NationStates Jolt Archive

Today the Commonwealth foreign office released details of a new initiative, reportedly passed by the African Democratic Union and the Secular Party in cooperation. A total of 7 billion Commonwealth crowns(approx 2.5 billion USD) has gone into reconstruction of infrastructure, emergency aid and medical care to more impoverished nations on the region of Subsaharan Africa. Most notably, Angola to the south(once home of the Chinkawan empire) and the republic of eastern Gabon(recently shattered in a conflict with the empire of United Elias).

The money will largely go to rebuilding a power grid, and securing clean water and medicine to urban areas. Later on, "other and more far-reaching cultural and defense-oriented aid programs might be implemented", Secular Party secretary James Mortu stated today.

While critics claim that the party is still trying to distract the populace from the fact that it has now postponed the promised free elections no less than three times, the AC government claim good intentions. While no missives has been given to Roycelandia, or the other colonial territories in the area, the Secular Party has called upon Lusaka's president Igomo to help in the effort.

As of tonight, the first engineers and supervising consultants have arrived in the eastern Gabon and northern Angola.

Igomo has of course been found curious as to Secular Party motivation for this programme, and is for now working under the assumption that it's a pretty good idea to keep-up this sort of thing as a guard against imperialist influence.

Still, that doesn't do anything to improve Lusaka's ability to help in any major degree in light of the on-going war. The Republic's economy is on the up, but widely assumed to be headed that way only briefly, as has been the case in the past, and New Lusaka City is unwilling to commit to any long-term programmes beyond the defence of the nation itself. For now, very minor long-standing aid given by the UARL is to persist, along with the usual information documents and propaganda pictures warning against the two-faced nature of the imperialists.

A whole division of the Paramilitar Africán special forces has been reassigned to defend reconstruction efforts in Gabon. Meanwhile, Angola has been seeing an unusal amount of activity, as emergency aid workers and structural engineers from the CAF and AC aid agencies have been literally swamping the most impoverished urban regions of Angola. Small detachments from the CAF have likewise been spotted, apparently there to protect the aid efforts from brigands and warlord rogues, according to several high-ranking Secular Party sources.

Other than that, things seem rather normal, if such can be said about the commonwealth - The government has hinted that free elections may happen, histrionic critics are jailed for saying they lie, and the average worker slave away, hoping not to get involved..

The Roycelandian Government had decided that some aid needed to go to Angola, lest the AC or Lusaka get too established there, setting up another African Nationalist State.

Accordingly, the Humanitarian Aid division of the Roycelandian Red Cross were sending in supplies of food and medicines, whilst the Imperial Bank was offering interest-free Long Term Loans.

Oddly enough, the Imperial Guard hadn't been seen anywhere in Angola... yet. ;)

the Innocous Aid program is turning into "a genuine situation, and no mistake" according to Roycelandian analysts living in the Commonwealth.

This morning, due to an unusually lapse of security in AC state media, news of the Commonwealth's agressively pandering new initiatives in Angola slipped out. Once aid had been consolidated, a long list of "proposals" written by the Secular party showed up on Angolan president José Eduard Santos' desk. Along with promises of extra humanitarian aid and engineering support for his impoverished country, the African Commonwealth proposed the following.

- The complete secession of the Cabina province, an exclave of originally Angolan land situated in the southern AC. It has long been the scene of a factionalized armed struggle by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda; to Angola, with FLEC leader N'zita Henriques Tiago appointed regional governor.

- Legal aid to the Constitutional assembly, enabling Angola to flesh out it's constitution as proposed the 26 August, 1992.

- A serious boost to national security forces with ADI-issue hardware, most notably "Thumper" Artillery tanks and AR-16 assault rifles, as well as training to go with it; in exchange for gold, petroleum, uranium and other products from Angola's rich countryside.

Wether Angola will accept remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, members of the Royc. Red Cross situated in the southern African land will find themselves harassed by unusually rude CAF militiamen and AC aid workers. None of the AC-based aid agencies is willing to cooperate with the red cross, share roads or supply lines, and is generally making a nusiance out of themselves.

[tag]

Although United Elias isn't prepared to get involved in the Angola situation at the present time (officially ;) ), AC may notice a considerable increase in the number of troops in Western Gabon, actually around 135,000, which is more than during the main conflict itself. Additionally, there is significant air and naval power in theatre. The reasons for this increase in strength is really more to do with the Al Khals war, i.e. overtly strengething ourselves along the demarcation line, in order that Lusaka would feel the need to reciprocate or at least maintain their numbers, this way they cannot redeploy them in their home country to fight Al Khals or indeed Roycelandia should they attack from the North. In other words its an easy way for us to help our allies without getting into the war ourselves.

That being said, there would already be quite a few intelligence agents on the ground in Angola, primarily to monitor the Northern areas which might affect Gabon, and anywhere else AC troops are operating.

BTW I may start a new Gabon thread, just so we can RP a little whats going on there if anyone's interested.

The Imperial Intelligence Service were intrigued by the idea of Independence for Cabinda.

"Imagine the possibilities! A puppet state in AC territory!" His Majesty enthused to anyone who would listen.

The IIS were ordered to prepare a more thorough Dossier for His Majesty...

(In other words, more to come! ;) )

Today, a division of CAF infantry was removed from Angola, to be replaced with militiamen from various provinces in the AC, as a sign of good faith towards international critics.

Meanwhile, more troops are being removed from Gabon, as more engineer corps' and aid workers move in.

OOC>

Can we find anyone to do Angola?

The Imperial Guard in Gabon are slowly being replaced with Colonial Guard from places like North Terristan and Glimmer Twins.

The Aid Missions in Angola are finding themselves with "Security Staff", whilst intelligence agents from the IIS are attempting to enter into talks with FLEC, vis a vis the supply of aid and equipment in exchange for business, trade, and economic concessions and access to the port at Cabinda...

OOC>> Just playing Angola myself until/unless we can find someone with the necessary knowledge who will. I'll be nice :)

IC>>

FLEC doesn't control the maritime or economic aspects(what few there are) of the Cabina exclave as such, they only wage guerilla war against the iron-fisted AC hold over the area - Thus far, they've had little success against the cutting-edge military hardware of the CAF, but are eager to pursue talks with both Roycelandia and the Angolan government, whom they currently press to accept the AC offer of complete seccession in return for Commonwealth influence over Angola.

Meanwhile, in AC, it seems the issue of elections are finally too strong to ignore; and in the heated debate over when and how they are to proceed, the AC populace pays little heed to the Secular partys agressive politics against their southern neighbours.

The Roycelandian Government is prepared to arm and train FLEC, in exchange for the exclave basically becoming a Roycelandian Protectorate if and when it acheives Independence- they would be free to do whatever they like, but the Military would be Roycelandian, ostensibly freeing up costs for social programmes etc, and conveniently giving Roycelandia a Port on the West Coast of Sub-Saharan Africa.

The discussion of Influence over Angola was raised... Roycelandia accepts that Angola is bascially a third-world shithole beyond any real chance of redemption, but at the same time, the Imperialist Foreign Policy means Roycelandia can't just ignore the fact that Angola is rapidly descending into Anarchy and is ripe to be "Secured" by Roycelandian Forces...

Angola seems to be doing just fine, as both presidents Ndelebe and Santos seem to maintain when asked - Ndelebe because he is certain that Angola will be a safe place once AC moves in on it, Santos because the place is actually much better off than it has been doing the last 12 years of aids, civil strife and colonial exploitation. FLEC is eager to accept any sort of aid Roycelandia has to offer, but is not sure it can offer the Roycelandian Crown control with the area - Not because they do not want to, but because President Santos will likely want the area to remain Angolan(even if it has some degree of regional semi-autonomy under the deal AC offers).

The obvious solution, then is the removal of El Presidente Santos, despite "Official" Roycelandian Policy against whacking people (and we all know how much attention anyone in Roycelandia pays to that, right?)

For the meantime, the problem is how to supply and arm the rebels.

The main port at Cabinda is almost certainly under Angolan Control, meaning that a supply via ship is probably out of the question- although the use of a Submarine has been mooted, possibly further up the coast near Landana.

Paradrops are also unpopular, for the reason that the chutes get snagged in the trees and anyone wandering past can find them. Then again, if co-ordinated properly, this is probably the way to go.

Meanwhile, the Roycelandian Embassy in Angola has started issuing Residency Visas, without charge, to anyone with an education or other "desirable skills" who wants them.

