NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.afwing.com/intro/redstar/Tu-26.jpg

On the runway, Captain Kovonik prepared for the final systems check before takeoff. His co-pilot, Captain Bruschev looked onto the runway, contemplating how far this mission would take them.

"Well we have our orders...", he said..

"Yes" replied Kovonik.."we do.."

"How long do you reckon this mission will take?"

"I suppose around seven hours.. the targets around 2 thousand k's north east at sea.. as long as we don't get any interference from others its should be an in and out job..

Behind them, the aircrafts avionics officer and navigator, Lieutenant Korosov looked at his screens...

"Captain! We're ready at this end.."

"Fine.. let's roll"

With that the engines roared into life and the plane began its rapid run along the runway.....


(OOC:anyone got a ship I could sink by mistake or something that could get in the way of this exercise...)

OOC: I've been looking for an RP along these lines, how about a battleship?

IC:

http://www.kbismarck.com/scharnhorst1.jpg

The bow of the RNS Rapier cut through the waves as it pushed its engines during its trials on the open ocean, being a brand new ship, its IFF radio signature had not been given to her and all had been well except for the radar detection system and the hydraulics in the ship's Phalanx CIWS mounts. The problems was ignored however as the country wasn't eager to get its vessels into combat, M.O.D. wanted to take things slow from now on, make sure all the systems are perfect for when they need to.

OOC: cool.. I'm doing this while working.. so bear with me!

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/bomber/tu-22m-DNSN9009444_JPG.jpg

High above the ocean, the FAI-B1 Bloodstain cruised at 1,000 km/h.

Systems officer Korosov sat in front of his console, checking the target data for the cruise missle nestling under the bomber's fuselage... An old People's Navy warship had been designated as their target for the exercise. In total, six bombers from Long Range Aviation were taking part, three Bloodstains and three Bears, each carrying an AS-4 Kitchen cruise missle programmed to hit a target far at sea.

"Captain, we're nearing the launch position! Target is locked and nav position is two hundred miles from here. Warhead is activated. What are your orders??"


"OK Lieutenant. We'll turn towards the launch position. I guess the ETA will be around twenty minutes.. Prepare for launch.."

"Yes sir.."

Systems officer Korosov hailed the Captain via the intercom..

http://147.71.210.21/fm4480/chpt12/kitchen/96p01.gif


"Captain, we are in launch positionin foive minutes. Can I proceed??"

"Yes, Lieutenant. I'll cut speed for launching."

The planes engines howled as the throttle was cut and the speed brakes took hold.. the crew felt the g-force suck them back into their seats..

Korosov began the launch sequence..

"weapon primed.."

"Entering final launch code..."

"And we have launch"

Below the aircraft the missle cruised as the computer made contact with the LASCOM-1 GPS satellite.. the instant the connection was made, the rocket engine roared into life... in a few seconds it reached Mach 6 and sped towards its target 400km away..

"We have an affirmative launch Lieutenant.. turning back to base"

"Roger that Captain.. Missle is on tracjectory... its in the lap of the gods now"

On the bridge, Captain Hendricks stood overlooking the radar technician as he worked at the terminal.

"Any luck, seaman?" asked the captain.

"No Sir," he replied as he came out from underneath, "The circuitry in the terminal is shot... but that isn't the biggest problem, our long-range radar is inoperable, we won't know if an enemy is around until they're 25 kilometres away."

"Goddamnit, is there any way that we can--" At that moment the captain was cut off as the alarms began to sound, "What is that?"

"Sir, they appear to be missiles... at least six speeding towards us... much too close for the Seawolfs to be any use!"

"Well... get the Phalanx turrets up!" he replied quickly.

"Only one is operational, Sir, the other three mounts are still under repair."

"Activate it!"

And with that, the lone CIWS mount opened up at the missiles, it had managed to eliminate only a single missile as they streaked in. The other five impacted on the vessel.

The first slammed into the forward turret, blowing it wide open and leaving it a smoking hole in the bow. Two others hit the superstructure, one on the bridge and the other hitting the radar tower. The fourth and fifth missiles made contact with the hull very close to each other just above the waterline and punctured the armoured belt, water began to rush in as fires quickly spread.

The fifth missile had managed to puncture the hull, but it did not detonate until it had hit a bulkhead in the aft magazine. From that point on, it was over. Hundreds of 15 inch shells went off simultaneously, ripping apart the stern from the ship and filling the sky with a tower of black smoke which rose several throusand feet into the sky.

Long Range Aviation command..

General Prokayev paces up and down in his office...

How the hell did it happen...

He looked at the reconnaisance pictures again.. there it was, the wreck of another ship, some 20km away from the target..

strange, he mused, surely there had been no other vessels in the region. They had made sure of that.. Though admittedly the exercise had remained top secret, with only Lasatanian forces knowing of it..

He picked up the phone..

"Get me General Morosov.. we have a situation...!"

The ship listed badly to starboard as her stern began to sink into the waves, the surviving pieces of the ship after the aft magazine explosion had already gone under along with almost a third of the survival boats...

...there was no saving this one, the Rapier was doomed.

Captain Hendricks, along with most of the other officers had perished when the missile struck the bridge, but the crew didn't need them anymore... it was a moot point anyhow now it was only a matter of getting to a boat and off the dying beast.

Posts abandoned, tools and personal effects strewn over the floors and fires left to roam the vessel, the ship almost seemed as a ghost town if it weren't for the panic-striken crew running about, scrambling into life rafts. Many of the boats were left in their stocks, since so many had been killed when the weapons struck the ship, only a few score had managed to survive the attack and get to the boats.

The water boiled around where the uranium fuel rods of the ship's nuclear reactors of the engine room sank under the surface, luckily they had not been damaged in the attack but were expected to cause many environmental problems unless retrieved soon.

