NationStates Jolt Archive

***Transmission from Gov't Safety Compound***

"Today the world has experienced a terrible tragedy. Ambassador Hunt, the Unum Veritas ambassador to the United Nations, as well as the regional delegate for the region of the Crazy Drunk Omniscient Monkeys, disappeared today. Ms. Hunt was travelling aboard a V.I.P. Sea King helicopter transport, on her way to the hover carrier UVS Mystere to witness several demonstrations of naval firepower, when the helicopter disappeared off radar. Although some of our VIP transports are equipped with stealth technology, this was not one. The X-29 fighter jets that were standing by to escort Ms. Hunt on her final approach were immediately dispatched to the area of the last contact with the chopper. They saw nothing untoward, and five S&R helicopters were sent to check for any debris. The results were negative. Somehow this chopper disappeared off the face of the Earth, along with two pilots, a communications officer, and our United Nations ambassador. We ask that any nation with evidence regarding this terrible event help us in finding our ambassador. Thank-you."

http://www.azreporter.com/entertainment/moviewatch/images/pirates.jpg
Captain Jack Sparrow
Commander in Chief
The Armed Republic of Unum Veritas
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
-Thomas Jefferson

OOC: Pirates of the Caribbean? Again? :roll:

OOC-What? I just like that character so I made him my Commander in Chief. But that REALLY isn't the point of this thread, so back to what its actually about....

BUMP

Kyotia, being a fellow U.N member, will send 4 members of its, Secret Service to help investigate what may have happened

This is greatly appreciated. As of now, our investigative team is looking at the possibility that a foreign power might have influenced our pilots (in one way or another) to kidnap Ms. Hunt. We still have no idea how they disappeared right off our radars, though, and we can only assume that their was a foreign ship in the vicinity that our helicopter landed on. Whatever nation did this has perpetrated a blatant act of war against every nation in the United Nations, and we ask for help from every nation that can offer it. Thank-you.

bumpity bump bump

As a member of the UN, King James IV of McLeod03 wishes to send his deepest condolences to teh family of Ambassador Hunt, and promises aid in the event of a war against the people responsible for this atrocity.

We would also like to send one of our Coast Guard River Class Patrol boats to the area, to assist in the search for clues. They are SAR specialists, what with our nation being an island state, and a lot of our population enjoying sailing, although admittedly, very few are any good at it. This leads to a lot of calls to the Coast Guard and SAR units.

Our goverment believes that the UN ambasador was abucted by extra-terrestrials. We believe that this is part of an international conspiracy for an alien invasion of earth. We will find him and expose this conspiracy to the world.
-Fox Mulder,
Special Adviser to the President on Paranormal Activites
http://www.txf.net/a-z/m/mulder-fox.jpg
-Jim Garisson
Special Advisor to the President on Conspiracy Theories
http://ibelgique.ifrance.com/cinedestin/films/J/jfk3.jpg
PS (Garrison):We also believe that he was part of the conspiracy to kill American president Kennedy.
PS (Mulder): The truth is out there!

SA Mulder and SA Garrison's positons do not reflect the official position of the goverment of Barvaria-Studenland. Please accept my apologies.
Special Agent Smith,
Federal Investigation Buereau (FIB)
http://www.heptune.com/agent.jpg

McLeod03, thank you for your help. As of now we have asked the nation in my region in charge of intelligence to increase all intel operations, in the hope of finding the nation responsible for this.

Barvaria-Studenland, um....thank-you, I suppose...

At the Imperial Embassy of Valinon, near the UN Complex, Lady Diedre Rolt, His Majesty's Chief Ambassador to the United Nations, reads the report about the mysterious disappearance of the Unum Veritas United Nations ambassador.
"This is most serious," Diedre looks up at Captain Dieter Braun, her adjutant from the Ministry of External State Security.
"Yes, My Lady."
"Dieter, I want you to offer your services and that of our ERT teams. This is a matter most serious. Use whatever assets you can muster to assit the Unum Veritas investigation into this disappearance."
"Yes, My Lady," the ESS captain moves rapidly to send a secure diplomatic communique to the director of the Unum Veritas investigation effort.

"Yes, offer them our assistance. We must be sure it is not them", said High Priest Nyarlanth to Rathan Kubrath, a member of the High Council and the one in charge of the Cult's intelligence. "Very well", he said.

After Kubrath got back to his office, he sent a message to the intelligence division: "We shall offer them the assistance of the group specialized in the occult and Mythos. We shall tell them that they are... Specialists, from our intelligence unit. No need to tell them in what they are specialized. We fear, that... They are behind it all."

"This is an official request of the Rlyeh Cult to join the ongoing investigation regarding the disappearance of your UN Ambassador. We would wish to send a group of five intelligence specialists, lead by one Olguth Sinath. We shall wait for your response."

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Valinon, your offer is deeply appreciated. As of now the investigation is at a bit of a standstill, until we can get a break and locate more intel. But, all the same, your offer is appreciated and we will gladly take any help you can render.

Rlyeh Cult, I'm a bit confused, but your offer is also appreciated. We have still not located any wreckage, or any sign of the missing chopper, period. One of our coastal hover-attack-craft picked up something on its radar signature that looked like a medium sized ship, but then it lost it and was unable to track it down. As of now our investigators are leaning on the theory of a quick landing on a small ship with cloaking capabilities, but as with every other theory, there is little evidence to go on.

Unum Veritas wishes to thank every nation that has offered help, and hopefully we will soon get a break in this case and can move forward.