The Imperial Government is also offering subsidised passage to any part of the Roycelandian Empire for Angolan emigres...

Actually, control of the Cabinda exclave and port is very much in AC hands, and the area itself is home to the entire 3rd Mechanized Infantry and undoubtedly also officers holding Manus Nigra membership, thanks to the increased civil unrest(indeed, Cabinda is one of the only areas in the Commonwealth where armed unrest is still existing - Most of the insurgency-era guerillas have been rooted out and dealt with extremely harshly). A single regiment of the Paramilitar Africán special forces for urban supression and riot control division is also present, due to the inherent animosity of those Cabinda residents who are not active FLEC members or supporters.

Meanwhile, the foreign office has taken increased interest in the Angolan "situation", formally enquiring the Roycelandian embassy as to why they suddenly extend such gracious visa opportunities.

The Roycelandian Embassy has informed the AC representatives that the Visa Oppurtunities are part of the Roycelandian "African Assistance" Programme, and points out that Visas are also open to any AC citizens who might wish to move to Roycelandia...

Upon LFU and ADU winning the election, President Ndelebe would seem to have taken increased interest in Angola, particularly with Gabon being more and more demilitarized. President Santos seems on the verge of signing his country off to becoming an AC protectorate in return for the happiest that he has ever seen his people. The AC emergency aid, along with promises of continual aid in rebuilding the nations agricultural, defensive and power grids free of charge would seem too good to resist.

Meanwhile, the 44th mechanized division and 22nd logistics regiment have moved to Angola, officially 'overseeing the rebuilding and ensuring that aid shipments arrive safely'.

African Samaritans(a state-owned AC aid organization) reports several victories, with prevention and treatment care for Angola's many AIDS victims, as well as restoration of power plants for the major rural settlements. In other news, the liberation for the enclave of Cabinda(FLEC) has grown increasingly violent, prompting ACA units to engage the rebels with air strikes and attacks on infrastructure in the small land area. CAF commanders expect the insurgency to be short-lived, however, considered the limited number of Cabindan residents still alive.

As many of the more gifted Angolans who don't approve of AC involvement are hastily abandoning ship for Roycelandia or REA, LFU ministers have met with President Santos to discuss a temporary ban on emigration(popularly dubbed the "No one gets out of here alive" proposal by grudge-holding Angolan critics).

When asked about the Angolan situation earlier today, Commonwealth president Ndelebe said he had no great concerns - Furhter prompted whether he thought AC domination over Angola was a problem for furtherment of democratic elections in Africa was a problem; he stated that things were working out great, as well as noting that "The Commonwealth has just succeeded in holding elections - If we can, we'll impose what we have learned to Angola. I have great faith that Angolas already stable democratic tradition can continue and grow under AC supervision.".

Port Imperial, Roycelandian East Africa

Governor-General Fry put the report down on the table in the Conference Room.

"Neutralise him."

Sir Duane made some discreet notes. He had someone in mind for the job.

"Item two on the Agenda" Fry said "Is the potential Emigration Ban from Angola. If they put it in place, we'll start flying people out under cover of darkness."

"Thirdly" he continued, "The Red Cross are reporting more and more AC troops in Angola. We can't send the Imperial Guard in, and we can't deploy the Foreign Legion en masse, either. We need to keep Angola destabilised, or at least out of the AC. We'll begin flying arms into the Rebels shortly, along with IFL support troops to help train them. No IFL soldier will be issued with Roycelandian Weapons- we have huge stocks of AK-47s, M-16s, and so on to use. Total Deniability on this one. And the AC troops are not to be engaged under ANY circumstances whatsoever. Questions? No? I'll see you all on Tuesday for the next meeting then..."

East of Pointe-Noire, Near The Cabinda frontier, Republic of Congo

Echelon Ventures to had its own aid scheme, 'CabAid' as it was known provided medical and food supplies into Northern parts of The Cabinda enclave, of course in every aid convoy, there was a decent amount of ammunition, RPGs, and what would rapidly become the major weapon of the new insurgency, land mines. Operating from a deserted military facility just five miles from the border, Echelon Venutres organised the distribution of arms among the remnants of the shattered Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Cabinda Armed Forces (FLEC-FAC), fighting a losing battle against the Commonwealth forces. However, with new funds allowing for the recruitment of Gabonese and Congolese mercenaries, a new resistance movement was being formed, with recruiters using the pretext of CabAid to get out among the people of Cabinda and recruit them to the cause.

An action team had already been moved in-country, a band of former Elias Special Forces, African mercernaries and local guides, led by a man specially hired by Echelon Ventures, an expert in his field. Mr. Kayerts, or Kurtz as he liked to be known had already setup a network of arms caches around Tando Limbo (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/angola_cabinda_77.jpg), and was starting to order small detatchments of his sixty or so men to start laying mines Under the cover of darkness, along the major roadway running from East to West. The plan was simple to gradually increase harrasment of Commonwealth supply lines, aimed mainly at inflciting casualties, enough to keep the area unstable but not enough resistance that The Commonwealth would dramatically increase its presence. In theory the resistance would grow steadily stronger every day as more people were recruited, and more weapons were smuggled across the porous Congolese border, while at the same time Commonwealth morale would gradually erode.

Buco Zau, central Cabinda enclave

For sergeant Kondo, life was good. ACAF precision bombers and the special forces kept the rebels in check, and most of the time it was quite possible to ride ones jeep in peace. The rebels had taken quite a hammering, and their morale was at an all-time low, or so he'd been told anyway. The peace and quiet and the rumbling of his HMMWV was almost enough to lull him to sleep when a huge blast tore the front of the vehicle and sent him flying to the ground.

Zau Zero command HQ, west of Buco Zao; a week later

"That's odd" the colonel exclaimed. "First off they die like flies, now they fight a harassment campaign, and it even seems to be working!". A single casualty had been inflicted on his mechanized forces, but the WIA toll was climbing with unnerving speed. Looking at his equally puzzled second in commands, he considered calling in more forces from the mainland - They could be here quickly enough, but the CAF high command didn't exactly like it when a campaign went badly, and this wasn't even a campaign - it was more like a small scuffle.

"Get me the ACA regional command" He finally ordered. "I want a full sweep of the area north of here. From Tando to the Kimongo, I want it all covered.". "We can't possibly cover that, sir, we'll need more.." "I know. Bring in a mechanized regiment from Luali, and call up the ACAF - We'll need AWACS and a sattellite on this one, too.".

So it began, the colonel thought; or hoped, at least. If the rebels had a strongpoint, it might be possible to root it out before it is too late.

The next day, by the Lufo river

The village was unusually bustling today. "Cabaid" had been here, and for once people were happy and joyed to see wells rebuilt and medicine distributed to the area. One Cabaid employee had even stayed to learn the young men and women about prevention and other forms of health care.

Then it happened. The AC soldiers quickly dispersed to surround the village. A few of the menfolk thought it was only a patrol and went to gather the RPG launchers and machine guns the Cabaid people had also kindly delivered them earlier in the night, but the villagers didn't hear from them till they found the corpses in a ditch later that week.

"Allons! Out of the huts!" the captain barked and the soldiers quickly got the villagers to leave the area for a tent by the riverside. The Cabaid aid worker exited as well, but when he asked what the commotion was about, he was detained for later questioning*.

A small cache was unearthed, removed and the huts storing it burned, before the ACA continued it's merciless sweep of the area.


* He was released the same day, with ACA officers being none the wiser - so far.

Whilst the Roycelandian Red Cross have refused to smuggle arms (quite rightfully), the somewhat less reputable International Aid Society has been supplying food and humanitarian aid to various groups- and it's rumoured they're supplying arms, "how-to" guides, and other interesting (and certainly not humanitarian use) items as well...

South West of Tando Limbo

Kurtz paced the camouflaged command tent, listening to one of the Gabonese mercenaries, known simply as Makola, recount the events of the village and his afternoon under the care of Commonwealth forces. The next step of the occupiers was obvious, the question now was simply to keep them fighting on his own terms, at his choosing, and keep them away from this position.

Another summoned mercenary appeared in tent, Kurtz motioned for him to sit, while he continued standing as he spoke, Makola sat aside listening and mute “Mr. Kitembo, I have an assignment for you, no doubt you have heard of the events at the village and we fear that CabAid may be compromised at least for the moment. What you need to do is take a team of possibly a hundred local recruits with some arms and move to this point between the Lufo and Lombe rivers. Setup camp, plant some caches and harass the enemy within the area. You will not be recruiting or spreading arms to the population and in no way affiliate yourselves with CabAid, so remain stealthy and careful. Okay, you better go, get the camp organised by dusk. Good Luck and remember if you get captured, we'll get you out, thats the deal, as long as you keep your mouth shut.” The man nodded, grinning at the idea of being given a commanding role is what seemed like a most important endeavour.

