NationStates Jolt Archive

The ATN Loki, a Ticonderoga-class Cruiser, made its way through the Strait at a leisurely 8 knots. It was 1:20 am, and a warm wind blew in from the East. The Loki was due to arrive in port within 48 hours, at Terra's Admiral Mikumi Naval Base, a sprawling facility located overseas in a small, third-world country named Unknown Terrorists. From there, it would be two weeks of recreation time for the sailors aboard the Loki; they'd been on patrol for a month.

The Loki had parted company with the destroyer ATN Vargar 12 hours ago, the destroyer had escorted the Loki to the Strait, but had then needed to return to its patrol area.

The Guided Missile Cruiser had had a rather uneventful patrol; they had intercepted several pirates, and boarded a freighter smuggling illegal aliens, but aside from that it had been a long, boring month of maneuvers. They had less than 350 miles to go to reach the naval base. Within the hour, they would be coming under the radar blanket provided by Admiral Mikumi's E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft; until then they had activated their extensive AEGIS suite to scan the area. This area was not exactly friendly, several impoverished nations and tinpot dictatorships called this their home, and there was a history of minor...accidents.

Eight months ago, a Terran Patrol Boat had run over a mine in the Strait, killing 11. Two F/A-18E Super Hornets had been downed by SAM Sites, on the basis that their IFF beacons had not been activated and they had been mistaken for hostiles. There had been at least a dozen soldiers that had gone missing in seperate incidents; at least one had been found, shot in the head three times. It was common knowledge that Admiral Mikumi Naval Base could only guarantee your personal safety if you were behind its steel walls and barbed wire fences.

Admiral Mikumi base itself was impressively defended, with several miles of barricades, artillery, SAM sites, and Patriot Batteries. Fourteen-thousand Naval Personnel called it their home. An additional 3000 Air Force personnel also lived there. The Twelfth Battlegroup, composed of a Nimitz-class CVN and over a dozen other vessels, was based out of Admiral Mikumi. A full wing of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and several squadrons of F-22s and Su-47s, operated off the facility's extensive airstrips. The base had all the conveniences of home, and over a dozen An-225 Cargo Planes landed every day, bringing mail, food, and other things from Ancient Terra.

Captain Davos sighed and pulled his gaze away from the windows on the bridge. He couldn't see much besides his cruiser's running lights and the VLS system. Barely audible radio chatter coursed throughout the room. For the most part, the ship was silent.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity from the officer heading the radar section. He spun from his chair and rushed to Captain Davos.

"Sir, we've got something inbound on an intercept course with the Loki. Speed is around Mach 2; it's skimming at low altitude. The object has made no attempt to deviate from its course."

Captain Davos thought for a second.

'An Anti-Shipping Missile. That's all it could be."

The radar officer nodded. "We agree sir...shit! Four more contacts just appeared." There was a lot of frantic gesturing.

Davos swore. "Bring us to full readiness. Red Alert. Get targetting solutions for the SM-2's, immediately. Helm, make your speed 14 knots. What are our maneuvering options?"

Another officer shook his head. "Almost none, sir. We're hemmed in by the Strait."

"Damn! Time to impact?"

"Two minutes, 40 seconds."

"Launch those missiles!"

With a roar, the first SM-2 missile flew from the VLS system on a pillar of fire. Four more followed it. They reached the apex of their rise, levelled themselves, and shot off into the darkness. Radar and Fire Control were tracking the weapon's progress.

"First SM-2 impacts in...15 seconds." said the Chief, consulting his watch.

They counted down in their heads.

"3 seconds...2...1...Damn! No impact! The SM-2 missed!" reported fire control. The men kept their eyes glued to the screen. Two more of the missiles failed to hit the seaskimming missiles. The last two SM-2's, however, had better luck. They collided with their targets, eliminating them from radar. The momentary elation, however, evaporated quickly. They were now faced with three Anti-Shipping missiles on a collision course with the ATN Loki.

Captain Davos looked at the officer heading fire control. "Is there any possibility of launching another missile?"

The man shook his head. "No, sir. The hostile weapons will be in CIWS range within 40 seconds. There's no time to get a firing solution...and I'm pretty sure that these are SS-N-19 missiles...the Shipwrecks. No other weapon fits the profile."

Captain Davos walked to communications. "Lieutenant Hida, compose a message to Admiral Mikumi Naval Base, the Twelfth Fleet's Flagship, and Terran Central Command. Tell them we've been attacked by four anti-shipping missiles; we suspect they are SS-N-19's. We do not know who is attacking us. Send our current location and the backups of our ship logs."

The Lieutenant nodded and hurried to compose and encode a message. He had just sent it when there was the telltale rattle of the Phalanx cannon. It had evidently picked up on the first missile, and was now firing away furiously.

There was a huge explosion, as the Phalanx made contact and blew the SS-N-19 to pieces less than 300 meters from the Loki. The crew cheered. The Phalanx hurried to acquire the second missile.

It was too slow.

The second missile plowed into the ATN Loki at twice the speed of sound, piercing her thin armor before exploding just forward of the helicopter hangar. The guided-missile cruiser jumped as it was torn apart from the inside. Hundreds of men died instantly. Power was lost as the explosion totalled engineering, destroying the Ticonderoga's propulsion system.

Captain Davos picked himself up off the deck of the bridge, feeling his head in confusion as a gash in his forehead leaked blood into his eyes. With one shaking hand, he picked up the intercomm system.

"This is Captain Davos....abandon ship."

The order had just been given when Davos happened to look up into the window. Despite the fact that the missile was flying at mach 2, he saw it with perfect clarity: The intakes, the fins...though it was impossible, he even thought that he could read the writing painted on the SS-N-19's nose.

A second later, the weapon slammed into the bridge, detonating with an incredible explosion. Captain Davos, his second-in-command, and 84 other men were incinerated instantly. The explosive plume drove through the other side of the vessel, shooting flames out of the vessel. The radar and guidance systems toppled. A second later, the fire reached the cruiser's VLS tubes, cooking off TASMs, TLAMs, SM-2s, and other weapons. The cruiser split in two and immediately began to sink. A few lucky men that had been able to reach their lifeboats in time watched as the vessel sank under the waves. As the two dozen survivors activated their emergency beacon, the ATN Loki's message was recieved at Terran Command.

(ooc: I need somebody to accept the blame for sinking the Loki. If you don't use Shipwreck missiles, I'll change it to something else. This might evolve into something larger. I'll also need your location, so I can change "the Strait" into something less generic.)

OOC: We're located where Latvia is normally, so your "Straits" could easily be the Starits of Copenhagen, between the Baltic and the North Seas.

