NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Will be closed for the duration of the RP, merely an expansion upon the deep-rooted alliance that the States of Sometra and Prisara share. The history of that alliance, up to it's very first day, will be documented here. Tags are most welcome, lets me know you're reading. Hope you enjoy.

And the nations of Sometra and Prisara shall face a seemingly invulnerable foe as partners. Their relationship will flourish, and they will find that they have much in common. Forever forth, with the vanquish of their foe, shall the Twin States act as One.
Marin's Fifteenth Prophecy

Capitalos, Extara
0900 Hours, 856 Extaran Reckoning, Day 87

The morning congestion of Capitalos' streets had slowly given way to the sporadic ebb and flow of business trucks, transporting goods from one place to another, making use of the quick travel times of midday. It was this very lifestyle that had made Extara an immense power upon it's subcontinent. Extaran borders had steadily been pushed forward by it's military, supported by the powerful economic infrastructure of it's cities. The Extaran Empire covered nearly thirty million square kilometers now, the largest it had ever been. It's power was enormous, it's Emperor ruled with absolute authority and little mercy. The legions had conquered seven nations in the Expansions, it had conquered none before the reign of Emperor Halzaz. His power would be the stuff of legends already, but Halzaz was nowhere near to content.

The Empire stood aloof from civilization, it's continent encircled by an immense coral reef that wreaked havoc upon ships that ventured more than fifty leagues offshore. The reef was a nearly complete barrier, there was no avoiding the finality with which the razor sharp formation denied passage.

But that would not stop Halzaz.

He had been born the illegitimate son of an Extaran military general and his slave girl, abandoned by his father and left to the dull monotony of a servant's life. But he was not one to be dampened by harsh situations. From an early age he studied the works of military geniuses, harboring the hope that someday his father would return and make him what he deserved to be. He was shunned by children his age, but he was untroubled by this. He had little need for children, his interest was commanding men as his father did.

It was not to be, at least not exactly. Halzaz's father would return, three months after his thirteenth birthday. The man Halzaz met disappointed Halzaz to no limit. Fresh off a crushing defeat, Halzaz's father returned in a drunken stupor, advancing upon Halzaz's mother against her will. Halzaz was crushed by the inferiority of his would-be idol, and used the advances upon his mother to murder his father brutally in his sleep. As the dying general lay bleeding upon his bed, Halzaz spat in his face, vowing to be ten times the man the losing officer had been. He assumed command of his father's forces, leading them to victory after victory, and on his return hailed himself Emperor of Extara, dethroning the existing monarch and executing him for an alleged treason against Halzaz.

It was this semi-deranged tyrant that faced a decision that he had faced seven times before. The Empire's sole route to the world lie through a forty kilometer wide strait, the single window in a coral prison. The window was fortified with bars, however. As any avid geographer was aware, a strait must lie between two landmasses. This strait was no exception. The landmasses in question were the isles of Sometra and Prisara.

Detached from Extara by a mere fifty kilometer channel, the isles had, as yet, remained untouched by Extaran expansion. This would have to change if the strait were to be brought under Extaran control. Sometra and Prisara, two pitifully isolated islands. Surely they would fall under the weight of the Extaran war machine, just as so many had before.

The bars of Extara's prison window would be tested.

Meshatara Point AFB, Northernmost Extaran Air Force Outpost
0230 Hours, 856 Extaran Reckoning, Day 90

The Extaran Air Force briefing room was alive with conversation as Major General John T. Ashton entered through it's solid steel door. His monolithic height forced him to bow his head nearly six inches in order for the entryway to accommodate him, as his broad shoulders grazed the sides of the doorway heavily.

Walking quickly to the front of the room, Ashton's eyes surveyed the room warily. Emperor Halzaz had personally selected these pilots for Operation: Looking Glass, but that did little to quell the ever-present paranoia of Ashton's mind. Arriving at the chalkboard, Ashton gave it a sharp rap with his right knuckles, resulting in an immediate silence as every eye in the room turned toward him at attention.

