a gilly suit around it. They moved quietly eastward, towards Soleriol territory.

The 600 Thunderers of the Undershi Expeditionary Fleet flew in one massive formation over the sea, as behind them came the ten troop ships, all heading for one spot of coastline which had been left relatively undefended, near the Haraki zones.
The Thunderers circled the beach while 10,000 True Undershi shock troopers stormed out of their landing craft, setting up mortar and artillery positions, portable SAM sites and machine gun positions.
Within several minutes, combat engineers were setting up fortifications, concentrating on securing the beach from any possible retaliatory strike. Although this territory was technically claimed by the Haraki, they hadn't secured it against this sort of force.
Any Haraki soldiers near the landing site were greeted by two meter tall True Undershi soldiers in full armour, who informed them quite politely that, like it or not, Undershi was claiming its port.
At the same time, the Undershi diplomatic core lept into action, sending the Haraki government a very poite letter, saying that they were taking the port that their High Command wanted, and that they hoped there would not be a diplomatic incident. The Haraki government was offered a compensatory package: MFN (Most Favored Nation) status for trading (no tariffs, their goods are allowed free access, they pay lower taxes than other nations), and 100 million USDs worth of gold bulion.
Additionally, a Treaty of Alliance was written up, whereby the Haraki would agree that the Undershis putting the port there had been their idea all along, they would both sign a long-term mutual defensive pact, and the Undershi would agree to pay the Danterians and the Haraki a 10 million USD annual "rent" on their port.
With crossed fingers, Admiral Simon Randalph waited for the results of the actions forced upon him by his High Command.

Southhaven, Danteri

Lillis looked up at her new intelligence officer, a major apparently. "What can I do for you?" She asked, glancing down meaningfully at the stack of paperwork on her desk.

"The Undershi have made landfall near the Haraki."

"Great, how does that affect us?"

"It doesn't so far, we're awaiting the Soloriel response ma'am. Likely, they'll be too busy with the remains of Montegrande and the Kraven return to pay it much mind for now."

"Good, we don't need more complications here. What do we know about these undershi?"

"They apparently use genetic modifications to produce some kind of super-soldiers. Supposedly stronger, faster, and smarter compared to the average soldier."

"Well lets hope we never have to show them that Erisians are not average, and that we don't fight one on one. Super-soldiers are a waste Major. Good tactics and team-work among even average troops can bring down a stronger and better equipped force. History has proven that many times." Lillis set down her pen and rubbed her eyes before looking back up at the major who remained standing. "Any word yet on the investigation in Papadakis' death?"

"No ma'am, though the surviving guard insists that they were set-up. The quarrel that distracted the pair was too convienent. We're trying to follow up leads and interviewing as many witnesses as we can. You'll want to talk to someone from the MIS, Military Investigative Service for a more definitive report."

"That's good enough for me, I don't need the details until we know something for sure. Now if you'll excuse me Major, I've a list of requisitions to complete."

"Yes Ma'am."

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

The first meeting of the Southhaven Assembly, now basically a puppet of Roros and his backers, went much as planned. Roros' followers, supported by some independent groups who advocated unification rammed through a measure requesting formal annexation of Southhaven by the government of 23Eris. The new assembly also requested that the Civilian Authority, headed by Alexander Roros, orchestrator of Papadakis' killing, to communicate this request to his government.

Other measures adopted included a bill recognizing the full right of all Danteri citizens over the age of 17 to vote; an act prohibiting discrimination based on Age, Gender, Marital Status, Race, Religion, or National Origin; and finally an act guaranteeing 23Eris exclusive rights to the military base they had established in Hermia for as long as that nation wished in exchange for an annual 10 Million Chao subsidy.

OOC: Undershi--Why didn't you just grab an island? ... maybe you did? Montegrande...I am going to move in on those islands as your forces retreat to prevent people from killing themselves and everybody else. No fire fight eh? 23eris I hate Roros! :p

The few Danterian locals who were around there when the landing occured wisely fled as quickly as they could, avoiding any contact with the Undershi. After such experiences as they had had with the Zukariaans, was it any wonder that they fled from "two meter tall" super soldiers?
A few members of the democraticly elected Haraki commitees have voiced fear over so brazen a landing, but the fact that there are six hundred Undershi Thunderer fighter-bombers in the air, many of them apparently carrying the mini tactical nukes favored by the Undershi, has stiffled their enthusiasm in protesting - they fear what might occur if a war breaks out.

The Danterians in the archapelago "surrendered" peacefully to Me li, throwing down their weapons and rejoicing to be saved from the Kravenites, bowing down before the initial landing parties, and explaining how happy they were to have survived the Montegrande-backed regime, where Sara von Freiburg purged before being purged herself.
It seems as though the Danterians here will be "good", and will obey their new masters from Me li.

OOC: I agree with Me li - Roros is a bit of a "nasty", shall we say?

The public support for Southhaven becoming part of 23Eris was second only for the proposal to simply remove every single Danterian to 23Eris itself. It seems that there are few "this is my home, here I will die" type fanatics in Danteri, or at least, there are few left, so almost 90% said, when polled, that they would accept any offer to get out of Danteri. It seems that they have had their fill of warfare...
However, when polled again, something like 80% were at least vaguely in favor of unification with 23Eris - it seems that they believe that such an event would lead to them being better protected against Zukariaan agression, and they're probably right...
In fact, looking at polls, it looks like the Southhaven Danterians would likely have put a pro-unification majority in power even if Roros and his faction hadn't done anything.

Telegram to Soleriol Leaders
We request use of your territory to deploy troops to fight the Zuuks and Me Li.
New-Lexington

OOC-New-Lexington, I'm still wondering what processes, abilities, equipment, etc that your supersoldiers go through/have. It's an important part of having a supersoldier, and I don't want to fight a supersoldier that I know nothing about..

Secure Message
[From: Rear-Admiral Felias Locke]
[To: Admiral SImon Randalph]

I'm sorry, but no. You're not dealing with some small nation here that you can bully around all you like. Asking forgiveness is not better than asking permission, and you cannot simply ignore any diplomacy and land your troops anyway, especially after we explicitly told you that you would not be allowed in Harakian territory for reasons of safety. You forget that you're not only endangering the lives of your and my soldiers, but also of the over thirty million civilians I'm protecting. If you need your port, get it somewhere else. And you won't bribe your way out of this, either. Offering us a lucrative trade package and a lot of money still can't make up for the loss of thirty million lives.

Since you seem to completely ignore any diplomacy I attempt with you, I am giving you a clear message right here and right now: You have 48 hours to vacate Harakian territory altogether. If by that time all your soldiers have not left the land you have supposedly claimed, there will be a severe Harakian backlash.

I would be glad to have a meeting with you to discuss the roles of our forces in Danteri, but I'm afraid that these roles will not, until forther notice, include Undershi soldiers in Harakian territory, and that is a non-negotiable condition.

Felias Locke


*


Eighteen hours out from the Harakian port in mainland Danteri, the newest naval taskforce sailed along peacefully. Spearheaded by the brand new battleships HNS Susa and HNS Pethic and the aging battlecruiser HNS Triumph, with the aircraft carriers Perseus and Shrike and carrier-cruisers Adder and Squire Dart on the inside and a picket line of smaller ships, including the submersible cruisers Hobbes and Holmes, the transports were the best protected on the inside, carrying their vital cargo: Nearly three full divisions of Harakian troops, including equipment and materiel. Flying overhead was air cover from the carriers plus land-based fighters from Haraki's island base and the Danteri mainland. Under the water cruised a small number of attack submarines.

Eighteen hours from their destination, they received a new destination: A smaller port up the coast, towards where the Undershi forces had landed. Redirecting themselves, it shaved two hours off their travel time, taking them closer to the coast and to the route they were already taking. The transports would head back after that, and the naval force would carry on to refuel and resupply at the main port.

Haraki's military presence in Danteri just nearly doubled, leaving them still far behind the more militarily-oriented factions.

OOC: Hey, not all erisians can be benevolent good-guys, we have to have some nasty folk in our country, unfortunately!

Cabinet Room, Kallisti City, 23Eris

"Well, Kraven is back, Lillis is handling that as best she can. Units have been alerted and we're stepping up evacuations and supply shipments to Southhaven to compensate for the influx of refugees from Montegrande. Basically the entire central area of Danteri is becoming an unpopulated wasteland." reported General Thomson.

Prime Minister Hekatos stared out the small window that offered an excellent view of the city, and beyond that, the bay the city nudged up against. "How did it ever come to this? I thought with the aid we sent, with Haraki and other nations helping we could have saved more. Instead we were all too scared of Kraven. We let then seize so much of central Danteri that we condemned millions to die. We sould have done more."

"Prime Minister we didn't know what Kraven would do, the slaughter was unanticipated." argued the interior minister.

"We should have known. We knew what Kraven did in other territories they occupied. We knew about the forced labor, the slave-like conditions, and we did nothing. Oh we condemned, we supplied the commandos, we took pictures, but in the end we let those people die. All of us, Haraki, Gwazzaria, Me Lii, Soloriel, Montegrande, New-Lexington, and especially ourselves. We preach freedom, rights for the people. How could we have stood by and watched millions lose their simple right to live?"

"Prime Minister, there wasn't much we could do. Our military wasn't ready for a war against Kraven. It still isn't. At least not without allies. Our troops stack up nicely against anyone now that we've introduced the Modern Combat System and our troops are more combat tested than previously. But we couldn't have done anything on our own except get millions more killed." Thompson argued.

"Perhaps you're right, but we will not condemn millions more Danteri to death under Kraven. We will resist them to the last. And, if our reports on these Undershi are correct, if they institute the same slave-labor system we've heard about in Danteri, we will not stand by and let the people of Danteri suffer."

"Yes, Ma'am." the cabinet minister replied in unison.

"Now. as to the request by the Southhaven assembly... Our constitution posesses no means for the addition of new provinces into our nation. This is a matter for the Parliament. The message I will carry to parliament is this, and I want to have one hundred percent backing on this... no wavering, understood? This is the mesage..."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parliament, Kallisti City, 23Eris

"...and that brings me to a request made by the Southhaven assembly and transmitted via our civilian representative, Alexander Roros. The assembly has requested that we incoporate Southhaven as a full province of 23Eris."

[Brief pause because of loud cheers of approval in the chamber]

"We- we can only benefit from the inclusion of Southhaven in our nation. The Danteri people have proven to be honest, hard-working, steadfast, and very loyal. Any nation should be proud to have produced a people such as theirs. The nation of 23Eris is honored that the people and government of Southhaven seeks admittance into our humble nation, and we can not ignore such a call, nor will the millions of Danteri who now reside in our nation, nor the conscience of any true Erisian allow us to do so."

[Loud applause]

"Unfortunately, our constitution makes no mention of expansion of our territory or the inclusion of new provinces into our nation."

[low grumbling]

"What I propose is a middle ground between a simple yes or no. I propose to give Southhaven a provisional status. Starting from the date of approval by our parliament and ratification by ther assembly, Southhaven will wait one year, then hold a new referendum. If at least two-thirds of their populace wish to join with us then, we will gladly accept them."

[extremely loud cheering, lasts several minutes]

"My personal hope is that, within that time Danteri will become peaceful, and that the Danteri people will find their own path, and that together as partners and allies we will work towards the betterment of our nations, The Free Lands of the 23rd Eris and an independent Danteri. If that dream is unreachable, all Danteri should know, that they are forever welcome within our nation."

[applause]

"Lastly, I wish to send a message to all nations who seek to appease themselves at the expense of Danteri, who occupy territory for the aggrandizement of thei own selfish interests. My message is this: We have for too long tolerated the abuses of others in Danteri. That time is ended. We will no longer allow other nations to abuse the Danteri people for their own amusement or profit. Let this be a warning to any nation seeking to expand its hold or to colonize parts of the Danteri nation, you will pay a dear price for every drop of blood spilled by the lash."

[Standing ovation]

Telegram to Soleriol Leaders
We request use of your territory to deploy troops to fight the Zuuks and Me Li.
New-Lexington
ooc:
Dude!!! what the in the Infinite Hells did I ever do to you? I'm just feeding people. I already have my island base. I just gave up the last months worth of RPing in the Haraki Zones... to start a Rebuilding a new zone.

You lumping me with the Zuuks? We are anarchist! 23eris is right I am ashamed of the peace treaty but it prevented a larger war... the damn zuuks are crazy... lol didn't expect that Ragnorok thing. Shoulda but I didn't. Still we have maintained Neutrality with Everyone... the following is not a god mod. I will leave it up to you to figure out why it isn't.:rolleyes: You will grin when you figure it out.

ic:
<open broadcast on public TV>
The High Commander of The Isles of Mara Confederation Allied Forces, Dominion of Me Li's Commander: i.e. in universal basic the Admiral was holding an "impromptu" Press Conference on Avalon Island. The bickering, preeening, flock of reporters fell silent as the Mongoose entered the Room.

He glared at them, sending feverish chills down many a back, before begining to read the prepared letter in a suprisingly clear tenor.

To: New Lexington
Fr: Me Li HQ
RE: Clumsy Barbarian attempts at subterfuge.

We are sadden by your distrust of us. You are now no longer Not Enemy. You are not yet Enemy. Your ships, soldiers, and planes will be shot on sight if they enter Melii Zones of Refuge. Please reconsider your intentions. Perhaps you were mistaken?

The Continent is in a lull between storms. The Zuuks have not yet landed. The Undershi have landed in Haraki Zones. The Commies are currently quiet. You have your illegal imperialistic holdings. Yet depite all of this you wish to provoke a war with a peaceful non-bordering good neighbor? Are you too possesed by demons?

Or is there a greater plot thickening?
[map display shows projected Fascists forces]

We ask you once again to declare you humanity and Please reconsider your intentions. Perhaps you were mistaken?

Vaya bows and the press session turns to a frantic Q & A by the international and domestic reporters. They sensed blood in the chumy waters. The question was who was the bait and who was the Sharks?

OOC-Also, just to clear up, I'd have to protect Me li from an attack because of our treaty. Me li is technically an ally of Kraven. I wont be doing anything here until Soloriel responds or something happens to Me li.

Odd, eh? Not to worry Me li, your good.

Telegram to Leaders of Me Li
ATTN Your "Technical" alliance with Kraven concerns us greatly. As sworn enemies of Kraven, you are the enemy. How ever we will nto attack you as long as you dont provoke any attack.

Dark Legion Stats (I guess this is what you want Zuukariaa)
Through tests on convicted murderers in New-Lexington, the following results show
(From 100yds)
It took: 8 Rounds from M16A in the chest to prove fatal
It took: 5 Armor piercing rounds from M16A to prove fatal
Other
It took: 2 Fragmentation grenades to prove fatal
It took: 1 Falcon Class Missile
The Dark Legions are each totally covered in armor. Each Dark Legionaire can serve as a general in combat, with a translator to speak most world languages built into his helmet. His armor is air conditioned using a small nuclear battery in an anti-radiation case. Darh Legionairres use the most sophisticated equipment avaliable today including handless digital radios (built into helmet, encrypted) computer imaging of the surrounding area (thermal, night vision) and thick light-weigh armor. There are currently about 10,000 in Lexitonian-held Danteri.

OOC: What thirty million?!?

The Undershi troops were abandoning their defensive positional almost as soon as the Haraki message arrived - it appears that the Undershi don't want a war with Haraki... after all, they have an even larger fish to fry.
The Thunderer fighter-bombers that were providing air support to the ground forces have withdrawn as well, to land on their carriers, to refuel and rearm- every single one of them rearmed to carry a mini tactical nuke, and every single one of them prepared to fly off - they might soon be taking part in the attacks against No_State_At_All assets throughout the world, a fight where every last bit of material would be needed.

Meanwhile, a conciliatory message was sent to Rear-Admiral Locke, urging him to forgive Undershi its transgression, basically begging for forgiveness. In fact, that message offered the entire package of bribes, less the offer of ten million USDs per year to the Danterians, if the Haraki just don't do anything - they're already leaving as quickly as they can, and in fact are abandoning artillery, armour, food supplies and large tanks of purified water that were meant to supply the troops - basically, they're leaving behind everything except the soldiers themselves, and their personal gear.

What Was Left Behind:

- 250 mortars
- 50 light field artillery pieces
- 15 heavy field artillery pieces
- 100 Viper class IFVs
- 50,000 MREs
- 50,000 gallons of purified water
- A whole lot of shells, ammunition and fuel.
- Construction equippment, from their engineering units.

Basically, they got out as quickly as they could.

Admiral Simon Randalph was afraid. He had never wanted a war with Haraki - they were an example of what a nation could be, not an enemy, even if they were a bunch of feral norms. Now another war had broken out, and he was under orders to commit his entire force to that war, to the annihilation of some state that went by the name of No_State_At_All... he was afraid because that state, even if it was ruled by norms, was over five times as heavily populated as the Undershi Empire.
Still, they had always won before - what was to keep them from winning now? But that was the problem - would they be worthy of their victory? Would they deserve to crush another nation under their boot heel, to crush it and enslave it?
He was a norm himself - why did he fight so that his race, not the Undershi race but the human race, would be enslaved?
Sighing, he sat on his desk and pondered the question, while he watched True Undershis, somehow managing to look heroic even in full retreat, raced for their landing craft, failing even to spike the guns they left behind in their full-scale flight.
At least they did not flee under fire - war with the Haraki had not begun... yet. Suddenly, Admiral Randalph had no illusions about the matter - if they were strong enough, Haraki would be attacked and enslaved. Like No_State_At_All was being attacked and enslaved.
Life was... it was something, when one realizes that one is only serving a maniacle regime that wants nothing short of world conquest... which they all "knew" they would have... when they spoke of "necessary centuries", they were planning for their dominion over the human race.
What was it that that englishman had said in his book? Something aboutthe future as a steel-shod boot stomping on a human face forever... that would be what a world conquered by the Undershi would be like.

A few of the braver locals came to watch the Undershis flee into the sea. They were silent at first, but then cried out in joy, and then began calling out insults to the retreating Undershis. Finally, one threw a rock, then another, then they were all throwing rocks... and the Undershis fled to their landing crafts, as Danterians threw rocks at them. It was a joyous thing, to watch an invader flee...

Southhaven, Danteri

When the order from the homeland came, Lillis almost choked on her coffee. Her forces were in defensive positions, mostly aimed at repelling any invasion fom the sea, and now this...

Lillis re-read the message twice and set it aside briefly, jotting down her own orders before calling in an aide who took the orders and carried them to the communications room. Within minutes the orders of two Erisian infantry divisons had changed, their vehicles and troops began to abandon their positions and within an hour of recieving the order they were on the move.

In her office Lillis looked at the note one more time before shaking her head, believing this to be a terrible mistake.

To: Lt. General Lillis
From: Army Command, 23Eris
Re: New Orders

General, you are hereby ordered to dispatch what troops you can safely spare and proceed northward, seize as much Montegrande territory as you can behind their evacuating troops. You are not authroized to engage Montegrandian forces except in self-defense or to protect civilian lives.

Good luck and may the Goddess smile on you.

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

OOC: Erisian troops are moving north, looking to meet the Soloriel advance somewhere in the middle of Montegrande territory. Montegrandian troops will be offered safety (from Soloriel) in Erisian Southhaven if they lay down arms, and will not be engaged directly except in self-defense or to defend Danteri civilians.

Whether we broke our non-aggression treaty is debatable since Montegrande was pulling out, however our actions certainly don't seem to be very ethical do they?

Hurrah! hurrah! a soldier’s life for me!
Shout, boys, shout! for it makes you jolly and free.
—The Ramrod Corps.

The old verses were being sung by the "green" Militia recruits. Me Li had decided that since the Danteri seemed to already know how to shoot and hide, that the captured soldiers would be given a choice of either re-entering the civilian workplace or remain in the military. Large Danteri Units would have Melii commissars and all would be intergrated into a Provisional Army.

Blanket asylumn was given to any and all that the Me Li discovered. There was one small catch. After three months, any remaining Banditos will be executed. Every able bodied citizen was required to join the Militia and serve one weekend out of the month. The Melii had little doubt that the citizens would be successful in a direct assualt by Invaders, however, they would be devestating when the invaders appeared to be losing and were in full retreat.

It had worked against Napoleon's Imperium in Spain and later on in his retreat from Moscow. It had worked against Hitler's Germans after Stalingrad... The irregulars would force the Daemons to deal with them.

ooc:
Undershi... Rudyard is badass.
N. Lex. cool.
Zuuk... <distaste> Yeah weird how that worked out. :rolleyes:
Everyone else: We are Neutral. :D Go on and kill each other.

Admiral Simon Randalph couldn't sleep. He was afraid that everything would soon come to nothing... if Undershi annihilated this No_State_At_All only to be annihilated itself, who would prosper? Few indeed...
Sighing, he gave up on sleeping that night, and rose from his bed. Stumbling in the dark, he made his way to his desk, where he turned on the lights. Sitting in the massive chair, he began reading reports, anything to take his mind off the terror that was inevitably going to come...
The Undershi ground troops had reacted well to the Danterian attack with rocks - they hadn't fired, and so were able to continue their withdrawl. It was only luck that none of the Danterians had decided to go play with the un-destroyed artillery that they had left behind - that would have been bad.
Still, it hadn't been the proudest moment in the history of the Undershi Empire, when 10,000 True Undershi shock troops and some norm combat engineers all retreated from a few rock throwing Danterians... and the threat of Haraki force that backed those peasants up.
The admiral admired the Haraki, as much as he was able to. They had done well in Danteri, well in their political system... he wished that they could have been allies, but it didn't seem likely that they would be, following Locke's response to the attempt to secure a port...
They would have to try again, that he knew, before the inevitable war with No_State_At_All started. Although... what was the point? When war came this time, it wouldn't be against some fanatics, or some minor state, or some spear-armed natives - it would be a war against a larger, more populous nation with a larger industrial base and a larger military. In such a war, the best that Undershi could hope for would be mutual destruction... and even if he hated what the empire stood for, Simon Randalph did not want to die as his homeland crashed down around him.
They already lost too many men fighting to claim colonies... it would be wonderful if no one would have to die, but such was life... except that it wasn't - the Haraki, 23Eris, all those other states, they proved that it wasn't. That was what made him hate his job so much - he crushed little states, for no purpose other than to enlarge the Great State, The Empire, to profit Undershi and its True Undershi masters. It was a sad thing to think about, all those norms like him, living in the Empire, either slaves in the newly conquered territories, or truly second class citizens in the older territories... whatever happened to the Empire, it was a state that should never have come into being.
Pouring himself a glass of the liquer that he kept in his cabin, he composed a letter to the 23Erisian leadership, hoping perhaps that they would grant the High Command's request... because that was what he needed to get done, before the High Command just said for him to go and conquer the weakest nation present in Danteri.

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: The Leadership of 23Eris
Re: Port
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gentlemen, we must ask you for a port in Danteri. Haraki has denied us, and our military resources are stretched quite thin. We do not want a war with Soloriel or Kravenite Zukariaa.
We might soon be at war with a major power, the state of No_State_At_All, which would lead to both us and them being reduced to rubble and glass... we do not want to die...
However, before that war, we require ports. The High Command has sent me to Danteri to find one port city or site for port city that could become an Undershi naval station. We are looking for one, and would be willing to offer significant concessions to your nation if we were to be given one by your state.
We do not want Danterians to go with it - they are unnecessary, although we will not evict them from a city if you give it to us - nor will they be compelled to stay.
We only want a port, any port anywhere in all of Danteri. Is that acceptable? We await your reply.

To Undershi Leaders
From Supreme President Drew Harris
RE Port
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The New-Lexington government offers you the use of the city of Lost Key to use as a port. Situated on the western side of the largest island on the New-Lexington archipelago, Lost Key contains a 4000 foor harbor, well sheltered.
Sincerely
SP Harris

Admiral Simon Randalph was beginingg to feel better - they had just had an offer for a port. Of course the offer was accepted, and soon the fleet was on its way to secure the site.
First the True Undershi shock troops would land, all 10,000 of them, with the gear they had left behind at the other landing zone easily replaced by supplies from home.
Then would come the engineering units, who would establish a perimiter, and begin building defenses... after which it would begin building a small town, laid out on a grid pattern, where every building would be built like a bunker, to be defended by the troops that would soon sleep in them.
Meanwhile, as the port was built up, eight of the ten super-sized transports would be used to gain a bit of good will - they would make one trip to 23Eris, carrying 8,000 refugees, before returning to help with the construction of the port.
If the move with the transports worked out well, perhaps it might become a permanent move - Undershi needed the PR, after all...

- Most Favored Nation Status: (Really good trading terms)
- 100 million USDs in gold.
- A "leasing fee" of 10 million USDs a year.
- The offer of alliance with the Undershi Empire.

OOC: Sorry if this is a bit late to enter but I used to represent Oompli in the very early stages of this conflict and am wondering if this is still open.
Many thanks in advance.

The Melii had always loved a good story... almost as much as they liked a good insane bet, drinking, cussing, and being generally big dumb primitive Melii tribesmen. And so it was thus that a fearsome Gunny was telling stories to some impressionable grunts, maggot-recurits, and some children at one of the Refugee Centres. HAM efforts were very important at implanting Melii Memes and cultural motifs deeply into the Danteri psyche.

