NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Ok, this is an issure between myself and Namitnef. All OOC comments on the suitability of our Rping (I.e authenticity) are welcome, but dont be irritating lol. Other peoples mass troops and aairforces will be ignored, unless by special invitation. If you are interested in getting involved then TG me and I will discuss it with you.

Reasons for the war can be found:

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2901450#2901450

Any Diplomacy you wish to post also needs to go there, not in this war thread!

IC: Yrubdard troops are mobilising for war. Yrubdarb wishes to act in defence, however, we will respond as we see fit to any move made by Namitnef...

Joe Brown of the Yrubdarb defence force sits in his tower looking out over the border between Yrubdarb and Namitnef.

"A lot of action over there Bob" he calls to his fellow watchman.

Bob grunts. "Stupid Namitnefians, always out moving troops. They're just trying to unsettle us you know."

Suddenly the radio crackles and a voice comes over.

"...war situation with Namitnef...Assisstance being sent to you..regard all movement with extreme caution..."

"Cr*p" said Joe. He turned and looked back out of the tower window, raising his binoculars.

In the distance a tank was manouvering. Joe saw it turn towards the tower, and lurch.

By the time he heard the shell it was too late. The tower disappeared in apuff of smoke and dust.

The war for the defence of Yrubdarb had begun.

[tagged for reading material!]

It is dark in the border town of Mount Grimwold.
In the distance, the flash of artillery can be seen, and the valley rumbles like thunder. Tracer fire arcs back and forth across the river that marks the border, as missiles streak through the sky above.

In one of the houses near to the the town, General Kail of the Namitnef army is looking over a map of the surrounding countryside with his officers.

"We should attack NOW!" says one of the men.

"We must first let the diplomats finish in their negotiations" the general replies.

There are grumbles of discontent around the room but they are soon silenced by Kail.

"Do not worry... you will get your chance for glory yet!"

The Justinopian Kingdom is willing to send 1 Million troops and 1 starship to the first nation that requests its assistance.

It is early morning at Namitnef forward observation post #53.
Two men sit in the dugout, while a third peers over the parapet, out over the arid wasteland.

"There's some dust on the horizon over there..." he says.

"Let me have a look Fred...knowing you it will be a smudge on the binoculars!" one of the other two says before getting up and walking over to the first one.

"No.. you're right, i see dust too."

"I don't get it.."

"God.....those are Yrubdarb tanks!"

The one still sitting in the dugout grabs the radio.

"Alert! a large force of Yrubdarb tanks is approaching the border. We request assistance"

A voice crackles back:

"Negative. Unable to divert help to your area at this time.. "

"what should we do?" the man says into the radio.

There is silence for a moment or two, and then the voice replies:

"Die with honour..."

A Justinopian Kingdom Military officer radios them and says "Will help if needed" then the radio crackles and says "50 Armed Helicopters Ready to fire.

The Justinopian Kingdom is willing to send 1 Million troops and 1 starship to the first nation that requests its assistance.

OOC: Little advice...

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=79117

Click the above, read the first post...

Once you've read it start thinking about how many people your nation can actually support in a army, also starting thinking that your diplomacy may want to be more advanced the "First Come First Serve".

Basically, you can't have a million man army because your nation is too small...


PS - For lots more information, here is an index of all the really good guide threads.

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2317520#2317520

Roac walks down the Government building with General Adekka.

Roac- "It's our purpose to help Yrubdarb if this gets out of hand, but I don't want my troops to be involed with this war. We are againist Slavery and it's not in our interest for us to get involed."

Adekka- "We can't let Namitnef get away with the slave trade. But, we must act, not for Yrubdard, but againist Namitnef. We must bring the Namitnef Government down to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Roac- "We can't rid of an entire nation's government without proof he is contining the slave trade."

Adekka- "Prehapes we can compromise. We can force Namifnet to list every nation he shipped Slaves too and bring them down, of he lies then we have our excuse."

Roac- "How about the war?"

Adekka- "We can lead a internation peace keeping force to the boarder, if anyone of the troops get killed, then we have another excuse."

Roac- "Good Idea. Inform Namifnet of our wishes."

OOC: For that matter, please read the first post in this thread. Yrubdarb has requested the he and and Namitnef be the only ones posting RP stuff here.

I really like the RP here so far. A nice suspenseful beginning, can't wait to see how it develops from here.

My forces will not be involved in the invasion of another nation. They will be flown out of Namitnef ASAP.

OOC: Justinopian Kingdom, for now you are neing ignored. You can't move an army that size, let alone fund and man one. Read the rules at the top, learn how to RP, and then maybe you'll have shot.

IC:
Urgent newflash

After several nights of low class artillery exchange over the border, Namitnef troops have finally made a move. They have pushed over the border at Mount Grimwold, over the Murget river, and have claimed Yrubdarb soil. We urge the people pf this area to stay in their homes at all times.

Military assisstance is being sent to the area to defend our nation.

People of Yrubdarb, I am afraid that we are now at war.

The Battle of Mount Grimwold

Bruce Smith, of the 1st light response regiment, sometimes referred to as the Yrubdarb Lightning, was sitting in his barracks along with the other men of his company (Totalling around 100 men).

He lit a cigarette and sat back staring at the news, watching his president announcing the hostilities with Namitnef.

"It was inevitable" he grumbled to himself, pouring a beer.

He turned off the TV, not wishing to hear the version the public was told, and switched on some music. He would be told the details soon enough.

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

Outside, the distant rumbling of tanks moving was to be heard. The streets suddenly emptied, as people guessed what was about to occur.

A whistling overhead confirmed the worst, and the town centre erupted in a blast of white hot air. Inside the barrakcs, the army was preparing to defend their homeland.

They moved into their positions around the town, and waited for the Namitnef advance.

"Advance you lazy scum!"
On the edge of Mount Grimwold, the Namitnef 3rd armoured brigade was slowly creeping towards the Yrubdarb positions. The ground heaved and shook beneath the tracks of the vehicles as heavy artillery pounded the town.

To the left, a machine gun open fire on the tanks, but was ineffective to stop the relentless advance of the steel monsters.

The turret on the first tank slowly turned towards the machine gun, and fired. The building was enveloped in a sheet of flames. A second later, all that was left was a smoking pile of rubble.

The other tanks tanks opened fire, splitting the morning with the sound of explosions. An anti tank rocket was fired from a house on the right and it hit the third tank in the column, sending the turret flying off, and the tank detonated seconds later.

In reprisal, the helicopter gunships flying over head started to pound the outlying buildings with rockets, sending up vast clouds of smoke into the morning sky.

The tank column turned towards the town square, and continued the advance.

Bruce tore through the streets. He had lost a quarter of his men already. Communications were just about running still, and he had been told to not expect any immediate help. All of the heavy response teams were a while up the river Murget, where the attack had been expected. And the government were reticent to send in the air force because it was over Yrubdarb territory.

Another building exploded, and Bruce hit the ground hard to avoid the debris. With his rifle under his arm, he rolled out from behind a wall and scanned the incoming troops. The tanks appeared to have halted just short of the town square, and the helicopters were returning back towards Namitnef. To refuel perhaps?

Bruce turned and waved for the other five men following him to catch up. They hit the ground next to him, carrying an anti-tank weapon. With efficiency born from expert training, they loaded the weapon and fired. The blast was followed by the reassuring sound of a tank exploding.

"Got the bugger sir" one of the men grinned.

"Great" said Bruce "Now run!" The other tanks were turning their turrets towards the position where the missile had emerged.

"Pull behind this row of houses. We'll be out of the tanks visual range"

As they moved away the wall they been positioned behind exploded, leaving a small crater. The houses they were moving towards were deserted. Just before the attack, people had bundled into their cars and left the town, meaning very few civilian casualties so far. Knowing Namitnef, this would probably not be for long.

The men paused for a breath. The radio Bruce was carrying crackled into life.

"..Sir, men coming to reinforce the Namitnef tank division. We have lost another ten men. I recommend we pull back

"Affirmative" Bruce replied. "Draw their men behind the houses so we are protected from the tanks."

He took a breath, and moved on.

Corporal Dante of the Namitnef army stared blankley at the ground.

At his feet was the body of a Yrubdarb soldier, face down.

"Wait until I tell the family back home about this.." he remarked to no one in particular.

"Keep your mind on your job soldier" the captain said "We may have them on the run but they're not finished yet!"

The gunfire was by now almost constant. After a brief pause, the tanks had resumed their assault on the town square and the Yrubdarb soldiers were falling back.

Up the street in front of them, a group of yrubdarb soldiers tried to sprint across the road. They were not fast enough, and they were all torn apart by machine gun fire.

The tanks were now in the middle of the town, and blowing up pretty much every structure that was still standing.

The volume of gunfire slowly decreased over the next few minutes and was replaced by an eerie silence.

The radio in his helmet crackled.

"The town is ours! Hail Namitnef!"

[Tag]

Bruce heard the silence, and heard the sudden comotion amongst the Namitnef troops. They thought they had killed them all. Good.

He turned at look at the twenty odd men still with him. Two were wounded, but still able to fight.

He raised his radio to his mouth

"We need back up. Lightning has been reduced to twenty men, and the Namitnefians are still rolling forward with more men."

"It has been decided that no more men shall be sent to you. They are gathering at a separate point to meet the enemy army once they are through Grimwold. Your orders are to do what you see fit. If you can get out alive and regather then do so. Otherwise try and stay alive.

"What?! You can't do that to us"

The Radio remained silent for a minute.

Fine. A helicopter has been dispatched to pick your men up. It wil contact you when it is neraby. Try and create some cover for it. It is currently planning to land in the oil-seed-rape field just out of the west side of town

Bruce put the radio back in his pocket.

"We're on our own for now men. Lets not give them a moment to pause."

He turned and look out of the remains of the house they were sheltring in. There were no Namitnef tanks in visual range, but there were some troops. Bruce beckoned to one of the men, who was carrying a large sniper-rifle. He pointed in the direction.

"Do what you can" he turned to the rest of the men "Load your weapons men. Take down as many of the bastards as you can".

Corporal Dante was leaning against a wall, catching his breath.
The soldier oposite him was grinning.

"They gave us quite a fight didn't they! I thought they would just turn tail and run!"

Just then a shot pierced the silence. The soldier talking to Dante jerked and collapsed dead to the ground. Two more shots followed in quick succession and two more men fell to the floor.

"SNIPER!!!" bellowed the captain.
The men hit the dirt and pointed their guns at the building to the right, where the shot had come from.

"OPEN FIRE!!!"

"Good shooting" Bruce complemented the Sniper. "Keep taking out as many as you can" He pointed to another one of the men. "Stay with him and provide close support. The rest of you, with me."

He turned and led the men out of the back of the building. Splitting into two groups, they went around the house and towards the Namitnef soldiers, who were firing at the building they had emerged from. The soud of the sniper doing his work could still be heard above the machine guns.

They opened fire on the Namitnefians. A soldier to the side of Bruce went down, as the Namitnefians spotted them and returned fire. Bruce counted and realised they were just outnumbered, but only just.

"We can take them!" He roared, spurring his men on. Another man went down. They were getting closer and closer. Dodging through the remains of the buildings on either side.

A man in the other group lobbed a smoke grenade towards the Namitnef men. Through the smoke Bruce’s men charged. Namitnef and Yrubdarb soldiers charged at each other, randomly spraying rounds of lead into the air. Head to head, the two units collided.

"FIX BAYONETS!"
the order came moments before the two groups of men collided. A smoke grenade went off a few seconds before impact, and Dante was enveloped in gloom.
all around him people were fighting for their lives with their bayonets, with their table knives...even with their teeth. The screams were etched into his brain and he knew they would be there for forever, even if he survived the living hell that was raging all around him.

Bruce's men were falling around him. In response to the cry by the other side, he had emptied the last of his ammo into the air before him, and drawn his hunting knife.

Diving head first into the Namitnef soldiers, he thrust out with the knife and killed a man. He dodged the balde of another and cut a man open. Warm blood gushed over his arm. The smell, the screaming, all chilled him to the core. But he woud die a proud man, defending his country.

He took a bite in his arm, but turned and kicked at the attacker. The assailant fell to the floor. Bruce knelt down and drove the knife in deep. This was too much. He didn't become a soldier to be slicing men open with a knife.

As he stood and turned, something cold and hard drove into his stomach. The pain sent shockwaves up and down his body, dropping him to his knees. He looked up at this killer. There was an inhuman grin on his face, and Bruce's blood over the front of his uniform. The knife was removed, and Bruce was left. With no support anymore he fell to the floor. His face hit the durt, and he coughed up blood. Unable even to turn, the last thing he saw in the physical world was the ground of the country he had died for. But in his mind's eye, he saw his wife.

"I'm sorry" he gasped, as breath left his lungs.

The sniper and his assistant saw Bruce hit the floor.

"There's no more we can do here. Lets leave"

But it was too late. Below them was the call of a Namitnef soldier.

"We know you’re up there. Come down with your weapons above your heads"

The two soldiers, knowing when they were beaten, came down. As Prisoners of War, they would at least be alive. As they appeared at the bottom of the stairs, they threw their guns to the floor.

"We surrender,” they said in unison.

The Namitnef soldier smiled.

"Good"

He raised his pistol and fired two shots.

The 1st light response regiment, the Yrubdarb lightning, had ceased to be.

OOC: I'm not sure you're allowed to control the actions of the guy who shot the POW snipers...

IC: Muktar is willing to assist Yrubdarb with the main assault. Two helicopter squadrons, along with the Muktar 3rd Infantry, will launch upon confirmation.

OOC: I'm not sure you're allowed to control the actions of the guy who shot the POW snipers...

IC: Muktar is willing to assist Yrubdarb with the main assault. Two helicopter squadrons, along with the Muktar 3rd Infantry, will launch upon confirmation.

If you had read all the instructions and the other relevant thread you would know that A) I have explained that anything posted has already been agreed by Namitnef and myself, and that B) I have asked people to TG to discuss involvement. The numbers that you have offered seem ok, so RP yourself an official communication with Yrubdarb and I'll inform you when to get involved.

To: Yrubdarb
From: President Balduv of Muktar
Subject: Your most recent war.

We have seen what has occured during this war, and we are truly saddened. Two helicopter squadrons, along with the Muktar 3rd Infantry, will deploy with whatever forces you send in the main assault. Also, in response to the recent massacre by Namitnef (other thread), we will also launch ten more helicopter squadrons to defend against Namitnefi attackers.

HTRMS Killer Whale

Captain De Laatte tried to look calm, but it was hard to do. Yet he had to. As long as he appeared calm and in control, no matter how nervous he was himself, the crew would do fine.

But they were at war! At any moment now the trailing ELF antenna could pick up an order to fire cruise missiles at targets designated by Yarubdarb. Well, he would not disappoint them if the moment came.

"Any sign of hostile forces?"

"Sonar reports no contacts at present."

"Good. Let's keep it that way..."

Sr. Justin, head of the Justinopian Kingdom 1st Brigade, flies in on helicopter to the Namitnef general, "sir", he says "My country is willing to help in this war, we have 50 helicopters armed and ready at my command to help you, what do you say"

It was the beggining of the evening in Mirak Naar.
The gloom of the emperors throne room was only punctuated by the light of the screen mounted on one of the walls.

A face appeared on the screen.

"My liege, we have recieved an official declaration of war from the Riverlands."

the room revererberted to the sound of the Emperors laughter.

"Tell the army to expect some more targets for their shooting practice."

The face nooded and faded from view.

In the darkness, the town of Mount Grimwold burned.
The Namitnef soldiers, fearing that the ruins could be occupied by the enemy in the event of a counter attack, had started to burn every structure still standing more than 10 feet off the ground.
Bodies lay in every street and alley, and the sound of exploding ammunition from the destroyed vehicles could be heard in the background.

Overhead, the sound of helicopters transporting troops to the new frontline could be heard, and in the town square groups of Namitnef soldiers were looting the bodies of the dead.

One soldier stooped over a body and searched its pockets. It contained a picture of a women - a wife perhaps. He looked at the dog tags around the body's neck

It read "Lieutenant Bruce Smith".

"Thats one less bastard to worry about!" he said to himself.

The soldier shuffled on, the flames of the burning town growing higher in the background.

Sr. Justin, head of the Justinopian Kingdom 1st Brigade, flies in on helicopter to the Namitnef general, "sir", he says "My country is willing to help in this war, we have 50 helicopters armed and ready at my command to help you, what do you say"

I dont wana seem heavy handed, but this is the last time I tell you, stop posting here. If you want to be involved go to the diplomacy thread. So far though I am not impressed. You cannot simply fly a Helicopter half way around the world. Plus Namitnef is at war, he would have shot you down. You don't know where his general is. Finally, Namitnef has no coast. You probably would have flown over Yrubdarb to get there, and so I would have shot you down.

Learn some etiquette fast my friend, or else stop trying. If you want to be involved, got through the proper routes.

Plus, Muktar I apologise for criticising you. I found your post on the other thread. Stay in touch.

Sr. Justin, head of the Justinopian Kingdom 1st Brigade, flies in on helicopter to the Namitnef general, "sir", he says "My country is willing to help in this war, we have 50 helicopters armed and ready at my command to help you, what do you say"

I dont wana seem heavy handed, but this is the last time I tell you, stop posting here. If you want to be involved go to the diplomacy thread. So far though I am not impressed. You cannot simply fly a Helicopter half way around the world. Plus Namitnef is at war, he would have shot you down. You don't know where his general is. Finally, Namitnef has no coast. You probably would have flown over Yrubdarb to get there, and so I would have shot you down.

Learn some etiquette fast my friend, or else stop trying. If you want to be involved, got through the proper routes.

Plus, Muktar I apologise for criticising you. I found your post on the other thread. Stay in touch.

Muktar's 3rd Infantry and the said helicopter squadrons prepare to mobilize for Namitnef. They intend to pass through Yrubdarb to counterattack whatever enemy forces may already be en route. A third helicopter unit has also launched, equipped with some technology recent purchased from a region member.

Muktar's 3rd Infantry and the said helicopter squadrons prepare to mobilize for Namitnef. They intend to pass through Yrubdarb to counterattack whatever enemy forces may already be en route. A third helicopter unit has also launched, equipped with some technology recent purchased from a region member.

