NationStates Jolt Archive

Due to recent events. Communist Louisiana has now imposed a large blockade around the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. Communist Louisiana has been in control for more then 60(NS) years of the following Islands:

Hati
Puerto Rico
Montserrat
Grenada
St. Lucia
Turks & Caicos Islands
Anguilla
Bahamas
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Barbados

We are not allowing military ships or submarines to pass except to nations who reside in the Gulf of Mexico.

The reason we are taking this massive step is because we fill that very many war mongering nations are trying to start conflict with a certain nation in the Gulf of Mexico. We believe that this situation can be handled through diplomacy and must because our nation is located directly next to the nation of interest. We would be affected by any war this close to home and wish to see all conflicts handled through diplomacy.

Begin search missions along the island areas with anti-submarine aircraft. Please begin to drop sonars and etc. to detect any submarines comming into the area.

The following forces have been deployed to patrol the Islands passage ways:
100 S-3B Viking's
200 P-3 Orion's
150 P-7's

Shouldn't you take the Monseratians who the US don't want around anymore then?

To: Foreign Ministry of Communist Louisiana

From: Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs

Subject: Right of Passage through International Waters

His Omniferocity's government does not acknowledge your government's authority over any area of international waters or airspace. The free right of passage to noncombatants through international waters is one of the few international laws His Omniferocity respects and adheres to.

In accordance with His Omniferocity's instructions, the EOE 16th Fleet will begin a transit through the Panama Canal into the Caribbean in two days. This unit will patrol through international waters in the Gulf of Mexico and conduct extensive mapping of the ocean floor, currents, and tides, and will also engage in anti-surface, anti-air, and anti-submarine combat exercises.

The 16th Fleet will not interfere with any routine traffic in those waters. If anyone uses force to prevent the 16th Fleet from accomplishing its mission, it will be considered an act of war against the Dominion.

Ignore this warning at your peril.

It isnt considered international waters if it is off my coast comrade. Look at the islands. I control the entrance to the Gulf from the East. I just do not want war breaking loose in CM if it can be prevented. I will allow civilian type ships to pass the islands but naval ships will not be given access to the waters that i do control which there are very very few entrances in the East that are not owned by Communist Louisiana.

Also, Aztec National League controls the Panama Canal. You have to talk to him about getting entrance to it and I doubt he would allow it.

Are we correct in believing this blocade only includes military ships? Binthor resides in Cuba, and we do not wish our trade and commerce with any nations through the sea to be affected in any way because of this. Also, my military ships will be let by, will they not?

His Omniferocity's government has previously discussed the Canal issue. Free passage of the Canal has been expressly granted for all neutral traffic- including military vessels belonging to nations not in conflict with the owners of the Canal.

Your government does not have the right to interdict international waters. Any ocean areas outside your national boundaries are by definition international waters. The Gulf of Mexico is not within your national borders, and therefore is not yours to control.

If your aim is to assist a neighboring nation against potential invaders, you would be better advised to make an alliance with him and attack only hostile shipping in the area. Neutral shipping of any sort must not be attacked by either side in the conflict.


Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs


<OOC>
There is a precedent for this action. The US government refused to acknowledge Libya's claim to the Gulf of Sidra in the mid 80's. At this point, you are essentially in the position of Libya.
</OOC>

Can allies of CL, aka moi I suppose, go through the Gulf and Islands for trade reasons only?

The Naval Empire of Unum Veritas utterly rejects your preposterous "reasons" for erecting such a blockade. Veritasean warships will continue to traverse the seas in their usual patrol patterns, even if this involves crossing into the Gulf of Mexico. If so much as a single shot is fired at any ship bearing the Veritasean flag, an immediate Declaration of War will be issued against Communist Louisiana. All ships in the service of the government and people of Unum Veritas are viewed as extensions of the soil of UV and so any attack against one of them will be seen as an attack on the homeland of Unum Veritas itself and will be met with like retaliation. No nation has the right to close an entire body of water to all other countries. No preemptive strikes will be launched against CL (or CM for that matter); however Veritasean commanders will NOT allow their progress to be impeded by interference from Communist Louisiana, or any other nation for that matter. All Veritasean naval assets in the area will go to an increased alert status and will be prepared to respond to any interference (either armed or not).

http://www.kprf.ru/clipart/misc/captain.jpg
High Chancellor Harding
The Naval Empire of Unum Veritas
Member: NAIA
Member: Band of Brothers
Member: Organization of Marine Powers (http://www.gaizme.com/omp/forums/index.php)
Vice President and Naval Commander: Legion of Defence (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2503299#2503299)
Owner: Veritasean Naval Industries Inc. (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=6674789&posted=1#post6674789)

OOC: Just so you know, I do not recognize any NS nation's right to control the Panama Canal or to close it to international transit. Besides, I can always say one of my colonies is located in Central America and I blasted my own canal through it, so that is just a dead end. And also, an FYI: the OMP is dedicated to keeping the seas free for the travel of all; I doubt they'll look to kindly upon this.

Official Communique

To all,

The nation of the Freethinkers, a true respecter of international law and a member of the Organisation of Maritime Powers puts itself in strong support of the Unum Veritas position and wishes to inform Communist Louisiana that, although its lawful territorial water claims and economic exclusion zones will be fully respected, its posturing and aggressive claim over a body of navigatable ocean widely regarded as international waters will simply not be recognised by our maritime forces.

We wish to make it absolutely clear that we have NO quarrel with any of the powers, including Communist Louisiana and Communist Mississippi. We only wish to see reason prevail, and we will hope that Communist Louisiana will understand that it has no right to seal off these waters.

Office of the Prime Minister

Dear Communist Louisiana,

We are in total agreement with The Evil Overlord, Unum Veritas, and The Freethinkers: You have absolutely no right to block free trade between nations that are neutral to you, and even less of a right to blockade international waters. We will continue trade between ourselves, and our allies in Cuba. We will not attack any of your ships, and will go about peaceful trade with nations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Harold Carron,
Head of Foriegn Trade
United Socialist States of Cheeser12

The entire Gulf is open. I said that there will be no ships permitted besides civilian and trade ships to pass in my islands waters which were listed above. If you look a nations territorial waters goes out some 10 or 12 miles correct? Now if I shut my territorial waters off in the barrier islands this will create a no opening. Look how close they are. We do not intend to hold this stance for much longer because Communist Mississippi has pulled out of Africa and ships bringing millions back to CM are on their way to Mississippi. We are holding this no passing through CL waters until the ships are in port to make sure that no civilians are killed and that peace will finally be achieved in our region. The ban will be lifted in less then 24 (RL) hours OR when all of the ships have returned which shouldnt take much longer.

We are allowing civilian and commercial ships entrance to OUR territorial waters but we do not want many unknown foreign military vessels in the Gulf incase they try to destroy the ships brining CIVILIANS home.

From the IDF Foreign Ministry:
We don't always end up siding with the OMP, but on this issue we stand by the firmly.

We know you are trying to protect CM, but IDF sees his nation as a threat. We don't attack every Nazi nation out there, but CM has taken hold of North Africa and wants to get a hold in the Middle East. He is an imminent threat to us and must be dealt with as we are the ultimate goal of the Nazi. Our ships will enter the Gulf even if we don't fight CM. I add that Whittier has Mexico and our ships must be able to get to his Northeastern bases.

We also believe that you shouldn't be aiding a rogue nation that has killed more civilians due to their race than Hitler.

From a very disgruntled Minister of Foreign Relations Ben Tallman

Due to recent events. Communist Louisiana has now imposed a large blockade around the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. Communist Louisiana has been in control for more then 60(NS) years of the following Islands:

Hati
Puerto Rico
Montserrat
Grenada
St. Lucia
Turks & Caicos Islands
Anguilla
Bahamas
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Barbados

We are not allowing military ships or submarines to pass except to nations who reside in the Gulf of Mexico.

The reason we are taking this massive step is because we fill that very many war mongering nations are trying to start conflict with a certain nation in the Gulf of Mexico. We believe that this situation can be handled through diplomacy and must because our nation is located directly next to the nation of interest. We would be affected by any war this close to home and wish to see all conflicts handled through diplomacy.

Begin search missions along the island areas with anti-submarine aircraft. Please begin to drop sonars and etc. to detect any submarines comming into the area.

The following forces have been deployed to patrol the Islands passage ways:
100 S-3B Viking's
200 P-3 Orion's
150 P-7's

LOL! Okay, Napoleon. (If anyone knows his quote, you'll understand.)

Just for fun, thrill-seekers from Communist Rule buy cheap ships, paint "Greenpeace" on the side, and begin motoring around the ***600,000*** square miles of the Gulf of Mexico, noting that the liklihood of finding a ship in that large of a space is slim to none. Especially if they do not have any emitting electronics.

Open Transmission

To: Communist Louisiana
From: Foreign Ministry, Granzi
Subject: Closing of Gulf

The Commonwealth is most concerned about your nation's recent policy. While we can understand your position regarding CM, we believe that obstruction of maritime mavements goes beyond your sovereign rights as an independent country. What we might suggest is a general warning to not approach transport carrying cilivians. This method would not hamper commerce and would still offer a route to reach your objective.

Regards,
Nathanial Sun
Minister of Foreign Affairs

TO: CL
from IDF Foreign Ministry:
any CL ships that inhibit the free passage of IDF ships will be fired upon.

The ban has been lifted due to the safe passage of the CM civilians.

TO: IDF
FROM: CL

I dont know if you havent paid attention, but we have talked CM into leaving North Africa. Also, dont threaten me. You do control Chicago, but we can take it from you if you threaten us.

OCC: CR, Napoleon did not say my saying. My saying that used to be on The International was a "Long live the French herritage of Communist Louisiana". I dont think Napoleon ever said that, but you know what. I will give you all my territory if you can find a document that he said that on.

The ban has been lifted due to the safe passage of the CM civilians.

TO: IDF
FROM: CL

I dont know if you havent paid attention, but we have talked CM into leaving North Africa. Also, dont threaten me. You do control Chicago, but we can take it from you if you threaten us.

OCC: CR, Napoleon did not say my saying. My saying that used to be on The International was a "Long live the French herritage of Communist Louisiana". I dont think Napoleon ever said that, but you know what. I will give you all my territory if you can find a document that he said that on.


Ooc: We left Libya, elections in Egypt where arabs and whites voted, decided that the liberal Seryown native, Alice Carrion, will be president, Nasser Aref, the arab will be vice-president. Simon Rutledge will be the head of the senate composed of an equal number of whites and arabs. Furthermore, the elections decided that Federal Forces should remain in Egypt to assure the safety of the nation, also the CM Commonwealth is now basically the Communist Mississippi-Egypt Commonwealth (It's sort of a dual thing like Austria-Hungary was)

Ooc still: We are not sure how to handle Western Sahara. If we leave, the blacks and arabs will start massacring each other. So we're going to hold a voter referendum and see what happens. Race relations between whites and non-whites were always decent in ME and WS. So we'd be surprised if the votes turned out anything other than continued presence and frienship with CM. Now in Libya (Which all whites are out of) race relations was basically white on arab massacres, and arab on white massacres... So there is no love lost in Libya.

OCC: CR, Napoleon did not say my saying. My saying that used to be on The International was a "Long live the French herritage of Communist Louisiana". I dont think Napoleon ever said that, but you know what. I will give you all my territory if you can find a document that he said that on.

Actually you have no idea what I am laughing about. I wouldn't expect you to understand.

<OOC>
CL, you may wish to look at a map of the Caribbean. One with a scale for distance. There are very few places where the islands' national boundaries prohibit traffic in International Waters.
</OOC>

The Evil Overlord Enterprises Department of Aggression reports that the 16th Fleet is approaching the western end of the Canal. Transit is expected to take 24 hours, following which the fleet will steam north toward the Gulf. Fleet exercises are expected to commence in three days, following which the fleet will sail east into the Atlantic to begin a world tour.

Any neutral nation which desires to observe the exercises is welcome to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs to arrange protocol. One unarmed vessel with observers aboard will be permitted from each nation wishing to observe from within the fleet AOR. Any observers outside the fleet perimeter are permitted to do what they wish, so long as they do not jeopardize EOE personnel by interfering with the exercises.

Any attempt to restrict the free transit of international waters will be ignored unless force is used against EOE assets. Any such act will be considered an act of war against the Dominion, and will be responded to in kind.


Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs

Whittier does not recognize CL soverignty over the gulf of Mexico.
Indeed, the Whittier fleets in the international waters portion of the gulf of Mexico have been ordered to remain where they are.
The 7th fleet itself has been ordered to run the blockade to get supplies to the 1st, 2nd and 4th fleets.
Any attacks on these ships will be considered an act of war.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v245/vetobob/caribbean.gif

Whittier commanders are plotting the running of this blockade.

Whittier naval commanders have determined the gulf of Mexico can be entered from the following points:
in the north:
Between Florida and Bahamas.
Between Bahamas and Cuba.
Between Cuba and Haiti
Between Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico

In the south:
Between Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

5 Whittier Military vessels will be going through each point. Any attempt to stop them will be considered a violation of international maritime law.

Those of you objecting might by the way want to look at CM, who claims control of the Suez canal and will not allow anyone he dislikes through it. Just thought you'd like to know.

Those of you objecting might by the way want to look at CM, who claims control of the Suez canal and will not allow anyone he dislikes through it. Just thought you'd like to know.
he withdrew from africa.

he withdrew from africa.