That and it was a good way to pass the time. The Gunny was 6'4'' bear of a man, and a suprisingly gifted storyteller. He held thecrowds attention with an expertly placed pause here and a raised eyebrow there... it was a goodly show. The story you ask? Why everyone knows of it... the Sage Aesop himself knew of it before he had recited it before another, older fire so long ago.



The Scorpion and the Frog

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The
frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion
says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of
paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
but has just enough time to gasp "Why?"

Replies the scorpion: "Its my nature..."

ooc: Anyone want to help out in Danteri is still welcomed in my zones. Me Li will invite no Scorpions... but if you want to join in I assume Danteri will let you. I also assume Haraki wouldn't mind supplies and stuff. <shrug>

OOC: Danteri and I established a while ago that there were a little over thirty million refugees in the Haraki safe zones. With expansions since then and more refugees that arrived bwteen taht time and total Zukariaan conquest, I'm going to say there's thirty-three million refugees in my safe zones. For the record, that's about the size of Canada ... I have to feed and protect Canada.





Locke breathed a sigh of relief as he gave orders to divert most of the convoy back to its original destination. Still, as the most experienced soldiers on the convoy, the three brigades from the 3rd Infantry Division landed and secured the Undershi landing site, being very careful to take in everything left behind and take note of what all it is. It was all being recorded. Much of it would be surreptitiously donated to the Neue Neue Deutsch Expeditionary Force. The food and water would be diverted to refugees, the construction equipment would be given to Danterian construction crews to free up some of the more skilled Harakian workers and construction equipment.

To be honest, he thought to himself, he had been mostly bluffing with his tough talk message. He had threatened retribution against the Undershi without knowing what. Most likely he would have simply carpet bombed the entire area several times and then moved in armoured forces to take out what was left, but he hadn't planned out beforehand. He had been bluffing, and he knew it. He was just glad the Undershi didn't.

He was supposed to fly into Danteri to go through the motions of temoprarily promoting Neil to Commanding Major-General to establish official authority voer the others, but he was slightly too worried. He decided to postpone it one more day and instead spend his time trying to calm his nerves. With the arrival of his reinforcements he had less to fear, but still he had a lot of things on his plate.

Still, he had a lot of good things happening. Conditions in the safe zones were rapidly improving. Terrorist attacks were subsiding, especially as the CEF squad operating in Danteri were under orders to wipe out any terrorist organizations fighting the Harakian forces or attacking anyone within their zones. He had just recently had Neil oversee the opening of multiple more power and water treatment and distribution plants and systems, bringing electricity and clean running water back up to half the Harakian safe zone. Yes, clouds of coal smoke made their way up into the air, but it was the best they could do with what they had. Eventually, they would make hydro or nuclear plants, but that was a long way in the future. The food services they were providing seemed to be working fine, and the official entry of the Dantmark into circulation was to begin that week, with people told to report to Harakian offices to exchange their old money and IOUs for new hard currency.

But the best news, to Locke, was the arrival of his new forces. They made him so much more credible, both as a coalition leader and as force in the region. Reading Randalph's newest message apologizing for their intrusion into Harakian territory, he turned his computer off. It was time to get some sleep. Promotions and diplomacy could both wait until after he had some sleep and could think again.

To: Admiral Simon Randalph, Undershi
From: Foreign Minister Chilkevich, 23Eris
Re: Port

The only answer I am able to give you is as follows, absolutely not. We have studied reports about your 'empire' and are quite troubled. Your flagrant violations of human rights in the use of forced slave labor and brutal methods of punishment; as well as your nation's reputation as an aggressive opportunistic predator marks you as not to be trusted. We will not tolerate any intrusion by your forces into our territory or territory held by our allies or friendly neutrals, except by their invitation.

Despite your assurances of fair treatment of Danteri citizens, and your assurances that all you want is a port, we have no desire to see you draw your war to Danteri. We hope, that for the sake of the oppressed peoples over which you rule that your government comes to its senses. Until such time, any armed forced or unarmed vessels of your nation are not welcome within our territories or our territorial waters.


OOC: Sorry Undershi, your nation and mine are pretty much diametrically opposed. And after what Kraven did, we've become even less trusting of dictatorships.

So, Haraki has Canada in their territory, I wonder what I have (still in Danteri anyway, not counting the millions that are already in my homeland), must be pretty good by now. Southhaven, and now most of Montegrande's refugees. Yay!

Undershi, we have a deal. However any Kraven like bahavior and its no deal.

ooc: go out and get hammered for a week straight and everything goes up in arms! well here goes:

Hethran Smiled slightly, and he walked over to Sara, he kissed her on the cheek and looked her in the eye. "They will not question my presence on board the Warlock, nor yours. They are my former crew, I have spent weeks gathering them together aboard the Warlock, and she is holding position awaiting my arrival. They are all loyal to me, when we served together the Emperor declared us his Hand of Fury, and the Crew signed a declaration of Muoymdo Ihdu Taydr, or Loyalty Unto Death. They are the most skilled and lethal crew the Empire has, and they are all members of the Imperial College for Culture, as am I. I know that our Clan Lords did not betray the Empire, and I have been secretly informed that the Evidence I need to clear our names, and reinstate the Imperial College for Culture as the driving force in the Empires Diplomatic and Military affairs. With their return into power this country will be freed, and rebuilt, and they will also push for greater diplomatic relations between our two countrys and others as well." James turned away for a moment and sighed, before drawing he opened his door. Standing outside were 2 Imperial Stormtroopers. "James Hethran, you are to be Executed as an Enemy of the Empire, the Imperial College for War has declared that all current and former members of the Imperial College for Culture are Heretics and Traitors." As they finished speaking they reached for his arms, he span back unsheathing his sword, and drove it through a chink in the chest armour of the one slightly in front. As the other Stormtrooper reached for his pistol James launched an elbow into his throat and smashed the mans visor in his helmet as he drove his forehead into it. The trooper fell backwards slightly stunned, and james pulled his sword free before slicing cleanly across his throat. He paused for a moment and wiped his weapon clean before looking at Sara, "The Betrayal has Begun, we must flee."

As the Solorien Forces prepared to stand off against the new Zukariaan's, there was a sense of anticipation, and then all over the front there was the sound of screams. Hundreds of thousands of Imperial Stormtroopers were killing each other, firing massive amounts of ammunition into each other, tanks and boats all over the continent and her territorial waters opened fire upon one another, blood and fire soaked the Solorien forces as the slaughter drew to a rapid close....

Far to the south Imperial Loyalists fought like madmen, and drove the Betrayers back, eventually they had forced a stalemate, and they held the former Montegrandean territorys as well as the waters surrounding them. Both sides ceased the fighting to take stock of injurys and casualties, and shore up for the next attacks...

In a room far to the east, near the shores of Eastern Danteri was a large military Complex, in a darkened room sat 6 men in grey uniforms, their shoulderpads had been torn off and the Imperial flag lay crumpled upon the floor, replaced by a new design. A circle of black on a field of red, with a single bloody tear drop in the center of the circle. "Well gentlemen, we are free, now what of our new allys, the Zukariaans...?" another man coughed and leaned forwards slightly, his face still obscured outside of the light. "They should arrive soon, and together we will drive back those Imperial Scum, and be free at last." The man laughed loudly then before continuing. "And to think, those weak fools wanted to Liberate this country, rebuild it. Why Liberate, when we can Conquer?" The other men laughed with him then, as the Betrayers slaughtered any and all who were still loyal to the Emperor inside their new lands....

In the south a massive ship gently glided towards the port docks, she bristled with weaponry, but her hull was burnt and split, blood layered the decks and a smell of decaying flesh arose slightly from the immense warship. As it gently guided itself into the dock that had been prepared for it, her name was just visible under the burnt metal 'Enchantress' as it came to a stop, a massive gangplank slammed down on both sides of the ship. At the top were hundreds of Imperial Naval Crew, many were bloody, and all looked battered. From amongst their number stepped and elderly figure, leaning heavily on his staff. He paused for a moment surveying his surroundings, as another 4 people followed him, their faces shrouded by the hoods of their robes. As the lead figure drew back his hood he looked down at the Erisian soldiers. He rapped his staff heavily on the floor twice, and the former Imperial Chancellor coughed loudly to draw their Attention. "We are the remnants of the Imperial College for Culture, and we bring with us certain knowledges that may aid in the subjugation of the Betrayers of Our most Holy God-Emperor, please, send word, that we require Sanctuary and medical aid immediately....

The Betrayers stood guard at their docks and citys, as they welcomed their new brothers in arms, the Zukariaans, back onto their territorys. Already the Imperial Standard was being replaced, and the Soldiers had begun the alterations required to the core teachings of the Imperial Faith to begin the re-education of the citizens into the glorification of the new force: The Taydrmuntc or Deathlords in Soloriels native tongue....

There was no way Sara was going to let the guards take James to be executed; she reached for her pistol as the guards appeared behind the door only to realize she had surrendered it earlier.

Before she could intervene, Hethran had taken care of both of the guards and was urging her to come with him. Sara nodded numbly, turning and running to the bedside and stuffing her mini-computer into her mostly empty pack which she now slung over her shoulder. Returning to James' side she grabbed a pistol off one of the guards and cocked it for action. "Ready, lead the way."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Southhaven, Danteri

General Lillis was present at the docks as the Solorien vessel arrived. She nodded to the former Chancellor. "Welcome to Southhaven. We have quarters for your troops and of course, any medical aid required will be given. Also, we need to discuss what is happening behind your lines..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former Montegrandian Territory, Danteri

The Erisian troops halted just outside the Soloriel lines until they could figure our just what was happening. However, their lines remained open to what they could determine were forces loyal to the college for culture.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stronghold, Danteri

In the North, Erisian forces had been sharing large tracts of territory with Solorien forces. Apparently now, Soloriel was heading into the midst of a civil war which threatened the supply routes of the Erisian forces in the north, over 100,000 troops. Erisians had two battalians of infantry and one battalion of mechanized infantry in the vicinty of Stronghold. The three units quickly converged on the city under the cover of nightfall to secure their supply routes.

Their objectives were to reseize control of teh headquarters complex, the docks, and then set up a perimiter outside the city to cut off any Solorien reinforcements until the rest of the Erisian 2nd Mechanized could arrive to reinforce the city.

James nodded at her and grasped her hand, as they made their way to the min submersible bay in the bottom of the aircraft carrier the klaxons sounded and an announcement was made in in High Solorien. Hethran paused for a moment at a corner his finger to his lips, there was the sound of fighting in the next room, as it died down there was a limping sound and a stormtrooper began to turn the corner, James sword sliced through the air and removed the mans head, spitting on the corpse he kicked it once and resumed the flight to freedom. He hurried Sara onboard the Submersible, and sealed the hatch, before dropping it into the ocean. As they pulled slowly away from the Aircraft Carrier, James turned to Sara and held her close for a moment before kissing her. "We shall be there soon my love, we shall be there soon...."

In the Joint lands Solorien Loyalists outnumbered the Betrayer Forces, and the rebellion was quickly burnt down, the Loyalists fought their way to the front lines and dragged any Erisian who was injured in the fighting to safety, without a care for their own safety, indeed many Soloriens died to protect their allies from the bloodcrazed Betrayers. In a matter of hours it was over and they held the lines safe, marshalling forces to protect the borders. Without anyone in command only the Loyalist officers could control the incensed Solorien forces...

The chancellor nodded, and a slipshod bandage fell from his face, he turned to his men and spoke to them in Solorien they hurried to the task he had set and in minutes they were streaming down the gangplanks, carrying the wounded with them. the Chancellor turned to Lillis, his voice heavy, "Thank you General, but please first arrange for Clan Lord Fieren, and Clan Lord Sourek to travel to the front lines of our forces in Southhaven to guide the forces here, if not they will strike back with deadly force and attempt to eliminate any and all people in central Danteri." the two men stepped forwards and bowed from the waist at General Lillith. "Now please General allow us to retire somewhere so that we may talk, i am old and tired, and desire greatly to sit for a spell."

In Stronghold the fighting was brief, Hethran had ensured to only send his loyal men there to secure it against Rebellion, by the time the Erisian forces had arrived the fires from the burning bodies were filling the sky. And they were greeted with the sight of the Imperial standard flying high above the gates into the Imperial Center...

In the former Montegrandean lands, the Loyalists were holding strong, and laying down true Solorien fortifications, and reinforcing the lines, thousands of soldiers had died, and the Betrayers usage of Nerve Gas, was something all here were wary of. The airforce as well were conducting a spectacular aerial battle, the planes screamed and weaved amongst one another with a grace that no other nation could hope to equal. It was like a beautiful Ballet, and they were evenly matched, eventually it was only the sheer numbers of the Imperial Airforce that drove the aggressors back. They flew slowly back to the south and the airbases that they hoped they would find there...

As the men finished landing, a huge beachhead was built. Huge fortifications were built, guntowers, pillboxes, trenches, roadblocks. It was all there. Large formations of Capitol Police marched through the remnants of the cities Kraven had built before. The rebuilding was taking place quickly, as an additional 100,000 Kreigsmarines were on their way in a smaller battlefleet.

Admiral Herman quickly sent a message to the leaders of the Rebellion, wishing to see them and make plans.

150,000 Kreigsmarines and 50,000 Capitol Police were at the frontlines in Southhaven, waiting for their Solorian allies to strike.

OOC-Sorry about the short response. XD

OOC: Sorry, I think I missed something. Could someone briefly explain what happened with Soloriel and Zukariaa?

ooc: the imperial college for war just betrayed the empire and allied with zukariaa, more will be explained in time my young padawan.....

OOC: Basically, the Danteri Civil War turned into a Soloriel Civil War in Danteri, and Zukariaan Kraven and I are caught up in it.

Safe inside the submarine, Sara set aside the weapon she had taken and sighed a short breath of relief. She certainly didn't enjoy being trapped underwater, and the sounds made by the vessel as the water passed around them set her on edge. She gripped James' hand tightly and it seemed she had turned slightly paler. "How long until we arrive?" She asked, trying to hide her nervousness by forcing a smile and resting her head against the Admiral.

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Erisian casualties were very light actually. The Erisian troops were highly trained and most were combat veterans. The whole armed forces in Danteri had been equipped the the Modern Combat System featuring the M-5 Fibre suits with excellent ballistic resistance properties, and all units carried depleted uranium AP rounds for their assault rifles.

Most of the casualties had come during the initial hours of the attack. Erisian units were caught off guard but once they realized what was happening, who was friend and foe, they more than managed to hold their own.

Fortunately, stringhold had been taken by friendly Soloriel forces, preventing the need for the vicious fighting that would have broken out otherwise.

The Solorien airforce, or what was left of it, was guided by Erisian air traffic controllers to various airbases throughout Southhaven. The Erisians were doing all that they could to save as many Solorien loyalists as possible.

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Southhaven, Danteri

At the chancellors words, Lillis motioned for her aide to come forward. She whispered a few words to the young man who nodded and stood at attention. "Captain Richards will guide your clan leaders to the airfield. A helicopter will take your leaders to the front lines and our airforce will provide air superiority cover. I'm going to assign the 1st Air Squadron to work with your troops. They fly the JA-37, its an excellent fighter-bomber. I'm sure you'll find them useful for close in support."

"Now Chancellor, while your men head for the front, follow me and I will bring you to my office." Lillis offered. Lillis and the Chancellor boarded a small open Jeep that Lillis favored while a driver brought them to the middle of the large complex. The jeep stopped in front of a rather good sized four story building of metal and concrete and painted a light shade of gold. Inside a working elevator conveyed them to the fourth floor and into Lillis', formerly Papadakis' office.

The floor had black carpeting with tiny golden apples decorating the otherwise drab and not overly comfortable carpet. A large oak desk dominated the room, with a comfortable looking leather chair on Lillis' side of the desk, and two less comfortable, but still attractive black office chairs on the other side. A pile of papers lay spread out on the desk's surface along with a map of southhaven and several satellite photographs all with scribblings all over them.

A single ugly fern type plant sat sqaut in a corner next to a greenish filing cabinet, and a small table stood in front of the only window in the office, now covered with dark gold curtains. On the table were several clean mugs and a coffee maker, still keeping warm some coffee that was several hours old.

Lillis moved to the machine and poured herself a cup. "Have a seat Chancellor," she told the man, motionong towards one of the office chairs. "Would you care for some coffee or should we just get right down to business?"

OOC: Sorry for a long abscence...

Rough Population Levels:

Haraki Zone - What you said, basically, plus some...

23Erisian Zone - Fifty million plus some.

Solorielan Zone(s) - Some hundred million.

Undershi Zone - Less than one hundred
(Danteri civilians, that is)

New-Lexington Zone: 10 million

The rest of the populace is dead. (Yes, cassualties are that high...)

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: The Government of 23Eris
Re: Refugee Ships
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Well, gentlemen, it comes as no surprise that you do not trust us. The eight thousand initial refugees will be dropped off with your ships, off the coast. While they were initially to have their SAMs removed, my High Command has informed me that they will now carry their SAMs with them, and will also be escorted by ships of the Undershi Navy - the cruisers Cortez and Pizarro. It seems that the High Command has time to diplomatically snub you even as they prepare for an atomic war... well, they will be as they will be.
With reguards to regular trade - would your homeland be open to Undershi goods, such as grain, raw metals, uranium, coal, or even finished goods, such as heavy machinery for the production of, say, steel? We could also arrange something with military goods - the High Command wants to be trading with more than one nation that is not a member of the Empire, to put it bluntly, and offers you favorable terms for trade.
Needless to say, our goods will be cheap - labor costs are low in The Empire, to make a small jest. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Off the coast of 23Eris

One of the transports had something set up when the 23Erisians came to get the refugees - aparently there had been a paniced riot during the voyage to 23Eris, and the crew had "put it down"... by shooting ten men taken at random, then hanging the corpses from the ship, where the refugees could see them.
Other than that "little detail", and the gruesome sight of a crucified Undershi sailor who had been found guilty of raping a Danteri woman (tried, crucified, left up there as a warning to the crew - the Undershi are big on "making examples"...), everything was in order.

ooc:
BUGGER!
A guy goes away for a few days...
Strife we need another map, please!
Danteri--err I need at least a few hundred thousand refugees else... most of my troops will be redundant.
S & Zuuk *sigh* :p Yet another proxy war!
EVERYONE.
Still need supplies... and or MONEY.
Heck if you aren't trying to kill, cleanse, convert or eat us, the Melii will trade with you. We are all about that Neutral thing. You needz stuff weez gotz it... or weez can getz it.

Soory for all OOC post but, this is New-Lexington (Nl got banned) so now im Rping under Zychibastan.

OOC: Why'd New-Lexington get banned?!?

Hauptmann Luisa Rhurlunder, no since a few hours ago Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder, happily examined the piles of Undershi weapons that they had just been handed by the Haraki. With these weapons, the Neue Neue Deutsch Army would go from being a ninth-rate power, barely better equipped than the Danterians, to being a real army.
Smilling softly, she walked over to her desk and composed a letter to General Niel and Rear Admiral Locke, to thank them for their genersoity.

Hauptmann Rhurlunder's Letter

From: Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder
To: General Niel and Rear Admiral Locke
Re: Thanks for all the loot...

The NNDEF and its commander, me, thank you for the gifts. I'm sure the fascists would just love to know what we're doing with their toys... anyway, we appreciate the gifts, thanks.
On another note, I'm being promoted - no longer am I to be a mere Hauptmann, now I am being promoted as part of a massive expansion of the Neue Deutsch Army - I'll now be an Oberstleutnant, which translates to your rank system as a Lieutenant Colonel.
I will be returning to Neue Neue Deutschland for a while, but will be returning in a few weeks with three entire newly formed battalions - they will be all but raw recruits, but I'm sure you'll appreciate having them.
Since I'm leaving, the NNDEF is throwing a party, and I felt it only fair to extend the leadership of our greatest allies, the Haraki, invitations. Hopefully soon the NND army will be able to provide more help to you! It will be the least we can do to thank you for all the help you have provided us!
Reguards, Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder, Second highest ranked officer of the Neue Neue Deutsch Army.

Neil smiled reading the message from Rhurlunder. Having donated significant amounts of ammunition, artillery, and even armoured fighting vehicles to them, mainly as a way to avoid having them, had seemed slightly weaselish to him when Locke had suggested it. It made them more motley and disorganized, though he had to admit that most likely the Undershi-made fighting equipment was more reliable and better made than most Neue Neue Deutsch equipment, from what he had seen and heard of their armed forces.

He had been the one that had suggested both the newest steps in the Haraki-Neue Neue Deutsch relationship, though. On the mainland for Neil's brief and unceremonious promotion ceremony Locke had agreed, and after a quick conversation with Prime Minister Jaime Wolfe, had gotten official approval. Now Neil sat at his desk. Playing in a TV in the background was Haraki's women's football team losing to Sarzonia, and as Neil sat in his chair writing he was occasionally interrupted by his aide, a football fanatic, screaming at the referee, who, thousands of miles away, clearly couldn't hear him.


[From: Commanding Major-General Neil]
[To: Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder]

It's no problem, really. We figured since all our units were already completely outfitted with all-Harakian compatible equipment, it would only be mothballed if we kept it, so it might as well go somewhere it will see use.

Congratulations on your promotion. You deserve it, and you're right, we will be happy to have the new soldiers. Perhaps once they hit the ground they should go through a joint Haraki-Neue Neue Deutsch training camp to make sure they learn practical lessons for a) dealing with civilian refugees so nobody gets shot and b) practical lessons in survival. I'd be happy to attend your party, although I'm afraid Felias will be indisposed, probably so he can go off and sulk in his own nervousness.

In other news, after a discussion with the Prime Minister, the Rear-Admiral and I would like to offer you, the NNDEF, and Neue Neue Deutschland in general two different deals. First of all, an official non-aggression pact and pact of alliance, signed by the leaders of our two nations, stating mutual self-defence and non-aggression between our two nations, not to mention improving relations in general. Second, and perhaps more important, Locke and I have watched your army grow in size, but we'd like to offer you a somewhat rare opportunity. After talking to Prime Minister Wolfe about it, he's agreed that Haraki would be willing to enter a joint shipbuilding program with your nation to help you establish a navy. This would basically mean we would build you a small fleet, tentatively composed of six Royal-class destroyers, two Excalibur-class light cruisers, one Wolfe-class heavy cruiser, one Sirius-class missile cruiser, and one Retribution-class light carrier, capable of carrying sixty airplanes (Harakian-supplied), in exchange for token amounts of money that are a very small fraction of what it costs to build the ship.

I hope you consider both these, and if I don't talk to you until then, I'll see you at your party.


Gregory Neil

OOC: Why'd New-Lexington get banned?!?


OOC I told someone "Ill slit ure throat", but i was just kidding and i posted "I am just kidding my very next post.

Admiral Simon Randalph was tired, miserable, and barely able to stop himself from screaming at the obviously uncarring world. From birth, he had been told again and again that there was no God, no supreme being, but he wished that he believed in one right now - then he could pray, in addition to feeling miserably stressed and giving himself entierly too many medical conditions... the High Command was a vicious task master, and it seemed to have the oddest demands of him, the one norm senior officer in their entire navy... still, what with Soloriel fighting its civil war, he could use a distraction, even if that distraction was merely an effort to ruin his reputation by giving him impossible tasks - he was now supposed to ask the Haraki and 23Eris to allow Undershi soldiers and sailors to make use of recreational facilities in the Haraki safe-zone and the 23Erisian zone, which was obviously just one step short of requesting that the Haraki and 23Erisians allow Undershi vessels to dock in their zones... it was delibrately a foolish effort - the High Command obviously didn't care if they got what they officially wanted, they merely wanted his disgrace - and all they would need for that would be his failure... even in so pointless a task.

Message to Rear Admiral Locke and the 23Erisian Command

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: Rear Admiral Locke and The Commander of 23Erisian Forces.
Re: Official Request

Greetings, gentlemen. It is my unfortunate task to request, at the behest of my government, that you allow our soldiers to make use of recreational facilities in your Zones.
In favor of such an event, one could comment on how it would stimulate the Safe-Zones economies, and on how it could improve relations between our nations.
I await your replies without much hope, although my High Command appears intent on hanging me for incompetence... still, do what you will. As I said before, I await your reply without much hope.

The Taydrmuntc forces marched through the lands of Central Danteri, brutally forcing those who would not serve them into the 'Re-education' centres that had begun to spring up, no'one was entirely certain what went on there, but unruly insurgents went in, die hard Fanatics of their new masters came out. The rebuilding work went very much as planned with many of the citys and towns being rebuilt and the main networks of water electric and roads being rebuilt. Huge salvage operations went on all over the central vontinet as vast amounts of blasted and wrecked war machines were taken away to be broken down and then used later on as a raw building source for many object that the people would later need...