You have permission to land in Yrubdarb. DO not fly straight to Namitnef. Repeat: do not fly straight to Namitnef. Land in Yrubdarb and we wil incorporate you into the counter strike.

Secret Transmission to the HTRMS Killer Whale

...President Semaj has given the word for a strike against the Namitnef capital of Mirak Naar...relevant coordinates are being posted through...we regret that it has come to this, and thank you for your continuing support...the time for action has arrived.

Good shooting

HTRMS Killer Whale

Captain De Laatte was startled by the sudden buzz of the intercom. He reached for the microphone and pressed the "send" button.
"Conn."
"Conn, Communcations here. We just received an incoming message from Yrubdarb on the ELF. We have been given target coordinates in Namitnef. Targets include their main airport, which is used by their military. Furthermore several government buildings, and 3 other military bases, including a huge ammo dump. It also includes their main communications tower, which is an important hub in their comm network. There is also a bridge listed here, which most of their traffic towards Yrubdarb uses. All in all there are 30 specific targets listed.
"Very well. Relay the information to both Swordfish and Vanguard. Tell both to stand by to fire in 1 hour."
"Yessir. Communications out."
"Bridge out."
He did not put down the microphone. Instead he switched his microphone to transmit on all channels.
"Attention on deck, this is the captain speaking. In one hour time, we will launch a series of cruise missiles at targets in Namitnef. I expect some of you to be nervous about this. After all this time, this is the first time we actually get to do what we are trained to do. This is not an excercise. This is for real. I expect nothing but the best from all of you. Let's hope Namitnef will soon realize that they have made a mistake. For our sake and theirs. That will be all."

HTRMS Killer Whale

As his men worked to reprogram the second batch of cruise missiles, De Laatte sat back and tried not to look impatient.
He thought of Vanguard and felt comforted to know such a powerful ship was nearby. If only the carrier battle group would be here too. Then they would really show Namitnef how grave an error it had made...
But right now, Vanguard would be firing 8 cruise missiles, to add to the 12 already launched by his own sub and Swordfish. Any moment know he could hear the words...
"We're don, sir. Ready to fire at your command."
"Good. Take us up to launch depth."
As his first officer gave the orders to rise to to just a few metres below the surface, he grabbed the microphone.
"All hands, stand by. Weapons, open hatches."
He waited until his XO and his weapons officer both gave a signal.
"Ripple launch!"
Immediately he could hear the soft 'thump' from the first canister leaving its tube, expelled by pressurized oxygen. The canister would rise to the surface and then fall apart, releasing a tactical cruise missile on its way to destruction. One 'thump' followed another and soon four missiles were on their way. Swordfish would fire all six of its remaining missiles, but Killer Whale would retain 2 of them. Too bad they didn't have targets for them yet...
He counted to 4 and then gave the order to close the hatches and go deep again. Nearby, Swordfish would be doing the same...

They had just arrived at 200 metres depth when the buzzer sounded.
"Conn, sonar! We have a contact, right on top of us! They're making a helluva lotta noise!"
De Laatte grabbed the microphone again.
"What the... Do you mean Swordfish?"
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.
"Damned, sir, didn't think of that. Yes, it must be them, but what the HELL are they doing?"

Minutes later, De Laatte's voice sounded through the entire ship.
"Men, I have bad news. Our sistership, Swordfish, is having serious problems with their electric motors and as a result they have to run their diesels. Which, as you all know, need air. So they will have to stay just below the surface. Let's hope they get everything fixed soon."

The sky over Mirak Naar was grey.
The emperor sat in his throne, just about to start eating the sumptious lunch layed out before him, when he heard a sound. It was a sound that had never been heard before in Mirak Naar.

Across the city, the air raid sirens wailed. People ran for cover in the many public bomb shelters spread around the area.

The screen on the wall lit up, and general kail appeared. He seemed anxious.

"My Liege, we have detected several salvos of missiles heading towards the capital. I suggest you take cover in the bunker."

"You should know me by now, Kail! I will not run and hide like a coward while the enemy defiles this great city with their pitiful missiles!"

A minute or two later, the first of the missiles hit.
The airport was hit by several of them, and a vast explosion ripped through the main civilian terminal and the nearby military hangers.

To the southwest of the palace, an ammo dump was also hit, and it detonated in a blast so huge that every window within 2 miles was blown out.

By this time, anti aircraft fire filled the sky, and the anti aircraft missile batteries began to open up.

One missile heading towards the main communications tower was hit, and it spiralled out of control into the river and exploded harmlessly.

On the horizon smoke and flames could be seen rising from the perimeter military bases.

Missiles continued to rain down, hitting government buildings and infrastructure.

The Final missile slammed into the ministry of defence and the building was enveloped in smoke and flames.

The emperor had been watching the devastation from his throne room.
His face was twisted into a cruel visage of demonic anger, and there was a snarl in his voice when he spoke to Kail.

"Kail. I want you to kill the people that did this."

A radar tower somewhere in Yrubdarb...

"Sir, you might want to take a look at this."

An older, more high ranking man moved to stand behind the speaker and looked at the screen.

"Oh dear"

...

Transmission to the HTRMS Killer Whale
[code:1:b37f45483b] Yrubdarb radars have picked up a large movement of the Namitnef air force. We will do all we can to intercept them, but if they continue on their current course they will avoid virtually all of our anti-aircraft emplacements. Our air force has been dispatched, but they will probably not be able to make contact until the Namitnefians have reached your position. We seriously recommend that you prepare all Naval forces in the area for intense combat. We will provide assisstance as soon as physically possible.[/code:1:b37f45483b]

The squadron of Namitnef aircraft (All flying 'Spectres') screamed through the sky over Yrubdarb.

"This is squadron leader Bravo 24, we are approaching the coast and the probable position of the Riverlands naval forces. Prepare for contact."

All of the planes in the formation (around 30 in all) readied their 'Sea Sabre' anti-ship missiles.

"Sir, i have a number of enemy vessels on the radar."

"Squadron leader to all: intiate attack.
Repeat: fire at will."

Trough the streets of the capital of Yrubdarb a group consisting of 200 riders rode. People watched these soliders with curiosity for such people had never been seen before. They all were tall and strong. Their hair were either long or short. Many had a short beard. They had rifles at their backs and swords in their hilts. They also carried long spears and most of them had cloaks. Red and blue ones. Under the cloaks they had green uniforms. In the front the were two characteristic persons.

One was a tall woman with red hair. She had a royal blue cloak and no spear. She was Natalia. Daugther of the king and captain in the army. She had never been in combat but at the officerschool she had been the best.

The other were slightly shorter. A powerful built man who had an aura of might around him. He had a blood red cloak and two swords. He also had a wolfskin over his shoulders. He was sergeant Harald of the royal army. Maybe the most skilled and respected warrior in whole Eirikiania.

They quickly made their way trough the city. Heading for the govermentbuilding.
Natalia felt furious:"So we are meant to do civilianwork. Il tell their goverment what we want to do. Il show those people that Eirikians fights and nothing else."

HTRMS Killer Whale


"Damn. Good thing we're all the way down here."
Captain De Laatte rubbed his eyes. His eyes were watering. He hadn't slept well last night and it bothered him.
He was just considering if it would be necessary to confirm Swordfish had also gotten the message when the buzzer for the intercom sounded.
"Conn, Sonar! Swordfish is blowing her ballast. She's surfacing. What's going on?"
De Laatte was shocked. They were safe, well below the surface of the water, but Swordfish would be a sitting duck. And as a citizen of The Riverlands, he knew only too well what happened to sitting ducks...


HTRMS Swordfish

The ship was a mess. Lights were flickering on and off, the smell of exhaust gases was quickly penetrating each compartment and everyone was yelling things. Something had gone horribly wrong in the engine compartment.
An officer yelled for everyone to be quiet and detailed two men to get to a weapons locker to grab hold of the two portable sam launchers they carried for just a situation like this. Too bad no one had counted on all power to fail. If a ship attacked, they would be totally defenseless. But Namitnef had no ships and what were the odds of an airstrike? Nevertheless, it was a smart thing to take precautions.

HTRMS Swordfish, Yarubdarb territorial waters

Swordfish was caught by surprise and didn't stand a chance. They could not have chosen a worse time to have engine problems. Unable to move or even dive, all the crew could do was lauch their two missiles and then wait for the enemy attack to come. A few cheers went up as one plane was hit and exploded in a big ball of fire, but the cheers sounded hollow. A few crewmembers simpy jumped overboard and started to swim for their lives. Seconds later, the first of three Sea Sabre missiles tore into the submarine. Fortunately, it exploded in the empty compartment of the VLS system. But this just meant they would live a few seconds longer. The second missile hit the ship's sail, destroying its fragile periscopes and antennae, as well as killing the XO who had just managed to find his way up. The third missile hit the torpedo compartment, almost instantly detonating a torpedo. As that torpedo exploded, so did the others and the entire front of the ship basically evaporated. This unbalanced the ship, causing it to turn on its side. Immediately water started to pour down the remains of the ship's sail. Then, it took just half a minute for it to sink. Trapped inside, most of Swordfish's crew faced the possibility of being trapped in the remains of the sub for days, waiting to suffocate. But the missiles had created numerous leaks and as a result, they drowned.


HTRMS Killer Whale

Sonar officer Tim Blake forced himself to make the notation. 'Swordfish sunk by enemy action', it simply sad. He would never forget the sounds their sistership had made as it had heeled over and had sunk. He swore he had heard people bang on the sides of the ship as it went down. He also swore they would not prove to have died in vain.


HTRMS Vanguard

On the radar displays, Swordfish had not even shown up. Nor had the icons that represented the enemy planes even slowed down. Unaware of the tragedy that had taken place a mere 100 kilometres away, Vanguard prepared for battle. They had been at battle stations ever since the warning had come in from Yarubdarb. Now they would get their first taste of actual combat. Combat with an enemy that would fight back.

At 75 kilometres distance, Vanguard fired a first salvo of surface-to-air missiles. An alarm sounded to warn anyone who might have been on deck, even though no one was there. Then 8 missiles streaked towards their target, in rapid succession.
"Reload," Michaelson commanded. Belowdecks, his men checked the equipment and set about to reload the port launcher.
On the screen, the planes started to get closer. At just below the speed of sound, they would be on top of them in just under five minutes. Too soon...
"Helm, turn to starboard immediately. Emergency full power. Give the starboard SAM launcher a clear shot."
He should have thought of that sooner.

Vanguard's screws started to turn much more quickly. Within a minute, the ship turned the water into foam, gradually turning to starboard.

The Namitnef planes saw the incoming missiles and released chaff. Thousands of small radar reflectors deluded the incoming missiles and of the 8 missiles, only 5 found their target. Four planes instantly exploded and two balls of fire lighted up the sky. The fifth went down burning, it's pilot struggling with it in an attempt to get the nose to point up again until the moment it crashed into the sea at such great speed its crew died instantly.

Aboard Vanguard, the Fire Control Officer noted they had made three kills. Then he noted another thing and he turned to warn the captain.

Just under fifty kilometres away from Vanguard, the planes released their remaining Sea Sabres, immediately turning away to avoid being fired upon. They would still need to find their way back through hostile airspace anyway, and there was little use in taking any more risk.

Just under 50 missiles were now moving towards Vanguard, moving at well over the speed of sound. Within seconds, they would hit the 55,000 ton battleship...

Vanguard released 8 SAM's from its starboard launching, meanwhile leaning several degrees to one side as the ship continued to turn at maximum speed. At 35 knots, a speed the ship could only maintain for a little while, the ship completed a 180 degree turn just in time for the port launcher, now reloaded, to fire an additional 8 missiles.

Of the 48 missiles, just under half were intercepted by Vanguard's Sea Flash SAM's. But that still left more then 25 missiles. Vanguard began firing decoys, which attracted only 5 of the incoming projectiles. Then Vanguard's automated close-in weapon system came online.

Only two of its four gatling guns could be brought to bear on the targets. But together, they destroyed 5 additional missiles. This left another 20...

The Sea Sabres were designed to hit much more modern ships than Vanguard. Modern ships weren't armoured at all, let alone fitted with armour plates up to over half a metre thick. Vanguard had been designed to withstand incoming 16 inch shells, even a little more than that. She had even received additional deck plating, to protect from shells falling at a steep angle. Compared to the 16 inch armour-piercing shells she was designed to withstand, the Sea Sabres were litle more than fire crackers. But the ship was not armoured from top to bottom. Otherwise she would have been to heavy to float, let alone move.

Several missiles, set to enter the ship at just above the waterline in order to do the most damage, struck the ships armoured belt. At well over 40 centimetres thick, they didn't even dent the ship. Especially not since they had a time-delayed fuse, as they were designed to explode on the inside of modern day ships, after penetrating their thin skins. A few other hit the big 405 millimetre gun turrets, which were even better armoured than the ships armoured belt. Again, they did little more than scrape off some paint. But two of them penetrated the superstructure, which was largely unarmoured. Terrific damage was done, and fires instantly broke out, fueled by what remained of the missiles' liquid fuel, burning fiercely and clouding the entire ship in smoke within seconds. But the superstructure was empty except for the armoured bridge and the aft control position, which was also armoured. So there were no casualties. Three missiles, who had started to go after the decoys but had been too close to miss, hit the top parts of the ship. The main mast, above Vanguard's towerlike bridge structure, was torn apart, destroying a lot of sensitive radars as well as most of the ship's communications equipment. Another struck the ships funnel, which didn't really do anything either. But the last one hit the aft control position, tearing off the aft mast which carried most of Vanguards additional radars. Vanguard was now practically blind.

On the bridge, Michaelson called for a damage report. He gritted his teeth. They had not expected anything like this. Not so soon. Nevertheless he had done his best. He could already see his radars were gone. Most displays were suddenly eerily empty. Two of them had a big error message on screen, causing a technician to swear. Apparently someone had forgotten to program the computers for this kind of situation. A quick check revealed one of their auxiliary navigation radars, not unlike the type commonly used by civilian ships, was still working. Unfortunately, it could only be used to look ahead, because of its position on the forward part of the superstructure. Several guidance radars, which were used by the ships armament were also still functioning. But that did help much, as without the main search radars, they wouldn't know there were any targets within range until far too late.

Minutes later, Michaelson had the full report. The good news was, there were no casualties and damage control parties were already beginning to get the fires in the superstructure under control. Also, the ships weapons were all still intact as well as some of their communication aerials. The bad news was, they were blind and a sitting duck in case Namitnef mounted a second air strike.
"Signal Yarubdarb and The Riverlands Supreme Command that we are retreating."
"Yessir."
Minutes later, someone tapped him on the arm.
"Yes, XO?"
"Captain, the guys from intelligence we're carrying are still picking up transmissions from Namitnef's main communications tower. Wasn't that one of our targets?"
"Yes it was. Damned, apparently we missed that one."
"Well, why don't we try again? We still have 8 cruise missiles left and if we need to turn back anyway..."
"You're right. Set everything up to fire 4 more cruise missiles at that target, just before we are out of range."
"Yessir, willdo."
"Thanks, XO."
He went back to writing his report. Someone had forgotten to mention Namitnef possessed anti-ship missiles. If Vanguard hadn't been so heavily armoured, they would have had a lot of casualties on their hands. De Laatte had to admit, Namitnef had planned ahead. Even though they didn't even have a coast, they did have anti-ship missiles. Good thinking...


HTRMS Killer Whale

Killer Whale's radar carefully scanned the sky before surfacing. De Laatte had everything set up for an emergency dive in case there were still Namitnef planes around. But there were none. They surfaced quickly and the hatch flew open, revealing De Laatte who immediately jumped to the edge of the sail, looking for survivors from Swordfish. Behind him, a few more crewmen came up, two of them both carrying a SAM launcher, just in case. But all they saw was a patch of black oil and some debris. Remarkably little remained from from the fight. De Laatte was just about to order everyone below when he heard one of the men yell.
"Over there!"
De Laatte ordered his Executive Officer to move the ship closer. But as they drew closer, they saw this was not a survivor from Swordfish, but a crew member, apparently from a plane Swordfish had shot down. De Laatte mentally complimented his fellow captain, then remembered a face he had known well and his face went grim.
"Stand by to pick him up. Maybe intelligence will get something useful out of him."
But as if the Namitnef officer had heard him, suddenly the man had a gun in his hand. He put it to his skull and pulled the trigger. Taken by surprise, they all stood and watched horrified as the man killed himself. The gunshot rang out over the open sea.
"Prepare to dive," De Laatte finally said, shaking his head. If all of Namitnef's soldiers were so fanatic, this could turn out to be a long war...


HTRMS Vanguard

One hour later, as Vanguard was making its way back accross the ocean it had crossed with so much speed just that morning, 4 lines of smoke shot straight into the sky before starting to move horizontally. Four final farewell gifts were on their way to Namitnef...

Twelve squadrons of Askari Attack Helicopters and a single squadron of Mistform Stealth Helicopters, each consisting of five helicopters, flew over the HTRMS Vanguard. What cargo space they would have had for soldiers was saved for a pair of manned turrets in the Askari, and the Mistforms had a Mist systems plugged in. The promised soldiers were close behind in various warships.
"Mistform Alpha One to Askari Alpha One, do you read, over?"
"I read, over."
"Are there any hostile contacts, over?"
"Checking, over."

OOC: Namitnef, were the Riverland ships pursued?

OOC: NO, the planes returned to base after damaging the Vanguard.

IC: The fires across the city had burned throughout the night, filling the sky with thick black smoke that hung in the sky above.

Emergency crews were still damping down at the airport and the ammo dump to the southwest.

There had been few civilian casualties due to the large numbers of public bomb shelters available, but the missiles hit the airport just as two civilian airliners were taking off towards the north of the country, and there were believed to be serious casualties there.

The emperor had not slept, he was too busy formulating all the horrible things he would do to Yrubdarb for this terrible act.

He barely noticed the screen light up once more, as the face of general Kail appeared.

"My liege, our pilots report sinking one submarine and damaging a battleship off the coast of Yrubdarb."

"Good, maybe the riverlands will realise how weak they are compared to the might of Namitnef!"

20 minutes later, as the emperor was preparing to talk to the nation, the air raid sirens wailed.

The main communications tower blew apart, and the Emperor was cut off mid-sentance.