Rlyeh Cult, I'm a bit confused, but your offer is also appreciated.

(OOC: Most of the message were things that were done "behind the scenes", the last bit was the actual offer. Just so you know OOC what are they doing there, but IC, you do not. Simple, ain't it?)

The group shall be sent to Unum Veritas as soon as possible. We will get to the bottom of this. It's impossible to just disappear without a trace.

OOC-Okay, that's what I thought, but I wanted to make sure.
IC-Thank you, we await their arrival. Perhaps our own investigators are missing something.

BUMP

***News Transmission***

A local fisherman has finally come forward with evidence regarding the foreign vessel. Mr. Jani Portus lives on the coastline and reported seeing a vessel resembling a medium-sized patrol boat leaving the area shortly after a helicopter flew over. Mr. Portus tends to be out of the loop on international affairs, and had no idea who was in the chopper. He only recently found out the details, and decided to come forward. The investigators are now attempting to find the origin of this ship that invaded Unum Veritas' sovereign waters.

***End News Transmission***

The group sent by the intelligence division had gone aboard a ship that was bound for Unum Veritas some time ago, and they had already reached a smallish port of some town they did not even know as planned. They weren't going to just march in just like that, as they would most likely draw unwanted attention. The Cult is not known of its tourists. Then, they sent a message to the Cult's Intelligence, that they had reached their destination and that they are now waiting for further instructions.

"We just got word that the group has reached some port in Unum Veritas. They are to identify themselves as representatives from the Rlyeh Cult, you should learn which port is in question. It is based on their creativity as to say what they are doing there. They should be, well, the only people from the Cult in your area, at least on official business."

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

Bodies Without Organs Civic Defense Committee training establishment, New Castlereagh: Classroom 7b:



"So you have seen the official announcement. How would we you have done it... Drew, yes, Drew, how would you have carried out the kidnapping?"

"Well, there is no mention of radio contact with the copter, is there, just a radr trace. I'd, erm, yeah, employ a drone plane fitted out with aluminium foil wings so as to replicate the 'copter's radar profile. We'd launch that, fly it by remote control, and then once it was over the deepest part of the ocean we'd ditch it. Then the inflatable tanks fitted to it would start pumping in water to sink the gadget. Yeah, that's how I'd do it."

"Okay, but what about the ambassador?"

"We'd have snatched him after taking over the helicopter while it was still on the ground. The 'copter can be taken away on the back of a truck. Yeah, the launch site is not going to be the first place they check if they have recorded radar traces from the flight, how's that?"

"Somewhat intricate, but possible... I'll give you seven out of ten, anybody else?"

Ryleh Cult, we ask that you send your representatives not to a port, but instead, to the hover carrier UVS Mystere. The investigation is being staged off of this carrier, and involves the entire battle group. The coordinates for the group have been sent to you, and we ask that as you approach you slow down, and raise a white flag. Otherwise you might be fired upon. As you approach the group, you will probably be escorted in, but we assure you this is done only for security purposes and no ill will is intended. Thank-you!

"Very well. The group shall be told to take actions not to be recognized as Rlyeh Cultists at the port they are currently in, but will rent a boat of some kind there and proceed to the said location, and rise a white flag. They will have to improvise, as they do not have one with them, as it is not a part of their equipment."

As the Intelligence division of the Cult sends a message with the changed orders to the group sent to help in the investigations, they only reply with a single word: Acknowledged. "So this is what we are supposed to do, huh... Kind of amateurish of the HQ. Oh well, let's proceed with the plan", and that they do. They tell the customs officers, who do not seem all too convinced, that they are just tourists from some country and show their (most likely fake) IDs. They pass the check point.

They enter the port, which looks like it hasn't been through maintenance for years. It looks quite old, with rust here and there. But, as they aren't here for the scenery anyway, they go and buy some white cloth and a fishing rod from a local market place. They had hard time finding the cloth, but at least they found some. It cost a lot for its kind. The rod on the other hand was easy to find. Even if this is one of those dying port towns that have seen better days, it's still quite lively.

After that they start looking for a boat they could rent. All they could find that they could rent with their budget was some old boat that isn't in a good shape at all, but at least the motor still works. They still use some time to buy a few liters of fuel, and head off to the target location. One of the group ties the cloth to the rod. The sea is quite calm, and they can consider themselves lucky for that fact.

After a while of boating, they finally see something that fits the description in the horizon. They are getting closer and closer... With the speed of a snail. "Oh well, might as well rise the 'flag' already", says the leader of the group. That is done, and they keep on getting closer to the carrier. "Finally..."

"Sir, we have a small radar contact on the scope. It appears to be a very small vessel, and its headed this way," a young equipment operator aboard a hover attack boat told his CO.
"Alright, let's head 'em off. We're supposed to be waiting on some foreign help for the investigation; maybe its them," Lieutenant (j.g.) Grady, the CO of this particular craft, said.

With this order, the hovercraft turned and began to head towards the ship. Although this was most likely a friendly ship, they still had a weapons tracking system operating, and were prepared to sink it at a moment's notice. Lt. Grady pulled out a pair of high-powered binoculars and trained them in on the unknown craft. He saw that it had a white flag raised, and realized it must be the foreign team.

"This is the best our government could do? Put some foreign dignitaries in a crackpot boat and tell them to come find a carrier battle group?" he muttered to himself, "Alright boys, prepare to bring them aboard. Hopefully we can give them a better showing of Veritasean hospitality than they've already seen."

The hovercraft slowly sidled up to the fishing vessel and a ladder was lowered for the foreign team to board the patrol craft.