Korova. Office of the Marshal of the State


The Marshal, General Morosov and the Foreign minister, Komrade Molotov, sit at a dining table, discussing the recent purge of 'terrorists' following the assassination of former Party Chairman Wahler..

attacking a leg of turkey ferociously, Molotov spoke

"Well, in my opinion General, the Party has very much secured its grip on power again.. Any dissent is widely seen as an affront and ultimately a form of treachery against the nation.."

"Indeed, Komrade, but we must ensure that any traces of rebellion are crushed immediately.. I mean, for how long can we ensure the support of the party?? Surely they will demand a return to the old procedures and routines..."

"Fear not General! I have schemes underway as we speak, with my legal operatives look at how we can change the Party's constitution to ensure your position as Marshal of the State is untouchable.. though we may need to fill the Politburo with our own men, but some unexpected departures can take care of that!"

"Hmm... this is exactly why I kept you on board!! Always thinking two steps ahead of everyone else.. you'll make a good chairman Molotov!"

"I will??!"

"Yes, you will.."

At that instance a Clerk from the Chief of Staffs burst into the room..

"General!! I have bad news.. there has been an incident!"

"What is it??"

"It would appear that our recent air force exercise has went a bit wrong..."

"What do you mean??"

"We've sunk a ship..."

"But that was the whole idea..."

"Yes, it was.. but it's not ours.."

"Дерьмо!!!!"

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/row/rus/akula-DNSC9600520.JPG

****InterSat Message****

From: People's Navy Command/Neirstein

To: Captain Sternn, Komrade Illyenov

Start. Captain. Following orders are urgent. Proceed to location ****-****-**** (decode with SIGMA protocol). Examine area for wreckage. Report immediately to command with information concerning this location. Proceed to location at full speed. Do not. Repeat. Do not attempt to conceal position. Further orders will follow shortly. Stop

Sternn, a grizzly submarine veteran looked at the message again..

what the hell had those fly boys done this time...

http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/jsmccain.jpg

The emergency beacons on the life rafts rang out through all open military and civilian frequencies like a clarion call, the Aequatian destroyer RNS Archangel was the closest vessel and quickly changed course to retrieve the survivors.

At Central Command in Aequatio, the message came through from the Archangel...

RNS Rapier struck by ASM from unknown aircraft and/or submarines, aft magazine explosion at 1403, ship sunk at 1447. Few survivors, Archangel en route for retrieval.

"My God, Admiral, you may want to see this!" called the young lieutenant.

"What is it, son?" answered the white-haired admiral as he read over the text, he paused for a moment before turning to the young man that brought him his coffee, "Ensign, contact General Jenkins and the President... we have a situation here."

"Hell!", Sternn shouted, looking at the contact screen, "ensign what the heck is it??"

"Something that size?? A destroyer.. for sure.. I think their too busy with other things to be looking for us.. there's no active sonar in our direction.."

Sternn stood at the brig and thought for one second..

Behind him stood the ship's Kommissar, Komrade Protaken..

He whispered into the Captain's ear..

"Remember, you have your orders.. if you fail to carry them out you will be subject to summary discipline.. We are not to hide our position, we are here to search.."

With that, Sternn turned round like an eel in a bucket and landed a square punch on Protaken's nose.. a hand which had seen twenty year's of turning a ship's wheel left an impression on that nose, which soon sprayed the bridge red with fresh blood..

He fell and a swift kick to the jaw soon followed..

Sternn stood over the Kommissar...

"Damn you to hell! I am never going to risk my ship's crew because of your damn Party..."

The Kommissar moved to draw his gun...

<click>

Lieutenant Kosovana placed the pistol squarely at the back of the Kommissar's neck..

"one wrong word, one wrong move and I swear I'll paint these walls with your brains.. understand..."

"yes.." said the Kommissar dropping his gun to the floor...

"Now captain.. I believe you have orders to give.."

"DIVE!!!"

President Schaeffer was in a meeting with General Jenkins when an aide walked in and informed both men of the sinking of the Rapier.

"How many survivors?" asked Schaeffer.

"Nothing exact yet, sir, but estimates put the numbers at 320 of the total 1660 ship's company." replied the aide reading from the report.

"Dear God..."

"Do we know who did it?" asked the general.

"Satellite photos show that a few aircraft were in missile range, however, we don't know the nation of origin," said the aide, "As well, there is the possibility that there may have been a submarine-launched missile."

"We need to get a flotilla of destroyers out there, snif out the area for submarines and a carrier should there be any more aircraft."

"All right, see that it's done, I have to make a statement to the people... let them know what's happened to their boys,' explained the president as he sent the general and the aide out of his office.

http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ddg-52-dvic142.jpg

The destroyer moved slowly towards a group of life rafts that banded together using rope, crew members of the vessel tossed lines to the survivors to tie to the rafts and rope ladders were thrown over the side for the crew to climb aboard. Hot food and coffee was available to the survivors, once they were below deck.

SH-60 helicopters circled the area, looking for more rafts and any wreckage that did not sink with the rest of the warship.

---

President Schaeffer walked up to the podium set up in the Presidential Gardens, flash bulbs went off as he began his speech:

"My fellow Aequatians, today is a dark day for our young boys serving in our Navy. I was just informed that earlier this afternoon that the battleship, RNS Rapier, was struck by five missiles and sunk soon after its rear ammunition magazine exploded.

Losses have been staggering, only 324 of 1660 survived the tragedy, our only saving grace is that those that died... *short pause* ...did not suffer. The destroyer RNS Archangel has been dispatched to retrieve our boys from the ocean.

As of this moment, I have called that a carrier task force be mobilized to the area in response to this attack to hunt down those responsible. Thank you and good evening."

Sternn sat in his cramped quarters looking at the map.. how the hell he was going to get out of this he didn't know... firstly there was the fact that he had effectively mutinied.. the body of the Kommissar in the torpedo tube bore witness to this.. though perhaps that could be explained.. but disobeying a direct order from command was a different matter...