Kurtz waited for Kitembo to leave before once again addressing himself to Makola, “Tomorrow, find some Commonwealth soldiers, say you’re from CabAid, and that in your visit to some local village someone told you that a new resistance movement has setup its hideout between the Lufo and Lombe rivers, as a charity worker and committed pacifist you felt compelled to alert to them to the threat posed by guerrillas who have a lust. only for the wanton destruction of lives.”

0800 hours: Position of the ACA 88th mechanized regiment, close to the "resistance movement" camp at the Lufo and Lombe intersection

Although disinformation was ripe, the intel seemed good enough. Seeing as the rebels didn't number over 100, old school recon by foot and binoculars revealed their location just fine - Besides, ACAF hated when you called on expensive UAV recon aid.

Captain Mtondo and Sergeant Kondo looked at each other with satisfied expressions upon learning this. The 4 requested AV-44 Dedicated Attack Helicopter gunships were prepped for quick deployment; the noise could wake the dead at this hour, and Mtondo wanted them all dead quick, before they could cause any more damage to supply lines.

Giving the word, Mtondo sent the men to start a fast march, and the chopper crews stood on standby.

ACA high command executive order 505, given later that day(secret IC)

Mine harassment response - To counter the threat of insurgent IED and mine planting, ACA quartermasters are issuing bolt-on mine armour kits and recommend the following up-armouring initiatives in the field of front line regiments:

Harden the cargo beds of vehicles carrying troops with sandbags. To some extent, the roads traveled by motor transport unit vehicles can affect the protection required. Hardtop roads, to take an example, generally present less hazard from mines than dirt roads. However, do not discount the possibility of ambush along any route. Consult standard ACA up-armouring manual for details.

Sandbags can be used for fire control and protection against fragments and small arms fire, and troops must keep in mind that these require frequent replacement and drying.

Also, at least one in 5 trucks in every supply convoys must be a "gun truck", employing either a .50 cal MG or an A20 20mm MG for protection.

0800 hours: At the resistance camp

'Colonel' Kitembo as he now called himself, paced the newly setup operations tent, barking orders at a handful of mercenaries and locally recruited guerillas, trying to speed up the placement of mines and booby traps in the area. He had been obedient in following a complete radio silence with anyone from CabAid, assuming them to be the ones who were compromised and not the other way around. Outside about thirty men remained on watch, guarding a loosely defined perimiter. Kitembo had been relatively careful in allocating roughly the same number of locals to each trained mercenary and he felt confident that if they were attacked, a reasonable defence could be put up, at least giving him enough time to escape anyway. His main priority was preparing for what he thought wold be a new guerilla campaign, although it certainly seemed as they hadn't the ammunition or supplies to last very long. His confidence in Mr. Kurtz however made him put aside his doubt, expecting that the problem would be addressed in due course.

0815 hours, roughly 3 kilometers west-soutwest of the resistance camp

"Allright, we are cleared for strike! Follow the plan and we'll be just fine! Now move it, you bastards!" Mtondo roared, and the 200-man regiment filed into the squads as planned. Filtering out across half a mile, the squads would lay MG fire and drop mortar fire on the resistance fighters, while the four heavy helicopter gunships would pile on with napalm rockets and HE/HE-frag grenades, supporting the infantry with XM134 minigun fire if and when needed("those being expensive in action and all, you hear me?").

Enemy contact was estimated to happen in 20 to 25 minutes at most, and nerves were tense as the infanterists crept speedily through the undergrowth, the chopper engines howling into life behind them..

0830 hours: At the resistance camp

"Quick the SAMs!" A mercenary ran across the encampent shouting as the muffled noise of helicopter turbines could be heard, approaching . The SAMs were actually just two shoulder fired missiles, one a Strela-7 of Soviet vintage, and an equally antiquated British made Blowpipe, both in a poor state of repair.

As the SAMs were located and crates of RPGs were hurredly opened, other guerillas emerged from tents, running to takecover and prepared to spray the air with bullets. Kitembo barked orders for men to spread out as he located cover to protect himself.

A minute later an orange streak arced down over the trees and the incendiary rocket exploded, incinerating a swathe of jungle, and killing several of the guerillas nearer the edge of the camp. Just as a salvo of muntions peppered the area, somewhat inaccruately but still effectively, two of the mercenaries aimed their missiles skyward. They both heard the distinct tone indicating an infrared lock, and each fired in turn. The Strela spiralled oddly, striking the trees like a malfunctioning firework, the blowpipe on the other hand leaving its launcher just before maintained a lock on of the helicopters, and flashed out of sight to an uncertain fate.

Despite the commotion, one of the forward sentries then heard a muffled explosion a kilometre out, showing that somebody had triggered one of the devices on the wide tract of land mines and traps that had been rapidly planted the night before to protect the camp. He ran back, shouting for the men who were not preoccupied with being scorched alive by rockets to prepare for a ground assault. Hopefully the traps would delay and whittle down their numbers sufficiently, but the odds were very much against them, after all Kurtz had designed it that way.

Elsewhere in Cabinda all CabAid operations other than legitimate charitable ones were put on hold until further notice.

0831 hours, combat site; airspace

Inside the AV-44 Dedicated attack helicopter, the SB-ACDAMS-02 countermeasure system warning claxion sent off its clarion call, immediately prompting the startled crew to pound the countermeasure release procedure. On the choppers outside, a distinct click and popping noise signaled two sets of countermeasures blowing outwards, distracting the blowpipe SAM as the chopper pulled back and the warhead detonated to the side of the AV-44, spraying the side with shrapnel. Cursing their misfortune, the crew pulled their protesting aircraft back towards the attack staging area.

Behind it, two of the remaining three AV-44 had arrived, pumping HE-frag grenades and napalm bombs into the area with merciless enthusiasm.

On the ground..

Sergeant Kondo cursed. He normally considered swearing distasteful, but right now he was swearing hysterically at a squad retreating when two of their number had been blown wide open by a land mine.

On his other flank, the attack seemed to be going well, as the well-trained infanterists laid concentrated AR-16 fire into the surprised rebels. A forceful cry of "Supressing fire!!" sounded from behind him, and the A20 HMGs laid a hail of shells fly towards the insurgent force.

Kondo pressed his head down, taking heart in the fact that the mainstay of the 88th would press forward despite the mine threat and neutralize these cursed rebels.

The ranks of the guerillas were even more disorganised than normal, as people ran around chaotically, some trying to help wounded comrades, others trying to find the best available cover. However, they still had considerable firepower and volleys of RPG-7s were sent in quick succesion through the trees as soon as the Commonwealth soldiers came within useful range. Despite the withering amounts of incoming rounds, some even dared to stand up and fire the unguided rockets at the helicopters, the majority of which exploded wide astray.

Increasingly the most assidious defenders were the local recruits who were fighting for a cause against an occupier, while the more capable mercenaries gradually retreated away from the enemy. 'Colonel' Kitembo also had lost what little nerve he had and was now trying to flee the scene, frantically running through the trees and diving to the ground every time one of the choppers made another pass.

0840 hours

The outer forest perimeter secured, a small lazareth had been created, and dead and wounded servicemen were being carried back there for medical evacuation when the situation permitted it. Kondo looked back the small clearing, his nerves calmed somewhat. The mines had made the attack more complicated than anticipated, but he knew that the captain would not accept a withdrawal.

Still, they could now press forward with little to no resist....

KKkrrAASH!

His train of thought was shattered in a great explosion, along with almost the entire fifth squad as they tried to advance in the face of the local soldiers who apparently had stood their ground and fired RPGs. Some even fired them skywards at the circling helicopters who kept strafing the ground, so far with no luck at all.

Kondo quickly assessed the threat, and ordered a second push - Some eighty percent of his regiment was still intact and able to fight. Holding their fire for long enough to drop a fresh barrage of fragmentation and incendiary 40mm mortar grenades on the central concentration of insurgents, the 88th then blitzed towards the resistance camp; now hell-bent on wiping out their hopefully broken enemy.

OOC>> I'm assuming the soldiers have no experience in directing RPGs at helicopters? Unless I'm all wrong, they'd need a metal slider to fire them vertically with some degree of success at all.