"Welcome aboard UVS Hoverpatrol 68. I am the commanding officer, Lieutenant Grady. If there's anything we can do for you just let us know, but other than that, we'll be at the Mystere in about fifteen minutes. Enjoy the ride; people tend to find their first one exciting."

And with that the hovercraft sped off towards the carrier.

we would like to report an unknown craft,correpsonding to Unum Veritas' description and carrying a Sea king 'copter,as having sailed close to our territoril waters,at high speed,6 hours after Ms.hunt's disappearance.This craft did not,repeat did noit,register on any of our sensors.

"
"Welcome aboard UVS Hoverpatrol 68. I am the commanding officer, Lieutenant Grady. If there's anything we can do for you just let us know, but other than that, we'll be at the Mystere in about fifteen minutes. Enjoy the ride; people tend to find their first one exciting."

Olguth nods, shakes Grady's hand and says: "Thank you for your courtesy, lieutenant. I'm acolyte Olguth Sinath of the Cult, and this is my group. Don't let the title fool you, I am not even religious, but that's what you get when you're in the Cult. Your... Rank depends on your religious aptitude, anyway", and he grins after saying this.

Then he continues, "We had some trouble getting here, thanks to some misunderstanding on our HQ's side. At least it'll be hard for anyone to track us down now." After a brief pause, he asks "So, have you found out anything new? No ransom demands or anything?"

(OOC: Kind of long 15 minutes there, but this is the good part about freeform rp. ;) )

The sensors of the Unum Veritas task force pick up a fast moving destroyer head for their position. Suddenly, the oncoming ship broadcast a signal.
"This is the HMS Reading, we are carrying Captain Dieter Braun and the Valinon team dispatched to help in the investigation of the ambassadors disappearance. We shall be sending them over to your command ship via jet coptors once we reach 3 kilometers from the outer perimeter of your task force."

"Well, so far we haven't got anything new. There was a report of an unidentified ship travelling past a foreign coastline, but it has yet to be confirmed," Lieutenant Grady said, "Pretty soon we'll be reaching the outer defense perimeter of the task force, and due to the highly increased security, it might become slow..."

But at that moment he was cut off as sirens began sounding in the distance and a flight of four X-29's broke the sound barrier just above the speeding hovercraft.

"What the hell?" Lt. Grady wondered aloud, "Turn that radio on and tune it into the aerial frequency, now!"
"Aye sir," was the communications expert's response, followed by some crackling and then voices.

"Eagle Eye, this is Archangel, we have it on the edge of our scope."
"Roger that Archangel, your team is to proceed to an intercept point, but stand down unless otherwise orderred."
"Copy that Eagle Eye, moving to intercept."

"Eagle Eye will be the E2-C Hawkeye we have up 24/7, and Archangel is the leader of those X-29's that just deafened us," Grady whispered to Olguth, "I wonder what the hell is going on."
"Sir, we just received an all-points bulletin from Mystere, it seems an unidentified destroyer suddenly appeared on scope and everyone is scrambling to deal with it. About half our jets, from both Mystere and Nostalgie, are airborne, and most are heading towards this destroyer. We've been ordered to get the visitors inside the defenses ASAP," the communications officer said.
"Well alright then, get on the radio and let our destroyer screen know we are about to enter their field, and to be expecting us," Grady told him, then he turned and picked up a phone on the wall, "Conn, I want full speed ahead, we need to get within the destroyer screen as soon as we can."
"Aye, sir."

Everyone could feel the hovercraft increase speed, and soon the gray outlines of huge ships of war became visible on the horizon. Everyone on board was rather jumpy, and Grady had ordered the weapons system to completely active. But all of a sudden, the sirens stopped.

"Sir, another message from Mystere. Apparently the destroyer was just transporting some other help for our investigators. No shot was fired, and everything had returned to normal."
"Jesus!" was all Grady had to say.

At this point, the hovercraft crossed through the destroyer screen, and the two gigantic hovercarriers became visible.

"Impressive, aren't they? The Mystere will be the far one. Unfortunately we can't take you right up to it, no ship is allowed to get very close these days. Instead, a small chopper will come over and, since we have no helipad on board, you'll have to climb up a short rope ladder. I believe you'll be housed on board the Mystere. Good luck, I think I hear the chopper now," Grady told Ogluth as the hovercraft slowed to a complete stop and a small chopper with a ladder swinging beneath came closer and closer.

Olguth nodded. "Guess it can't be helped after that incident", he thought. He replied, "You said it's a small chopper. Guess that means we'll have to go in two separate groups, first three, then the last two. Just to be on the safe side."

Sinath looks at the chopper as it gets closer and closer, and as it gets close enough, he grabs the ladder, jumps on it and starts climbing. Then two others of the group do the same. "Just as I thought, a bit too small for the whole group to enter, but this arrangement'll do just fine", he said to the two other members of his group, that came up with him. Now they are on their way to the carrier, with two of the group still in the hovercraft. But finally, they are reaching their destination.

"We'll have to wait for the two others, but after they're get to that hovercarrier, we have a lot of work to do. As we were just told, there are more investigators coming from some other country as well", Olguth said to the others, pausing for a while, after which he continued, "Might be even more coming later. This won't most likely be an easy one, even with the large amount of investigators. Actually, it might even make the whole investigation harder. We'll ask about the current progress of it again when we get to the ship. We'll just have to wait and see, for now."