Kosovana knocked on the door

"Captain.."

"Come in.."

"Matters appear to have taken a turn for the worse... our sonar has picked up a large fleet approaching at some speed.... someone may well know we're here..."

At this the Sternn lept to his feet...


"Dammit... here we are stuck in the middle of nowhere.. up to our necks in Дерьмо and the only way out as far as I can see is through a trough that can barely accomodate an eel.. let alone a ship this size!! Give me strength... any word back from command??"

"None yet.. though the crew seem a little disturbed by the 'removal' of the Kommissar.."

"Well.. it had to happen some time... what other options do we have??"

"Firstly, we could surface and surrender... or secondly, we could try your escape route.."

"Hmm... I think the latter may be our best chance.. to the bridge!"

"Yes sir!"

Task Force Valiant steamed towards the position of the Archangel, the carrier and its escort of both a battleship and a flotilla of destroyers were cleaned and ready for operations against an enemy. Guns loaded, planes fueled and missiles ready, this was a force to be reckoned with.

---

The destroyer had picked up the last of the survivors in the surrounding area, the SH-60 Sea Hawks returned to the destroyer and were prepared for anti-submarine operations. The helicopters took off again and began to drop sonobuoys into the water around a perimeter of the vessel. The Archangel dropped its towed sonar into the water and began to run a course to search for submarines as its helicopters kept in the air, armed with torpedoes.

Lieutenant Kirkpatrick, commander of the Archangel, stood on the deck and said to himself, "If they're down there... we'll find those bastards."

http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ddg-72-mahan4.jpg

The bridge was tense to say the least..

Ensign Mahlevich stared at the sonar display..

"Captain! we're getting pings left right and centre.. they're trying their damndest to find us.."

"Ach! This is all we need...", Sternn scanned the bridge for any sign of weakness among his men..

Well this is it, he thought, we cornered!

He looked again at the map.. that trough could provide a way out.. but he needed a diversion.. then he remembered.. the Kommissar!

"Kosovana!"

"Yes captain!"

"That Kommissar, he's still in the tube I take it..?"

"He was the last time we checked.."

"Good... I think he might just provide us with a way out of here alive.. go the armoury... fast.. and get an emergency transmitter... NOW!!"

Lieutenant Kirkpatrick returned to the bridge after tossing his cigarette into the rushing water as the ship continued its search. An ensign walked over to the lieutenant as he entered, "Sir, the Valiant is sending its ASW forces along with a fighter escort ahead to aid our search, since the task force won't get here for a few hours longer."

"All right, what are they sending?" asked Kirkpatrick.

"A P-3 Orion, an E-2 Hawkeye and four F-35 strike fighters." answered the ensign, "They shall be here shortly to aid our helicopters."

"Excellent, make sure they know the perimeter we've set up, if they're down there, we'll get them before they can escape."

At the fore of the sub Sternn and Kosovana moved towards the tubes..

"Captain.. this is madness.. should they recover his body, they're sure to realise he was killed by someone rather than drowning as we claim he did..."

"Fear not, I know they will find that but I will say that the damage was then when we shot his body out of the tube for his burial at sea.. asides, given the situation we're in, I'm sure one Kommissar isn't going to come in the way of preventing an outbreak of war.."

"very well, let's get this tracer attached to him and lay him to rest.."

to rest, I'd rather he was in hellmused Sternn...

Five minutes later the body of the Mommissar shot out at speed, the transmitter already screaming white noise over all frequencys..

On the bridge the crew prepared to dive further into the trough...

"On my order.."growled Sternn, watching the sonar display light up like a christmas tree as the transmitter came alive..

"DIVE!!"

In his office, Marshal of the State, General Morosov took all reports on board..

"So how the hell can we lose a sub Admiral!!"

"I honestly don't know.. we gave orders for them to proceed in the open.. perhaps they got scared.. I can't get through to the Kommissar on board the ship and there appears to be a lot of ECM in the area, our signals bouncing of the surface...", replied an ashen faced Admiral Korsikov..

"Well get your damn planes in the sky and find out what the hell is going on..!!"

"Yes sir!"

****


http://www.planestv.com/images/planestv/bear.jpg
After reading the message, Prokayev realised he could perhaps make ammends for the earlier error..

He checked the standby status of his squadrons and then picked up the phone..

"Put me through to central command, Naval Recon..!"

20 minutes later a Bear took off, headed for the last known position of the Komrade Illyenov..

"Sir! We've got a live one! Grid 180, at about 50 metres!" exclaimed the ensign at the sonar screen.

"Have the choppers drop their torpedoes, they should be able to make it surface for when the other aircraft arrive,' ordered the lieutenant.

The two Sea Hawks converged on the position and immediately dropped their torpedoes straight down into the water. If it was there, those torpedoes were going to find it.

"YES!!" Sternn cried..

The ensign stared at his screen, shocked.. a whole fleet chasing after a corpse..

"How long to we have lieutenant??"

"About five minutes captain!"

"OK, pilot - full speed ahead, bearing 90 by 25... they say you can't pass a camel through the eye of a needle but I'll die trying!"

"What!?" screamed Lieutenant Kirkpatrick.

"A corpse, Sir, it had a transmitter attached to it. The Sea Hawks pulled it from the water where we believed the submarine was." replied the ensign.

"Well if a corpse rose from 50 metres, then the submarine hasn't gotten too far, keep that Orion in the air, we'll get those bastards for making us look like fools," explained the lieutenant.

By then, five S-3 Viking aircraft and four more F-35 fighters from the carrier Valiant had joined the search along with the others. The Archangel was still the only vessel in the immediate area and continued to search for the submarine.

"Ensign, is there anywhere that our sonobouys cannot monitor?" asked Kirkpatrick.