Ooc- We withdrew from Libya. Elections by arabs and whites in Mississippian Egypt determined we'd stay, so we're staying in Egypt, as the people requested. We have no control over Suez Canal, it's not near our zone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/ComMiss/MississippianEgypt.jpg

Good. Just so long as that's the case.

Parthia and I have joint canal control

The 16th Fleet will begin three days of live-fire Anti-Air, Anti-Surface, and Anti-Submarine Warfare exercises in the central Gulf of Mexico at 1300 local time tomorrow.

To prevent needless loss of life, neutral shipping is advised to maintain a 200-kilometer distance from the fleet for the next 120 hours. Picket ships and aircraft at the limits of this zone will broadcast warnings in English, Spanish, and French to all ships and aircraft approaching the area. Evil Overlord Enterprises is not responsible for the safety or welfare of anyone within the live-fire zone after the start of the exercises.

Any nations wishing to observe the exercises must contact Admiral Juniata before the exercises begin.


The exercise forces are described below.

RED FORCE
EOE Glencoe (CGM-7)
EOE Rodger Young (DGM-27)
EOE Aubrey Foster (DGM-34)
EOE Reynard Holmer (DGM-40)
EOE Malachi Rabin (DGM-42)
EOE Xuo Fan Li (DGM-66)
EOE Zebediah Allen (DGM-79)
EOE Seraphim (CAS-179)
EOE Excelsior (CAS-221)
EOE Garnet (CAS-164)
EOE Hartwell (CAS-209)
EOE Prentiss (CAS-60)
EOE Vishnu (CAS-199)
EOE Straylight (CAS-63)
EOE Kraken (CAS-210)
EOE Drakkar (CAS-44)
EOE Federov (CAS-187)

GREEN FORCE
EOE Bucellari (BB-30)
EOE Elite (BB-29)
EOE Praetorian (BB-32)
EOE Marne (CGM-41)
EOE Ypres (GGM-44)
EOE Roarke's Drift (CGM-55)
EOE Isandlwana (CGM-52)
EOE Tsushima (CGM-60)
EOE Antietam (CGM-46)
EOE Ahriman (CGM-49)
EOE Mikalgard (DGM-146)
EOE Asheroth (DGM-172)
EOE Dis (DGM-184)
EOE Sheol (DGM-149)
EOE Gehenna (DGM-160)
EOE Tarterus (DGM-193)
EOE Acheron (DGM-175)
EOE Kaligrad (DGM-168)
EOE Ashmodai (DGM-155)
EOE Tiamat (DGM151)
EOE Trooper (DGM156)
EOE Soldier (Cas-225)
EOE Dogface (CAS-263)
EOE Legionaire (CAS-294)
EOE Spahi (CAS-280)
EOE Grunt (CAS-229)
EOE Airborne (CAS-265)
EOE Coldstream (CAS-238)
EOE Landswehr (CAS-279)
EOE Cavalier (CAS-282)
EOE Roundhead (CAS-244)
EOE CScout (CAS-227)
EOE Musketeer (CAS-266)
EOE Rifleman (CAS-230)
EOE Grenadier (CAS-277)
EOE Guardsman (CAS-306)
EOE Doernitz (SN-23)
EOE John Paul Jones (SN-196)
EOE Orion (FO-1161)
EOE Cygnus (FO-1174)
EOE Dryad (FO-1201)
EOE Demeter (FO-1180)
EOE Maori (CT-47F)
EOE Cherokee (CT-49F)
EOE Bantu (CT-60F)
EOE Eskimo (CT-53F)
EOE Hun (CT-35T)
EOE Goth (CT-61T)


Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs

We would like to observe and if possible participate in some way. We would be happy to send a fair-sied force to the exercise if you are agreeable.

OOC: Note: I only use modern modern tech, i.e. stuff in existence and use now. If you don't then disregard, and sorry for cluttering the thread.

We'd like to remind everybody that we claim 50 miles out as our territorial waters, just don't enter our waters.

We'd also like to remind you not to enter within 50 miles of the manmade Fabus Island.


Fabus Island (It's a manmade island and it's about 25-30 miles off the coast of Mississippi, it's about 20 miles wide by 30 miles long)

Fire one shot and you'll regret it. I'll go where the exercise is held, assuming TEO is agreeable.

OOC: All this goes on and I just notice it...Just, one thing, let me set this straight...I don't own Panama or the Canal. The ANL is based in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras (that is, according to Chellis's thread.)

IDF is sending a few Farragat DDGs, they are merely going to observe the situation and E-3 and RC-767 planes will be up to also observe these excercises. We have no hostile intent here, but merely want to see how it all plays out.

The League of Empire Loyalists will be holding games in the Gulf near Fabus Island.

The League of Empire Loyalists will be holding games in the Gulf near Fabus Island.

ooc: we will?

ooc: we will?


Ooc: Whenever those lefties are holding war games in an area that happens to be near me, by "coincidence" for "no real reason", we hold our own games.

*Sigh*

It would be well for you to note that having your ships and ours, and your aircraft and ours, in such proximity, is inherently dangerous. Wars have begun in that way.

*Sigh*

It would be well for you to note that having your ships and ours, and your aircraft and ours, in such proximity, is inherently dangerous. Wars have begun in that way.


Can't you all just hold war games in the middle of the Atlantic.

*Sigh*

It would be well for you to note that having your ships and ours, and your aircraft and ours, in such proximity, is inherently dangerous. Wars have begun in that way.
OOC: Someone's seen too much "Hunt for Red October" but I won't hold it against you as I've read every Clancy novel 2-3 times. (currently reading Bear and the Dragon for my 3rd)

Yes, I know, but it's a kickass line! Besides which, it's true. I just want an exercise, he wants to go "look how big I am!" which makes me wonder if he's not compensating some of the time.

Yes, I know, but it's a kickass line! Besides which, it's true. I just want an exercise, he wants to go "look how big I am!" which makes me wonder if he's not compensating some of the time.

Hee hee. I agree.

We would like to observe and if possible participate in some way. We would be happy to send a fair-sied force to the exercise if you are agreeable.

OOC: Note: I only use modern modern tech, i.e. stuff in existence and use now. If you don't then disregard, and sorry for cluttering the thread.


<OOC>
Modern tech is fine. That's all I use. TG me for some OOC details. It'll make for better writing.


TEO

Can't you all just hold war games in the middle of the Atlantic.

<OOC>
That was the original plan, but then your neighbor started making utterly idiotic statements about closing off the entire Gulf of Mexico. This exercise is by way of proving that Communist Louisiana can't prevent free passage of neutral shipping in international waters.

Furthermore, the exercise will take place in the geographic center of the Gulf of Mexico, in a relatively tiny area of 40,000 square kilometers (200x200 kilometers), which is quite distant from any land mass. This exercise has absolutely nothing to do with you beyond the tenuous link that CL was supposedly trying to "protect" you by sealing off the Gulf.


TEO

If any Dimmimaran shipping is affected, miltary or non-military, then we will not hesitate to return fire. Dimmimaran Trinidad & Tobago shipping will not be attacked by anyone!

Baron Manfred von Konan
Minister for Foreign Affairs

If any Dimmimaran shipping is affected, miltary or non-military, then we will not hesitate to return fire. Dimmimaran Trinidad & Tobago shipping will not be attacked by anyone!

Baron Manfred von Konan
Minister for Foreign Affairs

With the exception of possible course corrections to avoid the live-fire exercise area, no shipping will be affected. If there are vessels in the exercise area which cannot leave before the scheduled start time (1400 US Central Time), please contact 16th Fleet Command as soon as possible, and the exercise area or start time will be adjusted.

All shipping has had three days to make course corrections to avoid the live-fire zone. EOE warships are already in picket positions to warn away uninvolved shipping, EOE GPS and navigation satellites have the danger area coordinates posted, and aircraft from the Fleet will be patrolling the zone perimeter during the exercise. Any vessels that defy common sense and multiple warnings to enter the live-fire area do so at their own risk, and EOE will not be held responsible for their safety.


Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs

Ditto what TEO said. Just so you know. TEO check TGs too :)

Due to numerous civilian vessels currently in the proposed live-fire zone and the request by DPUO to take part in the exercises, the 16th Fleet will simply perform drills and non-firing exercises until the bulk of the DPUO naval units can join in 5 days. Any other nations interested in participating or merely observing are welcome so long as they arrive before the start of the exercise on 31Aug04.

Additional EOE fleet support units will transit the Panama Canal tomorrow and join the 16th Fleet in three days. Task Force Bivar will sail west from the Indian Ocean and rendezvous with the 16th Fleet near the Bahamas on the 3rd of September, after the exercise is completed. The combined Task Force will steam through the southern Atlantic, around the tip of South America, and return to the EOE Fleet base in the Juan Fernandez Islands.

All EOE fleet units will remain in international waters and will not interfere with shipping unless fired upon.


Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs

What is ther permisible number of vessels allowed to participate.

All Dimmimaran shipping has left the area. Anything left there is not ours....

What is ther permisible number of vessels allowed to participate.

<OOC>
I would prefer to keep it small, since the Dominion has 65 ships in the area already, and DPUO is sending a fleet to particpate. Too many more ships would require expanding the exercise area by an order of magnitude.
</OOC>


There will be two phases of live fire exercise.Phase 1 will be a gunnery and missile exercise against a structurally-reinforced decommissioned troop transport (static target), followed by an all-aspect attack on a remotely-controlled decommissioned troop transport (moving target).

Phase 2 will be an all-aspect attack on Red Force by Green Force as Red Force attemtps to maneuver out of the exercise area. Red Force will be returning fire, so any ships accompanying Green Force could suffer actual casualties. This is not a wargame, but an actual live-fire exercise, with the real possibility of damage and death to the participants.

The Dominion will accept interested parties willing to engage in either Phase of the exercise. Observers will also be welcome, but Evil Overlord Enterprises accepts no responsibility for the safety of anyone within the exercise area.


Eternal Arch-Villain Psychopompos
Minister for Pre-Subjugation External Affairs

Louisiana does have the right to close our own territories from entering. Just like those who own the Strait of Gibralter(sp?) have the right to close it off b/c it is in their own territory. I did not close off the entire Gulf, I just closed off my territories. These territorys spread from close to Key West to Barbados. If I want to close MY waters I have the right. As I said also, it ISNT closed to civilian ships. It WAS closed to foreign naval vessels who have no territory in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Louisiana does have the right to close our own territories from entering. Just like those who own the Strait of Gibralter(sp?) have the right to close it off b/c it is in their own territory. I did not close off the entire Gulf, I just closed off my territories. These territorys spread from close to Key West to Barbados. If I want to close MY waters I have the right. As I said also, it ISNT closed to civilian ships. It WAS closed to foreign naval vessels who have no territory in the Gulf of Mexico region.

IDF is sending 5 Farragat DDGs through the straight as you can't dictate to us where we can go. The ships are headed to Monterrey in Whittier. If fired upon you will be in a full war when you commit crimes on the high sea.

You can't claim out 50 miles. The World recognized 12 miles and no more.

IDF, you must be pretty stupied. As, I said, ONLY MY TERRITORIES ARE CLOSED. THAT WOULD BE BETWEEN HATI AND PUERTO RICO AND A COUPPLE OF SMALL ISLANDS. I AM NOT STOPPING ALL TRADEING. I HAVE JUST SHUT DOWN TRADE TO FOREIGN NATIONS THREW MY WATERS. YOU MUST NOT READ OTHER POST BEFORE POSTING.

Louisiana does have the right to close our own territories from entering.

Which no one disputes. A great many people do dispute your right (and ability) to close off the entire Gulf of Mexico.

I did not close off the entire Gulf, I just closed off my territories. These territorys spread from close to Key West to Barbados. If I want to close MY waters I have the right. As I said also, it ISNT closed to civilian ships. It WAS closed to foreign naval vessels who have no territory in the Gulf of Mexico region.

This contradicts your starting post in this thread:

Due to recent events. Communist Louisiana has now imposed a large blockade around the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico. Communist Louisiana has been in control for more then 60(NS) years of the following Islands:

Hati
Puerto Rico
Montserrat
Grenada
St. Lucia
Turks & Caicos Islands
Anguilla
Bahamas
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Barbados
<SNIP>


Note that the islands you have chosen to use to seal off the Gulf of Mexico actually are mainly on the periphery of the Caribbean Sea. Note also that the gaps between most of those islands are so wide that most of the waters between them are international waters. This means that you would be forced to attack warships in international waters in order to prevent their passage into the Caribbean and the Gulf.

Not only do you not have the right to do this, the number of truly powerful nations who are determined to test your "blockade" is an indication that it would be foolish to try.


TEO

Captain Grant Wilhelm sighed gratefully as the line handlers aboard Gremlin hauled in their boom as his own crew disconnected it. Replenishment at sea was harrowing enough at the best of times, but the storm raging over the central Gulf made it especially tricky.

Casting an experienced eye over the riggers to make sure they were securing Marne's RAS gear safely and quickly, Wilhelm snapped an order to the BMOW. "Boats, get us safely clear of Gremlin, please. Have Commo send them my thanks, then patch in to the Fleet SSIN and get us back in formation."

"You got it, Cap'n." Chief Boatswain's Mate Harvallis was a grizzled twenty-year veteran sailor, so the Captain allowed her considerable slack. Especially as her skill at handling the always troublesome Deck Department made Marne the pride of the Cruiser Squadrons.