Hethran sighed and looked across at Sara, it seemed as though every time they met they were doomed to be forced into adverse circumstances. The fact that they were both technically enemys in the eyes of the Emperor at the moment merely exacerbated the situation further. As she spoke he leaned forwards and pressed a series of buttons, and the front of the craft peeled open, the heavily re-inforced and specialised design of the glass allowed the forward screens to be exposed at tremendous pressure depths. And as they came to a stop Hethran merely gestured once at the window. "The Warlock" The submarine came steadily into view, illuminated by the running lights it had lit for the Admiral to find his way. Its shape was unmistakable, and as it sat there unmoving it still exuded a chilling sense of of fear. Her hull was painted in streaks of alternating light blacks and pitch blacks, and her six main torpedoe tubes were just visible at this distance. as the admiral brough the minisub closer he dove it underneath the Warlock as a large pair of doors peeled open on the belly of the sub, allowing him to bring it up and into the safety of her minisub bay. As they broke water he closed the screens, and kissed Sara before replacing his Officers cap and Jacket, and opened the main hatch. As they both stepped out onto the gangplank they were greeted with the sight of the Warlocks crew standing either side of the gangplank their arms raised in salute, their faces locked in pride that their great leader had stepped back once more to serve them and to guide them. standing in the main doorway to the elevator that would lead them up to the Bridge was a clean shaven man of about 38 he stood rigid at attention his eyes locked onto a single point, as Hethran approached he snapped off a smart salute and clicked his heels together. "Welcome Aboard Admiral, the Command is Yours." The man stepped to one side and swung open the elevator doors, as Hethran saluted the man back he linked arms with Sara. "Thank you First Officer Killia." they both stepped onto the Elevator and it rose up slowly, James gently squeezed Sara's hand and as the doors swung open she was greeted with the sight of the main command centre, a beautiful spectacle of metallic blues and smoked glass, the centre of which sat the Commanders chair, with two chairs slightly lower and to either side of it and the main periscope currently raised, the space in front was clear leading up to the forward wall except for the massive insignia of the Imperial Standard engraved into the deck plating, the wall in front of the commanders chair was bare except for the massive screens which were currently uncovered allowing them a view of the outside waters. Behind the Commanders chair, was a large steel block with a lit glass surface, this was the tactical map, currently it flickered as the computer systems of the Warlock updated it to reflect the current area under surveillance by the specialised and dedicated mini-satellites that orbited danteri in service of the Warlock, all their telemetry data was beamed down into the main receiver array and uploaded to the computer, with only a delay of 2.8 seconds. Around the other walls were huge consoles that sat floor to ceiling, the chairs in front of them swivelled round and the bridge crew stood to attention, and with a simultaneous precision born of years of rigid drilling snapped to attention and raised a salute, and in one voice said "Commander on the Deck" They snapped their arms down and James snapped off a salute in return. "Return to your Dutys." The men and women sat back down and the room was instantly filled with a low murmuring sound as the 12 crewmembers resumed their seats. Hethran guided Sara to a the seat on the right hand side of the Commanders chair. Gesturing with his arm at the magnificent view before them he spoke softly. "Welcome aboard the Warlock Sara." Seating himself James cleared his throat, and called the attention of the crew. "Take us out Mister Pheren, all ahead full, set course for the wreck of the the Truth." The giant vessel jerked once as the rear anchors were retracted and her engines regathered speed, and she slipped silently and undetected into the ocean....

The Chancellor gently sat himself down, his face an unreadable mask once more, despite the blood that caked his face from the wound to his head. "Yes General, Coffee would be most appreciated indeed" He glanced around at his surroundings, and the furnishings "I see that this office is... sufficient for your needs General, perhaps once this dreadful business is dealt with we can begin talking about the state of Erisian interior Design." The Chancellor smiled, showing that he meant no offence. "But for now General i think you should study this carefully." He reached inside his robes and pulled out a massive roll of paper, sealed with red wax and bearing the Personal stamp of the Emperor, he laid it reverently upon the table, his fingers gently holding it, as though this were some religious symbol. Stepping back he gentl seated himself again. "This is the official Document ratified by the Emperor, and signed and sealed by him, for full and complete Diplomatic, Cultural, and Military Trade agreements between our two nations. This was intended before the Imperial College for War betrayed the Empire by implicating us for the rebellion that took place in our Homeland, however it is still a valid offer, and one that I hope may bring our two nations still closer." The Chancellor wiped his face with his hand, he looked for a moment like he was close to the grave, but regained his composure, and sat upright and rigid, his entire body radiating a fierce sense of will, he cleared his throat slightly before continuing. "I hasten to add, General, that this is the first time in the History of our nation that the Most Holy Emperor has deigned to allow any other Nation, to Ally with us in such a manner. He has obviously in his infinite wisdom, seen something in your nation that pleases him, and as such I am proud to sit before you, in this office and on this hellish land, and offer my services to you in any way capable." The Chancellor at this gently dropped to one knee, and remained like this for a moment before seating himself again, and looking Lillith in the eye.

The Solorien Loyalists reinforced the lines, and their navys formed a stranglehold around their Territorial waters in southaven and Stronghold. The same was happening in the waters of The Taydrmuntc, it was quite clear that the situation was currently in Abeyance, until both sides had sized each other up.

Admiral Simon Randalph sent a message to the Solorielans, simple but important in what it represented:

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: The Solorielan Loyalists
Re: Military Aid
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gentlemen - it has come to my attention that you are having a bit of a civil war. Therefore, on behalf of the Undershi Empire, I would like to extend to you an offer - we help you with your traitors, you sign an agreement to help us if war comes.
As proof of our power, consider this: we have in Danterian waters three aircraft carriers, the Descartes, the Nietzche and the Hobbes, in addition to some cruisers and destroyers and a single atomic missile submarine.
Landed in our Zone, we have 10,000 superhuman True Undershis with some 5,000 Janissary combat engineers. That force is not inconsiderable, and more could come quite readily... we await a reply.

To: Admiral Simon Randalph
From: Foreign Minister Chilkevich
Re: Trade

While we appreciste your deliverance of refugees, we remain disgusted by your barbaric punishments and use of slave labor. Until such time as your government makes assurances that it will end the use of forced labor, cease its use of nuclear weapons, and agree ton international inspections to ensure compliance with the above points, the Free Lands of 23Eris will entertain no trade of any sort with the nation of Undershi.

We will take no overt action against your forces or your nation, however, and violation of our territory will be met with force. While our nation abhors the use of unconventional weapons, any use of nuclear weapons in our territory or against or forces will be met with most dire of consequences.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Admiral Simon Randalph
From: Lt. General Amanda Lillis
Re: Recreation

Admiral, I admit to having been personally reluctant to agree to your request given the nature of your government and military, so I contacted my government for further guidance. I was expressly forbidden to allow any Undershi, military or civilian, into provinces under our control.

I respectfully suggest that if you wish to entertain good relations with our nation you take immediate steps to correct the current political and civil rights situations within your nation, free the territories you have forcibly conquered, end your use of slave labor, and agree to use only conventional weapons. If these steps are not undertaken, you are wasting both our time in attempting to improve relations between our nations.

Good day.
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The larger vessel they were in was something more comfortable to Sara. It almost felt as if they werent underwater now. In the smaller submersible, she had nearly gone catatonic when Hethran opened the screens that had covered the window, though she tried her best not to show it. Still, she remained rather quiet during that part of the trip.

Inside the Warlock Sara couldn't help but be impressed, the Soloriel never did anything by halves, that was for sure. All their ships so far seemed designed to awe not only visitors, but the Solorien crews themselves. Sara supposed it was a way to demonstrate the glory and wisdom of the Emperor, which was after all, the focus of the Solorien people, or so it seemed. Squeezing James' hand she whispered, "It's amazing. I'm not in the navy, but I know we don't have any submarines like this."

As she took her seat and they started, Sara leaned over to Hethran and asked, in almost rapid fire (a consequence of her uncomfortableness at being in a submarine), "Are the others going to be looking for us? And, what about what is happening on land?"

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

Lillis smiled and poured the Chancellor a cup. "Its functional, I don't need more than that."


A little taken aback by the Chancellor's sudden pledge of aid, Lillis took the document and examined the seal briefly, "I think that something of this nature should be forwarded to our Foreign Ministry. I'm not empowered to make agreements such as this. I can only make decision on the forces here in Danteri and even those I can be overruled on. I will tell you though, that our nation will almost assuredly accept. However, I think it would be best to expose your college of war and restore the college of culture to power before we commit to anything other than offering you our full support here in Danteri."

"Now, does the emperor know about the college of war's betrayal here in Danteri? I can offer you full access to our communications system and satellite system if you need it. And one other thing, one of my best officers, Sara Yagger was serving as military attache to your forces. My last report from her stated she was with Admiral Hethran on board one of your vessels, we haven't heard from her since the betryal. Do you have any information on her condition?"

The Chancellor smiled slightly over his cup as the General spoke, he placed it gently down before speaking. "Well General whatever decisions you make here are bound to be those that are for the betterment of your troops and government. Now as for the Betrayal of the Imperial College for War, The Emperor is cut off from us here in Danteri, much of our military forces are currently in a holding situation, we will receive no direct reinforcements until the Emperor receives concrete evidence that the Imperial College for War has in fact betrayed the Empire. Currently he is surrounded by those who are loyal to the Imperial College for War, all of his advisors and servants in fact. So as long as they hold his ear anything said to him before then would only force us to show our hand, and he will believe it to be another example of our College, attempting to Subvert the Emperors will." He coughed slightly, and his face creased with pain for a moment before returning to its mask of neutrality. "Now as for Captain Yagger, if my suspicions are correct then she is with Admiral Hethran aboard the S.I.N Warlock. She is safer there than anywhere else, the Warlock is the only Ragnarok Class submarine we currently have in service, she is a beauty General, large enough to infilitrate deep into Enemy waters, adn her technology is the most advanced available to the Empire. She is coated with a stealth material on top of a Titanium hull, her forward torpedoe bays can rip the belly out of anything she tends to come up against. And she is crewed by the Emperors most loyal Servants, as well as being Admiral Hethran's former Command before he assumed his demotion following the fiasco that was the last Taydrmuntc Invasion of our lands. If they are both aboard then no harm will come to Captain Yagger, indeed it is probably the safest place for them to be as i said before, as the Betrayers will seek to kill her and Admiral Hethran to sour possible relations between our two nations." The Chancellor sipped his coffee for a moment before he cleared his throat and continued. "General I have a proposal for you if I may be frank. Our remaining Loyalist forces are too weak on their own to repel any determined invasion from the Zukariaan and Betrayer alliance. Therefore I propose that to better integrate our forces and assure co'operation, that we begin mixing squads of Loyalists and Erisian forces, so that our men bond more, and ensure a better level of co'operation between our forces here. Also I must request that you help our Imperial Engineers still loyal to us, in the restoration of the Enchantress, if she were to become Sea-Worthy again, then there is a chance she can hold off any sea-borne invasion, as well as providing a mobile platform with which to stage our joint airforces, and troops in case of an invasion. She is badly wounded General, but her heart still beats, and despite her wounds I can assure you that she will be more than a match for anything that the Betrayers or Zukariaan's may bring to bear on our forces."

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

Hethran smiled slightly, noting the uncomfortableness that had gripped Sara since they had begun their underwater journey. He remembered the feeling himself from his early days Commaniding the Warlock, so many years ago. He squeezed her shoulder gently and spoke in her ear. "Im sure that the Loyalists and your Commanders will be wondering where we are, but I have made precautions to that effect." He pressed a single button on the arm of his chair and a small glass screen slid out and swung in front of him. Tapping a few more buttons, and the screen flickered for a moment before displaying the symbol of the Holy Empire spinning gently. Looking her in the eyes, he spoke slowly, "With this Console I can contact anyone I require as long as i have the correct frequencys, and Encrypt it as I require. If you have need of contacting your Commanders then you may use this console, or if you require privacy there is a similair one located in the Emergency room through the doors over there." Hethran pointed in the direction of a pair of doors behind them. "Now as for whats happening in Danteri follow me." Hethran stood up and pressed a button to slide the screen back. he walked over to the large Tactical Map which currently was darkened. Pressing a few buttons the face lit up, and as he tapped in a few numbers on a keypad the table was suddenly covered in an in-depth and full colour map of Danteri, tapping a few more times on the keypad he stepped away. "Sara all you need to do is tap twice on any of the areas you wish to investigate and the satellite will zoom into the area you indicate, currently theres about a 3 minute delay between the pictures and the map, but it should suffice for your needs."

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To: Admiral Simon Randolph.
From: Loyalist Forces of the Holy Emperor.
RE: Military Aid

Whilst we appreciate the offer that you have made, we must hasten to add that this is an internal matter for the Empire. These Heretics will be put down with swift and brutal force, and their bodies burnt to prevent them entering the Quiet Lands in the name of our Emperor. Any attempts to land forces or enter your ships into out Territorial Waters, will be interpreted as supoort for the Betrayer's, and will initiate a swift and brutal reprisal, our forces may not be as strong as they could be, but we are confident in our military and Navy, and will ensure that no Undershi Soldier will step foot on our soil. However if you wish to fly in food and medical supplys by Air-Drop, it will go a long way towards assuring us of your friendly intentions, and may open the gateway towards possible future relations between our two nations.

Eternal Power to the Holy God-Emperor!

Three Golden Eagle heavy bombers, hastily converted to carry supplies instead of bombs, flew over a Loyalist Solorielan base, dropping their supplies without stopping, then flying back to their base... where they would be loaded with bombs for use against the new enemy of the Undershi state, Usea-Jason, a communist nation that had had the gall to premptively attack Undershi... apparently without provocation, if you could believe what the radio said.
It seemed that this war would be a hard one, but Undershi was prepared to do what needed to be done...

From: Admiral Simon Randalph
To: 23Erisian Foreign Minister Chilkevich
Re: Improved relations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the use of atomic weapons will likely remain a corner stone of Undershi military policy for centuries to come, I have been ordered by my government to convey this offer to you - we will abolish crucifiction as a punishment, allow norms in a Stage Four occupied territory equality with True Undershis, and begin work towards the abolition of slavery (over the course of two years) if you agree to organize other nations to either help us (which we know is unlikely) or at the least, to sit out the conflict between us and Usea-Jason.
This conflict was forced upon us - we did not seek war. These communists have attacked us, killing thousands of our military personel, and we have done something that no Undershi response has ever done before - we have replied in moderation.
No enemy civilian centers were targeted, although they targeted our political centers - we only targeted military forces and military bases, and we did so without using atomics. Our High Command has gone so far as to make clear that we will not be the first to use atomics in this conflict - we will let the communists commit that atrocity first.
So, with all that in mind, we must request your aid, with the aforementioned offers attached - although, in all fairness, we are already discussing an alliance/non-agression pact with another nation with those same requirements.
We await your reply with some anxiety.

Admiral Simon Randalph was... puzzled. He had just recieved interesting news... it seemed that the High Command might be resigning... but also that they might not, and that if they did not, war might be coming.
The news of their possible resignation had gone over well with the crew - especially, he thought ruefully, the anouncement that, as the first of their liberalizing measures, alcohol would no longer be illegal.
Needless to say, dozens of bottles had appeared as if by magic, and he hadn't found the heart to order them put away - as such, discipline was as lax as it had ever been under his watch.
He just hoped he wouldn't regret his kindness - if war came, men would die for his weakness. Sighing, he got up from his desk and walked over to the door to the hall - he would be boarding a transport helicopter soon, to fly from the Descartes to the mainland, where he would meet with the other senior officers to discuss... what would happen now.

Today was the Danteri national holiday. (Think the 4th of July...) A group of former Loyalists, apparently bitter, have formed an angry, drunken, (mostly just drunken) mob, and have seized a public housing area in the Haraki Zone, evicting the former inhabitants.
These fellows seem intent on causing a disturbance, and would be treated as a minor problem, save that when the Danteri Police tried to disrupt their meeting, they were forced back, losing three of their number to gun fire (all small arms) from the occupied building.
As such, this now seems to be a matter for the foreign forces...

Oberstleutenant Luisa Rhurlunder stood in a corner of the room, smilling at the loud, noisy, crowd, feeling happy that these soldiers of the NNDEF were her command.
She had already chosen her replacement as Hauptmann - one Samantha Metzger, a fine leader already, who it just seemed needed a chance, a chance like this. Smilling to herself, she walked over to General Niel, waving him a warm greeting, most of her annoying deferentiality gone. She spoke:
"Hello there! Good evening! I hope you are enjoying the party? I know it's a bit noisy, but that's Neue Neue Deutschland for you - we love our parties! Anyway, on the matter of buissiness, which I hope we will not allow to intrude for long, I have been told by my government to accept all Haraki offers for military build-up - it seems that The Professor, oh sorry - that's the nick-name that some of the troops have given the new chacellor. Well, it seems that the Chancellor likes you. So, you can consider your proposals accepted." she smilled then, and seemed to be one of the happiest, proudest, people in the world at that moment - this was her moment of glory.

Entry Point

Even the sentries were taking part in the festivities, although a watch was still maintained - both aproached were barricaded, each with ten men and two machine-gun positions securing them... in theory. In practicality, the sentry forces had been reduced to only six men per check-point, and those were mostly distracted - some were drinking beer at their duty stations, and the sergeant in charge seemed unlikely to complain - after all, he was off at the party himself, having left his corporal in charge.
As such, the Soul-less killer had an easy time of it, moving up almost unnoticed, hacking down four drunken sentries before he was noticed - his boss might be dead or in hiding, but he still had a job to do.
The corporal was the first to actually notice and have a chance to respond - she went for her sub-machine gun, crying out in terror as she cocked the gun, as his sword cut her almost in half.
The others died just as easily as had the first four, and before moving on, he made sure of one thing - all of the bodies were placed so that it looked like they were still alive, their wounds concealed by their rain-cloaks and the dark.
Once that was done, it was an easy matter to slip into the barracks - no one noticed a taller-than-usual Neue Neue Deutsch soldier amoungst the rejoicing crowd.
Moving cautiously, he prepared for the kill.

"No need for privacy James, right here will do just fine for now." Sara replied from her seat next to Hethran. She examine dteh console briefly then pulled her own notebook system from her pack and slipped a thin golden card into an open slot on the front. A few seconds later she typed a few characters and pressed her thumb onto a pad. Security satisfied, she connected a cord from the computer to the console in front of her, assuming the automated network functions would take care of the rest, which they did. Within a moment she had sent out a message detailing what had occured and their destination encrypted with the Solorien system and also using teh Erisian encryption codes.

Snapping shut the computer and yanking out the card she turned her attention back to James. During the time she had worked away on her system her composure returned to normal as she forgot about the tons of water around them that only a thin steel hull seperated her from. "James, I was thinking. The betrayers have to know we are going to be searching for evidence to turn the emperor against them. They must anticipate that we'll be heading for the wreckage. Are you sure this thing can handle whatever they have waiting for us?"

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

"Chancellor, you read my mind. I was going to suggest the integration of troops, where practical. I also have several thousand Danteri volunteers, most equipped as light to medium infantry. Most will handle police duties, but there are also Erisian/Danterian units in operation quite effectively until this point."

"I suggest that we have some of our technicians meet immediately to work out the details of a joint command structure, such as frequencies and codes." Lillis started jotting things down on a piece of paper as she spoke, for future reference. "Also, I suggest the following. Soloriel commanders will have overall tactical command in the north, while Erisian commanders, namely myself will have tactical command here in the South. I suggest that together we or a military representative form a strategic plan."

"Also bear in mind that the ultimate objective of ourmission here is to protect the Danteri people, not fight your civil war. However," She began, raisin a hand to stop any interruption or objection. "A betrayal victory would be devestating to the security of the people under my care, and so your goals and mine are the same for now."

"As far as your ship, we have a drydock nearly completed as well as several hundred skilled technicians and thousands of paid Danteri workers. I will place them under your direction until your ship is repaired."

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

To: Admiral Simon Randalph
From: Foreign Minister Chilkevich, 23Eris
Re: Improving relations

Your offer is both suprising, and an excellent starting point for future negotiations and better relations between our governments. After discussions of the highest levels here, we have agreed to unilaterally guarantee that we will not engage in hostile actions against your nation or its forces for the duration of its conflict with Usea-Jason.

While the trade restrictions on goods from your contry must stay in place until your practice of forced labor is abolished, we would be willing to supply you with non-military goods such as food and medical supplies at cost during your conflict.

Also, should your nation engage in actions hostile to the Soloriel Loyalist or 23Erisian cause; or abuse Danteri civilian populations, our guarantee will be considered void.

On a final note, after further review we are willing to allow groups of no more than 100 Undershi to visit Hermia inside of Southhaven for a period not to exceed 48 hours. Your troops may not come armed and must respect the laws in place within Southhaven and any illegal actions will be subject to the full penalty of Erisian law. Further details, such as timetables for visits and so forth can be worked out at a later time between yourself and a representative from our mission in Southhaven.

Gregory Neil nodded, raising the glass in his right hand slightly. "I'm greatly enjoying the party. The quality of whiskey you manage to provide in the middle of a war zone is quite surprising. You really do like your parties." Raising his glass further still as if in a toast, he went on, "And here's to our business being taken care of. I'll let the others know as soon as I get back. And with that out of the way, let's do our best to enjoy the party, shall we?"


*


Captain Lexington watched through binoculars at the drunken carousing going on through the windows of the housing unit, and sighed, shaking his head. A platoon of Harakian troops from his company had been assigned to watch over it, but as there were no people other than the suspects inside and thus no reason to storm it or gas it - posessions could be replaced. People couldn't - their job was to wait and watch.

Mostly they were planning on simply waiting until the men inside sobered up enough to realize the folly of what they were doing.

James smiled at Sara, and pressed a few buttons on the screen, bringing up the schematics of the Warlock, as he did so he pointed at the hull sections that he had highlighted. "Sara the Hull of the Warlock is solid Titanium, approximately 2.66 metres thick, and then coated with a high stealth material cpable of fooling radars and most sonars, and the engines are of the latest Solorien design, pulling water through and then using that momentum to push us forwards, ensuring we run silently and we run fast." James tapped a few more times and brought up the blueprints for the forward tubes, "At the front of the Warlock is a series of 6 Torpedo tubes that fire in teams of 2,, they launch the standard High Bore, Imperial Detonator class Torpedos, that are equipped with a drill bit under its own power, allowing it to drill into the hull of the target before detonating, often ripping the under armour out and letting the ship collapse under her own weight." James tapped a few more buttons and brought up one more schematic, this of a single large Missile tube located just past the midway point of the Warlocks's Spine. "This is the Black Orchid Nuclear and Biologicel warhead deployment bay. This Warhead contains a little over 56 Kilotons of highly Radioactive Isotopes, whilst the secondary phase is designed to break off once withing the atmosphere of the target and deploy the Imperial Made Orchid virus, which will target the nervous system and primary motor functions of tits target and destroy them within moments, whilst sill allowing a degree of conscious thought to take place. The worst part of this Virus however, is that it was designed specifically with the Solorien Physiology in mind" James sighed and looked out at the sea ahead His face creased with the troubling thought of what would happen if that Virus were to be released against his people. "Commander I am reading 2 Sonar Contacts dead ahead sir they appear to be guarding the Wreck Site." Hethran snapped his head around slapped one hand down on the arm of his chair, the lights on the bridge immediately flickered over to a dark red, as they did all over the ship, and the bridge suddenly became a hub of activity. "Commander enemy Sub appears to be bearing mark 122-003" Hethran nodded at the man, "Confirmed 122-003, set intercept course and notify the weapons crews to get those loaders running and ready for combat." Hethan leaned forwards in his chair, staring out the front of the screen, as the enemy Submarine came into view. It was clear even from this distance that the Submarine bore not the White and Gold, of the Imperial standard, but the Red and Black of the Betrayer forces as its crest. "Gunnery crew release tubes 1 and 2, on 3... 2... 1... Mark!" There was s light grinding noise and then all aboard could see the two torpedoes streak towards the Enemy vessel, there was a moment when it became clear they had spotted the torpedoes on their radar, and the submarine struggled to climb free of their path but it was too late, the two torpedos struck the side of the submarine and within 10 seconds had detonated, the first explosion blew a chunk of her belly away, as the second one tore her forward nose section to shreds in a massive explosion of water metal and fire. The dead Submarine gently floated to the ocean floor, settling with a thud that seemed like the final tolling of some immense bell and kicked up vast quantitys of silt. "Sir enemy Submarine is dead, second Submarine seems to be turning towards us sire, i think they know where we are." Hethran nodded and began relaying orders with a rapid battlefield efficiency, almost like a machine, only stopping to take breath between words, he stood up from his chair and limped into the middle of the deck, and stared out at his new foe, his back to the crew but his voice remained steady, like a rod of iron, and his entire being radiated the composure of a man who knew his place in the universe perfectly, the crew worked with a precision borne of years of service and trust in this man, there were no mistakes, and on more than one occasion one of them would glance up at the Admirals back, and a huge smile of love and respect would cross their face, as though he were a father to each and every one of the crew aboard the S.I.N Warlock...