"Yes Sir, just one... seems to be a trench, pretty deep and signals are obscured within it."

"Then they're in there."

"How can you be sure, Sir?"

"If I was trying to run from a fleet, that's exactly where I'd be," said the lieutenant, "Rearm the helicopters to drop more sonobouys along the trench... at some point it'll end and they'll have to rise, that's when we'll get them."

"Aye Sir, informing the rest of the fleet of our plan."

"This time we'll get them," thought the lieutenant as he walked out onto deck for a cigarette.

The situation was getting worse... reconnaisance had shown an unidentified fleet at the submarines last known location.. Morosov had almost throttled the Admiral at the news...

Now he was facing an international incident at a time when it was the last thing they needed..

Morosov turned to Molotov...

"... and how far away is our expeditionary fleet from here..."

"About two days away.."

"Дерьмо!!!"

"We're running out of options fast.. We must do something..."

"OK, OK!! Are you sure there's nothing around that area we could use to get out of this situation.."

"There's one Typhoon twenty miles away but its low and deep.. plus we really don't want to use an SLBM sub to rescue a patrol sub do we..."

"What the hell is that fool doing on that ship.. that's what I want to know!!"

"Well, I had LasIntel check his records and it would appear that he is a bit of a maverick.."

"Maverick... he'll be shot damn it!"


"General.. I don't mean to rush you.. but we are losing time here... we need to do something and fast..."

"DAmn.. let me think... "

"Ok.. I'll have LasIntel check all international broadcasts for any news concerning this.. maybe something will turn up.."

"Maybe it will or maybe we're damned..."

Task Force Valiant had reached the Archangel's position, the carrier stayed back as the flotilla took up a defensive position as the carrier aircraft prepared for launch against hostile aircraft. The task force's battleship, the RNS Inflexible had moved ahead to support the Archangel in hunting the submarine. The sky was filled with Aequatian aircraft, mostly fighters providing security as the sub-hunters did their grim business of finding the enemy submarine and eliminating it.

---

The body discovered in the water was taken aboard the destroyer and brought to the ship's doctor for an autopsy. The insignia on the tattered uniform was studied and photographs of both the body and uniform were transmitted to CentCom and Bomfy Manor (OOC: President's residence). Soon it would be known who was responsible for the tragedy...

The bridge was bathed in the red glow of the emergency lights.

Sternn looked at the screens, the situation was going from bad to worse..

The pilot shouted, "Captain, we almost scraping the ravine here.."

"I KNOW! DAMN IT! I KNOW!!"

The crew all looked at the Captain.. there was little to do but to try and keep running..

"What's the last contact?"

The sonar officer replied "fifty meters"..

"OK.. set mines.."

"What?!?!" replied Lieutenant Kosovana

"Well, its the only thing we can do isn't it.. if we can drop a couple of mines behind us it might just take them by surprise.. Weapons officers, have the fuses set at 2 minutes.."

"But captain.. that might take us with it"

"I KNOW LIEUTENANT! I KNOW!"

"Very well sir.."

Sweat poured down Sternn's brow.. this was tough.. this was too tough he thought..

"Mine's ready cap'n" called the weapons officer..

"release them now.."

"Sir, contact... it doesn't look like a submarine, just small signals," said the ensign at the sonar terminal.

"small signals..." Lieutenant Kirkpatrick thought for a minute then came to a realization, "Those are mines! Ensign, change course, do anything you can to move off this course and avoid those mines!"

"Aye Sir!"

The ship leaned sharply to port as the Archangel moved to avoid the mines released, the helicopters had finished dropping their buoys and were returning to the destroyer.

The lieutenant walked over to the comms terminal:

"Hawkeye one, this is Archangel, come in..."

http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/E2_Bank.jpg
"Archangel, this is Hawkeye one, over."

"Hawkeye one, inform ASW aircraft to hit the following spots between grid 238 and 249, drop torpedoes every 15 metres."

"Affirmative Archangel, Hawkeye one out."

And with that, the P-3 Orion and the wing of S-3 Vikings began to drop torpedoes into the water along the predicted course of the enemy submarine through the trench.

http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/s-3-dvic260.jpg

http://www.globalaircraft.org/photos/planephotos/tu-95_4.jpg

High above the sea, flight lieutenant Tupovich contacted control

"Control.. We have positive ID on a fleet nearby.. fighters are vectoring towards our position.. heading back now!!"

The sonar officer spoke quickly to the Captain

"Sir, mines have been detonated.."

What next, though Sternn.. perhaps the only thing to do know was to dump the ballast and make an emergency rise, right in the middle of the fleet! But he couldn't let his sub fall into enemy hands..

"Kosovana!"

"Yes sir.."

"I think its time we took her down as far as she'll go and try and sweat it out.."

"ALL HANDS!!"

"Pilot, cut engines and take her down"

"Sir!"

Silence took over the ship, the sound of the men's breath all that could be heard..

Two F-35 fighters broke off from their escort duties and banked to intercept the incoming Bear recon aircraft.

"Valiant, this is Eagle one, radar contact with bogey, suggest action?"

"Eagle one, bogey is changing course and withdrawing... you are ordered to engage and eliminate, over."

"Affirmative Valiant, Eagle one out."

The two fighters lit their afterburners and sped after the plane.

Tupovich knew the drill... his co-pilot had barely uttered the wrods and he knew time was running out..

"Okay people.. this is it.. two intercepts closing fast.. Command have told me there's nothing to escort us for at least twenty minutes... so hold on..."

With that he pushed the aging bombers nose down, the vibrations shook the plane, the crew everything.. he felt as if he would throw up with the force but it was the only option... the speedo was closing in on Mach 1, Vmax was nearby...

Nothing was making sense any more..