Just before he ducked back into the bridge, Wilhelm turned a hard gaze at the lumbering troop transports following Marne. He thought of the cargo on the ships and smiled. "All things come to those who wait," he thought to himself. "and I can't wait to put paid to those bastards."

Harvallis choked back the silly comment on her lips as she saw the skipper's expression. She turned and scanned the bridge to make sure everything was absolutely perfect. She'd survived twenty years in the EOE Navy by being a good judge of hazards, and the Old Man's grin made her nervous. She hoped the weather would clear up enough to get the exercise underway soon.

To be continued ...

"So, gentlemen," said Admiral Andrei Lukashin with the air of a man who had just discovered that his gas company had decided to pay him for using it, "we're going to an exercise, eh? Brilliant!" He grinned widely. His fleet, HIS FLEET had been selected from the whole of the Western Fleet to go on exercise! He was ecstatic. His hands shook, and that was unusual. He was not too tall, a mere 5'11", but he had always made up for that by being not the kind of person one messed around with; he had never really shaken about anything in his life. His appearance did not disguise it either; with his close-cropped black hair and broad, shoulders on a muscular frame, few men were eager to cross him. But this was different. He loved the thought of going to get involved in anything that would let his ships use their weapons to good effect, and it was therefore not surprising that he was so happy.

"Yes, comrade Admiral. Shall I give orders to be ready for sea?" asked Lukashin's 2IC, a Rear-Admiral by the name of Rachel Beckett. Beckett was a curious sort; she had never quite managed to understand Lukashin's eagerness to go off and shoot at things, but had been unable to get any further with her attempts to comprehend it despite many hours of conversation with him. The two were close, for they had risen up the echelons of command almost in tandem. Rumours had abounded, but they were consistently denied; and anyway, once the stories had done the rounds a few times they had quickly lost their appeal.

"Yes, yes. Get them off as soon as possible, will you?"
"Yes, Admiral," replied Rachel, and walked off with a sigh and a wry smile.

Bucellari slid through the dark grey waters of the Gulf at 35 knots, white foam glowing momentarily in the early dawn as she turned hard to port. The long barrels of #1 Barbette moved easily to starboard in response to the course change, aiming steadily at a computer-generated point twenty-two kilometers to the southeast.

Several kilometers astern, Praetorian and Elite made their own radical course changes to test the computer-controlled weapon stabilization of their main batteries. All three ships fired a scant half-second or so apart, each aiming at the same target despite traveling at different speeds and courses. Just to really complicate matters and make Phase I a true test of the systems, it was a time-on-target barrage as well.

A five-meter long tongue of nearly liquid flame shot from both barrels of Bucellari's #1 gun mount. The 700-kilogram projectiles were traveling at nearly hypersonic velocity as they left the barrels on their shallow arcs to the EOE Hun at the edge of the horizon. The sonic booms of the shells from Bucellari's sister ships drowned out the "ripping canvas" sounds as the heavy kinetic-energy warheads tore through the damp Caribbean air.

Deep in the heavily-reinforced hull of the obsolete troop transport Hun, the computer tied in to the ship's still operating radars registered the incoming rounds and transmitted to the RPV circling overhead at 1000 meters. Seconds later, all six shells arrived within a tenth of a second of each other. The close range (by battleship standards) meant that any KEW rounds which missed would likely hit the water nearly a kilometer from the target.

None of the shells missed, although Elite's fire-control computer had apparently decided that Hun's thin superstructure was a better target than the reinforced hull. The first round hit below the starboard bridge wing. Aluminum and steel went from solid to gas in microseconds under the tremendous impact, following the tumbling remnants of the KEW as it shredded its way through the breadth of the superstructure. When the shell tore out the port side behind the forward smokestack a half-second later, a cloud of molten debris sprayed two hundred meters from the stricken transport. Three-meter long icicles of congealing metal hung from overhead within the now-sagging forward superstructure, reflecting the ruddy glow of burning paint and plastics ignited by the spray of superheated gas.

The second round from Elite was slowed only momentarily by the imposition of the Signal Bridge, mast, and aft smokestack into the shell's ballistic arc. The KEW raised a huge geyser of seawater nearly a kilometer past Hun as gravity reasserted its grip.

Praetorian had better luck- or perhaps a better fire-control computer. Both of her shells hit Hun only six meters apart near the bow at almost the same instant. Welding massive I-beams in place in every compartment and passageway had heavily braced the entire inner hull of the transport. Several centimeters of steel plating had been sandwiched over polycarbonate sheets on every bulkhead, deck, and overhead. This type of armoring was far beyond what any functional ship would be capable of- even battleships.

The first shell hit the hull directly over the end of an I-beam. The warhead, hull, and I-beam were all converted from solid to gas almost instantly. The resulting blast of molten metals traveling at high speed ravened through the interior of the ship, lifting the deck plates on the fo'c'sle and heeling Hun 10 degrees to port. The bubble of high-temperature metals melted through the I-beams and reinforced bulkheads, igniting everything in its path. The skin of the ship near the bow glowed red as the atmosphere within flash-heated to the ignition point. Hatches welded in place bulged with the immense concussion from the blast.

For all its catastrophic effects within the hull, Praetorian's first shell did not do much structural damage. There was a two-meter hole in the starboard side of the ship, extending nearly five meters deep, but Hun would not sink or even be prevented from completing its mission by the damage.

The second shell was a different story. Arriving a fraction of a second after the first KEW several meters aft, the second shell tore straight through the skin of the ship and hit an I-beam welded at an angle to the hull. The I-beam crumpled from the glancing blow, a spray of gaseous steel setting fire to the paint and insulation in the compartment. The KEW tumbled through the maze of reinforcing I-beams and armored bulkheads, shattering itself and the internal structures into separate projectiles shotgunning within the hull. The largest chunk of the osmium-tungsten shell angled down through the decks, exiting the hull on the port side two meters below the waterline.

Water roared into the ship, quickly filling several compartments. Hun began listing to port. Watertight doors welded shut two days before minimized the flooding, but the sea began occupying more and more spaces as it followed the ruptured bulkheads and shattered decks from the multiple KEW strikes. The automatic pumps left running for just such an incident were slowly drowning.

One of Bucellari's shells hit Hun amidships, vaporizing several armored bulkheads before crashing into the bulk of Main Turbine #3. Engine and KEW shattered into millions of white-hot fragments, igniting everything in the forward engine room- including the air. Thousand of tiny holes covered every surface within ten meters of the blast, allowing air to seep in and sustain sullen fires which would only die when the sea rushed into the engine room through the massive holes made by the last KEW. This shell had torn through the aft end of the compartment, tumbled farther aft into the main auxiliary room, finally punching a hole through the deck into main ballast tank #5 on the port side.

Fire mission completed, the three battleships reduced speed and turned east to rejoin the rest of the Green Force. Two helicopters from the corvette Musketeer flew toward the stricken transport, cameras rolling. Hun was slowly slipping beneath the waves as the helos circled and hovered nearby, watching her death-throes and recording the damage. Twenty-nine minutes after the salvo was fired, Hun rolled over to port and vanished.

Rear Admiral Juniata scowled at the imagery coming from the orbiting helicopters and nodded approval. She turned and said, "Please write up the data from the RPV and the imagery with your recommendations, and have it on my desk at 1000."

The dark-skinned man from the Ministry of Science and Technology smiled and nodded his head. "Yes ma'am" he said brightly, happy as a kid with a new toy. "May I add a note that you were pleased with the system's performance?"

The Admiral shook her head. "I'll append my own comments when I forward the report, Mr. Hawkwood, but I will say that I am impressed with the demonstrated firepower and accuracy."

She turned to Bucellari's Captain. "Enrico, please relay to the Fleet that we will finish Phase I after lunch. I'll be in my cabin."

"Bloody hell," muttered the Captain of the PWS Conqueror as he watched the impacts from the comfort of his cabin's TV feed. The feed was being provided courtesy of an overworked Yak-061 UAV that had been hovering 2,000 feet above the action, twenty miles to the East. The camera systems had delivered into his cabin high-fidelity images of the Hun meeting the fate allotted to her. The impacts of those shells still played in his head. How long would we survive,, he thought, on the end of that? Conqueror was the Command Ship of the force, a giant Hunter-class BBCN. Arrayed around her in a circle more than 2 miles in diameter were four more Battleships, two of the Frunze and two of the Soyuz classes, and a host of small destroyers and frigates. The small ships would, for now, have no part in the action. The Captain mused on what he knew of the plan of action as he grasped with both hands the last few minutes of rest prior to the exercise commencing.

Conqueror continued to slice through the slate-grey sea, the slight chop barely making a mark on her 120,000 tonne bulk as she made 22 knots, allowing her comrades to catch up to her. The four Battleships paired off, and began to slide into formation. The operation was a surprisingly rapid one; within four minutes the five Battleships were arranged in a left echelon, with the destroyers running some 900 metres behind them in two great arrowheads. This was the Battleships' part. For now, the smaller ships were content to keep pace with them, and wait, like hawks circling in the upper air as the great square turrets of their larger comrades began to swing round to port.

OOC: Is there and assigned target ship/target area for my force?

OOC: Is there and assigned target ship/target area for my force?

<OOC>
The rest of Phase I will be all-aspect attacks against the remaining transport. This ship will be steered by selsyn units controlled from the cruiser Marne. You may write this one up for yourself, if you want.

The two 30mm Hephaestus chainguns aboard will be switched live at the start of the exercise, as will the test model of the Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser on the small helo deck aft of the superstructure. The MTHEL is programmed to destroy air targets sorted by size- largest first.

Two RPVs will be in the air from Force Green- one as a relay for the remote operator and the other to spot the fall of shot.

The real action will begin with Phase II- the destruction of Red Force.

Check your TG.

TEO

OOC: Okeydokey. Time to see if I'm any good.

IC: "Captain!" barked Lukashin. "Open fire on the remaining ship!" The Conqueror's bridge rolled slightly as the swell increased.
"Guns ready port," shouted Captain Romanov, looking tense. Don't screw up in front of an Admiarl.
"Guns ready port!" came the reply from the Chief Gunnery Officer.
"Target enemy ship! Stand by to open fire!" Romanov listened as the CGO repeated his orders, and waited until it looked, and felt, right. And suddenly he was back on gunnery training, and this was just another shot to try to get a high score.
Conqueror thundered forward at 30 knots with her consorts, her port SS-N-22 launchers trained on their target. Romanov waited. Lukashin looked at him curiously. What are you waiting for?
"SHOOT!"

With a crash that shook the vessel from stem to stern, Conqueror loosed her first nine shells. The great long-barreled 20-inch guns belched tongues of fire more than 20 metres long as they swung round on their turrets, laid by the fire-control computers. The fire-control computers checked their calculations, checked the positions of the shells, and corrected accordingly as the new rounds were hoisted up by the autoloaders.

The shells took 17 seconds to cover the 18,440 metres to the transport. Romanov watched with his binoculars as the shells angled invisibly toward their target. Then, suddenly, stabbing slivers of red light emerged, pulsing away from the transport. As he watched, a flash appeared in the sky close board, and then another. Water-spouts obscured the ship for a moment as the Shmel UAV watched the other shells bracket their target. But there were only four impacts. Lukashin wondered exactly what those flashes of light had been as the twelve port side secondary guns opened up, a dull thump that caused yet another vibration.
The MTHEL laser waited as the shells approached, patiently counting down the range. Then, with awesome speed, it obliterated two of the shells, and then three, four, five. Goth yawed hard to starboard as she picked up speed. Lukashin watched as the other shells landed short and long of the transport as she dipped her bows in the swell, heading toward the last fall of shot. No hits so far.

"Should I engage with missiles?" asked Romanov uncertainly.
"Yes", snapped Lukashin. What the hell happened to those shells? Give him some from the port launchers."
"Aye sir!" replied Romanov, glad of something to do. He rattled off the orders to the CGO, and the two four-round launcher boxes for the SS-N-22 missiles rotated to aim at their target.

Goth twisted and turned madly at her top speed of 33.7 knots, her ageing hull shuddering with the strain as she was remotely driven from her doom. The RPV watching the Battleships suddenly showed to the pilot of the old transport spurts of whitish-grey smoke from the port side of the Conqueror. Eight Sunburn missiles descended to sea-level and began their short journey toward the transport, cruising at 1,800 knots. Behind them, the five Battleships powered up their Bell Shroud-B ECM systems.

The radar systems controlling the two CIWS units were suddenly unable to see a thing thanks to a fog of jamming. Had there been a radar display working aboard the old ship, it would have shown only a fog of unitelligible green spikes. As it was, the CIWS guns sat helplessly and waited for their radars to burn through. When the missiles were less than 2,500m from the Goth, her CIWS were able to re-acquire them, and began their work in earest. The MTHELs and CIWS units were amazingly effective; after ten seconds of rapid firing, only three missiles remained; after another five, there were but two. One of the Sunburns chose to ram itself into the empty superstructure; the wheelhouse disintegrated under the impact of the 320Kg warhead. The other slammed into the hull and detonated. The explosion destroyed the outer layer of steel totally, and punched through the second layer of ceramic, but already much of its' force had been dissipated. By the time it encountered the third layer of armour, it hadn't even enough force to do more than scorch the tough aluminium/Kevlar composite.