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The Chancellor nodded along to everything the General said, sipping his Coffee calmly. "Indeed General, I believe that is the wisest course of action, with the integration of our forces, we should form a steady bond that will see both of our nations, and the danterians given sufficient cover and trust," Clearing his throat he continued. "I believe you are correct, I shall have Clan Leader Khmec begin making the preparations immediately, hopefully we can an integral command system up and running quite quickly and efficiently. The suggestion that the Solorien commanders, namely Clan Lord Khmec will be in charge of organising the defenses and overall command of the troops in the north, is a good one, we will endeavour to police the northern borders and keep the Betrayers away from these people, whilst also using our integrated Solorien/Erisian forces to combine with the standard Danteri Regulars so that we can police the rest of the nation effectively." The Chancellor finished his coffee, and placed the cup neatly beside his chair. "As you have said your objective is to protect these people, and only by working together can we do such a thing. This is no simple Civil War General, almost an Entire Imperial College has betrayed the Empire and declared itself independent, these are Traitors Heretics, Liars, and Blasphemers. This will be no mere Civil War General, the Emperor wont rest until every last one of these Heretic's broken and twisted bodys lies before the Imperial Throne." The Chancellor settled back slightly into his chair taking a moment to compose himself. "As for the Enchantress I will ensure that all the appropriate details and shifts are dispersed amongst The Imperial Engineers and the Men you send, so that she is seaworthy as soon as possible. But General may I make a suggestion?" Without waiting for the answer the Chancellor spoke "Allow me to stay on as a tactical Adviser to you, I am too old to lead my forces General, and too weak to fight the enemys of my people. But I can Guide those who need it, and impart my experience to you in regards to the Imperial Warrior Ethic, as well as Maneuveurs and Tactics. Please General at least consider it." The Chancellor sat back in his chair, his frame old and weathered, and a look of resignation on his face, with a sense of Noble humility, knowing that he would never again lead his troops into battle, and never again raise his weapon against the enemys of the Emperor...

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The True Undershi was walking towards the 23Erisian lines, whistling a child's tune, stumbling like a drunk. As he neared the lines, he held up a bottle of some sort of amber liquid, and called out to the border guards:
"Hello there! Have a drink, liberal norms! Drink with me to democracy and to the men who call for war instead!" at that point, it became quite clear that he was inebriated, but he continued on, armed with no more than that half empty bottle and three other full ones.
He shouted again, slurredly saying:
"Yeshh... well, here's some rot-gut for drinking... yup... now, don't shoot me, and I'll share with you..." he continued forward towards the lines, oblivious to razor wire and machinegun positions... walking towards the line that no Undershi soldiers were supposed to cross...

The Fontlines

The trios of borderguards looked at each other, shrugged and one immediately radioed headquarters.

Of the other two, one called out, "Halt. You are trespassing on Erisian territory and if you continue you are going to step right into a minefield you imbecile!"

The other shook his head and unslung his automatic rifle. If somehow the drunken Undershi continued on and survived the field, he would have to be detained.
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Sara smiled as James explained the layout of the ship, she knew he was trying to reassure her and to take her mind off the water just outside the vessel, but her fear was not rational. Fortunatley it was also not all consuming and she could shunt it aside when she needed to concentrate. Still, it felt good to have him there, trying to make her feel more at ease. When he mentione dteh virus and she saw the look on his face she reached out and took a gentle hold of his hand. "We'll jus have to make sure that those weapons are never used James," Sara said in a soothing voice, a small smile on her face.

She had been about to say more when the warning of enemy submarines came. She released Jame's hand and fell quiet, observing. She felt ou of place here on a submarine. She was used to combat where you could see, hear, even smell your opponent. This was very different, and in many ways, far more frighteneing, especially as Sara had no control over her own fate at the moment. As the crew worked to destroy the enemy boats, Sara held onto her own chair with a white-knuckled grip. The sudden explosion, sounds of metal twisting and bulk-heads collapsing from the pressure of the sea, and then the final thud of the enemy ship were nearly to much for the young woman from 23Eris. Her jaw was clenched tight and she stared wide-eyed at the screen, taking in short, fast, breaths but couldn't get enough air. She had to get out... it was the only thing to do. She needed to get to the surface, she needed air! She struggled to her feet on wobbly legs, took a half step forward and then promptly collapsed to the floor, eyes open, but unconscious.

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General Lillis nodded, " I would like you to oversee the repairs to the Enchantress and to any other vessels you have that need maintenence or resupply. We ourselves currently have a single carrier here in port, which will put to sea tomorrow. With the current crisis amongst your forces and Kraven's sudden return, it would be best to send as many of our ships out to sea as possible."

"For naval coordination, I'll have our resident admiral get in touch with the commander of your ship. One she is fixed, I am sure the Enchantress will make out carrier group much more formidable."

"Now, as to your request." Lillis paused for second, sipping her coffee, "I'm afraid that your status as a civilian would create a lot of confusion, plus bar you from access to many important parts of the headquarters."

"No, I'm afraid Chancellor, that I'm going to have to decline your offer," Lillis paused giving the Chncellor her best apologetic look, then turning it into a smile. "Unless of course you would be willing to accept a field commission as a Colonel in the Erisian armed forces."

"You're right about the information you could part, and if there is one thing I had reinforced during the Spartan war, it is, know your enemy. The rank is mostly ceremonial, but it will give your words some more weight here, at least amongst the Danteri and Erisian troops."

James had reached out for Sara, but had been unable to catch her "Take Captain Yagger to the surface deck." The crewman nearest to the door nodded and radioed for some assistance. "Admiral enemy submarine has launched torpedos at our location" Hethran cursed and directed the submarine clear of the detonation area. "Lock onto their position, i want two pinpoint shots forward and aft from tubes 5 and 6, on my mark.... mark!" the submarine jolted once again as the two deadly torpedos screamed away, the first one impacting with the rear of the vessel, and the other colliding with its bulbous front, for a few seconds all that could be heard was the sound of grinding metal and then a brilliant explosion as two holes were blasted into the submarine at both ends, crippling her and sending her plunging into the depths. "Well done Ladies, and Gentleman, take us in close to the site, i shall return shortly, Captain Ghaou, you have command."

James sat on the Surface deck with Sara's head lying gently in his lap, he gently dabbed at her forehead with a damp cloth, around him one could be easily fooled into believing they were upon the surface, the walls had been altered with living bushes, amd the ground underneath was real grass, the roofing had been specially designed to look as real as possible when compared to the sky. and a gentle breeze blew through the area from the air conditioning units, as well as the noise created by the speakers that were an exact representation of the open air and fields of his homeland. All he could do now was wait.

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The Chancellor nodded, and then his face broke into an enourmous smile. "I would be Delighted to General!" the old man seemed to glow with a sort of happy pride, "I shall send word to the Commander of the Enchantress immediately, once she is seaworthy she will be ready to defend our forces, and provide us with a good deal of relief on our sea side quarters." Theold man seemed to find it hard reigning in his happiness and maintaining that same mask he was used to. "Now General, what would you care to know first?"

Recover didn't take over long, Sara's eyes fluttered quickly open and she suddenly sat bolt upright. She looked around confused for a few seconds before noticing James sitting there, where he had held her. "Wha- what is going on? Where are we James?" Sara questioned, obviously confused. "The last thing I remember is an enemy submarine."

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"Well then Colonel, the first thing I would like is some details of the armor and weapons your troops use, as well as tactics. The Erisian forces are extremely well equipped, but I want to know if it is the right equipment. We currently have depleted uranium armor piercing ammunition on hand for all units as well as standard rounds. We also have some other experimental AP ammo in the works, such as iridium AP rounds, but those are still in trials."

"I also need to know more about your tactics. Erisian doctine favors a highly mobile force that can quickly react to battlefield developments and concentrate overwhelming force at any point along the line quickly." Lillis thought about it for a moment, then added, "Its in many ways a modernized version of the german military doctrines of world war two."

"And after we're done here, I would like you, if you're up to it, to visit the front lines with some of my staff. Any improvements to our defenses you can suggest would be welcome."

Insulis Avalonis

Gwendolyn finished the Intellegence brief and quietly sat down.
Silence hung over the Situation Room like a summer storm.

Danteri had just become a completly local affair. The longterm projected Great Enemy Daemons had torn itself apart. Kraven was dead. It's empire was fallen to the successor states... the Running Dogs were now head wolves of their own packs. This would complicate things.

WU's report on the Solerians and 23Eris were comforting. His analysis of the Heretics, however, was nothing short of Terrifying. The Zuuk bottle daemons were fools to team up with them. Did no one read the old tales anymore. A scorpion will sting you. It is their nature. You who foolishly ally with the Enemy will be consumed by them.

The Death was finally broken by the Commander's Snort of derison. "Ironical eh?"
Everyone broke into Harlequin grins. Aye it was a bit Ironical.

On the bright side, now that the NND was safely stable again the Second Fleet was free an heading to Danteri with some much needed supplies and relief replacements.

The Islanders
The situation on the Islands were suprisingly much better than on the mainland. Truth they lacked infrastructure, basic necessities, etc... But they had plenty of food from the seas and fisheries. Their remoteness helped them from the ravages of the War.

Being of the Isles, the Melii prefered Islands to the mainland.

Zone Beta
The Tent Cities were slowly being replaced by Prefab Housing. The Prefab Cities were rapidly becoming new centers of peoples in the barren ZOnes. It was too late in the year to plant...rather it was still too early and there was little to no Seed or Tools.

The zone was in a bigger mess that Zone Alpha. Infrastruture was still present and could be salvaged but the land was depopulated and stripped bare. It would be a longtime before things got better. The Landmines scattered throughout the Region did little to encourage mobility outside the established corridors.

The City grew under the harsh Danteri Winter Sun.

Supplies and monies were slowly beginning to trickle in from the adi agencies... they would do for now.

James gently reached for her hand, "they have both been sunk Sara, you collapsed on the Command deck, and I had you brought here, to the Surface Deck. It is designed to be an approximation of the surface world, so that my crew and I have some link to the world outside, even if it is a very tenuous one. I felt that you may feel more comfortable here, if you wish you may remain on this deck in peace and quiet, until I return from the exploration of the Wreck, I would not wish to put you in further danger." He gently placed a hand on her face and stroked along her jawline, leaning in to kiss her.

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The Chancellor nodded and leanded back in his chair. "Well to begin with General the main problems you shall be facing, will be in the Imperial Armour, and Imperial Stormtroopers. They are probably the most deadly tools the Betrayers have in their arsenal right now, the Tanks are all Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks, with a high resistance to Nuclear Biological and Chemical warfare, their main rounds are more than capable of punching through at least 78 inches of steel, and are of course deadly at a long distance. However they have one rather fatal flaw, in order to accomodate the engine space they are significantly weaker under the forward overhand of the armour, as Imperial Tanks tend to fire from a sideways position, to maximise spread of damage, if you were to hit one whilst it was still moving, you could easily bring them down. The Stormtroopers however are another matter, they are programmed from induction to advance without question, to fight without fear, and to assess and annihilate any and all resistance. Their armour is modular meaning that they are fairly well protected all over, however the one point of major weakness is in the forward visor, it isnt very heavily reinforced and a single Depleted Uranium Round should smash through it. However for this tactic to work efficiently you will need to use large quantitys of sharpshooters to be sure of a kill. For this i would reccommend utilising smal groups of soldiers to lure them in, and then pin them in place with massive amounts of firepower so that the Sharpshooters can take them out piecemeal." The Chancellor leant forwards slightly, steepling his fingers as his face furrowed slightly as he searched his mind for other information that would be of use. "As far as tactics go, they are normally fairly simple, line up the tanks behind the Infantry, let them begin the Opening Salvo, and then charge at the enemy until you are close enough to engage them in Hand to Hand combat, it is for this reason that the SImperial Army still uses swords as one of its standard forms of equipment, They are much improved of course and quite capable of slicing through most body armours. Usually these attacks are preceded by weeks of psychological warfare, and before the main troops hit the enemy forces we use a form of APC with a massive drillbit affixed to the forward armour, so that it can tunnel behind enemy lines and burst out, normally raking the lines with AP Rounds, before dis-engorging her troops behind enemy lines, usually they impact with the rear of the enemy just as the forward troops hit as well, crushing them from both sides and cutting off their escape." Usually we rely more on precise intelligence from our Spy Sats to co'ordinate everything on the ground, meaning we use overwhelming levels of force to defeat our enemys." The Chancellor sighed slightly and leaned forward in his chair, "Unfortunately General no matter how well trained both our forces may be, the Betrayers have sheer weight of numbers behind them, if we dont get reinforcements soon, they will sweep this continent clean of all opposing forces and take this land for themselves, and Emperor help us if that happens."

The Chancellor stood up, his bones creaking slightly, "Well General allow me to rest for a few hours and refresh myself before we proceed, i am tired and sore, and in need of a good bath."

Kraven had fallen. The once mighty Corporation had dissappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.. there was a vacuum of power within the world. The Capitol Police had vanished, the Kreigsmarines stood about, wondering what to do, and what had happened. Zukariaa and all other Slave States had been left without hope..

They looked across the lands that they had ravaged under Kraven, and suddenly they knew..

They had no business there. They had killed millions in the name of Father, and now they were alone. No one wanted them, they were the outcasts. When they came back to Zukariaa, they would be greeted with cheering and love, because those people didn't know what they had done.

They Kraven Corporation would return, and it would take Zukariaa back, but suddenly.. guns hit the ground. Men began to cheer and cry in joy. They would no longer be slaves.

They were Zukariaans once again, proud and ready to fight for what they believed in, not what others believed in. They began to pull out of Danteri, they hoped they would never see the ravaged land again.

To: All in Danteri
From: High Commander Corrol

The end has come.. The Kraven Corporation is no more. And while there is no doubt that they will return, we must rebuild our homeland.

The Civil War has destroyed much of it, and in the end, the Kraven Corporation has left a vacuum in the world. We are not sorry for what we have done, and have no regrets.. but know that our time in this land is over. Until fate has us meet again, good luck.

Signed,
Henry Corrol, Ruler of Zukariaa


OOC: Well, Kraven has decided to leave NationStates for awhile. When he comes back, I don't have any doubt that I'll be back, but until then, I'm going to try and rebuild in the wake of the collapse. Bye, and sorry Soloriel!! :D

OOC: So, you leave, come back again, and now you're leaving again? Oh well... maybe I could interest you in becoming part of another militaristic transhuman autocracy (The Undershi Empire). We aren't as feared, but we're working on it...

The drunken soldier grinned, seemingly too drunk to notice, and plodded forward. Just as he was about to reach the mine field, he tripped, stumbled and lost one of the full bottles, which shattered on the ground.
At that point, the severly drunk Undershi, one of that so-called pitiless race, fell to his knees... and sobbed, crying out:
"Oh my bottle! Yesch... I'll see about you, bottle!", at which point he drew his sidearm, and proceded to empty the entire six round gauss pistol into the glass shards, weeping the whole time. That task done, he reholstered the pistol, held out a bottle in each hand and called out:
"Well, now that's better! Who's up fur a drink?"

OOC: Needless to say, any spelling errors are solley intended to indicate how drunk I - I mean how drunk he is...

Admiral Simon Randalph looked up from the latest comm from the capital, and felt... sadness. It seemed that was had broken out, and that for all the cries of joy in the streets, the liberal element in the High Command had been unable to overcome the simple stupidity of their No_State_At_All enemies.
They had had to make concessions to those blood-and-iron conservatives, those imperialist liberal bastards who would have doomed Undershi to Ragnorak... and who now had sucked it into a war where Ragnorak was only so far at bay, kept away only by empty promises.
They had orders for him and his fleet - move out, leave the troops at the port to defend it, and prepare for a long hard war. It was like winter had come to crush spring - democracy now stood no chance at all in Undershi, when the liberals were so discredited by the failure of their attempts at a true peace...
Admiral Simon Randalph began composing a message at his desk for the Haraki leader, General Niel - he would tell him about the war, and about how he couldn't go and kill again... and he would ask for asylum. It was all he could do.

Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder was smilling as the celebration wore down - she began the last thing to happen before the end of the party, pinning the new rank pins onto the new officers.
She smilled at everyone as she named the three new Hauptmann, and when that was done, she walked back to General Niel and asked him:
"Well, it seems that the party is coming to an end. I have some papers in my quarters from my government - I'll go get them, and we can finish the evening on a high note, signing that treaty that you mentioned - the Minister of Defense authorized me to sign for Neue Neue Deutschland, since I actually have more experience than he does - and, apparently, because I'm something of a heroine back home!" she punctuated that last comment with a laugh, obviously finding the idea ridiculous - was she not that same young woman who had so recently nervously asked this same General for supplies for her soldiers, abandoned as they had been by their government?
Continuing on, she added:
"I hope that your government would consider your signature adequate? My government specifically requested that you sign for Haraki - they seem to consider you a hero too, what with all the help you gave me." she smilled, seemingly at peace with the world, and leaned in conspiratorily:
"They might even try to give you one of the military decorations they've just decided aren't a 'remnant of a militaristic fascist system' - or so I've heard. Look, you'll even be the second person they'll decorate - I got my medal earlier today." she removed a case from her pocket, and showed him - it was a little half-red half-black ribbon, with a gold sun-burst on it. It looked like, well, like what a medal would look like if it had been based on something ancient and teutonic, then redesigned by a modern artist told to make it look like something peaceful.
Still, she was obviously proud of it. She turned as if to go, giving him a chance to reply, smilling like a school-girl. She looked young for a Lieutenant-Colonel, or Oberstleutenant, or whatever. But then, the Neue Neue Deutsch military was young, and she was some sort of heroine, after all.

The drunken mob in the housing tower seems to have run out of booze. At that point, they seem also to have finally realized what the heck they've done - they wounded three Danteri Police officers, actually killing one, and with illegal weapons no less...
A few hours after the shouting stopped, the mob sent forth its negotiator - a (very hung-over) man in the ragged remains of a Danteri Government Security Cadet-Agent, a uniform that appears to have been stored in a dark wet place for the last few months.
Grimacing at the light, he managed to call out:
"We're willing to negotiate!" as he stumbled forward, shielding his eyes.

What They Want:

- They will give up their weapons, whatever the outcome.

- They won't be charged with any crimes involving the war.

- They won't be shot.

- Could they get some asprin now, please?

From: The Undershi High Command
To: 23Eris
Re: Offers
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War has broken out, as it inevitably would. We welcome your offers happily, and would like to clarify a few things about what has already happened.
No doubt you have already heard about the atrocity in Saint Rynald, how some 700 civilians were crucified by retreating Undershi soldiers. We want to reassure you that we did not approve of these actions, and that the officers responsible (one Major Schnider) will be punished - although not be crucificion! Rather, he will be tried, sentanced and then executed by lethal injection - much more humane. Still, we want to reassure you.
As for the abolition of slavery - it will occur more slowly than we initially said - we have already entered a bill ending legal slavery in the Undershi Empire into the schedual for the next meeting of the High Command, but what with the war, there could be delay. Slavery in non-essential areas (not related to the war effort) could be technically abolished as early as four months from now, and abolished in reality in as little as five more months.
In essential areas, we have no option save the unfortunate one of continuing to endure its existence until the war is over.
As for the resignation of the High Command and the instilation of a democratic government, what with the war and all, the need for centralized authority will require some delay - as soon as this war is over, then the High Command will resign. Unfortunately, this war looks set to go on for more than the two years that we named before... we hope that you will still be interested in trade with us. To put it bluntly - at least we're honest about the dificulties that face us.
We would like to thank you for your offers, by the way - without them, we would have been forced into the hands of Kraven, and what with the collapse of that aforementioned organization, we are glad that we were not.
We await your reply.

Sara responded automatically, her lipsmoving to meet his. As they kissed, Sara wrapped her arms around him, holding him closely. It was several minutes before she was willing to loosen her hold on him, and even then it was with the reluctant knowledge that the wreck had to be explored. "James, I'm sorry I'm so weak, I must have embarassed you terribly earlier, not to mention myself."

She looked down at the ground on which she sat and bit her lip momentarily before looking back up at the admiral. "I know we need to explore the wreckage, and I can't let you go alone. I'm coming with you and I won't take no for an answer."

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"We already have some reinforcements arriving. We are in the midst of deploying a new mechanized division from the homeland, and another infantry division will be arriving within two days. That puts total Erisian strength in southhaven at 120,000 combat troops. In Freiburg we already have 100,000, I hope that will be enough to hold the north for now."

"I'm going to order the deployment of more mines to the front lines. That should help bog down any attack, and I'll scrounge up some geo-mapping sonar equipment. We can use that to search for any Betrayer tunneling, seismographs too will help. We're not going to be caught with our pants down."

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The border-guards watched the display with some distaste. This was certainly not something they had planned to deal with, and now their commander was advising them to tray if possible, to avoid an incindent.

"Go back to your lines Undershi!" Called back one of the borderguards. "You're near a damn minefield!"

OOC: Undersgi, I'll respond to your government note later when I'm less sleepy

Neil was genuinely happy. He didn't get to relax much in the field, especially here in Danteri, and the stress had been getting to him lately, what with all the old and new factions entering the war wanting a new piece of Danteri. It was opportunities like this one, this party, that at the same time kept him going and made it all worthwhile.

He genuinely smiled, for the first time in a while. "If anybody deserves to be the first person decorated for a country, it's you. What you've done for all these people," he said, making a sweeping hand gesture to indicate all the soldiers under her command, "I can't even imagine. Maybe they should make a special title or something ... Heroine of Neue Neue Deutschland ... then I could be one too. That'd be great." Although it does seem a bit strange to have heroes and heroines and decorations ... for a war where nothing has happened and neither of our forces has done much in a while.

"Yeah, my signature should be fine, especially as a special request from your government, and personally, I'd rather get the signing out of the way as quickly as possible before one of our governments changes their mind." As she turned to walk away, he called her name once more. "Luisa ... good job," He said with a wink and a sip of his whiskey.


*


Captain Lexington sighed. All right, he thought, they won't be charged with war crimes. We don't have any idea what they did anyway. But killing Danteri Police Officers? Shit, I don't think "I was drunk," will hold up for that in court. Although it might make a reduced sentence.

"All right," he bellowed through the megaphone. "If everyone inside the house throws their weapons down and comes out with their empty hands above their heads, you will not be harmed and no charges related to the war will be filed against you. You have five minutes to comply, after which time the Harakian military will enter the building and fire on anyone resisting with nonlethal weaponry. Anyone resisting our forces with firearms will be responded to in turn."

Fuckers.


*


Locke sat at his desk. He had reports of a drunken party getting out of hand, the Zukariaans withdrawing, the Undershi starting another war, Solorien civil war carrying on ... and now this. A message had come in, routed from Neil's mailbox to Locke's due to Locke's seniority in the chain of command, from Admiral Simon Randalph of Undershi, asking for asylum in Haraki to prevent himself from having to go to war. That would file him under the 'conscientious objectors' clause of the Harakian immigration rules, and basically give him a free ride as a refugee, especially since there were high-ranking military witnesses - namely, him and Neil - willing to throw their weight behind it and testify that yes, in fact, it would suck to go to war as an Undershi, and so on and so on. Randalph's desperate pleas for not wanting to kill again would be heard and most likely get him through. If it was a trick, Randalph was damn good at trickery.

He composed a new message, top secret encryption, telling Randalph that if he came in to Haraki on, say, a civilian plane and once in Haraki asked to stay as a conscientious objector and refugee, the law would most likely let him stay and apply for citizenship. Although there might be a short process for immigration to ensure he wasn't just trying to take an easy route for immigration by pretending to be a refugee, Locke would throw his weight behind the claim for refugee status and asylum, thus making it almost certain to pass. Clicking the minute send button, he breathed out a long sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair.

On top of everything else, his latest project for rebuilding Danteri was now being put into action. Millions of Dantmarks had been printed up for circulation, in much lower denominations than the previous Danteri currency, which had suffered from mass inflation, and an exchange rate had been printed up that meant people would no longer need to carry wheelbarrows of money to get a loaf of bread, as in some countries. Stores had been instructed to begin taking Dantmarks on that day, as had everyone else, and Harakian bureaus had been set up where people could exchange their old Danteri currency or the IOUs the Harakians had given them for proper Dantmarks, the new currency of the Haraki safe zone.

He just hoped the transfer would be smooth, and that people would accept the new currency.

To: Undershi Leadership
From: Foreign Minister Chilkevich, 23Eris
Re: Latest Note

We welcome your efforts to change the structure of your nation, ending slavery and plans to institute a democratic government. We are sorry to hear that your nation is being forced into a war it does not wish, that will slow the planned changes to your nation, and will undoubtedly cost thousands of innocent lives.

While we can not at this time engage in open trade for goods produced by slave labor, giving your companies an unfair advantage and supporting such practices; we again offer to supply you with what essential goods we can spare (food, medicine, etc.) for the duration of your conflict. We also wish to reassure you of our own peaceful intentions, we have no desire for war with your nation, especially as it has pledged to change.

We welcome improved relations between our nations and hope for a peaceful and profitable future for both our peoples.