The emperor grabbed the gun in his pocket and pointed it at the face of Kail on the screen (Which used a more secure communications link and was thus still running).

"KAIL! YOU'RE WORTHLESS!" he roared, and fired two shots. The screen blew apart into a thousand fragments.

he turned to his aide standing next to him.

"Tell the army to halt the quick execution of Yrubdarb prisoners and to bring them to Mirak Naar instead. Nothing makes the people happier than public executions..."

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

After the battle of Mount Grimwold, the army of Namitnef had advanced and formed a new front line roughly 10 miles within the eastern border of Yrubdarb.

Fighting in this area was almost constant, with small groups of Yrubdarb infantry mounting small scale counter attacks, trying to slow down the Namitnefians before the main Yrubdarb army arrived.

One such attack occured at the village of St. Alexander.

The houses near to the village (which lay about a mile and a half away) had been occupied by the Namitnef soldiers, and the the area had become a staging post for patrols out into Yrubdarb territory.

Corporal Dante was lying on his bunk in one of the smaller houses in the area. Most of the rest of his unit had been stationed in two large farmhouses on the other side of the road.

Ever since he had been caught up in the hand to hand fighting at Grimwold, he had been suffering nightmares whenever he slept, and this was no exception.

Just as he went to stab someone in the nightmare, he jolted awake.
The familiar and terrible sound of gunfire entered his conciousness.
Grabbing his rifle, he jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs, out of the front door and into the street...

Trough the streets of the capital of Yrubdarb a group consisting of 200 riders rode. People watched these soliders with curiosity for such people had never been seen before. They all were tall and strong. Their hair were either long or short. Many had a short beard. They had rifles at their backs and swords in their hilts. They also carried long spears and most of them had cloaks. Red and blue ones. Under the cloaks they had green uniforms. In the front the were two characteristic persons.

One was a tall woman with red hair. She had a royal blue cloak and no spear. She was Natalia. Daugther of the king and captain in the army. She had never been in combat but at the officerschool she had been the best.

The other were slightly shorter. A powerful built man who had an aura of might around him. He had a blood red cloak and two swords. He also had a wolfskin over his shoulders. He was sergeant Harald of the royal army. Maybe the most skilled and respected warrior in whole Eirikiania.

They quickly made their way trough the city. Heading for the govermentbuilding.
Natalia felt furious:"So we are meant to do civilianwork. Il tell their goverment what we want to do. Il show those people that Eirikians fights and nothing else."

There was a knock on the door of Semaj's house.

"Sir, some horsemen are here...?"

Semaj frowned. Horsemen? Oh yes...oops. Two very proud looking horsemen strode in through the door. Before they could speak, Semaj cut across them.

"I am sorry if I have offended you by assigning you to civil duties. I understand warriors such as yourselves are not used to such treatment. I was merely trying to keep you close so I could dispatch you when I needed you most.

As it is I have a new job for you. My minister is preapring a battle plan for you. For now, you have access to the city. I will contact you again shortly."

It was lunchtime in Yrubdarb. It was to be an afternoon no one would ever forget.

Semaj stood in front of the cameras, with most of his government gathered behind him. The Parliament building had become the centre of attention for every media source in the country.

Everyone in Yrubdarb had stopped working to gather around a television to hear their president.

The lights went up.

"10 seconds sir"

Semaj gathered his thoughts as the countdown timer behind the camera slowly took away the seconds.

"3...2...1...Live"

"People of Yrubdarb, I come before you today..."

Above the streets of Mirak Naar, the emperor was standing by the window of his throne room.

"Is the weapon ready?" he asked.

"Yes sir, we are just waiting for you to give the command to fire..." replied his aide.

"Fire."

Across the dark buildings of the city, the door on one of the missile silos opened menacingly. A single missile flew up into the sky and turned towards the west.

The emperor watched it go, a sadistic smile on his face...

The Yrubdarb Air Force was completing a regular patrol, brushing up against the Namitnef army to see if they could inflict damage without taking out Yrubdarb citizens. Again, they were unable to.

They were completing their run and turning for home when something flew past them so fast they couldn't see what it was. The most alarming thing was that the radar did not react.

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

Several radar towers throughout Yrubdarb shared the same experience. An incredibly fast black object flew overhead, but left no recognition on the radar. Even the anti-missile defenses did nothing as the object whizzed by.

However, one man did pick up the phone and dial his superior.

"Sir, we may have a situation here..."

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

In the street and houses of Yrubdarb, very few people payed any attention to it. They were too intent on watching their President's speech. The noise disturbed them, but most presumed it was just a plane going overhead. Nothing to worry about.

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

In the parliament building, Semaj was nearing the climax of his speech.

"...and so there will be losses, there will be tragedy, and there will be pain. But we must remember our cause; we must remember what will happen to us if we cave in. I will never allow Namitnefian policies to be enforced upon these lands, and I will never allow them to take our freedom. So we must remain strong, and..."

By the time they heard it, it was too late.

By the time the dust cleared, there was nothing left of the parliament building. The only images caught were by a Yrubdarb surveillance satellite overhead. It caught the missile plunging in to the building, and vapourising the nearby city around it.

As the dust settled there was silence. Not just around the city, but around Yrubdarb. Millions of people had just watched first hand their government being taken out for a brief second, before all the cameras had themselves been swallowed by the blast.

The most symbolic and powerful building in Yrubdarb was gone.

Harald moved trough the ruins. Searching for signs of survivors. Someone may had been extremly lucky and survived the attack. And if it where so, then he would find them.
He were glad he and his men had been in the harbour at the time the missile struck. They would have been dead if they had been here.

The other horsemen closed in. Good. He needed help. The Yurbdarb firemen did a great job but they did offcourse need help.

Emergency News Broadcast

“As we speak, emergency teams are searching through the rubble of the Yrubdarb capital, desperately searching for survivors. For the moment, Karab Locke, head of the MoD, has taken control of the country through emergency laws prepared for an incident such as this. Any member of the government who survived the blast has been gathered in an unnamed; secure location within the country to discuss further actions. We are expecting an official comment before tonight. We will bring you more as it comes.

In the meantime, emergency services are begging people to remain calm. In an interview, the chief of police has stated…”

Harald moved trough the ruins. Searching for signs of survivors. Someone may had been extremly lucky and survived the attack. And if it where so, then he would find them.
He were glad he and his men had been in the harbour at the time the missile struck. They would have been dead if they had been here.

The other horsemen closed in. Good. He needed help. The Yurbdarb firemen did a great job but they did offcourse need help.

The Eirikianian horsemen were there as the body of President Semaj was loaded into the back of an unmarked black van. As the dor closed, a secret serviceman turned to them.

"We would be grateful if you would keep his death to yourselves. It has been decided not to inform the general public at this point. Thank you."

With that he boarded the van and drove off.

As dusk fell over Mirak Naar, a messenger walked slowly into the emperors throne room.

"Sir, we have reports that the stealth missile attack on the Yrubdarb government building was a complete success. We also have reason to believe that president Semaj was killed in the blast."

"Good. That man tested my patience too many times. It's a shame that we only had one of those missiles... i would have liked to be certain that he was dead."

"We have also recieved reports that the Riverlands Armed forces are mobilising." the messenger continued.

"Really...?" The Emperor beckoned the messenger towards the throne.

The Emperor then pulled a pistol from his robes and shot the man twice in the face. As the body lay bleeding on the marble floor, the emperor whispered to it:

"I don't like to hear bad news...."

In the small village of St. Alexander, a battle was imminent. It was another small settling that held little more than strategic importance. And even that wasn't great.

The main reason for the defending of it was patriotism. For Yrubdarbs, St. Alexander was a man of great importance. He had been the leader of a passive resistance that had started the rebellion against the former monarchical government of Yrubdarb. Although a priests of Yrubdarb, he had believed in the freedom of the people. He had unfortunately been executed, but seeing the collapse of the church structure had given the people courage to stand up in revolution. And as a result, Yrubdarb now existed as the democracy it was today. A democracy that was threatened by the people of Namitnef. No. The village would not be allowed to fall. At least not easily.

Out of fierce patriotism, the people of the village had refused to leave the village. Their children had been transported out of the village into a nearby barracks, along with anyone else who was unable to fight. But everyone of average fitness and above had remained. Armed with anti-tank grenades, rifles, pistols and even knives, they were preparing to die for their Kingdom. Just as President Semaj probably had.

There had been no confirmation of his death yet, but the realistic members of society were just waiting for the word.

The St. Alexander regiment was preparing for action. The unit was 1000 men strong, backed up with 100 Challenger II tanks, and a varying supply of attack helicopters. They were spread throughout the local countryside and through the village.

They all sat, awaiting the advance of the Namitnefians. This time, the battle would not be as easy as Grimwold. This time, the Namitnefians would regret attacking Yrubdarb.

(OOC: For whom it may concern. There will be no major developments over the weekend. Namitnef and I want a few minor things to happen, but that is all. We will not be accepting anymore people into the war thread other then those who have already spoken to us, except under very special circumstances. If you want to post comments on the diplomatic thread, then please do so. But unwanted posts in this thread from now on will not be viewed kindly.)

Corporal Dante stood in the middle of the street.
The night before, they had entered an area of farmland to the east of St Alexander and occupied some of the houses that were located in the area.

The main part of the village was located about a mile and a half down the road, but it had been decided to ignore it thus far, as it was believed to be empty of enemy forces.

He had been jolted awake by the sound of gunfire and had ran out of the house into the street. Now he found himself in the middle of a firefight. The situation was confused, but it appeared that their base was being counter attacked by Yrubdarb forces. To his left up the hill there was a group of Yrubdarb soldiers (backed up by tanks) firing into the large farmhouses where the bulk of the Namitnef units had been stationed.

Until that point, there were not believed to be any enemy in the area, so it was not known where they had come from.

Then they remembered the village up the road...

Chaos rained as Namitnef soldiers desperately tried to rejoin their units and mount an effective defence. A Radio message was sent to the Supply base that had been set up a few miles away, calling for reinforcements.

"This is the 2nd infantry regiment to the east of St Alexander. We have come under sustained attack by enemy forces, probably based in the village itself. We require assistance!"

"Recieved and understood. A unit of Reaper heavy tanks is being diverted to the area. Hold out until they get there. Once the counter attack has been beaten off, your orders are to advance into the village and destroy all enemy forces present"

"Roger that."

What happened next was very strange.
All of a sudden, the Yrubdarb soldiers disengaged and started to withdraw west, towards the village.

The Namitnef soldiers, who had been expecting to fight off a determined attack, did not understand what was going on.

They knew however, that their orders were to now take the village, so they waited for the reinforcements to arrive.
The ground started to shake and vibrate, and a great cheer was suddenly given out by the Namitnef soldiers when they saw what was coming to their aid.

Slowly coming into view were the 'Reaper' heavy tanks. These 110 tonne monsters were the pride of the Namitnef army, and were so rare that each one was regarded as a holy relic, and had its own seperate chapel within the Grand temple of Namitnef.
Ten of them came rumbling to their assistance now, more than had ever been seen in one place before.

The high command obviously thought that this village was much more important than originally believed.

Slowly, the great force that had by now gathered at the bottom of the hill began the advance on St. Alexander...

On the hill, the Yrubdarb soldiers saw the massive Namitnef tanks rolling into the town.

"all right lads, time for some action!"

Within a moment, two Yrubdarb Apaches flew over the crest of the hill and towrds the Namitnef tanks. One was greeted with a reply from a mobile SAM unti, and spiralled off into a building. But the other one got away two rockets, and removed a tank from the face of the planet. The battle had begun.

The Helicopter pulled out and flew away. Instantly, people were leaping out of the houses around the Namitnef troops and firing. They took out some troops, but many were killed by shells from the Reapers.

Get the men out of there! A voice yelled through the radio.

The command was relayed, and the Yrubdarbs disappeared as effortlessly as they had appeared.

Suddenly, 5 of the Yrubdarb Challengers tore through the buildings around the Namitnef tanks. They exchanged several rounds of fire, reducing the village centre to dust. Unfortunately the superior armour of the Namitnef tanks held true, leaving all but one of them shaken, but not out of action. Three of the Yrubdarb tanks were vapourised, leaving two in the process of pulling out very quickly. Only one successfully made it out of sight.

"Ok, this is going to be tough"

Corporal Dante (2nd Namitnef infantry regiment) was in awe of what he was seeing.

He had heard of the legendary capabilities of the Reaper tanks, but he had never truly believed the stories.. Now he thought that the stories were not legendary ENOUGH...

The tanks carved their way through all opposition, taking barely a scratch in return. Only two had been lost so far, in return for tens of Yrubdarb tanks and hundreds of soldiers.

The terrible machines rolled across the countryside, each one the size of a house. He was standing close to one, called the "Harbinger", when it fired its main gun, and the blast nearly threw him off his feet. He was deaf for a few moments, but he barely noticed. Fires and explosions tore through the village, and the sky was filled with thick black smoke, turning day into night.

Nevertherless, the courage of the Yrubdarb soldiers was commendable, verging on the insane: They defended every possible position with their very lives, still firing their weapons even when mortally wounded.

A lot of people were going to die before the battle was over.

Still the Namitnef tanks were coming forward. They had heard of the Reapers in Yrubdarb of course, but because of the weight of them no one had taken them too seriously. They were taking them very seriously now.

About half the village had been lost. This was not too much of a worry though; most of their surprises were spread around the surrounding countryside.

Another Yrubdarb helicopter came zooming in from overhead. Without pausinf for breath, it unleashed a lethal volley of missiles at a Namitnef tank. Although all of the tank was technically still there, it was spread over a fair radius. On its way out of the battlefield, the heicopter unleashed its chain guns on a building held by Namitnefians. Corpses tumbled out of the windows, leaving the impression that the building itself was bleeding.

Despite the joy of the demise of A Namitnef tank, the yrubdarb troops were distressed to see anothe two of their challengers being vapourised by the Reapers. They were also disheartened to see 5 of their men being marched off the battlefield under a Namitnef guard. It appeared an ambush had failed.

Corporal Jim 'Razer' Blade had been leading half-a-dozen men pre[aring an ambush when it had all gone wrong. A Namitnef tank had come through the wall in fron of them, whilst soldiers came in behind. One of his men had been shot immediately to get their attention, but the rest had surrendered. Now they were being led away under escort.

They reached a Namitnef transport helicopter. The pilot looked at them and sneered.

"your all off to see the emperor. He wants you for personal amusement".

The man to the right of Jim piped up,

"Yeh? I thought you scum just shot Prisoners?!"

The pilot looked at him blankly.

"Fine" he pulled a gun and tore the man in two with a cartridge worth of fire. Whilst he reloaded he looked at Jim

"Anyone else want to save me fuel?"

The remaining four stayed quiet. If they cusrvived long enough there might be a chance to escape. There was always hope.

"Good" said the pilot. The men were loaded on, and took off for Namitnef.

(OOC: Namitnef, if you wana take them into your country and drop them, then I will sort the rest.)

In the early morning hours, the President is being escorted by his staff to the war room in the Defense Ministry Command Center(DMCC) to discuss the matter of sending relief troops to help Yrubdarb in its war.

President Victor Gramal walks fast towards his chair and sits down. "Gentlemen. As you all know, we have been asked by the Yrubdarb government to help in escort purposes in their war. Their enemies have moved straight through their nation nearly unchallenged. I want to hear some insight before I give the go."

"Mr. President," Victor's Chief of Staff Gray Hurnbald begins to speak," I believe that if we send our forces into the region and ourselves into a war that this nation cannot fight without sending the entire North Pacific region into it then we should stay put. But I believe that our ally needs help. It's up to you."


"Alex," Victor turns to his top advisor Alex Drabb, "What do you think?"

Drabb brings her hands to the table top,"Mr. President I believe we shuld help. Namitef is a strong country though. We have only 15% of our nation in our armed forces. Imagine how much they have. But with our forces in our bases in passive/defensive stances then it would take approximately 2 weeks to gear up and go. Our Navy would take longer especially our carriers being they are on the other side of the nation being repaired. If we decide to send them in the we must decide quickly and quietly. Namitef must not be expecting our raid but we must be heard. I suggest mobilize the military now and put the Nuclear Armed Forces(NAF) on stand-by if it comes to that."

The President gets out of his chair and walks towards the screen showing the battle takign place in St. Alexander. "I.....Gram what do you think?"

Gram Zabar, Victor's Defense Advisor and Minister of War looks at the president," I believe we should help. But to some extent. Sned the Navy and Air Force. Leave the army on stand-by and brign the DEFCON level to 3. Leave it at that. When the armada reaches Namitef borders hodl them there to make ourselves known. Wait for one hour. Then see what happens."

The President turns back to the screen. "Set the DEFCON level to 3, mobilize the armada and group them in blockade fashion at the Namitef border. Send the Airforce to the carriers and put the army on stand-by status. Send communications to Yrubdarb, tell them that we are coming. Put the NAF on alert status." President Gramal turns to his staff,"May God save us, for only the dead see the end of war, let us hope it never comes to that."


Satellite uplink confirmed.........All Gramal forces mobilized...DEFCON 3 status acquired.....Uplink to Yrubdarb Ministry of Defense activated:


Message from the Republican President of the Armed Republic of Gramal....Yrubdarb, our armed forces are being sent to you now. From this point it wil take a week to mobilize our forces to your location. The North Pacific is a distance from you and it will take time for us to get there. Hold for one week and one week only. Our Armada will arrive one week from this transmission. NAF is on stand-by and our army is as well. Hold out....for we are coming....

End transmission...................


OOC: Namitef I have been invited by Yrubdarb to provide assistance.

Muktar forces were devoted to bringing down Namitnef before the revolution. Most of Muktar's previous ties were neautralized, and this war was no exception. Muktar has mercenariesfor hire (http://s4.invisionfree.com/The_Unforgiven_Board/index.php?showtopic=144), but, due to previous allegence, Yrubdarb will recieve the first opportunity for employ.

Th helicopter containing the prisoners crossed over the border at the murget river, and flew on into Namitnef.

None of the prisoners had ever entered this country that was now trying to destroy them, before. They all stared out of the windows at the alien landscape spread out below them.

The sky was always grey: it looked like the sun had never shined within this dark country.