"Captain, engage at will. Barrage fire only," commanded Lukashin, frowning as he watched the missiles impact.
"Aye sir," replied Romanov, still pondering the flash.
"Order all ships to fire on my mark." Lukashin wanted to make sure nothing went wrong. If all his ships fired off a broadside at once, some of the rounds had to hit. "Pass fire-control data to other ships."

The diamond side steamed in at thirty knots. Lukashin altered course to 264, and watched his ships follow his turn. Beckett was commanding the other ships, the large destroyer and frigate group of 20 ships. She was keeping her ships' radars and other targeting systems ready to engage the transports too, but for the moment held her fire as the Battleships trained their armament. She watched the lone transport in the distance with pity.

"Three...two...one...FIRE!" bellowed the CGO. As he did so, he depressed the burnished red firing switch with his thumb, and watched from the cameras atop the mainmast and the UAV as the other four ships let loose their guns. Fifty-one heavy guns spoke as one dreadful voice, and the air seemed to be torn asunder by their shells' passage as the Battleships now began to call their secondary guns into play. Water-spouts completely hid the transport this time, but in the midst of the turmoil there was a sudden flash of orange-red light. Billowing smoke appeared from the loaction of the Goth as the report of the detonation echoed across the ocean.

The MTHELs, challenged beyond their ability, had been unable to stop more than six of the shells as they tried to decide which to destroy first. It didn't matter what the laser did; it had no hope of stopping all the shells. First a sixteen-inch shell from the Besstrashnyy smashed into the superstructure, then another obliterated the aft helicopter deck, and with it the laser. Another five shells impacted in a ragged line along the Goth's centreline, two of them passing straight through the hull. He bottom torn out by the detonation of the 18-inch projectiles from the Voroshilov, a Frunze-class ship, Goth began her death. It was accelerated by the impact of another five shells around the engine spaces and the upperworks. Her bulkheads ripped apart, her hull ruptured, her metal twisted and tortured beyond endurance, Goth settled rapidly; then, as the water-spouts dropped back into the ocean from which they had come, her torn bows plunged below the waves. Goth tilted her stern toward the sky; then, with a scream of anguished steel, her stern broke apart from her bows. As debris fell from the dying ship, her stern section swiftly filled with water, and she began her descent to the ocean floor.

"Cease firing," ordered Lukashin. He turned to Captain Romanov. "Captain, congratulations."
"Thankyou, Admiral," replied Romanov, a look of relief on his face. Only two salvoes to kill that ship. Can't be bad, eh? Now what of Phase Two?

"All right, Mr. Hawkwood, What is your impression of the last portion of Phase I test?" Rear Admiral Juniata leaned back in her chair in Bucellari's wardroom and addressed the civilian standing near the coffee urn.

Hawkwood gulped the coffee, then gasped as the strong-as-lye Navy java hit his tongue and throat. "Ah ..." he gasped momentarily. Recovering his composure, he complained, "Begging your pardon, Admiral, but who committed this coffee?"

The assembled officers all buried grins. The Admiral merely arched an eyebrow and prompted, "The test?"

Carefully setting the coffee cup on the table, Hawkwood slid back into his seat. "My opinion is roughly the same as that of Captain M'Gazi, Admiral." Hawkwood nodded to the Commanding Officer of Praetorian, attending the meeting by Real-Time Video Conferencing. "Their reload times are slightly faster than ours, mainly due to the chill-and-purge system we use to extend barrel life. The MTHEL surprised them, but they quickly came up with the right countermeasure. I like their ECM's effectiveness, too. They get a lot of range from those directional emitters. Very similar to the Argyllian sweep radars, by the way."

Bess Juniata lowered her head in despair for a moment, then transfixed the civilian with a hard look. "Mister Hawkwood, we were not evaluating the effectiveness of the DPUO weapons. We were evaluating the new Gram MTHEL. Remember?"

The Admiral's sarcasm slid off Hawkwood unnoticed. "Oh, that," Hawkwood waved a hand dismissingly. "Gram performed exactly to specifications, just as I expected. I built it, after all."

Juniata swept her gaze around the room. "Then we may label the system as approved for full fleet deployment?" Everyone nodded in agreement. The Admiral nodded. "So ordered. Have the reports ready for my signature on my desk by 0530."

She turned to the only other non-Navy person in the Wardroom. "Colonel ibn Jamal, are we ready to load for Phase II?"

Khalid ibn Jamal, Colonel in Evil Overlord Enterprises' Internal Security Ministry, nodded somberly. "Yes, sir. The Red Force crews are already aboard their ships, locked into the security compartments. My people are already evacuating the regular crews by helicopter, per your orders."

He glanced at the Wardroom clock. "My people will deliver the instructions in three hours, following which they will also evacuate by helicopter. The security locks will open automatically at 0600, and then the fun begins." The IS officer smiled at the Navy people in the room, who all grinned evilly in return. Everyone was looking forward to the morning's festivities.

Commander Breckinridge, Bucellari's Operations Officer, asked the Admiral, "Sir, what will you tell our guests from Don'tPissUsOff?"

Juniata stood, drawing the rest of the Wardroom to their feet as well. "They've been told that Red Force is manned by volunteers. I'm off to Flag Plot to send Admiral Lukashin my compliments on the performance of his ships and advise him of our dispositions for Phase II."


From: Rear Admiral Juniata, 16th Fleet
To: Admiral Lukashin, DPUO Western Fleet

Subject: Phase II 16th Fleet dispositions

Admiral Lukashin,

First, my officers and I wish to convey our compliments to you and your crews for their excellent performance in the final portion of Phase I. The skill and professionalism of your crews was most impressive.

Second, I wish to advise you of the 16th Fleet's dispositions for Phase II, which will begin at approximately 0700. As you know, the objective of the exercise is to simulate- using live fire- the pursuit of a squadron of pirates of unknown origins but demonstrated hostile intent.

Beginning at 2045, Green Force will slow to 18 knots, allowing Red Force to move ahead until the Phase II opening range of 40 kilometers is achieved. This should take approximately 2 hours- barring unforeseen circumstances. Red and Green Forces will hold this distance until Red Force signals the start of the exercise by beginning evasive maneuvering.

Red Force's group configuration will remain unknown until the Red Force commander establishes it just before the start of Phase II. Green Force will assume a combat pursuit formation, with a crescent-shaped screen of cruisers and escorts ahead of the three capital ships (and support ships) and an inverse crescent screen of escorts astern.

Green Force will engage Red Force at any time circumstances permit after the start of the exercise. Red Force crews have been instructed that Green Force will no longer take any Red Force ship that escapes the exercise area under fire. Red Force ships will be returning fire, and some units may attempt a rear-guard action to allow the remainder to escape. Any ship in the exercise may expect to be damaged or destroyed, as the Red Force vessels are still potent warships with full magazines- albeit obsolete by current EOE standards.

Please advise me of your planned dispositions prior to the start of Phase II. Flag Plot on Bucellari will establish a laser-communication link with Conqueror before the start of Phase II, which we will maintain as long as possible. Three RPV's from Green Force will be aloft to assist with communications. Red Force has noair assets at all, so please advise your air-defense personnel to refrain from shooting down the RPV's if at all possible. I will of course understand if a mistake occurs during the heat of action.

Very Respectfully,
Rear Admiral Bess Juniata
EOE COM16THFLT

To: R. Adm. Juniata, 16th Fleet CinC
From: Admiral Lukashin, TF Delta CinC.

Subject: Re: 16th Fleet Phase II dispositions

Much appreciated. Your ships for their part were almost worryingly effective. I fear I shall have to request yet more funding for the Navy, not that I have regrets about that.

But anyway, Phase II. This being a live-fire eercise, we will of course be pulling no punches. Nor will we be allowing the enemy any chances that we do not wish.

Our battle plan runs thusly: Destroyer force Delta-II, under the command or R. Adm. Beckett, will split into two groups of eight ships and proceed to move along the flanks of the enemy force, outside their gun range, in company with the Battleships Besstrashnyy and Boyevoy. This forces will be detailed to attempt to slow down Red Force and provide ECM coverage, as well as potentially providing a blocking force, should Red Force attempt to move East or West.

The three remaining Dreadnaughts, Voroshilov, Suvorov and Conqueror, will engage in a chase action against the enemy vessels in a vee formation. The three ships will or ordered to pursue; once they are within 20 thousand metres of gun range, the Conqueror will move into the central position of the vee while the Voroshilov and Suvorov will attempt to move on the enemy's sternquarters and open fire.

As to the matter of your RPVs: during combat the SAM and CIWS units aboard our ships are always set into full-automatic mode. They will engage any target not identified as friendly, with their priority of engagement determined by speed, radar cross-section, emissions and so forth. Your RPVs will not be safe unless they are transmitting a friendly or neutral IFF code. If you wish, we will supply you with a temporary IFF frequency for your units to use.

Also, I hasten to add that all of the aircraft mounted on our ships will be employed in this action.

Please reply if there are any problems with this,

Admiral A. Lukashin.

As the Internal Security Colonel's message finished and began to repeat, the nearly two hundred men in the improvised lock-up began a general babble of confusion and fear. A heavyset man with long iron-grey hair pushed his way into the center of the room and bellowed.

"All right, listen up! I was a colonel in the army of This Oughta Do before the Overlord invaded us. I'm pretty sure I'm the ranking officer here, so I am assuming command!"

The brief silence that greeted this announcement was suddenly drowned out as dozens of men converged on the speaker, shouting their own qualifications. Several fistfights broke out. Most of the men watched the activity or joined in, depending on their individual temperment. A tall, wiry man with shaggy salt-and-pepper hair stood in front of the display and watched the entire speech again.

Frowning slightly, the man touched the screen and called up a schematic display of the ship. He flipped through several dozen screens, pausing briefly on several screens. He switched the display back to the looped speech and turned around to survey the disturbance in the center of the room. Several competing would-be leaders of men were shouting and waving their arms, demanding that they be acknowledged as the Commanding Officer.

Shaking his head in disgust, the man walked slowly toward the maelstrom of shouting and gesticulating. Men grew silent and moved aside as he passed. He stopped at the edge of a growing wall of silence and stared at the red faces yelling at each other for a moment. Finally, he stepped up to the largest loudmouth in the group and said quietly, "Shut up."

Silence fell. The group of loudmouths stepped back a pace. The man turned around and addressed the entire room, speaking softly but clearly. Men edged closer to hear better.

"My name is Enrico DiMurano. I fought against the Overlord's forces when they occupied Zurich. I understand them. You all need to understand the nature of our enemy. They do not hate us. Hate is for amateurs. The men who will be trying to kill us are professionals. They will do whatever it takes to send us all to Hell. Our only chance to stay alive is to sail this ship several hundred kilometers under fire from the Overlord's fleet. The only way we can do that is if we all work together."

He turned in a slow circle, meeting the eyes of the frightened men all around him. "We have all been condemned to death", he said bluntly. "and we have all been wondering why the Overlord was keeping us alive for all these months, and why we've been getting training on shipboard systems.

"There are seventeen ships full of condemned prisoners out here. We will all have to fight our way to freedom, against the professional killers in the gold-souled ranks of the Evil Overlord. Our chances are not good. But ... we stand no chance at all if we continue to bicker and argue amongst ourselves."

One of the men in the front ranks asked, "Why can't we just take to the lifeboats?"

The man in the center of the room shook his head. "Bad idea. We are hundreds of miles from the nearest land. We have a slim chance of surviving in an armored warship. We have less than no chance if we try to make it in unpowered, unarmored lifeboats."

He swept the faces of the men with his eyes, turning around to make sure he included the whole room. "We have a few hours before the doors open. We're going to need men to run the guns, the radars, the engines, and the steering. I suggest that we break up into groups- one group for each task. I will run the radars from the Combat Information Center. I will need thirty or so men with electronics training to help me. Who will run the engine rooms?"

The man with the iron-grey hair who'd been the first to try to assume command looked around quickly, then stepped forward. "I will." he growled. "I'll need at least 50 men- mostly for damage control."

A short man with a surprisingly deep voice stepped forward. "I have experience with artillery, so I'll work the guns." He turned and walked over to the display and called up the ship information screen. After studying the screen for a few seconds, he turned around and said, "I'll need at least sixty men."

A dark-skinned man with no hair at all stepped forward. "I can handle the steering."

DiMurano nodded soberly. "Very good. Let us get organized. Remember that we will all die if we don't work together. We may still die, but at least we have a chance."

Enrico DiMurano scowled at the display. "No, I don't think scattering the ships would be a good idea. If we stay more-or-less in a group, we have a far better chance to shoot down incoming missiles. Everyone's chances will be better if we stick together."

Galen an Fors scowled back from the display, one of many images on the screen. "You keep harpinng on the subject of sticking together, Enrico. What were you, some sort of Union organizer?"

DiMurano nodded soberly. "My previous occupation does not matter- nor does yours. We only have a tiny chance to survive ... if we stay together as a group. Your radars should be showing the size of the fleet against us. How long do you think any single ship will last, without the others to back it up?"

There was murmurred agreement from most of the faces in the display. Two of them were shaking their heads. "I don't care what any of you say, we're heading north at flank just as soon as the engines are on-line." The signal from Garnet ceased.

"Sorry, Enrico. The crew of Federov voted to head east at flank speed. Good luck." The signal from the other corvette winked out.

DiMurano shook his head, then got back to business. "I've been watching our friends to the south. Has anyone seen anything unusual?"