It seemed to take an eternity... from the first lock warning to the impact.. 25,000ft above the ocean the missle slammed into the rear of the TU-95.. seconds later it was hurtling at great speed towards the sea..

Tupovich let go of the controls.. it was useless.. this bird was downed.. flames licked the back of the fuselage.. the other crew members were gone.. to where he had no idea.. time to jump.. he smashed the emergency hatch open, an leapt.. down towards the sea.. behind him the bomber hurtled downwards, beginning to spin wildly like a leaf in the breeze as it headed towards its watery grave..

The pilot of the first F-35 looked over towards the bomber as both fighters burst through the clouds, "Eagle two, keep formation tight, engage with Sidewinders then break off to return to Valiant."

"Roger that Eagle one, arming Sidewinders, out."

Both fighters released two missiles each at the old Bear aircraft before breaking off and heading back towards the carrier, the four missiles streaked towards the bomber leaving behind them a trail of white smoke.

---

"Sir, I'm not reading anything from the trench, either we killed them or they've gone too low for us to detect them," explained the ensign.

"Blast, there's no way to know for sure either way, is there?" replied Lieutenant Kirkpatrick.

"Only way to be sure is to send one of our own submarines down there, and the closest is a day's travel away."

"Damnation! Keep those bird in the air unles they need fuel or rearming, I want them looking for anything from that sub," ordered the lieutenant.

---

Intelligence officers working in CentCom were busy looking over the photographs of the uniform, trying to determine the country of origin.

OOC: Got to call it quits for today.. shall we continue Monday say??

IC: Deep in the trench, Sternn stared at the screen.. above him sat enough firepower to sink him several times over.. the men sat looking at their screens, hard in thought... no-one dare speak... the hum of motors reverberated through the hull...

well..., though Sternn, we'll soon see just how good this sub is built...

OOC: Sorry for the long delay, spent the weekend away from my computer.

IC:

Aboard the Archangel, Lieutenant Kirkpatrick stood overlooking the water, "I know you're down there, and I'll get you!" he thought before he turned and entered the bridge.

"Sir, we have either destroyed the sub or they're sitting on the ocean floor," said the ensign, "Our choices are to leave 'em be or drop enough ordinance to make another trench down there."

"What if we send them a message?"

"How do you plan on that, Sir?"

"We use the ship's bow hammer for use against acoustic mines to send a message in Morse code, they'll hear it and hopefully someone down there will understand the message," explained the lieutenant, "Let them know that we just want to talk... if they surface, they will not be harmed."

"Aye Sir!"

The ship's engineers toyed with the electric hammer and managed to set it up to tap in Morse code, the message was typed into the computer, the message was transmitted through the water and set to repeat itself:

Unidentified sub...

Have recovered dead officer...

Come to surface, you will not be fired upon...

You have 90 minutes to reply.

Korova. Chief of staffs headquarter.

Assembled are Marshal of the State Morosov, Foreign Minister Molotov, Head of the People's navy, Admiral Korsikov and Head of the Lasatanian Air Force, Marshal Tulovyet.

Morosov: "Well.. Gentlemen, it would sseem we have quite a siutation on our hands... We're missing a sub, one of our bears has been downed in the middle of nowhere... is there anything else to add to this debacle.."

Molotov: "Not yet General... though we have still to have any response from the Sub, nor have we found any radio traffic that we can identify concerning it..."

Morosov: "Well. what are our options..."

Koriskov: "Sir, the expeditionary fleet is around 200 miles north of the sub's last position, but given the data we received from the Bear before it went down.... let's just say we're looking to spark an international incident beyond that which we can contain should we go in all guns blazing.."

Morosov: "And the airforce??"

Tulovyet: "Sir, we are ready, at two hours notice to launch a massive strike agagainst the foreign fleet, though given the error that caused this incident, we would need to ensure visual contact before we launch any weapons.."

Morosov: "Hmmmm... although there is one other alternative... we sink the sub..."

Molotov: "But how..."

Morosov: "We wait for it to surface... have we tried the LASDEF channel yet??"

Moltov: "No sir.. but that as you know is reserved only for nuclear exchange traffic"

Morosov: " I am fully aware of that... ok.. do it.. "


Tulovyet: "Sir. May I suggest we put contingency plan Jonah into play..?"

Morosov: "OK, give me the details"

Tulovyet: "Sir, the plan is used to search out and find any subs that pose an immediate threat to our national security.. However, we can easily adapt this to suit our aims.. as long as Sternn doesn't surface too early.."

Morosov: "And.."

Tulovyet: Firstly we put up two to three Moss anti-sub aircraft, two Bear Js for sub communications, a strike force of six Bloodstains will be on 20-minute standby.. we shall deploy Midas and Moss aircraft for AWACs and refuelling.. Additionally, we shall deploy a squadron of TU-128 Fiddlers for long range patrols, they may not be effective close up but their long range AAMs will be sufficient to divert any threats to our recon and anti-sub aircraft. Secondly, given the range of the expeditionary fleet to the incident, we can suitably deploy two squadrons of Fullbacks from the carrier there... all in, we can cover the skies..."

Morosov: "Sounds good... what about a Long Range strike option, in case we do start an international incident..."

Tulovyet: "Well sir, we have a squadron of Blackjacks on 60-minute standby as per our defence protocol.. We can put them on immediate launch standby... within the next twenty minutes.."

Morosov: "Good.. now what about the navy.."

Koriskov: "Sir.. the fleet is best to remain at around 100km from the sit.. though we do have two Akula subs from the fleet within 100 km of the site.. There's also the Typhoon that's lying deep, 50km away... we could use that to create a diversion..."

Molotov: "Yes we could, but for goodness sake, a Typhoon! Imagine the outcry, an SLBM carrying sub found in foreign waters.. leave it be.. it's bad enough having a nuclear patrol sub under this pressure, let alone an integral part of our nuclear forces..."