"Sir, the new Shipwrecks worked perfectly. the target never knew what him."
reported the eagre young crewman.
"Excellent news. I trust the Holy Terrans have no idea who is responsible?"
asked the Admiral.
"No sir. We intercepted their response, and they have no idea who the agressor is."
"Excellent. Let us return to Dyenport(OOC:Riga in RL) for rearming, and we'll come back under the cover of darkness tomorrow to see what comes ot investigate. There's nothing like a little black operations to warm the old salty blood, eh crewman?"
"No sir. Hard to believe that even the Vexian Foreign Ministry has no idea we're responsible. Only the Emperor and us.... incredible."
"Well, you better get used to it, crewman. Cos you will never be able to tell anyone who was not on this ship what happened here tonight. Because if you do... well, let's just say you will literally have never been born."
and with those chilling words, the conversation between the admiral and the lowly gunnery crewman ended, as a course was plotted back to Dyenport.

OOC: I'm not the kind of nation that sinks other nation's ships in sneak attacks, but maybe we can play a little blame game with one of my ships in the area.

IC:

The RNS Battleaxe, one of the Aequatian navy's newest frigates, was plowing through the waves on its first patrol after it had completed its trials a week earlier. Lieutenant White was in his quarters when the intercom came to life with the chief's voice, "Sir, we've got something coming over the radio on all channels!"

The lieutenant stood up from his desk and walked over to the intercom and pressed the button, "What is it, chief?"

"Distress call, Sir, a few life boats," replied the chief.

"Have the helm set course at full speed, I'll be up on the bridge in a few minutes."

Admiralty Building, Navarre, The Freethinkers

Hurriedly tucking in his uniform, Admiral Percival Cunnigham walked along the corridors of the Admiralty building, a cup of coffee spilling and scalding his right hand as he made hi way through the labyrinth of doors and hallways that made up the HQ of the Freethinker Navy.

Walking into the operations control centre, he saw through the field of salutes that greeted his arrival a small situation marker appearing on the global screen in front of him. The downward facing triangle hovered over a patch of water, with a time given as two hours ago. He stared at it, then he looked nearer the bottom of the screen at the coastline and a name marker bearing an Holy Terra isignia and the label of Admiral Mikumi N.B. He stared for half a second, then turned to one of the junior officers standing there looking at him.

"Whats the situation people?"

"Sir", answered one of the men, taking a step forward. "Approximately 1 hour and 53 minutes ago we detected several fast moving IR signatures moving towards an Holy Terran naval vessel. There was a rapid flight, several missile splashdowns and then a significant impact against the ship. We got images of some pretty powerful secondary blasts, either the fuel or the magazines, and now we've lost sight of the vessel..."

"You have details on the ship?" Admiral Cunningham cut him off, finally sorting out his uniform."

"Aye sir, a standard design Ticonderoga class, named the...Lokee...umm...Loki, according to IFF, it was coming of patrol according to the UnAPS register."

"What struck it?"

"From the imagery we are getting, probably a Russian design high-speed anti-ship weapon, possibly a Yakhont though most likely a Shipwreck according to our database. Came right out the blue, a few were splashed by the ship's self defense systems, but against the number of weapons fired she never stood a chance."

"Great...any ideas on who fired?"

"Plenty of candidates in the region, apparently they have some terrorist problems but to be honest those weapons are way beyond what most terrorist organisations could operate effectively. We can't trace any other ships in the area at the moment, but....the weather isnt the greatest. We are not sure who fired though...not yet."

Cunningham stared at the screen once more...the ocean in the picture was tranquil and calm...he wondered just what had happened several of hours before...he wondered what it was like, the ship going down. Then he came back to his senses.

"SOS? Wheres our nearest assets?" He asked quietly.

"Never recieved one, though we have nothing in close proximity to the ship. Our nearest asset is the Chimera, she's a Centaur-class, she's about 250 miles North-North-West, heading South right now." The officer looked at Cunningham, ready for his next order.

"Tell her captain to head towards the location of the strike, see if they can help in anyway. Make sure she has her defences ready. We don't need to lose another ship tonight. Leiutenent?"

"Yes sir?"

"Get me the Prime Minister's office.."

OOC: Well, just letting you know what Im up to. The Chimera will pick up the survivors unless you are already on your way...tis up to you. Nice RP.

The GN Corun rode the low ocean waves in the early morning. A Swiftsure Class Destroyer, it was out on it's maiden voyage, with the paint on deck barely dry. Aboard the vessel, most of the green crew was having a fitful slumber, having been worked hard in drill that evening. Nothing unexpected had occured yet, except for a mild storm they encountered in the Bay of Biscay. The next port of call would be Liverpool, after a short excersion into the Baltic. The bridge was silent as well, the shadowy figures only illuminated by the glow of rows of monitors. Captain Wells had a light nap, but had just arived when the Commincations Officer hailed him.

"Sir, were recieving a distress beacon of some sorts, about 102 nm northeast of our position. Should we investigate?"

Wells pondered for a moment before replying. "Yes. Sail forward toward the beacon at cruising speed. Ready the watch on deck. But man all the sensors and keep a close watch on the area. We don't want any nasty suprises, do we?"

Admiral Mikumi Naval Base
Unknown Terrorists, 1:15 AM

The message arrived at Admiral Mikumi naval base, where it was recieved and decoded by a sleepy duty officer. The fog clouding his mind hurriedly evaporated, however, as he read the message. Within a minute, he was running flat-out to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Graves. Within five minutes of her recieving the message, she was standing on the front step of Rear Admiral Havers' home, the base's commander. She rung the doorbell three, four, five times in quick succession.

Rear Admiral Jason Havers, a man in his mid 40's, came to the door wearing a bathrobe and an annoyed expression. Upon seeing the look on Lieutenant Grave's face, however, his expression turned to concern.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" he asked, worried.

"We recieved this communique 10 minutes ago. It was sent by the ATN ]Loki." She handed Havers the message, which was sealed in a plain, brown envelope with the words TOP SECRET:CODE BLUE hurriedly stamped across it.

The Rear Admiral raised his eyebrows. "The Loki? That's Davos' boat. They were headed back here for R&R." Without further ado, he took the envelope, unsealed it, and read the message. His look darkened as he read further. "Has there been any further messages from the Loki?"

The Lieutenant shook her head. "I'm not sure, sir. I came straight to you when I recieved this."

Havers nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Divert our P-3s towards the Loki's last recorded position. See if they can pick up any debris or survivors."

The Lieutenant frowned. "Debris?"

The Rear Admiral nodded. "According to these ship logs, I have doubts that the Loki survived. Get Terran Central Command on the horn. I need to speak with the Joint Chiefs."

The Lieutenant nodded and hurried back to her staff Humvee to head for the base. She ran the numbers through her head. If she was correct, it would be around 7 PM in Ancient Terra. Rear Admiral Havers headed to his room and hurriedly dressed; within 5 minutes he was climbing into his staff car.