Galen smiled broadly. "You mean the fact that there seem to be two separate fleets down there? I noticed."

"The largest ships all seem to belong to that unit to the east. The ESM suite aboard Aubrey Foster is fairly crude, but this eastern group doesn't have the electronic emissions signature of an Overlord fleet." DiMurano was interrupted by Callahan, the speaker for the cruiser Glencoe.

"Yeah. and the smaller, western group doesn't have any emissions at all that we've detected." The blond man shrugged. "So what?"

DiMurano checked the ship's chronometer above the display screen in Aubrey Foster's CIC. "We only have a few minutes left. Here is what I propose ..."

Log of meeting of Thursday, 04/09/04.

Present:

Admiral A. Lukashin
Rear-Admiral R. Beckett
Captain First Rank Pavel Romanov
Captain First Rank Adolf Reinhardt
Captain First Rank Otto Werner
Captain First Rank Alfred Montgomery
Captain First Rank James MacDowall


Admiral Romanov opened the meeting with an extract from the message from Rear-Admiral Juniata, leader of the TEO exercise force, and commented that this message seemed genuine.

Captain Werner said that it was deserved.

R. Admiral Beckett than asked what would be done in the second part of the exercise.

Admiral Lukashin stated that the objective of the exercise would be to sink the enemy ships as rapidly as possible, once all available information had been gleaned from them.

Captain Werner asked how this was to be done. The Captain made reference to the reading of tea leaves.

Captain MacDowall pointed out that at that moment it was likely the enemy gaining intelligence on our ships' electronics.

Admiral Romanov replied that he would order an EMCON as soon as it was necessary. The Admiral then outlined his plan of action.

R. Admiral Beckett asked whether it was wise to use destroyers as had been planned.

Admiral Lukashin replied that he thought so, and then asked for the other members to leave and report back to him with ideas. The meeting was declared adjourned.

"Sir, we have active emitters from Red Force."

Captain M'Gazi smiled happily. "Very well. Relay contact via SSIN to Bucellari." He turned to the Officer of the Deck. "I want Praetorian at Condition Able. Give me 35 knots, course 097."

"Condition Able, aye. Chief of the Watch, set Condition Able throughout the ship. Helm, ring up all head full, come left to 097." LTJG Orson felt the usual thrill as Praetorian responded to her orders. "By every god and his mother!" she exulted silently to herself. "This is almost better than sex"

The professionally calm voice of the Chief of the Watch brought her back to an awareness of her duty. "General Quarters, general quarters. All hands man your battle stations. Set Condition Able throughout the ship." The gongs of the GQ alarm resonated throughout Praetorian's passageways and compartments, along with the Chief's voice on the intercom. The ship was already at modified Able- the crew remained at their stations, but were permitted to move through the ship if necessary- so setting Able would not take long, even in a battleship.

The Boatswain's Mate at the helm responded, "All ahead full, aye. Left to 097, aye."

Praetorian shuddered slightly as she surged ahead. The massive pylons holding the four overpowered drive motors vibrated as the screws- which had already been moving at full speed- tilted their blades to suddenly dig into the sea. In less than two minutes, the massive warship had accelerated to thirty knots. The sea swells, which had been rocking the ship gently at 18 knots, became nearly unnoticeable as Praetorian approached full speed.

"Sir, Condition Able is set throughout the ship. The Chief Engineer reports full emergency power is available, and all three reactors are on-line. All damage control stations are manned-and-ready. All guns manned-and-ready." The Chief of the Watch was a fifteen-year veteran of the Navy, and he was proud of what he thought of as his ship. It showed in his voice.

Boatswain's Mate Third Class van Doorn chimed in. "Sir, ship is heading 097. Engine room answers all ahead full. Speed now three-one knots and climbing."

The OOD turned to relay the message to the Captain, but he waved a hand dismissively. "I have the word, mister Orson." M'Gazi turned back to face the screen echoing data from Praetorian's Combat Information Center.

Relayed data from the RPV orbiting three thousand meters above Red Force showed the dozen and a half ships mostly turning to 090 and accelerating to 30 knots or so. Two corvettes broke formation, one heading 025- due east- and the other heading 005- a few points east of north. Both these ships had 'rooster tails' of prop wash in their wakes. They were running at flank speed- around 35 knots.

M'Gazi frowned. His peripheral vision had noted a flash on the deck of one of the Red Force destroyers. He shifted his attention to the destroyer Zebediah, running with the main group of Red Force. He was just in time to catch a fleeting glimpse of a Valkyrie missile before it destroyed the RPV.

The bridge SSIN operator made a verbal report to complement the SSIN data suddenly filling the bridge screens. "CIC reports Red Force has launched a missile strike. We have twenty-four, that is two-four, missiles launched. Launch configuration suggests Wotan and Zephyr cruise missiles."

"What's their bearing?" M'Gazi demanded as he heard the OOD order Praetorian's air-defense officer to power-up his systems.

Commander Benno, Praetorian's Operations Officer, appeared on the Captain's display. "Captain, bearing from Red Force is 030- toward the open ocean. In my opinion, they'll make a hard right in about 30 seconds and head toward the DPUO ships."

M'Gazi didn't normally swear in front of the crew, but he cursed loudly in the suddenly silent bridge. "Meaning we have no chance of thinning the strike before it hits. Somebody over there is too damned sneaky for his own good." He turned to the SSIN operator. "Do we have weapons free from Bucellari, yet?"

"Stand by, Captain, fleet fire mission coming." The Electronics Technician Chief manning the bridge SSIN console sent the message to the Captain's display unit.

Down in Fire Control, deep within Praetorian's hull, Commander Dawn Aguinaldo beamed at the same message as it appeared on her screen.
"Stand by for fleet launch!" she repeated the message to her fire-control team. "We have a Wotan fire mission. Slave your boards to the Fleet SSIN for target designation!" She heard her chiefs get the orders from their displays and repeat the orders to the petty officers on the consoles.

She scanned the new orders that followed. "Stand by for Rapier launch! Standard anti-ship configuration. Launch in two minutes."

As soon as the Fleet Launch light gleamed on her display, she opened her mouth to relay the order. The missile technicians at the consoles beat her to it, firing half of Praetorian's ready cruise missiles. Commander Aguinaldo ignored the Rapier technicians as they prepared the next launch and checked the display from CIC. 128 Wotan cruise missiles rose from the 16th Fleet, then settled into a wave-hugging flight toward the distant Red Force. She checked the remoted target designation data and grinned. Twelve missiles were targeted on the corvette fleeing north. They'd overtake the doomed vessel in less than three minutes. The rest of the strike was directed at the sloppy Red Force main body. Her grin grew wider. "No one gets away from the EOE Navy!" she thought savagely.

It begins, eh? Lukashin smiled. "Comrade Captain! Engines ahead flank, full rudder right. Steer course 095. Pass the word to all ships, Order vee formation."
"Aye sir, 095, vee formation." The Conqueror swung into a hard right turn and accelerated as her cohorts formed up. In front were Voroshilov and Suvorov; the three ships had formed a left echelon. Each checked the range to their targets, the swift-moving cruise missiles. "Heading out to sea," murmured Romanov. "Odd."
"They're trying to trick us, growled the Admiral."
"Shouldn't we light up SAM batteries sir?" asked Romanov pensively. Lukashin glared out of the window.
"Yes. Light the SAMs up, and get the jammers online. Usual defensive measures, Captain; I'll let you run this one as you see fit."
The three Battleships powered up their jamming systems and trained them out toward the incoming missiles, tracking each one with a multi-frequency barrage of white noise as they headed for their maximum speed, 35 knots.
"They're launching missiles in reply, sir."
"I know, I know. But I want to see how good their jammers are before I start using our own electronics to good effect."

<OOC>
Sorry it's been so long since I posted. RL intrusion into NS.

Will post more this afternoon (US Eastern time)


TEO

The superannuated Zephyr cruise missiles ignored the electronic storm washing over them, relying solely on inertial guidance for the flight phase of their run. Their terminal radar guidance would not engage until they were within 10 seconds of their pre-designated target coordinates.

The frightened men who in Red Force who had launched the attack had few illusions about how effective it would be, but they had to do something. As programmed, the twelve Zephyr's ran at high subsonic nearly due east for 8 minutes, then made a sweeping turn to the right. They settled on a bearing of 065 for five minutes, after which they would make their final turn to 080 and begin hunting the DPUO fleet.

The Wotan missiles were several generations old, but still more sophisticated than the obsolete Zephyrs. Two flights of the sleek cruise missiles had been launched- the last flight launched during the temporary gap in the Green Force radar coverage following the destruction of the first RPV.

The directed eleectronic emissions from the DPUO ships quickly overloaded the missiles' GPS receivers. The on-board computers switched over to inertial guidance, and brought the missiles closer to the wave-tops to reduce their radar profile. Wotans were constructed largely of carbon-fiber composites and ceramics, giving them a tiny radar cross-section, but they were only 35 kilometers from the radar emitters tracking them.

The first group of twelve Wotans ran at Mach 1 for 8 minutes, then turned south to 055. This leg of the journey would last five minutes, followed by another turn to 075. Two minutes after that final turn, the sensors in the blunt nose of each missile would begin hunting for the largest radar targets in the DPUO formation.

Twenty seconds behind the first group, the second flight of Wotans followed an identical flight path. The men who had programmed the attack hoped that the confusion of three flights of cruise missiles arriving from three different directions only a few seconds apart would allow a few of the missiles to get through. If they could damage the DPUO fleet badly enough, the odds against Red Force would improve dramatically- maybe even enough to allow them to survive.

OOC: I am not happy. I spent 20 minutes making a post, and Jolt bloody ate it! I'll post later when I'm back online. Sorry guys.

Go Dpuo! You're The Man! *dances Around*

Beckett chewed on a pen nervously as she watched the plot being relayed from the Battleships' radars to her place on the bridge. There were at least 24 cruise missiles coming for them. That would not have been a problem, except that they were all live weapons. As she watched, the battleships' powerful SAM guidance radars, given additional range by the Shmel UAVs, began to sweep over the missile targets. Conqueror locked on to four Zephyrs and loosed four Grumble SAMs toward them. The missiles raced in toward the targets crossing their noses at Mach 3, closing in on the comparatively slow Zephyrs. Beckett watched as three missiles were erased from the plot, and then ordered her own ships to light their SAM radars.

Out to sea, the long zigzagged line of ships was now emitting vast amounts of electromagnetic energy, caressing the forms of the approaching missiles as they still headed off toward the south-west on their decoy course. The ships did not yet have an order to fire, lest they waste their valuable missiles. The cruise missiles, meanwhile, continued on, less three of their number. As one, they turned their sleek if ageing forms onto bearing 080 and began their approach. Behind them, the stealthy, almost shimmering Wotans followed suit a moment later.

"Air alert red! Enemy missiles now approaching from the starboard stern! Recommend we order weapons free, Ma'am", came the tetchy call from the CoR (Chief of the Radar).
"Very well. Range to first missile?"
"80 thousand, Ma'am." Beckett chewed.
"Weapons free, all ships turn starboard 30 to unmask weapons!"

Aboard the sternmost ship, an Udaloy-II DDG, a pair of SA-N-6 SAMs leapt from their launch tubes and screamed toward the incoming missiles, as the hangar crew wheeled out the ship's own Shmel UAV. The UAV took a few seconds to steady itself as the ship heeled to starboard, then with a cheerful whine it rose from the sterndeck and headed off to the south-east, watching the incoming missiles with its' unfeeling mechanical eyes.

The Grumbles managed to kill another 2 Zephyrs for four of their own, leaving seven remaining, hurtling toward the ships. Beckett ordered the SAMs into automatic mode and waited. More SAMs arched upward and headed for the Zephyrs now, a cloud of them, inverted U shapes attacking those hated ^-shaped objects, each marked with the mark of Cain, "M". Five more Zephyrs were erased. Two left, now barely 20 thousand metres from her ships. Those two fell to SA-N-9s.

It was at that point that the UAVs' systems and the shipborne radars were able to confirm that another flight of missiles was heading in, albeit on a different bearing. Beckett waited and prayed that the SAMs would do their jobs, watching the display as the stealthy missiles were lost and found over and over again by the radars. At barely 30Km out from her ships, one ship managed to get a radar lock, and the Sovremennyy's AA fire computers launched a barrage of missiles into the swarm coming at them. Two, then three Wotans disappeared in clouds of smoke and fragments, but the number did not drop fast enough. Too many, too damned many! Beckett growled out curses as more and more radars trained on the missiles, helped out by the Shmels. Tracks were being wiped out faster now. As she watched, three more missiles fell to SAMs, then another pair. The missiles' low speed was proving their undoing. Beckett made a muffled prayer to a God she didn't believe in, thanking it that these missiles did not move at the 2,000 mph of her own.

More tracks were being erased now, as the computers' electronic brains patiently worked out vectors and speeds, and guided the missiles based on the emissions of radars, LADARs and anything else to hand. There were now just six Wotan missiles left as they activated their own guidance radars. The missiles dived straight towards their targets. One was blown apart by an SA-N-9 missile, launched in the nick of time by the computer to save an Udaloy from destruction. Two more missiles were felled by the SA-N-20s carried aboard each of the ships, as from each launcher 2 of the lightning-fast darting SAMs emerged. Three left. One more was eliminated by hitting a wall of flechettes from an ASL-100.