"Gentlemen. I am no more amused with being awake at this hour than yourselves, but as you have likely deduced, the Empire once again has a mission of great importance for the ERSAG. You have each had the honor of being handpicked for these missions by Emperor Halzaz himself, and as you well know, failure will not be tolerated."

The officer gave a quick glance around the room, taking in the details of the four pilots before him. Each man had more experience flying missions for ERSAG than 5 average fly boys. They needed little lecture on the subject of failure, each had witnessed early a friend who simply disappeared after an empty handed return to Extara.

Looking downward at his briefing documents, the large man spoke again, his baritone voice filling the room to it's limit. "The island nations of Sometra and Prisara guard and deny access to the single exit in the Camara Reef System. Extaran feet have never before marched upon either island, this is about to change.

"Emperor Halzaz sees fit to launch an attack upon both nations simultaneously within a year. He and his highest ranking generals can merely estimate at this point the resistance to be expected, and as usual, this is where ERSAG fits into the equation. At 0400 hours you will depart Meshatara Point to begin Operation: Looking Glass.

"Gomez and Rasom will be designated flight Alpha, and will be performing recon over the southern Sometran coast, in preparation for the naval landing there. Your estimated arrival at target will be 0503 hours, return at 0609."

With a pause, he handed identical documents to the pilots sitting closest to him, who examined their lists of targets with searching eyes. Gomez and Rasom had flown seven missions as partners before, and made a hell of a team, against all odds. The two men represented completely different edges of the Extaran military spectrum. Gomez, only slightly smaller than Ashton, was the typical jock-turned-soldier whose perfectly chiseled body would be the type recruiting specialists swooned over. He been able to graduate academically, but the kid could fly like a bat out of hell. Rasom was Gomez's polar opposited. Where Gomez was burly, Rasom was frail, distinguishable by an ever-present avoidance of conflict. His mind was sharp as a razor, he hardly needed his camera for surveillance, his memory was so accurate. As impossible as it seemed, the two were a perfect duo.

Ashton spoke again, this time turning to the remaining two pilots, Kalvin and Jund. "You two will be flying under the flight designation Beta, targeting the southern beaches of Prisara. The Emperor has given increased priority to the Prisaran invasion, due to the assistance they rendered to the Komikans during our final invasion. Your ETA at the target is 0507 hours, return at 0613."

A quick glance at these two pilots as Ashton handed them their documents showed their stark contrast with the other pair. Kalvin and Jund had been flying together for years, since just after high school. Their very movements were as one fluid consciousness. The heavily bearded Kalvin flew as the less facially burdened Jund took the photos necessary to their mission.

The number of targets for each flight was relatively equal, the time differences arose mainly from the slightly greater distance to Prisara from Meshatara Point. With a quick check that there were no questions, Ashton dismissed his pilots to their preflight routines. With a glance down at his own copy of the two flight plans, he sighed and moved out of the room, flicking the lights as he ducked his head to exit, casting the room into a dim twilight until next the Empire required ERSAG.

Flight Alpha, Around Twenty Kilometers North of Meshatara Point AFB
0451 Hours, 856 Extaran Reckoning, Day 90

Gomez and Rasom were only separated from Kalvin and Jund by around twenty meters, but it had might as well have been miles. The twin planes of the two ERSAG flights were operating under strict radio silence, and the twenty meters that separated the cockpits of the two jets was a raging torrent of supersonic air, resisting every move of the planes with the ferocity of a lion.

Far below and to the direct north, the hulking silhouette that Alpha knew was Sometra loomed, ominous twilight waves lapping against the shores that this mission would inevitably bring Extarans to. Beta flew to the right of Alpha, slightly below. They would soon break out of the tight formation held now and head northeast to the shores of Prisara, but Alpha did not know where. Just as Beta had no actual knowledge of Alpha's targets, Alpha knew nothing of Beta's besides that they lie on the southern beaches of Prisara to the northeast.