Morosov: "Indeed... leave it there for now.. we'll bear it in mind.."

Molotov: "A wise decision General"

Morosov: "Thank you... Gentleman.. proceed as planned.."

All in unison.."Yes sir!"

*******************************

Deep in the trench, Sternn heard the tapping.. MORSE... damnit... they knw their stuff.. He turned to the signals officer:

"You! get to the aft listening post and translate that message! NOW!!"

The officer ran out the bridge and towards the aft...

Sternn had already translated most of it in his head.. he didn't want anyone to know its meaning just yet.. a few minutes could buy him more time..
time to figure a way out...

President Schaeffer walked through the marble lobby of the Ministry of Defense building, he was greeted by an aide who guided him to the board room where his highest ranking generals and advisors were waiting for him. He sat at the head of the table and looked around the room, catching the gaze of every man seated around the dark table, "Tell me good news, people!"

General Jenkins spoke up, "Well, Sir, our task force has cornered the enemy sub suspected of sinking the Rapier, it's only a matter of time before they finally get them to surface and surrender."

Admiral Donaldson sat forward, paper in hand, "Sir, a pair of Navy F-35 fighters from the Valiant detected and eliminated a Bear bomber aircraft, believed to be long-range reconnaissance."

"What about the body that was found in the water?" asked the president.

"Intelligence has figured out the nation of origin that the uniform is from, but we are not entirely certain that the body is from that same nation," explained Jenkins.

"What country is it from, general?"

"Lasatania, Sir, it's a naval commissar's uniform," said the general, somewhat nervous, "We believe that the sub's crew mutinied, killed the commanding officers and sunk our vessel."

"Well... have we contacted the Lasatanians?" asked Schaeffer.

"Not yet, Sir, we just found out about the uniform's identity."

"Send them a messsage, tell them we have their commissar."

"What about the country, Sir?" asked Jenkins, "Perhaps it may be best to monitor the nation's airfields, naval bases and ship movements... should the sinking of the Rapier be the opening shots of a future conflict?"

The president pondered this for a minute, "All right, make it so... if anything seems out of order within that nation... even a tank double parked wrong, I want to be informed of it."

"Yes Sir."

To: Marshal of the State Morosov, Lasatania
From: President Schaeffer, Aequatio

A body wearing the uniform of a naval commissar was discovered within the area
of a sunken battleship struck by anti-shipping missiles by either a submarine
or aircraft. As well, we are in pursuit of a submarine, from which we believe
the body came from.

We do not wish to assume that your nation is responsible for the destruction of
our vessel, but the discovery is most suspicious. We hope that you can help us
in shining some light on this situation.

tag, nice work guys.

****Telefax from LasIntel to Central Command LAF****

URGENT

Report of signals interception.

Unidentified signals traffic is taking place near the last known position of the Komrade Illyenov. Translations have given us locations of further fleet movements and alert status indications. We urge caution in this matter. Apparent deployment of enemy forces looks likely. However, encryption of messages has meanted limited translation is taking place. Note, full response as planned could prove dangerous. Instead suggest diplomatic response. Suggest broadcast on all channels..


****End of telefax****

Morosov pondered the message... It would take a brave decision to concede the error.. but then the nation was in peril otherwise.. the recent takeover of
power meant that a large percentage of the Army was still deployed on the streets... Perhaps it was time to think again..

Immediatley he picked up the phone

"Get me the Foreign Minister.."

Ten minutes later Molotov appeared...

"You called General.."

"Yes. I've ordered a stand down of our forces.. Intel has warned us of something brewing..."

"I see..."

"Yes.. we must make a very PUBLIC announcement of an incident.. painting it in some way that we can somehow diffuse this situation without resorting to force.."

"Sir."

"Have InterLas broadcast an announcement, appealing for an international reponse.."

"Sir."

"Also... raise that Typhoon... its perhaps our only chance to get our sub out of range..."

"Sir.."

*******

****TeleSat message from Chief of Staffs to Captain Proketkin, Komrade Burkov****

Urgent order. Stop.

Protocol Red Flag initiated. Raise vessel immediatley. Fly flag of rescue on bridge immediatley. Proceed to location ****-****-**** (SIGMA) immediately. Use active sonar and reveal location from start. Stop.

Message from Foreign ministry to follow. Broadcast message on all channels and all known frequencies. Stop

Time is short. Proceed at full speed. Stop

**** End of message****

Proketkin mused over the orders.. what the hell was the Party thinking... revealing to the fact that the nation was equipped with SLBM subs.. let alone the fact that a surface fleet had cornered one of its patrol subs.. We'll be taken for fools, dammit, he thought

Orders were orders though..

"Crew.. prepare to surface.. Signals.. start active sonar, track all movements and broadcast the attached message on all channels.. Lieutenant Yetserin, escort me to the conning tower... "


*********

****Message from Lasatanian Foreign Ministry to All Nations****

Following a military exercise taking place at an undisclosed location, a military build up has taken place. We assume responsiblity for all casualties that have taken place during the incident. One of our submarines has been despatched to the site to make contact with the foreign fleet. We urge restraint in this matter. However, any form of agression against our forces in the area will be responded to in kind.

****END OF MESSAGE***

Morosov paced up and down in his office... no reply yet... He looked at the map.. the build up was of grave concern..

That instant a clerk entered the room..

"Sir we have a message!"

"From whom..."

"President Schaeffer, Aequatio.."

Morosov pored over the message for several minutes...

"Hmm... we have not made contact with this nation before... telefax a message immediately... Write this down.."