Straits of Copenhagen
Exact position unknown, 3:38 AM

1st Lieutenant Kido, the ranking officer among the survivors, looked up with interest. Two other men alongside him were treating the ship's cook for shrapnel injuries. The Lieutenant pulled a pair of binoculars out of the survival kit, pressing them to his eyes and wincing as he felt the pulled muscles in his arm protest. He twiddled a dial on the binoculars, focusing on lights that were off in the distance. The lights were moving towards their lifeboat.

"Hey, Ensign..." he said, nudging one of the men lying in the boat. "Help might be here." He pointed out the lights, and then pressed the binoculars to his face again. The lights had now resolved themselves into a ship; its ghostly outline and color looked eerie as it moved towards them. The Lieutenant jumped to his feet and fired their flare gun. The green light arced into the air. A few seconds later, a blue flare flew from the unknown ship.

The Lieutenant's heart leapt. "We're saved!" he yelled gleefully. He began waving his arms in the air, ignoring the pain. The other survivors in the boat looked up as well, gradually mimicking the Lieutenant. The ship continued towards them...but whose was it?

(ooc: I'd prefer if Freethinker's vessel picked up my crew, as we're allies. It seems, however, that the Battleaxe is closer. That said, I'd be happy to have everybody else included in this RP.)

OOC: I'll post what I was going to post originally.

The Battleaxe moved through the water at nearly its top speed, only a wall of ice was going to stop the vessel from reaching the survivors. Lieutenant White stood on the bridge and turned to the ensign at the helm, "Pull up inbetween the group of lifeboats," he then turned to the chief, "Get sickbay ready to receive their wounded and have the galley prepare coffee and hot food for the survivors."

Almost in unison, "Aye Sir!" was heard as the ensign informed engineering to pull back on the speed as to slow to a halt and the chief rushed off the bridge to follow White's orders.

(ooc: Whatever you'd like to do, Aequatio. Your ship is closer; there might be timing issues with Freethinkers. Either would be fine.)

Admiral Mikumi Naval Base
Rear Admiral Havers' Office, 3:40 AM

Rear Admiral Havers looked up at the video screen. The Joint Chiefs, Terra's High Command, stared back at him. They had recieved the message scant minutes after Admiral Mikumi Naval Base had.

"And you've had no contact with the Loki since you recieved this message?" asked Vice Admiral Miyako Inoue. She was the highest ranking female in the fleet, and the youngest person ever for her position; at a scant 26 years old, she'd proved her brilliance time and time again. "Nothing from Davos?"

Havers shook his head. "No, ma'am. Not a squeak."

"And where was the Loki's escort at the time, Admiral Havers? I believe it is standard procedure for all vessels and crews coming in for R&R to be escorted by at least one other vessel." The Vice Admiral narrowed her eyes.

"Actually ma'am, that is incorrect. As per amendment 40083A.214, put into effect three months ago, ships are only required to be escorted within 250 miles of Admiral Mikumi naval base. This amendment was made because we recieved a number of E-3's and P-3's, and it was assumed that these aircraft could blanket inbound vessels with radar and sonar coverage. The Loki's escort, ATN Vargar, returned to its patrol several hours ago."

The Vice Admiral scowled. She was usually not such a demanding person, but she hated losing equipment and personnel. "That was an oversight, I suppose. I think that Admiral Mikumi Naval Base should be put on full alert immediately."

There was a general murmur of assent from the Joint Chiefs. Rear Admiral Havers nodded. "I'll get on it immediately." he said.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and head of the Navy, Admiral Yamato Ishida, got to his feet. His voice was calm. "Very good, Admiral Havers. We will be dispatching a Surface Action Group to the area shortly. Until they arrive, the investigation is in your hands. We need to know who attacked the Loki. Will you require anything else?"

Rear Admiral Havers nodded again. "I'll need Terran Space Command to send me every scrap of data our satellites got in the three days leading up to this attack. Any intelligence you can give me would be good, too."

The Joint Chiefs nodded. Admiral Ishida smiled. "Good luck, Admiral." The connection cut. Rear Admiral Havers turned from the chair in his office and hurried out the door, stopping only briefly to advise his intelligence chief that they had satellite data coming in. He paused at a window to watch one of the P-3s take off; an E-3 Sentry was lined up behind it on the runway.

Havers then returned to the main control center, where he instructed Commander Masugi that he was to bring the base to full alert. Nobody allowed out; only people with the proper ID would be allowed in.

Tellerus, Ancient Terra
Capitol Building, 8:20 PM

Lord Admiral Ishida looked up from his report to glance at the Cabinet members. They were listening intently. Terra's leader, Emperor Kamiya, shifted in his seat. Prime Minister Karn set his elbows in his lap.

"...and that's all we know so far. Rear Admiral Havers is doing everything he can to figure out what the hell is going on. General McCragge at Space Command has four surveillance satellites blanketing the immediate area. There's not many vessels in the area, and poor weather is hampering his operations."

Karn nodded. "Is anybody reacting to this?" asked the Prime Minister, staring at Admiral Ishida.

"At least two ships are inbound, intelligence thinks they might have picked up a third as well, but the weather around it was notoriously bad. We're not sure who these ships belong to, except for one: A vessel operated by The Freethinkers is 200 miles out and closing...hold on, I just got something from intelligence...the other vessel is owned by Aequatio, they're closer." replied the Admiral.

Emperor Kamiya nodded and dismissed the meeting. He instructed his secretary to send a query to the Freethinkers as to their intentions. That nation was a good ally, but it always paid to be careful.


From: Emperor Kamiya, Leader of Ancient Terra
To: The Freethinkers Foreign Ministry
Subject: ATN Loki
Encryption Code: BLACK OSIRUS ECHO-5

Our satellites have detected one of your vessels moving towards the area where we lost the ATN Loki. Do you know anything about this?

He then delivered a second message to Aequatio


From: Emperor Kamiya, Leader of Ancient Terra
To: Aequatio
Subject: ATN Loki
Encryption Code: RED THETA HARPAGO-6

We have recieved intelligence that you have a vessel in the Straits of Copenhagen, and are enroute to an area where we have lost contact with one of our Cruisers. What are your intentions?

(ooc: New idea...Aequatio, if you're going to end up framed, I'd like it if you could pick up the survivors, and then affect a transfer to Freethinker's ship when it arrives around 7:00. Would that be okay?)

Prime Minister's Office, Government House, Navarre

A short car rid to the Government house had given Cunningham some time to think. He realised he had ordered a Freethinker vessel into a hot zone and that he had placed their lives at risk. Nonetheless right now he had to breif the Prime Minister, who, at this time of morning was known to be....quirky.