The final pair of missiles approached their target, a Sovremennyy-class DDG, the crew watching in mute horror as the tails of smoke came towards them. The ship's two AO-18s and 2 ASL-100s swept round toward the missile; a sound like a giant zip closing emerged from the weapons as 200 30mm shells and about the same number of explosive flechettes were loosed at the first missile. The Wotan was missed by all but a few of the objects approaching it; amazingly, four flechettes even glanced off the burnished weapon without detonating. Three thousand metres. The crew held their collective breaths as the missile kept coming - then, with a rumble that shook the ship, it was gone, and a crackling, fiery ball just above the water was all that remained. Fragments swept across the decks, peppering the funnel, starring the bridge windows and killing 10 exposed men.

Then, against all the odds, the second missile managed to evade the CIWS units. It came through the bursts of fire largely unscathed. At the last second, a pair of shells from an ASL-100's cannon knocked it off course and prematurely exploded the warhead a third of a second later, which was all that saved the ship from destruction.

The missile's warhead detonated almost directly above the centre of the destroyer, above the rear part of the helicopter hangar. The fireball of the detonation reached through the thin metal of the hangar's roof and rear wall and into the bay where the parked Ka-27 sat, and with a thundering explosion that tore off the roof altogether and sent a 20ft jet of flame from the hangar's doors, the helicopter blew up, killing another five men. The helicopter added its' own tally to the destruction of the missile. The shell from the AO-18 had caused it to veer away from the superstructure and towards the decking. The explosion obliterated the funnel and sent a tongue of fire down into the engine-room, killing two of the engine-room crew and disabling the starboard gas-turbine. The ship lost power as fuel and coolant lines were ruptured and the other engine died as the concussion of the detonation rocked the destroyer. The crippled ship heeled out of line tostarboard, slowing rapidly, smoke gushing from the wound rent into her as men scrambled aft toward the giant, black hole where had once been the destroyer's engine-room to fight the engulfing flames. The ship's stern began to settle. She would not sink, but the explosion had rendered her helpless, destroyed her engines and power supply, ravaged her steering, and generally ensured that she was going nowhere without repairs, a tow - and burials for her dead.

Beckett looked at the cloud of smoke to the stern of the column; then, calmly, she turned to the destroyer's Captain.
"Order all ships to execute missile launch."

The Empire of Hataria Declares that CL has no right to block all shiping in the Gulf of Mexico. We will give CL 24 NS Hours to Open the Gulf, or Face war with Hataria.

-Yahn Tukoa, Minister of Foregen afairs.

The Empire of Hataria Declares that CL has no right to block all shiping in the Gulf of Mexico. We will give CL 24 NS Hours to Open the Gulf, or Face war with Hataria.

-Yahn Tukoa, Minister of Foregen afairs.



I thought your nation was destroyed a thousand times over. It seems it must be a hundred times made plain, you're through! Your nation is a bigger waste pile than New Jersey.

For once I find myself agreeing with you, which is a first. Hataria, what exactly are you doing? :rolleyes:

Trying to open up The Gulf, Peacefuly First, and if that doesn't work, Force CL to Open it.

I am sending a Envoy to CL to try and Open The Gulf Peacefuly.

I geuss should have posted this eariler.

The Gulf of Mexico, has been reopened for a little over 3 weeks. Sorry for any inconvence(sp?) to nations. We will however though, keep closed the water ways that Communist Louisiana controls. This would mean that the passage between Hatti and Puerto Rico and the other islands I have posted are still closed due to defense of the Gulf. We are trying to help Psov out right now, and we will keep our territorial waters closed. This means use the waters north of Hatti betwen Cuba and the Florida Keys to enter.

I geuss should have posted this eariler.

The Gulf of Mexico, has been reopened for a little over 3 weeks. Sorry for any inconvence(sp?) to nations. We will however though, keep closed the water ways that Communist Louisiana controls. This would mean that the passage between Hatti and Puerto Rico and the other islands I have posted are still closed due to defense of the Gulf. We are trying to help Psov out right now, and we will keep our territorial waters closed. This means use the waters north of Hatti betwen Cuba and the Florida Keys to enter.

OOC: Why didn't you tell me that before!?! :mp5:

Das bump for when TEO gets back from whatever he's up to

Inkana has no problem with closing the Gulf itself, but Shipping routes(e.g. the panama canal) is a major problem, you cannot just stop world trade to "prevent wars in the Gulf"

<OOC>
Sorry to everyone who'sbeen following this- and especially to DPUO- for the lengthy delay in my posts. The last couple of weeks have been pretty hard on me. I'll be getting back on the forums moreand more from now on out, but my posting will still be rather spotty until the RL problems currently kicking my butt get resolved- one way or another.

At any rate, here is my next installment in the Gulf of Mexico Live Fire Exercise:

The Death of the Federov
</OOC>

Federov fled north at 36 knots, her aged gas turbine engines nearing the limits of their design parameters. Anton Gonaszcszyk, the de facto chief engineer, tapped worriedly at the readouts on the Main Control panel in Central Control and picked up the phone to the Bridge. “Bridge, Central. We’re approaching automatic shutdown on all four main engines. No, not possible. God Himself couldn’t keep them running once they hit their high temperature limits. We have to reduce speed. Now. I don’t care what Pavel Ilych says, this tub cannot outrun missiles. We can either go a little slower and spare the engines, or have them shut down on us and go dead in the water as the Overlord’s ships shoot us full of holes.”

He shut off the circuit and nodded to the man at the throttle controls. “Reduce speed to Ahead Flank, please. We may die in the next few minutes, but at least we will be able to maneuver … for a little while.”

In the armored CIC box amidships, Andrew Fortin Jackson heard cursing in Spanish from the air search radar console. He moved up behind Gutierrez and laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. The screen was alight with literally hundreds of missiles launched from the two enemy squadrons to the south. Jackson hit the alarm panel and keyed his direct line to the Bridge.

“Bridge, CIC. We have detected missile launches from both enemy squadrons.” He listened for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he watched the vast majority of the radar tracks disappear as the sea-skimmer missiles they represented dropped to their cruising altitude of a few meters above the wave tops. Thirty tracks began rising in ballistic arcs from the smaller enemy unit as he watched, all of them, he was relieved to note, heading for the bulk of Red Force.

“We have approximately two hundred launches of Exocet-style cruise missiles, and I’ve just seen approximately thirty- that is three-zero ballistic-type missiles launched from the smaller squadron. None of the ballistic missiles are aimed at Federov.”

Releasing the transmit key, Jackson patted Gutierrez on the shoulder. “Start switching frequencies, man. Let’s see if any of the sea-skimmers are headed our way.”

Gutierrez obediently began running the frequency-shift program the EOE personnel had briefed him on days before. The multi-spectrum radars on Federov’s short mast began cycling through frequencies. The display screens remained clear of low-flying targets for the most part, although several were filled with electromagnetic noise by the powerful jammers from the larger enemy squadron. When the microwave-band radars switched on, Gutierrez bit back a curse and replaced it with a prayer. “Madre de Dios!”

Jackson felt like swearing, too, but he keyed the circuit open to the Bridge again. The screen showed the characteristic radar pattern of several cruise missiles following Federov’s wake. “Bridge, CIC. We have approximately seven Exocet-type cruise missiles at about three-five kilometers range, aimed straight up our ass. That’s right, constant bearing, decreasing range. Recommend turning east to allow the point-defense system a better chance to engage the missiles.”

He listened for a moment, then shook his head as he spat a reply. “No, you ignorant molester of pigs! We’re only fifty kilometers away from the enemy! We have less than no chance of dropping off their radar screens by staying stern-to. The only chance we do have is to turn this tub so most of the air-defense array can bear on the incoming missiles. Really? Then you tell that horse-raping descendant of sheep stealing Cossacks that I’ll see him in Hell, because that’s where he’s taking us!”

Jackson savagely keyed the circuit off, then spoke to everyone in the room. “Listen up, people. There are at least seven- probably more- cruise missiles headed for us. Switch your air-defense systems to automatic, and keep your hands off the boards unless your radars go down. Our only chance is to shoot down those missiles before they tear us apart. The computers can see better and react faster than we can, so we leave it up to them as long as possible … and praying might be a good idea, too.”

The twelve third-generation Wotan missiles picked up Federov’s air-defense systems thirty kilometers away. The on-board computers made course corrections and reduced altitude, making it tougher- even at the rapidly closing range- for the radars to get an accurate fix on the speeding cruise missiles. At twenty kilometers, the two lead missiles rose to ten meters altitude and switched on their transponders and search radars, followed by increasing speed to two thousand kilometers per hour.

Federov spat out three Valkyrie air-defense missiles as soon as the enemy missiles popped up into range of the air-search radar. All three were unable to make the course change to intercept the Wotans as they accelerated, so six more were launched. The air-defense computer aboard Federov was two generations out of date, and lost the ten missiles at low altitude in the electromagnetic storm coming from the two higher ones. Purring happily, the computer launched six more Valkyries after computing that the first six were only 45% likely to kill both missiles because of the close range and their position dead astern.

Half of the first six Valkyries exploded prematurely in vain attempts to damage the missiles that they could not quite come to bear on. The rest managed to make the hairpin turns and fired as designed, sending cones of high-velocity shrapnel into the path of the two enemy missiles. The first Wotan was hit all across the starboard side, shredding the control surfaces, ripping open the fuel membranes, and sending shrapnel through the turbine blades. The turbines shattered from the multiple impacts, igniting the stream of aerosolized fuel that sucked into the intakes. The missile broke up in a hundred-meter-long spray of flame and molten metal.

The second Wotan fared somewhat better, only receiving damage to three fuel membranes and the starboard control surfaces. The on-board computer adjusted for the control problems automatically. The fuel leak might have been a mission-kill … had the missile been traveling to its maximum range of 600 kilometers. Since it had less than ten kilometers to go, the only result was a slight rise in altitude from the diminishing weight.

All six of the next flight of Valkyries were waiting. Controlled by the outdated but still sophisticated weapons director, the six missiles all fired from two hundred meters ahead and the same distance above the damaged Wotan. The merging cones of high-velocity shrapnel broke the cruise missile apart, still two kilometers from Federov.

Jackson cringed as the air-defense system finally caught up with the remaining ten cruise missiles. At only five kilometers distance, all the jamming and spoofing in the world couldn’t prevent Federov from picking up the fast-moving missiles. The fifteen remaining Valkyries roared aloft in a last-ditch effort to save the ship. Jackson screamed orders to the Bridge to turn so the Hephaestus chain guns could engage, but it was already too late. Only the aft starboard gun could bear on the missiles. The 30mm point-defense gun fired in a long burst at the lead missiles, destroying two in the last few seconds before Death swept over Federov. The Valkyries- fired at the wrong angle and with too little time to get aloft, detect, and engage the cruise missiles- accounted for two more at the end of the column of Wotans.

The last six cruise missiles went into their pre-programmed ballets of destruction. Of the original twelve missiles, two had been programmed as decoy jammers, six had been programmed for defense-suppression, and four had been designated ship-killers. Four defense-suppression missiles and two ship-killers remained. It was more than enough to kill a single Corvette several times over.

The first four missiles lifted to one hundred meters, one after another. The nose cone of each shattered as the ejection charges drove the payload of twenty 30-kilogram explosive sub-munitions forward in a cone along the missiles’ flight paths. The water around Federov churned violently as roughly half the explosives hit near the ship. The dispersal pattern of the sub-munitions was designed to ensure coverage of a sixty by one-hundred-meter oval on the surface. The four Wotans fired a half-second or so apart, each with the doomed Corvette in the center of the computer-generated oval pattern.

Fire and steel swept across Federov’s decks and superstructure. The explosions punched holes in masts, radar emitters. Hatches and watertight doors were blasted open. Shrapnel from the bomblets- and bits of ceramic armor spalled from the internal bulkheads- flayed crewmen throughout the superstructure, destroying equipment and starting fires. All four point-defense Hephaestus chain guns were destroyed, and the electronics mast collapsed over the port rail into the sea, crumpling the shrapnel-riddled stack as it fell.

While the explosions were still wracking Federov, the four Wotans completed their programming and crashed onto the stricken ship’s decks. The hundreds of liters of jet fuel still filling the missiles ignited a firestorm. Holes punched through the decks and bulkheads by the bomblets allowed rivers of incandescent flame to run into the ship. Secondary explosions from ready magazines created still more avenues for the flowing hellfire. Steel warped and bent from the extreme heat. The damage-control teams in their semi-exposed ready positions had been early casualties of the bombing. The scattered survivors did their best in the few moments left to them, but their equipment had savaged by the same destruction that had eviscerated the repair locker crews. Fortunately, few of the crew would perish in the uncontrolled fires that briefly stalked through Federov.

The first ship-killer followed its radar guidance straight into Federov’s stern, barely one meter above the water. The armored nose cone punched three meters through the ceramic, Kevlar, and steel hull before the seven-hundred-kilogram warhead detonated. The huge explosion tore the rear of the flight deck loose and folded it forward against the superstructure, crushing the empty hangar. Anyone still standing was hurled into the bulkheads by the shock. Empty berthing compartments and auxiliary engine spaces were incinerated in the blast, and white-hot fragments of shrapnel were borne on the leading edge of the fireball as it pistoned through the aft end of the ship. Watertight bulkheads were crumpled, fire-tight doors shattered, and all semblance of damage control was lost in the cataclysm.