Not a tree was to be seen. Instead, the landscape was covered with grey ash for as far as the eye could see, punctuated by a road snaking across the landscape here and there, and the occasional military base, recognisable by the hundreds of trucks and tanks stationed around it. Vast mounds of slag and shattered rock rose above the surrounding plain, and enormous factories could be seen, pumping toxic fumes into the air.

After several hours, they saw something that took away their breath and filled their hearts with fear.

Ahead of them was Mirak Naar, 'the cursed city'. It was unlike any city any of them had ever seen before. A spiked iron wall, 400 feet high, ran around the perimeter of the city in a huge circle, punctuated by 4 giant gates (North, South, East and West). Within this stood towering skyscrapers of dark glass and metal.

In the centre of the city stood the emperors palace. - a vast spike of black metal, 2000 feet high.

The helicopter landed at the airport. The Yrubdarb prisoners could still see the damage that had been done by the missiles of their allies a few days earlier, and they smiled (as best they could given the circumstances) at the thought.

The guards grabbed them and marched them across the airport. As the prisoners walked under a giant arch, they read the writing on it:

"Mirak Naar central detention centre."

Underneath was some smaller writing:

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

Mean while in St. Alexander...

Three of the Reaper tanks had been lost so far... a big blow to the Namitnef army, as they were so difficult to construct.

That did, however, leave seven of them still functioning, and they were taking their revenge for their lost comrades.

Inside the "Revenge" the crew of 5 (Commander, main gunner, driver and two seconday gunners) were going through the routines that they trained so hard at. The commander found a target in the form of a challenger tank that was moving around the side of the church.

"Fire!" he yelled to the gunner, who swivelled the giant turret around and pressed the trigger.

The shell smacked into the side of the Yrubdarb tank with such force that it peeled open like a sardine can, before exploding in a fireball.

"Scratch one Yrubdarb tank!" yelled the commander to the rest of the crew, who cheered.

Meanwhile, the secondary gunners were firing their two gatling guns (one mounted in a turret on either side of the tank) at anything that moved. A truck full of Yrubdarb soldiers made a wrong turn and came within range.

The right-hand gunner pulled the trigger, and the truck seemed to evapourate into a fine red mist, as thousands of bullets hit it within the space of a fraction of a second.

The tanks engine roared and it slowly moved forwards in search of more Yrubdarb targets.

Overhead, the sound of helicopters filled the air. The Naminefians feared that more Yrubdarb Apaches were on their way.
Instead, six Namitnef "Raven" helicopter gunships flew overhead, and started to pound the Yrubdarb soldiers with missiles.

Corporal Dante advanced slowly down the street with the rest of his unit. The door to one of the houses on the left opened, and a heavy machine gun opened fire on them. One Namitnef soldier had his head blown off almost instantly, while another was shot in the chest.

In return, the whole platoon fired at the house.

The machine gun fell silent, and blood started to run out of the open doorway and into the street.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world............
"Damnit! How many can we send?" President Gramal was still in his robe as he walked to his command center war room embedded in the national capital. "With our forces still on stand-by only 10 regiments of our army, 4 carriers, and 5 cruisers are availabe." Alex Drabb was still awake after what was decided last night. "What about our subs? How many can we send?"President Gramal knew that their submarines where best used in warfare especially their new SeaWolf class. "At least 3 being that all but those are in dry dock for repairs." Alex jumbled through her papers.

"So you're telling me that we can only send 5% of the nation to war?" Victor stopped and looked at Alex.

"Yes Mr. President I am." Alex stopped and looked down at her feet.

"What about the draft?" Gram, Victor's Minister of War was still up and did not seem a bit tired.

"That is out of the question. The draft hasn't been used in over 20 years and the 85th amendment to our Constituion says that it is only used in extreme cases." the President was close enough that he coud smell the Whsikey on Gram's breath.

Victor sat down,"So, now that we're knee deep in this what's the size of our force being sent?"

"2 carriers are on their way with 2 more coming once they navigate the Straight of Gramal. 5 AEGIS Class Cruisers have been sent and are within 4 days of Namitef borders. Our army is still mobilizing and with most of the needed here only 10 regiments, that's 10,000 men for you who aren't military, can only be sent. Mr. President, I believe our force may be too small. Ask the NPA(North Pacific Army) for help."

"NO! Damnit, no! The NPA must not get involved without extreme circumstances." Victor jumped to his feet and stood staring at his staff.

"Mr. President," Thomas Homer, Victor's NPA liason begins to speak, "the NPA will respond but only at least the nation of Magilicality may help but if our UN delegate gets involved then that means the UN is involved. Ask Magicality for help and then Wilkshire(our delegate) and see what happens. But in the meantime stay your course. Send the regiments and all."

Gramal got up and walked to the battle screen still taking place in St. Alexander. It had been a full day and Namitef was pushing forward with their most powerful weapons. "The Air Force.....what about it? How long is our bombing range on our Rapier B-182's?" Victor turns to his Air Force Cheif of Staff. "Mr. President, those planes are still under wraps. Even the UN doesn't know we have them. Those things can unleash 2500 lb. bombs on targets as small as a mailbox."

"I know that Howard," he stares hardly at him," But can they get the job done and buy our allies more time?"

Howard Teller sits quiet. "They have a range that can stretch from here to St. Alexander in 5 hours. Mirak Naar can be hit in the same time. But it's their defenses. I don't know if our stealths can penetrate so far inside Namitef's borders without being shot down. But we'll try."

"Good." The President walks to the red phone that gives a direct line to the government's top secret air base Yuri-57. "Colonel William? This is the President. You boys willing for a bombing mission?"



Satellite uplink confirmed.........Gramal bomber ETA 05:00 hours and counting........Uplink to Yrubdarb Ministryu of Defense Established........


Yrubdarb.....We are beginning our advance onto Namitef. We only havea a small force but with their army on the other side of the nation fighting we may be able to catch them by surprise. Our prototype B-182 Rapier Bombers are en route to Mirak Naar for a high altitude bombing mission. Hold our for a bit longer................

Transmission Ended...............Satellite Uplink Terminated.

(OOC) Gramal:
Firstly,I have consulted Yrubdarb, and he has said that he has not yet given you permission to get involved in this conflict (and this thread is, at this point, reserved for those that have asked for permission and have been accepted. To ask if you can get involved or not, you should post on the diplomacy thread instead), so up to this point, all of your previous posts about moving against Naminef are being ignored. (It is possible that he may ask for your assistance at a later date, but this has not yet happened).

Secondly: This thread is meant to be as realistic as possible, so it should be noted that it would be impossible to fly half way around the world in the five hours that you claim, especially if you are using stealth technology. (To date, there is no stealth plane that even exceeds the speed of sound as the B2 stealth bomber only has a maximum flying speed of 525 knots).

Namitnef

OOC: Ok, I hate having to do this in the middle of a thread, but obviously we have a situation here.

Gramal, I have double checked the correspondance between us, and all I have said to you is to provide escort for the Riverlands ships in case the Namitnef air force attacks. As it is, this has not happened.

You seem like a smart guy, so I dont want to patronise you. But we made it very clear that this thread is to be carefully controlled. For IC reasons, we are not bombing Namitnef too heavily, because we fear the retaliations.

I have checked with some older nations I know, and it is a general NS rule that you do not have more then 5% in armed services. So please sort this. You would also not have all of these out at once, as transport would be impossible.

In conclusion, Im afraid your military action so far Gramal will be ignored. If you are so disgusted by this you want nothing more to do with us, then I will be sorry to end relations like that, but so be it. If I'm honest, we are unlikely to take anyone else into this thread, but you never know your luck. So stick around in the diplomacy thread if you want, and maybe when the battle turns I'll let you invade Namitnef. But otherwise, I am afraid your military has no place in this battle.

OOC:

Ok first being that I offered my services for help and secondly where the hell do you get your info huh? I know the rules, I've read them and also who are you, a West Pacific Region, to be telling me what my regions rules are and what they will be? First off, I have only 4% of my country as armed forces you dumbass. Secondly I am only sending them on a retaliation strike against Namitef because of the attacks of the Riverland attack group. In other words I'm using my services as an escort to defend the ones I am bound to escort. Read the rules of engagement during escort warfare based on the WW2 Era. They strike, you strike, they retaliate, you retaliate. Get it? So look....back off or I'll get NPA (North Pacific Army) permission as well as UN Delegate permission to strike Namitef due to you being overwhelmed. So either use me or don't. But that's your choice. I am a North Pacific region so if you want me out of the war take it up with my delegate. Otherwise enjoy the small support im sending you being I'm only sending 3 bombers. OK?

OOC:

Ok first being that I offered my services for help and secondly where the hell do you get your info huh? I know the rules, I've read them and also who are you, a West Pacific Region, to be telling me what my regions rules are and what they will be? First off, I have only 4% of my country as armed forces you dumbass. Secondly I am only sending them on a retaliation strike against Namitef because of the attacks of the Riverland attack group. In other words I'm using my services as an escort to defend the ones I am bound to escort. Read the rules of engagement during escort warfare based on the WW2 Era. They strike, you strike, they retaliate, you retaliate. Get it? So look....back off or I'll get NPA (North Pacific Army) permission as well as UN Delegate permission to strike Namitef due to you being overwhelmed. So either use me or don't. But that's your choice. I am a North Pacific region so if you want me out of the war take it up with my delegate. Otherwise enjoy the small support im sending you being I'm only sending 3 bombers. OK?

OOC: Ok, calm down. Firstly, you have stated twice in TGs to me that your armed forces are more then that. If you have now changed that then good, but you have changed your story so dont accuse me of anything. Secondly, I am not West Pacific, what the hell are you talking about? Thirdly, you are claiming to know a lot of the rules for such a young nation. I dont have to take it up with a delegate. If I want to ignore you within my own thread i can! Thats what I.G.N.O.R.E cannons are for. If you have read the rules then you should know all about these. Fourthly, I am not telling you what your regions rules are, I am telling you what my regions rules are. And as that is where the war is, like it or lump it. There is no compromise. Finally, taking it up with the NPA will make no difference whatsoever. If I choose to ignore the whole lot of you I am within my right to do so, it is my thread. Getting their permission to bomb will simply result in me ignoring you and the discrediting of your entire region for taking part in Godmoding. Its your choice.

Calming it down a bit, if you wish to send the bombers then they will be accepted into a Yrubdarb airbase for now, and will be allowed into the attack when we say. Escort for Riverlands meant if the navy is attacked by air force again then you will defend. Not simply commence bombing Namitnef. I believe Riverlands agrees to this (?).

Razor and the three surviving members of his group looked at the sign above the doorway. Abandon hope. They already had.

Walking in to the detention centre, the air physically chilled around them. There were many people in there, trapped inside huge metal cells with spikes petruding out of the walls to prevent attempted escape. Many of the people were looking very thin and sick, perhaps fomr a lack of sunlight, but probably from a lack of food.

The three of them were thrown into a cell.

"You'll be pulled out in the morning. Enjoy."

The door slammed behind them.

"What do we do Razor?"

"Pray guys. We pray"

OOC: skipping a bit of time here. That last post should have been done last night.

IC:

Razor and the three men were woken at mid-morning by a kick in the ribs. The guard simply gestured for them to walk out the door, and so they did.

Out in the street, there was a huge crowd of Namitnefians. They threw rubbish and decomposing food at the Yrubdarb soldiers as they walked past. Razor looked around, trying to avoid the rubbish. He was one of about ten men, all of whom looked very worried as they were led towards the centre of the city.

Razor reached into the front of his shirt and pulled out his dragon pendant; the symbol of the God Yrubdarb. He clasped it hard in his hand and prayed.

Please merciful God, help us get through this

One of the Namitnef soldiers saw him and laughed.

"Your in the domain of Namitnef now. Your pitiful God cannot help you here."

The soldiers were led towards a huge mound. On top stood the Namitnef Emperor. He was preaching at the crowd. The Yrubdarb soldiers chose not to listen to his propoganda. As they climbed the mound, he turned and sat in his throne.

They were lined up facing the crowd. The crowd were yelling abuse at them and jeering. Razor felt movement behind him, and the crowd let out a huge cheer. Razor did not have time to look around.

The air was torn by ten bullets fired simultaneously, each hitting one of the Yrubdarb soldiers directly in the back of the head.

They knew no pain, they didn't even know any humility.

They simply knew death.

The bodies of the prisoners tumbled forwards, down the mound towards the waiting crowd at the bottom.

The crowd roared, releasing the pent up rage that had accumulated since the city had been bombed. The bodies were grabbed and paraded through the surrounding streets.

The emperor watched the scene below him, a strange smile on his lips.
He then turned to his advisors standing on either side of him.

"See, I told you an execution would lift the peoples spirits!"

Karab had received some bad news. The Yrubdarb troops had been forced out of ST.Alexander. Although they were making a good job of defending the countryside.

"The blow to our people will be phenominal if the Namitnefians are shown to possess St.Alexander." Karab was advised.

"I know" he replied. He picked up the file and flicked through it. There was some interesting information in there. "Is plan Omega still plausible?"

The advisors looked worried. "The UN does not look kindly on that sort of thing"

"The UN?! Where are the UN now when we need them. Hey? Sod the UN. This is a solution to our problem, and I am not afraid to do it." Not stopping for a moment, Karab turned and faced the screen behind him. The screen flickered in to life, and General Otalp of the Air \Force was there.

"General, prepare for plan Omega to be acted on ST.Alexander. Get the men out of there."

The eirikians had set up their camp outside the capital. They liked sleeping in the open. Most of them relaxed. The Yurbdarb leaders had not yet made a plan who included them and they felt it was no need to hurry. They had plenty of time.

Natalia was the only one who didnt relaxe. All the others had fought before and therefore deserved their colors. Red for killing at least five enemys. Blue for bravery. Green for stamina. White for honour. And many more. Harald had all the colours but used the red one mostly. Natalia had a royal blue to show she was royal. She wanted to fight and prove her skills. But all she could do was to wait for the signal.

The Namitnef soldiers in St Alexander noticed that something was wrong.

The Yrubdarb forces seemed to have just pulled out instantly and dissappeared. Experience had taught the Namitnef soldiers that this was not normal - the fight up until that point had been very hard, so it didn't make sense that the enemy should just give up and leave so easily.

A few of the more experienced soldiers realised what was about to happen, and told the troops standing around them to run as fast as they could out of the village.

A general retreat was sounded as the colonel in charge of the attack also realised what was going to happen.

The seven remaining reapers started to roll out of the village, but one of them was damaged and was moving very slowly. About 30 troops were trapped in the middle of the village, unable to retreat because rubble from the destroyed buildings blocked their path.

A few minutes later, the whine of a jet plane filled the air. As it passed over head, a single cylindrical object fell from it, and a small parachute opened. It drifted slowly towards the ground, and when it was about level with the top of the church tower, it detonated.

The village was obliterated, as the fuel-air bomb exploded. White hot flames spread out from the middle of the village, incinerating anything close. The troops stuck in the village centre were vapourised instantly, while the blast tossed the 110 tonne reaper tank onto its side like it was a childs toy.

Most of the Namitnef force had just escaped the blast, and they turned around to face the village.

St Alexander was no more.

The pilot of the Eagle wacthed on his screen as the firebomb exploded, vapourising the village of St.Alexander.

With a tear in his eye he turned the plane, and headed back towards home.

OOC: Yrubdarb I apologize and so I will do as I was told. Also I apologize for my crude and also uncalled for remarks.

The B-182's were in route and only 2 hours from the Namitef border. The radio blared just before they hit the line," All bombers move to Sector 9-248 Zulu."

"Damnit! Theyre sending us to Yrubdarb airspace. Hold on boys we have to fly past St. Alexander."


Colonel William Hurd was the lead pilot. The newly built B-182's were flyind at Mach 2 at high altitude.

"Warning! Warning!" blares the alarm inside of his helmet. "Alright boys drop to 500 ft." As the three planes dropped a large blinding light was seen. As they got closer they saw what had happened. "Sweet mother of God!" Colonel Hurd saw a Yrubdarb plane drop a firebomb on its own city.



Two hours later the B-182's arrived at the Yrubdarb airbase deep within the nation itself. They taxied down the runway and after 10 minutes of wait and being manuvered, they were finally stopped near a hanger. Colonel Hurd stepped out of the plane and looked toward St. Alexander. All he could see was smoke rising and flashing in the distance.


"Colonel Hurd? I'll escort you and your men to my commanding officer."

The corporal looked at the Gramalians and was amazed, for he has never seen anyone outside the region.

As they walk to the command center, Hurd wonders what they are needed for. Their breifing was so little that they knew something was wrong. Their mission was a quiet one, but not quiet enough so that they must fly around the world to fight in a war in a strange and foreign nation.


Meanwhile...............

"All stop. Hold your position here and await communications from the Riverlands' attack force." Admiral Howard Thomas was a little concerned not being aloud to do his job that his men have been trained on for years. But disobeying the President's orders means execution at the Tower of Dixon. And no man want's that. His carrier fleet of 4 were waiting patiently, but how long woudl they have to wait for the Riverlands' to respond?

Near a port town of Yrubdarb, 5 Gramal Cruisers move to protect the harbor so as to give a safe haven for the Riverlands' forces. "All stop. Guns at defensive tilt." Commander Harold Yard gives his orders and the cruisers surround the port with awe from onlookers of the town. "So, this is what our President wants us to do? Guard a harbor? What else Commander?"

Yard walks to Lt. Frat and looks out the view window, "There's no telling Frat, there's just no telling."