Admiral Simon Randalph - no, just Simon Randalph now - made his way towards the helicopter that would fly him to another nation... where he would board a plane and fly to Haraki, where he would do his damn best to be sure that if the Undershis came for Haraki when they got stronger, they would suffer.
He shivered in the cool morning breeze, repressing thoughts that had suddenly come up, unbidden, of thousands of charred bodies from some village or other, when the napalm had done its work before they sent the Janissaries in...
He remembered entierly too many things for any man to rest easy. Still, at least he would soon see the last of the psychotic Undershi super-men... God willing.
With a last sigh at the thought of lost possibilities, Simon Randalph boarded the helicopter, and prepared to leave behind his old life.

The Undershi grinned stupidly, and called out:
"Then let me across, you bloody fools! I've got some booze for you!" he seemed entierly too stupidly drunk to consider what he was doing, and he actually took a stumbling step forward, grinning with the idiot joy of a drunk.

Major William Schnider looked... surprised. He seemed unable to grasp just why it was that the Imperial Internal Security men had come for him, and he didn't resist... he seemed certain that it was all a mistake, right up until he found himself seated before a court, hearing the prosecuter announcing what the government would charge him with - mass murder of civilians, all 700 of them killed by him and his men.
At that point, he seemed to almost cry out, so shocked was he, but he did not - True Undershi super-men are stoic. Still, he stumbled over his words as he protested formally - he had just been doing what was normally done - shock the enemy, delay them... he spoke of all those deaths as though he had just burned a field or knocked down a house with a shell.
The court found him guilty, and the judge spoke as he handed down the sentance:
"High Command has outlawed crucificion, or else I would recomend that it be carried out upon this man. As is, I can only sentance him to death by a more humane means - he will die by Leathal Injection, one hour from now."
With that, the IIS men took him away, seeming to find no irony in assisting in the punishment of a man for commiting a crime that the IIS had committed every day for years. Still, with the ban on crucificion, the situation had improved - no longer did the doomed cry out for hours - now they merely died quick deaths, from Leathal Injection or a firing squad.

Note: This is being televised throughout the Empire as part of a new type of PR campaign, and recordings of it are being sent to 23Eris, Haraki, Usea-Jason and No_State_At_All, as signs that Undershi is improving.
In the case of the last two, it goes along with offers for a peace treaty wherein the original terms offered by the Undershi (the others get everything they asked for, but over a two year period instead of right now) are offered as terms.

OOC: So, you leave, come back again, and now you're leaving again? Oh well... maybe I could interest you in becoming part of another militaristic transhuman autocracy (The Undershi Empire). We aren't as feared, but we're working on it...
Yeah, it's confusing, and I'll probably be back again... <<

I'm not going to join anyone else. When Kraven comes back, he'll absorb me again. He's left so much influence on our nation and people, most of the people want him back.
Don't worry.. when he comes back, he'll come back in a storm. And the Capitol Police will march once again. The horrors will return, and many a nation will be conquered, sucked dry of resources, and left for dead. :)

ooc: well that sucks dude, but oh well, if you have to leave you have to leave. I hope we see you round here again sometime stranger ;)

James smiled at Sara, "You could never embarass me Sara, its always rough the first time your underwater and face combat." James laughed softly for a moment "You should have seen me the first time I was underwater, I ended up being sick all over the mess hall, the Commander made me scrub up every inch of it, and then polish the deck plates." James face creased in a slight smile at the memory. "If you wish to come with me Sara, then you are free to do so, I would not deny you that choice, but i do recommend that you steel yourself, for this part of our journey, the Warlock will hold position above the wreck, whilst we head in via the heavy underwater work suits, we will be investigating the wreck on foot, and that search may take us into very unstable areas, we are still unsure as to the complete status of the wreck.

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

The Chancellor nodded his approval as his head drooped slightly, in a sleepy voice he mumbled "I just hope Hethran finds what hes looking for soon..." Before drifting off into a dreamless sleep, born of Fatigue, and Exhaustion. The Chancellor sat there slightly slumped in his chair, his mouth and eyes closed, breathing deeply, in some respects he resembled a sleeping child, and his form revealed nothing of the former Power that he had wielded under the command of the Emperor, his breathing was drawn, but he did not overly struggle as he slept, unperturbed by the fact he was in anothers office.

As he drifted off to sleep, the last of the slipshod bandages covering his head slipped free, revealing a long deep gash across the top of his skull, small trickles of blood escaped still and it was obvious that the wound was severe, as one of his arms fell slightly from its position across his chest a small silver object slipped from its grasp, and gently fell to the floor, it was a sovereign ring, with the Emperors Seal, and an extra mark denoting him as the Imperial Chancellor.

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

In the Betrayers lands, the Corruption had already begun to set in, the beautiful buildings and vast reclamation acts across the nation were beginning to show hints towards the Betrayers true intentions, As the Zukariaans pulled out they were jeered for their cowardice by the Taydrmuntc forces, all across the land security was stepped up along the borders, and half of the Betrayer forces began lining up on the border into South Haven, they werent mobilising for invasion just yet, but it was clear that they were up to something....

OOC: I'm sorry for this brief interruption...but DO YOU REALISE HOW LONG THIS WAR HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR???

OOC: How long this has been going on for? A long time - with quite a few million dead.

The Danteri Police in the Haraki safe-zone have requested higher quality protective gear, a request lent force by the recent death of one of its members. Currently, it is being targeted due to its lower quality equippment, and it seems that the Danteri Police officers don't like that, and so want some change soon... so far, all they've done is make requests.

This is a closed thread...?

OOC: Nope! This thread is still open! Anyone (who can take some land or send in some humanitarian supplies) is welcome!

ooc:
This DAMN War is Centuries old... heck you watched all of the regime changes that the nations involved underwent? The Zuuks went from merely crazy to Evil Bottle Demons of Kraven Corps and back to distasteful fascists.

When Me Li entered the War we were 10 million Strong, now we are a nation of 220 million. You could say this has been going on for a damn long time. Or you will note the constant use of Fluid Time. Some posts happen months and others happen within hours. Either way an entire generation knows nothing but war...

I don't think it is closed. You wanna join in the fun? Just ask Danteri.

"I'll be ready James," Sara replied with a hardness in her voice. "I am not going to lose to my fear twice."

"And this is for being so damn good to me," She twisted around, catlike on the floor before him and gave him a quick and playful kiss before returning to her seriousness. "Now lets get ready to explore that wreck before more people die."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lillis had been about to respond when she saw that the former Chancellor was drifting of to sleep. The wound needed medical attention and she wondered briefly if he had fallen asleep from age or blood loss. She should have made him stop by the infirmary before meeting with him, but the had had much to discuss.

The medics arrived quickly, injected him with a sedative to ensure he would not awaken while they worked on him, and placed the former chancellor, now Colonel on a stretcher and rushed him to the infirmary where he would be given th ebest care the Erisians had to give. Lillis knew that the Colonel would never agree to go and be laid up willingly, she had the same stubborn streak, but she was also underhanded when necessary, and now his commanding officer.

Amanda picked up the ring the Chancellor had dropped and examined it for a few momens, wondering what it meant to be Chancellor to a nation as huge as Soloriel. In her mind she considered what similarities there were between his former position and hers as commander of the armed forces in Danteri and chief enforcement officer of Southhaven.

Whioe she absent-mindedly turned the ring over in her fingers she remembered that in two days she was supposed to make a public appearance, officialy turning over the leadership of the Danteri police force and auxiliary units to the new Southhaven government. In actuality though, she had been appointed by the Southhaven legislature to oversee the forces in an effort to continue the excellent working relationship.

Lillis sighed and turned on her laptop. She had to work on a speech for this occasion. Politics were such a chore.

Oberstleutenant Luisa Rhurlunder smilled back at General Niel, then left the room, calling out as she did that it would only take a moment.
The room was warm, and the Neue Neue Deutsch soldiers there seemed almost ecstatic in their joy at, well, at anything to celebrate. They had been abandoned by their government, and now their government had come to claim them, and rather than calling them fascists and monsters, as they had half expected, given the anti-military bias traditional to Neue Neue Deutschland, it called them heroes. They liked that.

Suddenly, everything changed.

Gun shots. Three of them. Panic as the Neue Neue Deutsch soldiers rushed here and there.
They found her in her quarters, with the papers she had come for all covered in blood. Her blood, but also that of her assailant. The soul-less killer was dead - she had killed him with her side-arm, forgotten and loaded on her desk, even as he cut her down.
She was still alive when they found her, and she managed to hold up the treaty, seemingly in shock. She mumbled something about her parents, then managed to speak coherently as the medics tried to save her, pumping her full of pain-killers.
Before she passed out, she spoke:
"Sign the damn treaty, for god's sake." she effectively ordered one of the other officers, a junior Hauptmann Karl Metzger, to sign for Neue Neue Deutschland, and then, then she passed out.

The treaty that the grim-faced Hauptmann gingerly handed General Niel was the same copy that she had been holding when she had been attacked. He seemed almost in tears as he spoke:
"Here it is. She wanted to be sure that everything was taken care of, in case, in case she, well, in case she died." he seemed distraught, and had to pause a moment before, a tear running down his cheek, so obviously terrified that the first heroine of the Neue Neue Deutsch Army might die that he could hardly speak, he managed to continue:
"We need your help. Our doctors are good, but yours are better. Could you get some help from Haraki? We don't have the facilities for her care."

The Injury:

Before she shot him, the Soul-less killer got one good cut in. It hacked into her back, almost severing her spine a little above the waist. Likely, even if she lives, she will never walk again.

I know that I am kinda over-stretching my forces just a bit. (Currently fighting in a war versus Sochatopia..and in the desert.) But I do have a taste for realism and for war. I will not create an unbeatable force (because...I do have the stats supporting it...) for I am growing tired of people giving up because they sense that all is lost.

Tell me what I should do, where I should go. If you have a map, that would be grateful. Also...anyone have a statistical report/analysis of every other nationality?

OOC: I'd say check with 23Eris on that - 23Eris is the semi-official map-maker for this RP. As for joining... I joined without an invite. I'm sure you could too. (Danteri, please don't get angry at me if you disagree...)

-Six SU-47's flew in the air in a perfect Alpha Formation, they awaited the acceptance by Danteri.-

"Yeah. I just have no idea whom I should side with, if anyone. I guess I can choose the traditional way...or I can be a separate faction all together. It really depends all up to you guys. Heh. I have six SU-47's flying around. They are non-hostile, so please don't shoot them down. But if you do, then I will choose to side against you and well...that will be done. I like my SU-47's. All black and such. They are extremely well at night...I wonder why?"

-The dictator rambles off for a few more hours. He then returns back on track.-

"Oh, right. Tell me whom I should be, and give me my restrictions. That is all."

Carthago Delenda Est

The Melii Beta Zone was now crisscrossed with newly manufactured towns. While they were not very hardened against artillery or a few "good" cluster bombs, they would keep out the rain, dirt, and bugs. They were a vast improvement over the initial tent cities. This was not saying much as the Tents were a world of improvement over the destroyed villages and STILL smoldering cities of Beta Zone, East Haven.

The Zuuks had let the domestic animals go feral. Wogs, the Melii affectionatly derogratory term for Wild Dogs, roamed the dystopia. They were large rangy beasts, mean hungry man eaters. They were not the only animals to have gone feral. The Melii patrol encountered far worse.

Beta Zone had once been a lovely place... if one looked enough one could see the hills with verdant trees and brush, instead of the Bare Eroded Wasteland the Zuuks had left behind. The former Hamster Lovers had raped the land of both its peoples as well as of its resources.

The Melii and the allies were left with the joyous task of eating ashes and shiting gold. The troopers were left without a clear goal now. Carthage was as dead as this part of Danteri. Luckily the some of the Damn Zuuks had fought for their lives against Kraven. Carthage was not able to salt the fields with Cobalt... The Fields and Hills would recover with time. The people too would grow stronger... and then when Carthage rises from the sands of time, These lost souls, these Black Sheep would join the Melii in gutting the wolves.

OOC: You don't get assigned a side or anything. You just RP as you will...

The golden days of the bandit were over. Back then, as the Loyalist government fell apart, and cities died in atomic flames, all you had needed was an AK and some ammo, and you were set to raid, to slaughter and torture as it pleased you.
Then had come the second war, with the Kravenite Zukariaans, and the bandits had thrived on the refugees and the slaughter, and the final horrors of the break-up wars...
Now there was scarcely a place for the bandit to hide, unless he wanted to swear an oath and pretend to be a loyal auxiluary to some foreign power, as many did.
The few that remained were those who weren't in banditry for the money or the food - that kind had gone to the Safe-Zones a long time ago, or enlisted as some auxiluary.
Now all that were left were two varieties - genuine sadists and poor bastards who had been so messed up by the various atrocities and counter-atrocities that they couldn't help it anymore...
Still, even those were dieing out, as the soldiers of the foreigners chased down this band and that, killing and capturing. Percentages were meaningless, but the roads were clear now. If you stayed where the foreign soldiers, Haraki, Neue Neue Deutsch or Me li, cared to go, then you were safe, these days.
Still, there were always rumors - some bandit chieftan in the hills, hiding, rallying to his side the mad sadists and the die-hards and the anarchists... some said that he meant to carve himself out a little kingdom, out there in the icy mud of Danteri in winter. The question was, would anyone care if he did so, so long as he stayed out of the way in the areas that no one wanted? Still, he was likely enough to be a myth anyways - most of the stories about him were obvious lies, after all.
Still, bandits roamed the mountains and the hills and the swamps none the less, like ants glutting themselves upon the corpse of a dead elephant.

Carrier Taskforce 3: Heavenly Peace

The young specialist sat in an ergonomic battle chair that conformed to her body. She observed the Tactical Display with both the alertness of youth and the awareness that her CO was watching her watch the Screens. Three bird size signatures appeared on one screen and raced across it... AYUP!

"SIR Bogies inbound sector 6.8!"

The Commodore stopped pacing the command deck and ordered a wing of F-22s to intercept.
"Track 'em lass and send 'em a Hello."

"Aye Sir."

"Unknown craft! Be advised that you are currently heading into restricted Air Space. Please Identify yourself. Repeat ID yourself or be shot down." She killed the line and began whispering silently to herself. "Damn ignorant savages. They deserved to be shot down for foolishly entering a warzone with stealthed planes. If the Zuuks, Undershi, Heretics, New Lexington, or even perhaps the Soleriel, the bastardes would have been shot down when they appeared on the grid. We ought to shoot 'em down now and ask questions later."

The Commodore grinned. The Lass was right. But politics was what Brass and higher commanders had to deal with. They had to have the balls to do something stupid. These sneaky fellows might be potential allies, and one does not usually shoot allies first... although...

ooc: Just two rules.. do not fuck up. It is simple really. People die when things fuck up. I would rather not have my people die. The second is not really a rule as an understood agreement. The Melii will not invite Scorpions[Betrayers of Trust] to sup with us.

OOC:Welcome aboard, and i hope you enjoy the meaningless slaughter of innocents ;)

James smiled and kissed her back, before twisting up and out of his seat, he gestured for her to follow him, and they made their way past hundreds of crewmembers until they finally arrived in the main mini-sub bay, already others were strapping themselves into large bulky suits, assisted by others, and James called 2 crewmembers over with a pair of suits to help them get ready.

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

As the Chancellor dreamed, his mind was filled with images of his childhood, of his first years in the Imperial and how afraid he had been of the Emperor, until that day that he ran into him in the Imperial Gardens, and the Emperor had smiled at him, and pulled him to his feet. His mind swirled through random Images, the sight of the Imperial Parade, and thousands of men marching past in strict formations beneath the Emperors Balcony. And then he drifted finally back into a deep dreamless fugue...

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

Amongst the Loyalist forces there was a sense of inadequacy, of cowardice that they had failed to move onwards, whilst the enemy was unprepared for them, but for now they held their positions, fortifying what they could, and preparing for the onslaught that was to come...

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

The man sat there, alone in this icy desolate landscape, amidst a small gathering of trees that were burnt and blackened, surrounded by the frozen remains of soldiers in Loyalist Danterian uniforms, he was perched atop a burnt out hulk that used to be a tank, it had been destroyed in the first days of the Solorien advance at the start of their entrance into this war, when it had all been noble, and good. The man spat onto the iced over dirt and hopped down, his boots crunching into the Ice, and his trench-coat swirling around him. He whistled and a small group of men appeared as if from nowhere and formed up around him, as one unit the 4 began moving rapidly through the trees and then even faster over the open wastelands until they reached the abandoned Imperial Depot, where they loaded themselves up, and regathered what they required, once complete, they made their way to the outside of the depot, sealing it behind them, and mounted the horses that stood in that icy weather and shivered, steam coming off their flanks, and the 4 rode off and towards the Betrayer lines...

OOC: New Map! (http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j106/renthas/danterimap11.jpg)

Okay, just to recap for Dephire: Danteri was in a civil war, then things got really bad. Haraki intervened to protect civilians and has been neutral ever since. The Haraki zone is a multi-national zone. They're protecting some 30+ million civillians,

I intervened to defend the city of Freiburg, then so did Soloriel, since we ended up with the same objective, we became allies. I was backing a democratic government which was betrayed and destroyed. Then to prevent Zukariaa from grabbing all the rest of Danteri, I landed in Southhaven. I have over 50+million civilians in my zones/jointSoloriel/23Eris zones.

Montegrande formed a communist buffer state between Zukariaa and myself (the Zukes moved too slow) before abandoning Danteri to us capitalists after Soloriel attacked them.

New Lexington, originally backing the fascist government, annexed the western territory she now controls. The vast expanse of the Soloriel Betrayer faction once belonged to Kraven Zukariaa who abandoned Danteri and is now held by crazy militaristic Soloriel troops who have betrayed the empire.

Me Lii is... well doing whatever the heck they do.

And McPsychoville who holds a big chunk of the NW hasn't been active since oh, page 11 or so. Something tells me they're not gonna get active real quick, so theres a good place to land troops if you don't want to form an alliance with someone early on. ;)

OOC: Dephire, I have no problem with you joining the RP, but I ask that you please, please either remove the smilies from your sig or just uncheck the 'Show your signature' box. Due to the colour and the animations, they're very distracting when I'm trying to read.

Also, Danteri, can I get some stuff on the release of the new Dantmark? The Harakian offices where you can exchange old money and IOUs for Dantmarks are now open.







Neil watched her go, sighing and walking over to sit down in a chair by the edge of the room, taking a few more sips of whiskey. It was a nice party, the kind of one where an-

Suddenly he was on his feet, the glass of whiskey in the air and falling fast as the three gunshots, in rapid succession, met his ears. The glass hit the ground with a small thud, the thick bottom preventing it from shattering like in all the movies. Awkwardly, a tiny corner of Neil's brain was disappointed that his dramatic gesture hadn't worked out, but the rest of it ignored that small corner as he advanced down the hallway where Luisa had gone, his sidearm drawn and up in front of him. The door was half open and he pushed it with his left hand, stepping through, and finding a dead Neue Neue Deutsch soldier and Luisa, lying there, cut open terribly, her sidearm in one hand and the treaty in the other. The Neue Neue Deutsch soldier looked to have taken two shots to the head and one to the face and was obviously dead, but the massive and bloody sword he carried looked surely to have been the same one that had hit Luisa.

After an initial rush to her side, trying his best to gently tell the conscious officer that she would be okay, he had been swarmed by Neue Neue Deutsch soldiers, and had been shoved back out into the corridor, where he holstered his sidearm and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes. He'd seen his share of action, been in firefights, reviewed battlefields, seen dead bodies ... but never like this. It was never a friend, it was never so vicious.

This was when he was approached by the junior Hauptmann and asked to sign the treaty and call for Harakian doctors. Numbly, he simply nodded as they took the treaty back out to the larger room, now filled with armed and tense Neue Neue Deutsch soldiers, with multiple alert sentries watching every entrance.

The treaty itself was fairly standardly worded, with the classic 'We, the nations of Haraki and Neue Neue Deutschland, hereby...' and moving on to the actual statements '...a formal treaty of alliance and non-aggression between the signatory nations ... mutual self-defence...' and went on about trade deals, extradition treaties, support in diplomatic crises, and on and on. The end of it was some of the more interesting part: 'Furthermore, this treaty includes a joint ship-building undertaking by the two signatory nations, involving a small carrier task force to be constructed in Harakian shipyards by Harakian and Neue Neue Deutsch groups. This is to be composed of Harakian ship classes in the form of six Royal-class destroyers, two Excalibur-class light cruisers, one Wolfe-class heavy cruiser, one Sirius-class missile cruiser, and one Retribution-class light carrier, fully outfitted with sixty Haraki-supplied airplanes.'

Metzger was the first to sign, in the Neue Neue Deutsch space, and he passed it over to Major-General Gregory Neil, who signed it quickly to get it over with, rushign his way off the podium and to a private area where he made a cell phone call to Locke, who, after an initial surge of anger for using a cell phone to call him and say confidential information, got over it when he heard about the attack.

"Yah, Felias. I need our best doctors in and out of Danteri. Get in touch with the prime minister and commandeer Haraki's best surgeons. I want her to make a damn full recovery, to show whatever bastards pulled this off that they can't win and they can't even do anything. For now, just get ourbest doctors, but I expect by midnight Haraki's best surgeons will be on their way to help her out and they'll be ready for surgery by noon tomorrow."

He described the wound, and Locke promised that he would do his best. As a man of his word, he would get the best surgeons in Haraki, several coming from the Royal Harakian Hospital in Atherlon, the largest and best-outfitted hospital in Haraki. In the meantime, he rushed to tell Metzger that there was a helicopter ambulance on the way to pick her up and take her to a safe, secure Harakian base with a large and well-equipped hospital facility, under heavy guard, where the Harakian forces would make their honest best effort to save her. They knew if they didn't, they would answer to Neil.





OOC: Harakian ambulance helicopters are specially designed to carry delicate and very badly wounded people. The helicopter itself is normal, but the cargo compartment is a seperate, spherical component that can rotate on all axles very smoothly and is designed to keep the person as stable as possible even if the helicopter is being shot at, doing evasive maneuvres, whatever. It allows the helicopter to travel very quickly without worry about the health of the person in the back, because they'll stay flat and won't be shaken about at all. The spherical component also has lots of expensive medical equipment built into the walls for use on patients. The one coming to get Luisa Rhurlander will have the three best Harakian doctors/medics/surgeons available in Danteri onboard it to keep her alive and in as good condition as possible.

Of course, these run up the millions, but with a massive defence budget and no wars to fight, this is what you get.

OOC: Looks like I'm going to have to invade a providence in order to make myself a little foothold. From there, we can discuss other things.

IC:
-The six Su-47's kicked it up to Mach 1 and headed westward. Something had occured leaving the skies briefly open.-

"Admiral Vega. You have orders directly from Alexander. Follow them."

-The naval fleet commander looked over the slips of papers handed to him on a clipboard. Sweat appeared on his upper brow as he read on. There was something wrong, dreadfully wrong about the demands given to him by his superior.-

"Does anyone know where the hell Danteri is? You, Lieutenant Salvage. Look up Danteri, more specifically the Coastal Region of Westfall."

-It took several hours before the lieutenant smiled with his results.-

"Sir. I think I found it! Danteri. Massive country due east of our current heading."

-Admiral Vega briskly walked up beside him.-

"Distance?"

-A keyboard was being tapped at as another lieutenant was doing his part in the research.-

"Twenty-three thousand nautical miles North by North East."

-The Admiral nodded.-

"We may not be able to get there for several weeks. Do we have any naval bases nearby?"

-More typing-

"Do you remember that country, Los Mexico?"

-Vega remembered quite well. He was the Admiral of the entire Royal Naval Fleet back then. He remembered when he fired the first operational EMPulse Cannon.-

"Aye."

-Savage typed some more.-

"When we successfully captured Los Mexico, we obtained several thousand naval ships. Yes, they may not be our Capital Ranked ships that we adore and love, but they are halfway decent ships."

-The admiral bent down to see the monitor.-

"Super Dreadnaughts? Post World war two? Hmm. How far are they from Danteri?"

-Everyone pitched in to produce a map.-

"Sir. Los Mexico is nearly one thousand, five hundred miles from the furthest island of Danteri. Oh, and I must go against lieutenant Savage, they are not over twenty thousand miles, but are close to five thousand miles."

-Admiral Vega laughed.-

"Savage, if you weren't so good with your IT work, I would of had you fired. We sail onward men! Forward to Westfall!"

Los Mexico (Controlled by Dephire):

"Sir. We have been summoned to invade the western coast of Danteri."

-A soldier turned around to reply.-

"Then we shall invade the western coast. What's the target?"

-His equal looked him in the eye.-

"Westfall."

-The other soldier nodded, he picked up the PA microphone to deliver the orders.-

"Everyone. We are about to embark on an invasion of our friend, Danteri. Yes, I know that this is disturbing, but we all know that if we disobey Dephire, they will kill us. Our target is Westfall. It is currently controlled by the Soloreil Traitor Faction. We must hurry and assemble every God forsaken thing we have left to set up a foot hold. Am I clear?"

-There was unease flowing among the men, then one soldier begun clapping. Soon everyone followed in the bold move. A thunderous applause was heard around the crippled nation.-

OOC: Okay. That's the end of Part I. Now for background information. Los Mexico and I fought several months ago. In the end, I ran a massive bombing raid that nearly killed every living thing within Los Mexican borders. Currently, I am in a war with Sochatopia. That is why my Naval fleet is so far away. So far the only forces I have are the three thousand troops along with the six Su-47's that are fifty miles from the northern border of the Grander Danteri (basically the northernmost border of the northern most faction.)