As the final two members of the Ryleh Cult delegation landed on the deck of the hover carrier UVS Mystere, a man in a suit (which looked oddly out of place next to all the uniformed sailors) ran towards them, holding his hat to keep it from flying off as the chopper took off.

"Mr. Ogluth, I am James Stapp. I'm in charge of the investigation, and also the liason officer with the navy. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you down to your quarters, and after you are settled in you can meet the rest of the team. We've prepared individual quarters for you and your team; we figured you might like some privacy," the man said. And with that, he led them across the tarmac and into the superstructure. From there they took an elevator down ten levels to the floor that had been set aside for everything to do with the investigation.

"The rooms at this end of the hall are yours. No one will bother you, and if you need anything just ask one of the sailors. I'll leave you here to get unpacked and such, when you're done, the conference room is at the opposite end of the hall on your right."

Two jet coptors from the Reading hover over the Unum Veritas ships, out of each coptor twelve men descend from durable nylon-like material rope ladders. The two jet coptors quickly speed back to the Reading
A man of Aryan descent approaches, "I am Captain Dieter Braun of His Majesty's Ministry for External State Security. My men and I have been dispatched by Lady Diedre Rolt, His Majesty's Ambassador to the United Nations. We have orders to place ourselves at your full and complete disposal. This shall also include the services of the HMS Reading and an Atlantian-class submarine."

Once again Mr. Stapp crossed the deck of the Mystere.
"Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the UVS Mystere. I am James Stapp. I am in charge of the investigation, as well as the liason officer with the navy. Please follow me to your quarters."

And for the second time that day, Stapp led a group of foreign dignitaries down to quarters.

"If there is anything you need, just let me know. When you are ready, meet in the conference room at the end of the hall and we'll catch you up on the investigation," Stapp told them at the door to their stateroom. After closing the door, he went back up the elevator, but this time instead of going to the flight deck, he went to a floor uncommonly used. He stepped out and walked down a long white hallway, until enterring a door at the very end. Here, he showed his credentials to an armed, marine guard and proceeded to yet another door where he scanned his fingerprint and then entered a room beyond description. Stapp was now in the intel nerve center of the entire carrier battle group. Every surface was covered in electronic intelligence gear as well as communications equipment and maps. Stapp strode up to the chief intel officer and said,
"Did you bug the rooms like I asked you to?"
"Yes, yes, of course we did. I just don't think its very good for international relations."
"You let me worry about that. Besides, I don't think they are up to anything, I just want to make sure they don't try to tamper with the investigation. This would be the perfect opportunity for those responsible to steer us in the wrong direction. I just want to know what they are saying amongst themselves. You're sure you hid the devices well?"
"I had my best techie do it and personally inspected his work. There is no way they can find them."
"Alright, report to me on anything of value."
"Of course."

And with that Stapp turned around and strode back up to the investigators floor.

(OOC: Took me some time to get to reply something, the site's been screwing my every move up with high success. Plus I fell asleep there somewhere, so I'm replying now.)

As the Cult's investigative group had entered the room they were given, the first thing they did was search the room for bugs, standard procedure. They are used to these things. "There's always something. It's not likely they're going to trust us completely, even if we were able to prove that we're here to help them", said Olguth Sinath. "Yeah, especially after that disappearance. It's not like they'd trust us even if we were sent by their god or something", replied Anfal Radan, a junior member of the group.

Nothing. NOW they are suspicious. There's always *something*, and they know it. Even when you're on a routine job for the Cult, someone has planted a bug of some sort somewhere. Olguth Sinath starts talking again. "Oh well, lets inform the intel division that we've reached our destination. It's not like they're going to do us any harm, even if they heard what we spoke. We have nothing to hide." "Except the fact that we are Mythos and Occult specialists...", he thinks, for a brief moment.

After informing the intelligence division, they started to unpack their stuff. They don't have much with them. They carry only whatever is needed with them. They are not tourists, they have a job to do. Then, when they were just about to leave the room, one of the group members, Sagitur Amnais, said to Olguth,
"Oh right, should we ask for some project 'Deep One' subjects to sweep the waters? It'd be a hell of a lot easier that way than having people do it."
"Good thinking. But we need permission from the Unum Veritas if we could bring some here. It's their call."

Then they left their room, and went to the conference room.

Captain Braun scanned his quarters, then he produced a small hand-held device and begin to scan the room. Electronic survelliance, line taps, there was not much that the ESS Zertan scanner couldn't miss. Braun found a selection of bugs scattered in various points in his quarters. He quietly opened a small, insulated case and withdrew several small black spheres. He placed one on each of the bugs. The little transmitters would censor the Unum bugs, producing noises typical of a soldier in his quarters, and even screening conversations in the room and playing them back nearly simutaneously if Braun met with his officers. The ESS had years of experience against agencies such as the State-Secretariat for Outer Affairs of Greater Ironholm and later the Scorpion Bureau of the Dominion of Outer Centauri. Even among its regional allies, survelliance was not uncommon, and Valinon had learned to protect its secrets so that it could win wars of soldiers and wars of diplomats. Braun sighs and carefully stows the various instruments back into pockets in his field uniform and pack. He would have to alert his other officers later, only the two Lieutenants would have Zertans. But it was not to be unexpected in these circumstances, no doubt Unum merely wished to see that none of their potential allies were actually hindering their investigation. Still the ESS did not take kindly to snooping devices.