Yrubdarb

With full afterburners the planes took off. First 50 F-12A fighters, then 25 F-12C strike fighters, then another 3 planes that looked like the F-12C's in most respects except for the fact that they had 2 extra antennas, an equipment pod underneath and each carried 4 bright-red missiles under their fuselage. They belonged to the 53rd Tactical Strike Squadron, also known as the Grey Bats, that was specialized in taking out enemy air-defense radars. They would pave the way for a strike consisting of 25 B-7 bombers. For such a limited mission objective, this was a rather large force, but they had wanted to take no risk.
The fighters flew air cover, while the strike fighters used their terrain following radar, flying so low they sometimes barely avoided hitting trees. The pilots didn't even notice, they had trained long and hard for this.
They avoided known Namitnef troop concentrations as much as possible and on the occasions that they did fly accross Namitnef positions they were upon them before they knew what happened, then gone before they had a chance to react. Flight Leader Jake Abrahmsen smiled. His weapons officer didn't, as he was far too busy watching all his screens. Abrahmsen didn't have to do anything but watch the ground fly by and make sure the computers didn't make a mistake. As if he would have time to react if they did...
While they were flying to their targets, the B-7's took off, escorted by another 50 F-12A fighters and 2 planes belonging to 53rd TSS. Again, the fighters flew high while the bombers hugged the terrain. This time, the Grey Bats flew ahead of the bombers, and attacked 2 air-defense radars that had been located by the initial flight. Apparently, Namitnef had not expected them to do the same thing twice as they had not bothered to relocate them. A fatal mistake. Both planes fired one Medium Range Anti Radar Missile, both resulting in the destruction of a fire control radar. But they didn't stop. They flew at high speed, faster than the initial flight, so they would arrive at the airfields just a little later than them.
After crossing the Namitnef border, they found the Namitnef Air Force waiting for them and the fighters peeled off to intercept them before they could attack the strike aircraft. With their targets nearby, the F-12C's simply engaged their afterburners, split up in three groups and went straight for their targets. Immediately they were acquired by several radars. Another fatal mistake. They simply circled around, while the specialists took out those radars and then proceeded to their targets, this time without opposition. On the runway, one plane was just taking off as they attacked. It was shot to pieces by the 250 mm cannon of the first plane to spot it. The F-12C's destroyed a number of planes in their shelters, as well as the control towers and the now-useless SAM's. One of them hit an ammunitions bunker and was hit by debris from the resulting explosion. It's pilot tried to retain control, but then he and his weapons officer were forced to eject. They landed safely while their plane crashed just a few hundred metres away, but the mood of their fellow aviators immediately soured. There was no way in hell that they were walking out of there.
Finally, the F-12c's joined the F-12A's which were still twisting and turning to get a shot at the Namitnef fighters. Now greatly outnumbered, it didn't take long for the Namitnef planes to be dealt with.
Just as the last Namitnef plane was taken care of, the B-7's arrived. They quickly gained a little altitude, while their Weapons officers punched in the codes that opened the bomb bay doors. They unloaded a few tons of small bombs, some of which exploded on impact, while others simply hit the ground, rolled over a few times and then came to a stop. They were especially designed to take care of runways. Aside from the damage, the delayed-fuse bombs would make it difficult for Namitnef to make the runways operational again, as each one would have to be defused by qualified personnell. This would take time... Time which could be used to turn the tide of war...
Meanwhile, Namitnef fighters from other airfields moved in, eager to get a chance to take out a bomber or two. But the mission had already been completed. The planes turned around, with fighters up front and fighters taking up the rear to make sure they all got back safely. As they did so, one Namitnef soldier targeted one of the bombers with a shoulder-fired SAM. The plane took a hit, but even with 2 of its engines disabled, it was able to fly. Escorted by 5 fighters, it peeled off from the rest of the flight as it would not be able to keep up. They would have to get home separately.
Flight Lader Abrahmsen was satisfied. They'd lost a couple of fighters, but this had been expected. They lost one strike fighter, due an error in judgement from its Weapons Officer, which was the only thing he really regretted. That had been an avoidable mistake. He forced himself to keep his head cool about the deaths of his fellow aviators, but this was something he could get really mad about. What kind of idiot took a risk like that?
The planes flew back to the bases on the Yrubdarb coast in complete silence, taking a different route than they had flown earlier. Takin the same route twice had been a gamble, taking it a third time would have been stupid...

The dust began to settle at the three forward airbases that had been struck. 29 planes had been destroyed, and all of the bases had been put out of action (for the foreseeable future anyway) by the Riverland bombs.

The attack had not been bloodless for the riverlanders either. 11 wrecked enemy planes were spread out over the surrounding countryside, and the pilots that had been 'lucky' enough to escape from their burning planes were being rounded up and shot.

At Morton airbase the alarms wailed, telling the pilots to scramble to their planes. As they strapped into their harnesses the radios inside their helmets started to relay their mission objectives:

"You are to intercept a flight of planes consisting of a number of escort fighters and one damaged bomber that attacked Furfield airbase a few minutes ago, and are reported to be returning over the Black Spire mountains into Yrubdarb. We believe they can be found at the following co-ordinates..."

The squadron of F31 'Diablo' fighter planes took off into the afternoon sky in search of their prey.

The Riverlands planes were found just as the crossed the border. Although the Namitnef planes had been detected on the Riverlands' radar, they did not have time to react before the Namitnef fighters screamed over the mountain tops and unleashed a barrage of missiles. Two smacked into the bomber, blowing one of its wings off and sending it spinning into a field in a huge ball of flame. Two of the escorts were also hit. One had its tail removed and it blew apart, showering the landscape with burning aviation fuel. The other was hit just behind the cockpit and was engulfed in flames before it flew into the side of a mountain.

Breaking formation and firing flares, the Riverland planes flew around and engaged the Namitnef fighters with cannon fire. The engagement became a close dogfight, and a Namitnef plane was shot down.

Finally, just as things looked uncertain for the Namitnef pilots, the Riverlands squadron leader exploded as cannon fire penetrated his fuel tank, and the Riverland aircraft turned and flew back into Yrubdarb.

Having no ammunition left, the Namitnef planes also turned for home with their desire for revenge satisfied.

The early morning sun glinted off of the side of the Namitnef tanks.
A vast column of trucks and tanks slowly moved down the road, towards the city that could be seen in the distance. Jet planes and helicopters flew low overhead, the missiles that they carried easily visible.

The Namitnef high command had decided that the army's next target would be the Major Yrubdarb city of Tolnedra. To this end they had commited a large portion of the Namitnef army: 300,000 men.

The city in the distance looked peaceful. The people did not know the horror that was slowly advancing on them with every passing minute.

A man burst in on Karab's breakfast.

"Its happened, the Namitnefians are moving towards Tolnedra. A large part of their army; must be a couple of hundred thousand men."

Karab wiped his mouth and stood up slowly, brushing the toast crumbs off his front. He folded up the napkin in his lap and placed it on the table.

"Gather me the military high command. By God, we are going to win this one!"

"Right away Mr.Locke" the advisor tore out of the room, leaving Karab on his own.

Tolnedra. Makes sense I suppose. Pity, its a nice city. He sighed.

Come on then. Places to go, people to see...

The Yrubdarb troops in Tolnedra were moving fast into position. They had received a warning that they were a likely target when war had first broken out, and now it was real. The people of the city had also known the truth of how likely an attack was, and so they were being very cooperative.

The centre of Tolnedra was very heavily fortified. It was shut off from the rest of the world by a giant concrete wall. Inside the wall, the city was basically a maze of bunkers. It was designed to be attacked and survive.

The people had been evacuated into it an hour ago. Soldiers and citizens wishing to fight now only populated the outer part of the city. Scattered around the city were tank divisions, and a few helicopters. The Yrubdarb army planned to make the most of what was probably its only advantage; its knowledge of the city. If they could hold the Namitnefians back until reinforcements arrived, then all would be ok. They hoped.

The troops were now in their positions around the city. High up on the rooftops, there were snipers and men with rocket launchers. In the sewers were Special Forces, waiting to attack the Namitnefians from behind. Random buildings held scattered companies; roadblocks were now guarded by tanks rather than the everyday police patrol cars, and helipads within the secure zone were loading up attack helicopters.

Like a coiled viper, the city of Tolnedra awaited the oncoming Namitnef troops with anticipation and fear.

The huge Namitnef army halted just out of range of the cities defenders, and vast artillery pieces were hauled to the front of the Namitnef positions.

There followed a tense hour as both sides prepared for the coming battle.

This brief respite for the defenders was violently shattered as every siege gun in the entire Namitnef force opened fire at once - thousands of shells flew through the air and exploded in the city, filling the sky with dark smoke as buildings caught fire and the ammunition that had been hoarded within the city ignited, leveling whole blocks.

The Namitnef high command intended for this bombardment to last at least 5 days. If the Yrubdarb defenders hadn't surrendered by then, the army would assault the city...

The ARC (Armed Republic Carrier) Tadona watched as the Riverlands' aircraft was shot down by Namitef fighters. The fighter squadron that Namitef had sent had done their job and the Admiral had been observing from the OCC (Operations Command Center) within his ship's bowels.

"Get me the President." he commanded.

0400 hours Gramal time.................

"Mr. President." a secret service anget burst through the bedroom door of the capital building. The President shot up next to his wife,"What?! What is it?!"

"Admiral Turan of the carrier fleet has asked an audience via satellite."

The President shot up and dressed quickly. Ten minutes later, Victor was in the war room of the Defense Ministry.

"Turan! What's your status?" The man on the screen looked like he needed sleep.

"Mr. President, a Namitef squadron shot down Riverlands' aircraft over the Yrubdarb mountain region. I need clearance from you and also the Yrubdarb government to enter Namitef airspace to pursue the ones who did this."

Victor Gramal paced towards the screen, "Turan are you telling me that Namitef forces have exited their airspace then reentered after destroying Riverlands aircraft?"

"Yes sir, I am." Admiral Turan hoped that the President would give him reinforcements.

"Turan, I will contact you within a matter of hours on what the decision is." He turned and paced to his seat at the table.

"But sir, if we do not respond now then the Namitef aircraft will be lost from our satellite images and nothing can be done!" Admiral Turan was on his feet and starign straight at the view screen in rage.

"Those are your orders admiral! Follow them or consider yourslef relieved of command!" Victor stared hard at the man on the screen and made sure his point was put across.

"Yes, sir." The view screen blanked out and Turan was gone.

President Gramal went to his chair and sat down taking his glasses off his eyes,"Get me the Yrubdarb Defense Ministry."

Karab Locke sat staring at a screen, facing President Gramal.

"Thank you for your offer. However, the Namitnef planes will already be back in their airfields. As you do not have enough planes with you to get past there defences, it would be suicide to send your men in there. May I suggest you do not waste troops with this exercise."

The President of Gramal looked slightly disappointed. But he nodded.

"Your words make sense I suppose" he sighed "Its just that we have troops out there, and they want action. Give them something to do"

Locke looked at the man. He seemed like an honest man, just trying to make a way for himself and his country. Karab nodded.

"All troops present in the area are being worked into tactics. The same is true for the Eirikiania horsemen. But sending off small numbers of troops into a superior enemy is suicide. We are only as weak as we are divided; as strong as we are united. Remeber that. I promise you, we are grateful for the positioning of your troops for our defence. And they will be given a chance to prove themselves.

I am about to assign the Omega airbase to the Riverlands air force, as they have requested another field for their planes. Dispatch any of your men that are able to leave your vessels there, and they will be tied in with the operations of the Riverlands troops. But please do not rush. We are on a tight military when compared to Namitnef's and so we must work as a unit."

Gramal nodded in understanding.

"I wil be in touch again" Karab promised.

The screen cut.

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

Around them things were flying apart and exploding, sending dust, detritus and flames into the air.

Within moments of the first attacks, everyone had pulled back into the city. Ammo-dumps were quickly emptied and carried into the fortified area. Fortunately, few men had been lost. Now that they had pulled back from the outer edges, they were more sheltered from the Namitnef fire. If all else failed, they could still fall back into the fortified area.

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

"What's the situation in Tolnedra?" Karab demanded of his intelligence officer. The man looked tired and nervous.

"Not good I'm afraid. The Namitnefians are sitting outside the city and bombarding it."

"Damn! That's not there usual style. We were counting on them charging in like they normally do."

"I know. We have pulled the men back, but not yet into the fortified area. So we can still respond if they suddenly move into the city. The casualties are low at the moment, and not likely to increase. Tolnedra was built to last, and I'm sure it will survive a bit of artillery fire."

"Maybe." Karab looked thoughtful. "There's not a lot we can do is there. I don't want to send in an aerial attack on an army based outside our city. Its too dangerous."

"Actually Sir it would probably be ok. There are Riverlands planes at F.B Airbase, and a combination of their fighters and ours could probably remove the bulk of the artillery."

"Dont call me sir. I'm acting President, nothing more. I still don't want to send in planes yet. The Namitnefians will respond in kind, and we're not ready for that. Give the Riverlands a bit longer. Are there any helicopters in the city?"

"A few. But the Namitnefians are prepared for that.

"If it goes on another day, get the troops to send in choppers to try and take out the artillery."

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

The outer city was now devoid of life. The constant sound of explosions was starting to have an effect on people within the city. Some people had come accustomed to it but many hadn't.

The soldiers did not like it, but being military men they were disciplined enough to cope. The major trauma was seeing a beautiful city being slowly torn down by constant bombardment. And not being able to do anything about it. A few troops had edged towards the Namitnefians, but those that had returned said there was no chance of engaging them yet.

And so they sat, and they waited, with the city falling down around them.

"Damnit!" Gramal pounded his fist on the table of the war room. "Mr. President", his Chief of Staff Alex Ranbal began to speak,"sir we need to inform Turan of what to do."

Victor stood and stared at the screen,"Get me Turan."

Seconds later Admiral Turan was staring at the President,"Sir? What did Yrubdarb say?"

"Disregard those planes Turan. Set course for the battlecruiser position and await reinforcements from Gramal. The Yrubdarb Defense Ministry has advised that we work as a unit and take them out in key places one at a time." President Gramal was weary of this conflict but his ally needed help and this war was just what his country needed.

"Mr President, with all due respect, that Defense Ministry does not see what we do. They see it on radar and we see it first hand. For Christ sake! It was just on the mountains near us! Please sir I'm begging you release my men to do their jobs!" Admiral Turan was red in the face and stood with his hands firmly on his desk.

"That's a negative Turan! You will do as ordered or so help me I will have you shot on the Capital lawn for disregarding a Presidential order! Set your fleet so that they may meet with the battlecruisers at Zulu-9-8-9-Echo. You'll take charge when you get there. Oh, and Turan, if I hear from the Yrubdarb government that you have disregarded any of my orders then I will have you sent home and executed. Understand?"

Admiral Turan was furious but he understand quite well,"Yes Mr. President."

"Good. Gramal out." The screen blanked off and Admiral Turan stood and gave his orders to his fleet. 15 minutes later they began the 3 hour trip to the Yrubdarb port town. Turan only hoped he could do what the President asked him to do.


Meanwhile............

"I am the Gramalian Colonel that is in command of the bombers. I need to speak with your commanding officer." Colonel Drab, the Defense Minister's son, was on his first assgnment and he wanted to do well.

"Of course Colonel. Have a seat in the briefing room and he will be there shortly." the Corporal said.

"Thank you." Drab and the other 5 men marched to the briefing room.

Once there they sat around the large chair at the head of the table and waited.

"Colonel, when will we get to see some action? I mean we've been landed for 3 hours now. How much longer do we have to wait?" Lt. Sharp was Drab's high school football buddy and was considered to be Drab's closest and most trusted soldier.

"Soon Sharp. Very soon. But we have to meet with the commander of this base for our orders. Your in Yrubdarb now my friend. You all are. This country has been under attack for days now and we have come to help."

"Sir?" Captain Gramal, the son fof the President, was just now included into Drab's bomber squadron,"I believe we're not going to fight. I think they're just gonna make us sit here. I've waited too long for some action, Colonel."

Drab turned and faced his men, they did look anxious but frightened at the same time.

"Don't worry guys. We'll see some action."

"But when Colonel? When?" Sharp looked straight at Drab.

"I don't know Sharp. I just do not know."



Meanwhile.........

1200 hours Gramal time......

Four new ships have arrived at the port town of Dixon after the government has bought them from a foreign country. Two new battleships and two new battlecruisers were being armed and equipped with a crew.

The President just got word that they have arrived and they arrived over 5 hours ago. "Damnit, what the hell took so long?! I mean did they hit weather or something? We ordered those ships weeks ago! I just thank God they're here."

President Gramal sat around his war room table deep underground of the defense ministry,"Arm the ships and have them set sail for the fleet. Our boys need reinforcements. Send 4,000 of our finest men to the Riverlands' air base. Set up mobile SAM sites and also dig some trenches between the base and 300 yds. away from it. Send them quickly. Yrubdarb will need our help more now than ever."

Most of the outer parts of the city were now rubble. The constant bombardment had finally become a normal part of life to the people of the city, who lived as normally as they could within the fortified area.

The order had come through an hour ago to release the helicopters. With regret and an inevitable feeling of doom, the pilots had boarded their crafts and flown off over the city.

Beneath the, the once pristine metropolis of Tolnedra was a shattered wreck. In the outer areas no buildings were standing above 2 metres high, and the city was covered in sparking electric cables and uncontrollable flames.

Slowly, the Namitnef army came into view. All 3 pilots swore under their breath at once. It was huge, very nearly spreadin to the horizon. The sheer number of artillery firing was phenominal, it was no wonder that the city had been reduced so quickly.

Their fears being confirmed, 5 Namitnef choppers began to rise out of the huge column facing them.

"Fire as soon as in range boys, then turn and run for cover" was the command through the headphones.

Pointing noses down, they sped towards the still firing artillery. Luck not being with them, they reached a distance able to attack the artillery just as they came into the range of the Namitnef defences.

"For God and Country!" one pilot screamed. All three choppers released all of their ammo into the artillery in front of the Namitnef army. Not pausing to see the damages, they pulled up and began to turn.

Two of the Yrubdarb choppers were destroyed instantly by the oncoming Namitnef pilots. The surviving Yrubdarb pilot jammed his thumb down onto the trigger for the gattling cannon and charged at the oncoming Namitnef choppers. Two were sliced open by the persuing rounds of lead, but the pilot did not live long enough to see if they went down; as his own machine disappeared in a flash of light and smoke.

Admiral Turan stands on the bridge of his carrier and watches as the fleet of four of the nation's finest carriers move around the bend to the rendevous point with the battlecruisers.

"Sir, incoming transmission from Commander Harold." shouted an ensign monitoring the wavelengths.

"This is Turan, go ahead Commander." Turan stared at the man in the screen and he seemed to be well rested but anxious for battle.

"Admiral, I have heard that you will be taking control of the fleet. What are our orders, sir?"