"Half past bloody five in the morning...this had better be good", yelled Barham as he sat, hot tea in hand and bedecked in dressing gown, "well?" He bellowed.

"Sir, two and a half hours ago we detected a missile attack on an Ancient Terran vessel, the Loki, in the straits of Copenhagen. We...I ordered one of our warships to investigate."

The Prime Minister looked at Cunningham for a second, then down at several images taken from the satellite feed that an aide had placed on the desk between them. The same aide left the room and returned with a message from the Foreign office. Barham read the message first.

"Appears our Terran friends know about that ship...they've asked us to send them any information we have. They wish to know what our ship was doing." He looked across at Cunningham, before motioning to the aide.

"Sir," Began Cunningham, "the ship was conducting routine patrols in the North Sea before we recieved this information. The ship is the Chimera, captained by Commander Le Duce, he's currently heading for the last reported location of the Loki. There was another vessel in the area..." Barham's eyebrow raise.." an Aequatian vessel, a frigate named the Battleaxe. She was much closer than the Chimera and we think she is already in the area of the survivors, if there are any. The Chimera is still three hours away."

"Very well" muttered Barham, leaning back in the chair. He turned to the aide. "Did you get all that?" The aide nodded. "Very well, beef if up and send it as a reply to the Terran's enquiries. He turned back to Cunnigham.

"Who was it that fired?"

"We don't know sir", was the predictable reply.

Straits of Copenhagen
RNS Battleaxe, 4:12 AM

Lieutenant Kido looked up at the ship as it came to a halt alongside them. It was either a frigate or a destroyer, his mind was too confused to make sure of much about anything right now. One thing, however, was definite. The ship was owned by the nation of Aequatio.

Men could be seen peering over the side of the vessel, down at Lieutenant Kido and the other survivors. He could only assume the same thing was happening on the other side of the frigate to the other lifeboat. One of the men aboard the frigate yelled down at him.

"Please identify yourself!" he said.

Lieutenant Kido yelled back at him.

"My name is Jyou Kido. I'm was a 2nd Lieutenant aboard the Guided-Missile Cruiser ATN Loki. Our vessel has been sunk. We're requesting aid...I have several wounded down here...including myself."

The man signaled, and two men rolled a ladder down the side of the vessel. It came to a rest besides their lifeboat. "Can you get aboard without assistance?"

The Lieutenant nodded. "I can...but I have several men wounded worse than I am. They'll need help...I'm not sure what else to say."

Twenty minutes later, all of the Terran survivors had been transfered aboard Aequatio's ship. They were all led to the ship's medical bay. Lieutenant Kido sat on the edge of a sickbed, wincing as a doctor treated his cuts and bandaged his strained arm. He had discovered that he was aboard the Battleaxe, besides that he knew nothing of the situation he and his men had found themselves in. He was glad, however, when a man brought him something to eat.

As he rested (a man with a submachine gun stood outside his room, it was clear that they didn't trust him completely), he wondered when he'd figure out what was actually going on.

(ooc: Will I be meeting with the Captain, Aequatio?)
(ooc2: In case it is confusing, this is all occuring on a linear timeline. Given that Ancient Terra is on the other side of the world, I had to factor in the time difference, which is why it's only 8 PM in Tellerus.)

OOC: You will, my CO will come down and meet yours.

IC:

Lieutenant White was walking through the mess hall where those that weren't injured were eating, he turned to the chief as they walked out of the hall, "Who is their highest ranking officer to survive?"

The chief looked through some scribbled notes he made when they were bringing the survivors on board, "A... Second Lieutenant Kido, of the guided-missile cruiser, ATN Loki, a Terran vessel."

"I'd like to meet with this lieutenant, tell him about his men and their condition and about getting them to one of their nation's vessels or bases," said White.

"He's currently in the guest quarters, there are security personnel stationed outside the door," replied the chief.

"All right, I'm going to head down and meet with this officer, see who we need to contact," said the lieutenant as he dismissed the chief and turned to go below deck.

OOC: Do you have any IM program so that we could RP out the conversation between our officers?

(ooc: Screenname: Andyrocket, over AIM.)

Straits of Copenhagen
RNS Battleaxe, 4:35 AM

Lieutenant Kido was lifting a cup of tea to his lips when the door swung open. He caught a momentary glimpse of the security guard standing outside before a decorated man walked into the room, closing the door behind him. The Lieutenant gulped his tea down too quickly and coughed. Judging from the decorations on the man's uniform, he was either a Lieutenant or a Captain.

Kido raised his hand nervously in greeting.

"Hello, sir. My name is Jyou Kido. I'm a 2nd Lieutenant, with the Ancient Terran Navy. I...erm...I was a radar officer aboard the Loki. Thanks for bringing my men aboard." He left the words hanging in the air, not knowing what else to say.

[Where is this base? The Haven Straight is over 4,000 kilometers across at its widest point, although given the number of isles close to your nation, I can understand your ships being boxed in.]

Aboard the HIMS Triton
In Admiral McLeod's Flag Bridge the Fleet Comms Officer was reading a flag message to himself when he suddeny exclaimed, "Holy God! BuNav says that our sats picked up an attack on the ATN Loki in real time. They're bringing all available fleets to full alert and shutting down our section of the Straight, whoever did this is going to have to go through the Edolians or Islanders to get out."

Lady Ainsley McLeod bolted out of her chair and grabbed the message herself. After confirming the gist of it she snapped out an order in her brogue, "Bring the battlegroup to full alert, we're going to hunt these bastards down. God damn this summer Straight weather, the ESS sats were lucky to see anything at all."

The battlegroup went to full alert in minutes, the Triton being guarded by here smaller Fenrir class cousin and the other five capships in the group going to battlestations while the escorts took up a barely reigned in agressive defensive posture, just waiting for anyting stupid enough to stray into the battlegroups 400 miles exclusion zone.

[This particular battlegroup is on patrols and is a day out of position to pick any survivors up but in a superior position to hunt whatever did this down.]

It was 7 AM when the Emperor read the report with his morning cup of cappucino and buttered toast.
At first he had been reading a Report on a request by the Air Force to transfer the 2nd Carrier Group's dated Su-33 Fighters from the Atlantic to the Scrapheap, but when he saw the sealed enveloped marked with the seal of the admirality, he greedily tore it open, expecting something much more exciting than a trivial air force overhaul request.
He got it.
he licked his lips with excitement, as his coffee-stained fingers gripped the thin white paper with the neatly typed report on it.
It was a Telegram report and read:
OPERATION SHARK FRENZY SUCCESS STOP RETURNING TO BASE STOP MORE BLOOD IN THE WATER EXPECTED STOP NARWHALS TOO LATE TO INTERFERE STOP.
He grinned evilly at the coded message before him, and what it entailed.
he picked up the phone on his desk, and dialled the number for the Admiralty.
Shark Frenzy was but the first crucial stage in the overall operation. He would have to tread carefully and time the next stage with care and precision.
His only concern- the very close by Scandinavian States- would be too late to intercept the Converted Missile Boat that had precipated the attack.
Now he had but to allow the Press to get hold of the sotry, before contacting the Foreign Ministry to offer its sympathies to the Holy Terrans.
Now that would be a real shark frenzy.