Federov’s port drive pod broke free from the ship with the shock. The massive three-meter-long assembly dangled briefly by the massive power cables that still connected the pod to the hull. Water rushing past the ship at thirty-five knots hit the dangling pylon like a rudder, forcing Federov into a tight turn to port. The starboard side dipped dangerously close to the water as the ship heeled twenty-degrees to starboard from the violent turn. The stabilizer built into the turn of the bilges on the port side showed above the water.

The last Wotan’s radar picked up the violent maneuver and angled to port. When Federov’s port side was at its most vulnerable, the missile struck the hull amidships. The heavy missile tore through the hull and exploded a few meters below the now-empty vertical launch tube array amidships. The blast shattered the bulkheads into the engine rooms forward and aft. Fire and shrapnel gutted both engine rooms, and the open missile tube hatches shot flame three meters into the air. The tremendous torque of the explosion broke the keel as the stern twisted starboard and the bow twisted to port. The bow continued its diminishing curve to the left for nearly two hundred meters before it slipped noisily into the sea, fires still sputtering on the fo’c’sle. The stern rolled over to the right and sank almost immediately.

There were several survivors- in the armored compartments of CIC and Central Control. None of them lived longer than the few minutes it took for the shattered remnants of Federov to descend to the bottom of the Gulf- 300 meters below. Water pressure finished what the rain of missiles had started.

OOC: Hey, no problem.

IC: As the form of the Federov disappeared from the remaining ships radars, there was a cheer on the Conqueror's bridge. Lukashin turned to Romanov.
"Shut down all ancilliary systems. I want this bucket going as fast as she can!" he smiled wolfishly and turned to the radio operator. "Signal the destroyer squadron: Execute Suvorov." The radio operator nodded and began sending the message as the Conqueror shuddered with the strain on her turbines.

Meanwhile, the screen of destroyers still shadowing Red Force turned in a long line, bringing their bows towards the Red Force ships. Then, a majestic sight: along the while line, smoke rippled and flared as the Sovremennyys launched their SS-N-22 missiles. The sea-skimming weapons dropped down to a scant 10m above the water and accelerated to 1,675 knots, screaming downrange towards Red Force. They were neither small nor stealthy, but they were blindingly fast and in numbers amply capable of disabling an enemy warship. Behind them, the launching ships switched their jammers to barrage mode, and hoped that this, along with the directional nature of the emitter systems, would confuse the enemy radars long enough for the SUnburns to penetrate.

The 112 missiles, unaware of the humans sweating behind them, dutifully moved along their selected course tracks. Their simple electronic brains kept them steady above the waves, as their inertial nasivation unist drove them straight towards Red Force.

Behind Red Force, the battleships were waiting for their chance. They had all accelerated as hard as they could; Conqueror's massive frame was now making no less than 37 knots as every last ounce of available steam was taken to power her turbines, while her two cohorts managed to scrape the same speed. As hull plates trembled and propeller shafts screeched, the warships bore down on their enemy, waiting to take vengeance with their mighty guns. However, for now, they would content themselves with their cruise missiles. Fifty-six SS-N-19s from the three battleships ascended from their containing cells. One SS-N-19 malfunctioned and flew down into the sea, but the rest dropped down to 20m as the first missile launched flew high, guiding its' comrades toward the Red Force ships. The N-19s were neither stealthy nor small, but they were fast at 1,800 knots and amply capable, with their 750Kg warheads, of causing serious grief to an enemy warship. Of the 56 missiles, 12 were set into radar-homing mode. The others were running on their INS guidance packages. When the time came, they would activate their radars and IRST systems, using them to seek out the largest targets of the formation.

Red Force was now under attack from the stern and the starboard by no less than 167 supersonic missiles. The hope was that the missiles would force the enemy ships to manoeuvre, or damage them; either way they would need to slow down. And once they had slowed down, the lumbering forms of the battleships would do as they had been created to do, and then not all the armour in the world would save Red Force from the wrath of their guns.

Edit: OOC: How far off are Red Force again? I could start using rocket-boosted shells if they're within about 50Km.

OOC: How far off are Red Force again? I could start using rocket-boosted shells if they're within about 50Km.

<OOC>
Using decimal course numbers, Red Force started out roughly 096 from your flagship and 007 from mine. The starting distance was 40 kilometers, which opened up slightly (relative to Green Force) for Federov and significantly for Garnet- the two corvettes that left the main body.

Garnet ran due east at 36 knots. She is now some 50 klicks from the center of Green Force and still about 40 from your ships, due to both of our squadrons maneuvering in chase of Red Force's main body.

The rest of Red Force turned northwest (course 083), running at the maximum speed of the slowest ships. This comes to about 32 knots. Both our squadrons are slowly overhauling them, although your ships are still approximately 40 klicks away. Mine are a bit closer (about 35 kilometers), slowed by the formation change ordered when it became evident that Red Force used all their missiles on the DPUO ships.

The Red Force formation is a loose cluster. The cruiser Glencoe is roughly in the center. Most of the destroyers are grouped on her port side, somewhat astern. The corvettes are mostly in a large ring around the rest of Red Force.


TEO

OOC: Right, OK. Sorry, getting my head round the decimal numberings is sometimes tricky :). I shall see if the rocket-assisted shells can do anything then. What's the average distance between the ships of the main body?

“Enrico! Several hundred missiles are coming our way!” The voice of Aubrey Foster’s air-search radar console operator was almost an octave higher than normal from fear.

Enrico DiMurano stepped across the destroyer’s spacious CIC compartment and double-checked the display. The computer counted nearly three hundred launches. He shook his head, saying, “This does not make much sense, compadre. They launch missiles in three separate waves …”. He broke off as he saw the thirty Rapier missiles climb skyward, then resumed. “… make that four separate waves.”

He stopped and tapped a few keys on the console. “We have some six hundred air defense missiles, plus fifty or so point-defense anti-missile guns.” He stood and thought carefully for a moment. “Mister Peters, please make sure the rest of the squadron is aware of the launches.”

He stepped back to his control station and sent a message to the commanders of the fifteen remaining ships in Red Force.


Recommend squadron change course to 060 as previously discussed. Recommend all ships go to automatic air-defense. Launch countermeasures when missiles get within 15 kilometers.

Enemy tactics suggest that missiles are intended to slow us down enough to bring us into gun range. I recommend all ships form ‘triangle’ formation with Glencoe at point, nearest to enemy. This will give maximum air-defense umbrella to squadron during missile strikes. Once missiles are all accounted for, all ships scatter and save what you can.

Thirty kilometers to the southeast of Red Force, 116 Wotan missiles moved across the water at two thousand kilometers per hour. It would take them just over a minute to reach Red Force, arriving just as the renegade ships started turning onto their new course headings. The DPUO missiles would arrive a few seconds earlier- the delay caused by the slightly longer run time offset by the missiles' higher speed- from a different direction.

But the Rapiers would arrive first. The massive ship-killing missiles roared high into the atmosphere, angling northwest toward Red Force. Several Valkyrie air-defense missiles spat from the nearer corvettes as the Rapiers’ course track brought them within the ships’ air-defense envelope, but only one missile was actually shot down. The other twenty-nine missiles reached their programmed altitude of 10 kilometers as they approached Red Force, then rolled over and drove down onto the ships from almost directly overhead.

There were two missiles targeted on each ship- with the exception of Vishnu, whose second allotted missile had been shot down. The Rapiers would reach nearly Mach 4 before they struck their targets. Several targets apparently recognized the danger and attempted to maneuver violently out of the missiles’ path. Several ships managed to fire Valkyries up into the descending barrage, but only destroyed one Rapier. One or two ships managed to activate their chaff launchers, and several others finally coaxed the ECM systems to life in the final seconds before impact.

The Rapiers were largely unaffected by the chaff. Aubrey Foster , Glencoe, and Excelsior were completely missed, the missiles targeting them diverted by the ECM array. All of the other ships were hit by at least one missile. Vishnu’s single missile struck deep into the midships vertical launch array before exploding. The secondary explosions from the ship’s own missiles ripped the little corvette in half.

The destroyer Rodger Young took one hit on her heavily-armored main gun barbette, which exploded spectacularly but did little damage. The second missile punched through the helo deck and exploded in the aft auxiliary spaces, damaging the port screw motor and starting a large fire.

The corvettes Kraken and Drakkar lost their starboard weapons directors and the anchor windlass rooms under their fo’c’sles, but were essentially undamaged. Reynard Holmer took a single strike to the superstructure, destroying the bridge and cutting the power to CIC for nearly a minute. The second Rapier slammed into the sea close aboard, but there was no damage from the strike.

Seraphim and Hartwell both went dead in the water as Rapiers plunged into the main engine rooms and destroyed the gas turbine engines. The fires ignited by the strikes were quickly damped by the installed fire-suppression equipment. They still had power for the air-defense systems from the functioning generators in the forward auxiliary spaces, but both ships were still sitting ducks for the massive missile strikes still inbound.

Malachi Rabin took a single hit on #3 port secondary gun. The 190mm ammunition in the barbette gang-fired in a huge fireball that destroyed one of the Hephaestus point-defense guns and left a gaping hole in the port side armor.

Zebediah Allen and Straylight each lost their starboard radar emitters as they were hit in the superstructure by two Rapiers each. The ships were blind to starboard, rendering the air-defense arrays useless on that side, but could still fight. Xuo Fan Li took a single Rapier straight down her exhaust stack, destroying her forward engine. The resulting fires were quickly extinguished, and the ship’s pumps were easily capable of handling the minor flooding that resulted from several small holes in the keel. Her speed would be slightly reduced, but she could still fight.

Prentiss lost both her main engines to two Rapier strikes. The fire-suppression system was also destroyed in the explosions, so she immediately went dark and dead in the water. Her crew immediately ran for the life boats. They would still be trying to escape when the sea-skimmers arrived a few seconds later.

"Targets turning. Targets now turning starboard, missiles are remaining in track...one down, sir. No enemy launches as yet." The COR kept reading off a running commentary to the bridge crew of the Conqueror as the missiles bore down on their targets. The ECM systems were affecting some, but the 12 missiles set to anti-radiation homing seemed unperturbed by the waves of electromagnetic energy running over them.

First to arrve were the Sunburns of the destroyer force. The sea-skimming missiles closed to within 20km of the main body of Red Force, at which point the radar seekers in their noses clicked on. The missiles were met by storms of jamming.

"Enemy ships are attempting to jam our missiles."

A pair of Sunburns totally lost lock with the rapidly-moving Red Force and continued north. Another malfunctioned and exploded abruptly, destroying a nearby Sunburn with it. The first Shipwreck missile was now 18 kilometres from Red Force. It too activated its' guidance radar. By operating on a different frequency, it was able, albeit breifly, to penetrate the jamming before the wall of electronic noise altered to meet its' radar seeker head. The missile transmitted what it had seen to the following Shipwrecks, then dropped down to their altitude as the remaining missiles lit off their own guidance radars and backup infra-red modules.

Behind them, the launching ships were making ready to fire their first shots in anger. It was still extreme range, but the rocket-boosted shells being loaded into the guns were designed for precisely this task, showering an enemy formation to disable ships and destroy formation cohesion. Voroshilov, Conqueror and Suvorov elevated their mighty guns. Each ship's radar and laser rangings systems passed down their information to the fire-control computers. The computers measured the various factors that could affect the shot, and then on each ship, a single gun fired a rocket-assisted shell. The rounds, unsurprusingly, did not go exactly where they should have. The computers made the requisite adjustments, tracking the first shells in order to gauge the corrections necessary. The rest of the guns fired as the first three shells were still arcing through the air. For a moment each ship was lost in a monstrous flash and a cloud of smoke; then, across the choppy seas, the thundering report echoed out to Red Force's crew, gripping their hearts, telling them that revenge was not to be long in coming.

Within the gun turrets, the guns were reloaded. The turret crews pressed the switch that selected another rocket-boosted shell for each gun, and while the autoloader patiently selected the correct shell and sent it clanking up the long ammunition hoist, the crews waited for the powder from the magazines. Meanwhile, the fume-extractors on the guns purged them of cordite smoke; then a cloud of argon washed away the remains of the powder-bags. The shells reached the waiting loading ramps. The mechanical routine was so familiar they could do it in their sleep: "Gun one shell!" A pause for the first powder bag. "Gun one first half charge!" yelled as the second bag rose to the ramp, was swung into place by the hydraulics above them. "Gun one second half charge!" Close the breech. Check the boards "Gun one ready, clear turret!" Press the button and get out, holding the earmuffs that protected your eadrums. The crews waited for the ear-splitting roar of the guns, and then returned to their guns.

Outside, the first Sunburns and Shipwrecks were entering the firing area of Red Force's anti-missile defences.

OOC: Sorry for the delay in replies, everyone. I've been having other RPs and RL stuff to deal with, plus I'm drafting this out to make it a good reply. It'll be up by Sunday night, hopefully. Thanks for your forbearance TEO.

Conqueror's bridge was still vibrating with the exertions of the engines, a vibration that came through the hands and feet of the entire crew, and was now overwhelmed as the battleship's forward guns cracked again, surrounding the bridge with a cloud of cordite smoke through which the booster motors of the rocket-assisted APHE shells glowed, tiny pricks of light in the grey murk. As it cleared, Lukashin trained the big spotting glasses on the bridge toward the distant warships, chuckling as he did so. With all our technology, we still have to use our eyes on occasion. He waited the remaining 10 seconds for the shells to impact, removing the glasses as waterspouts hid the vessels from view.