"We are to take the defensive for the Riverlands' ships and aircraft. Send all you can to the Omega base. We can send some of our men but not much. We're awaiting reinforcements from Gramal as we speak. The President has sent us two new battleships and also two new battlecruisers along with 4,000 men to fortify the area. Deploy mobile SAM sites and defend the Riverland's airbase and this port from any Namitef invasion." Turan stopped and looked at the Commander who seemed a bit frightened. "What is it Commander?"

"Sir, my men have been awaiting the time for action, not the time to sit and wait! We've been here for nearly a week now and we need some action to get rid of this anxiety."

"Understood Commander. But you need to be patient. We do nothing without the President's approval. Understood?" Turan looked at the young commander as his face turned red.

"Understood sir. Commander Harold out." The screen cut and Turan stood up to see the 6 battlecruisers wrapped around the port with their guns tilted defensively.

"Take defensive positions and await further orders. Get comfortable. We'll be here for awhile."

Although the Namitnef army still had a huge number of functional artillery pieces, the air attack had woken general Kail up to the fact that the army was seriously vulnerable while it was waiting outside the city.

At 13:36, the order was given to advance. The whole forward part of the Namitnef army began to advance towards the shattered ruin of the city in front of them.

Tens of thousands of men and tanks began to smash through the now-abandoned outer defences, and headed for the fortified zone...

Karab was watching the satellite as it happened. As a mass unti, the Namitnef army moved. As a wavefront hitting the beach, they rolled into Tolnedra.

On another screen he had the man leading the defense of the city.

"General, you've got company."

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

The soldiers in the outer part of the city received the call just in time.

Namitnef troops moving...I repeat, the swarm is entering the hive

The Yrubdarb army leapt into life. They moved through the city like wildfire, setting up mines and other traps for the Namitnef army to choke on. Men in tanks sealed the tops of their vehicles, and prepared for whatever was about to come at them.

The city was a jungle of metal girders, concrete and fallen electricity pylons. Yrubdarb soldiers set up sniper positions on top of the remaines of fallen buildings. Others hid themselevs inside the shells of surviving buildings, preparing ambush. Special Opps teams had once again taken up their places in the sewers, preparing to come at the Namitnef army from behind.

As the first two tanks of the Namitnef army forced their way through the remains of the front gate, they were greeted by a burst of anti-tank fire. They were vapourised instantly. The Namitnefians continued to pound the gate, return fire being unleashed upon them constantly.

The deadlock was finally broken by a Namitnef helicopter flying overhead and plunging missiles into the barrier blocking the city. The city gate fell in a cloud of dust, and the fanatical troops of the Namitnef army poured in like grains of sand. An unending sea of death come to greet the Yrubdarb troops.

the anti-tank position got away two more shots into the Namitnef army before it was swarmed by the fanatical troops, chosen to lead the way because of their mad desire to kil in the name of their God and Emperor. They fell for the first mine though, and a fresh crater was created. Limbs flew back into the oncoming army, who simply wiped the blood off and moved on.

Snipers opened fire onto the army. The damages they conflicted were miniscule compared to the overall size of the army, but each Namitnef man down was one less to kill a Yrubdarb, and was a new obstacle for the rest of the army to get over. The snipers continued to fire until the last, each one dying with a rifle in their arms. The Namitnef army overran several more of the outer blockades, losing men at each.

But still the army came, and didn't seem to be getting smaller.

General Kail watched the battle from a tall hill 5 miles from the outer edges of the city. Most of the city could no longer be seen, as smoke obscured it from view. Fires and explosions lept up into the sky and a deep rumbling sound rolled across the landscape.

As the afternoon grew on, it started to rain. The ruins of the city soon became a mud-chocked nightmare, filled with death and terror.

A messenger walked up to Kail.

"What is it?" the general demanded, pre-occupied with the destruction of the once beautiful city spead out before him.

"The emperor sends this message."

General Kail grabbed the piece of paper and started to read:

'Kail, the civilians that are sheltering within Tolnedra will provide no benefits to the Namitnef war effort after they are captured, and will sap our resources in terms of food and supplies that are sorely needed by the army. In recognition of this, I order you to take NO prisoners within the city. Every Yrubdarb citizen found within should be executed."

Kail looked at the messenger.

"There are a million civilians in Tolnedra. The emperor can't seriously expect us to kill every single one?"

The messenger looked blank.

Finally, the general nodded his head.

"Tell the emperor that we shall follow his orders."

Karab opened an emergency communications with the Riverlands.

[code:1:eb8295e58c] Namitnef has attacked Tolnedra. Send your boys to prey on their supply lines.

God speed.
[/code:1:eb8295e58c]

Karab paused and considered the idea the had just rushed through his mind. Yes, why not

He reopened the channel and sent a message to the Gramal troops.

[code:1:eb8295e58c]
We have sent orders ot the Riverlands to begin their attack. Any fighters that you have successfully deployed to Omega I suggest you put on alert and prepare to scramble, as there may well be resistance from Namitnef planes. Contact the Riverlands, and see if they require your support for Air Combat.
[/code:1:eb8295e58c]

The Namitnef soliers were in; the killing had begun.

Peter Green was leading a group of half a dozen soldiers paired with half a dozen civilians. He didnt like the fact that civilians were involved. The fighting was much too messy.

He leant out of his window and let off another round into the oncoming army. Every shot hit, but it did not seem to make any difference to the torent of men pouring into Tolnedra.

One of the civilians threw a petrol bomb out of the window next to Peter's. It hit the Namitnef army and quickly spread through a group of soldiers; all of whom fell to the ground screaming. There wasn't time for the fire to kill them before they were stampeded to death by the rest of the army coming through behind them.

The civilian smiled. "Got the buggers"

"yes, but now they know where we are. Very smart" The civilian looked crestfallen. Feeling guitly, Peter reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "But you got them good".

There was the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Peter gestured to another soldier "Help me keep them out. The rest of you, empty everything else we have into that army!"

As the Namitnefians came round the last corner of the staircase facing the room the Yrubdarbs were in, Peter and the other soldier opened a stream of fire. Namitnef soldiers piled up at the top of the stairs. Behind him, he could hear the last of their ammot being emptied into soldiers on the ground. As the last cartridge fell from his rifle, he called out

"We submit" It was a long shot, but it might work. His reply was a bullet, which hit him in the shoulder. He fell back into the room, blood spraying ober his uniform.

5 Namitnef soldiers walked in, shooting the Yrubdarb soldiers. Peter pushed himself to his knees, and gestured towards the civilians.

"They are not military men. Spare them, and take them as Prisoners of War."

The Namitnef soldiers looked at him. "Namitnef shows no mercy to heathens, or those who kill his worshippers" the lead soldier replied. With that he gunned down the civilians. Peter covered his eyes to avoid the horror.

"Now for you" one said. But Peter reached into his pocket and pulled out some sort of remote control. He grinned.

"You with me assholes". He hit the flashing red dial.


The building exploded from the base up, killing Namitnef soldiers nearby, and spreading yet more debris aound the city. That which did not spread simply toppled on to the army passing it. For a moment, the Yrubdarbs finally made a dent in the oncoming crowd. But within a minute, it was as if the explosion had never happened.

Still, the Namitnefians advanced.

Frank Burton Airfield, Yrubdarb


General Grejer was pleased. As far as he ever was pleased. Troops from Gramal had arrived with equipment to dig trenches. They had found 500 marines from The Riverlands already sweating heavily, digging trenches and burying cables to protect them in case of enemy attack. He still remembered the look on the face of the young officer who had reported to him. He had been none too pleased to be forced to accept the fact that his troops would come under someone else's command. Especially not since they had 4 times the amount of troops The Riverlands had. Nevertheless, he had accepted the situation. He hadn't even said anything, although his face had betrayed him. By now, both Frank Burton and Omega looked like molehills. Both sites were now well protected by make-shift positions and cleverly hidden SAM sites. The Sam batteries were split up into their individual units and spread out as much as possible. Even the planes were spread out over a wide area. The Ammo dumps were even harder to spot. At one time, he had walked past one without even noticing it. Together, the marines and the Gramal troops had done a splendid job. He had told their commanding officer as much, but he had simply nodded. The Gramal troops were not satisfied. They wanted action. Grejer understood. Hopefully, they would realise what war was really about soon... He looked at the sheet of paper he had just received. Turning it over and over, he finally took a decision.

[code:1:82b53e86e3]
From: General Grejer
To: Admiral Thomasson

I have received a request from Yrubdarb to commence operations against the Namitnef supply lines. They have not explicitly given permission to use cruise missiles to soften up the enemy beforehand. I hereby order you to carry out those strikes as we discussed. I take full responsibility in case Yrubdarb disagrees with my decision.

[/code:1:82b53e86e3]

HTRMS Valiant, a few kilometres off the coast of Yrubdarb


In the middle of the night, the sea was lit beautifully by the moon. But no one noticed. A large part of the crew had assembled on the bow. They silently counted down. Then there was a flash and a noise that took everyone's breath away. A pillar of light shone brightly, trailing the cruise missile as it left its launch tube. Almost immediately, another one followed it. All around them, other ships also fired, lighting the fleet in a way that was both beautiful and terrifying...
More than a hundred cruise missiles were launched. Most of them were aimed at Namitnef, but a few had been assigned to Namitnef positions in Yrubdarb itself. Most targets were assigned at least two missiles. This strike was of vital importance. There would not be a second chance.
Careful analysis of photo's taken by reconnaissance planes had revealed the location of several key targets. They had located the radars that controlled Namitnef's air defense grid, their primary communication centers, which had been difficult to hide due to the need for huge masts to house their transmitters, as well as a few of their ammo and fuel dumps. These were among the first targets. Other targets were area command centers and a few bridges and tunnels. By destroying those alone, Namitnef would run into serious problems in supplying their troops. They could always take different routes, of course, but they would have to take longer routes and that was important.
The targets in Yrubarb itself were all air defense positions. Each target had been checked between one hour and 6 hours ago. Hopefully Namitnef had not moved their positions around too much. So far, they appeared to be overconfident and wasted little time on relocating their air defense positions. They would much rather choose a position and stick to it.
On both airfields, the planes waited until the cruise missiles were less than five minutes away from their targets. Then the engines flared up and the planes started rolling across the runways. Within minutes, dozens of planes were in the air.
Preceded by fighters and planes from 53rd squadron, the strike fighters waited their turn. The fighters cleared the skies of Namitnef planes. Not without difficulty, though. Several planes were shot down. Even one of the planes from 53rd squadron went down, causing one pilot to lose control and shout: "Dammit! Those bastards are gonna pay for that!"
And pay they did. The strike fighters moved in, targeting trucks carrying supplies and ammo. They went up in several big, satisfying explosions. This time, no one came too close to their targets. "No more mistakes," Grejer had said.
They used missiles and cannons. Several times, their targets were close to or inside of Yrubdarb towns, hoping they would not be attacked there. But most likely, there would not be civilians around. Besides, many buildings were already in ruins, so the there was little to be concerned about. Nevertheless, they aimed carefully. Just in case... Who knew, perhaps there were POW's around somewhere. They still had hope for the lives of their fellow pilots and for those of captured Yrubdarb soldiers.
Near the end of the mission, one of the pilots spotted a command vehicle, but he had no ammo left. He radioed for backup. This was too good an opportunity to miss... With so many planes around, there was bound to be at least one who had not spent all its ammo yet. And indeed, within a few moments a plane moved past his plane, and two deadly missiles detached themselves from the fuselage. The command vehicle exploded. Anyone who had been inside would now be dead.
Finally, the mission was over. It had only been a few minutes, but it had seemed like hours. The planes turned back to their bases, taking care to take a roundabout route. This way, Namitnef would not be able to find out very easily just how close their bases really were...
Upon return, they started counting the planes they had lost. Hoping the count would be low...


Frank Burton Airfield, Yrubdarb

As the plane started to land, a knot in Grejer's stomach untied itself, but only partially. His subordinates started counting the planes. Hopefully, most of his planes would return safely. But he already knew they had lost several planes. Every loss was one to many, as far as he was concerned... The mission had been as succes. A full moon and a clear sky had worked miracles, in combination with their state-of-the art equipment.
Grejer waited for the verdict. 60 fighters and 40 strike fighters had been sent out, supported by 3 planes from 53rd squadron. He already knew one of the planes from 53rd squadron had been lost, although its pilot and weapons officer had been seen ejecting. Their fellow pilots had targeted Namitnef troops trying to get to them and they had been rescued by helicopter. He couldn't care less about the damned plane, he was happy to at least have the crew back. They had been offered a trip back to The Riverlands, to recover from their ordeal, but they had refused. Instead, they had asked for their plane to be replaced. They would not turn their back on their friends they'd said.
Grejer heard the tally slowly climb higher and he forced himself to stay calm. Soon, he would know...

HTRMS Vanguard, just off West Cape, The Riverlands


At night Vanguard quietly left port and set course for the open sea. Once there, Vanguard waited for a while, her crew taking the opportunity to run final checks. It had taken a lot of hard work, but she was fully operational again. And then some...
Her long range surface search radars had already picked up the convoy. Escorted by HTRMS Audacious and some smaller ships, dozens of civilian ships and ships from the reserve fleet, loaded with troops, supplies and equipment were moving towards Vanguard. Audacious had only just left drydock and still carried dozens of yard workers on board. As a result, she didn't have her full complement of planes yet. The giant carrier now only had 3 squadrons of fighters on board and a limited amount of fuel and ammo. But they would meet up with the inbound convoy coming back from Yrubdarb and then she would take on additional planes from one of the escort carriers. That would be a few days from now. In the mean time, the yard workers could complete the work that still needed to be done.
Michaelson patiently waited for the other ships to move nearer. Then he moved his ship into position as part of the convoy. He was greeted by a signal from Admiral Parkes. "Welcome back," it simply read.


Frank Burton Airfield, Yrubdarb

General Grejer waited imatiently. When he finally heard the sound of jet engines, he sighed with relief. 21 planes landed. One of them bore the markings of 53rd Squadron. It was a replacement for the plane that had gone down earlier. With these additional planes, his forces here were up to strength again. His air forces continued to pound the enemy supply lines and so far, losses had been acceptable. Thanks to the fact that they operated over Yrubdarb territory they had also managed to rescue several crews from being captured by Namitnef troops. Most often, the Namitnef forces needed some convincing to stay away, but pilots never turned their back on their comrades unless they had to in order to prevent bigger losses.
They were gradually achieving air-superiority now. Fewer and fewer Namitnef planes came out to meet them when they crossed the line that marked the forward line of advance of the Namitnef troops. Nevertheless, Grejer didn't want to leave things to chance. He was eager to carry out an additional strike against Namitnef bases. But so far, he had not managed to get permission. Yrubdarb was understandably focused on fighting close to home. But as Grejer saw it, a full-scale attack on Namitnef itself would help Yrubdarb win the battle here... Nevertheless, he accepted the fact that he was not in control here. He was here to support Yrubdarb. Nothing more, nothing less...
Colonel Dekker came up to him. They simply nodded at eachother and then stood silently for a while, taking a good look at the airfield. The airfield looked a lot different from how it had looked when they first arrived. The marines and the Gramal troops had dug in. They had created a huge network of trenches and had cut down some of the many trees to create open areas where they could fire more efficiently and to create obstacles for an advancing army. They could not afford to take chances.
Reconnaissance showed Tolnedra gradually being reduced by artillery fire. Many of the tall skyscrapers had been reduced to rubble and most of the trees had been cut down or burned down. The 300,000 men strong Namitnef army was now trying to break through its outer defences into the citadel. Their own effort to attack the Namitnef supply lines would determine whether they would be succesful or not. Once Namitnef realised the Royal The Riverlands Air Force was more than just a beesting, they might decide to attack here in order to prevent their troops from being cut off from the main body of their army. The marines were prepared for such an event, but if it really came to that, it would really be up to the Air Force to defend the airfield, together with the attack helicopters from the army.
Hopefully, this would all soon be over...

[code:1:307c8f49ac]
From: General Grejer
To: Locke, MoD, Acting President

Aside from the planes at Frank Burton and Omega, we also still have a substantial number of planes left at the other two bases. We request permission to carry out additional strikes with cruise missiles, then following up on them with a full-scale bombing campaign against Namitnef bases in Yrubdarb and Namitnef itself. We believe carrying out such strikes now could help us achieve air-superiority. We already have a slight advantadge over them in Yrubdarb airspace itself, but with additional strikes, we can force the Namitnef Air Force on the defensive and then take full advantadge of that by shifting to bombing other targets, such as the body of the army now advancing on Tolnedra.

We will, of course, continue to harrass the enemy's supply lines until such time as that you give us permission to do so.

Please note that I have received word that my government has decided to step up the pace in building up our presence here. Additional forces, including 2 armoured divisions and one mechanized infantry division, as well as supporting units, supplies and ammo are on their way even now. Expect them to arrive within a week. Two weeks from now, the convoy currently bound for The Riverlands will return with additional units. This will more than triple our presence here. Admiral Jamieson has requested me to relay the following message from the Queen:

"We are willing to allow you to use our forces currently in Yrubdarb to take up positions closer to the frontline, if this will help you to free additional forces for the battle for Tolnedra. As yet, our forces are not yet considered to be strong enough to be risked in a full-scale assault, but we will soon arrive at the stage where we will have sufficient troops in Yrubdarb to allow us to become actively involved in the ground war. Until that time, we hope you will remain strong and confident to stand up to the enemy. Please know that we are ready to help you with all available means. - Her Most Royal Majesty Queen Tianna The First of The Riverlands"
[/code:1:307c8f49ac]

Admiral Turan recieved an order from the President that gave orders to help the Riverlands' in anyway he can. Turan was pleased. That meant battle. "Scramble the fighters. Send them on patrols throughout the area and continue air superiority with the Riverlands' fighters."

Minutes later F-23 Rapier fighters were being lifted onto the deck. With their armament they were the pride of the Gramal air force. Their engines roared to life and they immediately took to the sky with a push of the catapult. Foru carriers simutaneously launching their aircraft was beautiful.

"Sir, incoming contacts. Looks like the reinforcements have arrived." shouted an ensign.

President Gramal has sent 4,000 more men to the Omega base area and also the 4 new ships that he promised. They arrived late due to difficulties trying to navigate around Namitef defenses. The two new battlecruisers set up around the ouskirts of the carriers while the battleships took an offensive position. They could fire 4 miles inland and needed only coordinates. Turan hoped he can use them.