The news that another new faction wanted in for the paritioning of Danteri was faintly disturbing. After Admiral Randalph's desertion, there had been a brief moment of chaos, before someone from the capital had come in and taken control - one Lord General Mathew O'Brien, True Undershi, gene-brother to Lord General Mark O'Brien who now fought so valiently in Saint Rynald, struggling to keep No_State_At_All out with what he could assemble. This new man was a hard man, devoid of pity, and he led like one - the first thing he did after arriving was flog have a soldier who had gotten drunk and wandered off to the 23Erisian border. As such, he was feared.
Still, accoarding to reports, the war was still in the balance - 35,000 Undershi soldiers had already died, but so had that many and a few more enemies, and No_State_At_All was coming perilously close to lossing the inititive, what with the constant set-backs all of its offensives met with.
It even seemed that some of its allies might be getting restless - Usea-Jason had just agreed to a cease-fire with Undershi, and peace seemed a likely outcome... at least, at least peace with Usea-Jason.

-Three Su-47's took off from their hidden base outside of Danteri. Their destination was Westfall, for a scouting run. At every question asked of them, they replied:

"We are the Delta Wing Force of the Dephirian Royal Air Force. Do not fire, we repeat, do not Fire! Dephire is currently neutral to all forces. So far we are not going to attack. There is no reason for us to attack. Dephire is a war-loving nation, yes, but we do not wish to be hostile."

-The Ships finally arrived just two hundred miles from the closest Island off the coast of Westfall. None were too concerned whether this was a foolish task or not, but they did know one thing...the coast will be overrun by nightfall.-

Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder was loaded onto the Haraki helicopter, as her soldiers watched in horror. They had never thought that she could be hurt, he had been their leader and heroine for so long.
As the helicopter took off, Hauptmann Metzger, grim faced and angry, came up to Major-General Niel, and told him:
"We think we know who was behind this." the two other officers with the rank of Hauptmann, Hauptmann Sara Metzger, who happened to be his cousin, and Hauptmann Josefine Feldmann.
They stood with Major-General Niel, watching the helicopter take off, and then Sara Metzger spoke:
"We know who did it, and you won't like it. It was, well, it was the old chancellor, who got thrown out of power by the popular revolt back home. He seems to have feared her popularity, and so, like Vessermann, the former defense minister who he murderer, he tried to kill her. You see," she explained, looking almost distraught all the while, "it's come out that he had Vessermann murdered, and all of his accomplaces have refered to a killer like the one we just found. It seems that this fellow, well, that he isn't quite human - we're thinking either Kravenite technology or Undershi, but we'd have to get closer looks at either before we could tell for sure. Then again, it could be some third party that we don't even know about. The only one who knows was the chancellor - he's in hiding now." she actually had a tear running down her cheek, and wiped it away before explaining:
"Yeah. Politics can be hell in Neue Neue Deutschland." she seemed almost on the verge of tears, as did both of the other officers. Hauptmann Josefine Feldmann spoke then, saying a single simple little phrase:
"It wasn't meant to be like this."

OOC: Haraki - sorry it took me so long to get something about this set up.

The dantmarks were a hit - there was actually talk of having an annual national holiday on this day, to commemorate the wonderful news that there would once again be a currency.
Of course, counterfitters came into the game almost immediatly, but for the most part their work was shoddy and fooled no one.
With so much good change going on, the only major problem at this time seems to be that the vast majority of Danterians want out of their country, and so are trying to get out in any manner that they can.
Still, it can safely be said that the situation in Danteri is improving, and that is good news. Although, considering the bloody recent history of Danteri, it seems almost to be only a matter of time before some new invader comes to burn and kill... as it seems Dephire is set to soon do, as they prepare for their attack on Westgate.

OOC: No problem. I jsut wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any major problems.





Neil nodded grimly, watching the oddly-shaped helicopter buzzing off as quickly as it could into the distance, and as the three Neue Neue Deutsch officers told him about the old chancellor and his violent plot he simply stood and listened. It took a moment before he said anything, before finally coming out with "Well, we're allies now. If you'd like, I can try and arrange some Harakian intelligence agents to go to Neue Neue Deutschland and search for your old chancellor. Top-notch men. Then, once they find out where he's hiding, well ... we'll just have to be creative. Fill in the blanks. I'm sure the HIA would be happy enough to help out in this matter."

As if we didn't have enough going on already, with a war, another war, another war, more factions trying to arrive at random and take pieces of land the rest of us have been trying to conquer or protect for who knows how long, as if we didn't have enough wrong with this fucking country, now we have politicians trying to kill off their country's leaders in Danteri? I know that NND's old chancellor was a pacifist, but I've never before seen a pacifist willing to kill people to try and achieve their goals. I suppose it takes all kinds.

I want to find that fucker. I didn't get a chance to kill the swordsman himself, Luisa was a little too good at that, but I want to find the chancellor, and I want to do things to him that would make any normal person's hair curl. I want him to fucking die. I want to... These are thoughts for another time. I have more to worry about now.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the same little action movie part fantasized about a cloak-and-dagger affair on the streets of Neue Neue Deutschland, with Neil tracking the man down in a back alley and confronting him, but the logical and realistic part of his brain ignored it. Right now, he was worried about protecting the rest of his allied forces from further attacks like that, getting the best surgeons available working on Luisa, and getting power and water back on to the rest of the safe zones.

It was going to be a long week.

Taskforce 3: Heavenly Peace

-
"We are the Delta Wing Force of the Dephirian Royal Air Force. Do not fire, we repeat, do not Fire! Dephire is currently neutral to all forces. So far we are not going to attack. There is no reason for us to attack. Dephire is a war-loving nation, yes, but we do not wish to be hostile."

Eh? They were a peaceful warrior folk? How strangely not very comforting. The Commodore sighed and shrugged. The Barbarians were fairly warned. It was their funeral. "Keep an eye on them Specialist, but do not fire unless they do something distasteful."

"Acknowledged, Delta Wing Force DRAF. We suggest that you take care with your incursions... Danteri makes people a bit trigger happy, and the others are a bit more on edge than usual. Good Hunting."

Zone Beta.
The local economy was slower in reviving than the planners in Xanadu had predicted. Infrastrutural repair was slow, they would likely not be effectivily began until the Spring Thaw. The last week's blizzard was a blessing in disguise, the icy drifts helped soften the harsh angles... Beta Zone was desolate but beautiful in winters embrace.

The rumours of yet another invader did little to sooth the nerves of the refugees. Danteri seemed only to know war. Many were ready to attempt a voyage elsewhere... but some were tired of running. In the Safe Zones, they found a modicum of stability and something resembling sanity. While their lands were now fought over by the antlike armies of invaders, they could do little but survive. Those that were left after these ages of war were good at surviving.

ooc:
I thought the commies pulled out and I moved to take the Islands? So I think it is pretty safe to say McPhycho is out yes? The Melii well we are just chillin' and trying to rebuild a little bit of Native Danteri for Danteri... and trying to implant our Cultural worldviews into our Protectorate. That is it. Honest. Well it does serve as a place our Military can recieve practical in-the-field-training. It used to be a trap for Kraven, but now...

The High Command had never before held a full session where some of its members had come sprinting from their beds, some grimly ignoring the fact that they were wearing their bath robes to a super-secret meeting, others nursing either hang-overs or the after-effects of too little sleep.
One of the liberals had managed to be assigned as the first to speak, and he was livid:
"How could you?!? How could you camel-abusing, dog-bothering idiots have managed to pull this off?!?" as coherent and polite speeches went, it came in as about the third least of either, but it was still awarded as much attention as a more eloquent speaker might ordinarily have waranted. One of the aforementioned "camel-abusing, dog-bothering idiots" was the next to speak, and he was a bit more coherent:
"Well, you said that we needed rubber, so we went and invaded a small rubber-producing nation just near our port in Danteri." he might have meant to say more, but he didn't manage it - one of the liberals cut him off, asking:
"What gave you the right to do that without consuting us? Any war must be approved by a full session of the High Command, and I don't remember being present." the Conservative replied, a genuine grin on his face,
"Well, you see, we needed an excuse too, and that was that another nation was being all colonial there as well, and so... well, since it was a Police Action, we cannot help but feel that it didn't require the consent of a full session - merely the five members that the law says need to be present to approve minor details." this was met with shocked gasps from both liberals and conservatives - this was a case of lawyering if they had ever seen one, and it trampled what little democracy there was in the system quite profoundly.
Finally, one of the liberals managed to clear his throat, then spoke:
"I'll go to 23Eris on the next flight. When I get there, I'll try to talk to their government. I'm sure that we can convince them to be reasonable - if, and I mean if and only if, I can take with me a signed document saying that, as soon as the Imperialists are expelled, we will return this little nowhere land to self-government. After all, we can buy the rubber that we need from 23Eris - that was what I was going to do in the first place, before you showed up and tried to take the old route of conquering anything that has anything that the Empire could concievably need." swallowing nervously, he continued:
"So? What's it going to be?"

He, Colonel Paul Markel, left for 23Eris fifteen minutes later, onboard an Undershi government plane, traveling at super-sonic speeds. He had with him in his briefcase a document, signed by every member of the High Command, that attested to the fact that the invasion of Aeson would be only a "police action", whereby a would-be neo-colonialist would be prevented from taking over, a local governemnt would be established and then the Undershi forces would be withdrawn.
It was a good sort of document for other reasons - it invited either 23Erisian participation in the campaign, or that they send human-rights observers, to see that the locals, and any POWs that they took, would be well treated.
As he flew in, he took a few moments to read up on 23Erisian culture and society. The more he read, the more confused he became.
It wasn't just the obvious things, like their legalization of darned-near everything addictive, or their tolerance of sexual promiscuity... it was their entire culture.
He almost chocked on his ice water as he read through the reports that Cultural Operatives had compiled - the 23Erisians were that different from the Undershis. Grmily fingering his glass, he decided that he would look forward to a chance to talk with the 23Erisian government.
As they flew, he went through the papers, stopping for a moment at the pictures the Cultural Operatives had included, of typical 23Erisian fashions... it almost made him want to laugh, the thought that if a common soldier was found with some of those pictures, taken from 23Erisian fashion magazines, he or she would have been flogged for possession of pornography.
Yes, these 23Erisians were very, very different...

OOC: Yes, 23Eris, I do not know your common women's fashions, but I was giving his response to anything that showed the shoulders, the knees or too much neck (and I mean neck - clevage isn't being considered here). The Undershi have total equality between the sexes, but they still hold onto almost Victorian morals - it's just that they apply them to both sexes - even male Undershi cannot wear clothing that reveals their shoulders, knees or neck. Weird, but an element of the psychology of these sociopathic super-men brought up in "boarding boot-camps" and seperated by sex until age 18. Sure, this is a weird trait, but these guys can get along with people who don't meet their moral standards - although they tend to have trouble doing so. Don't blame them - they're trying their hardest to be nice and democratic, when as a race, they were designed by a bunch or crazy fascist genetic scientists - a pretty impressive achievement, to be sure.

ooc: You do control the archipeligo ML. I just forgot to change it on the map, sorry about that. Despite my many claims to the contrary, I'm not always perfect, heh.

IC:

On board the warlock, Sara nodded and followed Hethran. "Don't worry love, I will not fail you down there." Sara assured James, before beginning to suit up. "How long do we have before more Betrayer forces arrive?"

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While the former Chancellor dreamed, he and many other of the wounded Soloriel loyalists were treated by Erisian medical teams. While Erisian medical technology was top-notch, even it had its limitations. While most of the Soloriel troops would recover, a few were so badly wounded that they succumbed to their injuries on the operating table.

The Erisian doctors, unsure of Solorien burial practices simply stored the bodies in the morgue until the Soloriel commanders decided what to do with them.

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

On the front, Erisians continued to beef up their defenses. The front line was rife with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, tank traps, razor-wire, and fortified positions.

Artillery was pre-spotted on channeled 'kill-zones' that the enemy would be forced to funnel through, and heavy anti-tank guns were being brought up.

Behind the first line lay a second, and then a thinner third. Between each line the Erisians set up a small mobile force to respond to any break-throughs, and behind all the lines were elements of the famous (at least in 23Eris) First Armored Division. The tanks had been re-fitted with 140mm cannons, which decreased their ammo supply on beard each vehicle, but increase their armored punch substantially.

Airfields with their JA attack planes and SU-27s were on full alert and the normal jovial nature of the Erisians was subdued. Many semmed anxious, knowing that at any moment, the blow could land, and that they were all that stood between the betrayer forces and the Danteri citizens that they protected.

OOC: Undershi- no worries, 23Eris fashion would be considered pretty extreme in most places. Of course it varies wildly depending on the person, and of course, nudity is totally legal, so there are business people who go to work nude. Government work is an exception, clothing is mandatory (since govt. workers have to deal with other govts and cultures), though it isn't uncommon to see legislators in t-shirts and jeans. I hope you don't mind if I move your representative along a little here.

The hastily arranged meeting between the two countries threw the Erisian government into Chaos (and not the kind on which they thrived). Plans were scrapped and arrangements made to ready the airport, a hotel, and the Prime Ministers offices for the visitor from Undershi.

The plane landed and was greeted by the usual diplomatic grouping and security agents. The Colonel and staff were then loaded into two limousines, escorted by a handful of police and set off through a literal maze of streets. If a madman had designed the streetplan for a city, this would have been his dream. Streets cris-crossed, zigged and zagged, and appeared or disappeared seemingly at random. One of the most unusual streets was 17th Avenue, a one way, dead end street. The street ended at the entrance to the Folsham Hotel, but with no where for the cars to go, people simply drove through the lobby of the hotel and out onto Eastern Boulevard (which was in the North West of the city).

After about a half-hour of winding its way through downtown, the caravan arrived at a five story high, gold pained building. The outside had a white marble wall with golden yellow iron fencing on top, and small apples bearing the letter K atop each pole. Other than its height, the building was a beautiful stone mansion, and the grounds contained a small fountain featuring a marble statue of the goddess Eris, pouring apple juice out of a pitcher. A small garden, and a helipad.

The Colonel and his staff were ushered into a large conference room with comfortable leather chairs around a large wooden table. After a few moments waiting during which they were offered refreshments and food, Foreign Minister Chilkevich, Prime Minister Althea Hekatos, and a handful of aides entered.

"It is good to see you Colonel," the Prime Minister said, in a non-commital tone, offering a hand before seating herself. "I can guess why your government sent you to us. First though, introductions. I am Prime Minister Hekatos, the Gentleman to my left is Foreign Minister Chilkevich, and behind me are my aides, Jan, Irving, Alfredo, Isis. They'll probably be in and out a lot during our meeting, please, don't let them distract you."

As the Dephirian ships moved into position along the territorial waters of Westfall the word went out amongst the Taydrmuntc forces, Ships and Submarines converged on the ships that had slipped through the intensive net they had set up, all given the orders to kill and destroy any forces that attempted to enter the country. Former Imperial Artillery Brigades moved into position along the coasts, and tens of thousands of troops moved ready to engage the Enemy

As the three Su-47's entered radar range, Betrayer MiG-29's were scrambled to intercept them, as the two squadrons converged they picked them up on radar lock, screaming in to combat distance the 24 planes all moved into the familiar 'Wave' pattern of attack where the first 3 planes would swoop in and launch missiles, before folding back and the next 3 would then launch etc...

The Taydrmuntc forces were in place, and within a matter of hours, had entrenched themselves along the coastal lines, the blasted wasteland of the country was perfect for this kind of warfare, as vast trenches were dug many miles long, and filled with Stormtroopers, reinforced with razor-wire and heavy machine guns. The main beaches were re-inforced further, the original tank traps were buffered with anti-personnel mines, and specific 'Kill-Zones' were set up so that the enemy forces would be funneled towards the heavy machine gun nests dotted along the coast. Behind these, AA-Guns were being set up, to counter any typ of Aerial assault, whilst out in the waters...

The lead Submarine closed with the Enemy ships, they held position for almost an hour until they had the group surrounded. Then with a single wideband message amongst the submarine groups they launched torpedoes, the water filled with dark shapes streaking toward the ships, as the rest of the eastern fleets moved into position to begin the shelling of the enemy ships with long distance guns.

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

James cocked his head to one side, calculating how long they had quickly in his head. "I would say roughly an hour, but since I know where the evidence to prove the Imperial College for Wars betrayal is, it should take about 20 minutes to finish up in the wreck." James smiled and kissed her on the cheek, before whistleing over two crewmen to help Sara into her suit. As they did so he pulled himself into the heavy thing with an ease born of years of practice, as he placed the helmet on his head he signalled over a crewman to tighten up the pressure seals he couldnt reach. and within minutes he stood in front of a group of 12 men and women in the Heavy suits, ready to descend into the depths.

As they plunged into the icy cold waters the helmets visor was obscured with oxygen bubbles. They sank rapidly, but the suits internal heating and pressurizaion system quickly kicked in, keeping them all a steady warmth, and preventing the pressure from crushing their lungs. below them the water was dark, so James bit down on the button in front of his face that would activate the in suit microphones. "All Divers activate lights, and prepare to enter the Wreck. Sara, the switch is located on the right hand side of your helmet, its the large round button. And dont worry, youll be fine, these suits are designed for this kind of work." As he reached up to the side of his helmet he pressed the button inwards, and a row of 3 lights either side of his helmet kicked in, their powerful beams slicing through the murky water, and as he glanced at the location they were headed, a massive and twisted gun rose out of the depths ahead of them. They had found the Wreckage.

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The Chancellor awoke, his brain murky, and the intense pain he had felt previously from his wounds had lessened to a throbbing sensation, opening his eyes he blearily looked around, and saw the hospital beds surrounding him, they were full of crewmembers and soldiers and airmen from the Enchantress, all were covered in bandages and were hooked up to IV lines. Pushing himself slightly upwards he reached out for the railings of the bed to support himself. In a hoarse voice he called softly for someone to aid him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: Just realised that i havent posted much on this, so this is considered having happened from the day of the Chancellors arrival.

The Imperial Engineers and Mechanics directed the help they had been given from the Erisians towards the areas they were required. The work was long and hard, but as the first of the heavy cannons were brough back online, there was a cheer amongst the workers, and after that they worked twice as hard to bring the rest of the ship online, in days first the weapons, and then the radars, and torpedo bays. the decks were repaired with fresh plating and the blood and gore was cleaned, and the bodys were removed for appropriate burial. The hull was made watertight once more, and eventually the only things that remained was the final clean up of the ship, and the repainting of the hull. The tattered Imperial flags were taken down and cleaned, before they were lovingly repaired and restored, before being hoisted once more. What should have taken months had instead taken so little time as to be incredible, the Imperial Loyalists were fanatically devoted to their Emperor, and worked to the point of death in getting the ship repaired and made sea-worthy once more.

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

The men rode like demons, the fact that there faces were covered by the strange masks they wore only lent credence to the fact. As they approached their target they slowed down, allowing the horses time to slightly recover from the hellish journey they had thus far been forced to take. The lead figure held up a clenched fist, and unslung the massive Sniper Rifle strapped to his back, the other members swung loose various weapons, scanning the horizon for signs of the threat their Captain had seen. Within minutes they had seen it, they had arived at the Facility. Dropping from the horses, they slit the animals throats quickly, to prevent them being spotted, and dropped down, swirling the black cloaks around themselves and raising the hoods, and laying down on the icy ground, began moving slowly towards the facility...

-The Navy had finally arrived near the coasts of Westgate. At first, they appeared as tiny dots on the horizon, but as the day progressed, those dots grew much larger. Small black specks soon were infront of larger specks. Amphibious Landing craft. Sounds echoed throughout the sea, like a whip cracking at a lion. The naval ships were firing upon the shore! Many of the Los Mexicans were confused by this action. Didn't Alexander, the leader of Dephire, give the Navy a strict order not to fire upon ANYONE unless there was a justifiable cause? What the bloody hell was going on? The Su-47's weren't attacking, they were doing just as they said they would do. Scout. For they were part of a separate force that was a division of Alexander's private military. They took orders directly from him. Back aboard the Drevin, the Fleet Admiral Vega was not following orders. Yet, Dephire was not notified...-

"Admiral Vega. Why are we attacking someone whom did nothing to us?"

-One solitary pistol shot instantly silenced the bold sailor whom questioned the Admiral.-

"What Alexander knows and doesn't know is my own damn business. He doesn't care how we take over the shore, so long as it is taken over."

-Alarms rang throughout the fleet.-

"WHAT NOW?!"

-Frantically looking through all of the different monitors, Liuetenant Savage paled.-

"Torpedoes...hundreds of them!"

ooc: Dephire, you have been reading the last 10 pages of posts yeah? You know about the eastern fleet i have stationed out there? And you did just read my last post where ive launched about 370 torpedos at your fleet before it even got within range of the coastline? And then followed up with the heavy cruisers and destroyers moving in on whatever was still afloat? Or the 24 planes that converged on the 3 Su-47's?

Just Checking.

OOC: Yeah. I did. I kinda forgot to put those in. Sorry. Of course, what I was trying to put in was that the navy, MY navy was going to rebel against Dephire and do whatever they want. That way Alexander would try to contact all factions to destroy the navy, of course...you kinda just jumped the gun and tried to destroy it ASAP. Now. Those hundreds of Torpedos just isn't going to do it. Especially once the rest of the Royal Navy gets there. Also, Why the heck are you engaging on three Su-47's who are just there to make sure that peace is kept? Do you even know what that means? I stated in an earlier post that whomever attacks me first, becomes my enemy. This kinda gives Admiral Vega equal justification to attack the shoreline. Thus, Alexander would think that there was no rebellion, and that Vega is trying to defend himself. Which just trashes the possibility for a rebellion.

IC:

-Damaged heavily by the onslaught of torpedos, the remaining members of the fleet turned to head further north of Westfall. From there they could regroup to restage their attack. The amphibious vessels were sunk. For a moment, Vega lost his momentum. He would have to wait for his Capital Ranked ships to arrive, hopefully it wouldn't be too late. He looked above him to witness the air battle that was about to set afoot.-

Su-47 Squadron Delta:

"Oh my God. Here they come. Everyone, DIVE!"

-Twenty-four aircraft were heading straight for the Su-47's. Delta Squadron didn't know for what reason their attack was based upon, but they knew that this meant one thing, evade. Delta Squadron dived to just fifty feet above the surface of the bay, and headed towards the scraggiling Dephirian Fleet...which was built solely on Los Mexican WWII style ships. Hopefully they would help defend them.-

"Sir, They are still gaining on us!"

-Captian Reynolds was the leader. He had seen more action in not only the Los Mexican war, but with the previous Civil war and the war with Sochatopia. His medals said it all. For his kill count was well within the hundreds, but this wasn't going to save his life.-

"Contact Diego. Tell him to send the rest of Delta. Have them fully armed. We don't have any weapons, except for a few rounds of low-powered machine gun ammunition."

-His screen flickered Red. Someone had locked onto him.-

"This is Admiral Vega. You have fulfilled your usefullness, Captain. Good bye Ace of Aces."
-An alarm went off inside the cockpit of the doomed captain.-
"Warning, Missle Launch Detected. Evasive Action is Recommended."
-Reynolds was getting rather annoyed with the system.-
"I AM USING EVASIVE ACTION!"
-He rolled over to the left, trying to get the missle to follow something else. The manuver failed. Whatever type of missle it was, it followed with steady acceleration.-
"Can someone please assist? Anyone?"
-The alarm went off again.-
"Warning. Additional Missles have been launched. Evasive Action is Re-"
-Captain Reynolds shut off the system. Four missles streaked towards him. His Wingmen were following behind him, their fate was as his own. The captain caught the frequency popular amongst Dephire.-
"This is Captain Reynolds of Dephire. Admiral Vega has fired upon us. He has also attacked the shoreline with brutal hostility. Alexander, if you are listening, Vega has disobeyed your orders. Good Bye."
-He, along with his fellow piots, ejected. They were now four hundred miles off the coast.-

The colonel smilled, then spoke:
"Alright. I'm here to offer you this," as he spoke, he pulled a heavy document from his bag, offering it to the chancellor, "which is basically us saying that, officially, this is an anti-colonialism operation, one in which we get the colonizers out, then leave ourselves. This here is a document, signed by the entire High Command, which says that we will leave as soon as order is restored and the Imperialists sent packing." he shifted uneasily in his chair, then continued:
"Unofficially, very unofficially, I'm here to explain why the heck Undershi sent soldiers to a minor little territory like that when it's in the middle of a war for its survival." he cleared his throat, and looked nervous, a difficult thing for a two meter tall "superman" to do, then began his explenation:
"You see, in our country, there is a law that the entire High Command has to vote to approve us going to war. As such, we aren't exactly invading left and right, like we would if the Conservatives had their way. However, there's another rule in that document for 'Police Actions' when our interests are threatened. In those cases, only five members have to be present for a vote. The Conservatives used that rule to have us invade that little island to kick out the foreigners, for two reasons - one, we are at war, and so there are shortages of a few key goods - one of them is rubber, and that little island has rubber. The other reason... is that they wanted to force a diplomatic split between Undershi and its only ally that they see as too 'liberal' for their tastes. In short, hundreds if not thousands are going to die because the Conservatives wanted to force a confrontation between the Liberals and the Conservatives... which they lost, by the way, or an ICBM would be here as explenation, rather than me. The problem is," he hesitated then continued, sweating a bit for no apparent reason, "by the time the Liberals figured out what was going on, it was too late - the shooting had already started, and so we had no option but to 'stay the course', and take over that little nation. Of course," he added nervously, "we will pull out as soon as we can, but... well, we can only appologise right now." with that, he adjusted his collar, and, looking the Chancellor in the eyes, waited for the 23Erisian reply.