In the forward gunnery control room, the Chief Gunnery Officer watched the picture from the humming Shmel UAV, panning the small vehicle's cameras, both visual and IR, and using the radar mounted on it to gain the best image of the fall of shot. From here, he also had a grandstand view of the battle between the robotic missiles as they hurtled in towards their targets. Smoke trails paraded across the sea before him. Alongside the image, an idential CRT showed the Shmel's radar picture, superimposed on that from the ship's own radar system. The computer correlated the two images, choosing carefully based on all the sensor information it had to hand what the "correct" images were to be displayed on the TV screens. On a counter in the upper right of the display was the exact range to the upperworks of the Glencoe, determined by the rangefinding radars and lasers atop the masts. The CGO let the computer correct the guns, then cocked his head as he saw...a flash?
"Yeess!" bubbled thew forward Gunnery Radar Operator. "Got the bastards!"

On Glencoe's bridge, the crew watched, feeling the tension as the projectiles roard toward them, unseen and as yet unheard. The formation, supposedly a triangle, was no more a loose ovoid pointing roughly north-north-west as the ships made radical course changes to bring as many air-defence systems as possible to bear on the incoming SSMs.

The first pair of Sunburns to enter the envelope of the air defences were obliterated by four Valkyrie SAMs. Lukashin watched the displays as his missiles and theirs commenced their deadly headlong charge at one another. The number of incoming missiles fell to 100, then 90, then 80, but it was not dropping fast enough to save them from destruction, and all the while the rockets burned toward their targets at 2,000 miles per hour. The missiles that punched through the wall of SAMs switched on their seeker heads and began hunting for targets. Fifty-nine Sunburns and 31 Shipwrecks were now diving into the formation.

Red Force's ships responded by firing off chaff rockets, covering the ships with a thick cloud of the aluminium strips, and powering up their old but powerful ECM arrays. The combination began to tell. Several Sunbburns lost lock with their targets and ran off after clouds of chaff, non-existent targets. The SAMs and CIWS units were taking a toll on the slower, larger Shipwrecks. Enrico was reasonably content with the proceedings, when the first detonation rolled out to his ears. He raced the the port wing, gazing in mute anger at the sinking hulk of the Straylight, hit amidships by a Sunburn. A great smoking hole surrounded by scorched and torn hull plates showed where the missile had slammed into her. He watched as the corvette rolled over and vanished, leaving a pitifully small number of men in the water, and Glencoe shook with a near-miss from Suvorov's 18-inchers. Enrico pitied the men aboard her, but thanked his luck that the ships didn't seem to be concentrating fire on the cruiser.

Aboard Conqueror, Lukashin nodded curtly to Captain Romanov. Romanov in turn nodded to the W/O and the Chief Electronic Warfare Officer. The W/O sent out the preset signal to the rest of the formation as the CEWO lit off the ship's Bell Shrouds and trained them out to blind Red Force's radars and ECM units, hoping it would give the missiles enough advantage to smash the formation.

Enrico could only watch helplessly as his radars fought the cloying grip of the ECM units. He realised, in a detached sort of way, that it was odd that there were no missiles targeting radars yet; then in a moment of horror he watched a smoke trail heading straight at the Glencoe's superstructure. A Shipwreck, homing onto Glencoe's radars, dived into the warship. By the grace of God it failed to do what it was meant to and instead of making for the superstructure it rammed itself into the hull. The cruiser rang with the shock of the explosion, the 750 kilogram warhead punching through the armour and reaching a flaming fist into the cruiser's hull to tough the men and munitions within. But the Lord was on her side this day. The Shipwreck's warhead failed to find the mark it so desried, the magazines or engie rooms. It instead licked at the armour protecting the vital spaces of the ship. Glencoe had lost some speed due to the shock damage, but she was alive, in the centre of a wreath of smoke and flame, choking, blackened figures scuttling through her to quench the fires below. He steadied himself on his shaking feet and looked out, only to see Excelsior take a hit from one of the giant missiles. Following on its' heels came a Sunburn, skimming into her hull. The ship's upperworks were annihilated by the impact of the Shipwreck almost exactly at deck level, and burning jet and rocket fuel sprayed down into her hull and across her decks to incinerate the men it touched in sticky, oily agony as the Sunburn completed the destruction of the small ship. Her hull ravaged, the ship began to disappear from view. Enrico turned away, hoping for something heartening, and saw instead Drakkan smashed apart by two more of the aptly-named Shipwrecks. Smaller orange flares through the murk told of the destruction of the missiles, in their turn, but it was of little comfort to him. Another towering rank of waterspouts signalled the impact of the battleships' fourth barrage. In the midst of the white curtain, black smoke and flame bloomed, soared upwards, fell as Reynard Holmer disintegrated under the pounding of four of the huge rocket-boosted APHE shells, pulverised by the energy of the penetrative 1,200 kilogram warheads. He looked at the tracks of missiles being wiped from the screens, knowing that for every missile being smashed by a Hephaestus unit or a Valkyrie SAM, one was simply hitting the remains of another of his ships or being mercifully lured off by the enticing chaff. Glencoe's crew looked to the metal walls surrounding them as another load of shells crashed down nearby.

When the maelstrom of smoke, flames and water had finally cleared enough for him to see more than a few hundred feet, Enrico made a quick head-count. They had lost Straylight, Drakkar and Excelsior to missiles, Garnet and Reynard Holmer to the thundering guns of the warships. The rest of his force was battered, but intact. Aubrey Foster had taken a Sunburn to her aft superstructure but seemed to be functional, albeit with 6 knots of speed lost and her rear sector radar coverage curtailed. Hartwell had lost most of her radars to a near-miss from a Shipwreck, and Rodger Young was looking somewhat the worse for wear, having received the attention of a Sunburn on her starboard side that had penetrated the hull, but failed to cause major damage, and another Shipwreck that had detonated in a chaff cloud and peppered her bridge with holes. Xuo Fan Li had been hit by a Shipwreck on the stern that had magnified the effects of the damage she had already taken, but miraculously the ship was still intact, her armoured machinery spaces having saved her from the worst of the damage. Kraken had taken two Sunburns on the hull, which had done surprisingly little to it in the way of damage, but left a pair of long black stains where they had detonated; Malachi Rabin had received the attentions of a Sunburn on the bows but despite a large hole and shock damage was still steaming and fighting. Zebediah Allen was somehow still floating and fighting despite being hit by two Sunburns, one of which had stove in her port bow by 12 feet, and having a pair of 20-inch shells from Conqueror drop close by. And finally, Glencoe had been able to absorb hits from another pair of Sunburns without serious damage. Of the remainder of the missiles, a surprising number had run into chaff cloud or into the hulks of already dying ships, while some 40 at least had been shot down by the chainguns alone. The trouble was that he now had All of those could - must - still fight. He turned to his second-in-command, his face haggard, eyes bloodshot.

"How many got out?" he rasped, waving at the remaining wrecks that had not quite sunk yet. The man shook his head, his eyes red and shining. Enrico closed his eyes, silent agony crossing his face. Madre de Dios! So many dead. Then, the voice of a radar operator reached his numbed ears.
"Two large contacts have separated from the destroyer group to the south. They're coming straight at us, bearing 48 degrees, making about 35 knots." The radar operator looked at the floor, swallowing hard, as Enrico seized a pair of binoculars and dashed to the stern of the Aubrey Foster's superstructure. Sure enough, when he looked he could see the dark, distant, yet threatening forms of Besstrashnyy and Boyevoy as they charged down on their little group. His hands shook as he gripped the rail, knuckles white, the binoculars hanging from their neck cord, and stared death in the face, watched it chase him down. He turned to the men arrayed behind him, all tired, scared, but somehow still ready to serve him, and smiled, his mouth a thin bloodless line.

Meanwhile, aboard Conqueror, the mood was sombre. There had been live men aboard those ships, men fighting for their lives against utterly hopeless odds. Lukashin turned and said quietly to Romanov:
"Make to Beckett: 'When operation complete, stand by to pick up survivors.'" Romanov nodded and took the order to the W/O.

Enrico DiMurano cursed eloquently as he tallied the remnants of Red Force on Aubrey Foster's CIC display. Not counting the two corvettes that had tried a solo run- both now sinking- five ships had been destroyed, and all the remianing shgips were damaged to one degree or another.

Seraphim had lost both engines and was effectively dead in the water, although her generators were still keeping her radars operational. She had somehow survived the recent missile swarm without any further damage, which was on the order of a minor miracle. Prentiss had been completely dead and dark when the cruise missiles started roaring in, and nothing at all had hit her so far, which was a miracle by anyone's standards. The crew was still trying desperately to abandon ship.

Hartwell had lost both her engines to the high-altitude missile strikes, and the cruise missiles hadn't been kind to her either. Her superstructure had ben nearly destroyed by two missile hits, and her crew was trying to figure out how to abandon ship without lifeboats. Smoke rose from the ravaged hulls of the sinking ships, and several of those still afloat showed signs of uncontrolled fires aboard.

DiMurano opened his communication circuit to the remaining ships just as the still-functioning radars cleared enough to pick up the incoming Wotan strike. The automatic air-defense system shrilled alarms as the few remaining Valkyrie missiles shrieked into the sky.

There were more than ten missiles targeted on each remaining Red Force ship. Under ordinary circumstances, the missiles would have targeted the first ships who entered the missiles' radar pictures. In the absence of effective long range air-defense, Green Force had sent four remotely-piloted vehicles (RPVs) aloft to target individual ships with laser designators. Laser targeting data took priority in the programming of the sophisticated Wotan missiles. Like a cresting wave, the cruise missiles rose to twenty meters to spot their targets, then crashed home.

Of the ten remaining Red Force ships, only eight had functional radars. Only ninety usable air-defense missiles remained to deal with the attack, and many of those were fired too late or at the wrong angles. Hartwell and Prentiss were figurative sitting ducks. They weren't moving, and neither ship had any air-defense at all. Both ships were torn to shreds by multiple missile strikes. Bits of armor and bodies rained down across the water for nearly a kilometer around the doomed corvettes.

Glencoe's VLS magazine ran dry after destroying half of the missiles targeting her. Two more Wotan were chewed apart by the Hephaestus chainguns before the last five levelled the cruiser's superstructure. The thirty-second series of explosions tore through the armored decking into the aft engine room, which was instantly gutted in a cataclysm of burning fuel and molten metal. The entire amidships section was a mass of flames, and she was listing to starboard, but the men in the armored main gun barbettes and the forward engine room were still alive. Glencoe could still steam- slowly- and she coud still shoot. One fire-control radar had survived the destruction somehow, so she could still see to shoot and steer.

Rodger Young's last ten Valkyrie accounted for three cruise missiles, and her port chain guns accounted for four more. The last four Wotans plunged through her superstructure and broke the destroyers keel in what looked like a single massive blast. When the water rushed back in from the shock of the explosions, the ship was swallowed up by the waves in an instant.

Luck toyed with Aubrey Foster for a few moments before abandoning her. The massive blasts from Prentiss and Hartwell had diverted two of the missiles targeting the destroyer. Unfortunately, the air-defense system expended half of the ship's Valkyries on those two wayward cruise missiles, and the same blasts had destroyed one of the port-side Hephaestus chain guns. Seven Wotan missiles survived to set the ship ablaze from bow to stern. Most of the crew were within the armored engine rooms, CIC, or the main-gun barbette, but the same thick armor that shielded them from shrapnel and fire trapped them as the ship settled slowly beneath the waves. The cold and lack of oxygen carried out the Internal Security court's final sentence on Enrico DiMurano.

Malachi Rabin collided with Kraken while maneuvering to unmask her starboard-side chain guns. The corvette was ripped open just forward of the superstructure and heeled sharply to starboard. The destroyer rolled the lighter corvette nearly horizontal as the twenty missiles targeting the two ships roared down unopposed. Both ships died in massive explosions and sank, hulls fused together by the impact and subsequent missile strikes.

Xuo Fan Li and Zebediah Allen were on the far side of the Red force formation, and the Wotans hunting them had to run the gauntlet of the missile defenses of the intervening ships. Xuo Fan Li's luck ran when, out after shooting down every missile aimed at her, the two missiles that had be deflected from hitting Aubrey Foster turned around and slammed into her already-damaged starboard side. The explosions tore a gaping hole in her already weakened hull, and shattered armored bulkheads between the two engine rooms. She listed to starboard immediately and rolled over within five minutes. Few of her crew escaped. Zebediah Allen had previously lost her starboard radars and could only watch as her sister ship died.

Seraphim had lost her engines earlier, but was still fighting. Her missiles and chain guns shot down eight of the Wotan missiles targeting her, but the last three survived to shatter her superstructure and destroy her forward generator room. Now both dark and dead in the water, fires raged unchecked throughout the ship. Surviving crewmen scrambled free from the wreckage and dove into the water to escape the flames.

Only Zebediah Allen and Glencoe were still capable of steaming and fighting, and both ships had suffered serious damage from the waves of missiles. One crippled cruiser and one badly damaged destroyer would face the massed guns of eight battleships.

It's funny to note that most of the people who condemned the cut-off did so after he re-opened the gulf on...the second or third page I believe.

hahahaha, now you know why I have just ignored it for more than what almost 2 months? Most people still posting are just plain morons are dont know how to read.