"Where's that damn General?!" shouted Colonel Drab. He was growing impatient, for he and his men have been sitting in the briefing room for 5 hours now without even a sight at the commanding officer. "I'm growing tired of this waiting game."

"Maybe they forgot, sir." Captain Gramal said, "Maybe they don't need us yet. You never know."

"Good point," Drab said,"But I'm tired of waiting."

In Tolnedra, things had taken a turn for the worse. The outer parts of the city had been lost. Despite the well placed defences, the Yrubdarb troops had been simply unable to hold back the tide of the Namitnef army.

Now a fierce battle was raging around the fortified zone. All civilians had been pulled back into the heart of the bunkers, hoping to escape the fire.
Yrubdarb soldiers were fighting for their lives and their freedom from on top of the wall. The two reamining Helicopters were in constant use, hovering above the city and taking out chunks of the Namitenf army.

But things didn't look good.

Secret bunker in Yrubdarb

"how did the Riverlands attack on the Namitnef supply lines go?"

"Well sir. We are having difficulty establishing exactly what they have damaged, but by all accounts it seems to have been a success. I should warn you though, they used Cruise Missiles against the Namitnefians, not just planes. Though you would want to know that."

Karab raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Fair enough I suppose, I gave them free reign and they took it." The soldier nodded and the screen went dead.

karab turned back to face his government.

"Things aren't good in Tolnedra. Prepare to send in choppers for an evacuation?"

There was a nod of consent, and the order was released.

[code:1:9d83628785]
From: General Grejer
To: Karab Locke, MoD, Acting President

Our intelligence indicates that the battle for Tolnedra is going badly, despite our attacks on their supply lines. That is regrettable. We are now receiving information that you are preparing to withdraw from the city. Our reports are unclear as to whether this will only mean you will evacuate all civilians, or that you will also withdraw your troops. If you are planning on a full scale withdrawal, please allow us to attack the army now engaged in besieging the city directly. We have a great opportunity here to crush a large part of their army. With their supply lines strained, they should not be in a good position to defend themselves from a series of full-scale airstrikes.
Naturally, there will be serious damage to any remaining structures and infrastructure in the area. But the damage to the enemy would also be great, especially to any units caught out in the field. Moreover, their air force would have no choice but to come out and defend their army, so we would be able to do serious damage to their air force as well.

We await your answer.
[/code:1:9d83628785]

President Gramal rubbed his eyes and looked at the screen above him.
"Get me Karab." Seconds later the screen flashed to see the powerful leader of Yrubdarb before him. "Karab, our B-182's have been landed for days now on your turf. The bombs they carry are 2500 lb. bombs yes. But what you don't know is what kind of bombs they are." Victor looked at his defense minister and he nodded.

"Mr. President, what armament do your planes carry?" Karab seemed worried to Victor and so tried to ease his mind.

"Karab, those bombs are 2500 lbs. alright. But it's what inside of the bomb that matters. It's a plasma bomb. It can drop with enough force on an enemy that it can destroy their entire area that they stand upon in 5 seconds. It's a WMD. Our scientists spent years developing it. Each B-182 carries 2 of them. They have been tested above and below ground on our land and in international waters. All you have to do is say the word, I'll give u the launch codes for the pilots, and then give your orders." President Gramal looked at the man.

"You mean, Victor, that you have a weapon that can stop them dead in their tracks?" Karab looked at him hard.

"Yes, Karab. But they outfall is total. The land will be inhospitable for 300 years, anything in the area will be destroyed, and that includes your men. Debate this with your council and then answer me. Gramal out."

The screen cut off and one of Gramal's prized secrets was out.

[code:1:85ac84660a]
From: General Grejer
To: Karab Locke, MoD, Acting President

Our intelligence indicates that the battle for Tolnedra is going badly, despite our attacks on their supply lines. That is regrettable. We are now receiving information that you are preparing to withdraw from the city. Our reports are unclear as to whether this will only mean you will evacuate all civilians, or that you will also withdraw your troops. If you are planning on a full scale withdrawal, please allow us to attack the army now engaged in besieging the city directly. We have a great opportunity here to crush a large part of their army. With their supply lines strained, they should not be in a good position to defend themselves from a series of full-scale airstrikes.
Naturally, there will be serious damage to any remaining structures and infrastructure in the area. But the damage to the enemy would also be great, especially to any units caught out in the field. Moreover, their air force would have no choice but to come out and defend their army, so we would be able to do serious damage to their air force as well.

We await your answer.
[/code:1:85ac84660a]

[code:1:85ac84660a]
From: Karab Locke, MoD, Acting President
To: General Grejer

The evacuation is for non-military personnel only. We are sorry that we have not kept you better informed. We plan to defend the fortified area to the last, sucking in the Namitnef army. Once they are inside the fortified area, we will attack from the outside. This is why it is imperitive that their supplies are short. They must not be able to set up and defend.

We wish to take you up on your previous offer to move your troops forward. This will allow us to fully encircle the city. Once we attack the troops within the city, we will need your ground troops to hold a tight line form other attacks, for Namitnef will surely see us attacking the city and think us weakened along the rest of the front line. This is where your troops will be most important; they must hold the front line until we win back Tolnedra.

We see no problem with you launching more air attacks against the army outside the city walls. However, we still have men in the city so ask you not to bomb the city.

Thank you again for your support. The time for pushing into Namitnef will come shortly.

[/code:1:85ac84660a]

Pufferfish Bay, Yrubdarb - The Riverlands Expeditionary Army HQ

General 2nd class. That was what he was now. He had just received a new uniform that reflected his status. With the arrival of additional forces now imminent, his force would double in size, to 60,000 troops. One week later, the final convoy would arrive, bringing the total to 90,000 troops. A huge amount of troops, equipment and supplies. The navy had been forced to reactivate numerous ships of the reserve fleet to be able to carry out these transports and they managed to do so in record time. They had done a great job, so far. Hopefully, they would continue to do so...

Kyle Jansen looked at the stack of papers in front of him. He had never been much good at all these administrative details and most things were taken care of by his subordinates. So the one thing he was really interested in was the small piece of paper with the message from General Grejer on it. Apparently, Yrubdarb was having more and more trouble holding up against the Namitnef onslaught and they needed help sooner than they had hoped. Unfortunately, he was not yet in a position to do much... Reinforcements were less then a day away, but would take a while to deploy... No, the air force would have to take care of things for now....

[code:1:056a4dc0c1]
From: General Grejer, Commander-in-Chief The Riverlands Expeditionary Force
To: Karab Locke, MoD, Acting President

I have spoken with the commanding officer of our ground troops. He is able to dispatch three divisions: one armoured, one marine corps (part armoured, part mechanized infantry, with their own support units) and one mechanized infantry. However, he considers their total strength to be insufficient to allow them to take part in full-scale operations. He feels it would be prudent to wait at least until a few days from now, when additional forces can be deployed. We would then be able to field at least 1 additional armoured division.
The units available now could, in the mean time, be moved forward to just behind the front. They could be used as, what we call, an operational reserve (ie. to plug any gaps that might fall in your line of defense) if it is really necessary. However, we feel they would be best used as a single unit so we can maximize the effect once they are put into action. We expect to be able to do so a few days from now.
If the situation is deteriorating to the extent that you cannot hold the frontline without our help, we will, of course, free our troops for immediate operational use. As said, if that is not the case, we would prefer to wait a few more days. If you need us to deploy our troops, then we will need to use your railway network to transport them to locations near the front. (This would be a much larger operation than last time and would most likely take several days.)

To fill the gap, we will step up our air campaing immediately. I have just ordered another strike using cruise missiles. We would like to carry out a 24/7 bombing campaign in order to significantly reduce their fighting capacity. However, this would cost us about 55 percent of our total supply of ammunition just for one single day. Our carriers can maintain such an effort for several more days at least, but at present, the air force planes at the four bases allocated to us can't maintain such a full scale air war for more than one day. This is regrettable, since the damage would be significant.
I have already ordered immediate resupply by sea and air in order to allow us to expand our operations. However, transporting ammunition by air is, as you understand, not very efficient and very dangerous as well, so we will be mostly dependant on resupply by sea, which is slow. Most of our ships are also currently used to transport ground troops and everything that comes with that.
There might be a solution to this problem, however. Do you have excess supplies of bombs? According to our information, most of your "dumb" bombs at least should be compatible with our planes, although we have to make some minor changes to the onboard systems to accomodate them. Your missiles, on the other hand, are not compatible, as we use both a different firing mechanism and a different targeting system. Since "smart" bombs are also dependent on targeting mechanisms, those are also incompatible. But if you could supply sufficient quantities of "dumb" bombs, that would alleviate our supply problems significantly. Please discuss this with your staff and let us know as soon as possible. For a 24/7 air campaign we would need hundreds of 500 lbs bombs each day at both Frank Burton and Omega, or smaller amounts of heavier bombs. Our strike fighters can carry up to 4,000 kg (approx. 8 lbs) in bombs while still being able to carry 2 air-to-air missiles for self defence in addition to their on-board gun.
We have significant supplies of bombs in The Riverlands, but getting them here is going to be a problem until at least 3 weeks from now. If you have any ships capable of transporting munition near The Riverlands, please direct them to either West Cape or Denea. (West Cape is best as that would save another day or two) We will, in that case, assemble them into a convoy and provide an escort. If you can spare a few naval units to escort them, they would, naturally, be welcome to participate.
If this supply problem can be solved, then we could deploy an additional 50 F-12C's to supplement the units already here. Admiral Jamieson has already indicated this to me.

I have decided to order the navy to begin full scale attacks starting today, 0700 hours. They will attack the main body of the army near Tolnedra. The air force will continue to harrass the enemies supply lines, as previously agreed. We will include helicopters in those strikes as well. This should add significantly to the effect of our operations.

P.S. I have just had another conversation with General Jansen, CinC The Riverlands Expeditionary Army. He informed me that the army would have the same kind of problems as the air force. Apparently, only the navy has supplies for more than a few days. Unfortunately, the problem is even bigger in their case: our MBT's have 125 mm smooth bore main guns. Unless our intelligence is mistaken, yours have a different calibre and therefore any supplies you've got would be incompatible. Please inform us if you are capable of supplying us with 125 mm projectiles in significant numbers.
All other munitions (for machine guns, assault rifles, etc.) should be obtainable from you army stockpiles.
General Jansen indicated that you might have stockpiles of depleted uranium munition as a result of a recent UN ban on those munitions. If you do, then we could use those, as long as they are of an appropriate calibre. We are not a UN member and therefore, restrictions against using that kind of munition do not apply to us. However, there appear to be health risks to using these munitions, so please take that into account when taking a decision in this matter. Note: we ourselves do not use depleted uranium munitions since we have no significant stockpiles of uranium. We do however use cluster bombs. I am not aware whether there is a UN resolution regarding these weapons. If you have objections regarding the use of these weapons, then please let us know immediately. We have not used them so far, but are planning to use them today. However, it would significantly reduce our fighting capabilities if we were not allowed to do so.
I regret not bringing this matter to your attention earlier. Unfortunately, as a non-member we are not very familiar with UN regulations.
[/code:1:056a4dc0c1]

President Gramal and his staff sat around the large circular table in the center of the room deep underground of the Defense Ministry Headquarters. Gramal had grown into a large nation of 56 million people and was able to send many men to the front lines in Yrubdarb-in three days. Victor Gramal was the only man in the room uncertain at what to do with this foreign war.

"Mr. President we must respond with more troops. We've sent only 8,000 of our army over seas and not to mention all but 4 ships in our navy to protect just a small area. Ask that we can send a full invasion party to cut the Namitef army from behind." The Presidnet looked up from his part of the table and looked directly at his Defense Minister, Harold Drab and began to speak,"Do you know what you're talking about Drab? A full scale war in a foreign matter. This nation has 4% of it's number in the armed forces. That's 2 million troops you're talking about here Harold. 2 million men and women of Gramal going across the ocean to fight a war that they don't even know about. You're talking about sending all of our tanks, aircraft, naval vessels, and including our newly bought SeaWolf Class attack subs. Do you have any idea how hard it would be for Congress to declare war?"

"Mr. President," Tony Hammond, the President's Cheif Executive Advisor on Policy, looked at him," I believe if Congress can understand that there is a greater good in this war then we can send in as many men as we want. We just have to get Yrubdarb's permission to do so before we act."

President Gramal got up and walked towards the viewscreen behind him and watched the Namitef army advance onto the city of Tolnedra and the Riverlands' air force moving out. "Send a satellite message to the Yrubdarb defense ministry and then get me Karab. We can do this people. But it will take time to convince Congress. Time we do not have. So....open war is upon us. But can we defend ourselves and also take out an entire nation with just 2 million men?"

President Gramal exhailed and leaned against the table and looked at his reflection of himself in the black granite. With great hesitation, he gave his decision. "Do it. Mobilize the navy to redevouz with the fleet at the Omega base harbor in Yrubdarb. Mobilize the army. But only one million men. I don't want ourselves to be left undefended. Arm the tanks and the aircraft and send them on a course to Omega base. War is upon us gentlemen. Let's make sure we give them hell."





Satellite uplink confirmed........Yrubdarb Defense Ministry uplink found.....Beginning Transmission from Gramal Defense Ministry......


Yrubdarb, we have decided to ask our Congress to give permission to send half of our armed forces to the city of Tolnedra to assist in the defense of your nation. But to do this we need to have a formal declaration of war. We have sent all but our Sea Wolf Class submarines to assist in the bombardment of the enemy. President Gramal would like to have a satellitle linked meeting with your President Karab to decide on this. Beginning immediately our battleships and battlecruisers will begin long range bombardments of the enemy's position. This is to aide in your defense and also the defense of the Riverlands' forces being deployed into the area inside the city of Tolnedra. We await your response.


Satellite uplink terminated.....



When the orders were recieved from the Naval Headquarters at Dixon and then relayed to all of the ships outlying the nation and then to Admiral Turan of the Gramalian Fleet inside friendly territory it had already been 3 hours since the president gave his speech.

Admiral Turan was waken from his bed and rushed to the War Room inside of his carrier. A EAM(Emergency Action Message) was being recieved and needed it's immediate attention.

"What is it Commander?" Admiral Turan walked up to his XO on the watch and looked him dead in the face.

"Admiral, we're recieving a message from the Naval Headquarters in Dixon. It's got orders on it sir."

"Let me see it sailor." Admiral Turan looked at the message and said "Oh my God."

"Battlestations! All hands to Battlestations! Ready the guns! Ensign give these coordinates to the battleships and battlecruisers surrounding the harbor. Tell them to follow them to a capital letter T." Admiral Turan rushed to his command post in the war room. He stood with his officers and began to give his orders.

"Gentlemen, our orders are as follows:
1. Bombardment of the Namitef army near Tolnedra will commence immediately.

2. All aircraft will be launched to give air support and also commence bombing runs onto the Namitef army's location."

Admiral Turan stopped and looked up at his officers, they looked ready, and anxious for battle.

"We need to give the Riverlands' forces time to get to Omega base and gear up to help the Yurbdarb army. The President has ordered that all forces except for the subs are to be sent to this location. We'll gain 2 more carriers and 2 more battlecruiers. The Air Force is sending it's best pilots to our location. We have a lot of work to do gentlemen. Let's get moving."



RGS(Republic of Gramal Ship) Hinson was a mess of men moving up and down the ladders as the orders were given. Commander Trent Gramal, another one of the President's sons, was looking out at the deck. "Begin your run Leiutenant."

The red button was pressed and klaxons sounded. Seconds later the eight guns of the battleship were moved into position. "Clear your guns!"


Seconds from the order the massive guns of the ship were loosed.

OOC:

Sorry Gramal, but i do not recall being asked whether it would be ok to bombard me.

The way things work is like this: you ask your enemy (in this case me) what you want to do. If THEY agree then you can do it, but if they don't you can't.

Its quite simple....

A few hundred metres above Yrubdarb


Lieutenant 1st class Hens Frederiks gave a short command to his Weapon's Officer. Then he pushed the stick forward. His plane immediately started to make a dive. He concentrated on flying the plane, while his weapons officer concentrated on finding a target. That didn't take long. Within moments they were over the Namitnef army and they released their bombs. Immediately, the plane jumped up a little. Frederiks compensated for that and then started to turn to the right. About a hundred navy planes bombarded the Namitnef army. Anti-aircraft fire was intense, but not as big a threat as they had to do without most of their radars. Those had been taken care of by the air force.

Fighters roamed the skies above them, hunting down all Namitnef fighters that tried to intervene. The balance was definitely shifting in their favour, but still even their own planes went down once in a while. Frederiks cursed silently as a plane was hit right in front of him. He dodged and managed to evade the plane as its pilot tried to regain control. He mentally said a prayer for the pilot, but concentrated on flying his own plane. He had to get back to the carrier in one piece, so he could take part in another mission this afternoon.

Only afterwards did Frederiks think about the sheer size of the Namitnef army. There had been tanks, troops and guns everywhere... No wonder Yrubdarb was having trouble fighting them off...


Frank Burton airfield, Yrubdarb

General Grejer watched the intelligence officer show him some of the latest photo's of the battlefield. The officer, young and confident, kept going on about how much damage was done. Irritated, Grejer finally snapped at him: "Look, if all you say is true, then how in hell's name do you explain the fact that I am STILL using planes each and every day? How do you explain Yrubdarb is in such a bad state that we may not even win this war?"
The officer looked taken aback for a second. He fumbled with his documents for a few seconds, then he straightened his back and faced Grejer.
"Sir, everything I say is absolutely true. We've looked carefully at all the data and we are taking into account that damage often looks worse than it is. So we are probably underestimating the damage we've done, not overestimating it. However, the Namitnef army group attacking Tolnedra is huge. Over 300,000 men, with lots of equipment. Even if we carpet-bombed them, there would still be a lot left. It is just going to take a lot of time. As for their air force, we're hitting them hard. We usually outnumber them 3 to 1 at least. However, they keep moving planes forward to fill in the gaps. They are gradually eroding our air force. Also, they are replacing their SAM-sites with regularity. They are also adapting by not staying in one place for too long. I'm sorry, but this is going to be a tough battle. We'd better prepare for the worst..."
Grejer nodded, "Now THAT is the first useful thing you've said so far."
He stood up.
"Next time, don't overanalyse all the damage we've done, but spend more time on a tactical/strategic analysis. Thanks for the briefing."
Grejer walked away, a grim expression on his face.