Stapp was waiting in the conference room for the foreign delegations. When the Ryleh Cult people entered, he immediately began his discourse.
"Okay, let me give you a complete history and run down on the situation. As you know, Ms. Hunt is the Unum Veritas, as well as the regional, delegate to the United Nations. She was travelling aboard a Unum Veritas VIP Sea King helicopter to this very carrier, to witness a naval air show. As is our doctrine, we were tracking her chopper and were just about to vector a flight of our brand-new air-superiority fighters, the X-29, onto it when she disappeared from our radar. Of course our immediate reaction was that it was a technical glitch, but when it didn't resurface we sent the X-29's over and had several S/R choppers lift off. The X-29's saw nothing, but due to their very nature as fighter jets, they couldn't slow down to get a very good picture. The choppers looked around but didn't see any wreckage, or any sign at all of the missing helo. Unfortunately the spot where it disappeared is dotted with caverns and caves and the like, and we were unable to get a boat or hovercraft over very quickly to search any of them. The current theory is that a foreign nation bribed our pilots in some way and had the chopper land on a small ship of some sort. The ship must have had some sort of cloaking device that made the chopper completely disappear on our screen. The ship then hid in one of the caves until our S/R helos left, and then it sped off. We currently have no idea whose ship this was, or who would want to kidnap our ambassador, but we do have some evidence to support our theory:
1. A large amount of money was deposited in a secure bank account with one of the pilot's names on it. This account has since been frozen and any attempts at withdrawal would result in immediate arrest.
2. Inside one of the caves, a hoverattack crew saw what appeared to be scrape marks on the wall, as well as some trash thrown onto an outcropping.
3. There was an unconfirmed report of a small ship, with a Sea King chopper on its deck, steaming past a foreign country.
4. No ransom requests have been made, which suggests the use of Ms. Hunt for extortion, or perhaps even sexual, purposes.
5. There was absolutely no debris that would result from a helicopter crash, nor were there any calls for help over the radio.
Well, that's all we've got so far, now does anyone have anything they'd like to say or add?"

Braun considered his own notes then looked at Stapp, "Tell me, do you have accurate satellite intelligence of the surrounding area as well as that of the original course of the Sea King? If not, it is possible that there may have been some of our recon satellites scanning the area, or one of the Star Armada's ships could have been in orbit performing a ferret run. I am certain that the ESS would be able to send that information here."

"Well, let me explain something. In the region of the Crazy Drunk Omniscient Monkeys, each country is responsible for different sections of the military. Unum Veritas is in charge of naval affairs, but BlueNovember is in charge of intelligence. So far our liason officers have been unable to get in contact with BlueNovember, but we are trying. They should have satellite pictures of this area. If we can't get in touch with them, then perhaps you could check if your government does."

"Seeing as how you cannot contact Blue November, I am sure that the ESS would be willing to donate any satrecon it might have of the area at the time of the attack. Also, if you wish it, we might have a ship close enough to detain and board the ship that was carrying the Sea King you mentioned. We could either bring it back here, or 'escort' it back to one of our treaty ports."

Olguth listens to the two talking to each other, and thinks, "That sounds awfully convenient... How the hell do they think they could even *see* something that small on their spy satellite pictures, unless they were the ones behind it? Or were blatantly spying on Unum Veritas? Or maybe he's just talking. Who knows."

"Hmm, or maybe one of your pilots was framed as to make him look like the one behind it, I mean, isn't that just a bit too convenient? If they really are that incompetent, why haven't you been able to check who was the one who deposited the money? Unless it was deposited on site and not through some other bank account."

"And Mr. Braun, knowing that if the theory holds even a bit, do you really think it would be that easy to just pick them up? Don't you think it might've already reached its destination? Unless they are utter incompetents, as we seem to be inclined to think, wouldn't they try to stay away from patrols and such? And possibly use that cloaking tech Stapp mentioned."

"They would no doubt know to stay away from Unum patrols, but I doubt the fact they know all the other parties that are assisting in this investigation. Valinon was very discreet in inquiring if Unum Veritas needed our assistance. The ESS does not make a habit of announcing where we are going or who we are helping directly. More than likely, Valinon patrols would be a benign threat to whomever kidnapped the ambassador. Unless Unum has been infiltrated to a degree that would mean its entire intelligence and high command structure would be riddled and ineffective. In that case, this whole operation is compromised and the ambassador is more than likely already dead," Braun says this in a quite, flat voice looking blandly at the Cult agent.

Sinath grins at Braun. He starts to talk: "You did not understand, it seems. It is supposedly common sense that they should keep out of the sight of any patrollers. It doesn't matter from which country the patrollers might be. There are treaties about these things, you should know that. And the request for help was a public one. And of course, the fact that you came here in such an extravagant manner..." Sinath sighs. The way the agents from Valinon came here was more than likely to draw unwanted attention. "Lets just assume the people who kidnapped the ambassador weren't just some amateurs for a change. If they were funded by some other country, they are more than likely to have their own recon satellites peeping on us, even at this moment. If that is the case, they SAW you come here. That would mean they saw US come too. Let's just hope they don't have anything like that on their disposal."

"So, Stapp, do we know why someone might want to kidnap the Ambassador? It's not like people do these things for fun. It was too well thought out. Has she insulted some country or anything like that? Or do we assume it was just because of her sex and/or her position? And why didn't she have any escorts, or if she did, why didn't they act? There just are too many loose strings here. You said there were scrape marks on the walls of one of the caves. Were you able to find out what did them?"