After several minutes, the crews of Alpha and Beta saluted each other across the frothing air, and Beta rolled low and to the west, breaking out of formation headed to their targets. Gomez and Rasom were truly alone now, if they were to err over Sometran territory, not only would it mean their deaths, but most likely mean the deaths of many Extarans to come. That outcome was infinitely more favorable than a return to Meshatara Point empty handed, though. After years of mysterious disappearances, a distinct set of legends had begun to circulate throughout the Air Force about a rumored secret organization created centuries ago for the sole purpose of the torture and execution of those military men unfortunate enough to fail the Emperor.

The silence was broken first by Gomez, who notified his photographer that they were approaching their first target, an island ten kilometers off the shore of Sometra, that appeared, through Alpha's previous experience, a possible pre-invasion staging point, useful for launching troops at the beaches of Sometra with as little hassle as possible. As the plane descended quickly toward the ground, the belly-mounted high resolution camera that Rasom controlled snapped into life, taking several hundred pictures every other second, capturing every possible aspect of the prospective landing zone. The photos would be analyzed by the brightest military minds in the Empire, and the Emperor himself, in order to determine the strategy that would be employed by the Legions once the war had begun in earnest.

In total, Alpha and Beta flights took several thousand photographs of their targets with little incident besides a small village that had not been accounted for on Prisara, which Beta flight flew over at lower altitudes and higher speeds than would have been recommended for such a situation, although there was no response, and the moment of intensity passed with relatively few cuss words from the cockpit of Beta flight. Both flights returned from their missions on schedule, and Operation: Looking Glass was lauded by ERSAG as yet another success-that-could-never-be-mentioned. Only time would tell the true value of their efforts.

Glossary of Terms:

ERSAG: Extaran Reconnaissance and Surveillance Air Group

Capitalos, Extara
1000 Hours, 856 Extaran Reckoning, Day 90

Halzaz barely acknowledged the entry of several of the highest ranking military officers in the Empire. His personage was astoundingly frightening, even the most tenacious man shied at his presence. His gaunt face was dominated by immensely sunken eyes and a twisted smile that was almost ever present on the Emperor's face. What he lacked in girth he more than made up for in height, and his lean form rippled with incredibly toned musculature. But physical stature was not the most menacing feature of this man. He emanated an incredible aura of cruel, limitless intelligence.

The tales of Halzaz's victories were as epic as they were numerous, and few doubted his prowess on the field of battle. His merciless treatment toward those who disobeyed him was legendary and, needless to say, very few prisoners were taken by the Empire.

Fewer still survived to recount the tale.

It was into the private study of this veritable genius that the leaders of the Extaran Army, Navy, and Air Force walked. His sunken eyes scanned numerous colorful documents, and each man knew these papers were the cause of their summons. ERSAG had been dispatched, they all knew, and now the photos were ready for analysis.

The Emperor looked up from the photos at his generals, and motioned for them to sit. Each did so, and Halzaz's dark eyes surveyed them momentarily.

General Kandowitz, the Army's highest ranking officer, had served with Halzaz on four separate occasions, and he nearly perfectly fit bill for perfect military man. An enormous torso was complimented by the occasional tuft of body hair that had somehow come free of it's restrictive uniform, giving the man an almost comical appearance. Medals adorned both his shirt and cap, flaunting to the world the man's military capabilities.

To his left, Halzaz's right, sat Admiral Longshick. Sea breeze and sun had embossed their insignia on this man, and his face was a twisted mutation of the bright young boy who had graduated at the top of his class at the Naval Academy at Darhton four decades ago. His blond hair was wild and untamed, but he too wore the medals of victory upon his chest, proving his worth in battle.

Farthest left sat Grand Marshal Upton, whose Air Force would must definitely prove to be an important part of the upcoming campaign. The proximity of Sometra and Prisara allowed for air sorties to be flown with precision and frequency. Upton was an average man at best, but he was the greatest Ace in the history of Extara. His five kills in a single two-on-six skirmish six years ago stood as testament to that fact.

Looking back down to his photos, Halzaz handed identical copies to all three men.

"Gentlemen," he began. "Here is your intelligence. I expect a detailed campaign strategy and overview within seventy two hours."