OOC: Given that Cabinda has been in some sort of civil war for long periods, I think that some of the local recruits would be proficient with an RPG and some of them might also be good marksmen. On the whole though, they are simply a band of militiamen who have been cobbled together by mutual hate of the invaders and are obviously not particulaly capable.


IC:

The stalwart local recruits maintained their ground as the enemy charged forward, not just because of valour, but also because only Kitembo and a few of the mercenaries knew where all of the minefields around the base actually where. In other words, they would have to stand ground and fight, as the possibility of retreat was almost non-existent. While at least half of them were still able to fire weapons, many could not move and to a man nearly all had at least a minor injury. Therefore, with no other option, they tossed grenades out of their cover into the advancing ranks and emptied magazine after magazine of AK ammuniton. The threat of the helicopters was now ignored, as presumably the Commonwealth troops would soon be too close to them for the gunships to risk more devastating barrages.

Kitembo was now to all intents and purposes lost, he had escaped into the jungle but as explosions reverberated across the ground, he simply concentrated on getting as far away as possible. He looked around him, realising he was alone, most of his mercenary comrades having been slain by the choppers as they deserted. A second later a bullet found his chest, fired inaudibly from a silenced hunting rifle some distance away. The second round extinguished all life from him, a third being rendundant. Makola, Kurtz's trusty deputy disassembled the rifle, buried its constituent parts, and began to make his own way back North, under the guise of a CabAid worker; all loose ends having been neatly tied up.

The battle more or less over, the 88th stopped its advance. As the AV-44 helicopters withdrew, two fresh rounds of incendiary mortar rounds were dropped on the enemy position, before Kondo requested a surrender from the beleagured militiamen in return for letting them live by loudspeaker, repeating it in Xhosa for those not versed in french or english.

Up the rear, Medevac-configured A60 "Rhino" APCs started arriving in force to take care of wounded 88'ers first and surrendering militiamen second. The rest of the 88th kept their position, wanting really bad to leave this mine-ridden badland.

As the rattle of gunfire was replaced by calls for capitulation, the guerillas split in opinion. The seriously wounded who knew they would not survive the day, wanted to die fighting, so when some of the them, the ones who had a chance of survival stepped up to surrender, gunfire erupted, coming from their own ranks. Shouting and vicious exchanges of bullets fated the decision, leaving nearly all of the nearly thirty remaining soldiers dead or dying. The battle was quite clearly over and the 88th would soon assume they had eliminated the centre of resistance, with guerilla attacks over the next few days reducing to practically zero.

That evening, Cabinda province

Pleased with the assault, Mtondo recommended Kondo for a black cross for valour in combat, and regional command called the operation "very successful" and "a sizable blow against the insurgency" in the evening military bulletin. About 30 soldiers had been wounded lightly to critically, and eventually 8 were dead; mostly from mine or rocket shrapnel. One AV-44 helicopter gunfit was damaged enough to render it unfit for further service, and it is being shipped to a Port Banan military base for repairs.

Recon sweeps of the area would continue, nonetheless, and ACA command has ordered an investigation of CabAid and Roycelandian Red Cross operations in the area, concerned with the upsurge in rebel activity following their appearance in the countryside.

From Kinshasa and Luanda

The CAF and Angolan government announced their future plans for a defense pact of their own today. The Greater Angolan Defense Initiative(abbrev. GADI), would stand ready, at least in a premature form, Ultimo January 2005 at latest.

The GADI is alledgedly formed to "consolidate Angolan-Commonwealth defense cooperation" and to "counteract insurgent activity in several of the more unstable Angolan provinces", according to the joint release from the Angolan and Commonwealth ministries of Defense.

Outlining the plan briefly, they stated that the most important parts of the plan would be as follows:

- The formation of a local defense militia in every Angolan province, with regular troops loyal to Angolas legitimate government, and trained as well as outfitted by the ACA.
- The creation of the Angolan Air Force to replace the inept and unfit Air and Air Defense Forces, with a rotary corps supplying helicopter gunship support to Angolas ground force and ground attack jets for anti-invasion and strategic strike capability.
- The integration of the Marinha de Guerra(the Angolan navy) into the Commonwealth Naval Defense.
- A rise the Angolan militarys number of combat-capable regular troops to provide Angola with front-line infantry divisions deployable against any kind of foreign agression; or to provide troops for joint Angolan-Commonwealth operations inside Angola.
- An integration of the above initiatives under the Commonwealth Armed Forces Integrated Command Structure, effective placing the CAF in charge of the Angolan armed forces.

President Ndelebe and president Santos is expected to sign the initiative and to seal the deal next week.

Somewhere on the Cabinda Exclave Shoreline

The Ghost had never been a fan of Maritime Insertions. Mainly, it was due to his dislike of Submarines, but more realistically, he knew that only the most serious Operations used Maritime Insertion- Usual Roycelandian practice was a paradrop. At least this assignment didn't involve babysitting a small Nuclear Weapon, unlike that last job in the Congo River Research Facility.

The Ghost's present mission looked simple. In the words of Governor-General Philip J. Fry, "A Dead El Presidente Can't Sign Treaties".

Several weapons were available to The Ghost for this one, but the preliminary plan was to use a Moisin-Nagant M91/30 Sniper Rifle (captured at some point in the past from the Lusakans by the Imperial Guard), and take out El Presidente Santos from afar.

He'd been smuggled ashore unseen in a Fishing Vessel captained and crewed by sympathetic (and well-reimbursed) Angolans, and had promptly vanished into the jungle and undergrowth to plan out the rest of this deadly chess game.

The first task to was to find out where El Presidente Santos was. Logic dictated he'd be in the Presidential Mansion, but Logic didn't always apply to the dictators of 3rd world countries...

OOC: I'm assuming Santos is in Cabinda somewhere. If he's not, can we assume that The Ghost has been inserted into the Angola proper, just to keep the RP flowing?

IC: Any AC investigation into the Roycelandian Red Cross will come back clean- they have absolutely refused to smuggle arms or ammunition for the Rebels or the Roycelandian Government, but there are some pretty strong indications they are passing on troop positions to "unknown 3rd parties", probably Port Imperial or perhaps Cairo. There's no hard evidence of this, however...

OOC: Who is playing Egypt in the modern world, UE right? Blasted.. Well, UE then would know about the location of the Zau Zero headquarters, and probably also the fact that the 88th, the and the are present in Angola and Cabinda.

Santos is, according to most recent intelligence, in the presidential mansion in Luanda, the capital of Angola proper(Cabinda is AC land now). However, he might have left for Kinshasa by now.

OOC: OK, then we'll assume that The Ghost is currently scoping out the Presidential Palace in Luanda with a view to sending Santos a 7.62x54R calibre greeting...

Whats the Zau Zero Headquarters?

Also is this annoucnement above about GADI a public document?

OOC: It was mentioned earlier. "Zau Zero" is located a little bit to the west of Buco Zau in Cabinda, and is the central planning center of CAF operations in Cabinda. Thanks to Roycelandian Red Cross, UE may or may not know its location right now.

The joint release about the defense pact is aired briefly in the AC state-run channel ANN and if one is well-connected, one could conceivably also hear about it in Luanda. So, yeah, I guess UE knows about it by now.

Outside the El Presidential Palace, Luanda

The Ghost was scoping out the El Presidential palace from across the street, trying to look as discreet as possible. Of course, being White in a predominantly African country wasn't making that any easier, but so far he was doing a good job of remaining unobtrusive.

The first part of Operation Timecard was to find out where Santos actually was, and the El Presidential Palace seemed as good a place as any to start...

OOC: There are people in the Imperial Intelligence Service who's job is to keep an eye on ANN and Lusakan State TV. As soon as they heard anything interesting, they'd pass it on to the Intelligence Liason, who would in turn pass it on to UE and the Roycelandian Red Cross.

Hey, you don't spend six centuries perfecting the art of Imperialism without learning a thing or two about information gathering and distribution... ;)

El Presidentes Hood, Luanda

The large, attentive men who guarded the perimeter were without a doubt Commonwealth marines, and the place seems unusually well protected and surveillled for a third-world dump leaders hideout.

If the ghost could but enter, he would know whether Santos was home or not.