6.45 AM (LOCAL TIME), 30 MILES NNW OF THE 'BATTLEAXE'

The rising sun cast a golden glow over the choppy ocean surface. It also reflected, in dark contrast, against the dark metallic form of the Chimera as it powered through the waves, its sleek trimiran form cutting through the water with absolute power and determination, its wake spreading across the surface all around the vessel.

The Centaur class, of which the Chimera was the sixth ship in line, was arguably the most powerful destroyer on the seas. Over twenty-two thousand tons of raw metal, weapons and armour made her a formidable foe, and she was designed to easily wipe out entire conventional carrier groups should the need arise.

But now it had a different mission, to find the survivors from a surprise attack on an allied warship. The ship was now nearing the site of the attack, roughly half an hour away. The vessel had made incredible speed in the night, her engines pushing the vessel to 47, 48 knots on occasion as the Chimera raced to the survivors aide.

Standing on the bridge of the Chimera with a pair of binoculars covering tired-looking eyes, stood Commander Mathius Le Duce. He watched the horizon relentlessly, waiting to see if any survivors, or worse things, appeared within view. Moving his neck he checked one beam to the other, silently hoping the first thing he saw wasn't the bright red streak of an enemy missile.

Not only his eyes were watching however, deep, deep down in the bowels of the ship sat several dozen men manning the controls to the various radar systems. The Chimera carried both an ultra-advanced SPY-series radar and the coveted Doujincorp APAR-12C system. Both radars were now activated and searching the area, determined to pinpoint the location of anything out there.

The Aequatian frigate now came into view on the ship's own horizon, and, in accordance with the Chimera's data was sitting stationery in the area of the attack. The Chimera began to slow down as it neared the area, and without much ado the noise of the engines began to quieten...

The frigate's radar had made contact with the vessel that had entered the area, the chief was informed and decided to hail the ship, "Freethinker's vessel, this is Chief O'Malley of the Aequatian frigate RNS Battleaxe, we have recovered around a score of survivors from a cruiser which was sunk only a few hours ago, any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated."

7.10 AM, 2 MILES WEST OF RNS BATTLEAXE

The Chimera slowly moved to a halt, her engines finally dying down as she moved to go alongside the Battleaxe. The sheer size difference between the vessels was immediately apparant to all those observing. Both ships were alert however. In the seas beneath them sat what remained of the Loki, and niether crew it seemed wished to join them.

A message of greeting and a request for help had been recieved from the Aequatian frigate, and Le Duce had sent an affirmative response. The two vessels now sat on a calm sea, although a quite spectacular storm front sat many miles to the east and was now moving slowly towards the two ships.

Le Duce himself was still on the bridge, his gaze drifting from the windows to the radars and back again. Although confident of his crew, he knew personally how soon the situation could change, and he didn't want to be surprised. A few minutes earlier the ships sonar had scanned the wreckage of the Loki, 400 metres down and split in two, each half seperated by half a mile of ocean floor. Le Duce didnt want to think of the men who joined her down there.

"Morning" Came a call from the hatchway leading onto the starboard bridge wing. A young, ginger haired man in the regulation navy blue overcoat had stepped onto the bridge. His insignia revealed him to be a Lieutenent Commander, and his nametag revealed him to be Avery Morgan, the XO of the vessel. The two men had known each other for a few years, and Le Duce nodded as the officer saluted.

"Any sign?" Asked Le Duce.

"Nah, nothing...none of the lads could see anything but wreckage for the last five miles...driftwood, so to speak. No bodies sir, not yet." Morgan looked at Le Duce sadly. "Poor buggers."

Le Duce merely nodded.

"If any are recovered, make sure full respect is given. The Battleaxe picked up a few survivors...twenty-odd...out of more than two hundred and fifty men and women." Le Duce said, moving his eyes back to the view out the forward bridge windows. Morgan nodded, saluted once more, and left the bridge, returning to his lookout. Le Duce was silent, still for several moments, then he addressed the bridgecrew.

"Perform one sweep of the area, then bring us alongside the Battleaxe. Keep me informed." Then, in the usual array of salutes, he left the bridge and departed for his cabin down below.

7:15AM--Twenty-three Kilometers North of the RNS Battleaxe

Commander Timothy Grey, the captain of the CNSS-519 Guiyang, a submarine of the Xiakou Class, sat quietly in the command room of his polygot diesel/electric/hydrogen-powered submarine. One of the newest submarines in the Five Civilized Nations Navy, the Guiyang was a surprising lethal submarine, capable of outclassing a plethora of nuclear powered submarines also operated by the Five Civilized Nations.

The Guiyang was on a standard patrol, operating in the restricted waters between Denmark and Sweden, a task suited perfectly for a submarine of the Xiakou class. This morning, the Guiyang was passing some twenty-five kilometers from the Copenhagen, travelling slowly at two knots, barely steerage, through the deepest waters available, keeping a low profile, while eavesdropping on the maritime communications traffic and monitoring the vessels operating in the area.

Having just arrived in the area, the Guiyang had not received the distress signal sent by the RNS Battleaxe nor knew about the SS-N-19 missile strike. All the crew of the submarine knew were that their were a surprising large number of warship radars in operation in the Straits of Copenhagen.

Commander Grey, slightly intrigued by this news, ordered the submarine to accelerate to seven knots per hour. As the submarine accelerated, the crew prepared for battlestations, the submarine's torpedo tubes flooded and the weapons armed...

[Okay, I'm confused here. When Terra said straits he could have been refering to the Haven Straits, which is Terra's only sea border is located, at least that I'm aware of. So, are we operating in the Copenhagen Straits or Haven Straits?]

(OOC: Ancient and Holy Terra changed the venue to the Straits of Copenhagen...)

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean
ATN Halberd, 7:25 AM

The ATN Halberd crashed through the rough seas, pitching from side to side as it made its way through the stormy weather. The Ticonderoga VLS cruiser was still several hundred miles from its destination. Up ahead, massive, dark storm clouds glowed with lightning. Captain Murai Akimoto looked to the side. Just visible to the east and west were the Arleigh Burke-class vessels ATN Redemption and ATN Repentant, faring no better in the choppy ocean. He could only imagine that the Duke-class frigate ATN Harpy was getting hit even worse.