"Sir"
*****

****Telefax message to President Schaeffer, Aequatio****

**URGENT**

Following the accidental sinking of what we presume to be your vessel, we would like to call an urgent conference in order to diffuse the situation that has developed. We are currently trying to make urgent contact with a submarine that has disappeared in the region. This submarine has nothing to do with the sinking of the vessel but was ordered to search for survivors.. However, for some reason or another, the captain of this ship has disobeyed orders and run to groud. We have dispatched the submarine Komrade Burkov towards the site of the incident. The captain, Proketkin, has been given orders to co-operate fully with the commander of your force in the area. I pray that this message reaches you in time before another unfortunate incident takes place.

I am sure we can resolve this matter without resorting to unnecessary force

Marhsal of the State

General Morosov

****End of Telefax****




Follo

An aide burst into the board room, ran over to General Jenkins and handed him a piece of paper, "Mr. President, the Lasatanians have sent us a reply to our message... they are taking responsibility for the sinking of the Rapier and have dispatched a submarine to the area to make contact with Task force Valiant."

"What else is in the message?" asked the president.

"It says that they have lost contact with one of their own submarines in the area and that it has nothing to do with the sinking of our vessel but that it was actually sent to aid us in the search for survivors." said the general as he read on.

"Hmm... I find that hard to swallow," Schaeffer thought outloud, "It must be a distraction... we meet with their sub... and the one that actually sunk our ship gets away and back home for tea and biscuits. Tell all vessels in the area to stand down and prepare to meet up with the Lasatanian sub... except for the Archangel, have her and her crew continue to track that other submarine," ordered Schaeffer, "Follow it back to its home port if you have to... just find it!"

"Yes Sir," replied the general.

---

The escort fighters, Vikings and the Orion all returned to the Valiant, each landing and began being prepared for storage below deck. Rear Admiral Kingsmere watched each of the aircraft come in before walking back onto the bridge. A young lieutenant signalled the admiral over to the communication console, "Sir, CentCom is ordering us to stand down and await contact with a Lasatanian sub which is en route to meet up with us."

"All right, order all vessels to stop and return to defensive positions around the Valiant..."

The admiral was cut off by the lieutenant, "Sir, they want the Archangel to continue its hunt, only the task force is to meet with the submarine."

"All right, have the flotilla and the Inflexible get into a tight defensive formation around the carrier," ordered Kingsmere as the bridge became buzzing with personnel, "Get those Vikings refueled, rearmed and ready to launch again... for all we know this could be a trap to sink this carrier and the rest of the task force!"

Proketkin scanned the horizon with his binoculars, the Burkov was making good speed in the calm waters..

His second-in-command, Lieutenant Yetserin, stood by him..

"Captain.. what if Sternn decides to go down in a blaze of glory.. it could get a lot worse.."

"Yes it could.. that's why I have these orders and the message to give to the fleet's captain.."

"And what are we to tell them.."

"Not as much as you or I know.."

"And if Sternn does strike??"

"We pray for our souls.."


******

Beneath the sea, Sternn looked at the signals from above...

Something was nearing the fleet... what the hell was going on... he had to know...

"Weapons officer!"

"Sir.."

"Switch on our active sonar... 2 second bursts... three minute interval.."

"Sir!"

"If its one of ours they'll pick it up.. if not, we're cornered.."

"Sir! The sub has turned on its active sonar, we've got them zeroed!" exclaimed the ensign.

"Order those birds to drop their torpedoes, blow that bastard up!" replied Kirkpatrick.

The SH-60 helicopters circled around the destroyer and moved in low over the water, they released their payload of torpedoes into the water, the weapons were set to home in on the source of the sonar signal.

http://cs21.net/skyphoto/helicopter/sh-60-1.jpg

****Telefax from Chief of Staffs to Central Command LAF/People's Navy High Command****

Due to sudden change in circumstances operation Jonah has been activated. All forces to follow orders as previously detailed. Target is now Aequation fleet at location previously specified. Note anti-sub aircraft no longer required for operation. Expeditionary fleet to move at full speed to location. Do not engage until ordered to do so.. Diplomatic channels opened until all options exhausted.. Further orders to follow..

****End of Telefax****

Throughout the chain of command the orders set hundreds of men into motion.. At LAF bases the strike force took off, six Bloodstain bombers moved towards the location, escorted by a squadron of Tu128 fighters. On board the carrier the Komrade Ilyich Yagarin, Fullback fighters took to the sky.. below the carrier, two Akula class submarines altered their course's and moved swiftly towards the location..


********

Korova. Office of the Marshal of the State.


Morosov: "Hell.. its all been blown out of the water now"

Molotov: "Yes... we have received an emergency signal from the sub.. appears the torpedo have caused massive damage to the rear hull. Watertight compartments are flooding.. men are in immediate danger.. the reactor appears safe but another strike would be incredibly dangerous.."

"OK.. it would appear they want to hurt us.. I suppose its time we gave them something to think about.. deploy the Red Hammer squadron.. NOW!!"

"But sir.. we would be giving away too much if we did that.."

"True... OK, place them on standby instead..."

<OOC: Red Hammer squadron is equipped with new LAS-B2 - Tu160 Blackjack copy..(yet to be announced..)>

"Sir, I would rather we kept diplomatic channels open.."

"Indeed, it may be the only chance we have.."

"Sir.."

"OK.. use LASDEF channel.. tell Sternn to rise.. NOW!"

"Sir"

"Also alert the Aequations to our movements.. have the Typhoon sink fast as well.. we can't place that at risk.."

"Sir.."


****

On board the Burkov men scrambled into their emergency diving positions. Proketkin may have only been a captain for two years but he had had a hard charge in control of this ship. Several missions deep into enemy waters had given him nerves of steel. A Party man to the last, he knew what it mean to obey all orders.


The pilot alerted the crew to the start of the dive,


"Ready. Ballast on board, nose at 30 degrees. Emergency Dive NOW!"

With that the whole ship lunged forward, men holding on for dear life as the sub plummeted downwards...


****

Sternn looked round the bridge... the sub had little chance now, water was coming on board fast.. the reactor was safe at least.. .now he had to make a decision that could change the course...