OOC:

We have so got to stop with the Tropico references ;)

Along The Loeme River, Republic of Congo

Having realised that the frontiers of Cabinda were more less perfectly porous, Kurtz had taken the decision to move his headquarters encampent across the border, some twelve miles from it in fact. Although the possibility of the CAF crossing into Congo was not impossible, he knew that if this happened there would be much more to worry about than his meager resistance organisation being discovered. In Congo Kurtz could also get more or less anything done since he had been employed by the anti-communist resistance forces and been instrumental in removing President Sassou-Nguesso, with the reslt that everyone in the country's government or military knew who he was. That day an official from the Elias embassy in Brazzerville had given him another batch of pounds sterling, millions in value and with them he had purchased from a Congolese General, a few hundred Stinger and Strela SAMs and a battery's worth of 81mm mortars, all of which would be shipped into Cabinda over the next few days in aid convoys. More importantly however a memo had been passed on from the Red Cross, showing the location of a headquarters comples known as Zau Zero, alarmingly close to the arms caches around Tando Limbo.

Inside Cabinda, CabAid was again recruiting, now concentrating its efforts in the west near Landana, and trying to build up a network of caches in that area. Meanwhile in the east, mine laying operations were gradually resuming, and increasingly large anti-tank mines will be placed on roads, often quite near the AC border, however actual attacks on AC troops are still prohibited.

Luanda, Angola

The Ghost had noted the size of El Presidente Santo's Palace, and more importantly, the presence of Commonwealth Marines outside. He half expected speakers to be broadcasting messages of the "Viva El Presidente!" variety, but for the time being his concern was working out how to get inside. He sat under cover in a hide for a full 24 hours, watching comings and goings, trying to work out a routine and see if there was a way in...

Somewhere in the Congo

One of the IFL scouts had identified some of the CabAid operatives through the Red Cross, and had scheduled a meeting to discuss the Roycelandian supply of arms and ammunition to anti-AC elements in Angola and Cabinda. Quite how the meeting would go down was anyone's guess, but Roycelandia and UE had a very close relationship, especially when it came to this sort of thing, so the IFL scout figured the meeting would be generally positive in outcome...

Luanda

While entry could conceivably be forced by scaling the walls, it would be nigh-impossible to do so without being caught on tape, and judging from the frequent guard shifts and inspections by officers of Executive Captain rank and above, there must be a clandestine ACA base or garrison nearby that could reinforce the mansion quickly.

However, few people do gain entry, mostly Secular Party and LFU clerks with the proper clearance. A bluff, albeit risky, could succeed.

Angola proper

While Angola itself is a much larger "battlefield" than the estranged Cabinda enclave, it is also teeming with CAF activity. Airstrips close to the border have both aerial surveillance planes and advanced fighter/bomber jets are ready to scramble at signs of attack on Commonwealth forces; and several mechanized divisions along with urban counter-terrorist/riot control special ops are located inside in anticipation of civil unrest to come. This is, thus far, not common knowledge, probably restricted to CAF high command and the soldiers themselves.

Angolan ops military bulletin(secret IC)

Current casualties in Angola.

Infantry/spec. divisions: 30 WIA, 5 KIA
Armour: 2 HMMWV unfit for service, to undergo repair near Kinshasa, 1 L-2 main battle tank lost both tracks from anti-tank mine today, to be stripped and used to repair others.

Militia forces called from the commonwealth are to replenish the Infantry casualties. No armour reinforcements planned as of this time.

Luanda

It would appear The Ghost's best method of infiltration was a bluff. And the best way to pull off a bluff is to actually know what you're talking about.

The Ghost assembled the Shotgun Microphone in his carrybag, and began eavesdropping on the guard's conversations, as well as those of visitors being allowed entry, and making notes of important points, tidbits, or other things of interest that could be used to help bluff an entry...

The people who enter are military brass or high-level List For Unity clerks and politicians, most don't discuss their reasons for entering, but a few mention organizing defense plans, overview of rebuilding infrastructure, and extra-african relations.

Small Cabindan Village, Near Lake Chissambo

Makola focused the camcorder, bringing the village's collection of huts and milling locals into view from his position, concealed in the treeline. A few minutes lasped and then the team of six men appeared, dressed in the uniform of the 3rd Mechanised Division and carrying AR-16 Assault rifles. Kurtz had chosen each of them out of the mercenaries, as obviously the locals could not be used for this operation. Special care had gone into procuring proper equipment and unit patches for the men's uniform, but due to the focus of the camera, any inadvertent discrepancies would be impossible to discern, even with the most hi-tech imaging enhacing equipment that this tape would doubtless be run on.

The decision was taken that no sound should be recorded either, as this gave unecessary risk of compromising its authenticity. So when the men shouted for the locals to line up, on the film only the actions of the natives would show this, but that was enough. One by one the Cabindans obeyed and presented themselves at the edge of the village. Two of the 'solders' then kept them held at gunpoint while the rest systematically searched the huts, visibly seen to hack away at walls and generally trash the place. This lasted nearly fifteen minutes and then a soldier brought up some tools from one of the shacks and hurled them at the feet of the terrified natives, around thirty of them in total, men, women and several children. They were then commanded to dig a pit, and when they had done this, the tape showed the muzzle flashes as in turn each one was shot and kicked into the rapidly filling mass grave.

The recording, over an hour long in totality, ended as them men dissappeared back into the foliage, having filled in the ditch.

By the afternoon, the tape had reached Kurtz who had sent it promtly to the Elias Embassy in Brazzerville saying that it had been taken by one of his men while they were scouting out the area and that in his opinion, it implied that the CAF had resorted to genocide.

Shocked and appalled, the tape circulated quickly around the Elias government and the evening news began with the words 'Ethnic Cleansing in Cabinda'. Soon Roycelandian media would also recieve a copy as would any news agency that cared to run it. No official comment was made as to the tape's provenance except to say that it was delivered by an international aid worker to authorities in the Congo. Several sources leaked reports that the President would address the issue in a policy statement, after meeting with key advisors during the night. A condemnation and maybe even a threat that the Commonwealth withdraw, is supposedly expected to be included in his remarks.

Imperial Palace, Port Royal, Roycelandia

"Is it genuine?" His Majesty asked the hushed room.

"It would appear so, Your Majesty" Wiggles explained, switching off the TV.

"There's something very odd about the lack of sound, you know" His Majesty thought out loud. "Modern HandiCams, SteadiCams, and so on have microphones on them. So the lack of sound is deliberate... but why? It doesn't add up."

"That thought had occured to us as well, Your Majesty" explained Sir Duane Dibley, head of the IIS. "We're pretty sure that they're not regular Commonwealth Armed Forces- but having said that, I would surmise they're probably Mercenaries, working with the CAF in some capacity."

"So they've resorted to Genocide?"

"I wouldn't say that. Our people in Angola and Cabinda haven't reported anything like this happening yet, and they're pretty clued up as to what is going on there. Still, this has come at a politically useful moment. I'd suggest we air the tape, make no mention of AC involvement- refer to them as Angolan Paramilitary Units- and see if we can't stir up enough public opinion to either persuade the AC to leave, or at least let them know we're watching."

Luanda

The Ghost retired to his Hotel that evening, to think of a suitable cover story that would allow him access to El Presidente Santos. Then he had a brainwave. He send an encrypted message to Port Imperial, had a drink, then retired for the night.

He picked up the phone next morning and dialed Santo's Press Secretary (presumably the number would be in the Phone Book).

"Hello? Yes, my name is Thomas King, and I'm a Features Writer for International Geographic Magazine. I'd like to arrange an interview with President Santos, to talk to him about how he's sucessfully overcome the difficulties in Angola, and his plans for the future. My Editor was thinking of a glossy spread in the centre, with a nice photo on the front cover of the January 2005 Issue... "A New Year, a New Angola", that sort of thing. Would His Excellency be interested? It would be excellent PR..."

Should anyone decide to phone International Geographic, they would be informed they do have a reporter by the name of Thomas King, he's in Angola, and yes, they would like to do a story on the New Angola and in particular, President Santos...

Zau Zero, AngCom 1; Central Cabinda

Everything was, basically, gone to hell. Everyone was running around to phones and telexes like burning pigs and Colonel Mfisa had double-checked the location of every last division, seen that the Angolan regional defense forces had not yet left any of their training areas yet; and it was not like FLEC militants to do this, not at all.

He was certain that Kinshasa would get their uniforms in a curl before nightfall. He was right, too.

Kinshasa

The ministry of Defense commented on the tape as quick as they could, denouncing it as an ill-willed construct trying to discredit legitimate CAF presence. The records confirming that the 3rd mechanized division was nowhere near Lake Chissambo were released to the international community. This did nothing to dissuade system critics that claimed defectors had done it, or corrupt ACA soldiers accepting cash to do the deed. Under new legislation, these critics could no longer be jailed and so they did theirs to help foreign commentators slander the CAF presence in Angola.