Surface Action Group 12 had been assembled and detached from the 8th Fleet nearly four hours ago. The four ships had been ordered to proceed at high speed to a location in the Straits of Copenhagen. They had rendezvoused with a Safeguard-class Salvage Vessel, the ATN Keeper. The bad weather, however (the same weather that had blinded the satellites, thought the Captain) was slowing their progress considerably. Communications had recieved word from Central Command that vessels from Aequatio and The Freethinkers were already in the area of the attack.

It was strange that anybody would attack a Terran vessel, especially one as powerful at the Loki. Only a fool would risk angering the Republic of Ancient Terra. There was something more going on here, of that Murai was certain. They were almost 450 miles out. At the pace they were setting it would be more than a day before they were in the area. Even so, the Captain had everybody manning their stations...he wouldn't be caught by anymore damned sneak attacks.

Tellerus, Ancient Terra
Capitol Building, 7:38 AM
Emperor Kamiya's Office

An aide came bustling into Emperor's office, holding a thick sheaf of paper and folders. She laid it on the desk and then left without a sound. The leader of Ancient Terra nodded his thanks, and then returned his attention to the massive plasma screen that almost entirely covered one of his walls.

"Connect to Staff Meeting, full Security." he said to thin air.

A computerized female voice came out of a speaker on the Emperor's desk. "Yes, Emperor Kamiya." The windows automatically shut. Titanium panels slid into place, creating a cocoon of armor around the office. Electonic anti-eavesdropping devices broadcast static on hundreds of frequencies. The plasma screen came to life, connecting him to the meeting taking place in the Situation Room, 12 stories below him. The Joint Chiefs and Cabinet sat around a large table, sipping mugs of tea, coffee, or (in General Karr's case) alcohol. They all looked up as he connected to the conference. The Emperor shook his head.

"General Karr, aren't you starting a bit early?" he asked, mock concern slipping onto his young face. The General, head of Space Command, growled in displeasure.

"I've been up all night analyzing those satellite photos with my aides. We can't make head or tail of it. Whatever launched those missiles was pretty well concealed."

The Emperor nodded. "How do we stand on the investigation?" he asked.

Vice Admiral Inoue fielded that question. "Surface Action Group 12 is inbound to the area. They've encountered rough seas, but they will be at the location of the incident within 36 hours. SAG 12 is composed of a Ticonderoga CG, two Arleigh Burke DDs, a Duke FFG, and a Safeguard ARS. The Freethinkers should be rendezvousing with Aequatio RNS Battleaxe shortly. We're not sure how many survivors were picked up."

"And Admiral Mikumi Naval Base?" asked Emperor Kamiya.

Admiral Ishida got to his feet and showed the Emperor (well, the camera, anyways) a satellite photo of the base. "It has been locked down. Nobody gets in or leaves. They've brought their Patriots and SAM sites online, and they're got a half-dozen or so fighters in the air at any given time. They've put up both E-3 Sentries, and four P-3's are covering the coastline. Another P-3 is enroute to the Loki's last location; they'll be performing a little surveillance."

The Emperor nodded. "Very good, Admiral. Anything else?"

Prime Minister Talus Karn cleared his throat. "We've recieved condolences from the nation of Vexia. They're a rather quickly growing nation that borders the Straits. The loss of the Loki hasn't hit the news networks yet...apparently, our satellites weren't the only ones surveying the area."

Vice Admiral Inoue started. "Do you think they got images of the attackers?" she asked quickly.

The Emperor nodded. "I suppose we should check on that. Talus, get a message to Vexia asking if they have satellite photos of the area when the attack occured. I doubt their satellites had much more luck penetrating the storm than ours did, but it's worth a shot. This could be instrumental to figuring out who the aggressor is. Good thinking, Miyako."

The Prime Minister nodded. Vice Admiral Miyako Inoue beamed.


From: Talus Karn, Prime Minister
To: Vexian Foreign Ministry
Subject: Satellite Images
Encyption Key: BLACK SARNISS TANGO-2

Thank you for your kind words. Do you have satellite photos of the Straits of Copenhagen from around 1 am local time? This could solve the mystery of who attacked the ATN Loki. Rest assured, whoever is responsible for this outrageous act will be punished.

Respectfully,
~Talus Karn, Prime Minister~

OOC: This could get very interesting......

The Emperor was sweating with anxiety, as the expert forgers edited the Satellite photos as only masters could.
It required immense skill and precision to create authentic satellite photos tha would stand up to close scrutiny by the Holy Terrans, and the Emperor knew that it could all fall down here if it failed.
The Custom Missile Boat which had precipated the attack was being prepared for another run, but the emperor didn't think it was necessary at this stage for another attack of that sort.
"What nation you want this concealable frigate to be a representative of?"
"The Aequatians would probably be best- though it might sevre our purposes better if it were the Freethinkers, but the Aequatians will be more believable.
And make it a Missile Boat- the best lies are the ones with a grain of truth in them."
"Yes, your highness."
Within an Hour,the three dammning Photos of the Copenhagen Straits at 0100-0130 were masterfully edited and copied. The Emperor squinted hard, but couldn't tell the difference between the real photos and the faked ones.
He only prayed that the Terrans would be fooled by it aswell.
"Send them the Photos- apologize for the delay, but our satellites have moved out of our region temporarily, and it took some time acessing their databanks."
"Yes, your highness."
everyone in the room was nervous. This was potentially the riskiest part of the operation- it could so easily fall flat on its face if their tests managed to disprove the authenitcity of the photos.
War with Terra was not the goal. War between Terra and its allies or neutrals was.

(OOC: Apologies to Aequatio, but I had to speed up the docking procedure to keep linear time)

7.45 AM, Rendevous Point, FNS Chimera/RNS Battleaxe

The Chimera slowed to a halt, moved only by her side thrusters and the prevelant current. Slowly her crew began to gather on deck as she slowly moved next to the smaller though still impressive Battleaxe. Both crews were yelling orders to one another as the two ships drew nearer in the water.

The stormfront was now less then ten miles away, and the rain beat down onto the now once-again choppy sea. White spray splashed across the hulls of the two boats, the opaque water in stark contrast to the dark, weather beaten metal of the vessel's sides. The morning sun now rose higher in the eastern sky, casting a red glow on the proceedings. It seemed ominous for those who sought meaning in omens in the sky.

Morgan remained on the bridge wing, overseeing the docking of the two ships, whilst Le Duce had dissappeared down below. First forming a report in his cabin, the Chimera's skipper had descended to the boat deck when four bodies, all in burnt, torn Holy Terran uniform, had been pulled from the water. Aside from a few floating fixtures, no other sign on the surface existed of the Loki.

Personally laying the cover over a deceased sailor was one of the deepest signs of respect for a man in the Freethinker navy, and Le Duce felt it necessary for him himself to do it. He had seen dead men before, but looking at the half-charred face of a teenage ensign was disturbing to anyone. The familiar questions about the boy filled his head, as they did everyone elses, but a job had to be done still, and Le Duce left the bodies for the Chief Warrant Officer to carefully ready them for the journey home.