"ALL HANDS!! RAISE HER!!"

The young ensign looked at the sonar monitor and turned to the lieutenant, "Sir, the submarine is rising, we've got them now!"

Lieutenant Kirkpatrick looked over at his weapons officer, "Ensign, have the fiver ready should we need to fire at the sub, I want to be the first to fire if I have to end this here."

"Aye Sir!"

---

Schaeffer and his staff were brought to the war room at the Ministry of Defence, as soon as they entered an aide brought the president a report of the situation, General Jenkins spoke, "Sir, the Archangel's helicopters managed to hit the Lasatanian sub, it's rising to the surface. We'll have it soon."

"Good, but we've done more than that," said the president, "What have our satellites seen of their movements?"

"A fleet about 100km from our task force has launched a strike force of aircraft against our ships, we need to counter attack their force with our own fighters."

"Do we have any other ships in the area that could support our task force?"

"The closest vessels are the battlecruiser RNS Neptune and the fleet sub RNS Avallorn, however the former is at least half a day away from the task force and the latter is still seven hours at full steam," explained Admiral Donaldson.

"Have the Avellorn do its best to intercept any enemy submarines that may be heading for our surface vessels and order the Neptune to join up with our forces to reinforce them."

"Yes Sir, and of the enemy aircraft?" asked Jenkins.

"Order the Valiant to launch F-35 fighters equipped for an air superiority role to intercept the enemy fighters as the ship's Harriers take on the bombers."

"Yes Sir."

---

The Valiant went to red alert as its Sea Sparrow and Phalanx mounts awoke and scanned the horizon with their electronic eyes for enemy missiles and aircraft. The flight deck of the carrier was hustling as aircraft lined up for their cat launches as deck crew loaded them with Sidewinder and Pheonix missiles for use against the enemy aircraft. The bridge was equally busy as Admiral Kingsmere was organizing his task force into the best possible defensive position.

The Inflexible along with the flotilla of destroyers formed a wall of anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense between the Lasatanian aircraft and the carrier. If anything wanted that carrier, it had to go through quite a lot to get there.

****Diplomatic communique from the Office of the Marshal of the State, General Morosov****

To President Schaeffer, Aequatio


Sir,

Following your strike against our submarine, Komrade Illyenov, I have ordered our armed forces onto a full-scale alert. Our Expeditionary Fleet is moving with speed towards the area. We have also deployed six strike aircraft with ALCM's vectored towards the location of your fleet. We request an immediate cessation of hostilities, otherwise we shall launch a full force attack on your vessels in the area. We must inform you that our fleet size is considerable given that it was on exercise in the area prior to this incident.

I pray that we can reach a peaceful solution to this crisis. Your rapid response to this message is critical.

Yours,

General Morosov

****END OF MESSAGE****

An aide ran inside the war room and handed General Jenkins the message from General Morosov, Jenkins read it aloud to the president, "What do you think, Sir?"

"He is right, they do have more in the area that we do... I would rather we tried to negotiate something rather than lose a carrier task force," replied Schaeffer, "Send our reply, I'd like a direct talk with the Lasatanian head of state."

"Yes Sir, and about the aircraft?" asked Admiral Donaldson.

"Call them back to the carrier, and the Lasatanians will do the same with their aircraft," ordered the president, "And have the Archangel ready to help their submarine, whatever it needs.. food, medicine, repairs."

"Aye Sir!"

To: General Morosov, Lasatania
From: General A. Jenkins, Aequatio

President Schaeffer requests that he is able to open direct communication with
Marshal of the State Morosov so that this situation may be resolved both
quickly and peacefully.

Our aircraft deployed from our carrier, RNS Valiant, have been recalled and
will be placed on passive alert, we suggest that a similar move by your own
forces be done to furthur defuse the situation.

OOC: Do you have an IM program so that we may RP the talks directly?

OOC: Fraid not.. the firewall at work won't exactly allow for that! Unless you want to start a new thread for it... (I can refresh at an astounding rate!)

IC:

****Diplomatic Communique from Marshal of the State, Morosov****

To President Schaeffer, Aequatio

Sir,

We have received your message and all forces have been told to stand down. However, we do remain on a high level of alert. We are, however, willing to enter into talks concerning the issue. As a sign of our faith in your decision we are willing to send our Foreign Minister, Komrade Molotv, to your capital to enter into talks. If you allow this, he shall depart from our nation at the earliest possible moment.

Additionally, the submarine at the centre of this incident is set to surface following the critical damage inflicted on it. We err caution on recovering the vessel itself due to possible damage to the reactor, though we would request you take on board any men who make it onto liferafts. As for their treatment, we request they be treated in a fair and decent manner.

We await your reply


***End of message***

To: Marshal of the State Morosov, Lasatania
From: Minister of Foreign Affairs June Roberts, Aequatio

As it is not a time of war, any of your personnel which are brought aboard our
vessels will be treated in the most humane fashion. We shall also deploy a
salvage vessel to collect the nuclear reactors onboard the sunken battleship
RNS Rapier which lies underwater.

We will accept your delegate at our capital for the talks, a well-guarded
motercade shall await him on his arrival at Magna Casa International Airport
in our capital, talks will take place at Bomfy Manor where President Schaeffer
will be present.

OOC: I'll start a thread for the talks.

****Diplomatic Communique from Marshal of the State Morosov*****

To President Schaeffer, Aequatio

Sir,

We acknowledge your last message and agree with your proposals. We shall order the captain of the Komrade Illyenov to scupper the ship upon the last man taking to the liferafts. We would request you place a buoy at the location to warn other vessels of the wreck and to allow us to launch an operation to seal the reactor compartments of the ship at the nearest possible date.

Yours,

General Morosov

****End of message****

OOC: Talks between Aequatio and Lasatania (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=343053)