To help amend matters, President Ndelebe spoke to the press, stating that: "Enemies of our troubled land has created this false controversy and CAF presence in Cabinda remains legitimate business; I repeat, there are no ethnic cleansing performed that we know of, and certainly none perpetrated by ACA troops. We have no further to add, save that we hope the meddling foreigners leave Africa for the sake of their own health."

Currently CAF presence in Angola and Cabinda remains as is at present.

Baghdad

Cameras flashed and silence swept the press room as Minister of Defence Ibrahim Zibari reached the podium, flanked by flags and guards in dress uniform. His expression was suitably guarded as he motioned to the media to retake their seats.

"I have here in my hand, a statement from the Commonwealth government documenting that their troops were nowhere near Lake Chissambo at the time this crime against humanity was committed. Well, let me tell you know, that it has been confirmed to me by the intelligence community of this nation, that from that tape it is impossible to discern the location of the village in question, and prior to this announcement we had no clear indication of where in Cabinda this footage was taken. This statement is to me clearer than even a confession of guilt, and shows that the CAF were either behind this or indeed were supporting the individuals involved. There quite simply is no other way in which they would know the geogrpahic location, especially since this information was released with such rapidty that it would preclude the possibility of Commonwealth forces happening to find this site within hours of the tape's release. There are two possibiulties therefore, either the location is bogus or the documents regarding troop locations has been doctored to cover up Commonwealth endorsement of such actions.

"Following this, the nation of United Elias can no longer be a spectator to such brutality and we now must demand that Commonwealth Forces end their policy of assymiliation, withdraw from Cabinda province, and limit their involvement in Angola to strictly that of humanitarian assistance. On behalf of The President I ask that President Ndlebe reconsider his policy of expansionism, and allow his country, which has so much potential, to be readmitted to the international community. To the people of Cabinda, I now say that your plight is not forgotten and that we will work to guarantee your safety; and we pay tribute to the aid agenices and organisations who continue to help those in need under the most difficult conditions."

Libreville

"Cast off lines one through six." Commander Levi, standing on the port bridge wing of the Tigris class destroyer Vistula, surveyed his charge, scanning the length of the ship, fo'scle to fantail. Cutting short the crew's liberty was not great for morale. However having had two months roaming off the coast of Gabon, chasing down the occasional oil smuggler and checking trawlers for illegal catches had been monotonous, and now it looked as though they might be doing something fairly interesting, with immediate orders from Gabon Operational Theatre Command (GOTCOM) to move to an operating area off Cabinda. What they would do once there was left typically ambigious, and he feared it might be another wild goose chase, the quarry in this case might be worth pursuing however, at least given what he had seen on the news is the Libreville Officer's club.

"Captain, all lines away."
In response the Commander called orders back inside to the wheelhouse while he remained on the wing, eyeing up the distances and windage, "Back one third, rudder amidships "

"Aye Sir, all back one third." As the engine telegraph pinged, the turbines dull hum increased to a whine, and the grey warship, not quite as sleek as its modern equivalents, slipped backwards, the wind carrying it very gradually away from the pier. Across a small strip of water, on the next jetty an oil tanker sat idly, thick black crude being loaded, ready to be shipped to a refinery, in Egypt probably.

"Hard port rudder, bring her round smartly." Now that they were clear of their slip, the destroyer, still moving backwards swung outwards into the harbour channel. Quickly manouvering round to protect it, two rigid inflatables, a machinegunner and three soldiers on each.

"All stop, rudder amidships." The turbines quietened as the ship, now straightened up in the channel continued to edge backwards, with 6,750 tons of momentum, now about to be broken.

"Ahead slow." The deck shuddered as the ship changed directions, now lumbering forward, towards the Atlantic. Commander Levi then left the bridge wing and entered the artificial coolness of the air-conditioned wheelhouse. "Set the at sea watch, deck officer has the conn."

OOC>> Hm, I assumed the perpetrators had included the location of the shooting in their tape, otherwise it could have been anywhere on the planet with jungle and a village, or at least anywhere in Africa. Otherwise the AC government would never have said a word about Chissambo, or even known that was the location, at least not right away.

Unless we re-do the later bit of this RP, I think there will be some backtracking and editing, by me at least.

IC>>

Kinshasa

Official response to the Elian posturing was curt and barely polite, but was deemed important enough to fill an entire press conference by the Commonwealth -and- Angolan Foreign ministries and the new AC Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ngolo Marshall. The location seemed to be gleaned by a military cartographers immediate evaluation of the tape, and the subsequent search for units in the vicinity was based on his estimate of the villages place in Cabinda. Consequently, the Foreign Ministry flat-out rejected the claims made by Mr. Zibari.

The Angolan foreign spokesman furthermore explained the Commonwealth presence in Angola was "requested and appreciated" and not unwanted annexation, citing examples such as former sovereign nations who joined the Commonwealth willingly such as Rwanda and parts of the Congo thanks to the safety, stability and prosperity it brung. Also, CAF assistance against the FLEC inside Cabinda came at a fortunate time for the Angolan government and people, for the FLEC is considered deluded terrorists, much like ETA is in Spain or the RAF was in Germany.

In closing, Ngolo Marshall condemned the statements made by United Elias, claiming that the international community should abhor Zibaris "creative interpretation", and that this was nothing but excuses from Elias' side in order to reinforce their occupational strength on sovereign parts of Subsaharan Africa; calling upon all nations in the region, even old enemies like Middle Congo and Roycelandia, to deter Elian support for FLEC terrorists and "Elian attempts to decrease stability in an already distraught country".

Luanda

The Ghost was admitted entry for a controlled 25 minute interview if he would agree to display picture identification and press card, be searched thoroughly for weapons or contraband, and to the fact that Mr. Santos' bodyguard would be present. Also, the questions asked would have to be reviewed by a clerk from the Commonwealth foreign office before he could be admitted to see the leader of Angola.

Baghdad

Zibari quickly called another press conference, rebutting by calling for a plebiscite in Angola, and a second seperate one for Cabinda, as the Angolan government was not in any way representative of the will of the Angolan peoples, are that they should have the right to self-determination. Additionally he assidiously disavowed any and all claims that UE supported any rebel group whether it be in Cabinda or Angola itself.

Somewhere in Middle Congo

That day Kurtz had been delivered a a laser designator, complete with case, instruction manuals, and a hand scrawled note telling him what to do with it.The job was delegated to Makola who would spend the next few hours learning to use the device, before crossing the frontier under cover of darkness and covertly making his way to the objective point. Along with him, two mercenaries and a local guide, ensuring the mission's safety.

Elsewhere in Cabinda, the locals were increasingly left to organise their own resistance operations using CabAid's weaponry, and independant initiative was encouraged, as motivation to repel the occupiers rose from the pastime of the few, to the zeal of the many, due almost entirely tape showing the massacre of their brothers. In fact recruitment had sky rocketed so much that most of the arms caches were nearly empty, and Kurtz was hurredly organising more purchases from the Congolese military to supply an ever growing rebel army. Within the next twenty-four hours it seemed almost certain that the pent up anger of the natives would boil up into an all out fight, now Cabaid could only assist and was no longer in of control the resistance.

Off the coast of Middle Congo

Sitting high atop the commander’s chair on the bridge, Captain Levi read through the message twice, before ordering his ship, the Tigris class guided missile destroyer Vistula to the designated position, thirty-eight miles off the coast off the Cabinda exclave. Next he contacted the combat information centre on the bridge phones, confirming that the directive he had recieved was feasible. Processing the information in his mind, he calculated the time to the station, the distance from the target and worked out that they could easily meet the strict time schedule set out in the order. Practically it was all possible, but he somehow doubted whether 'it' would achieve anything, there just seemed too many things that could go wrong, especially with the use of ‘indigenous forces local to the objective’, the order giving no more description, however vague, than that. As the General Quarters claxon sounded throughout the ship, annoucing battle stations, Captain Levi went below decks to checkout the state readiness of the systems involved, half expecting however that the orders would be aborted within the hour.

Luanda

In an unusual gesture, President Santos made a short speech to the federal dictatorship of United Elias, requesting that they ended their interference in Angolan national matters. Transcript:

Santos: Cabinda has been Commonwealth land since the formation of the African Commonwealth. Now, thanks to Ndelebe's benevolence, it could return to Angola. They claim to fight for independence, but the land was never sovereign, and its inhabitants are Commonwealth, congolese and angolan tribes. They want only disorder and they threaten the reunification of what was the peaceful indigenous republic of Angola.