"Okay, where to begin... No, Unum Veritas command has not been infiltrated. We believe this to be an isolated incident involving only the pilots (maybe even only one of them). We do not know who deposited the money because it was done electronically from an untraceable source. More than likely, that ship has already reached its destination (OOC-I didn't want to add the ship to the RP, but that other country posted it and I didn't think I had much choice, one reason I stressed that it was an UNCONFIRMED report.). The scrape marks in the cave were made my some sort of steel. Also, the reason she had no escorts was that it was a discreet trip. Some tax payers tend to get a bit huffy if they think you are wasting money on aerial shows. We were on the verge of sending some X-29's (a revolutionary fighter plane with forward-swept canards to increase maneuverability and give a higher angle of attack) to escort her the final way in (as I've already said), when she disappeared. We do have a few reasons as to why she might have been kidnapped. First of all, we regard our UN ambassador as a high government official, who helps in policy making, so Ms. Hunt knew many things about inner workings of the Unum Veritas government. She also has extraordinary influence because she is also the regional delegate. She is also a rather attractive female. But, we really do not have any definite reasons as to why this might have occured. We also do not know for sure that our pilots were involved at all. Perhaps they were framed, as you suggested, and somehow made to land on a ship or some other platform. That is the whole point of this investigation...to find the answers to these questions," Stapp said in an exasperated voice.

"So basically, we have nothing at all to work with. We don't know why, we don't know who and we have no idea how. We can't be even sure *when*, hell, it could be that the chopper was taken or taken out earlier than it vanished from radar. Meaning we have a lot of work to do. And we can't do that work from here." Sinath pauses for a small while. Then he continues: We would like to bring some subjects of the Deep One project to scout the area for anything, anything at all. We need your permission for that, of course. So, can we bring them, or not?"

"I shall send back for any satrecon we may have. Also, I am willing to communicate on behalf of Unum Veritas that additional Atlantian-class submarines be donated to this cause. Also, the ESS has certain unmarked and un-named assets that could be used greatly to this benefit. We also have the services of a highly...resourceful group," Braun stares at a man of Oriental descent standing behind him. Braun hates the Scorpion Clan, and its ties to the ESS. Traitors are all they are, their leader, Bayushi Shoju, turned against his own fatherland in the Outer Dominion Wars. The Scorpion Clan single-handedly hunted down the surviving members of the other Seven Great Clans to prove their new loyalty to the Empire. Braun was still not sure if the 'Master of a Thousand Eyes' and his lackeys could be completedly trusted and he cursed Director Ziegler for ever taking in these snakes.

"Well, I'll have to clear bringing anyone else in, but first off, what the hell is the Deep One program? Also, Valinon, we appreciate the offer, but we already have several different types of subs scowering the area, both visually and with sonar. We have also devised a new theory as to why this might have occured. Perhaps it wasn't a kidnapping. Perhaps Ms. Hunt wanted to cause a coup or something within the UN and was planning on using this to mask her plans and to sever her ties with Unum Veritas. If this theory is the case, then we should see something happening pretty soon," Stapp said, "But it is getting late, let us all return to our rooms for some rest and wake up tomorrow ready to tackle this yet again. Thank-you all."
With that, he strode from the room, turned on his heel, and walked to his stateroom. He'd just lain down in his bed when the lights went off all over the ship, and the emergency red lights came on. Then the sirens started again and he sat bolt upright. He rushed out of his room, grabbed a young yeoman detailed to his service and told him to take care of the foreigners, but to keep them on this floor. He then rushed up the stairs, all the while struggling to pin on his rank insignia. Stapp was officially a commander in the Unum Veritas, as well as a certified fighter-pilot who had pioneered the X-29 program before switching over to the federal investigative branch. He had kept his insignia and gold wings for occassions such as this.
He reached CIC (combat information center) out of breath, just in time to hear, "Transient! Transient! We have a torpedo in the water!" on the loudspeaker.
"What the hell is going on here?" Commander Stapp demanded.
At first no one answered, but then someone noticed his rank and replied, "Well sir, some unidentified sub tried sneaking up on our destroyer screen. We tried contacting him to warn him off, but he kept coming so we had a chopper drop some depthcharges to scare him and he just fired a torp at Polus. Fortunately she isn't very easy to lock on to and we've launched so many countermeasures that there's no way the torp will hit. We've got some orions, two frigates, and a few ASW choppers all honed in on this sub. She won't be holding any air for much longer. We have some S&R helos ready for when she's destroyed, as well as some exploration submersibles to search through the wreckage for any clues as to this subs nationality."
At that moment the loudspeaker once again spoke up, "Mystere, this is Helo 1, we have a hit. I have explosion sounds as well as bubbles on sonar. Looks like this one is sunk."

"This seems to be happening a lot lately...", Olguth thinks, as he leaves the room after Stapp had left. As he's going back to the room with his group, he continues to think: "Damn it. I knew something was wrong with the picture here, but that? How did they come up with a new theory that fast, anyway? Wonder if the whole investigation was just a charade... To get people from other countries here... To make it *seem* like an investigation... No evidence whatsoever of anything, but still... There's the room. Gaah. I always fall too deep in thought."

He and his team enters the room once again. "Let's search for bugs once more. There's gotta be some here." As they start looking for bugs, the lights and the sirens went off. "The hell's this?" "Looks like they're... Launching countermeasures? No idea what's going on though. They don't do things like that for no reason either. Something's definitely up." said Anfal Radan, looking out of a small window. Olguth replies, "I'm sure they have everything under control. It's not like we could do anything to help them, even if something was happening. Unless something hits the ship, we'll just stay here. Let's continue to look for those bugs." He thinks it's okay to say it outloud anyway, as he's quite sure they (the Unum Veritas people) already know they've been doing it and are doing it again, as most likely there are some bugs there somewhere.