A Leer Jet took off from a distant airport just outside of Alexandria, Dephire's capitol city. It's destination was Danteri, though the passengers onboard were just as mysterious as what Vega's true plans were. It was travelling at an average speed of nearly four hundred miles an hour. Soon enough, the nation previously mentioned could be seen in the distance.

"Sir, we have reached Danteri airspace. Soon we can land within one of the safezones."

-A man, hooded to hide his figure, stood up and walked towards the cockpit.-

"Where is the closest safezone?"

-The pilot looked at his screen.-

"We...we don't know for sure. I think we need to clarify with a local."

-His co-pilot reinerated.-

"There seems to be a safe landing zone just a few minutes away. Maybe we can land there?"

-The hooded man looked at the screen himself, then nodded.-

"Contact everyone here. Get confirmation as to where a safe landing zone is. Tell them that a "Diplomat" from Dephire is here to discuss some things."

-The two pilots looked at eachother with confusion.-

"Who is the dipl-"

-The hooded man put a finger to his own lips in a international gesture to "Shh!".-

ooc: sorry if i sounded a bit abrupt, i hadnt had any sleep and was a bit ratty, its no excuse for taking it out on anyone. As far as the the Betrayer forces are concerned any forces that enter their 'Territorial Waters or Airspace' is initiating an attack against them. At this point in time theyd attack anyone for any reason. For example were Haraki or 23Eris attempt to send medical supplys in by plane, theyd be shot out of the sky and the troops would muster for the attack on their territorys.

The Taydrmuntc planes swooped back after the attack, satisfied that their prey was dead, they returned to the forward airbases on the eastern coast to prepare for future sortys against the forces they knew would soon retaliate.

In the oceans, the Submarine groups formed a tight nit net, with the destroyers and cruisers moving into position behind them, As the last of the Eastern fleets moved into position, forming the first line of defense two hunter/killer squadrons of submarines formed up, making a grand total of 8 submarines. They were outfitted with the higher yield torpedos and sent northwards, to engage and delay the last of the fleet that had arrived off the coast.

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The Enchantress shone in the sunlight, her fresh paint and newly repaired hull was ready, although she was still undermanned, she was sufficiently able to guard the eastern coasts off South Haven. Whilst she awaited the final transfer of crew and supplies and munitions, she was a glorious sight, and inspired hope and pride amongst her crew. Now all that they needed was a target, adn they'd show these Betrayer scum what it meant to turn their backs on the Empire....

"Admiral Vega, the enemy ships still are attacking us! What are we to do, sir?"
-Vega was calm.-
"Wave the white flag. Tell them that we surrender."
-The sailor paled.-
"You want us to surrender to the enemy and give them the Navy of Dephire?"
-Vega turned his head to the sailor.-
"Are you questioning my authority?"
-The sailor was pure white.-
"No, I-I was just wondering wh-"
-Vega grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.-
"Let me be clearer to you. I AM THE NAVY! YOU WILL OBEY ME OR I WILL KILL YOU."
-A small grouped was forming a circle around the incident. The admiral turned on them.-
"What are you looking at?"
-The group broke up and fled.-
"Oh, and lieutenant."
-A gulp came out of the sailor.-
"Tell those enemy ships that we would like to join them. We are not a part of Dephire's forces anymore. Alexander Ra'Baal is not our leader."
-The lieutenant reddened in the face.-
"No. I will not give-"
-A pistol with a silencer attached was produced by the Admiral.-
"Do as I command you to."

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Four Hundred Miles off the Coast:

"Looks like we are just going to float here for awhile. Anyone got a flare?"
-Captain Reynolds and his fellow pilots survived. The tactic worked, and they were spared.-
"I have one, Chuck."
-The pilot whom spoke was Captain Mac, and the last pilot that hadn't been named yet was Captain Rembarid.-
"Thank you Cheese."
-Mac splashed him.-
"I thought you said that you wouldn't call me that!"
-The trio laughed.-
"Hey, anyone got a smoke and a light?"
-It was Rem that spoke.-
"And I thought you had gotten rid of that habit, Cheese."
-Mac frowned-
"I did...it's just...well...since were out here in the ocean..."
-They all looked in the sky for any sign of a rescue helicopter or anything.-
"This sucks.."
-Rey and Rem agreed.-
"Hey, do our radios work out here?"
-Mac produced the question. It was Rem whom replied.-
"I don't know. Should we even try?"

Sara von Freiburg, alive in spite of the very best efforts of the Montegrandean-backed communist government, stood at the edge of a cliff, and looked out at the sun, rising over the hills.
She had very nearly died, but in the chaos of the last days of Red Danteri, she had managed to escape, leaving a flustered warden to fake papers testifying to her death in order to escape punishment for allowing her to escape.
Since then, well, almost since then, she had been on the run, fleeing from the soldiers of all of the major foreign powers, until she had managed to find a suitable group of bandits...
After that, when she had taken over their leadership, she set about gathering together an unlikely group - anti-Kravenite rebels, victims of the Zukariaan withdrawl, former Commandos, former members of Danteri Army Special Operations or Danteri Government Security, men who were left with nothing to lose by the overthrow of whichever government they had served... there were former Danteri Auxiluaries, who had fought for Zukariaa, who now fought alongside former anti-Zukariaan Commandos.
From those unlikely beginings, she had created a respectable force, and she now felt that the time was right for her little army to show itself to the world. She had thought, while imprisoned in a Red Danterian prison, that she should have been an anarchist, but she had been wrong - sure, all governments were wrong and corrupt, but also... she could have power. So, rather than becoming an anarchist, Sara von Freiburg, bitter and filled with hate, had become the very thing she had started out fighting against - a fascist.
The sun rose over Danteri, illuminating the muddy terrain where millions had died... and where, in all likelyhood, millions more would eventually perish. It was good to be alive, even there... especially when you had a chance to gain power for oneself... after all, such a mess as this demanded strong leadership... strong leadership which she would soon move to provide.

OOC: Sara von Freiburg is back, as the semi-mythical "Bandit King" mentioned before...

OOC: Busy post warning!

IC: Sara followed along after the others, turning on the lights as she was told. Truth be, she felt somewhat better to be outside of that floating coffin and once again in command of her own fate, though she would have prefered to be on the surface. She wondered how James and the others dealt with this heavy darkness and the knowledge that the pressure of the water could crush them in an instant if the suits failed. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and pushed the thoughts frm her mind. "Where do we start?" she asked using the built in comm system.
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On his stirring, a nurse approached the former chancellor. "Is there anything I can do for you Colonel? Some water?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kallisti City, 23Eris

"I'll be honest with you Colonel, while I am in favor of forging an alliance with your nation, goddess knows we can all use friends, a majority of our parliament are skeptical of Undershis intentions. Our statements of non-hostile intentions was sincere, we have no desire to fight anyone, but with the invasion, it will be hard to sell an alliance with an aggressor nation to the populace and the rest of the government." Hekatos paused and folded her hands together, pressing the index fingers to her lips for a moment.

"Perhaps, if you make a public assurance of your intentions to, restore democratic rule, and allow teams of Erisian inspectors to follow the actions of your military to ensure the human rights of the populace, I can keep relations between our nations from being torpedoed."

"While I certainly appreciate your appearance here, rather than a missile," she made no mentions of the anti-ballistic missiles 23Eris had developed and had ready 24/7. They were top secret and just like any WMDs, the Erisians did not acknowledge or deny their existance. "I humbly suggest that your government must find some stability. The only way to ensure that such actions by extremists in power is to increase the influenec of the common people in the running of your government. If incidents like this continue to occur, it can only end in a rift between our nations until a new government is put into place in your nation. So long as this is the last such incident, I am sure we can work past this."

OOC:Wow. That was a good work you just did Danteri.

IC:
-The three pilots were still floating in the waters, they could see a very thin line in the distance.-

"Hey! I think that's Danteri over there!"

-Reynolds and Rem looked to where Mac had pointed.-

"I never thought that I would say this, but my God I thank you for making land!"

-That is when they heard something different. Different than the waves.-

"What is that?"

-Mac said to his fellow pilots. Reynolds looked in the sky to see a familiar and welcoming shape.-

"It's one of our Su-47's, and it seems like it's escourting a leer jet."

-Rem took interest.-

"Leer jet? What is the color?"

-Reynolds squinted.-

"The tips of each wing and stabilizer are red. The body is pure black. It looks as if it's armed as well."

-Mac chuckled-

"Who arms a leer jet?"

-Reynolds and Rem were serious and turned towards Mac.-

"Alexander arms his leer jet."

-All three stared at the two aircraft. Which were heading through non-hostile territory.-

OOC2: What I meant by that was that they were going around Betrayal airspace.

The first raids started in the morning. Small villages at the edge of the 23Erisian and Haraki Safe-Zones were hit by large groups of well trained, well equipped, bandits.
Around three hundred Danteri civilians were killed, houses were burned and loot was taken, but these raids do not seem to have meant for destruction or the acquisition of loot - these villages that were chosen were minor sites, so small and unimportant as to have no real defenses.
From these operations, it can be infered that these bandits scouted out these sites for months before they struck - these were well planned attacks...
It seems, as winter deepens in Danteri, that this will be a difficult winter - these bandits will have to be hunted down.


Results:

- Several isolated villages, small sites out of the way of the regular patrols, were hit by bandits, who burned, murdered and looted before withdrawing.

- Around three hundred Danterians were killed, amoung them some members of local militia groups who tried to fight the bandits - it is believed that about 100 of the 300 were actually fighting back when they were killed.

- The 300 killed come out of a total population of 1,000 odd residents for the villages that were raided.

- The bandits tried to burn the villages they raided, and succeded in destroying nine structures out of ten, with the others being at least mildy damaged.

- Also worthy of note are some oddities:

- One, that this bandit group had relatively high female representation, rare in Danteri, with its old fashioned gender roles and so on.
- These bandits seemed to have a genuine system of officers, sergeants and soldiers - it was almost like a military organization.
- Almost no rape occured, and those bandits who did rape were executed by the bandit "officers".

All in all, these "oddities" come to point to there being some truth to there being a "Bandit King" in the hill country, forming an army of bandits and rouges... needless to say, of course, this latest bandit group needs to be stamped out if there is to be any order at all in Danteri.

The colonel smilled awkwardly, and replied to the 23Erisian chancellor:
"Well, of course... 23Erisian observers are welcome to join our units in that opperation, as well as to observe any other operation we are currently engaged in. As for a public assurance, I am empowered to make one as soon as you can get me on one of your television stations." he seemed a bit pale at this point, unhealthily so, especially for one of the Undershi "supermen". He shifted uneasily, taking a long time to begin speaking again, but when he did, he added to his earlier words:
"As for the stability of our government... we have... we have had to be 'Undershi' about it for now, I fear - those responsible for the effective coup attempt on the part of the Conservative party have been imprisoned, and are awaiting trial and likely execution. When it comes to democracy, though... we are prepared to attempt a transition to democracy as soon as the war is over." ending his response, he stood abruptly, and asked:
"Could I have a drink of water? I seem to be feeling a little, well, ill..."

OOC:
Umm. Where exactly is the safest safe-spot where the leer jet can land?

IC:

"Vega, sir."

-Admrial Vega walked over to one of the sailors whom detected aircraft.-

"What is it?"

-The sailor looked Vega in the face.-

"I think...I think that Alexander is in Danteri."

-Vega was shocked. His face contracted and distorted.-

"He's What?!"

-The young sailor pointed to a dot that resembled a small private passenger plane.-

"It reads the same Identification number and code as Alexander's jet. What is your command sir?"

-Vega was still confused.-

"Alexander, here?"

-The sailor nodded.-

"Shoot it down!"

-This time the sailor objected.-

"But sir-"

-Vega snapped-

"I said Shoot his plane down!"

-The Sailor insisted.-

"Sir, he is near the Betrayal Faction's borders."

-Vega looked over at the monitor himself-

"Near, but not close. He is still thirty miles from it."

Gregory Neil had left the Neue Neue Deutsch to handle his proposition of sending HIA agents to assist in the hunting and capturing of the ex-chancellor, and had taken a jeep back to his command centre, deep in grim thought. Once he arrived, he received word that Luisa had reached the hospital centre and was being worked on by army surgeons, with Haraki's finest only hours away, very confused and bewildered, on a plane. He accepted the information with the smallest of sentences, and went into his office. Not two minutes later he received a report.

"Details of Bandit Attacks on Outlying Villages"

followed by the day's date. Mildly intrigued, he flipped it open and started to read. By the first page, he was annoyed. By the second, he was incenced. By the third, he was intrigued. It seemed the rumours he had collected about a so-called Bandit King were true, and that whoever they were, they were well-rganized, well-outfitted, and they knew what they were doing. As such, he would have to have them killed.

Major-General Hinckley's 58th Infantry had the closest units, several companies of mechanized infantry from the 2nd Brigade, and he sent him a message ordering a series of patrols in force into the area surrounding the villages. Also in the order he detailed the fact that he didn't expect them to find anything but to record anything they did find anyway. The patrols were to consist of one company each, fully outfitted with mechanized support and artillery backup ready to fire. To explain the need for such large and heavily-armed patrols before he was asked, he explained to Hinckley, who was new to Danteri and the Danterian way of running things, that the bandits were well-organized enough that they could potentially wipe out any smaller patrols, and well-equipped enough to match anything except fighting vehicles and, say, artillery and close air support. The patrols were to pretend the Harakian military was doing something to combat the bandits, keep the bandits themselves occupied avoiding or harrassing the patrols, and give a much-needed distraction for the real operation.

The real operation was the dispatch of Neil's ten elite CEF commandoes, who had done so much in so many roles for him over their time in Danteri. They were largely responsible for international attention on the fascist Danterian work camps and the genocide committed there, they were responsible for the death of a hard-right Danterian leader and therefore also possibly the lives of millions of people. After peace had come to Danteri, they had been involved in several close-quarters operations fighting remnants of the old Danteri system, and they along with Neil's week-long offer of amnesty were solely repsonsible for the destruction of the Cult of the Second Coming as a cohesive fighting force. Now he was sending them on what was, given what he had read in the report, potentially their most dangerous mission.

Their goal was to find the bandits and watch them. No engagements, but reports on troop positions and numbers, leadership, encampments, future targets, and anything else they deemed important enough to relay back to headquarters. With that information, Neil could properly come up with a plan, most likely using his own veteran 72nd Infantry, to defeat the bandits in a series of decisive engagements over the course of 24-48 hours, leaving them no time to regroup or plan any sort of defensive strategy. Ideally, this would happen when they next decided to strike. The attacking group would be ambushed by Harakian forces outside their target, the CEF would strike logistically important targets in the bandit infrastructure, and a several-hour long artillery bombardment combined with several carpet bombing runs against the bandit encampment(s) would be followed up with a complete armoured and mechanized strike against it, with all three components happening simultaneously to prevent any disruptions or communication between the bandit forces. The plan as it played out in Neil's head was perfect.

Of course, he knew as well as any battle-hardened commander did that such a plan could never work, because no perfect plan ever did, and that he would have to make as good a plan as possible with the limited information he could collect and do his bets to make it play out perfectly. If he did that, the amount of variables that fucked his plan up completely could be minimized and it could go as flawlessly as possible.





OOC Note: The CEF commandoes are very good at not being found, and veyr good at what they do. Especially with equipment like GPS, satellites, laser microphones and instant messaging, they should be able to both avoid detection and gather a good deal of information. Of course, what actually happens is up to you...

OOC:

I just would like to ask, where is a conference building?

IC:

-The mysterious leer jet had finally landed in a safe-zone. Fourteen armed men quickly exited with one man slowly descending the steps. The man raised a radio to his mouth and voiced something.-

"I need an armoured vehicle to take me to the Conference Center."

ooc: ahhh thats more like it, 23Eris is back!

The Divers spread out to the areas they had been assigned, whilst James bit down on the Microphone to speak to Sara, "Sara you and I will investigate the Command Deck, that is where the primary Evidence we require will be found, the others will spread out to the barracks, the air bays, and the forward cannon. Hopefully this will not take long, before we left we already had contacts converging on us." James smiled to himself and looked down as they finally stood on the deck of the Wreckage. He remembered walking along this deck with Yerrith, back when he had been but a Commodore, still learning the ropes with Hethran, Of the long nights in strange seas that they had spent discussing the future, and of the talks they both had of the Empire, and their place within it. James shook his head then, clearing the thoughts from his mind. Yerrith had Betrayed the Empire, the Emperor and all that they had believed in, his heart had become as rotten as an apple left in the heat too long, and all the goodness that used to be his friend, his son was gone. Biting down on the Microphone he spoke once again to Sara, "Sara, when we arrive on the command deck I need to investigate the former Quarters of the Traitor Yerrith, for any indication of who ordered the attack." His voice was thick with emotion, and he held his feelings in admirably, before grasping the cutting torch and beginning to cut away the twisted lump of metal in front of him, so that he could enter the Downed Vessel.

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

The Chancellor looked up at the Nurse and smiled, "Yes my dear that would be most appreciated at this present juncture. And could you send for General Lillis? I need to know how long it will be before I am back on my feet enough to do my dutys." The Chancellor sat back in his bed, and calmly glanced around the room, his mind already beginning to tick over as it once had in the service of the Emperor. Forming battle plans, theories of engagement and possible courses of action should Hethran fail.

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

The Taydrmuntc Airforce had picked up on the Jet, and tracked it as it approached the Safe Zones. They had dispatched the eastern forces to the borders of the zone in which it had landed. They didnt want to take any chances that this craft bore any weapons from the Enemy they had already engaged at sea. Meanwhile the land forces had entrenched themselves, at all the major landing points along the coast, even going so far as to have some of the heavy missile batterys pulled away from the Loyalist lines in order to provide them with a heavy hitting firepower should another Naval Landing take place.

The Submarine Groups had already intercepted the message and re-routed it to the New Council, their orders were clear. They were to hold position whilst the Council debated over the next course of action, so they closed in and took positions around the ships, aiming to do as much damage as was possible should the order to fire come through.

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

The Unit waited until Nightfall, before making their move, the silenced weapons killed the perimeter guard quickly, and they had slipped into the base before the alarm could be raised. As they made their way deeper into the base they entered the Laboratory Complex. The Unit, slowly took stock of the scene before them. Huge Glass Cylinders, containing what used to be men of obvious Zukariaan blood, filled the room. The Men were malformed or twisted Kept alive entirely by machines, in one darkened tube the sickeningly mutated creature within had mercifully died. They Moved quickly, documenting everything they could, before moving down to the Oil Depot in the lower levels of the base. They killed everything that they could, and set a series of charges on remote detonation on all of the Oil Tanks. before slowly making their way back in teams of 2 to the surface, planting explosives in key structural areas, as they re-entered the Laboratorys, they moved swiftly and silently, disconnecting the systems for the tubes, allowing the monstrosities within to peacefully die. A man with a large radio system on his back downloaded much of the data to a series of Data-Sticks, before extracting with the rest of the team to a safe distance. Once they had escaped and were far enoug away, they ducked behind a former Kraven tank that had been destroyed, and the Captain pressed a button. The explosion was immense, tearing through the Concrete and Steel. And could be seen for many miles around, as that unholy place burned The Captain removed his mask, as another of his unit placed his hand on his shoulder. "Well Done Captain Bret." The man smiled and signalled for them to make haste towards the Coast, to wreak yet more damage on the Betrayer forces...

The bandits seemed to know how to fight a guerilla war. They set traps, devilishly complex traps, and snipers targeted random patrols, and any officers who showed themselves, apparently able to read Haraki insignia. The most annoying thing about the snipers was that they were able to vanish into the hills, seemingly without a trace.
Of course, some of the snipers were killed - a dozen of them, to be exact. Still, these harassing attacks are making life difficult for the Haraki patrols.

The CEF commandos were having an easy time of it. They actually discovered the secret of the seemingly "magical" snipers fairly early on - the snipers were using a well-camoflauged system of tunnels that appear to stretch all through the hills.
These tunnels are old - accoarding to Danteri history, these tunnels were build fifty years ago, when the hill tribes of this area rose in revolt against the Supreme Leader, something which led to a guerilla war that threatened the stability of the Confederacy almost as much as the much larger First Freiburg Revolt had.
In the end, though, the hill tribes failed in their revolt - the Danteri government, under the orders of the Supreme Leader, used napalm to scorch the hills, to burn the hidden villages of the hill people and drive them out of the hills, to open ground where they were crushed by the tanks of the Supreme Leaders army.
Those few who survived the fighting were sent to the death camps, but they left behind a legacy - tunnels under the hills, tunnels that survived the scorching death that came to these hills.
It seems that the bandits have added to those tunnels, but the general system remains the same...
As for finding the bandit lair, little progress has been made so far - these bandits seem unusually skilled at camoflauge.

The government back in Neue Berlin had responded to the assassination attempt on Oberstleutnant Luisa Rhurlunder rather angrily, as was to be expected.
The Minister of Defense, the only Neue Neue Deutsch General, actually flew to Danteri to see her, and to talk with the Haraki.

Upon his arrival, the first thing he did was visit the victim in the Haraki hospital, where she was alive but in critical condition. Then next thing he did was visit Major-General Niel.
He had a little black box with him, which he fiddled with as he spoke:
"General Niel, a terrible thing has been done here. Politics, even Neue Neue Deutsch politics, aren't meant to be like this. I have to say, to respond to your offer of CEF commandos with which to hunt down the old chancellor who was overthrown, Karl von Neue Dresden, that monster, I have to answer that offer, yes. We want your help. Now," he continued, "I have something for you. It is a decoration, an award, a medal which is the highest honor that the Neue Neue Deutsch Army can grant." he held out the black box, opening it, and showed Niel the medal inside.
It was a golden sun, with a black-and-red ribbon attached. The last time Niel had seen it, it had been when Oberstleutnant Rhurlunder had shown it to him, eyes wide with happiness at that party, which seemed now to have been so very long ago...

-Vega was pacing back and forth on the Drevin. He was utterly disturbed that the Betrayal Faction hadn't replied.-

"Okay...something is wrong."

(Sorry for the short post...I just haven't been addressed alot...so there isn't alot for me to do. I don't know the layout of the land, so I have no idea where an armoured vehicle is to go...or anything.)

Neil looked down at the medal in the box and then back up at the man in front of him. Thoughts ran through his mind like water under the proverbial bridge.

This medal ... I can't accept this. I don't think I can take this in good conscience, not knowing what her government does to people they don't like. Idiot! It's a new government! They said yes to the help in hunting down their old chancellor. Yes, I'll follow through with that. I'm a hero in neue Neue Deutschland? I wonder how that happened. Do they write articles about me in their newspapers? I should get a copy and find out. Maybe the HIA agents could tell me while they're there. What have I done for them to warrant a medal? I gave them some equipment and some training, I stopped them from getting shot, I befriended their commander ... Is that really deserving of their highest honour? I don't know if I can accept this. Still, it would be pretty good to have a medal from another country. Sort of like a 'Thanks for all you've done' thing. Maybe it's like a knighthood. I could be Sir Gregory Neil. Maybe His Lordship? No, they're a democracy, not a monarchy or a feudal society. They probably don't have knighthoods. Whatever, still. Like an honourary title: Hero of Neue Neue Deutschland. Maybe Marshal? Marshal of Neue Neue Deutschland? Hero Marshal of Neue Neue Deutschland? Still, seeing what they did to the other person who received this ... maybe it's bad luck. Still, I'd be one of two people in the world with this medal. That's prestigious. Maybe I could learn the oboe. Yeah. I could be the general that has a Neue Neue Deutsch medal and plays the oboe. That would be cool.

He reached out and gingerly took the box from the Neue Neue Deutsch minister. "Thank you," he said, honestly meaning it. "It means a lot to me."

Swiftly changing the subject, he turned and walked back a few paces before turning to face the minister again. "As to the aid for finding your old chancellor, I've looked into it and I can get you a good squad of four Haraki Intelligence Agency agents plus ten CEF commandoes. The former to help with the search in the cities, the latter to help with the search in the countryside and eventually assist in the actual extraction of the bastard. What do you say?"