As legitimate and democratically elected representative of the people of Angola I speak for all the nation when I say that United Elias are only destroying what you claim to create, a stable and self-determining Angolan republic. Please leave this matter to us and our allies, the democratic republic of the African Commonwealth.

President Eduardo Santos excuses that he can not adress the matter further, and that he has an interview to attend to.

AC airspace, close to the coast

"..And you are sure of this sighting, Rivet 4?" the voice in the radio crackled. "Positive, over." the radar officer replied. He had flown on the RC-102 V/W surveillance plane Rivet 4 for many years now, and he'd bet his heart that this was no phony transmission. The Elian missile destroyer had moved, and not by coincidence either.

Port Banan

Using a low-profile transmission, Port Banan let the Vistula know that it had been detected, and that no missile launches or target designation by the destroyer would be allowed, on pain of the Commonwealth considering it an act of war and deploying pre-emptive "Strike Surge" anti-shipping cruise missiles against it.

Luanda

The Ghost was more than happy to agree to Santos' requirements. After all, International Geographic was a reputable magazine, and The Ghost, in his guise as Mr. King, was upholding that. Of course, the picture on his press card was that of a disguised Ghost, with different hair, different coloured eyes, etc. His Passport photo matched up with his new appearance as well- even if the Angolans did manage to find out his real identity, he'd be long gone by the time anyone could do anything about it.

He also agreed to the search, which only turned up the usual Journalistic accotrements- Camera, Notepad, Dictaphone, spare tape and batteries, and a couple of pens, including a 24k Gold Parker Rollerball pen, which was almost certainly going to become a gift to El Presidente Santos at the conclusion of the interview.

The questions were all very agreeable and had a distinctly pro-Angolan (and more importantly, pro-Santos) slant to them- the usual "How have your African Brothers helped you overcome the difficulties of Post-Colonialism?", "What sort of challenges do you foresee for Angola?", "Tell us how you managed to do such an impressive job overcoming the mistakes of your Predecessor", and so on.

At the conclusion of the interview (which will actually run in International Geographic), The Ghost thanked El Presidente Santos for his hospitality, and asked if His Excellency would do him the honour of signing a 10"x8" Glossy for his scrapbook?

The Ghost carefully withdrew the shiny gold Parker Pen from his lapel pocket, and the small diamond on the top of the clip only served to accentuate the expense of the pen. It was also clear that the pen was a gift for His Excellency, and only the best would do for a man of such greatness .

He also drew a packet of Expensive Cigarettes from the same pocket and offered one to the Bodyguard- he would not dare to offer a cigarette to El Presidente, a man who presumably had an entire Cuban Tobacco Harvest's worth of Rum Flavoured Cigars stored somewhere, and would not stoop to cigarettes...

Near The Zau Zero HQ

Concealed in heavy foliage, four hundred metres from the AC complex, nestled neatly in the middle of Cabinda, Makola trained the sights of the designator on the complex, specifically the mass of antennae that were positioned over what seemed like the most vulnerable part of the roof. As the others, guarding from each direction, nodded the all clear, he flicked a switch and a tiny green diode illuminated, as did the target, with invisible infrared. Confirming the range as per operating instructions, he flicked another switch, sending an electronic signal to GOTCOM via Kurtz and several relay stations.

43 Miles off the coast of Cabinda

Commander Levi stood watch at the bridge, waiting for the communication from the designator, whoever that might be to confirm the target had been illuminated. As the minutes clocked he knew that the signal would likely have to pass through at least several different communications echelons before it reached GOTCOM who would give him the ‘go/no go’.

First however he would have to deal with the AC aircraft, "Combat, Conn, set emmisions controls, only single sweeps on my order." With the radars turned off the Commonwealth plane would find it difficult to aquire the ship, and even if he did it would be plain to see there was no hostile intent, "Send a flash message to him, saying we plan on staying well into international waters but we are going to conduct a routine gunnery test."
"Combat Aye."
With any luck, they might even manage to get away with this. Suddenly the SATCOM crackled, it was GOTCOM.
“Trailblazer, this is Homerun, the torch is lit, cleared to release ordnance in four mike.”
He sighed, relief or resignation, he was not sure which he felt, “Homerun, Trailblazer copy.”
Commander Levi keyed the 21MC, “Battery officer, confirm firing azimuth, four minutes to first release.”
“Captain, Target co-ordinates confirmed, gun mount reports rounds ready, weapons are declared ready for release.”
Levi kept his eye on the flicking numbers of the stop watch as the ship rolled gently in the swell. He pondered the technicalities of the new ERGM system, a naval artillery shell with a rocket propellant, and a laser seeker with a GPS/Inetial backup. Since the new Mod 4 five inch had been installed several months ago he had always been dumbstruck about the idea that in theory he could kill anyone within sixty miles, with just a cannon round, only now it wasn’t a theory, he was about to do it, and hopefully it would work, maybe they would even get away unnoticed.
The stopwatch hit ten seconds, “Battery officer standby to fire for effect…on my mark…fire…now.”

An orange flame leapt from the barrel of the cannon, a shell being slung off into the distance as a dull vibration reverberated over the ship, a second later the call came through, “round away”, followed immediately by another round, another confirmation, continuing every four seconds until a total of six rounds were in the air, their low visibility rocket boosters engaged for just seconds to carry the rounds to high altitude, before gliding down towards the laser illuminated targets the small control fins making constant corrections, each shell following minutely different trajectories to ensure near simultaneous impact time.

"Combat, Conn, quick, fire training salvo as previously directed."

The Gun roared a few more times as training shells were lobbed copiously at an invisible target at the maximum gun range using standard shells, thirteen miles, making sure that their claims of gunnery practice were genuine. Given the size of the radar return for a naval shell, it would be almost impossible to work out what had hit the Zau Zero HQ. The idea of a ship forty miles out to sea, with no fire control radars illuminated and having obviously fired no cruise missiles, being responsible would seem desirable.

“Good work everyone, now set course three zero five, all ahead standard…let’s slip of here. ” He had been tempted to run at flank speed, charging the ship out of the way at thirty plus knots, but that would look distinctly suspicous, so they would have to look as though everything was normal and they were simply moving to another patrol area.

"Homerun, Trailblazer, confirm indigo."
"Trailblazer, copy indigo, previous ROE now in effect."
"Copy, Trailblazer out."

Near The Zau Zero HQ

Looking up, Makola had expected to see the fiery contrails of missiles or the roar of aircraft, then suddenly he heared a quiet, almost imperceptible whistling sound, and a second later the ground rocked violently as five seperate explosions landing simultaneously merged to form one large fireball, and a heat wave rolled over the hills, a rush of artifical hot air. Within seconds smoke filled the sky around him, obscuring his view of the target which must have been destroyed, given the accuracy of whatever had hit it. He switched off the designator, disassembled it and placed the delicate components in its case and motioned for the others to leave, he would come back the next day to review the damage.

Luanda

Santos pleasantly answered the questions, elaborating at length on how well he had handled running the nation since his election, and didn't talk a lot about Angolan cooperation with the Commonwealth. The bodyguards firmly declined the cigarettes even though one did not look very pleased at missing a nice foreign smoke. Santos tentatively agreed, and reached over and held the pen between thumb and index finger, ready to sign the photo..

Kinshasa

The foreign ministry was slow to release any details to the press, but it was evident that something big had gone down judging from the activity in Kinshasa. Eventually, they released some of the information surrounding the blasts, and remarked that it could not have been insurgents - An extensive team of military demolition and munition specialists had been dispatched, and the defense council has as of this evening withdrawn to draw up new strategies for tightening up security in Cabinda and ferreting out the foreigners that had undoubtedly been behind the blasts.

Also, Colonel Ndika and the 55th Rangers shipped out of Mbandaka to Cabinda next morning to restore troop numbers and take command in the Zau area.

Luanda

The Ghost replaced the cigarettes in his pocket and watched as Santos signed the photo. He did like to collect little Souvenirs, he thought to himself.

Nothing happened when Santos took the pen- that would be too obvious, nerve gas in the pen. As far as anyone could tell, it was a very nice Gold Pen, with a diamond on the top of the clip, being presented to His Excellency by someone who clearly knew the correct way to thank such an important person for taking time out of his busy schedule.

"The Pen is yours, Your Excellency- a gift from all of us at International Geographic. Perhaps I might trouble you for a photograph of yourself hard at work for the people of Angola, behind your desk?" The Ghost asked, indicating his Camera.