Le Duce's personal thoughts however, were forced out when a call from the ops rooms over the intercom sent him flying. Arriving in the nerve centre of the ship, he found Lieutenent Foxgrove, the Principle Warfare Officer for underwater warfare, standing beside the holographic display in the centre of the operations room. A 3D model of the ocean floor hung in the air above it, scratchy and with the smaller features changing shape as each sonar echo returned. The unmistable form of the broken Loki, however, remained clear and precise right below the echoes of the Chimera's and Battleaxe's hulls.

Foxgrove was looking at something else though. The Lieutenent was staring at what seemed an empty space on the floor of the sea. Le Duce turned to Foxgrove to ask what he had been called for.

"Sir", said the young man, raising an unnecessary hand to point where he was staring, "we picked up a sonar echo on the active 22."

"An echo of what, Mr Foxgrove?"

"Not sure sir, we only maintained contact for a few seconds before the target moved and we lost the contact. It was definitely artificial though. Sir"

"Nothing on passive?"

"Not the faintest, sir, I'm afraid I think we're dealing with a con, a good one at that." Le Duce nodded. "I'm afraid that most likely they know we are here. The active sonar is a pretty big giveaway...sir."

"Friendly?" Le Duce returned his gaze to the display. Foxgrove hesitated for a second, then spoke.

"We don't know. It is unlikely they fired the missile, no submarine, certainly not a con, would be able to fire a missile the size that hit the Loki. That said, sir, it may be an observer in league with the attackers, again I don't know. We only know something is out there, we don't know who, or what, or what their intentions are. There are a hundred different nations it could be, some friendly, some not. Sir, I'd recommend requesting the sonar logs of the Battleaxe, as well as putting one of the whirlies in the air. Better be ready, in case. The only thing we can do is wait and see if they do something big."

Le Duce nodded. He wasn't going to take any risk with regards to this unknown stalker. He confirmed Foxgrove's request before departing to the bridge once more, even more tense. Unknowns were the worst thing any captain could be presented with was the skipper's thought as he left the room. He would be glad when this was over.

(OOC: sorry, 5CN, but with active even a conventional SSK will be picked up faintly in the open. This is turning into a great RP by the way. I think though we should limit the number of ships involved though. I might bring in one or two more boats, just to keep things simple.)

(OOC: I'm gonna probably be gone for vacation for about 3-4 weeks. Any questions, just email me and I'll try to get on and reply or post something here as frequently as possible. Just assume my submarine is hovering around on the edges of your active sonar.)

300 fathoms and closing........

BUMP............

150 Fathoms and closing........

Bump...........

Keptain, zie enemy wessels are apon us!

*KA-BUMP*

(ooc: I agree with Freethinkers. I think the number of vessels in this should be limited. If this keeps up, Surface Action Group 12 might lose a couple of vessels anyways. Have a good vacation, 5CN.)

IC:

Tellerus, Ancient Terra
Capitol Building, 8:22 AM
Emperor Kamiya's Office

The Emperor looked up from the photos lying on his desk. More than 3 dozen anxious faces looked back at him. If this was true, this was big news...very big news. They couldn't run the risk of a video conference signal being intercepted; the meeting was being held in the Emperor's own office this time. The windows were still closed, and armor plating covered the walls. Enlarged, high resolution versions of the satellite photos were displayed on the massive plasma-screen displays.

"Are you sure these are accurate, General Karr?" asked Emperor Kamiya, his voice grave. Several people around the table took deep breaths.

The General inhaled and folded his hands in his lap. "We've scrubbed these images a dozen times. There's a bit of corruption from the weather, but these appear to be absolutely genuine. If I hadn't run some of those authentication tests myself, I wouldn't have believed it." replied Karr.

Lord Admiral Ishida exhaled noisily, brushing his long blonde hair out of his eyes. "Aequatio. Who would have believed it?" he said, scowling.

Vice Admiral Inoue stood. "It makes perfect sense though, sir." Yamato Ishida shot her a look that seemed to say "No kidding." The Vice Admiral continued. "Their frigate was the closest vessel in the area. It picked up on this incident within minutes of it happening. It's the perfect plan: They hit a Terran vessel, rescue the survivors, and claim that they weren't using satellite reconaissance of the area at the time. I'll bet the Battleaxe was screening that missile boat from the Loki's radar. They get away, scot free."

Various people around the table nodded and mumbled agreement.

Talus Karn stood. "But why would Aequatio do this? What do they stand to gain? To the best of our knowledge, there is no justification for this attack."

Vice Admiral Inoue shook her head in disagreement. "No, there is something...Admiral Mikumi Naval Base. Since we established that facility, we've become a significant force in the area. We can deploy more firepower from that base than some nations can deploy in their entire armed forces. Many of the nations in that region blame us for their poor economies, or horrendous civil rights. They claim we are stepping on their toes; going where we aren't welcome. The loss of the Loki is bad enough...but if this attack can galvanize the various nations resentful of our presence, we'd be hard pressed to prevent war. In all of the confusion, who would notice that Aequation had increased its forces in the area?"

Talus Karn shook his head. "That's crazy. Where's the proof? Where's the evi-?" He was cut short as the Vice Admiral threw a photo at his chest. It was one of Vexia's satellite photos, showing the last moments of the Loki before it sank beneath the waves.

"There's your evidence, Prime Minister. Terra lost heroes today. We have to do something about it, or we will lose many more." she spat viciously. "We need to take action!"

Emperor Kamiya slammed his fists down on the table. Conversation ceased immediately. "Enough!" he said, angrily. "I can't have my best advisors in each other's faces!" He turned to the Prime Minister. "Talus, thank Vexia for these photographs. I need you to also send a message to Aequatio's Foreign Ministry. Tell them that this game ends now. Tell them that we know they are responsible. Tell them that Ancient Terra will not stand for this."

He then looked at Admiral Ishida. "Bring us to DEFCON 3. For any assets within 1000 miles of Aequatio or any Aequatian forces, they're instructed to go to DEFCON 2."

"Yes, sir." was all that the Admiral said. Terra had not been to DEFCON 3 since the LCS war. The significance was not lost on him. "General Karr, I want you to assign an entire team to go over each and every pixel of those images. I need to know if you see anything else in the area...if Aequatio or their allies have assets that we didn't see before, I need to know about it." Admiral Ishida, like many others in the Navy, believed that 'Fate Favors the Bold'; despite this, he liked having good intelligence. General Karr nodded and left the room.