Braun was having a debreifing with his various junior officers when the sirens went off.
"What the-?"
"Apparently an unknown sub just launched a torpedo at one of the Unum Veritas ships," says the seargant that has used the team's AI to jack into the Veritas mainframe. "Thye launched countermeasures, it seems to have been dealt with."
"This situation reeks, gentlemen. Nothing apparently is as it seems. I want full alert. Recently I have been in touch with the home office, all of our assets might be pulled out of this damnable investigation. Tensions are rising on the Melkor front, and before long Valinon and New Ortaga will probably enter the war. We will be withdrawn to suplant intelligence forces across the globe."

OOC-just an FYI for everyone. I really am not planning anything underhanded (which seems to be the general consensus). If there is anything you all would like to do to make this RP move faster, then go ahead and add it. I'm a bit uneducated when it comes to RP's of this sort, so you all can feel free to run with it.

(OOC: Actually, this is my second (2) RP ever in NS, and the first one's not even over yet. And I finally realized why Valinon's things were so off the scope compared to me, he's playing a space tech nation while I'm playing a more or less modern day nation... Damned time/space distortions. I think you can continue as you've done until now, my "main agent" just tends to think a lot.)

OOC-Yeah, I play the same way: modern nation. The only difference is I use a lot of hovercrafts for ships (along with hover carriers which aren't exactly real but perhaps at some point could be). I also use some jets (like the F-22 Sea Raptor, or the X-29) that aren't currently used in naval warfare, but could be adapted to it. I do try to stick to somewhat realistic ships and things, though. Okay, enough thread-jacking. Back to the RP.

"What the hell would a submarine be doing trying to sneak into the middle of a dual carrier battle group? Also, why the hell would it only fire a single torpedo, which he must have known would give his position away and we'd be on him like a pack of rapid dogs on a rabbit?" Stapp wondered aloud.
"No idea, unless they were trying to secretly retrieve something from the floor, or just to destroy something."
"Okay, get the recon sub out immediately! I want the wreckage of that sub searched with a fine tooth comb, as well as the entire floor. Yes, I know we've done it before, but do it again!" Stapp ordered. He then went back to the investigation deck to explain things to the others.

BUMP

(OOC: You didn't have to bump it, at least I could see it with looking at the things I've replied to. I thought I'd wait till Valinon replies, but I guess I replied first, huh.)

IC: As the group was searching for more bugs after finding and breaking several of them, they were told to go to the conference room again. "Guess they're now going to tell us what happened", said Sagitur Amnais. "Yeah, I guess we'd better go there immediately", Sinath replied. The others agreed.

They exited their room and went to the conference room, where Stapp was already waiting for them. Sinath asks, "So, what was that all about?", during which he happens to notice Stapp's rank insignia. Sinath thinks, "So he's a commander in the military, the other things I can't recognize. Guess that explains some things that seemed kind of weird..."

(OOC: Uh, is this RP still alive, or did it die out?)

OOC-Sorry, it hasn't died out, I've just been quite busy lately. Lemme try to revive it. :oops:

"I'm sorry to have had your sleep disturbed," Stapp begins, "but we had an unauthorized submarine attempting to break our defenses. It was trying to sneak inside the destroyer ring and, we believe, fire a torpedo at one of our carriers. Luckily, one of our subs (which we've had patrolling the waters since this all began) picked up on it and we were able to sink it without any incident. As we speak, a S/R submersible is below, sifting through the wreckage for anything that might shed some light on these odd happenings."

"No need to apologize, we weren't sleeping yet", Sinath says and pauses, only to continue: "It is good to hear that no damage was done. I guess it would be a bit too much to hope that this was the last of these incidents, though. It's not likely they'd do this for no reason at all, I'd think they'll do something like that again, if there's something they want here. Unless they were able to do what they wanted already And as that, I guess it's too much to hope that anyone on board the submarine survived, right?"

Then he starts thinking: "Who would risk their lives like that? No mercenary would do it... I don't think any normal military people would follow a suicide order... A fanatic might... Or what if it was their own sub that was jammed in some way? Could that be possible? Or what if it was remote controlled somehow?", then he says: "Just a crazy thought, was there anyone aboard that sub, anyway?"

"We'll know all about the sub in about a half hour, when the info from the recon sub starts coming in. I'll let you all know just as soon as I do." Stapp said.

"Very well. We'll just have to wait, then." But then something hits Sinath. He thinks outloud: "Where are the people from Valinon? I can't see them anywhere. What happened to them?"

OOC-We didn't kill them or anything...LOL

IC- At this point a beeping noise startled them all, and a loudspeaker on the wall crackled to life, "Commander, we have an incoming report from the recon sub."
"Alright, patch us in," Stapp replied.
Ten seconds later a screen lowered from the ceiling and pictures flashed across it. A few shots of the ocean floor and some debris crossed before something caught Stapp's eye.
"Whoa, freeze slides, go back one, and zoom in 10x." He told the loudspeaker.
A second or two later his commands were followed and there was an intake of breath as they all saw a strange symbol insribed on a sheet of metal...