West Cape, The Riverlands

The port had rarely been so busy. There were ships offshore, waiting to get into port. In the harbour, dozens of ships were being loaded with military equipment. Security was tight. Soldiers from the marine corps and the army were being yelled at by their officers, while military policemen guided traffic and local police forces tried to keep civilians out of the way of the military.
At West Cape Central Station, a few people walked around, hoping that their train had not been cancelled. But all trains had been cancelled for as long as it the armed forces needed to use the railways in order to transport cargo to the ships currently in port. Even at West Cape Central Station soldiers stood around, guarding the trains slowly moving along. Most of them carried ammunition.
West Cape was not even a real navy port, but since it was much further towards the west than Denea, it saved a lot of time to use West Cape to supply the fleet than Denea. As a commercial port, it could actually handle a lot more ships than the Denea Naval Base could. Moreover, the crane drivers were not used to handling ammunition, so they were so incredibly careful, there had not been a single incident so far.


[code:1:bb4d2e6eec]
From: Admiral Jamieson, The Riverlands
To: Karab Locke, Yrubdarb

We've decided to add a lot of ammunition to the next convoy bound for Yrubdarb. We will ship one armoured division and one Marine division, but we will also ship thousands of tons of ammunition to supply our forces in Yrubdarb. As a result, in about one week's time, our forces will be ready to commence a full scale attack. Please try to hold out until then.

I understand from General Grejer that the air campaign is going well. He is losing some planes due to tough Namitnef opposition, but we will replace his losses.

Please be advised that we plan to commence a full-scale air campaign as soon as possible. We are also making plans for a ground offensive to follow that air campaign. We will send an officer to discuss our plans with you in person as soon as we've determined what our options are.
[/code:1:bb4d2e6eec]

<OOC>

Please check your telegrams...

</OOC>

OOC: I withdraw the bombardment quotes and make the others factual. Disregard the part about the bombardments.

President Gramal was growing weary of no response from the Yrubdarb Defense Ministry. His patience was wearing thin and he needed to give his men orders. So far his nation had sent 8,000 men and women to fight for Yrubdarb and to defend the Riverlands' base. His men needed some action and Admiral Turan, commander of the fleet near Omega base, was growing impatient and for not allowing his men to do what they do best---fight wars. "General," Victor turned to Five-Star General Alex Turan, which was Admiral Turan's Brother, "How many men can you send to do a full scale defense of Omega base?"

"Mr. President," General Turan sat up straight in his chair, " We can only send as many men as Congress allows us to send. But if Yrubdarb or the Riverlands' request more men for their cause, then Congress will allow us to send a limited amount to them or the amount they have requested. But until then, we have to stay put with what we have."


President Gramal walked to look outside of the Oval Office of the Capital Building and watched the hustle and bustle of the city below him. "83 million people now live within the borders of this nation. With 3% of the nation enlisted into the armed forces, we now have a masive amount of men available. Ask the Riverlands' and Yrubdarb if they require assistance. If they wish they may establish a satellite link-up to myself and we can discuss this." He turned to face the General and the Defense Ministry Commanders, "Until then tell your men to stay put."

"Yes, sir." General Turan responded and President Gramal turned to look out the window again, hoping that they will need their assistance.

The battle of Tolnedra was over.

Not a single Yrubdarb citizen remained alive within the ruined shell that the city had become. The fighting had been very savage, with individual buildings being held by small groups of yrubdarb soldiers until they were overun and slaughtered. Towards the end of the battle, the Yrubdarb government had used all of their available helicopters to evacuate children from the fortified zone before the Namitnef army broke in.

Those citizens old enought to fire a weapon had stayed and fought against the unstopable tide until the very end, dying with their guns still cradled in their arms.

The once beautiful city was now unrecognisable - A terrible maze filled with rubble, twisted metal and the burned out shells of buildings. The streets were filled with the dead of both sides and smoke rose gently from the ruins, forming a grey pall high above the city.

The Namitnef army was now camped in the ruins of the fortified zone, under constant air attack from the Riverlands and Yrubdarb airforces. The supply routes were being severly harrased by enemy action, so food was scarce and air cover from the Namitnef airforce was verging on the non-existant. despite this, the Namitnef army would soon leave Tolnedra and begin the advance towards the Yrubdarb capital.

The war was far from over...

OOC: Ok. Im going to Yorkshire with my family for a couple of days, and I won't have internet access, so this will be my last post for a while. Yrubdarb - i'm relying on you to keep this thing going while i'm away :) (please don't do anything too drastic, cos i wont be able to respond...)

Have fun.

Defense Minister Drab ran through the capital building as fast as he could. He had in his hand a folder with "TOP SECRET" stamped in red on the outside of it. He sprinted up the stairs and burst into the Oval Office where the President sat huddled over papers sent by Congress and surrounded by his cabinet.

"Mr. President!" Drab tried to catch his breath and leaned against the president's desk as everyone in the entire room was staring at him.

"Calm down Drab. Tell me what's got you in such a bustle." Victor looked at Drab and handed the man a glass of water from a glass pitcher on his desk.

Drab drank the water and slammed the folder onto the president's desk,"Tolnedra has fallen to Namitnef forces. The whole city is in ruins. Everyone of the Yrubdarbians died but the children."

A loud,abrupt roar of loud shouts and concerns filled the room as the president stared down at the pictures of the satellite recon that was embedded in the folder.

"Be quiet!", President Gramal stood over the pictures and looked at his cabinet,"Gentlemen, Tolnedra has fallen and Yrubdarb is in bad shape. But so is the Namitnef army. The Riverlands' air force and the Yrubdarb air force are still bombarding them from above. They'll advance but slowly. Their supply lines are shot. I need options." He sat back down and the members of the cabinet settled and began to think on what to do.

"Mr. President," Drab had caught his breath and was standing in front of Victor's desk,"I have an option."

Victor looked up at him and said," Go on, Drab. I'm listening."

Drab cleared his throat. We have sent 100 planes to the Omega base that our force protects. Plus, the three bombers that carry our plasma bombs still sit, unused, at the base's hanger. Our pilots are ready. But the thing is: Will Yrubdarb let us use them? Those are powerful weapons. It can destroy most of the opposition in the city. But that is a thought, not an option. We have our F-29 Rapier Class fighter-bombers landed at Omega base. We send them in, armed with 1,000 lb. bombs, and scare out the Namitnef army. With this the Yrubdarb and the Riverland's forces can do what they want with them. There's one problem."

Gramal sat upright in his chair and looked at Drab dead faced,"What's the problem, Drab?"

Drab stared back at the president,"It will level the city. 25 Rapier's loaded to the teeth with the "Daisy Cutter" or "Big Blue" bombs will destroy the city. That's 25,000 lbs. worth of bombs. Enough to level the capital and the surrounding area 12 times over."

President Gramal leaned back in his chair and exhaled heavily,"Call a meeting of the Military Council and Defense Ministry. Then ask Yrubdarb to set a meeting with us to determine what needs to be done. But, in the meantime, send 10 ammunition ships to the naval base being used by the Riverlands' They need the firepower. Also, send them 100 of our new M-2c Patton tanks as a gift for them. Send engineers to teach them how to drive the tanks and also 100,000 rounds of ammunition for the tanks. This will help them majorly. Make sure to set up a convoy. We don't want Namitnef to be able to get ahold of these weapons. Plus, send a satelite message to both The Riverlands and Yrubdarb. Ask them to send ambassadors to visit our nation as a sign of our good will."

The orders were given, the meeting adjourned and President Victor Gramal thought to himself,"What have we gotten into?"

OOC:

Firstly, I would like to apologise to all concerned for the time it has taken since my last post. Due to internet problems etc, I was unable to particpate. However, all is now well. On with the show I believe. And lets try and wrap this up.

One other thing. Gramal, I am happy to allow your continuation in this. I am glad you and Namitnef straightened things out. However, I am choosing to overlook you plasma bomb. As a physicist, I am afraid my mind hiccuped at your mention of it. Lets stay modern tech shall we? Thank you.

IC:

Karab was being bombarded by information. He turned to the many secretaries.

"OK. Tell Gramal he is fine to bomb the city. Lets give those Namitnefians hell. Send a message to the Riverlands troops at Frank Burton. See if he is ready to move some land troops forward. We may need his hekp taking the city."

The secretaries saluted and whizzed off.

Karab took a sip of his tea and waited for some replies.

(OOC: I want to draw this back together before we continue. Riverlands, you still there?)

Defense Minister Drab ran towards the President's office in the Capital Building and burst through the doors with the Joint Cheifs and the Defense Ministry still in their chairs.

"Mr. President! Yrubdarb has given us permission to bomb the city!" Drab caught his breath as soon as he let out that sentence.

"Alright. Let's get to the Command Center." Gramal started off and his staff followe dirhgt behind him. Gramal had waited this moment and began to follow through ith what has been planned.

Ten minutes later the convoy of black SUV's came through the gate of the Defense Ministry Command Center and sped towards the massive underground building.

The President and his staff were all packed into an elevator which led twelve stories below the upper level.

Victor paced towards the door and laid his hand on a palm identification pad and a voice chimed,"Access Granted. Welcome Mr. President"

"Alright. Let's get to business. Get me Turan and Colonel Drab." Minutes later two screens came online overhead.

"Sir?" They both chimed completely at the same time and Gramal smiled.

"Gentlemen. We have been given permission to bombard the city of Tolnedra. Turan send your F-14's and F-18 Super Hornet's on a bombardment mission of the city at once. Colonel Drab. Good to see you son. Take out the plasma bombs and load some Daisy Cutters. Load yourselves full. Those B-142's will pack a punch. Oh and Turan. General Alexander Yard will be arriving soon with a batallion of helicopters that will need refueling. Those Apache's will come in handy once those tanks get out of that city. A-10's are being dispatched also to the base. Tell the Riverlands' General that all of our forces are now under Yard's command."

"Yes, sir!" They both again chimed together and the screens blanked off.

"I want permanent surveillance of that city Drab. Gentlemen, let's kick some Namitnef ass."



0600 hours-Omega Base: T-2 hours to operation "Tolndera Purge"

Colonel Drab sat at his command center near the hanger where his planes were stored. Three planes were given to him over a week ago. Now he was able to use them. He was given total command of the Gramal Air Force. The recent visit of the President's face on the screen had given him hope there would be an end to this.

"Colonel?" Captain Gramal stepped through the doorway, "Sir, We're ready for laucnh preparations and briefing."

"Very good Captain. Very good indeed." Drab got up and walked otu of the door with Gramal close at hand.

His squad sat at a table that surrounded the center of the hanger. Six men, and all of them were ready for a fight.

"Men, we get to kick some Namitnef ass. The mission objective is the city of Tolnedra. The Riverlands' cruise missle and air raids have been successful in halting the army's advance further outside of the city. All civilians have been evacuated and we're to either level or severely damage the city. We're not using the plasma's. Our planes will be outfitted with "Daisy Cutter" 2,500 lb. bombs. We're in coordination with Admiral Turan. At this moment Turan is sending F-14's and F-18's to blow the hell out of them. Alright men. Any questions?"

They were silent and Drab exhaled slowly,"This is our first time boys. Some of you may not come back. I may not come back. But in the event that does happen. Just know, that God is with you. When you see the Pearly Gates, make sure you take a good look. Because behind you is all of your suffering. God speed to you all."

A massive scuttle of chairs and tables being moved filled the hanger as the men climbed into their planes and took their positions. They were taxied out ontot he runway and took off into the morning skylight.


0800 hours-War Room aboard the RGS Carrier Furuk

"Alright. Scramble the fighters. Once Drab's men have done their jobs then we move in. I want that city leveled if possible but saved at the most. Arm those boys to the teeth. We'll give them hell!" Admiral Turan shouted as he stood watch over the screen of operations.

On the flight deck, planes were being loaded, launched and brought up to the flight deck as operation Tolnedra Purge began. It was to be a morning of bloodshed. And Gramal's finest were sure to give them hell.



1000 hours-Gramal Ammo Convoy: 5 days from Riverlands' forces

"Alright steady as she goes." Commander Terry Clark was in charge of this detail. He was a seasoned veteran and loved the smell of war.

This was no ordinary convoy. Tanks, ammo, helicopters, and 10,000 troops were beng sent to help out the Riverlands with their operations. For soon, war would erupt a nation willing to fight for another's freedom. President Gramal hopes that even though he has sent many men to Yrubdarb's cause that the amount of lives lost will not be staggering, as to cripple him and his nation.

HTRMS Valiant, just off the coast of Yrubdarb

The flag of The Riverlands fluttered atop the mighty battleship. Likewise, it fluttered atop all the ships in the fleet.

Above the ships, fighters and strike aircraft from the navy sped towards the sky, taking off in regular intervals. Each plane carried a lethal load of bombs and missiles.

In Yrubdarb itself, four airfields were hives of activity. fighters, strike aircraft and heavy bombers were being prepared for action. In a strike coordinated with those of Gramal's air forces, Namitnef troops would be hit hard.

At night, cruise missiles were used to hit selected targets in Namitnef. During the day, their troops in Yrubdarb were hit by air force and navy planes. Nevertheless, the Namitnef troops still showed no sign of giving up and anti-aircraft fire was still causing casualties. Fortunately, the Namitnef air force was now no longer a real threat. That was at least a partial victory and one which might prove very important in the future...

Troops from the army and the marine corps were now near the front, being supplied with ammo and fuel. Soldiers and officers worked hard to prepare for battle. Soon, it would be their turn...

[code:1:9c6cb841ee]
From: General Grejer
To: Karab Locke and the Gramal Ministry of Defense

We have prepared a plan for a ground assault. After completing a air campaign, we would like to cross into enemy held territory, move directly accross their lines of communications and attack them in the rear. We would like all available forces from Gramal to be placed under our command or a joint command, whichever suits Gramal best.

We propose to commence these operations by deploying our paratroops and rapid depoloyment force. Those will capture key positions along the enemy's line of communications. Ground forces will then proceed to secure those locations ASAP. As soon as that is completed, they will turn east towards the main body of the enemy's invasion army.

Succes of our plan is depending on the following:

1) Complete air superiority, which I believe we have right now
2) The element of surprise, otherwise the para drops will most likely NOT succeed.
3) The ability of our combined airforces to prevent Namitnef from sending reinforcements from Namitnef into Yrubdarb.

We would like to hear your comments on this plan. We will be ready to proceed with this attack withing the next few days, but we assume it will take slightly longer for Gramal to bring up sufficient reinforcements, so we feel it is best to commence operations at dawn ten days from now.
[/code:1:9c6cb841ee]

<OOC>
I was away for the weekend and have serious trouble getting onto the forum... Sorry about that...
</OOC>

A teletype writer was buzzing as fast as possible in the underground bunker beneath the Gramal Defense Ministry. The Riverlands has called for support. A soldier rushed towards the President and handed him the paper.

"Drab. Gear up the armed forces. In addition to the 10,000 men we're sending now, send an additional 20,000 on C-135's. Make as many trips as possible. That'll give us some presence. Also reply to the Riverlands Command that they will be given joint command of our forces but must give us all details of operations. Let's make this happen." Victor sat down in his chair and took his glasses off. He rubbed the place where the nose pieces had been sitting. Two days without sleep or any rest of any kind. It felt good to sit down.

"Mr. President. The coordinates for the airbase for the Yrubdarb and the Riverlands envoy is prepared. We'll be able to recieve them once they enter our airspace." The sergeant saluted and stepped off.

"Drab. Relay these coordinates to the envoy. Have support fighters meet them at our airspace border and I want high security when they land. Bring them straight here. No stops. I want this done right. Oh and Drab. Keep this hush-hush. The press gets out that we have foreigners in this country this will be a media frenzy." Victor looked at the man who seemed to be as about worse off as himself.

"Get some sleep Drab," he smiled, "you look horrible."

1200 hours-Yrubdarb and Riverlands Envoy: 3 Hours outside Gramal


"Commander, we're recieving a message from the Gramal Defense Ministry. We're to proceed to an airbase near the capital city of Huron. They're sending coordinates now."

The Commander was a seasoned veteran from the Riverlands' and looked out over the sky. He felt awkward of going across the sea to a foreign country. But if it helped the war any, then he was all for it. "Very well Leiutenant. Set the flight path for the rendevous point."


1200 Hours-Omega Air Base deep inside Yrubdarb Territtory

A massive roar of A-10's was heard over Omega Base. Twelve of them landed and were taxied to a hanger near the rest of the Gramal Marine Core. Division 182 was already used to seeing these things on their own territory but never on another country's soil.

Soon after the engines cut off a ladder was brought up to the lead Warthog and out stepped a massive man. Wearing his pilot's helmet still and brandishing a very high kill rating on the side of his plane. His tail read "Thunderhogs" GAF-47D which was the squadron he was over. He looked around and undid his helmet. It was General Alexander Yard. He had arrived to take control of the Gramal forces on the ground at the base. He looked around once more and breathed deep. "This place smells of death. Alright colonel unpack our gear."

Another tall, beast of a man stepped out from behind the wing of his plane and said "Yes, sir. Alright men you heard the General. Unpack and set up camp."

The colonel was no ordinary colonel. He was another of Defense Minsiter Drab's sons. His name was Colonel William Drab. He held himself high in the ranks and also outranked his brother who was on his way to decimate the Namitnef army.

General Yard, Colonel Drab and the rest of the squad made their way to the JOC to speak with the Riverlands' General. This was to be a meeting of ethical proportions. For now they were sure to put a hurt on the Namitnef Army.


OOC: Riverlands take the envoy's arrival from here. Also you may take control of the bombing mission that Colonel Drab is in command of. All up to you my friend.

OOC: I'm sorry but Gramal has to withdraw all of it's forces except for the 8,000 men guarding the base. All planes and naval craft will be withdrawn. I have a war to prevent and if the peace talks fail then i'll need all of ym forces. I'm sorry Yrubdarb. I hope that you and the Riverlands are successful. Good Luck.