Luanda

The president agreed, flattered by the attention and compliment of his person. As he shuffled behind his desk, however, one of the bodyguards sternly pointed out that Mr. Kings allotted time was expired soon.

With the remains of the Zau Zero headquarters still smouldering from the night before's attack, resistance cells all over Cabinda broke into largely unco-ordinated but nonetheless simultaneous actions against the occupiers, and with the help of some thinly stretched Echelon Venture's mercenaries attacked supply convoys, checkpoints and barracks facilities with mortar, RPGs and good ole' fashoned AK fire. Casualties would no doubt be high, but the Cabindans had been given hope of victory against an enemy they had been taught would kill them if they did not try and do the same first, creating not only a sense of utter hatred, but also the idea that there wasn't anything to lose by resisting. This combnation of emotions, meant that the few thousand or so CabAid recruits had become almsot fanatical in their zeal, inspriring many to follow the cause.

Receiving regular reports from his people in the exclave Kurtz assumed that although the current resistance was significant, especially combined with the destruction of the command post, and would seriously hamper AC efforts to pacify Cabinda, it would not force the CAF out. On reflection, the opposite was likely and now he had reached sufficient levels of grass roots support in Cabinda, it was perfect timing to draw more Commonwealth soldiers in to, what he hoped would eventually become a quagmire. After the battles of thr next few days, the mercenaries would pick handfuls of the remaining indigenous fighters that had exercised not only loyalty to the cause but also some level of proficiency. These few would then be moved North to another location close to his command HQ, also in Southern Congo, and recieve a much higher level of training, hopefully from Elias special forces. This last part was still in doubt as somebody higher up than him would take time to decide whether Elias forces should be involved at any level, despite Kurtz's assurance that they would operate in a support role and only withing Middle Congo. Several other requests Kurtz had for his masters would also be consideration, although for these there was less urgency.

Luanda

The Ghost had contemplated simply whacking Santos in his office, guards and all- but that was too crude, and inefficient. It was also so obvious it belonged in a bad Political Thriller novel.

So, he'd taken the subtle approach. The nice pen he had given Santos was made of gold, and contained a small microphone, a microchip that recorded everything he wrote, and one or two other little surprises. The wonders of digital miniaturisation meant The Ghost could keep tabs on Santos much more effectively, allowing him to make his move at a more convenient time. And he now had a copy of Santos' signature, which could be used in a variety of creative ways.

The Ghost took a couple of photos of Santos behind his desk, and thanked Santos for his hospitality, promised to send him a copy of the article when it ran, left his packet of expensive Foreign Smokes on the desk "for the lads", indicating the bodyguards, shook hands all around, and left politely as his allotted time drew to a close, having made sure he had done everything he needed to do...

The Hindustani government is ready to send an economic aid package amounting to several billion dollars worth of various industrial equipment, as well as a steady supply of AIDS medications and other medical supplies to the African Commonwealth to try and stimulate economic and social growth.

OCC: A somewhat half-hearted attempt to interact with SSA from AMW.

Kinshasa

The packet did not arrive a moment too soon, and Ngolo Marshall took half an hour out of his busy schedule to praise the Hindustani government to high heavens for the much needed boost in medication to fight HIV. It is rumoured that a diplomatic delegation is prepared to travel to Hindustan sometime in the future to further relations with the distant nation.

Luanda

President Santos is as absent-minded as he is busy, and the pen is often left in the office. However, he has spilled several interesting tidbits to the microphone, among other that the new Angolan/Commonwealth defense pact will be signed sooner than announced, and that he himself might be leaving Angola sometime this week.

Hindustan will be honored to host an African Commonwealth delegation.

Any visit would probably bring the delegates around the industrial and agricultural complexes which generate most of the nation's GDP, and the delegates would also be served detalied explainations of Hindustani government. The visit would probably be used to show the delegates some tips for other former English colonies, when it comes to wealth and prosperity.

The information from the bug was most useful, but The Ghost needed specifics... how would Santos be travelling, that sort of thing.

One thing was clear- the pen was exactly the sort of Important Treaty Signing Pen that someone like Santos would want to use to impress the AC delegates... what was the word? "Bling Bling", that was it.

Anyway, the pen had a few tricks in it that would be most useful to The Ghost, but he was loathe to use them, as they lacked finesse... anyway, the idea was to eliminate Santos alone, and he really didn't want to have to resort to shooting down an Airliner with a Stinger Missile, like the job in Turkmenistan he pulled in '96. His orders were clear though: Santos was to be eliminated.

The African Commonwealth remains one of the most prosperous nations in sub-saharan Africa, with a large manufacturing, mining and trading base. Still, many issues, the most important being the all-ravaging HIV virus, remain a drain on an otherwise healthy and productive citizenry.

Hindustan had thus far been a town in Russia to most people living in the Commonwealth, and the foreign ministry has expressed great interest in learning more about their culture and government.

Luanda

No details had been slipped regarding the exact time or mode of transportation as of yet. Still, the date seemed to be nearing, and it could not be impossible that Santos would let the information slide sometime.

Other thing seem to be coming to light now, as Santos has held meetings with his military brass and AC contractors: about revitalizing Angolan air force and navy with Commonwealth re/out-fitting and training.


OOC>>

Elias, I don't know if you're home yet, so it might not be a big hurry; but I don't have the time to respond to the Cabindan situation yet - Will update soon, though! *Flogs self*

The African Commonwealth remains one of the most prosperous nations in sub-saharan Africa, with a large manufacturing, mining and trading base. Still, many issues, the most important being the all-ravaging HIV virus, remain a drain on an otherwise healthy and productive citizenry.

Hindustan had thus far been a town in Russia to most people living in the Commonwealth, and the foreign ministry has expressed great interest in learning more about their culture and government.

OCC: Oh, sorry. I was under the impression that The African Commonwealth was a disease-ravaged third world bad place just out of a civil war.

IC:

The Hindustani government is always happy to host foreign delegations. There is also talk of trade deals with The African Commonwealth. After all, with what is close to the world's largest merchant fleet registered in Hindustan, and large manufacturing and agriculture sectors, it is always useful to find new markets.

OOC: africa (or at least the player states) is in a slightly better shapein AMW than in RL.

Some of us just can't seem to make things a total hell for our poulation (ie me, strathdonia still focuses primarily on keeping it popualtion fed and from my veiw should largely succeed by using modern methods and avoiding "land redistribution" measures. Oh and we have a small industrial base that focuses on producing Old model Rovers (inc land rovers)).

But i imagine some of the underlying problems are still there although over seas interferance is proabably a bit less damaging.

OOC: And you'd be surprised where Roycelandia, Elias, and the African Commonwealth have interests.

Suffice it to say I don't think Strathdonia is ever likely to find itself in real economic difficulties... ;)

Cabindan exclave

While CAF personnel in Cabinda was not taken aback by the sudden increase in native hostility - A well-decked air patrol and radar network effort had seen to that - losses were nonetheless a demoralizing and serious blow to a Cabindan command HQ that had seen itself as having relatively great control over the area. Following standing orders, all African Commonwealth Army units had entrenched themselves and repelled the local forces with deadly use of power. Even as local attacks had ceased, helicopter gunships and SU-47 fighter-bombers carried out strikes on cabindan villages suspected of harbouring hostiles, and while the army had been busy absorping strikes of massed insurgents, plans for armed patrols on every strongpoint were already underway.

CAF leadership has not yet commented on the situation, instead opting to maximize military presence in the exclave, and local militia regiments and armour brigades are even now being prepped for active duty. With the militarization already in place, well-disciplined men stood ready to reinforce the beleaguered mechanized infantry and militia divisions inside Angola and Cabinda. Also, the ranger regiment inside Cabinda was given the go-ahead to plan infiltration ops to scope out any foreign involvement that might be behind this sudden intensification of the conflict.

Luanda

Possibly while IIS is least expecting it, Santos' pen drops a vital clue in the middle of the night: He will be travelling to the Commonwealth to sign an important alliance treaty. It will happen this week, likely with an escort of some kind.

Santos seems very vague in conveying the information, like he was very tired or stoned.


OOC>> Sorry for my lateness in replying. I hope it does the trick ;)

The IIS are indeed surprised- but the mention of an escort suggests a road trip, or maybe via railway...

The preparations are made, and The Ghost begins to draw up contingency plans...

Tagging this. I can't do much of anything yet, but time will tell.