*


The CEF radioed in the information they had gathered about the tunnels to Hinckley's forces, who could then 'accidentally discover' them and explore them, map them properly and then, most likely, collapse them with explosives to prevent them ever being used by any more guerilla forces. The CEF would continue their search, using satellite uplinks to use Haraki's satellite attached to Danteri for visual as well as ultraviolet and infrared scans, in case they could find anything more. As they did this with the satellite, they continued their search on foot, trying to pick up the tracks from the snipers that would lead them back to the bandits' base. They were, of course, erasing all their tracks behind them, and making sure not to be spotted by any sentries or patrols. They were good at what they did, and what they did was infiltrate things. Among others.


*


[From: Rear-Admiral Felias Locke]
[To: 23Erisian Prime Minister Althea Hekatos]

I feel I should warn you about the Undershi, since I have been keeping tabs on your progress in the attempted democratization and improving of rights for their nation.

Although they appear to be co-operating perfectly fine, I can't help but feel something is wrong. Perhaps it is because the entire Undershi culture seems to revolve around these supersoldiers, the True Undershi. Perhaps it is because for so long their culture has been revolving around war and punishment that this seems too big a leap to suddenly take. Perhaps it is the fact that militarily they are much stronger than you.

Whatever the case is, I feel they are not being entirely truthful with you. I do not know in what way, but I find it extremely hard to believe that a large and powerful nation with such a history and culture would simply up and decide to chance their entire government and society just in exchange for minor concessions from a smaller nation. It seems a very strange thing going on that, in exchange for minor benefits, they are willing to reorganize their entire culture on the whims of a nation they could easily defeat militarily. Given all these things, I believe that they are setting up some sort of elaborate trick to pull to somehow better their position in one way or another. I felt it my duty to warn you.

Felias Locke

-Vega, still suffering from defeat, sailed with the rest of his cippled fleet following the shore line north. The aggressor forces began to lighten as the small naval fleet reached a different faction's land, Nordton.-

"Savage, what do you make of this land?"

-The sailor looked over his monitor, and then over the maps.-

"Small opposition in the region, sir. What are your orders?"

-Vega smiled. He reached down to pick up a microphone linked to the PA communication system.-

"All ships. We are taking the coast of Nordton. Invade. Bomb. Do whatever it takes, we are going to have control of the shore by nightfall. Then, we can expand from there."

-Twenty amphibious ships were deployed, heading for the shore of Nordton. Ten had an Apocolypse tank with fifteen soldiers. The rest had fify soldiers huddled together. They raced onward towards the beach, the Capital-Ranked battleships giving them cover fire.-

Kallisti City, 23Eris

"Of course Colonel." Hekatos waved for one of her aides to fetch a glass of water. "If you're not feeling well, we can take a short br-"

Her words were cut off by the sudden appearance of another aide holding a folded sheet of paper. The man hurried over to the Prime Minister and whispered something in her ear. Hekatos, eyes locked on the Colonel nodded took the paper. She flipped it open and her eyes turned down to give it a quick read through.

She looked over at Chilkevich and then back at the Undershi Colonel. "You'll have to excuse me for a moment Colonel. I have to take care of this. I will be back shortly. Foreign Minister Chilkevich will remain."

Hekatos rose, nodded to the man and followed the man who had entered out of the room. Seconds after she left, the first aide returned with a glass and pitcher of ice water for the Undershi diplomat.

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To: Rear-Admiral Felias Locke
From: Prime Minster Althea Hekatos

Thank you for your warning Admiral. Though I admit, your knowledge of the extent of our dealings with the Undershi suprises me. I knew our government had more leaks than a rusty pipe, but I didn't realize they were this blatant.

I intend to be fully cautious in my dealings with the Undershi. While they may be stronger militarily, they are preoccupied in a war and are desperate for friends on the international scene. Our intentions with regards to Undershi are two fold, to attempt to encourage change in their political structure, and to change their human rights stance. I realize that true change can not come overnight, but I hope that by offering a series of economic and political incentives, we can encourage such changes to take place.

I assure you Admiral, that in the meantime we are maintaining a careful watch on their actions. Also I wish to point out, that despite your assertations that we could be easily defeated militarily, our military is quite capable and more than sufficient to defend our borders.

In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to improve relations between our nations. We both have the same goals in Danteri, the protection of the civilian populace under our care. With this new Soloriel Betrayer faction and now incursions by Depherian forces, the situation is growing dangerously unstable. I wish to offer you a unilateral guarantee, if you accept, that should you find yourselves under attack by either forces, we will intervene on your behalf.

Prime Minister Althea Hekatos

"Understood James, while you look there, I'll watch our backs and see what I can find in the control room itself." At the moment her voice sounded calm, but very flat and totally devoid of feeling, almost as if she were an automaton. "I suggest we hurry, I can't see how it would be a good thing to be caught out here with more Betrayers on the way."

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The Nurse nodded and soon returned with some water and food. "According to the doctors you should be able to leave in 24 hours, until then though, you need to stay here. You had a nasty wound on your head and the General herself ordered you were not to leave until the doctors cleared you."

"I mentioned your request to see the General, apparently she is dealing with some new developments, I don't have any details. She said she would drop by in a few hours, in the meantime, she had this sent."

The nurse pulle dout a small black laptop with a golden apple inside a pentagon etched on the cover. "It has a link to the Erisian military command, current satellite information, pretty much anything you'll need to remain in contact with your forces and the Erisian troops until you can leave."

OOC:
You do realise that Admiral Vega's forces are no longer a part of Dephire. Alexander came to Danteri, himself, to discuss politics. OF course, he is now stranded in a safe-zone not knowing what to do.

Vega is the Aggressor. He even created his own faction. He is known just as Vega from now on. The faction is, "Vega's Forces" or "Vegan Forces".

There is also a small Dephirian faction to the north of Danteri that is only there to enforce not only the safety of Alexander, but to help bring about peace. They are Delta Squadron.

OOC: That is knoweldge that my government and forces do not have. All we know is a force, orginally from Dephire has arrived at Danteri.

As for Alexander, whose safe-zone is he in?

OOC:
Put Alexander in any safezone. I for one do not know where they are (because your map doesn't say where the safezones actually are located.)

Ah well. I'm sorry that I failed to mention, Alexander was supposed to tell everyone that.

The Gongs rang out the evening prayers in the mostly deserted place that had once housed over 2 and a half million members of the Imperial College for Culture. The cold winds howled through empty windows, and the once grand meeting hall. The walls stod proud, blocking out the worst of the weather, but protecting a city of ghosts. The rain began pour down heavily, and lightning flashed across the skys, in the poorer peasant villages this would be seen as an example of the Emperors Wrath. From the huge training fields in the north of the city however small wisps of hot air flowed from minute cracks in the earth, barely detectable to all but the most determined search.

Deep beneath the Citadel, the sound of Prayers filled the massive halls and barracks with their sound. Thousands of men silently practiced sword techniques with one another, and in another vast training hall, massive war-machines lined the walls, the scaffolding behind them frantically busy as their crews moved to have them readied. One female pilot stood before the craft that was to bear her into battle, she ran her hand over its massive armoured foot, a look of adoration upon her face. She vaulted herself up the Scaffolding and slid herself into the cockpit in the main 'Beak' of the machine, within moments she had attached her helmet and strapped herself in. she pressed a few buttons and the top of the beak slid forwards and down, enclosing her entirely in its protective shell. From the outside the massive Machine seemed to hold its breath for a moment as its crew stepped clear of it. and then the two main red lights either side of the beak were activated, and the Radome began gently turning, before retracting itselfs slightly behind the armour that would keep it protected.during battle. the left arms three fingers clenched slowly and unclenched, as the massive rail cannon where its right arm should have been slowly moved up into position. The sound of its piping exploding free of the shell filled the huge room. and with a slight grinding noise the two legs of the massive machine slowly unclenched from their dormant state and it took two massive teetering steps forwards. Its auto stabilising system quickly took over, and the War-Machine trod slowly towards the massive double doors that would lead towards the main underwater transport bays...

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James bit down on his Microphone, "Sara are you ok? If you need to return to the ship, ill order two of the men to guide you back if you need?" Whilst waiting for a reply, James pulled the twisted metal out of the way, and exposed the main control room, the sight inside made him stop in his tracks, the bodys of the crew remained at their command stations, still strapped to their chairs. They had not even made an effort to leave! Moving deeper into the room he scanned it for Yerriths remains, failing to find any he made a cursory examination of the consoles, before moving towards the large door at the rear of the room, he gripped the handle and after a moment of struggle had it swinging open. Stepping inside he almost collapsed.

Yerrith lay upon the floor, the many months of exposure to seawater had reduced most of his body to a skeleton with ragged skin attached., but in the middle of his forehead was a single small bullet hole, however the sight which made James stop in such shock was not the wound, but rather the fact that both of his arms were cuffed behind his back...

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The Chancellor smiled at the Nurse and thanked her softly for her help. Pressing a few buttons on the laptop, he gave a confused look at the screen of the thing, he moved the mouse and clicked a few times, after a few moments he had managed to call up the tactical map of their forces, and a grave look crossed his face. He reached beside him and into the small cabinet beside his bed, rummaging through his clothes he produced a rolled up sheet of blank paper, strange and heavy, and an off cream colour in composition. After this he produced a quill, and Ink Pot. He arrayed the Laptop beside him so that he could refer to it when he needed to, and stretched the paper outwards, Within minutes he had begun to draw the outlines of a highly detailed and beautiful map of Danteri.

As the hours progressed he studied the map for recent changes of troop positions and patrol routes, and using a long pencil he marked them off, on the beautifully detailed map he had produced. His fingers were blotched with black ink and a look of concentration filled his face, as he began laying out tactics and battle plans, in minute detail for his forces in Nordton and South Haven, marking off defenses and structures of interest that had been found and reported by the Loyalists before the Betrayal.

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Aboard the Enchantress her crew rallied together to man all guns and positions, where positions were unable to be filled due to injury or death of its previous holder, they supplemented them with Erisian Naval crew that were given a crash course in the systems they would be operating aboard the massive Battlecruiser. As her final preparations got underway a squadron of twenty SuF-8S Phoenixes touched down on her main deck, and taxied onto the elevators that would carry them safely into the hangars below the main deck. The Solorien Commodore in charge of the Enchantress stood proudly aboard his ship, he stared at the men and women in both Solorien and Erisian Uniforms seated at the consoles as they powered up all systems for departure, his personal console beeped and he pressed a few buttons, smiling he gave the order to bring all systems to 100% Capacity.

The Massive Radome and sensor arrays came online in a display of blinking lights, as they began turning gracefully and mapped out the area they were in. The sound of her huge engines activating were like the drone of a bee hive, and slowly she set forth from her Port, to begin her operations along the coastline.

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The Solorien Loyalists marched in formation, patrolling their lands from the aggressor to the north. Both sides knew that this would be a bitter fight, one that neither side was willing to back down from. They were more at ease amongst the Erisian forces, but their emotional barriers were hard to get past, despite all this they sat with the Erisian forces, laughing and joking when off duty, and even teaching them ancient Solorien drinking songs to pass the time.

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The Small Unit retreated towards the coastland and waited during the day until night had fallen once more. They proceeded towards one of the hidden docks that they had been briefed about before undertaking this mission of vengeance. In a matter of hours the installation was filled with dead Betrayers, and they had comandeered a small patrol boat. They had received intel that the pilots of the downed aircraft from before were located not far off the coast, and as they got the motor of the boat running they roared off towards the co'ordinates, they would be there shortly...

Vega was contacted by one of the soldiers that had participated in the landing.

"Vega, Sir. We have taken over a small area of the Western Shores of Nordton. We think it's safe enough for you to anchor the fleet."

-The former admiral boarded a helicopter and took off for the safe-zone that the small force had taken over. He smiled menacingly at everyone, then his eyes began to tear.-

"I want to thank you. All of you. I am proud to be your commander. Now let us take over this pathetic land."

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Alexander was in an armoured vehicle heading towards a conference center. It's true location had not been given to him, for safety reasons of course. By the fifth hour upon departure from the jet, he assumed it to be far. Nevertheless, he was excited. He hadn't been outside of Dephire in several years, and to him...this was an adventure.

"Excuse me, driver...where are we headed?"

-Alexander's personal bodyguard, Boris, was feeling a bit nervous. He was not familiar with the path way.-

As the fleet anchored up, the Betrayer Submarines began to converge upon them, staying deep in the water they were multiplying and watching. On the land troops were moved up north to the old Danterian Loyalists Defensive Line, they began strengthening it and moving heavy equipment up towards the key points, and once again the work of fortifying their new lands began. Hundreds of artillery pieces were moved to key strategic point, anti-tank mines were strewn by the thousands wherever was possible, and miles of razor wire was stretched out. The troops hunkered down into the new trenches, fortified against the shelling they anticipated they would suffer should these Dephirean forces attempt to move south.

The vehicle that Alex was in stopped, and a phone was put up against his ear. The driver spoke to him.

"Sir. You can use this to contact someone. We are within the safety of 23Eris Faction's border. Go ahead."

-Alexander requested to have a connection with the leader of the previously named faction. He wanted to offer something not only to him, but to several other factions as well.-

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-The Vegan forces spread eastward, making sure to leave a nice cushion of at least fifteen miles from the border between the the Betrayal Faction and the Vegan Forces Faction. They were severely out-manned and thus they were outgunned. They came upon a village. It was filled with many citizens...Vega had no use of them and thus laid waste to the entire village. It still burned hours later when the small army hastened their march to take full control of the entire region.-

Imperial Loyalist forces, who still had some limited control over the Imperial Satellites picked up on the invasion force to the west they had seen the slaughter of the innocents and they were incensed at this waste of innocent lives. Solorien Forces that were not required on the border with central Danteri, were quickly re-assigned, the footage of the atrocity transferred to the commanders of the Erisian forces. Tanks and Troops formed up, and they began to push into western Nordlund, securing as much territory as they could as quickly as they could to prevent this new enemy from gaining as much ground as they could. They attempted to strangle the enemy into as small an area as possible, thereby limiting his offensive options further. As the orders went out the troops charged, piling aboard tanks and trucks and APC's, rushing toward the front, with the Loyalist Imperial Stormtroopers leading the charge. Underground a series of the large drilling machines kept pace with the Imperial Infantry that followed behind the Stormtroopers, prepared to break ground cover wherever was needed.

-The Vegan forces stopped abruptly when they noticed the wall of enemy forces drawing nearer.-

"Oh, (Censored)"

-Vega was caught by surprise, he had been running such an easy campaign that the newly arrived forces struck a startling blow to his morale. Thus he ordered all of his troops to retreat to the north west. There they can hole up and defend themselves better.-

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Mac, Reynolds, and Rem finally reached the shore.

-Mac, acting over dramatic, kneeled on the ground kissing it.-

"LAND! Oh sweet, sweet land!"

-That was when they heard rifles being cocked. Reynolds spoke.-

"Umm. Hi guys. What brings you out here?"

The Undershi colonel took a sip from his water glass, and nodded a thanks, then spoke again:
"Well, I'm sorry about the disruption. We would like to deal with one other matter, though, before I go off to take a nap... ha-ha, as if that's likely to happen these days... well, yes, you see, we have a shortage of rubber, as has been made obvious before. We would like to buy some from you, if that's OK? It would be used to make tires, tank treads, electical wiring and so on, including the wiring in the standard Gauss weapon - which, by the way, we would be willing to give you the plans for - they have a much slower rate of fire than a regular gun, but fire a hyper-velovity slug rather than a bullet, and do so with electro-magnetism. Of course, they're no good for police use or anything, but... well, one could cut its way into a suit of Old Kravenite C.P. armour, then out the other side, having jellied the insides of that oh-so-noble C.P.. In other words, an interesting weapon indeed. Well," he ended, "what do you say?"

Dephire, I'm going to ignore that last post of yours. The conference with Undershi is going on in my home country, in the private residence of my Prime Minister. There is no way you could simply walk in on it. I'll allow your leader to have landed in my territory in Danteri, but my leaders there are of the military variety and getting to them requires passing through military checkpoints and bases. And believe me, they will ask questions.

Kallisti City, 23Eris
"Well Colonel, that is an intersting proposal. Suppose we did sell you rubber. How much do you need, and how will you pay? We also want the plans for your Electro-magnet gun, we also want at least two working models for testing." Chilkevich replied. His nation too was an importer of rubber, but it was easy to arrange for an export to a third party. It was obvious to him that Undershis international isolation would allow him to drive a harder bargain, so he threw in the following. "I also want a full treaty of non-aggression between our nations with a clause voiding our guarantee of neutrality should you become involved in a conflict with our primary ally, Soloriel or other friendly nations in Danteri, namely Haraki and Me Lii."

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Under The Sea
Sara activated her microphone, "I'm fine James, lead on." Sara followed behind her lover, even coming with him to the quarters of his old friend. What she saw there was shocking, and Jame's reaction to the discovery was not overly unexpected. She reached out a suited hand and placed it on James' shoulder from behind. "He never betrayed you James, he himself was betrayed. We have to hurry, to punish those who did this to you both and save your nation."

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Erisian HQ, Southhaven

Lillis growled as another aide entered holding another report. Goddess damn it all, how many things could happen on one bloody day? This time there were reports of a landing in Nordton, those Depherian forces. Lillis sighed and hoped the Solorien commander in the north could deal with this new threat. She had no additional forces to send to the Freiburg province as she had her own problems here in Southhaven. At least New-Lexington had remained quiet. That had allowed her to strip that front quietly and very carefully of most of its troops, though they had set up fake hulls of tanks overtop of jeeps and empty tents and so forth to confuse observers and satellites, all in all it was done quite convincingly. Locke had sent a warning to the Prime Minister that had been forwarded to her about the Undershi. That was fine, she never really trusted them anyway, but her troops didn't need more enemies right now.
Bandits were apparently popping up, well organized and led it seemed. They seemed to be on the edges of her territory. That was fine, she would handle any attacks within her province, otherwise the damnable Betrayer faction could deal with them. If it tied down more of their forces, so much the better.
As the aide left, Lillis rubbed her eyes. Dark circles had formed under them, and lines of worry that had formed during the invasion of Reformed Sparta had only deepened since she had taken command here. For a general in her thirties, she was starting to look older as fatigue and stress began to set in.
She glanced at her clock, and sighed. The former Chancellor, now Colonel had wanted to meet with her, and she had promised to see him. Wearily she rose and, with a cup of coffee in her hand walked from her office.

The walk across the complex took only a few minutes but it had helped somewhat, though her mug was now nearly empty and the coffee that remained was cold. Approaching the temporarily incapacitated man she pulled a plastic chair next to his bed, its feet making a scrapig sound on the tiled floor. She placed her mug on the table next to his bed and flashed a weary smile. "Hello again Colonel, you're looking much better than the last time we spoke. What can I do for you?"

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"Enchantress, this is Erisian Task Force Kallisti, Rear Admiral Marcus Kokolis commanding. We are going to escort you on your patrol of the coastline," the voice announced over encrypted channels. The Soloriens, with access to the Erisian military array could easily determine that Task Force Kallisti was comprised of the Kallisti Class Carrier Kallisti, the Flagship of the Erisian Navy (ooc: basically based off Kitty hawk class carrier with better defensive weaponry and slightly larger plane compliment); two missile cruisers; four air defense frigates; six anti-submarine frigates; and another dozen or so corvette class vessels.

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On land, the Erisians remained welcoming to the Solorien forces. They had a great respect for their allies from the aid they ahd rendered to the Erisian forces early on in 23Eris' involvement in Danteri, when they simply could have wiped out the single Erisian division that had guarded what was left of the city of Freiburg without much thought. The Erisians shared their songs and even a favorite drunken game of theirs called 'sink'. Basically, something that floats would be tossed into a pond or other convienent body of water, and then junk was hurled at it in an attempt to sink it. There were more rules about when to drink and so forth, but they changed depending on who was playing and how drunk the players were.

The Melii analysts were somewhat baffled by this "Bandit King." Where were they coming from and why were they targeting the Haraki? What had the allies done to upset the people so much that they would become targets of these fighters? It must have been horrible to elicit such hate. So what were the allies hiding?

It was obvious that these "Bandits" were too well organized to be merely bandits... they reminded the Melii far too much of the Shining Red Laterns, and the Society of the Big Blades of Melii's past.

Those secret societies grew in the fertile desolation of the last Me Li Civil War. It was claimed that they possessed magical and fae powers far beyond that of the Melii. A Red Lantern could and would change shape and fly at night. These were the less extravagant claims of the peasants centuries ago... Now, thanks to some silly loud mouth grub, the ancient Melii rumours of the mighty Shining Red Laterns was spreading like a wildfire in the Melii zones. It would be only a matter of time before the natives took the stories and confused the issue.

Truthfully, there was much parallel... these modern Day Danteri warriors had many maids fighting... Gwendolyn chewed a bit of her braid and shrugged. Maybe the Grubs were right. She had orders to gather a Companion recon unit and observe the "Shining Red Lanterns of the Bandit King."

ooc: I am having problems with loging onto the forum...

Vega was trapped. He didn't know what he did...but a mistake cost him the battle...now he was stuck. Nearly surrounded by enemy forces.

-Alexander kicked a rock as he sat on one of the steps leading up to his leer jet.-

"I think we should just go...We aren't welcome here."

James ignored Sara and slowly stepped into the room, he dropped to his knees in front of Yerriths body and gently stretched out a hand letting it fall before it reached the skull.He looked around the room, and saw one picture lying flat on the floor, reaching out for it he turned it over. It was a picture of him and Yerrith on Yerrith's graduation day from the Imperial College, Hethran stood there his arm around Yerriths shoulder, and a huge smile crossing his face, filled with pride. James gently lay the picture in front of the body, before standing up.

He searched the room for a full 5 minutes before he found what he wanted. It was a seriesof orders from the Imperial College for War ordering him to fire. It appeared as thoughhe had refused to fire on Hethrans ship.Forcing his way back through to the command bridege he went directly towards the main computer core, once there he cut away the outer shell, and pulled out a massive black box. he unwired it and pulled it towards the hole he had made. "Sara we need to go, we got what we came here for. All divers reassemble onboard the Enchantress." Hethran led Sara out and motioned for her to grip the other side of the Box. Once she had done so he showed her how to activate the small push engines built into the boots. Once they had both activated them they slowly ascended towaards the massive square of light above them.

When they had both broken water, James signalled for the winch to pull them out. As soon as they were on dry land again, he turned to Sara and hugged her whilst the crewmembers undid the Pressure suits.

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The chancellor looked up from his work and let a huge and gentle smile cross his face. "Why thank you General, it is most certainly a pleasure to see you once again. Although I must say, if you will take no offence, that you indeed look most troubled." He placed his things inside the drawer and pulled out the scroll that he had finished earlier in the day. "Here General, I could not figure out that strange contraption you had sent for me earlier. So I did my work the old fashioned way." He gently unrolled the map he had made, and its beautiful detail was revealed. All of the forces had been marked off, as well as every town village and city the Chancellor had been able to see on the tactical maps. It was almost a work of Art within itself, save for the intricate troop patterns he had made, detailing patrol and skirmish routes, as well as general orders for the patrol route of the Enchantress. "General if i may be so bold, you look most absorbed in worry. Perhaps you would allow me to teach you something, to help that worry fade slightly, and focus your mind?"

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Roger that Kallisti, transmission received and acknowledged. The Enchantress gently glided out, her escorts forming up on her port and starboard bows. Onboard the Commodore began giving orders and setting up the system that would tie all the escorts sensors in with those of the Enchantress and give them a significant boost. With her hyper advanced sensor arrays she was probably the best choice if it came down to determining the location of enemy forces.

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The Solorien Loyalist forces were beginning to truly trust the Erisian forces and it showed in the way they interacted. There was a report of one Solorien Infantryman, giving an Erisian soldier a full suit of Infantry Armour, culled together from spares. In other places they were renowned for providing rather large amounts of the Solorien Fire Wine, that they enjoyed so much, its taste was harsh, but left the drinker in a fine mood, if one could ignore the burning in your stomach that usually followed.

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The Giant War Machine sat locked down and secure in the hold of the Submarine which was speeding towards the coast of Danteri, and more specifically the docks in Stronghold where it would offload this new and deadly addition to the war efforts. Its crew scrambled over the massive frame, and hurried to load the massive anti-armour sheels into the onboard loader system, the electromagnets in the rail gun were checked and re-checked, and the massive quantitys of ammo were loaded into the Imperial cannons on either side of the Beak, and the twin linked pair beneath the arm. On the knee section of the behemoth the missiles were loaded that would protect it from extreme close quarter engagements, and the AA-Missiles were loaded onto the missile launcher on its right shoulder. The Pilot smiled and gently stroked the craft, knowing that its time would soon arrive.

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The Unit had been searching for hours with no sign of the survivors. they instead consulted their maps and decided that the only route they could have taken towards land was the one they were headed in. Speeding up towards the land they hurried, to attempt to locate the three pilots.

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ooc: here you go Dephire, its not much of a bone, but i hope it helps!

The Imperial Forces approached in a massive armoured wave, and things would have gone badly for Dephire had they not received orders to hold all positions. The Betrayer faction was forming up on the Left flank of the troops, so they pulled all forces south to meet this new threat, they managed to force the enemy into retreat, but they were so spread out now that they could only hold onto half of the former McPsychoville lands and defend the borders to the south.

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