The Emperor dismissed everybody else, but instructed Admiral Ishida and Vice Admiral Inoue to remain behind. When the rest of the staff had departed, the door sealed itself. "I trust you know what is at stake here. I do not wish to start a war, but if you see anything: a fighter formation, strange troop movements, anything strange at all coming from Aequatio, do whatever you feel is necessary to protect our soldiers. Yamato, get together with your staff and get working on a strategy in case war breaks out. Good luck, Admirals. Dismissed."

They left and Emperor Kamiya sat back down in his chair, feeling drained. He looked at one of the plasma displays. It showed the last photo of the Loki, the same one that Miyako had thrown in Talus' lap. He hoped that what he was doing was right.

ATNN News Building
Tellerus, Ancient Terra
185th Floor, 9 PM (Slightly ahead of time)

Inside the immense 230-story ATNN Broadcast Building in Tellerus, crews bustled about. The 9:00 news were about to go live. With a nod from the technical crew, the lead anchor, a pretty woman with brown hair, began the broadcast.

"Hello, and thank you for joining us on the Ancient Terran News Network. I'm Melissa Ariya..."

"And I'm Koushiro Iyagi. We have several news reports for you tonight. First, we're going downtown to report on a protest occuring in fr-."

Koushiro stopped talking abruptly as a message popped up on his recessed flatscreen monitor. He paused and read the report, gulping a bit as he looked back up at the camera.

"Well, loyal viewers, it appears that we have a report just in!"

The words "Breaking News" flashed up on televisions across the country, followed by a computer animation of a flaming warship. This is quickly replaced by Melissa again, although the words "Breaking News" remain at the bottom of the screen, scrolling ticker-tape style and interrupted by tidbits of information on the incident. Melissa shuffled her papers and spoke.

"Yesterday night, in the Straits of Copenhagen, a Terran warship was attacked and sunk by an unknown aggressor. The vessel in question, the ATN Loki, is a member of the 12th Fleet, and was returning to its home port, the Admiral Mikumi Naval Base located in the nation of Unknown Terrorists."

Koushiro took over from here. "Although details remain sparse, a source within the navy that wishes to remain anonymous has reported that the Loki was attacked by a number of large, long-range surface-to-surface missiles of Russian manufacture. Terran High Command has said that it will release detailed information shortly."

Melissa started speaking again. "Although Terra has not yet formulated an official response, the Joint Chiefs and the Cabinet have met at least twice with Emperor Kamiya. Terran forces have been placed on DEFCON 3. Conversations have also taken place between several Terran allies and the Foreign Ministry. The Ancient Terran News Network sends its condolences to those families who have lost loved ones to this tragic attack."

Koushiro shuffled his papers and took over. "Now, live downtown is Jessica Balayne, covering the protests..." The newscast continued.

*Bump*

(OOC: I just thought of something... From my knowledge, the Straits of Copenhagen is too narrow for warships to be moving hither and thither. There is barely enough room for the civilan maritime traffic operating in and out of Copenhagen, let alone room for the destruction of a Ticonderoga Class Missile Cruiser... It would be best of the situation as moved into either the Baltic Sea or even the North Sea...)

(ooc: Yes...from what I've read the Straits would probably be too narrow for this sort of thing...I think it might be a good idea to move it into the Baltic Sea, but I'm not sure whether or not that would affect this RP too much. I'm going to wait on Vexia to post.)

Sure. The Baltic's a good place. the Majority of my Navy patrols the Baltic, as does my Air Force.

(ooc: Excellent. Erm, I'll wait on you to post, Vexia.)

(OOC: bump, and, responses from Aequetio please :))

ooc: Ummm... what do you want me to do?
I've been waiting on you guys to post responses.
>D

The Emperor was sympathetic as he spoke with the Terran Ambassador, and offered huminatarian aid and all that.
But all the while he was talking to the ambassador, he was secretly fighting a smile as he thought about what would happen to the Terran Base tonight.
The Base was on high alert, and it would be suicide to attack it.
Unless, the attack came from faithless allies already within the harbour.
"Once again, my thanks to you."
"No problem, ambassador. We may be millitant, but we know how to treat our allies."
the A,bassador left, and Ulli lit up a fine cuban cigarette, and puffed contentedly untill a secretary dumped another huge load of reports and papers on his desk.
"Damn. Better get back to work.........."

OOC: I'll leave it up to Holy Terra to decide what exactly happens inside the base, but it should probably involve explosions and fingers pointing at the Aequetians.
:D

Admiral Mikumi Naval Base
Unknown Terrorists, 3:00 AM

Private Haashim walked purposely back to his barracks, hands in his pockets and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He ignored the squad of marines marching past him, and quickened his pace.

Private Haashim had been conscripted into the Terran Army, "lended" to them by his real nation, Unknown_Terrorists. He had had a profitable future ahead of him, working with the Unknown_Terrorists Secret Insurgency, when the Terran forces based on his home country had requested a number of bomb experts. The Unknown_Terrorists Government, financing the insurgency but also essentially under Terra's heel, had readily whisked him away from his job and into this military base, where he earned less than that of even a conscript! It was infuriating..."and tonight, I get my revenge" he thought as he walked into the barracks.

Almost a week ago, he'd smuggled in a number of high-explosives...high-explosives that were only made and used by Aequatian Special Forces. At the moment, those explosives were planted inside one of the missile bunkers, on a rack of Patriots, waiting for him to send the detonation signal.

He glanced at his watch...now.

He triggered the switch concealed inside his jacket, and the base went straight to hell. A massive explosion rocked the barracks, and Private Haashim heard several of his "comrades" yell expletives as they hurried out of bed. Haashim walked outside again, and grinned as he saw the huge red glow cast across the sky. Smoke billowed from the bunker where he had placed the explosives, and several of the adjacent buildings were on fire as well. The distant sound of bullets cooking off met his ears. He grinned.

Admiral Mikumi Naval Base
Unknown_Terrorists, 5:00 AM

Commander Mikumi threw the report in front of Rear Admiral Havers.

"The last fire was just put out. Final count so far: 38 dead, 130 wounded, 12 critically. Three HMMWVs, 62 Patriots and I-Hawks, 600 clips of ammunition, and 40 M4A1 Rifles. Three buildings were destroyed: missile bunker A19, maintenance bay C6, and storage facility 12. Another thing...firefighters found fragments of bullet casings on the floor of the missile bunker, and they think that those bullets were fired before the explosion. Given that most everything in the bunker was incinerated, they haven't found a bullet-ridden body yet...but we've got a saboteur, that's for sure. We've found fragments of bomb casings where one of the Patriot missiles racks were...and from our initial analysis, those fragments came from a high-explosive of Aequatian design. Intel says that their Spec Forces are the only ones that use those."

Havers nodded, and cursed.

"Damnit! Everything is going wrong. Notify command of what we've found...amd see if you can figure out what Aequatio's got in the area...this has gotten out of hand."