OOC: Umm, my university started, and I kind of forgot this thread. Can I get a response around tomorrow? And I know I'm space tech, but I'm not uber-tech. All of my stuff can be foiled or destroyed, and my space stuff is only good in space. I will not be launching "hyper-deaht rays" against the known universe anytime soon. I'll construe an official response sometime later on. When I review my profile concerning Captain Braun.

http://sensori.soldats.net/rcult/elder_sign.jpg

When they saw the symbol, they were absolutely horrified. "Why... Why is that here, why is there an Elder Sign here?", asked Sinath, with his voice trembling. It should be impossible. Who would know of it? Who would need it, and for what purpose? Or who would wish to destroy it? This Sign is not one of those usual manmade fakes. They can "feel" the power of the Elder Gods, radiating, just from the picture. They know it is a real one, but cannot believe it.

Is this really the workings of some secret, perverse organization? Or of some sick cult?

After Sinath had regained his composure, he asks, "Could it be possible to get that thing for closer inspection? If we are right... If that really is a genuine one...", then he stops. "Time is of the essence. Are we allowed to inspect it? But if it seems to be 'stuck', I beg of you, DON'T attempt to forcibly remove it. We would just go underwater to check it out, if that's the case."

"Well, our submersibles are equipped with mechanical arms, but they aren't very gentle, so if you feel it might be dangerous then perhaps we shouldn't take that course of action," Stapp replied, "If you'd care to dive after it, then I'm sure we could work that out, although I must warn you, diving from a hover carrier is a rather interesting experience. The dive bay is directly under the ship, which means you dive through the hover contraption and you are quite buffeted by the air cushion on the way down. The choice is yours."

"It might be a door of somekind, or that spot might be significant for some other reason. If either of those is true, moving it would have dire consequences...", then Sinath stops, thinks a while, and continues: "Yes, I think we should go and check it first hand. It always could be that someone just dropped it there, to get it back later. You never know, before you have seen it for yourself at least."

"Alright, its late now and we should all probably get some sleep, but I will forward your request and the necessary equipment should be ready first thing in the morning. The captain will probably want to send some of our own divers to observe and help out with the actual dive part, but they'll stay out of the way. I should have all of the details tomorrow morning, so for now, goodnight," Stapp said with a barely stifled yawn.

Sinath nods, and says, "Very well. We'll check it out tomorrow morning, if permitted. Good night to you as well", after which the group left for their room. Sinath was extremely concerned about this new turn of events. They entered their room once again. It of course contained a bed for every one of them. Before going to sleep, they finished the check up on those bugs. Found a couple more. Then they did what they usually do before sleeping, after which they went to sleep. The next day is going to be a busy one.

The following morning at 6am a buzzer sounded in the Cult's delegation's room. They awoke and opened the door to find Stapp waiting on them. When they were dressed he led them to a cafeteria for breakfast, and then to a lower floor. When the elevator doors opened they looked upon a huge open floor, resembling the work area of a factory. This was the storage/dive center of the Mystere, where they stored munitions, replacement parts, and diving and submersible gear.
"Okay, here are some diving suits for you all; they ought to be the right sizes. Once your suited up, go over to those tube-type things. They'll shoot you out into the water where you'll meet up with a submersible which will lead you to the wreckage area. Good luck!" Stapp said before heading back to the elevators.

"So, this is it." Sinath says to the others. Some of them nod. After saying that, Sinath started to put the suit on, and the others followed his lead. The suits were of the right size, as Stapp had said. Well, almost. Some of them complained that they are a bit too tight from some points, but it was really nothing.

Now they had their suits on and they went to the tubes. Sinath, as always, was the first one to go. The others followed. It was the first time any of them had used something like this, but it wasn't bad at all. "That might be good in a water park", Sinath thought jokingly. Then they swam to the submersible. Now, all that is left is finding the point where the Elder Sign was found.

***I'll let you RP the entire dive scene, that way you can throw whatever you want into it and cause I don't know much about that sorta thing***

(OOC: I did this once before, BUT MY COMPUTER FROZE! I had almost a page of stuff done...)

IC: As they were shown the way to the wreckage and to the slab with the Elder Sign, they were even more certain that this is a real one. And they were certain that it would be either a door or just something that has been dropped on the ocean floor, as finding one that stops the Great Old Ones from materializing to that point would be a lot harder. Lot harder than finding a door or the other sort at least. There were some known excess ones. They truly hope that this is one such thing. They started investigating the slab after the initial awe they experienced.

They found a small, insignificant secret compartment, that held the true source of the power of the huge piece of metal. This slab was only made to protect it from breaking. It was a small, green rock-sort what they found. Sometimes the knowledge of the Mythos did come in handy, as the secret compartment was well hidden, but lucky for Sinath and the others, there were several instances in the books they had read of things like this. They knew where the rock would be hidden, if there is such a rock.

They did not dare to remove it, at least yet. Not before they made sure it was not a door. They started digging around the slab, only to find that there was pretty much nothing beneath it. It was safe to assume that it was not a door. Maybe the ones who had taken this thing and dumped it here wanted to make sure that no one would find it anymore, which would be why they tried to destroy it, and failed in the attempt. They did not realize that the metal used in this thing was no normal, easily breakable metal. There was nothing that would tell who had dropped it here and why did they try to destroy it, so there was nothing they could do on that part. They assumed that the others had tried to tap into the powers of the Elder Sign, but were unable to do that.

Now, after making sure it would be safe, they removed this small, fist-sized rock from the slab. It was surging with unknown powers, and it was hard to get it. It would be a lot easier to do research on it aboard the ship, as it is almost impossible to do anything worthwhile underwater. And they didn't have much equipment with them either. They knew it might be a risk to bring that rock to the Unum Veritas, but they didn't have much of a choice. They returned to the ship.

(OOC: So, is this RP alive or dead now?)

(OOC: ... Guess so. Unum Veritas, what gives?)